Alpha's Fire (Shifter Ops 4)

This is bad. Gabriel might have just incinerated all my friend’s mates. The dragon is out of control.

Gabriel’s giant wings unfurl, and he launches into the sky. The backwind blasts us, fanning the flames on the ground. The dragon’s form dips slightly, as one wing seems to be injured. It fights to flap higher.

I need to calm down. I grab Deke’s arm. “Get me to that helicopter.”

Deke hesitates.

“Now,” I scream.

“He just needs to claim his mate,” Lance shouts to Deke from behind me. “Tabitha may be the answer.”

Deke nods and scoops me up, dashing across the empty field.

A huge guy in aviator shades sits in the pilot seat, his tattooed biceps stretching the sleeves of his army green t-shirt.

“Got a passenger for you, Teddy,” Deke hollers. I scramble from his arms into the passenger seat.

“How high can you fly?” I ask the pilot.

“High as you want, baby girl.” Teddy flips a bunch of switches and then pauses to flip up his shades. His eyes flare with an orange light. “Holy shit. You’re the dragon’s old lady.”

“Mate,” I nod. “I’m his mate.” I point up to the sky, where the dragon is circling. Any moment it could wheel around and blast fire at us again. “I need to be up there–with him.”

“Ten-four, dragon mama. Let’s get this warbird in the air.”

I dig my nails into the sides of the seat. The helicopter engine whines and the blades whir louder and louder.

“You got a plan?” Teddy shouts, throttling the controls. The blades overhead clack and the ground pulls away.

“Sorta,” I holler back. Down below, Deke stands shading his eyes, his hair blowing in the wind.

Teddy dips his chin. He’s flying with a strange lady to chase down a dragon, and he’s not ruffled at all.

A gust blows the helicopter sideways. I grip the seat. “Hang on,” he warns. “You don’t got a parachute like I do.”

I brace myself as we gain height. “I don’t need one.”

The dragon wheels in the air, turning and flying low over the military group. Rafe and the silver-haired man have emerged from their blackened hiding place, arms outstretched with guns in hand. The air pops over and over.

“No,” I hunch, gasping. They’re shooting at the dragon.

Teddy holds a com. He’s shouting, “Hold your fire! Repeat, hold your fire!”

The dragon swoops and grabs a tank, tipping it over. Soldiers take cover, shouting.

I close my eyes and find my center. This is my gift, and I’ve always had it. In my mind, my psychic powers unfurl like dragon’s wings.

It’s okay, I tell the angry red pulse of light that’s the dragon. I’m here. I’m with you. I’m yours.

The dragon roars.

“Shit,” Teddy barks. My eyes fly open as the helicopter tips.

“It’s okay,” I bawl. “Fly higher. We need to be higher!”

The helicopter floats upward. Below us is a blanket of black smoke. The dragon’s wedged head slices through the heart of the huge cloud. Its long neck spears the billowing black, its wings and whipping tail chasing the rolling smoke away. It’s given up belching fire at the soldiers to chase us.

I reach out a hand as if I could touch him. I’m here.

We’re high enough. The military-occupied field is a smoking gray spot far below. I rise from my seat, gripping the console as the wind whips around me.

“What the fuck are you doing?” Teddy shouts.

My heart somersaults, threatening to break out of my chest. This is crazy. “It’s the only way,” I scream and inch forward. I’m at the edge of the helicopter, leaning into empty air.

This is going to be one hell of a trust fall. Dragon, I need you to catch me.

I launch myself into the freezing air. My arms fly up, my hair whipping back.

For a moment, there’s silence. My chest hurts like my insides are shutting down. The ground is fast approaching.

A primordial roar fills my ears, and a great shadow closes over my body. I slam against the cage of its claws.

He caught me. Frozen tears coat my cheeks. I’m safe.

My mouth is open, but I don’t scream. I’m terrified. I don’t want to further agitate the dragon. I curl into a ball in the bony claw, blindly rubbing at the dragon’s scales.

We’re safe, I tell him. Both of us. We’re together. And safe.

Wind whips over my face. I squint between the dragon’s claws.

The silver-grey outline of the castle appears, the blackened tower swaddled in mist. The dragon snaps his wings, his entire body streamlined into a red-gold arrow angling downwards, aiming straight for the mountain. We’re going to crash into the side of the cliff. But when we get closer, a dark slit in the mountainside grows larger, becoming a cave mouth that’s large enough to fit a dragon.

I squeeze my eyes shut. The only sound is the whistling wind and the creaking of the dragon’s wings.