If you would have bonded to her we wouldn’t have had to go through this shit. Draven was cursing his inner dragon as his two half-brothers beat the shit out of him.

They had dragged him down the hallway into the dungeon and chained him up so he was hanging by his wrists in the middle of the dank room. Berinon went first, slamming his hard fists into his ribs and stomach over and over as Terrowin leaned on the stone walls and watched with a smirk on his face.

“That’s enough, Berinon,” Terrowin said as he walked over.

Berinon wiped his sweaty forehead with his forearm, gave Draven one last hard punch in the stomach, and turned away with a grunt.

Draven could barely breathe. His insides were on fire and it felt like every bone in his body was broken. He had been slammed unconscious when Berinon’s giant punched him into the ground, and only woke up when they were chaining his wrists up.

The giant’s slam had broken enough bones and caused enough pain that this beating wasn’t even necessary, but his brothers always liked to give a lot more pain than necessary.

“What are you doing back home?” Terrowin asked, grinning as he stood in front of him. His brother looked invincible—was invincible—as he stood there waiting for an answer. It was like standing in front of Superman if you were Lex Luther. And unfortunately, Draven was all out of kryptonite.

“When was the last time we saw our dear old brother?” Terrowin asked, glancing back at Berinon. “Two hundred years?”

“Three hundred at least,” Berinon corrected.

Terrowin turned back to him with a wicked grin. “Three hundred years,” he said, narrowing his eyes on him. “It seems awfully coincidental that you return as we’re about to fulfill our destiny.”

Draven just hung there, urging his broken body to heal.

Terrowin’s hand shot forward, grabbing Draven’s chin in a crushing grip. Draven grimaced as his brother forced his head up until their eyes met. “Where’s Jarin and Valerius?”

Valerius? Draven’s eyes widened. They didn’t know where the ice dragon was?

Draven grunted as Terrowin squeezed his jaw harder. It felt like it was going to snap under his hard grasp.

“Jarin goes to find you and he doesn’t come back,” Terrowin said. “What do you know about that?”

“And Valerius?” Berinon added as he watched, leaning against the wall. “He went to find Jarin and didn’t come back either.”

Draven tried to answer but it just came out as a mumble with Terrowin’s strong hand holding his mouth closed. With a grunt, he reluctantly let go.

Draven had to stay alive as long as he could. If he could only see Caliburnus again, maybe his dragon would bond and his core would ignite, releasing the special power that laid dormant inside his body.

“I know…” he struggled to say. Every word caused searing pain to shoot through his battered body. “I know where they are. I’ll take you there.”

Berinon pushed off the wall and narrowed his eyes on him as he stormed forward. “You don’t know shit,” he said, slamming his fist into Draven’s stomach with a grunt. Draven swung on the chain that was holding him up as pain rocked through his body.

He closed his eyes and focused on her face, dreaming of being able to stroke her cheek and kiss her lips. Caliburnus…

The beautiful thought vanished as he swung back and Berinon pounded him with another devastating punch in the gut.

Terrowin pushed Berinon back and stepped up close to Draven. “You don’t take us anywhere,” he said through gritted teeth. “If it wasn’t clear by now, you’re not getting out of this room. Not alive anyway.”

Draven’s head dropped forward as a heaviness settled into his body. He was in bad shape. Beaten and worn down with two mated dragon shifters guarding him. There was no way out unless they let him out.

Terrowin’s rancid breath washed over his face as he spoke. “I suggest you start telling us the truth. Where are our brothers?”

“Jarin is dead,” Draven said, enjoying the look of shock and horror on Terrowin’s face as he told him. He might not be able to hurt his brother with his fists, but he could hurt him with his words. Jarin and Terrowin had been as close as real brothers and Draven knew that knowing Jarin was dead would hurt Terrowin more than Terrowin could ever hurt him.

He staggered back as his face twisted in despair. “No,” he said, shaking his head. “You’re lying.”

Draven grinned as he struggled to hold his head up. “I’m not. I watched him die. I killed him.”

Terrowin stepped forward with his fist cocked back ready to give Draven the final blow when there was a knock on the door.

He whipped his head back and dropped his fist as he stomped to the door and yanked it open. “What?!?” he snapped.

Draven’s mouth dropped when he saw three familiar faces standing there.

“We’re looking for the gift shop,” Axel said to the furious dragon shifter in front of him. “Do you sell postcards?”

Terrowin slammed the door closed, but Zane stuck his foot out, preventing it from closing.

“Actually,” he said as he pushed it back open. “We’re here for that guy.”

A surge of adrenaline rushed through Draven’s exhausted body when his three friends rushed forward. They burst into the room with their bodies shaking as Berinon and Terrowin looked at them in shock.

Their animals burst free from their bodies, exploding into a Kodiak bear, a polar bear, and a vicious lion.

Jax’s lion leaped onto Terrowin’s body, swallowing the dragon shifter’s head in his huge jaws as Axel’s polar bear charged into Berinon, knocking him off his feet. Zane’s bear sprinted at Terrowin’s legs, plowing his shoulder into him and knocking him off his feet.

Draven grunted as he channeled the last of his strength and energy into his wrists, yanking them apart as hard as he could until the metal cuffs snapped off.

He fell to the floor, landing on his feet as the animals swarmed on his two brothers. Terrowin and Berinon were caught off guard and down for now, but the tables would quickly turn once they got back on their feet. Draven knew they had to get out while they still could.

“In the hallway, now!” he shouted, using his deepest and most commanding alpha voice. The three animals immediately turned and sprinted into the hallway under their alpha’s order.

Draven slammed the heavy metal door closed and locked it from the outside as the three of them phased back into their human forms.

When he turned, Jax, Axel, and Zane were all staring at him, waiting for orders.

“What now?” Axel asked as he glanced from side to side.

Draven knew that the door wouldn’t hold his brothers for long. They had a few minutes if they were lucky.

He swallowed hard and turned right. “Now. We run.”