“I had hoped you wouldn’t be here,” his brother said, from somewhere behind him. Torrent sighed before continuing. “I must say, I had really hoped to hear you’d decided to keep that female.”

Storm had watched until the flying formation was long gone. He couldn’t bring himself to leave. Everything in him screamed to follow. To bring her back. Jolene was his. She was.

No, that was just hormones speaking. Stupid instincts brought about because of the hunt. The sex had been good. Watching her go, not so much. He’d get over it though.

"You can still go after her, you know?" Torrent said, stepping in next to him. It was precisely what he didn't need to hear. An echo of his own thoughts.

“Why are you being so hard-assed about this? You have feelings for that female. Admit it.”

“I’m in lust with her. That’s all,” Storm growled, his hands tightening on the rails. “I don’t want to mate her so there’s no point in bringing her back. You made that clear from the start.”

“You don’t see her as yours?”

Yes! Fuck! What was he thinking? “No,” he growled, a little too harshly.

Torrent chuckled, making him want to punch the male.

“Don’t,” Storm warned.

“I’m sorry.” His brother shook his head, sounding genuinely apologetic. “It’s not just lust. I wish I could make you see that. I’m afraid that by the time you do, it will be too late.”

“I’m not going to change my mind.” Torrent didn’t know what he was talking about.

“You will and by then, someone will have snapped her up. Mark my words.”

Storm ground his teeth together at the thought of another male touching his…her…Jolene. “By then I will have moved on as well. These blasted hormones will be out of my system.”

"Granted. This whole thing started out as a hormonal issue. An instinctual problem, if you can call it that, but it has evolved since then into something far more. I understand why you might be apprehensive about getting into a relationship. In hindsight, some of my own issues, Lake to a lesser degree and Tide's too, stemmed from what happened with mom and dad."

“No,” Storm said. “That’s not it at all. I told you, I’m young. Years younger than you and Tide were when you mated. Lake doesn’t count, he’s always been sweet on Sky. Thing is, I don’t want to be tied down to one female for the rest of my life. I’m not ready to be a father.”

“No-one said anything about becoming a father.” Torrent got this sappy look. “Although it is wonderful. I’m talking about building a life with a female you love. Someone you love spending time with. I promise you it’s not the hardship you think it is. I think deep down inside you know that. You’re just afraid of the other side to love.”

Torrent was right; being ‘tied down’ to Jolene didn’t sound like a hardship. Even having a couple of kids with her didn’t sound all that bad. What was he thinking? He shook his head. “I have plenty of time for all that.”

“Okay.”

“That was too easy.” Storm narrowed his eyes. “Why aren’t you arguing some more?”

“You have clearly made up your mind and.” he shrugged, “it is not my place.”

“I have made up my mind.”

Torrent’s whole frame tensed. His eyes narrowed, seeming to track something on the horizon. Storm turned to see what it was. Was that? No! Surely not! “That isn’t…is that…?” He scrunched his eyes up, trying to get a better look.

“It’s Bay,” Torrent said under his breath. “At least, it looks like Bay. Hard to tell from this distance.”

“What the hell is he doing?” Storm growled, feeling his scales rub. “Why isn’t he with the others?” He felt his muscles bulge, preparing to transform.

“He’s moving fast. Too fast.” Torrent shook his head.

“Something must have happened.” Adrenaline coursed through him. “Fuck! Jolene. Something must have happened to…” His voice was thickening. Storm realized that he was shifting. He couldn’t seem to help it.

“Wait!” his brother shouted, banding strong arms around him. “You need to hear what Bay has to say. You can’t rush off half-cocked.”

Storm sucked in deep breaths, trying hard to keep himself under control. He could feel scales rising on his arm. He couldn’t quite shift back fully to his human form. Not completely. Not with this much adrenaline coursing through him. Jolene. If anything had happened to her he would never forgive himself. He was too big of a pussy to take her back himself. He didn’t think he could say goodbye if he took her all the way back. Bottom line, he just couldn’t bring himself to do it because he was yet again an asshole and now she was possibly in danger. He kept dragging air into his lungs, trying hard to calm himself down.

They watched Bay approach. Torrent was right. He was moving at an alarming rate. The male did a partial crash-landing, rolling once in a ball of wings and claws, before finding his feet. “What happened?” Storm snarled, walking to where Bay was, still in mid-shift.

"Where is Jolene?" His voice was a deep rasp. More scales shoved their way through his skin and his teeth felt sharper. His vision became more acute. His muscles hurt with the need to fully change.

Bay was covered in a sheen of sweat. He was breathing in ragged pants. “Humans,” he managed to push out.

“What about them?” Storm growled, taking another step towards Bay. “What the fuck happened? My human?” he snarled. “What of Jolene?”

Torrent grabbed his arm and pulled him back. “Give Bay space. He needs half a minute to catch his breath. Nod if the female is okay.”

Bay crouched over, putting his hands on his thighs. His mouth was open as he gulped in air. He nodded once. “She was okay.”

“Was?” Everything in him tightened. He wanted to lunge at Bay and demand immediate answers.

“I was at the rear.” Bay gulped more air, his face no longer as red as it had been. “I thought I saw something.” He shrugged. “Helicopters, two of them.” He sucked in a few more breaths and Storm wanted to scream. He had to bite back a snarl. His brother’s hand tightened on his arm.

“We all dropped.”

“Dropped?” Storm yelled. “What the fuck does that mean?”

“There was a rocky outcrop, I used that for cover.” More breathing. “While the others were closer to a treed section, so they headed for that. The choppers must have seen something because they began to circle. One even landed. Three humans made their way to the wooded area on foot.” He swallowed, licking his lips. “While the focus was on them I bolted for home.”

“So, you don’t know what happened? Were they armed?” His voice was becoming more corded. His muscles had started to rope, his limbs to lengthen. He could feel the stumps of his wings pushing through on his back.

“Wait, Storm!” His brother spoke in a gruff voice. “You can’t fly in there. You could start a shit-storm. You could get her killed!”

“Like hell!” he snarled. “I need to save her. Kill them.” A snarl, his words thick.

“We need a plan.” Torrent yelled. “We also need to try to stay hidden.”

More scales pushed up. Claws began to emerge. “Fuck staying—” he didn’t get to finish what he was saying. His brother’s fist came out of nowhere.

Flood shoved her behind him, motioning for her to crouch down, which she did. A twig snapped under her sneaker, making her flinch. How did these shifters move so noiselessly? She could even hear herself breathing. Nothing else seemed to make a sound. There was no wind. Even the birds had stopped chirping.

The boulder was hard and cold against her back. She wouldn’t be able to hold this position for long since her thighs were already feeling strained. She was too nervous to sit on her ass in case she had to move quickly. Sweat trickled between her breasts.

Beck crouched down beside Flood. He whispered something and Flood nodded, turning to her. “Bay made it to the other side of the ridge, we’re sure he would have gone for help.”

“Good.” She swallowed, her throat feeling dry. “It’s more of those hunters, isn’t it?”

Flood nodded, his face looking pinched. His forehead marred with deep worry lines. “I’m afraid so. Two choppers.”

She could hear the engines and the whoosh whoosh of the blades.

Flood pointed upwards. “They’re circling. They may have spotted something even though we were far away.” His frown deepened. “I was so sure we were too far for the human eye to have seen much of anything.”

“Maybe they were using binoculars,” she said.

“Good point,” Flood whispered. “If that’s the case, they may have seen us in our dragon forms. They may know we are hiding in here.”

"Then again." She shook her head. "We dropped like rocks." Her stomach still felt queasy. "Even with binoculars, it would have been difficult to see much of anything."

“I hope you’re right,” Beck whispered.

Harbor was a little to the left, his eyes trained at the canopy above.

“We can’t be sure of anything. We should rather expect and prepare for the worst,” Flood growled.

“I think you are right. They must have seen something, or they would have moved on by now,” Jolene said.

Beck narrowed his eyes. “Maybe not or they would have landed, or shot at us, or—”

Jolene felt like the ground dropped out from below her. Her stomach gave a clench and her heart picked up its pace. Adrenaline surged. What if they opened fire? There was nowhere to hide from cold hard bullets.

“You’re scaring the female,” Flood snarled silently. It was both vicious and quiet, which was weird. “Do not worry, human.” He spoke softly and carefully, like he wasn’t used to talking in this way. “I will protect you,” he added. “I promised the prince I would lay down my life and I will, in a heartbeat.”

“We all did,” Beck said. “We will do it too. Of that you can be certain.”

“So, do not worry…” Harbor looked up, sucking in a breath.

She nodded once. “Thank you.” She frowned, the way the men were acting told her that something was up. “What is it?”

Then she knew. One of the choppers was descending. There was that telltale powering down, and yet the noise was getting louder as the chopper dropped lower and lower.

Flood crouched over her, pushing her more firmly against the rock.

Beck cursed. “Let me go and check it out.”

Flood nodded once.

Within minutes, Beck was back. He crouched back down. “Three males left the helicopter. They’re armed, on foot and headed this way.”

“We could ambush them,” Harbor said.

Beck frowned. “We could take them, but…”

"No," Flood growled low. "At this stage, it looks as if they are trying to feel things out. I don't think they're sure of anything. We need to hide."

The outcrop of trees was maybe a square mile. Not too much more. There couldn’t be too many places to hide in here. Not from armed men at any rate. In the meanwhile, the second chopper continued to circle, so there was no direct escape.

“Up,” Flood whispered.

“Up?” she squeaked. “What does that mean?”

"These trees are tall. Their boughs are wide. We need to hide in the canopy. That way we can drop down and kill them if need be."

“Yes,” Beck nodded. “Let’s do it.”

“Human, climb on my back and do not let go. We have a minute tops to get into position.” He spoke quickly and quietly, looking from Harbor to Beck. “No noise and no falling,” he said the last while locking eyes with her.

She swallowed thickly. “O-okay.”

The other two shifters stood up. Flood stayed where he was. Using his thumb, he pointed to his back and she clambered onboard. Jolene gripped his shoulders and secured her ankles around his middle.

Her mouth fell open as she watched Beck scramble up a tree, barely breaking a sweat. Flood gripped a tree trunk and pulled them up. She had to dig her fingers into his shoulders to keep from slipping off.

Moving quickly, he heaved them onto a branch above. Flood grunted softly as he pulled them onto the branch, his hand reaching for the next limb. His biceps bulged. He pulled them up, swinging to a thicker bough.

No falling and no noise. Jolene bit back a yell as her hand slipped, almost losing its grip. She folded her arms around him, holding on like a baby monkey. Only, she suspected a baby monkey would be much better at this sort of thing. Hopefully, she wasn't choking him. Her muscles ached from holding on by the time he pulled them onto a wide branch, when in reality, Flood had only been climbing for twenty seconds max. The branch sloped downwards but was relatively level at the truck.

He motioned for her to lie on the branch. “Do not fall,” he mouthed. Then he held his finger over his lips and climbed higher. Making it look easy.

She lay down like he said, careful not to let any limbs dangle over the edge. At first, her heart beat frantically and her senses reached out for anything. Any noise. Any flicker of movement below. Not that she could see much through the branches. She measured her breathing, fearful that they would hear her. Stupid, of course since she was too high up.

Seconds ticked by, turning into minutes. The noise of the chopper flying overhead didn't let up. The engine whine grew softer and softer before becoming louder again. Whoosh whoosh went the rotor blades. No-one moved. No-one made a sound.

Then there was the sound of a twig snapping and leaves crushing. If she hadn't been straining though she might have missed it. Someone was below them. Jolene wanted to hold her breath, but she was afraid of passing out and falling. Instead, she took small breaths. There was a crunch of gravel further off. Then silence, except for the circling chopper. Had the guy moved off or was he right under them and she didn't know it? Were they still circling the outcrop of trees? She strained to hear something other than the engine noise and the whoosh of the rotors.

More minutes ticked by.

More still.

What was that? She stopped breathing. Even stilled her inner voice as her hearing strained. Yes! It was the second helicopter. It was lifting. Then it was moving off. They both were.

Several more minutes ticked by. There was movement from above. Flood came into view. He was climbing back down.

“They’re gone,” Beck called up from below.

“Thank god!” She pushed out a breath. It didn’t take more than a second or two for Flood to reach her. She climbed onto his back.

“No falling.” He winked at her.

She choked out a laugh, her body still buzzing with adrenaline. “Don’t drop me.”

Flood chuckled, his body shook. It didn’t last for more than three seconds and he was back to being Mister Serious. Jolene squeezed her eyes shut, holding on tight.

She was thrilled to put her feet on solid ground.

All three dragons cocked their heads, all listening for something at the same time. Beck smiled and Harbor relaxed.

“What is it?”

“Several dragons are incoming,” Flood said. “Let’s make our way there.” The guys surrounded her, two in front and one behind.

Within minutes they were exiting the forest. There were fifteen dragons. Only two of them shifted after landing. One, she noticed, had a golden chest. She was both disappointed and relieved to see it wasn’t Storm. More disappointed, she realized when her lip quivered. She bit down on it, sucking in a deep breath.

“We made sure they were well out of our territory,” the dragon said as soon as he was in hearing distance of them. “I have another fifteen of our best warriors trailing to ensure they don’t double back.” Then he turned blue eyes on her. “I am Tide. I’m Storm’s brother.” He held out his hand and Jolene shook it. “I’m sorry this happened,” he said, eyes narrowing with concern.

“It’s not your fault these assholes are snooping around your land.”

Tide broke out in a wide grin that reminded her so much of Storm that her heart actually stuttered inside her chest.

“I can see why Storm likes you so much.” He gave the side of her arm a light tap.

Why did everyone keep insisting Storm had feelings for her? If that were true, surely he would be there himself? Surely, he would have taken her home himself? "I'm sorry my little brother couldn't make it out himself." Tide said, obviously reading disappointment on her face. "He wanted to. In fact, he was ready to rush in without thought or backup. Would've got himself ‒ all of you ‒ killed, if he had."

“Where is he then?” she asked.

“Nursing a headache by now, I would suspect.” Tide flashed a quick smile.

He must have caught her confused look because he went on.

“He was so gung-ho, my brother…Torrent…the king…I think you met him ‒ knocked him out cold. Had to.”

Beck choked out a laugh.

“Is he okay?” Jolene asked, worried.

“He’s absolutely fine. Like I said, he’ll be nursing one hell of a headache, but he’ll be okay.” Tide snickered. “He’ll have one or two loose teeth and maybe a cracked jaw.” He shook his head, still grinning.

“You call that fine!” she yelled. What was wrong with these shifters?

Tide made a face. “Torrent packs one hell of a punch. Don’t forget, we heal quickly. Now,” he smiled at her, his eyes clouding with concern, “would you like to continue home, or would you rather return to the lair? Torrent has invited you to spend one last night with us. He thought you might be too shaken to continue. Thought you might want to see Storm.”

It would be wonderful to go back. To see Storm. To feel his arms around her, comforting and warm. To see that he was fine with her own eyes. “Are you sure he’s okay?” she asked Tide, who nodded.

“Very.” He smiled.

"Then I think it's best I go home. Please thank Torrent. Tell Storm I hope he gets better soon." In the end, she couldn't go through it again. To watch the minutes tick by, knowing it was one of the last she would ever spend with the man she loved. No, it was better this way.

“You sure?” Beck asked, frowning. “I’m sure Storm will be worried about you.”

“You can reassure him.”

“I will do that,” Beck said.

“Shall we head out?” Flood asked.

Jolene nodded. She was doing the right thing. Why did it feel so wrong?