Max followed Louise’s scent outside into the thankfully-deserted parking lot; the press must have gathered exclusively in the front of the hospital. Unfortunately, any trace of the woman disappeared under the steady drizzle. Feeling caged even if he was outside, he paced all around the perimeter of the lot, sniffing the air for the hateful perfume he associated with Louise. He combed the place, moving between the parked vehicles. Judging from the absence of exhaust particles, no car had recently left or entered the parking lot.

A day’s worth of frustration, anger, and fear weighed heavily on Max’s shoulders. He was about to turn and run back into the hospital when he caught a strong whiff of Aurore. He followed the smell to a dark corner. A heap of torn clothes lay discarded on the concrete. Louise had shifted and left.

His dragon roared, demanding Max finally let him out.

Shouting his anger to the night, Max shifted. The dragon’s long wings flapped, and he was high over the clouds a heartbeat later. He blinked, double eyelids opening to reveal the slits of his red eyes that could see anything in a ten miles range.

Focusing on the flying pattern of the nocturnal birds populating the sky at that time of night, he looked for anomalies created by the path of another dragon. The rain had intensified and was now a downpour. Max didn’t mind the rain, it cleaned the sky and made a large bird all the more visible. When large wings fluttered, they dislodged bigger quantities of water.

Soaring above Seattle, Max’s dragon used the thermals to keep hidden and upwind from Louise. Beneath him, the city sprawled up and down its hills, sleeping neighborhoods placed side by side with the nocturnal districts and their pubs, nightclubs, and bright lights. Until three nights ago, those places would have been Max’s hunting grounds.

A colony of bats flew by the Space Needle, casting a shadow against the bright white of the futuristic structure. The bats’ high-pitched screeches warned Max’s dragon a predator was nearby.

He veered, leaving the cover of the clouds to investigate his hunch. The sky opened, and moonlight cut the landscape in white and black, light and darkness, unveiling details that would have remained otherwise hidden. The bright metal panels that made up the Museum of Pop Culture shone in flashes of purple and orange and silver.

Feeling a shift in the air, Max’s dragon circled the museum. He tilted his head and angled his ear down. The pitter-patter of rain against the metal structure created a lulling pattern. A whoosh made him turn, and he caught the tail end of a moving shadow. Mirrored on one of the silver sheets, the silhouette of the Space Needle stood out, and so did the she-dragon perched on top of it. Her tail lazily dangled from the side, calling him to her in the mating ritual of their species.

Fury hotter and blinder than he had ever before experienced possessed Max’s dragon. His powerful wings propelled him up, reaching the she-dragon in the blink of an eye.

Mine, the she-dragon sang in his mind.

Never, Max’s dragon answered. The image of Vivienne’s wolf appeared out of nowhere, but its meaning couldn’t have been clearer. His dragon had just declared who his mate was.

The she-dragon recoiled. Her thoughts transformed from love to pure hate as she pushed her memories into his mind.

Max’s dragon bellowed when she showed him how she had cornered and tortured the small wolf before nearly severing her head. The next image she sent him froze his heart. In her human form, Louise held Amber Rose.

As soon as you are in prison for Lauren’s murder, I’ll adopt your daughter. Thanks to my connections, the papers are in order. Don’t think for a moment that I’ll let your parents have her. I’ll ruin them as I’ve ruined you, and your daughter will end up with me. I might raise her to hate you, the she-dragon whispered in his mind. Or I might drop her as I did with her mother. Or I can make her life miserable. So many—

Roaring, Max’s dragon attacked her with his talons outstretched, hooking her feathery flesh in an unshakable grip. Jerking her around, he threw her against the Space Needle several times. Only when her head lolled to the side did he finally drop her.

He watched the evil dragon fall to the ground, her wings smashing against the concrete as blood seeped from beneath her broken body. It wasn’t enough to kill a dragon, but it was enough to incapacitate her so that he could take her to Seattle Shifter PD where the dragon department would put her behind bars.

Louise deserved to die for her crimes, but Max wouldn’t become a murderer because of her and risk being separated from his daughter.