Page 38 of Dark Dragon’s Wolf

She opened her mouth to ask him, but at that moment Kira appeared in the shed doorway. “There you are,” she said. “The barbecue’s winding down, and we need to get started on this traveling thing. It could take some time.”

She looked from one to the other of them, sensing the tension in the air.

“Sure,” Tristan said. “Let’s do it.” He stood up.

Mayah touched him briefly on the arm, but he didn’t acknowledge her, just gestured for her to precede him out of the shed.

Mayah sighed. And things had been going so well.

Chapter 17

Mayah gave Tristan one last frustrated look, and headed off to the main cabin with her sister. Tristan followed behind.

He knew she was upset. They’d never talked about kids before—but she had to know he’d never bring a cub into the world, knowing it might go through what he’d been through.

Even if it might be a dragon.

For a second, he got a flash of a little girl with his blond hair and Mayah’s green eyes. A tiny silver dragon.

He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, looking over at the fire.

Sloan was playing the guitar softly, while Caitlyn sat on the quilt with the babies, now sleeping. Tank had Arden standing on his leg, holding her up. She was giving him little baby growls, and he was growling playfully back at her.

Jenny sat in a chaise, and Brandon had turned panther and was curled up with his head against her baby bump, purring as she stroked his fur.

The others were cleaning up after the barbecue, carrying leftover food into the main cabin.

Tristan went inside. Kira and Mayah and Flynn were already upstairs in Flynn’s study, and Flynn was leaning on the loft railing, growling at the rest of the crew in the kitchen below.

“Hurry the fuck up, would you? And then make sure everyone stays out of here. We’ve got some shit to do, and we need peace and quiet.”

Tristan went up the stairs and joined Kira and Mayah, who were sitting in two of the four chairs around a small conference table. His head was pounding, even though he hadn’t had any alcohol.

But he needed to get through this. For Mayah.

In a minute, Flynn joined them. They’d already explained about the ghosts, what happened in the woods, what Mayah’s dragon had said, and what they wanted Kira to do. Now, Mayah was describing the destination they’d settled on: the white-tiled hallway with the glass-fronted rooms.

“It does sound like it’s here on Earth,” Flynn agreed. “Some kind of lab—maybe Gen-X.” He growled. “I really, really hate those fuckers. And if they have kids in there, I want to blow them the hell up.”

“You and me both,” Tristan said. Flynn nodded. All the Bad Bloods harbored a hatred for anyone who captured and tortured shifters. Especially kids.

“So you’ll help us?” Mayah asked. “If we find them, I mean. We’ll need help rescuing them—Tristan and I can’t do it alone.”

Flynn rested his dark eyes on Tristan, assessing. “We can’t decide shit until we figure out where they are,” he said. “Which is why I agreed to do this, even though Tristan looks like he’s in no fucking shape to do anything but kick back with a good bottle of whiskey.”

That sounded like heaven, especially if he were in bed with Mayah at the time. But he had to do this, and the sooner the better. While he still could.

Flynn turned to Kira. “Are you sure Tris even needs to be a part of this?”

“I’d like to say no,” Kira said. “But the ‘ghosts’ seem to respond best to both of them.”

Mayah’s dragon said. Tristan saw Kira and Flynn both give a little start, so apparently the dragon was talking to everyone.

“Why?” Kira asked.

It didn’t fucking matter. He wasn’t letting her do this alone.

“Will you all stop talking about me like I’m not here?” Tristan snarled. “I’m fine.”