Kirith’s Dragon had been watching the pursuit from high atop an ancient oak tree at the centre of the park, his talons barely touching its boughs. He hovered in the dark sky, a silent watcher whose wings flapped so slowly that they hardly cast a breeze through the air.

The copper-shaded Wolf had done well so far to evade her pursuers. He’d watched her run from one end of the park to the other and back again; watched her try to reason with the hostile Wolves and fail miserably. Now she’d turned to face them, growling low, as though that would make them leave her alone.

The pretty thing was putting on a brave face, but he could smell her fear, even from his distant perch.

He could tell that she thought this night would be her last.

As he watched, one of the Wolves lunged at her, biting at her side. The sweet scent of her blood rode the breeze to the Dragon shifter’s nose, riling whatever noble beast still lived inside him enough to prompt him into action.

Kirith had nothing against whatever Pack was going after Luna. They were a bunch of renegade Wolves, no real threat to Dragon-kind. But they were threatening her, and as much as he knew he should hate the young woman for what she was, he’d come to feel protective of her. She was merely a victim in a war that was far larger than herself, and to add to that, this new menace of wandering, mischief-loving shifters wasn’t a good sign. Kirith had told the Guild he was in London to help manage the Wolves, and it was his duty to step in when they got out of hand.

Much as he despised the thought of aiding anyone associated with Ripper’s band of bastards, he had no real choice but to help the woman who was supposed to be his enemy.

So he pushed off, his massive wings beating the air to carry him towards the place where Luna stood, her breath short as her tormentors padded towards her slowly.

She was still bleeding. But he’d see to it that the fuckers wouldn’t get anywhere near her again. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her; he couldn’t. For some stupid reason, he needed her to survive this night, and every night. He needed her whole.

As he swooped downwards, some of the shifters changed into their human form. They seemed to be arguing, no doubt about who would get the first go at her. Naturally, the predatory fuckers were all males; Kirith could all but smell the testosterone on the air. They were a Pack of horny wankers, and she…well, she was a beauty.

There was no way that they were here to kill her, to give her a swift death. No doubt they’d do what they could to injure her pride first, to make her so fearful that she’d get down on her knees and beg for her life. They would torture her, mentally if not physically.

Then they would no doubt violate the sweet thing. For that intent alone, he might have to kill them.

Kirith landed softly behind the group of devilish stalkers. Silently he shifted, amused that they were so busy arguing amongst themselves that they hadn’t seemed to register his presence. The idiots were so wrapped up in their in-fighting that they hadn’t noticed a goddamned Dragon shifter.

“What is this?” he asked, his voice bellowing through the crisp night air, breaking through the cacophony of Wolf shifter voices as he strode towards the small crowd.

In unison, the men spun around to look at him, but his eyes were only fixed on Luna’s. On the fear he saw reflected back at him. The fear that her Wolf was trying so hard to conceal, even as she trembled.

“Piss off, bastard,” the men’s apparent leader retorted, holding up a knife in front of his scarred face. “She’s ours, and this is no business of yours.”

“Yours, is she?” Fearless, Kirith pushed his way through the crowd, shoving two of the men out of the way with ease. He was a full head taller than any of them, his imposing form making its way to the head shifter in a few short strides. He reached for the man’s face, cupping his jaw in his right hand.

He turned his head to look at Luna. “I don’t think she’s yours at all.”

Luna shifted then, pulling her hood tight around her face and crossing her arms over her torn t-shirt. A blood stain seeped through the cotton from the Wolf’s attack, drawing Kirith’s rage.

He stared into her eyes, reading her fear, her hope, her every emotion. He wanted to kiss her forehead, to whisper to her that everything would be all right, now that he was here. He wanted to look after the small Wolf, even though he was meant to despise her.

Fighting back his emotions, he let go of the leader and turned to face the group, placing himself between them and their victim as he backed towards Luna.

“Do you know what I am?” he asked the men.

The leader nodded. “You’re a shifter,” he replied. He sniffed the air for a moment, pulling back with a scowl on his face. “A fucking Dragon.”

“I am. I’m here to see to it that Hyde Park remains a safe retreat for shifters. So tell me, what is your business with this woman?” Kirith asked, nodding over his shoulder towards Luna.

“No business,” the young man replied, casting a grin. “We saw her come in and thought we’d play about a little. It’s all about the joy of the hunt, right boys?” he asked his Pack. Chuckles rose up around Kirith, and it was all he could do not to swing a long arm out and clock several of them in the jaw.

As he stared at the hateful bunch, a tentative hand on slipped onto his back. Suddenly Luna was standing next to him, glaring out at the Wolves, her eyes narrowed with hatred. It seemed that Kirith’s presence had given her a little courage, at least. “Just say it,” she began, her voice filled with rage. “You were going to…”

“Relax, love,” said the plonker. “We were just going to have some fun, like I said.”

“I’m not sure how you think it would’ve been too much fun for you when I bit your dick clean off,” she snarled.

Knife still in hand, the young man lunged towards her. But Kirith reached for him, grabbing him by the front of his jacket and twisting around to jam his back into the wrought iron fence beside him. The blade dropped to the ground with a sharp clang, and Kirith kicked it into the distant grass.

“You heard the young lady,” he said through clenched jaws. “She would have bitten your dick off. After that, my Dragon would’ve bitten your sodding head off. But don’t worry. I’d have cauterized the wound for you with searing hot flame.”

“We didn’t mean nothin’ by it,” the scruffy man whimpered, seeming to realize at last that Kirith meant business. “It was all meant to be a good time, that’s all.”

“You know full well that it wouldn’t have been so good for the young lady, Wolf. Now, I’m going to let you leave in one piece with a warning. This park is protected, do you understand me? It is home to Kindred, not to you. That means Dragons. Dragons who will tear your face off, if you or your Pack members ever set foot on its ground at night again. Do you understand me?”

The man nodded.

Kirith let go of him and he slid down the fence, landing in a heap on the damp ground. The Dragon shifter reached over his head and pulled two of the thick iron rails apart, creating a gap in the fence large enough for the shifters to squeeze through.

“All of you,” he said, ushering them out. “Go. Don’t come back. Forget about the young lady. Forget that you ever saw me, or her.”

One by one the young men filed out until every last one of them was gone. Kirith wrapped his fingers around the bars again and did his best to return them to their previous position, before turning to Luna.

“Are you all right?” he asked, surprised by the gentleness of his own tone. He wasn’t accustomed to speaking kindly to anyone these days.

She nodded, her eyes veering over to the fence. “I didn’t know anyone was so strong…” she gasped. “I…thank you. For what you did.”

“You shouldn’t have been here,” he said, ignoring her thanks. “You shouldn’t have put me in a position where I needed to protect my enemy.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Just don’t let it happen again,” he growled. He wanted to walk away from her, but found himself instead staring into those beautiful blue eyes of hers. Sweet, innocent, lovely thing. Why the fuck did she have to be one of them?

“The thing is,” she said quietly, “you did protect me. Why?”

Her face was streaked with dirt and tears, her torn shirt exposing a bit of black lace bra. Under the rip he could see the wound in her side, blood plastered to her fair skin.

“Why?” he asked, raking his eyes hungrily down her body before forcing himself to look into her eyes again. “That’s a very good question. I suppose I should have let them have you, really. It would have rid the world of one useless Wolf.”

He could see her jaw clench with tension at his harsh words. That had stung her, he could tell. Good. Let her feel a little of the pain that he’d felt for so long. “Yes,” she said. “I suppose you should have let them have me.”

His eyes moved down her body again, stopping when they reached the tear in her shirt. “But since you’re still here, we need to clean that wound of yours,” he said. “Come with me, She-Wolf.”