Jett surveyed the undead men beneath him. The puny hunters were holding ballistic shields in front of their bodies, retrieved from harnesses on their backs. Jett could have laughed.

That won’t save you.

They would pay for what they did to Ariel. Pay terribly.

He noted with some satisfaction that Logan, in lion form, was among them.

The remaining witch had been continually assaulting Jett all this time. The apprentice attempted to bind Jett with threads of Air, but the Weaves fell away when they touched him. The apprentice threw Fire, but Jett’s scales deflected it. Finally the witch attempted to open the ground up and swallow him, but Jett merely stepped his massive body to the side.

Jett reared his head and breathed fire.

The hunters ducked behind their ballistic shields, while the witch raised a defensive Weave of Air around himself.

Jett pounced, crushing many of the undead, but the witch’s Air shield deflected Jett’s massive claws and the dragon couldn’t reach him.

“You will drop the Weave,” Jett instructed the witch in his booming dragon voice.

Compulsion didn’t work on the stronger vampires, especially those that were witches, but it was worth the attempt.

The witch smirked beneath his hood.

Jett decided to try it on the apprentice’s minions next, knowing that while compulsion affected weaker vampires such as those the dragons liked to take as slaves, it didn’t work on the undead at all unless they were newly reanimated.

“You will aim your weapons at the witch and open fire,” he said, the compulsion thick in his dragon voice. The command was confined to those within his gaze, so he swept it across the cowering group.

But none of the undead complied.

Too bad.

Jett paused to consider his options. He couldn’t penetrate the defenses of the apprentice with fire or claws. He couldn’t use compulsion. And he didn’t dare call back the lions—he’d risked their lives enough for one day.

Hmm.

Experimentally, he reached out with his talons and wrapped them around the invisible shield around the man. It felt like a solid mass. Something that Jett could grip. He tightened his claws around it and lifted his forelimb. Sure enough, the witch at the center of the cushion of Air was hoisted into the air along with the shield.

Perfect.

Jett bent his legs, extended his wings, and took flight. He flew higher and higher, the forest shrinking below until it became a patchwork quilt of different-colored trees, clearings and foothills. The mountains arose like claws in the distance.

The bare hands of the vampire smoked from their exposure to the sun, which shone so much more strongly at that height; the robe protected the remainder of the vampire’s body.

“Let me go!” the witch shouted.

Jett ignored him.

In a last ditch effort to escape, the apprentice released the Air cushion that surrounded his body, hoping to slip through the claws, but Jett was expecting the move and immediately tightened his large talons to snatch up the vampire.

Jett tore away the robes and the apprentice screamed in agony as his flesh was exposed. Jett ripped off the gauntlets, depriving the vampire of his ability to Siphon the Strength, and then Jett simply held the creature there beneath the sun. He flapped his huge wings steadily to maintain his height.

The vampire squirmed as his unnatural body melted away. The disintegration was taking a little long for Jett’s liking, so he opened his mouth and unleashed a jet of flame to speed up the process.

A few moments later Jett released the remains of the vampire, and watched the smoking skeleton plunge to the earth.

Jett dove, gliding toward the surface. He didn’t want to stay in the sky for too long in case human campers were somewhere in the vicinity.

He approached the clearing he had launched from and circled twice, scanning the mangled tents and bodies. Evidently the lions had returned to finish off the remaining undead. He chose an area free of obstacles and landed. The ground shook in protest beneath him, and when he had settled he reverted to human form.

Ariel ran to him and wrapped her naked body around his. He couldn’t help his arousal and he kissed her hard, wanting to take her right there. He wrapped one hand behind her neck and pressed the other against the small of her back. Her bare hips ground against his side. She tasted strangely of copper, as if she had blood in her mouth. Jett ignored the tang; he relished her touch in that moment more than anything else.

She came up for air to say: “My dragon. My beautiful, magnificent, gorgeous dragon.”

“You weren’t disturbed by what I am?” Jett said.

“No,” Ariel said. “I love you.”

That was the second time she had spoken those magic words, and hearing them now after she had seen his true form changed him on a fundamental level. He never thought he would need love. Never thought he was capable of giving it in return. But she loved him. He was the world to someone. And she was the world to him.

“You accept me for what I am, even after I’ve bared my soul to you, and showed you my inner self?” Jett said. “You’ve seen what I’m capable of. The death and destruction I can inflict upon those who would dare touch what is mine. And yet you still accept me.”

“Of course I accept you,” Ariel said. “You did what you had to do to protect me. I love you, and I love your dragon. What I saw a few moments ago was one of the most beautiful things I’ve ever witnessed in my life.”

“And I love you.” He kissed her again, teasing her with his tongue; he slid a hand to her naked center and momentarily dipped a finger inside her. She moaned but he pulled away. “A little taste of what you’re going to get later.”

She looked around and only then seemed to realize that other members of Blue Hurricane were standing in human form nearby. Her face became a stark red, either embarrassed because she was naked, or by what Jett had just done in front of them all.

Jett, however, didn’t feel ashamed or embarrassed. The other pride members were naked, too, male and female alike. He got his throbbing erection under control now that he was apart from Ariel, and he surveyed the carnage once more, this time with human eyes.

Miraculously, none of the lions had died in the fighting. Some were injured, having taken gunshot wounds, but they were healing: Teri and the other humans from the camp who’d stayed back to watch the fighting from afar had joined the pride, and applied bandages to the injured as Jett watched.

Logan lay broken and badly burned next to the undead Jett had trampled in dragon form. Jett knelt next to the body: it looked like a lion had torn out his heart. Jett regretted that the man had died so soon, but perhaps it was for the best. He didn’t need Ariel to watch the long torture session he had originally planned for the man.

He recalled the coppery taste he had noticed during his kiss with Ariel. When he glanced at her, he thought he saw defiance in her eyes. He decided he would never bring up the subject of Logan’s death with her. If she wanted to talk about it, it would be on her. Hopefully now at least she would find some peace from the nightmares.

He stood up and walked directly to Cliff, Alpha of Blue Hurricane.

“Thank you for coming to my aid,” Jett said.

“You talk as if you weren’t sure we would,” Cliff said.

“For a while there, I admit I wasn’t,” Jett said. “I worried you wouldn’t honor the agreement.”

“Of course I intended to,” Cliff said. “Most lions are good. Not like Logan. It just took me some time to get in position for the shot. The witch who was bleeding you was at a bad angle to me.”

Jett nodded. “Makes sense.”

Cliff glanced at his men. “Well, we should probably head back to camp. Plan some sort of celebration. First, we—”

“Wait,” Jett said. “I have a favor to ask.”

Cliff raised an eyebrow. “More favors?”

Jett knelt his naked body before the man, who stared at him in surprise. “I pledge allegiance to you, Cliff Dawson of Blue Hurricane. I pledge to follow you as my Alpha. I pledge to fight for you and defend your pride as though they were my own kin. Will you accept me? Will you let me live and fight alongside the brothers and sisters of Blue Hurricane?”

The Alpha hesitated, seeming torn. “This is highly unusual. Shifters rarely mix like this, unless they’re living in human cities.”

“Blue Hurricane will be the exception then,” Jett said.

Cliff pursed his lips, then shook his head. Jett knew his request was about to be rejected. He would have to take Ariel away after all, despite everything.

Cliff touched Jett under the elbows and lifted gently. “Stand.”

Jett obeyed, steeling himself for what was coming. He glanced at Ariel. Her eyes were wet.

She knows, too. Can I really take her away from them? She’s only just started to fit in, and now I’m going to uproot her.

“You are a king,” Cliff said. “One of the most powerful dragons who has ever lived.”

Not anymore, Jett was about to say, but then Cliff surprised him then by kneeling in turn. Jett had read up on the lion pledging ceremony, and this was definitely not how it was supposed to go.

“It is I who pledge my allegiance to you,” Cliff continued. He swept his gaze across the pride members. “Kneel, all of you.”

The pride obeyed, and one by one the members prostrated themselves before Jett, even the human members.

Cliff’s hand partially transformed, revealing the paw and sharp claws of his lion. It demonstrated the masterful control the Alpha had over his inner beast, a control Ariel would have someday.

Cliff slashed the talons over the open palm of his other hand, which had remained human. The skin parted and bled. Remaining on his knees, he reached up toward Jett.

That part of the ceremony matched what Jett had read, but he was reluctant to complete the ritual. Especially considering that he was supposed to be the one kneeling. He merely stared at the blood dripping from that lacerated palm.

“I never wanted this,” Cliff said. “To usurp your position.”

“You have no choice if you truly want to stay,” Cliff said. “There can be only one Alpha. The inner beasts of the pride members will sense something is wrong with the natural order of things. Sense that you are the strongest and yet not serving at our head. And they will begin to disobey me. Their acts of defiance will be small at first, and then become larger and larger until I lose control and the pride descends into chaos. You think it was a coincidence that fights broke out between pride members almost daily while you were staying with us? If you intend to join Blue Hurricane, you have to be Alpha. There’s no way around it. Now quickly, complete the ritual before my hand starts to heal. I don’t want to have to cut myself again.”

Jett remembered Ephephany’s words to him many years ago, the same words she had made him repeat more recently.

You are destined to lead. You might try to escape it, but no matter where you go, you will rule.

He would simply have to accept that destiny, he supposed.

Duty is a garment I wear tight around my breast.

He glanced at Cliff’s bleeding palm.

Jett, too, had achieved the same level of mastery over his inner dragon, and he used that precise control to extract a single long, sickle-shaped talon, something he could do now that he was free of that infernal collar. He swiped at his other hand and bit back the sting as the claw tore deep.

He retracted the talon and reached out with his bleeding hand to shake Cliff’s offered palm, blood to blood. The pain flared again as the Alpha squeezed; Jett tightened his own fingers, applying slightly less pressure as per the protocol he had read.

“No,” Cliff said. “You must squeeze harder than I do. You are the Alpha.”

Jett gritted his teeth and obliged him. Cliff winced at the pain.

Jett released him and their hands fell away.

It was done.

“Jeddah Flavius Vespasianus III,” Cliff intoned. “You are the new Alpha of Blue Hurricane.”

Jett surveyed the kneeling pride around him. Their heads were bowed to him in subservience.

“Rise, Blue Hurricane,” Jett said. When they were all on their feet, he turned to Cliff. “Will you be my Second?”

“I’d be honored to accept the role,” Cliff said. He glanced at Ariel. “Though I suspect it won’t last for very long. When the time comes, Ariel will challenge me.”

Ariel shook her head. “I don’t want the position.”

“Like Jett, you don’t have a choice,” Cliff said. “It’s all about dominance. Your lioness is strongest among us. It’s only natural that you replace me when you’re ready.”

“Well, we’ll wait until that day comes I guess,” Ariel said.

Cliff glanced at Jett. “What is your first command to us?”

“I see you’ve brought backpacks,” Jett said, nodding toward the humans among the pride. “Is it safe to assume you have spare clothes in them, in addition to the first aid kits?”

“It is,” Teri told him. Like the other humans, she was fully dressed.

“All right, so first order of business, we get dressed,” Jett said. “After that, we head back to camp. You can show me the ropes later, Cliff.”

“What about your collar?” Jayden asked, stepping forward. “Or rather, your lack thereof?”

Jett rubbed his bare neck. “If the dragons return to collar me, I will accept it of course. But until then, I swear to you I won’t change unless it’s absolutely necessary to defend my pride, or my woman.”

Cliff nodded. “I hope you all heard that. Touch his woman, and you won’t like what happens to you.”

“And speaking of the collar, you and you,” he pointed at Jayden and another mean-looking lion shifter named Razor. “See if you can find the one I removed. It should be close to where we were staked. It wouldn’t do to let it fall into the wrong hands.”

“On it,” Jayden said. He and the other lion hurried toward the spot.

Teri and the other humans with the pride distributed clothes from backpacks. Jett accepted a faded Never Taunt A Lion T-shirt, ripped black jeans, and loose-fitting flip flops. It wasn’t quite the usual high fashion wear he was used to, but it would do until he could find a replacement.

After dressing in a tank top and jeans, Cliff spoke. “What do you want to do with the bodies?”

Jett considered his options. He could transform into his dragon and burn them to ashes, or… “We leave them. The undead are no different than ordinary dead at this point. Let them serve as a warning for those who would consider picking a fight with us.”

Ariel, cute as hell in cut-off jean shorts and a worn T-shirt that had little cartoon lions on it, joined him, her own flip-flops clacking on the ground. Arm in arm, together they walked toward Jayden and Razor.

When Jett approached, Jayden looked up from where he was kneeling on the ground.

“The collar isn’t here.” Jayden said.

“What do you mean?” Jett said. “It has to be.”

“I’m telling you, it’s not,” Jayden said.

Jett joined in the search, as did Ariel and the other lions. They scoured the area for a good thirty minutes, even upturning several of the dead bodies, but couldn’t find it.

“During the fight, some of the undead ran,” Teri told him. “We saw them from our hiding places in the trees.”

“Now you tell us!” Razor said. “One of them obviously took it.”

“The apprentice witch gave them the order, no doubt,” Jett said. “Too bad.”

“What do you want to do?” Cliff asked.

“Well, if we can’t find it, we can’t find it,” Jett said. He wasn’t sure how he felt about some undead Orions having such a powerful artifact in their possession. They would likely spirit away the collar to whatever vampire coven had sponsored the attack. He suspected the involvement of Tritus, vampire king of South and Central America, though the man would never admit to any such complicity.

Jett ordered the pride to begin the long walk back to the Blue Hurricane campsite.

By then all of Jett’s injuries had healed, including the self-inflicted wound. He felt happy. Whole. Complete.

He held Ariel by the hand during the return trip. Whenever he looked at her, she met his eyes. He knew in his heart he had made the right choice. He was excited to get his life started with her. Wherever he stayed, with the Blue Hurricane pride, in the city, or isolated in the woods, as long as she was there, it would be home.

He slowly allowed himself and Ariel to fall back, and when the pair were at the rear of the party, he drew her aside and pressed her up against a tree, pinning her. “I don’t think I can wait until we get back.”

He sucked at her neck possessively, hard enough that she would bear a mark of passion later.

She ran a hand under his shirt, pressing her fingers between his powerful pecs.

He planted his lips on her mouth and drank of her freely. The copper taste was gone, replaced with the familiar special blend that was all Ariel.

“My lioness,” Jett said, ending the kiss, but keeping his face close to hers. His voice rasped with want. “My beautiful, ferocious lioness.”

“I’m looking forward to having little dragon-winged lions with you,” she said.

Jett laughed in that boisterous, deep-chested way of his youth. A laugh that only she could bring out.

“Someday, my lioness,” Jett said. “Someday. The future is an open road. We’ll take each day as it comes. Do you remember when I mentioned the defining moments of my life to you? Do you remember how I held back the third, perhaps most important moment?”

“Well don’t hold back,” Ariel said, combing a strand of hair behind his ear.

He couldn’t help but smile at the tender act. “The third moment—the most important moment—was when I met you.”

She melted in his arms, her eyes welling with moisture.

His lips found hers and they kissed each other hungrily.