17
Dante
My muscles screamed for relief.My wings were aching from the non-stop hours of flight. But there was no way in hell I wasstopping.
Lorenzo and Gabriel had maybe an hour head-start, at most, but I still hadn’t caught up to them. I snorted smoke in frustration. Had they not stopped to rest for the night at all? I flew furiously, refusing toslowdown.
Judging by the landscape below, I was approaching Stoneheart pack’s lands - if they could even be called that. They barely had enough space to live. The territory surrounding them might as well belong to the humanraiders.
As I passed over the pack’s walls, scanning constantly for any sign of my mate, something caught my eye. It was like a shard of broken glass. I gasped. There, below, was the tell-tale shimmer of clearmagic.
I tucked my wings and instantly flew towards it. My heartrate picked up. I recognized the large silver dragon - Lorenzo. He was tensed with concentration, and then I realized why. He was creating a barrier forStoneheart.
But where the hell wasGabriel?
Everything happened fast. The glimmering shard of glass disappeared. Human shouts and the clatter of steel weapons rose up to meetmyears.
Then I heard it. The haunting, long cry ofawolf.
Mywolf.Gabriel.
Blood rushed in my ears as I held my wings closer, fell faster, like a bullet raining down on theearth.
“Gabriel!” Ishouted.
Humans were closing in on him. My vision blurred from how fast I was falling. If the humans laid a hand on him, I would kill them all. The human closest to Gabriel reached out for him with greedyhands.
I landed hard, my claws digging into the human’s flesh, smacking him into the ground. His neck broke and he diedinstantly.
The other raiders paused, stepping back at the sight of anotherdragon.
I wasted no time. I spread my wings menacingly and spewed a blast of blue fire - so hot that it would melt their skin on contact. They screamed and leapt back, although a few weren’t so lucky toescapeit.
I wasn’t done. With Gabriel safely between my arms, I swung my spined tail hard and knocked back a row of oncoming raiders. I let out a roar so loud the air itself seemed tosplit.
All I knew was fury. My vision blurred red. Stoneheart pack sat safely tucked away in its little corner, behind its safe walls, while my mate fought for their freedom. Rage took control. With a snarl, I darted towards the pack, reared back, and blasted a powerful fireball towardsthewall.
The fireball exploded. A huge whole blasted through the wall. Stone and debris came tumbling down. Now everyone inside Stoneheart pack could see what was really going onoutside.
Unable to contain my anger, I screamed at them. “Gabriel is fighting for you, you fucking cowards! He’s trying to save your stupid lives! The least you can do iswatch!”
“Dante,” Gabriel cried, clutching mychest.
He was probably upset with me. I did just blast a giant hole in his old pack’s defenses. He had every right to be angry, but I had todoit.
“Sorry,” I growled. “It’s something they needtoknow.”
“No,” Gabriel said with a weak laugh. “I’m glad youdidit.”
“Are you okay?” I asked. I quickly looked him over. Blood trickled down his cheek, which ignited anger inside me, but otherwise he seemedunharmed.
“I’m fine,” he said. Tears rimmed his eyes. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you. I’m so sorry, abouteverything.”
“No time for that now.” I nuzzled his face with my snout, loving the warm contact of our bodies. “We can deal with thatlater.”
“Dante, theraiders!”
I whipped towards the voice - Ruby was hovering outside, above the chaos, flapping her wingsfrantically.
