"If you're hurt—" he snarled into the bed.
"Ronson or Seamus will assure I am not," I soothed, leaning forward to cover his hands with my own.
"That ismyresponsibility," he said, voice growing even more tense and dark.
I took a silent breath. "It is, and that's what you'll be doing, Torion. Just as you'll be protecting Tylane, the Hills, the ungrateful betas, and the omegas who will be better off for your rule here. Using your allies is part of that. Speaking of?—"
"Seamus is gathering the betas we trust," Torion mumbled, and then groaned, going limp on the bed.
If I'd been asked just a handful of months ago what I would do in this situation, it would've been to run with Tylane. Even now, a part of me demanded that action. I did trust Mairwen to keep my daughter safe—the woman had dragon's breath, after all. Even more so, I trusted Torion towin. Challenge, siege, argument, it didn't matter. He would be the victor.
"Mate, you are stronger and cannier than anyone realizes," I said, rubbing over his hands. His head stirred on the bed, one ear turning up to listen. "You will win a challenge?—"
"If he brings anarmy?—"
"If he brings an army, you will outwit him with diplomacy," I said. Torion snorted, and my eyes narrowed. "Don't tell me you think the way they do. Our land is rougher and we live in tune with it, but we are not simple folk."
Torion grumbled and rolled onto his side, glaring at me from under a dark, glossy curl of hair. "Of course not."
"Good. Then act like it. Poke at his pride. Mock him. Make it personal. Shame him for bringing a fleet of betas in a matter that should be settled between alphas," I said, snapping the words in a line, watching the spark light in Torion's eyes, the gentle twitch of his lips.
"Clever witch," he teased, words thick and warm with affection.
I smiled and sat up, letting the sheets fall to my lap, leaning over his face and kissing across his brow, down the length of his nose. His hands left my knees to circle around my ribs, thumbs brushing the underside of my breasts.
"All will be well, mate," I promised, flirting my mouth over his as his purr began to thrum. "Let's go greet our daughter and face what the day brings."
He took his time petting my waist and back, nuzzling up into gentle kisses, a private moment of soothing between us before we had to open the door to reality, the danger we truly faced.
You could lose everything, an old voice hissed to me.
It was and was not my voice that answered.No. We'll win.
Chapter Thirty-Eight
BRIGID
That danger became apparent midday as the sky grew heavy with great shadows of dragon wings soaring over the brown and gray hills, one after another. We stood in a crowd south of the keep, a few of the betas—including Samuel Cameron—already transformed into their dragons. Faces turned high to count the incoming arrivals, but Torion and I looked to each other, his whisky eyes solemn as I did my best to keep the gnawing worry from growing obvious in my expression.
"Nearly fifty," Niall murmured at Torion's left.
Torion's hand tightened around mine. We had thirty betas on the field with us, but it was just over half of them who could transform into their own dragons. We were badly outnumbered. My fingertips tingled as I tightened my grip on Torion's hand.
If Damian Worthington attacked without discussion, we likely stood no chance of winning. Torion had to make him demand a challenge.
"Keep close to Ronson and Niall," Torion murmured to me.
"We ought to have Mairwen on the field," Ronson said, his eyes scanning the approaching dragons. "She could bat most of those men aside like flies."
"All the more reason to keep her watching over Tylane," I said, but I directed the words to Torion—a reminder to us both that our daughter was safe and we had to keep our focus on the present threat.
I rose to my toes and pressed my cheek to Torion's, holding tightly to his shoulders, his grip firm on my hips. His nose turned to trail over my cheekbone as he took a deep breath. He'd told me once I smelled like "home" and refused to elaborate further. I forced myself to relax, to lean into him and pretend for a moment that we were alone, even as the cold wind of the hills struck my exposed side. Torion sighed as my scent bloomed for him, just a little.
"Go," I whispered, and he nodded, but neither of us moved.
What if I was wrong? What if I should've agreed to run, should've demanded that Torion come with us? What if I lost him today because I'd been too stubborn, yet again?
Unacceptable. The declaration was hard and thunderous inside of me, made of stone that ran deep down into the ground below me.
