Citrine watched as Robbie snarled, stopping Bryson, who looked at her, amused. The two wolves circled as Citrine tried to shake off his head injury, still seeing little sparkling stars in his mind.

He made it into the arena and fell to his knees, still fighting the blinding pain in his head.

If he were in dragon form, he’d heal nearly instantly. But he didn’t have dragon form, and with the collar, he couldn’t access it.

He looked up to see Robbie dodging Bryson’s paw expertly. So Bryson would actually fight a woman? His future mate? Still, his heart glowed with pride for Robbie, strong and fierce as she dodged back and then attacked, snapping her jaws.

What was her alpha power?

With frustration, Citrine realized she wasn’t using it, as Bryson finally dropped a paw on her, knocking her on her back. Seeing her pinned there, Bryson looking down with murder in his eyes, Citrine had never felt more helpless or more enraged.

He stumbled forward to the center of the clearing, grabbing at his collar, not caring about the searing pain as he clawed at it.

“Come on, come on,” he said desperately.

“What? So weak?” Bryson said, keeping one paw on Robbie and stroking a claw over her throat. “Can’t protect her? Can’t even help?” He laughed, an unnerving thing to see in wolf form. “Say good-bye, traitor.”

Citrine fell to his knees, looking up at the heavens, the sun, as he reached deep inside him to the powers he never dared to touch. The ones he’d always been afraid of unleashing. But if he was going to lose Robbie, he didn’t care if he died or if anything else happened. Deep inside him, he knew there was a way out of this, and even if it hurt like hell, he was going to find it.

He felt white-hot, blazing heat filling his chest as if it would burst him. He couldn’t breathe and felt his heart nearly stop as his mind went totally blank. The pure, white light took over, shooting out of him and up to the sky in a column of fiery light that probably reached to the heavens.

He felt full of light, the embodiment of it, and felt a snap as the collar broke, exploding with little sparks as it flew off his neck in pieces, and the light disappeared from his eyes.

He stood up, tired but enervated, finally in control of his regular power again. He thanked that terrible power deep inside him and slowly locked it away.

He looked at Robbie and her parents, making sure no one was blinded, but since he’d been facing the sky, the blinding beam had shot upward and not caused anyone harm.

He cracked his knuckles as he approached Bryson, allowing his shift to take hold.

His head was no longer hurting, his strong dragon blood running wild, and he was now good and ready for a fight. In a second, he had turned into his dragon. Unlike the ugly transformation Bryson had gone through, Citrine’s dragon appeared in an instant, in just a flash of shimmering light.

Now he towered over Bryson, taller and longer and with much better claws. Not to mention giant gold wings that shimmered along the edges with gemstones. He didn’t have time to look down at Robbie and wonder how she felt. He had to free her first.

He swung around and caught Bryson in the face with the spikes of his tail, knocking him off Robbie completely.

Robbie got up to run but waited expectantly, as if wondering if Citrine would need her. He nearly laughed because it was nice that his mate would stand by his side, but she’d already done enough, probably saved his life, and now his dragon could take care of the rest.

She really was one of a kind, a fighter, and he couldn’t wait to just get to know her even more.

Bryson recovered and crept along the back edge of the arena, narrowing his eyes at Citrine. “What are you?” he snarled.

“Isn’t it obvious?” Citrine asked eloquently.

He heard a cackling laugh from Robbie’s direction, where she was sitting by her parents now, still in her wolf.

“Date-A-Dragon. I get it now,” she yelled.

He nodded. “Bryson, we can do this the hard or the easy way. We don’t have to—”

But Bryson lunged forward, aiming for the neck, and Citrine was forced to raise a claw, slashing him hard on the face, knocking him backward.

Citrine watched in shock as the deep gashes left by his talons faded almost immediately. Holy hell, this was one powerful shifter. The oracle was going to have to know about this. About just how strong some of the wolves had gotten.

But it was still no match for a dragon. Citrine had been trying to be careful, naturally wanting to cause as little harm as possible. But that was just not possible now.

Bryson was pacing with bloodlust in his eyes, and if Citrine let him get past him, he had no doubt he was going for Robbie and her parents and maybe even the whole town.

This animal was a killer, and though Citrine hated harming any life, he’d do what he had to in order to take it down.

Focusing light inside him, he let it burn to a white-hot ball and then opened his mouth and fired it, like a laser, straight into Bryson’s chest.

There was a horrible burning, sizzling sound as Bryson dropped to the ground, snarling and rolling, with the smell of burning flesh.

Finally, he shifted back to a human and rolled in the dirt, naked and crying. Citrine changed back as well, running forward to see what harm was done.

He hadn’t meant to kill the guy.

He skidded to a halt in front of Bryson, pulling off his tunic to put over the other man. All dragons retained their exact clothed forms when they transformed, but other shifters didn’t.

Bryson was still screaming and steaming, and Citrine grabbed him by the shoulder, shaking him. Bryson was scrabbling at his chest, so Citrine pulled his hands away to study the burning wound. It was trying to heal but still burning, and Bryson was howling with pain.

Citrine knew the fight was over, that if Bryson did recover, he could simply wound him again, so he decided to help him. He really couldn’t stand any creature in pain.

He put his hands over Bryson’s wound and focused on healing, pulling the fire and the heat away until Bryson went calm and still, passed out from the pain and exertion.

Robbie jogged over to them, still in wolf form, and pressed her paw on Bryson’s chest. There was a flash of green, and then a paw print appeared on his chest with marks around it.

“He’s sealed now. He can’t shift,” Robbie said. “That’s my power. I knew I might need it if I mated him, but I didn’t want to do it in the middle of the fight if I didn’t have to.”

“But he had you pinned,” Citrine said, gaping.

“I wasn’t sure it would work when he was so far gone. But it’s fine.” She gave him a smile. “I knew you would save me.”

He threw his arms around her shoulders, burying his face in her fur. Damn, he loved this woman so much. She’d believed in him even when he hadn’t, been there for him in his fight. And everything had worked out after all.

“We’ll give you some privacy,” Livvy said, handing over a blanket for Robbie and turning her back along with her husband.

Robbie shifted back, and Citrine held the blanket up for her, wrapping her in it to cover her nakedness.

As soon as she was covered, they heard stirring on the ground as Bryson started to come to. “I can’t shift! Shit! I can’t shift!”

“I’m not unsealing you,” Robbie said shortly. “Not until you face the Tribunal.”

“I fought fairly,” he snarled.

“Fair?” Livvy said, whirling around on him. “You tried to eat your opponent, you threatened the crowd, and you drew your claw as if to kill your possible mate.” She was spitting mad. “You fought horribly, and you lost. And the only reason you’re alive is because Citrine took pity on you.”

Bryson rolled his eyes. “I could have beaten him.”

Robert walked over and swiftly punched Bryson in the face, knocking him out. Then he shook his fist, looking up apologetically. “That’s really all I could take of him,” he said, making everyone else laugh.

He put Bryson’s arm around his shoulder and started for their car, still parked at the edge of the arena. “Robbie, your mother and I are going to take Bryson home to his parents to talk to them about how to get in touch with the Tribunal. You two enjoy some time together, make sure you’re both okay.”

Citrine nodded, still a little surprised by the turn of events as he put a hand to his neck and felt the absence of the collar. Had a dragon ever just burst one off?

Then again, most dragons didn’t have an elemental power corresponding to the sun.

Robbie looked over at him shyly, and he could almost hear all the questions she had without even reading her mind.

“Are you okay?” he asked, picking her up in his arms to carry her back to the house.

“Yes,” she said. “He didn’t hurt me, thanks to you.”

“What were you thinking? Getting involved in a fight.”

“I was thinking my man was in trouble,” she said stubbornly, raising a hand to his face. “And you can put me down. I can walk.”

“No,” he said. “I won the challenge. You’re mine. I’m keeping my prize in my arms for now.”

She giggled. “If you hadn’t hit a rock hard enough to kill someone, I’d have some ideas about how to make things official.”

“I didn’t hit the rock that hard,” he said with a grin. He stopped when they got to the porch and sat down on the bench, setting her next to him so he could catch his breath.

He felt oddly energized with his collar off. Totally healed and more powerful than he had in a long time. Then again, maybe it was just his blood pumping from the thrill of finally proving himself to his mate.

He took her face in his hands and kissed her, deeply and slowly, communicating everything he felt to her. “I love you, Robbie,” he murmured against her lips, biting her lightly. “I love you so much.”

“I love you, too,” she said, throwing her hands around his neck, burying her head in his shoulder and letting herself finally relax in his hold.

They stayed there for a long moment, letting their heart rates calm, their breathing return to normal, until all that was left was the soft, comfortable chemistry between them. A spark that could easily be stoked into a flame.

He looked into her eyes. “So. About this claiming.”

She flushed and smiled at him with a nod. “Tell you what. Let’s go eat and clean up, and then I have an idea for you.”

“What is it?” he asked eagerly, following her inside.

“Oh, you’ll see,” she said, winking as she walked to the kitchen. “But first let’s get some food. I’m going to need my strength for what’s coming.”

Holy hell, his woman was hotter than dragon fire. But no matter what she had in store for him, he was just happy he had her forever.