Wesley threw back his head, unhinged his massive jaw and exhaled a fireball large enough to shoot through the estate’s roof. He leapt forward and covered Beth with his body as wood, ash other debris rained from their new exit. If they survived this war, Wes knew he’d have a lot of work to do on the estate house. Especially after Lance finished ripping the first floor apart.

Drawing away from his beloved, Wes leaned forward and nuzzled her neck softly.

“Stay in here and wait for Lance. I’ll send him to take you underground.”

“But I want to go with you, I can help,” Beth protested. Wesley growled low in his throat, a sign that he was Alpha and his word was law. He was a soldier, through and through and fighting was what he did best. He couldn’t protect Beth and hold off the rebel army at the same time.

She lowered her lashes and fresh pain shot through Wesley’s chest. Immediately he understood that he’d hurt her. In all their time together, he’d encouraged her to stand on her own feet, pursue her own interests and make up her own mind. Now that she’d decided to follow her heart as well, he stepped into her path and told her she couldn’t.

Shame engulfed him.

“I just don’t want you hurt,” he murmured softly. “I am your Prince and I always will be, but I won’t treat you like property. You have your freedom my love, just please leave this fight to me, it’s what I do,” he pleaded. Somewhat shocked that he’d taken that route, Beth nodded her head and motioned for him to go.

“I understand,” she said softly. “I can feel you, remember?”

Instead of wondering why she couldn’t feel his intentions to begin with, Wesley shook himself and thrust his wings wide, launching his huge, scaled body through the porthole in the roof.

Folding his wings tightly to his side, he shot through the opening like a bullet at full velocity.

Once airborne, he took a moment to survey the scene and fresh anger rushed through him when he realized the number of rebels marching across his lawn. He stopped counting after reaching seventy-five. Knowing the SIN soldiers would never make it in time; he opened his mouth wide and spit a trail of fire between the soldiers and the front of the house. A gigantic wall of fire sprang from the ground, reaching a height of more than fifty feet.

Satisfied that his diversion would hold them at bay for a few moments, he landed just in front of house and blasted the front door off its hinges. He squeezed through the opening and thundered through the house in search of his brother. A quick glance upstairs and he saw Beth standing over the unconscious bodies of her parents. He wanted them dead, for everything they’d put Beth through, but knew deep inside that he couldn’t take them away from her.

Resolved to see them imprisoned, he continued his search for Lance. After crashing through the remnants of his brother’s battle, he found the orange-hued Dragon leaning against the kitchen wall. Blood ran in several rivulets over his scales and he noticed several of them were missing from around his throat.

But he saw no major wound. Frustrated that he couldn’t communicate with his sibling lest he shift back into human form, he turned his head back toward the balcony and let out a soulful wail at Beth.

Lance immediately sprang to life. Rushing past Wesley, the smaller Dragon launched himself upstairs when little to no effort and instantly draped himself across Beth. He looked down at the Hendersons and then back to Wesley, and the message was clear.

I’ve got them; you do what you have to.

Wesley nodded his head once in understanding and then crashed back through the destroyed house to confront the army that greatly outnumbered him.

* * *

Beth watched in curious fear as Lance took her father gently in his razor sharp fangs. Careful not to hurt the Dragon in Human form, he shifted the man’s unconscious body so that it rested among his back row of more blunt molars. Turning back toward Beth, she inhaled sharply when she understood that he wanted her to do the same with her mother.

It was a request she refused. Instinctively she wanted to shift back to Human form in order to explain herself to Lance but knew that is she did, she would lose mental contact with her mate; and that she also refused to do.

Lance growled at her to obey but she shook her head. Her parents had deceived her and betrayed their Prince. Yes, they deserved punishment, perhaps even death should Wesley declare it. But she wouldn’t participate in an act that would take their lives. She just couldn’t do it. No matter how wrong and malicious they’d been, she couldn’t help kill them.

Lance placed Jeremy limp form back upon the floor and advanced on Beth, shoving her forcefully with the bulk of his head.

Suddenly, like a rubber band drawn tight one time too many, she snapped or rather the leash on her inner Dragon did.

In a flurry of action, she thrust her wings from her side and shoved with her hind legs in order to propel herself through the hole Wesley left in the ceiling. She heard Lance roar but ignored him as he flapped her wings and lifted herself higher into the sky.

In looking down at the carnage littering the expansive front lawn, fear rose up and choked her. Swinging her head back and forth, she searched for Wesley’s vibrant red form. Her blood froze in her veins when she finally found him lying on his side amongst a massive number of dead soldiers.

She looked back toward the driveway and noticed dust plumes floating in the distance. Apparently he’d killed enough that the rest retreated. Whether they’d return with reinforcements or not, she couldn’t know. Stilling her wings, she glided to the ground near Wesley and nudged him softly with her snout.

He was still alive; she felt his heartbeat through their connection. But his mind was silent as a grave. She threw back her head and let loose a grief-stricken roar that shook the ground beneath her.

Within seconds, Lance was at her side. He looked at Beth and then the house where her parents were. She understood what he asked. He needed her to choose; save her mate or capture her parents.

As far as her heart was concerned, there was no choice. Leaning down, she gently nudged Wesley’s head.

She understood the enormity of her decision. Her parents would awaken and they would escape or they’d die; their destinies were no longer her concern. The war wasn’t over. It hadn’t even begun. She knew where she belonged and it was at Wesley’s side, defending and protecting their Faction.