I closed my eyes as he took off, his speed fast enough to blur us to anyone watching. I always got a bit motion sick when travelling at vampire speed. The journey into the forest, which had taken me fifteen minutes, was over in seconds. Back in front of the town hall, Maximus dropped me to all fours, before turning his back – in deference to my own personal preference for privacy. I called on my energy and shifted back to human form. I stretched out my limbs and shook off the moment’s disorientation as colors and light flooded my vision.
I strode ten feet to reach one of the many clothes-bins that littered Stratford. Reaching in blindly I grabbed the first couple of things my hands touched, looking down I nodded. This would work. I shoved the white t-shirt over my head and pulled on denim cutoffs. They were a little big but I just rolled the band over once, exposing a line of tanned midriff.
I hurried back to Maximus. On the way I noticed the main double doors were blocked by a large scaled tail. Black with hints of blue tipping the edges. Braxton was the size of a house in his dragon form, and he was wedged in the entrance. Dragons were the most powerful, rare, and scary, of the shifter forms. By size alone they dominated the supernatural races.
As I reached Maximus, I grabbed his arm. “We’re going to have to use the side entrance.”
We moved fast. I could hear screaming from inside, but the lack of magic in the air told me it hadn’t escalated too far. Yet.
Reaching the door I scrambled with the handle; the damn thing was locked. Maximus reached around me and snapped the silver clasp, before cracking the whole door right off the hinges.
“I could have done that,” I shot out as he threw the metal aside. He just grinned, flashing a little fang. Showoff.
It was chaos inside. The weaker were pushing back from the drama, and as soon as they noticed the exit we’d provided, they started scrambling to get through. Which of course made it damn difficult to go in the direction toward the dragon. Maximus stepped in front of me and used his bulk to bulldoze us through the crowd. I gripped the back of his shirt so as not to lose him in the panic. I was grateful he was in front. It would be easy to be crushed in this crowd, especially by the trolls and gargoyles. When they hit you it felt as if they were made of wood and stone, which was not surprising, as those were their other forms.
As we made it further into the hall I noticed that the council leaders, some elders, and other powerful members of the five supes races, were standing around Braxton in a semi-circle. It was some type of standoff. The dragon wasn’t attacking yet, but smoke poured from his huge snout and nostrils and the rumbling roars that were shaking the ground told me he was reaching the end of his patience.
Some random supernatural hit me hard from the side. With a shriek I went head-over-ass and landed on my face. Smooth. My wolf was real proud of that graceful move. Before I could pull myself up, Maximus lifted me without effort and hauled me over his shoulder. Wasting no more time, he started barreling through the crowd.
Increased growls and rumbles flooded my ears. Braxton’s long snout had shifted direction and was now roaring at us. What the heck? Slowly, Maximus lowered me to the ground.
“She’s fine, Brax,” he said, holding both hands in the air. “No one is touching her.”
Right. Dragons were possessive, and in this form Braxton had less control over his base instincts.
I pushed my way around Maximus and glared at the deadly but visually stunning dragon. He was massive; he’d had to tuck his wings in at his side to have room for movement. The black and blue of his scales shone even in the dying light. The bright yellow eyes surveyed the room, before locking me in his gaze. He roared again and I decided to take a stand. In general I didn’t think much before I acted, and my plans were often considered to be brave or stupid. Usually both.
“Braxton Compass,” I scolded him, moving right up into his strike zone, my hands on my hips. “Your scaled dragon ass is blocking the doorway.”
Jacob, Tyson, and Maximus crowded behind me. They were ready to snatch me up if their brother made the wrong move. But I knew it would have to be pretty exceptional circumstances before Braxton would lose enough of himself to hurt me.
The massive beast lowered his head until we were eye to eye. He would scent trickles of my fear, but despite my body’s involuntary response, I wasn’t really afraid of Braxton. His dragon was a little unpredictable, but he was strong enough to keep both of them controlled. I knew he’d pulled this stunt to remind the council where the real power lay and that he didn’t like secrets being kept, especially when they personally affected us. I wondered for a second then where Mischa had ended up in the crazed exodus from the hall.
The dragon and I continued our stare-off, my dark blue eyes locked on his yellow. “Let’s call it a tie,” I finally said, grinning and raising my eyebrows at the same time.
With a huff of smoke that enveloped my entire head, he lifted his long snout full of razor sharp teeth away from me. There was a pull of power, and with a bit of a light-and-energy-show he started to shift back to human form. I let out the breath I hadn’t even realized I’d been holding, my heart rate finally slowed, and when Jacob moved to grab Braxton some clothes I turned to find my father right beside me. My smile faded out to a glare. Jonathon was far too close for my liking right now.
“I’m not talking to you.” I pointed a finger, uncaring that he was my alpha and council leader. “How could you have lied to me all of these years?” I hated that my voice trembled on those last words. My anger sometimes turned me into a hot mess of tears.