“Oh no? I think you will. I think you’ll come crawling back on your knees when you hear your mom’s pain. When she dies because you thought you were too good for me… I know you’ll crawl.”
“Release her family or suffer,” Mack said. His voice was low and deadly, and his eyes were bright amber.
“No. You have an hour, Miracle, then I make your parents and your friend really cry.”
A pain-filled dragon scream blasted through the phone. She knew it was Tonya. Her best friend was being tortured because Miracle had tried to start a new life. Mack ended the call and grabbed her shoulders, giving her a shake.
“What?” she asked, blinded with tears.
“Listen.”
His head was tilted and his eyes were narrowed. She copied his actions, and listened intently. On the wind she could hear the dragon scream. “It’s coming from beyond the mountains,” she said.
“Good. Fly us there, babe.”
“I can’t fight him. He’s bigger than me, and no offense to your alpha skills, but he’s twenty times your size at least.”
“Do you trust me?”
“Of course.”
“Then shift, Miracle. Right now. Only you can get us there in time.”
Nodding, she pushed her phone into a pocket in her suitcase and grasped his hand. She hurried away from the airport toward the parking lot, where she stripped as fast as she could and shifted. Lowering her neck, she waited for Mack to climb up and settle between her shoulders.
“You can do it,” he said, patting her neck.
She wasn’t sure what would happen, but as she lifted into the air with powerful presses of her wings, she knew that they were the only ones who had even a shot of helping. She would never forgive herself if she lost her parents or Tonya.
Tonya screamed again, and the sound cut through Miracle like a blade. Moving high into the sky, she followed the sound and flew at top speed toward the mountain, curving around to the back, away from the gated community. Behind the mountain was a valley with a lake, and thick woods that she and her family had been hunting in for years. Below in the distance, she could see firelight and an odd blue glow close to the ground. Figures lurked in the shadows, and Tonya’s dragon was stretched out on the ground near the fire.
“Let’s end this,” Mack said, snarling the words. He gripped her neck tightly as she dove for the valley. She let out her most terrifying roar, punctuating the sound with her fire. As she neared the ground, she felt Mack change forms, and she slowed her speed so he could leap safely to the ground. As her mate landed near Tonya, she wheeled around, roaring, and headed straight for the people who were screaming in terror.
It was a bad time to be caught in the woods mistreating the people she loved.
Chapter 8
Mack landed near Miracle’s friend, who was tied from head to tail with ropes that were staked into the ground. There were four males in the clearing by the lake. Three wore dark cloaks and carried the scent of rotting wood and blood. He suspected they were wizards, and that the fourth male was Miracle’s former mate.
Leaping for the nearest cloaked male, Mack wrapped his jaws around his shoulder and shook him like a doll, bones crunching under the pressure. The male pounded on his head to try and make Mack release him. It took only a swift movement to let go of his shoulder and grab his throat, ending his life with a cracking sound.
Racing down the length of the dragon, he cut through the ropes with his sharp teeth until Tonya was able to shake the bindings off herself and rise to her feet. She roared in fury. Mack headed for Miracle, who was facing off against the other two wizards. Her former mate had disappeared. Mack jumped and landed on the back of one of the wizards, digging claws into his flesh.
Tonya screeched behind him, the sound so full of rage that the fur on the back of his neck rose. Miracle growled as the other wizard she fought used magic, shooting blue fireballs that exploded and sizzled against her scales. Mack attempted to lock his jaws around the wizard he was fighting, but the male rolled to the ground suddenly. Mack lost his grip and rolled off as the wizard struggled to his feet and recited something in a language Mack didn’t know. His fingertips began to glow blue, and a wicked smile curved his mouth as he lifted his hands at Mack.
A blast of ice hit the wizard. Tonya had joined the fray, using her ice power to freeze the male in his tracks. His skin turned blue, then frosty white. Icicles dangled from his limbs. With a roar that shook the trees, Tonya lifted one leg and smashed the wizard to pieces, his body shattering as if he were made of glass.