Every nerve in Axel’s body was screaming out in pain, but he kept going. He didn’t expect to survive, he didn’t expect any of them to survive, but he just had to keep going long enough for Hadley to escape.

She was finally in the fire truck and moving.

Valerius had made short work of them. In less than ten minutes, he had taken out over a dozen of the most powerful shifters Axel had ever seen.

And this time, Axel knew that Valerius wouldn’t be sparring any of them. Once the ice dragon was through with him, he would shatter the frozen shifters to pieces, killing each and every one of them.

The thought made Axel shudder. These were good men. His friends. His new family.

The Vega Brothers and The Clawed Squad could be annoying as hell, but he knew they had good hearts with mates who loved them, and children who needed them. It wasn’t fair. The thought of the little cubs waking up in the morning and being told that they didn’t have dads anymore was heartbreaking.

The thought of his own little cub growing up without a father was killing him. Axel knew now more than ever that he wanted to be with Hadley. He desperately wanted to see his child grow up. He wanted to see how beautiful Hadley looked with a glow in her eyes as she held their newborn baby for the first time.

He wanted to grow old with her and share the good times and the bad.

But all of that was no longer an option.

The ferocious dragon in front of him wasn’t going anywhere, and Axel was powerless to stop him. His scales were too thick to be penetrated by his teeth or claws. He was too fast, too strong, too big, and there was no escaping his fate.

He pushed down the sad, heartbreaking feelings and focused on the task at hand. He just had to last long enough to buy Hadley some time to get out of there.

Valerius was on top of Alexander’s polar bear, sinking his long talons into the bear’s skin. The long white fur on his belly turned into a sticky red mess as his head dropped down to the ice and his eyes slowly closed.

Why isn’t she moving?

The fire truck’s engine was rumbling, but it wasn’t going anywhere.

Go, Hadley! Get out of here!

Valerius raised his head and was about to turn toward Hadley when Axel’s polar bear let out a loud vicious snarl. A furious tightness ripped through him as the intense need to protect her and his cub took over.

The ice dragon whipped its head around and glared at him with its icy blue eyes. Axel charged forward, wishing that Hadley would take the opportunity to flee, and she did.

The fire truck lurched forward on its big tires and started rolling. Axel turned away from it in relief as he charged to his death.

The ice dragon was so big—at least three times Axel’s size—and the closer he got, the bigger Valerius looked. But he didn’t stop. He wasn’t going to stop until one of them was dead.

The dragon jumped forward with its long deadly talons extended, trying to skewer Axel like he had skewered Alexander. Just as the sharp talons were about to crash into Axel’s polar bear, he ducked down and slid on the ice, letting his momentum carry him forward. He caught the dragon’s hind leg with his paws and tried to sink his teeth into the loose scales, but they were too tough and strong.

Valerius kicked his leg out and Axel’s bear wasn’t able to hold on. He flew off and landed with a thud on the ice, skidding to a stop just in time to see the dragon’s long hard tail come crashing down on him. It landed like a sledgehammer on his shoulder, cracking bones and sending shocks of searing pain ripping through him.

Get up. Do it for Hadley.

Valerius was so fast, turning in a blur as he faced Axel with his massive jaws opening up wide. Axel tried to fight through the pain as a cloud of blue flames appeared at the back of the dragon’s throat and rolled down his long tongue toward him.

The blue flames shot out, engulfing him with a coldness that sunk deep into bones. Axel was a polar bear shifter and never got cold. He didn’t even know the feeling until those blue flames washed over him, but they didn’t stick. They just kept gliding over his bear’s body, harmlessly sailing past him.

Axel had never been so happy to be a polar bear shifter. He couldn’t imagine how cold the others were feeling right now.

The flames stopped and Valerius’ forehead crinkled as the dragon glared at him, looking at him with frustration and disbelief. It didn’t last long.

Valerius moved so quick that Axel couldn’t jump out of the way in time as he launched forward, grabbing his polar bear’s back in his horrible jaws. Fierce, blinding pain shot through his back as the dragon’s teeth sunk in deep, turning his white fur into a crimson red.

Before he could even react, the dragon had thrown him up into the air, sending him helplessly spinning and rolling into the night sky. Axel’s thoughts returned to Hadley as he came plummeting back down to the ground. He wasn’t going to last long after this and hoped that she was far enough away, although he could still hear the roaring engine of the fire truck through the pounding in his ears.

A dreadful thought passed through him as he fell. She won’t get away.

He slammed into the ground with a tremendous force that ripped the air out of his lungs and snapped his front leg. The dragon stalked forward as Axel’s bear whimpered and writhed around, trying to get up, but crashing back down as he was unable to hold his weight up under his broken leg.

Axel was dazed and hurt, trying to look through his watery eyes. He could see Valerius approaching with his mouth open. Rows and rows of long sharp teeth the size of long daggers were heading toward him. Alexander and Stetson’s polar bears were starting to move on the ground in the distance as their enhanced shifter healing started to kick in.

But they wouldn’t be much help. They were too hurt and too far away. Once Valerius finished him, he would make short work of them, and then be on to his friends, smashing them to pieces.

And then on to Hadley after that.

That horrible thought gave him the push he needed to climb to his feet. He ignored the burning in his leg, he fought through the pain, through the agony, and was determined to go out fighting.

Valerius stepped forward on his hind legs and opened his mouth for the finishing blow. Axel took a deep breath, bracing himself for the kill shot, when two spotlights came out of nowhere, lighting up the dragon’s blue scales.

The ice dragon turned just in time to see the fire truck slam into his ribs with a deafening crash. Valerius slid across the icy ground, and the red truck kept going, driving over the dragon’s twisted body with the front tires. When they stopped, the dragon was pinned to the ground with the heavy truck stuck on top of him.

Hadley was behind the wheel staring forward with a look of shock on her face. Axel had to act quickly. He phased back into his human form, pulling his bear in as he rushed forward.

Out of the corner of his eyes, he saw Alexander and Stetson both phase as well. They looked hurt but determined as they limped over, grimacing in pain. The dragon had the wind knocked out of it and looked stunned as its fierce blue eyes dulled for a moment. Hadley had helped give them the edge they desperately needed. The dragon was down for now, but it wouldn’t last long. They needed to act fast.

“Hadley!” Axel yelled as he stepped on the dragon’s body, reached up, and opened the door. She looked like she was in shock, staring down at him as her body trembled. He quickly unbuckled her seatbelt, took her in his arms, and carried her a few feet away. “Run!” he said as a naked Alexander and Stetson arrived, leaping onto the dragon’s body.

Hadley just stood there, staring at him like her body had shut down. Axel could help her later. Right now, he had one shot to kill Valerius and save them all. He had to take it.

He turned and ran back to the truck, just as the dragon started to move. The huge fire truck was still resting on his back, and he still didn’t have the strength to get up. For now. Axel knew that his enhanced shifter healing was already getting going, so they had to do this fast.

Alexander and Stetson were both punching and kicking his dazed head with their hard fists and massive feet. It wouldn’t be enough. Valerius would shake off those strikes with a laugh when he was back to his full power.

What can I do?

He frantically looked around with his mind racing and it dawned on him when he saw the fire hose coiled up on the side of the truck. He tried to ignore the burning in his leg as he hurried forward and grabbed the hose.

“Hold him down,” he yelled to the two polar bear shifters as he unraveled the thick hose.

Alexander and Stetson struggled to hold down the blue dragon who was starting to regain some of his strength.

Axel thought of Hadley, he thought of his friends, and his child as he fought through the pain and wrapped the thick hose around the dragon’s neck. He made a quick noose and pulled back with all of his might, strangling the horrible beast with the hose.

Valerius thrashed around violently, sending Stetson flying off as Axel pulled even tighter. His forearms were burning, his shoulders and chest flexed to the max as he pulled.

Stetson jumped back on, holding Valerius’ head in place as Alexander pressed all of his might onto the dragon’s shoulders. The fire truck that was still pinning Valerius’ back down began lurching around as the dragon desperately fought to get free.

Axel squeezed his eyes shut and gritted his teeth as he pulled. He was exhausted. He was in pain. He was spent. But he kept pulling for the woman he knew was going to be his mate. For the child he knew was going to be the light of his life. He kept pulling for them.

The violent thrashing started to subdue as the last of the air left Valerius’ cruel lungs. His massive head lowered, his body relaxed, and his fierce blue eyes faded to a dull, dead gray.

The three polar bear shifters held on for an extra minute, just to be sure, but they could tell without a doubt that the dragon was dead.

Axel let out an exhausted huff of breath as he released the hose and sank to the ground. His whole body was aching, but when he saw Hadley rushing forward, he had never felt so alive.

“Axel,” she gasped as she dropped to a knee in front of him. “You did it!”

“You did it,” he whispered as she cupped his cheeks and kissed his lips. The cold that was lingering in Axel’s bones melted away as a new warmth filled his body. The pain was subsiding, but there was a new feeling gripping him. He slowly opened his eyes and saw the world around him disappear in a cloud of blackness as his soul bonded to Hadley’s.

She was the only thing he could see, surrounded in black, as she became his mate, his soulmate, the center of his world.

His head was spinning when the blackness faded and the bonding was complete. He always thought that she would be his mate one day, but now it was official. His bear, or fate, or whatever it was, had chosen her.

“What was that?” she whispered, swallowing hard as she stared into his eyes. She was so perfect. Her shocked brown eyes slowly wandered over his face, looking at him in a new light, as she slid her hand down his arm.

“That was the start of our life together,” he whispered back to her. “A long, happy life together.”

“With our new cub?” she asked.

He nodded as his lips curled into a smile. “Definitely.”

They kissed long and hard until they were interrupted by a deep cough.

“Hm-hm,” Alexander coughed as he stood over them, trying to get their attention.

“Can we leave the kissing until later?” he asked in his deep voice.

“As long as you get that fire hose out of our faces,” Axel said, holding his hand up to shield Alexander’s long cock from their vision. It was right in front of poor Hadley’s face.

“Are they going to be okay?” Stetson asked as he walked up to a frozen block of ice that had Tyler stuck inside. The skin shifter was frozen inside with a twisted grimace on his face

“They’ll be fine,” Axel said as he rose to his feet before helping Hadley up. “After they’re thawed out, they’ll be as good as new.”

“Look at them,” Stetson said in amazement as he walked over to another block of ice with Thorn’s Kodiak bear frozen inside. “It’s like Pompeii, the shifter version.”

“It’s kind of peaceful,” Alexander said as he stared at an ice block that had his loud-mouthed brother Julius inside. The grizzly bear had its mouth wide open. “Can we leave them like this?”

“The longer we wait,” Axel said with a grin, “the more pissed off they’ll be. Trust me.”

Alexander laughed. “I can deal with that.”

Axel glanced down at the blue dragon that was still lying lifeless under the truck. If that dragon hadn’t come, then Hadley would have left on the plane and they would never have connected in the way that they did. He couldn’t help but feel a bit of gratitude toward it, but more than anything, he was glad that it was dead.