Chapter Sixteen
Tyler
Tyler wasn’t allowed to go home for his twenty-four hours. Leopold, who had taken leadership for this mess, stated that he wasn’t allowed to contact Bernie until it was decided who her mate truly was. Never mind that she didn’t want anything to do with Bill…
The day was enough for his injuries to heal and soon enough Tyler found himself in a huge warehouse facing off with Bill. It was the club’s ‘gym’ and all the equipment had been dragged to the sides to leave an open space in the middle. Wrestling mats had been put down, although it was unlikely that they were going to do much good. Not with two big dragons fighting.
Bill punched his fist into his hand as he stared down Tyler. Tyler, for his part, did various stretches while waiting for Leopold. He had to do this fight, but that didn’t mean he was going to injure himself by pulling a muscle. Not only was it a bad idea, but it would also put him at a disadvantage. His fires billowed a little higher, though he tried to keep himself calm.
Did Bill honestly think that a woman who wanted nothing to do with him could be his mate? But then, apparently, he was blaming Tyler for Bernie’s disgust of him, so…
Leopold stepped between them. “No weapons. No shifting. No killing. You fight until one of you passes out or surrenders. If one of you kills the other, then neither of you gets the girl, understood? We’re not savages, after all.”
Tyler fought the urge to roll his eyes. Forcing them to fight when Bernie had made her own choice very clear wasn’t barbaric? Riiiight.
Leopold moved to the side. Most of the club stood up on the upper floor, looking down at the two of them. Bernie was at the side with Leopold, though. She looked furious but worried at the same time. Tyler waved at her, trying to show that he wasn’t worried even if his gut churned. Bill was a much, much bigger dragon than he was…
“Don’t fret, my dear,” Bill called to her. “I’ll claim you and we will live our lives forever orbiting one another.”
“Never going to happen,” she shouted back at him. “I am never letting you lay a finger on me!”
Bill rolled his eyes. Tyler took the opportunity to dodge in and land the first blow. His knuckles cracked as he hit Bill in the jaw. The bigger dragon stumbled back. His head whipped around, smoke billowing from his mouth. He jumped, moving quicker than Tyler had anticipated and brought a hard blow down on Tyler. Tyler ducked to avoid it but the fist still caught his shoulder.
Cheers rose up from the watching crowd. Tyler could just imagine them passing bets but didn’t look. Unlike Bill, who threw his hands into the air and started to yell victoriously.
Tyler regained his feet and rolled his shoulder, checking the mobility. Something clicked but there wasn’t any extra pain. He charged at Bill again. When the bigger dragon turned to greet him, he slipped under his arms and punched rapidly into Bill’s stomach. Bill grunted, doubling over. Tyler sprang upright and made to elbow him in the back of the neck.
Bill seized him around the waist and threw him to the mats. The bulky body landing on him shot the breath from his lungs. Stars danced before his eyes. Bill reared back and punched him twice in the face and chest. Something snapped and pain blinded him. Tyler lifted his hands to ward off the blows. Smoke filled the air, filling the space between them. Bill continued to punch blindly.
Seizing on an incredible, stupid idea, Tyler threw himself forward. The motion unsteadied Bill but not as much as Tyler’s forehead crashing into his nose. Bill let out a howl of pain and rolled off of him. Tyler took a moment to steady his swirling vision before he flung himself over Bill. He pinned him down and started beating on his face. Sweat and blood mingled as more smoke belched into the air.
And then he was suddenly thrown off to one side. Wings snapped out behind Bill. White-gold scales covered his body and he threw back his head and roared. His neck became long and sinewy, his arms morphed into legs and his hands and feet became six-fingered, grasping claws. Flame flickered in his mouth as Bill stared down at Tyler.
“I said no—”
Bill’s tail lashed out. It caught Leopold in the stomach and threw him across the warehouse. He crumpled. Above them, the others in the club had gone silent. Tyler scrambled away from Bill, blinking blood from his eyes. Shivers ran up his spine as he stared upwards. His fires raged and burned but he couldn’t make himself shift.
To do so would be, for all intents and purposes, throwing the validity of his claim to Bernie away. So what if Bill had just done the same; the club would forbid him to be with her if he broke the rules, and then what? He’d be without friends in order to be with his mate. It was a sacrifice that he was willing to make, but his hesitation lasted too long.
Bill seized him in one of his clawed hands. A rumbling laugh echoed in the warehouse, drowning out the club as they shouted at him to put Tyler down. Tyler squirmed and kicked, but the grip was so tight that he couldn’t shift even if he wanted to.
“Surrender!” Somehow Bernie’s voice was clear and sharp in this confusion of noise. “Tyler, surrender! Please!”
It went against every instinct in his body, but Tyler managed to get the words out. “I surrender.”
Bill paused. More laughter as he dropped Tyler. He threw his hands into the air as though that had been a victory and shouted to the ceiling. Tyler struggled to breathe as he got to his feet. His legs buckled and he went down again, staring helplessly as Bill stalked over to Bernie. He grabbed her arm.
And she responded by driving her fist into his stomach. All the sounds from above cut out at once. Bernie, her face twisted in determination, elbowed Bill in the back of the neck and then kicked him in the face.
“Now I’m going to fight for myself!” she screamed. “I claim myself as my mate and you’ve got to fight me!”
Bill snarled. “That’s not how it works—”
Bernie drove her fists into his chest. The force knocked Bill down but he jumped up again. With a roar, he reached for her. Tyler wasn’t sure when exactly he had made it back to his feet but suddenly he was there. One arm went around Bernie, spinning her away from Bill, while the other punched into his temple. Bill’s mouth opened, closed, opened again and then he crumpled.
The club members started to stream down, all talking at once. Several of them ran to Leopold, while others came to congratulate Tyler. Bill’s cronies pulled him to the wall and left him there.
“All of you get away from us before I go Hurricane Bernie on you,” Bernie snapped. She glowered at the dragons around them until they backed off. Then, supporting Tyler’s weight on her, she tugged him away. It wasn’t until they were out of the warehouse that she started to tremble. “That… that asshole. He was going to kill you.”
Tyler nodded in agreement. “And he’ll be punished for it. One thing that the club can’t abide is that behavior. I won’t be surprised if he’s in jail within the hour.”
Bernie growled in her throat. “As soon as I get you patched up, we’re calling the cops. This is unacceptable. So very, very unacceptable… although…” Her mood lightened and she gave him a pained half-smile. “You were very hot fighting shirtless. That’s a sight I’d like to see more often. Just not in an actual serious situation. Maybe you should get a job as an actor in action thrillers. Then you can be naked and pretend fight all the time.”
Tyler chuckled, though it hurt. “From shirtless to naked? Somebody’s objectifying male muscle.”
“I have to.” Bernie’s lip trembled. “If I think about what he would have done to you—"
“Don’t think about it.” Tyler kissed her lightly. “Just don’t think about it.”
***
Rather than going home, Tyler directed Bernie to take him to the bar. There, she patched him up. Just as she was finishing, the others came in. Jackson told him that they had handed Bill over to the police on various charges, including stalking, harassment, and attempted murder. They were all going to testify against him. Bill’s cronies had all slunk into the corner of the room and didn’t speak.
With that out of the way, they had a couple rounds of drinks to celebrate. Bernie was clearly furious with all of them for allowing the fight to happen, though, so Tyler quickly made up an excuse to head home. On the way there, he dug out his phone and found dozens of missed calls from Polly, which made him wince. After he called her and assured her he was okay, he turned the phone off and closed his eyes.
Once they were back at the house, Bernie took him to his bedroom and helped him to shower. Then she bandaged him up again while he sat on the bed in only a robe. She ran her hands over the bandages and shook her head. “I know I can’t blame myself for this, but it feels like my fault.”
Tyler held his arms out to her and she lay down in them. “It’s not your fault. You’re right, you can’t blame yourself.”
“But if—”
“Don’t think about it. It’s not your fault. I’m fine. You’re fine. Bill is in jail where he’s never going to hurt anybody again.” He kissed her lightly, then grinned. “And you think I’m sexy.”
Bernie laughed and rolled her eyes but accepted the kiss. Her fingers dug into his shirt as he teased her lips open.