He wrapped a massive paw around her back and stilled, allowing her to clean the other side of his face. And when she was finished, he pressed his nose against the bite mark on her shoulder and the claw marks up her back. They would scar, but they weren’t fatal. Already her shifter healing was working to cinch up her skin.
Everything hurt, but that was okay. She would rather feel pain than nothing. God, that had been so close.
Above them, a pair of raven shifters flew, and a great snowy owl circled up near the clouds. Three giant bear shifters loped out of the woods to the west, and suddenly, the sky was blotted out by an enormous green dragon with gold scales along her stomach. Harper and her Bloodrunners were here. She landed in the clearing, clicking her firestarter in warning as she circled Kane and Rowan’s limp bodies, shaking the earth with each step. Logan roared his own warning to back the fuck off, and Winter crouched over their bodies protectively. She’d heard of the Bloodrunners, but she didn’t know them, and right now, the Blackwing Dragons were at their most vulnerable. A black sports car pulled up, and Emma, Beast and Dustin piled out, looking around the clearing in shock and wariness.
Harper shrank into her human form. Straight-backed, naked, and furious, she glared at the piles of carnage in a trail that led to the woods. “Change back,” she demanded.
Logan was pacing now, bumping Winter’s side on each tight pass
“It’s okay,” Rowan whispered, her eyes wide. “Harper, they saved us.”
A long horrifying rumble emanated from Kane, but his eyes were still closed, his breathing still steady. The air cracked with dark power that hurt Winter’s stomach, and Kane’s skin cracked on his arms, then cinched together, then cracked again wider, like his dragon would force his way out of him at any moment. Whatever was happening inside of Dark Kane was bad.
Winter Changed back in a rush, and behind her, Logan tucked his bear away, too.
Harper knelt down near Rowan and lifted her head in her lap. “What happened?”
“The A-Team… They weren’t here to join our crew. They were here to end it.” Rowan was shaking badly, from the meds or from adrenaline, or maybe both. A tear slipped from her eye as she rolled her head and looked at her mate. “They put our dragons to sleep. Harper, The Darkness doesn’t like being put to sleep. Not after being dormant for so long. Everyone needs to leave.”
“The Darkness?” Dustin asked, his eyes glowing as he paced, gaze locked on Kane. He was snarling, like he wanted to attack. “He calls his dragon The fucking Darkness?”
“Get in the car,” Beast told Emma.
When Dustin stayed, glaring at Kane’s limp body, Beast grabbed him by the scruff of the neck and shoved him toward the car.
“What about you?” Winter asked Rowan in a worried whisper. “Will he hurt you?”
“No,” she said. “But I’m the only one who can keep The Darkness from burning the mountains again. Winter, thank you for staying. For fighting. For keeping us safe.”
Winter looked at the claw marks on Rowan’s arms and shook her head, disappointed in herself for not being better, bigger, more dominant. Rowan would have scars like her now.
“Go on,” Rowan said. “Kane will be eating ashes today, and I don’t want any of you around when he does.”
Winter looked up at Harper and backed away, exposing her neck. And when she reached Logan, Winter slipped her hand into his offered one. He’d been silent except for the constant growl in his throat. All Winter could feel was his bear.
“See you soon, Rowan,” Winter promised over her shoulder.
“Winter,” Rowan called weakly, stopping them in their tracks.
“Yeah?” Winter asked, turning.
“My friends call me Roe.”
Winter smiled and swallowed down the thick emotion in her throat. “See you soon, Roe.”
Chapter Eighteen
Kane’s Mountains smelled like fresh soot and smoke. The wind whipped Winter’s hair around as she stood near a long scorch mark where Logan had dropped the A-Team two days ago.
Two days? It felt like so much longer. Winter cuddled her jacket closer. All of the worrying and the nightmares over killing that tiger shifter made every minute feel like ten. She’d stopped trying to sleep completely, but that hadn’t lifted the concerns over Kane’s threat.
He could still kill Logan.
Logan slipped his strong hands over her shoulders and kissed the back of her head. “You ready?” he murmured against her hair.
“Why do you think he only called us here?” she asked in a whisper.
“Come on now, you aren’t a scaredy cat, are you? I saw you, little brawler, going to war with grizzlies and tigers to protect dragons. You turn killer when someone you care about is threatened. Everything is going to be okay.” But his voice wavered on that last part.
Winter turned and kissed his knuckles, then let him lead her to Kane’s cabin. Logan knocked so hard the door rattled, but that was just him. Big, dominant man who didn’t know his own strength sometimes. Except with her. He turned gentle when he touched her.
“Come in,” Kane clipped out.
Logan pushed the door open and stepped aside, allowing Winter in first.
Rowan and Kane sat at the kitchen table facing them with a pair of blue folders in front of them. When Kane had invited her to be a part of the crew, he’d pulled her registration papers from one just like those.
Winter inhaled sharply with hope.