But when a trio of omegas appeared on screen, Gaius quieted down on his own. He watched with a frown that was mirrored on my own face. It quickly became clear what was going on. They were there to harass my mate.
Anger twisted like thorns in my chest. How dare they?
I stood in a hurry, ready to run into the cavern after Muzo and teach those assholes a lesson they’d never forget.
Gaius grabbed my arm. “Cobalt,” he said, his tone uncharacteristically grave. “Look.”
The horrible scene unfolded in slow motion. The tense argument, the shaking camera, the onslaught of collapsing earth, then finally, an all-encompassing cloud of dust.
The live feed cut off from Muzo and Poppy.
They were alone in the caved-in tunnel.
Mypregnant matewas in danger.
Hot fury exploded within me. In a heartbeat, my dragon tore free from my human flesh. The surrounding trees crumpled when my wings snapped open and my tail cracked like a whip. The earth yielded beneath me as my full weight manifested under my claws.
Unfortunately, Gaius was caught in the crossfire of my chaotic shift. He lay flat on his back under a mess of broken branches. He coughed, pushing a twig out of his face. There was a small cut on his cheek, but otherwise he appeared to be in one piece, thank Holy Drake. It terrified me that I could have killed him by accident.
“Gaius, are you—”
“I’m fine, you great big oaf,” he assured me, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. “Go save Muzo and Poppy.”
I nodded swiftly, then leapt towards the cavern. My careful instincts had served me well. I stayed nearby out of concern for my mate, so it only took a couple pumps of my wings to reach the site.
Panic fueled me. I raked my claws across the top of the buckled cavern, tossing the loose earth out of the way. Fear ran cold in my veins when nothing came of it. No matter how much dirt I shovelled aside, all that emerged was more packed earth.
My mate.
Wherewashe?
A dreadful scream-like roar ripped loose from my throat. I couldn’t lose him. I had to save him, no matter what. My body ran on instinct and desperation as I combed through the remains of the tunnel.
I sucked in a hopeful breath when a brownish canine head popped out of the dirt. But it wasn’t a jackal. It wasn’t my Muzo. It was a coyote, one of the bullies. It took every ounce of willpower to restrain myself from crushing him like an insect.
But my rage subsided slightly when the coyote spat out a mouthful of dirt and said, “Over there! Those two were further that way!”
He pointed to a section of the cave that went deeper underground. I left him and followed the length of the tunnel, frantically clawing through the walls.
I cursed myself. Not again. This couldn’t happen again. I couldn’t fail and let my loved ones get hurt. What good was my massive size and my raw power if I couldn’t even help my mate with them?
The uppermost part of the cavern was gone. The only thing remaining was the underground tunnel, and every time I pawed through a section of it, nothing and nobody turned up. My stomach flipped. How deep could they possibly have gone? Or were they buried under a heap of rubble?
It wasn’t working. I had to try something else. I thrust my long neck into the tunnel, blinking rapidly to adjust to the darkness.
But then I sawsomething.
Red. A huge pool of red.
My heart tripped over itself in shock and terror. Was that blood?
But as light poured in from above, I saw something else. Within the red circle was a fluffy yellow-white figure curled up tightly in a ball.
“Poppy,” I cried, my dragon voice booming in the underground chasm.
His ears flicked up. Slowly, he raised his head and blinked his wide brown eyes, then gasped. “Cobalt!”
Although I was relieved to see him safe, that didn’t ease my panic. My mate was nowhere to be seen.
