I fought and yelled through my tears, but no one heard.
Suddenly I heard my name. “Cassius!” It sounded strange. Echoing.
I leaned my head to look past Bish and saw a man running. He had dark hair, a gray suit with a gold vest underneath. His hair flew back from his head in a dark wave. Before my eyes his clothes seemed to explode outward from his body, fluttering into shining designer rags on the breeze. In his place stood a dragon of many colors. It charged forward.
Though I knew who it was, instinct had me recoiling. The two alphas holding my arms behind me dropped me hard. The dragon charged straight toward me. My vision exploded and I screamed again as I felt two, sharp-clawed hands fold against my body. Then I was airborne.
The shock of it increased my panic. The cold wind hurtled by. I couldn’t stop screaming.
Then the wind stopped and I swayed within the dragon’s grip. I opened my eyes and looked around. The dragon had perched at the top of a big tree. His wings were still unfurled as he turned his head and roared.
Fire hurtled downwards from his mouth. The heat of it seared my cheeks and legs. When the smoke cleared I saw Bish and his alpha cohorts running toward the side of the house. I heard someone yell, “Malin! You’re a crazy fucking bastard, man!”
My chest heaved. My throat was almost too tight to breathe. I heard wails in the distance and realized it was my own uncontrolled sobbing.
The clawed grip on my torso shifted. Hot air from giant nostrils fluttered through my hair as the massive dragon looked down at me, his golden eyes, the pupils slitted, slowly blinking.
In that moment, his wings pumped and he lifted up, tree branches cracking under his weight. I heard one branch fall and hit the ground. Then we were flying again and from one second to the next I went from being held by sharp claws to tanned, muscled arms. Naked arms. Naked chest. As Malin ran, cradle-carrying me toward the back doors.
23
Malin
When I came through the kitchen door from the garage, I was looking forward to seeing Cassius. I’d had a great sesh with Jacob. No alcohol required. Jacob told me I seemed calmer over the past weeks, less defensive. He was pleased with my progress.
Undoing my scarf and tossing it on the counter, I called out for Cassius. No answer.
I walked through the dining room and peeked into the game room. No one.
When I realized I had felt a breeze in the hall, I walked around the wall that separated the dining room from the hallway and saw the back doors were open. That was when I heard the screaming. The sobbing. It chilled me to the bone.
I opened my mouth and called out. “Cassius!”
The ear-splitting screams continued. I ran through the doors and across the patio. That was when I saw three men carrying off a struggling Cassius. My Cassius.
“Cassius!” It came out a roar.
Shift. Now!
I didn’t have time to prepare. Malinekan burst through my skin and clothes until I was looking down on everything and everyone. I recognized Bish and my anger grew. My dragon eyes narrowed in on Cassius as I charged. It took only seconds for Malinekan to grab the omega and hurl himself high into the air. His instinct was to get to a treetop for safety. Unless the alphas below shifted, they would not be able to reach us.
Perching on a high branch, Malinekan gave another roar, a river of fire shooting from his throat, challenging them to shift. The alphas scattered at the threat, narrowly avoiding the burn. From our high vantage, we saw them running around the side of the house toward the street. I’d seen a car there when I drove up but thought nothing of it. Sometimes people parked on the road below to hike the woods or fly. As long as they didn’t block my driveway, I didn’t care.
What were Bish and his cronies doing here? He always texted if he wanted to come by. What an ass. Now he was on my shitlist.
Cassius was still sobbing like he was having trouble catching his breath.
Down, Malinekan. Now! Let me have him.
My dragon obeyed in a graceful swoop. It was one of his softest landings. The very next second I was in my naked skin holding a sobbing little wolf on the lawn by the patio.
I sprinted for the doors, running inside and kicking them closed. The closest place to lay Cassius down was the couch in the game room. There had been a fire in there but it was just embers now. The air in the room was cold.
I placed Cassius on the cushions. He was still letting out short, low moans. He coughed every time he breathed out.
I ran my hand down over his chest and stomach. “Did they hurt you? Where are you injured?” Bruises had already begun to show on his face. His legs were hobbled with a belt.
I unfastened and tore off the belt, throwing it toward the fireplace, then cupped his head between my hands.
