“According to Ivan, one of the guys took a bad fall, twisting his ankle. After making sure it wasn’t broken, they carried him off the trail into some bushes so the dude could shift.”
“Shit!”
“Hey…no worries,” Riley said. “He’s fine now but Ivan decided to slow their descent since it’s much steeper on that side of the mountain.”
“Have you picked up any more trackers?”
“Nope…at least not on that frequency…but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any. From what I could uncover, the trackers are military grade and fucking expensive.”
“How expensive?” growled Ghost.
“The cost of just one would put a serious dent in a dragon’s hoard. You do the math.”
“Well, that should narrow down the suspects who could be funding this operation,” Ghost muttered.
“Yeah…and before you ask,” Riley replied, “I’ve already compiled a list. It should be in all of your email inboxes so when you get a chance, take a look and let me know if any of them rings a bell. In the meantime, my magic fingers are searching for any information that would show who purchased the trackers.”
“Will do. Have you heard back from Smokey or Snow White?”
“Nope…but I didn’t expect to hear from Glenn. He’s left on his mission so for the time being is incommunicado. As for Smokey, I have no idea where he is at the moment but according to Ivan, everything’s okay. Just don’t ask me how he knows that because I haven’t a clue.”
“Let Ivan know it will be about an hour before I get there,” Ghost said.
“What about Smokey? Do you want me to call him?”
“No…I’ll take care of it. Just keep a lookout for any more humans, will’ya?”
“Will do,” Riley said, before hanging up.
After his call to Smokey went to voicemail, Ghost slammed his fist against the steering wheel while cursing a blue streak. The mission was turning into a total clusterfuck, and he blamed himself for believing it was only a simple rescue. From his years with the agency, he knew better than anyone that no assignment was ever simple but, for some dumb reason, believed Smokey’s claim that this one would be.
The only saving grace was Glenn’s insistence on Smokey taking some men with him. Even though he was thankful for that, it didn’t ease his fear that more shit was about to hit the fan, especially since his tiger hadn’t stopped pacing since his plane landed. Turning his attention back to the road, Ghost pressed down on the accelerator, tightening his hold on the steering wheel as the clunky SUV protested.
~/~/~/~/~
Exiting the portal, Alex found himself in a vast cavern, filled with his brother’s hoard. Speechless, he took several steps towards a chair made of gold, then froze as his dragon demanded to be free. Instantly he realized his mistake in exposing him to all this treasure. He should have anticipated what his dragon’s reaction would be, especially after what happened after he received Fionn’s mating gift. From that time on, his dragon had demanded he and his mates sleep on the floor next to the magnificent golden statue.
Now, with so much gold tantalizing his dragon, Alex was faced with the dilemma of how to deny him from shifting. The situation brought up unpleasant memories of childhood when he was at the mercy of his animals’ demands. Taking a step back, his eyes searched wildly for a means to escape, knowing if he didn’t leave immediately, his dragon would burst forth. And if that happened, he was going to be stuck here because his dragon would never allow him to shift back.
Hearing Alex’s cry, Fionn looked over his shoulder at his brother, recognizing the distress in his face. Alarmed, he turned around, and grabbed Alex’s shoulders. “Look at me,” Fionn demanded, trying to get his brother to focus on him. “Tell me what’s wrong!”
Joining his mate, Hunter looked closely at Alex and was immediately aware of what was happening. Pushing Fionn aside, he pulled Alex tight to him while flooding the room with his Alpha power; he wasn’t sure it would work, but he had to try.
Slowly the dragon responded and reluctantly yielded, handing control back to Alex. Gasping in relief, Alex clung to Hunter, hoping it would keep him from collapsing from the strain. Even in his childhood, when his animals would fight, he could always control them, but this had frightened him.
“Feeling better?” Hunter quietly asked.
Sucking in several breaths first, Alex waited until his strength returned, allowing him to stand on his own. Stepping back, he said, “Thank you, but I think I should go back to France.”
“Why do you wanna do that?” asked Fionn. “I haven’t given you the surprise yet?”
“He’s afraid of his dragon,” Quin murmured, understanding the problem. “Just so you know, I’m not judging Alex, ‘cause I know how scary it is when it happens.”
“Whenwhathappens?” asked Fionn, perplexed.
“When your animal takes control,” Quin replied. “Hunter has always helped me when my wolf does it. I’m not sure why my wolf does it sometimes and not others…I think something weird triggers him but I haven’t figured out what it is yet.”
“The gold did it for my dragon,” Alex said, softly. “That’s why I need to go…before it happens again.”
