~

 

“Whoa … my bad, just make out like I’m not here…” Vicky muttered as she rounded the corner of the stone wall and came face to face with … wooing.

“One could only wish it was that easy…” Connor called out to her as George and Zana disentangled themselves from each other.

“Connor, so help me, that’s three for three…” Vicky stalked around the corner and there was the sound of a hard grunt that came from the vampire…

“Those two are really mates?” Zana asked, taking a long step back from George even thought her body and mind disagreed with her decision…

“Mates…” George growled on a nod of his head.

His body was primed for so much more, and he needed to back the hell off and let her move away from him, before he took things to the next level…

Mine… His beast demanded…

Soon… He growled back – keeping the cage on his wolf firmly locked inside of him.

 

~

~

~

 

“So, if all goes to plan…?” Roloko stood on the edge of the vast Glen and eyed the witch that faced him.

He was searching for signs of deceit from her. Her mate was impossible to read, and she was difficult, but her mask slipped at times.

“Your dragon should start to slumber…” Vicky informed him.

“At which point…” Connor started, but Roloko didn’t let him finish.

“You’ll kill me…” he said – his eyes still firmly locked onto Vicky’s face to catch even the remotest of giveaway signs…

“Don’t be a butthead …” she offered back. “If we wanted to kill you then we could have done it.”

“Yes, but then you wouldn’t have been able to test your magic and they would just have sent someone else.”

“Trusting soul…” Connor bit out with a roll of his eyes.

“With good cause,” Vicky reminded him. “Imagine if your dark side had been on a leash for the last six hundred years…”

“It is…” Connor shot back.

“You still feed. His dragon doesn’t get to come out and play…” Vicky shot back.

“I wouldn’t call it playing…” Roloko said … but neither mate was paying the blindest bit of attention to him…

“Here we go…” Landon grumbled, eyeing the sky, and groaning inwardly.

“I feed, but my dark side is still…”

“Ohh, boo-hoo for you…” Vicky babied him and the vampire scowled.

“Moving on…” Connor announced.

“Lets…” Landon grumbled.

“They are seriously mates?” Roloko questioned the alpha bear…

“Yep,” Landon grumbled, folding his arms across his chest and grunting in amusement.

“Fine…” Vicky bit out with a big dollop of annoyance for her mate.

“Good,” Connor shot back.

“Damn…” Roloko shook his head.

“Get ready…” Vicky warned the man.

Then she stilled her mind and concentrated on the power of the witches that were not too far away in the castle. She mixed her magic with theirs and started the chain of events that would bring about the whole of the area being bathed with magic, and hopefully, protected by it.

Roloko felt the draining of energy from his body towards the dragon as the beast tried to hold onto its place within him. It was becoming weak as it started the short journey towards slumbering once more.

But the beast didn’t go without a fight, trying to cling onto the present, as it slid back into the dormant state…

Roloko’s legs grew weaker the more that the beast pulled on his very essence. His muscles quivered as he fought to stay upright, but it didn’t take much more for his knees gave way beneath him.

He shot out a hand as he dropped to the ground.

“How far do we let the dragon go?” Landon asked…

“Just far enough that the ancestors believe the alpha is dead and the dragon is set to slumber … or die.” Connor answered, keeping a careful watch on the man as the fire slowly died within his eyes…

Connor waited as long as he could. Then he moved fast to toss the dragon shifter over his back and carry him beneath the protection of the witches…

“We’re done, right?” Connor asked Vicky as the witch opened her eyes…

“Done. The dragon was almost at slumber, which means for all intense and purposes – the true alpha is dead and the dragon is no threat…” She gave a small victorious grin to her mate.

“You see, this is why I love that you are so damn devious.”

 

~

~

~

 

Roloko hadn’t expected to survive. He’d believed that once he had played his part in making the ancestors think that the true alpha was dead then they would kill him and end the whole sorry tale there and then.

But, there he was, being given long, curious looks by other members of the pack and clan that had found their way out of the charred castle…

“Let’s talk living arrangements…” Connor said as he strolled up behind the behemoth and slapped him on the back… “Hmm, solid … like a brick wall.”

Roloko eyed the vampire for a long moment…

“You’re not my type…” he offered in a dry tone that impressed the vampire.

“And a sense of humour to boot,” Connor announced with relish. “We’re gonna get on just fine for the next hundred years or so…”

“Hundred…” Roloko scowled down at the man…

“Maybe longer, considering the mates might have offspring…” Connor smirked.

“You never said hundreds of years…” Roloko grumbled.

“Welcome to your new home,” Connor chuckled. “But, don’t worry. I’m sure our little witches or their little witch-let ankle biters can eventually come up with a charm, token, talisman, or some such that will allow you to venture further afield.”

Roloko grunted. It was deep, hard, and sounded like someone had thudded him on the back.

“Oh, and I’d stay away from Vicky for a while, because when she stops crowing about saving you and the true alpha, I think she’s going to be really miffed about what you did to her castle.” Connor said, before expanding his hand and motioning to the green, luscious fields and the mountain that towered above them.

“Home…” Roloko nodded solemnly.

His dragon already felt at ease.