Monster behind her, monster in front of her, and she had to choose a death—teeth or fire.
The fire was hers in a way though, right? It belonged to her alpha, to her crew, to her mate. And she would do anything for Torren.
Fire it was.
“Don’t let the devil out,” she gritted through clenched teeth just to keep her courage.
She leapt through the air just as Vyr’s body swelled and his clothes ripped, and blood-red scales covered him. She was good at jumping, thank the tiger. And she was good with her claws as she wrapped her arms around his neck and her legs around his body as best she could.
And she recalled Torren’s story, recalled the dream, and she said the words that had stopped his fire all those years ago. “Stop or you’ll hurt Torren! You’ll hurt him, and he’ll never be your friend again. He won’t be your friend, Vyr. He won’t!”
The wind was deafening as he lifted them higher, and something exploded with great force right above them. A missile? Vyr’s dragon rippled out of him, growing impossibly big. Candace screamed and held onto the slick scales of his elongating neck, clawing desperately for purchase.
Higher and higher they rose. In horror, she looked down at the ground just in time to see Nox with a dart gun, unleashing hell in their direction as Torren blasted his fists against the crowd, covering Nox’s back and buying him precious seconds. Pain pricked her back in two spots, and as she lost her grip on the dragon, she shrieked. Her breath was stolen as she fell from the sky and back to earth, and she wasn’t coming alone. A single red-feathered dart was stuck in Vyr’s neck, right where he was missing a scale. Nox had damn good aim. When Vyr roared, he blistered her skin with the heat of his fire as he sprayed it across the woods and fell with her.
Even if she survived the fall, she wouldn’t live through Vyr crushing her body under his monstrous weight. And because she knew it was the end, and because she wanted to be brave, she yelled out, “Torren, I’m sorry!” and hoped to God he understood. Sorry she couldn’t save his friend, sorry she couldn’t save herself, sorry his life would be darker because she hadn’t been enough. She was sorry she hadn’t saved him because now HavoK would drive them into the ground to cope.
Just before impact, she flinched in on herself and closed her eyes, but she didn’t hit like she’d expected to. She was blasted from the side and went sailing through the air so fast her breath was sucked from her lungs. Torren’s strong arms were around her. He did his best to shield her from the impact with his body when they hit the earth.
Vyr nearly slammed a wing onto them, but lifted at the last second, and as he shattered inward, jerking and twitching as he shrank, he arched his long neck back and spewed fire into the air with a deafening screech. Smaller and smaller he became until the dragon roar became a man’s scream. Vyr fell to his knees in the snow, arms out, body flexed, wings retracting into his body as he stared at the sky with gritted teeth.
“Can you walk?” Torren asked in a rush.
“Y-yes.” She hoped she could at least.
“Good girl.” Torren righted her quickly and pulled her by the hand.
Too fast because she stumbled. Her body wasn’t working right, and she retched. Maybe it was the darts in her back. She couldn’t even feel her tiger right now. She felt completely empty. It was terrifying being so alone in this body for the first time in her life.
Torren didn’t stop running until they stood in front of Vyr. And then Nox and Nevada were here, blocking their alpha from the weapons that were trained on him, and from whatever hid in the woods that Butte had organized to end the Red Dragon.
The clearing was eerily silent as officers stood in clusters, faces confused, eyes flickering to each other, and then back to the crew, weapons trained on them.
Butte was Changed back and wore a pair of black cargo pants. He looked furious and was saying something low into the radio on his shoulder.
“Vyr Daye, you’re under arrest for the destruction you caused in Covington,” he called, making his way toward them. “And for the destruction of two police cruisers today.”
“Fuck you, Butte,” Torren spat.
“Torren,” Vyr rumbled. “It’s fine. I’m ready. You’ll take Alpha while I’m away.” He arched his attention to Candace. “You. Welcome to the Sons of Beasts Crew. You have a job to do, and don’t forget it for a second while I’m gone. Keep. Torren. Steady.”
Candace blinked back burning tears. It was a confusing moment. She’d just been welcomed to the crew by her alpha, but he was about to leave and cripple them. And she was worried about him. “I don’t think you should go alone,” she murmured. “They just had a plan in place to kill you, Vyr. You can’t trust them to get you to the shifter prison alive.”
“No, I can’t.” Vyr stood slowly and winced like his body hurt. “But I can trust him to escort me there safely.” He flicked his fingers at an approaching black SUV that was picking its way through the chaos. As it pulled around, the back window rolled down Damon Daye sat somberly in the back.
“Aw fuck,” Butte muttered when he looked in that direction. He leaned over to the radio on his shoulder and murmured, “Abort mission and back way off. The Blue Dragon just got here. I repeat, abort all plans.”
“Sorry, Sheriff Butts,” Nox said, resting his hands on his hips. “If you fuck with Damon’s kid, he’ll snuff your entire family out of existence. If I was you, and I would hate to be you because your name is Hanky Panky and your polar bear is hideous, I would make sure Vyr gets where he’s going in one piece. I mean if you like breathing and all.”
Sheriff Butte handcuffed Vyr roughly and shoved him toward one of the remaining cruisers.
“Alpha,” Torren called. “What’s our play?”
“No play,” he called over his shoulder. “You’re alpha now. Keep the crew intact. Try not to fuck up too much. Wait for me. One year and I’ll be back.” He tossed Torren a look over his shoulder that Candace couldn’t read, but a thousand things seemed to pass between them in a matter of moments before he was shoved roughly into the back of a police cruiser.
“Candace Sumner,” Damon Daye called to her formally. He had silver dragon eyes like Vyr, but dark hair gone gray at the temples. He was striking as a man and emulated pure confidence when he spoke. “You did more than you realize. Your late-father’s medical debts will be paid by the end of the day. Torren, I’ve made a donation to your sister. Her surgery is now covered with the help of all the crews. Use the money you’ve been saving to make something of yourself. You heard Vyr. You’re alpha until he comes home.” He gave a slight, sad smile. “Fix up the sawmill. Give your dad some competition.” Damon dipped his chin in a sign of respect and then rolled up the window.
The police cruisers, news team, and Damon’s SUV trickled out of the clearing and into the woods.