***
Wesley touched ground outside his tower. The impact from the landing jolted Dakota awake. She groggily fumbled on her feet while he pulled the beast back. The beast only gave way to Wesley because it knew that the best way to touch their mate was with human hands. And, the beast wanted nothing more than to carry their mate upstairs to bury their manhood deep inside of her. She was theirs, this tiny warrior that drew pictures of dragons and shot their enemies in the head.
His beast huffed a laugh at what she’d done to protect them. The beast was proud of her, even if it raged at what she’d had to endure. They had kidnapped her, shot her, and who knew what else. It was no wonder that the woman had fallen asleep in his talons while they flew home.
Instead of heading inside, Dakota turned where she stood. She looked up at his human face, trying very hard not to notice that he was naked before her. There was something happening behind her eyes. He craved to know what she was thinking, to crawl inside her head and tell her that he needed her to stay. Yet, he couldn’t hold her back from what she wanted, either. So, he stood where he was in silence.
“Did you know?” she asked, finally.
Wes pressed his eyes closed and nodded. She was surely going to yell at him. It was his fault that she’d been in trouble. If only he’d been smart enough to stay home the night they’d met. None of that mattered to the beast inside of him. The beast wanted to take their mate then and there, without delay. It wanted to know that she was truly safe, that she was theirs.
It shoved him toward her, moving his hands without his permission. His fingers grabbed her hips and pulled her into his body. He was sure she could feel how hard he’d become. He could feel her nipples pressed against his chest. They hardened against his skin.
With his eyes closed and his teeth clenched, he spoke. “Did they hurt you? What did the Guardians try to do to you?”
“Stop.” Her voice rose as she shoved him away from her. “You knew that I was your mate and you didn’t try to tell me? You didn’t think that was a bit of information that I needed to know?”
Wes’s arms trembled as he let them fall to his sides. The world felt heavy on his shoulders as he took in her accusation. Her words rang with truth, he couldn’t deny that. But, inside of him his beast rebelled. It wanted to sweep Dakota off her feet and carry her into the tower where they would both know she would forever be safe. GOE would never get their hands on Dakota if she were locked away, the beast reasoned.
“Hear me out,” Wes said. “I didn’t want to force something upon you that would not have made you happy. Of course, I had hopes that I could have weaseled my way into your life and earned your love before you left for home, but I didn’t want to hand you a decree that you would have felt obligated to fulfill. I did it for your happiness.”
“I was kidnapped because you didn’t tell me the truth!”
Dakota turned to leave and his beast pushed him forward again. He was in front of her before either of them registered that he moved at all. Wes looked down at her, knowing full well that the breadth of his pain was clear in his eyes. But, so was his beast. It was the beast that urged him to reach up and whisk away their mate.
Lock her up. Keep her safe. She’ll never be out of our sight again. We’ll never lose her again.
Wes knew better. He knew that there was the soul of an adventurer under the level-headed veneer that Dakota wore. It was what made her search for stories and art. It was what gave her the courage to fire a stun gun at the white dragon that sank his teeth into Wes’s neck.
Do it. The beast’s growl rumbled through his skull.
Wes shook his head. Dakota looked at him with her head cocked, confused. Concern flashed across her face, an emotion that Wesley hadn’t expected. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?”
There was little time to explain. As much as he needed her safe in the moment, he knew better. He slowly shook his head. “The beast and I are not in agreement right now, Dakota. It is pushing me to do something that I very much do not want to do to you. I can keep it down for only so long before it makes me grab you and hide you away in the tower where no one can ever hurt you, where you would be nothing more than a prisoner. Take the moment to run. Go to my truck and leave. The keys are behind the visor.”
After a moment of hesitation where she studied his face for the truth, Dakota took the chance he offered. She turned and sprinted. He tried to hide his beast’s growl of disapproval as his limbs shook. Inside of him, his beast thrashed like it never had before. It made his head ache. It grew into a skull splitting pressure behind his eyes.
But, he would never do anything that Dakota did not want. She didn’t deserve that kind of treatment. Especially not from him.
Distantly, he heard the patter of footfalls running away and the roar of his truck coming to life. He didn’t know where she would go, only that he would not hurt her. The Guardians that hurt her were being dealt with.
She is safe, he reminded his beast. There is time yet to win her love the right way.
Love? The beast’s confusion rang through his growing migraine.
Wesley sighed and let himself fall to the ground, his limbs tired from fighting. His body ached from his fight with the white dragon. He expected GOE and their weapons, but he had not expected another dragon to be fighting on their side. The Guardians had made their existence off slaying dragons. It made no sense that one of them would be fighting on the enemy’s side.
Now that Dakota was safe elsewhere, his thoughts could wrap around the events of the day a bit easier. GOE was trying to start a war with the Welsh clan, but what was the white dragon’s role in that war? Wesley pushed himself up from the ground and set off to find his phone. He had to tell someone. It helped that it took his mind off his mate that had just run away from him.