It was only seconds before Arsenic and Chromium were there in the room with Lead, followed by the others, pouring in, weapons at the ready.

But they were too late. Brittany was gone.

It felt like as if entire world were spinning on its axis. The wounds the she-dragon had inflicted hurt, definitely. But nothing compared to the swiftly widening hole in his heart that was bleeding out more with each passing second she was gone.

“Where’s Brittany?” Cadmium asked.

“Gone. She took her,” Lead said, pushing himself to his feet, ignoring the pain in his muscles. He’d been in more physical pain before, fought back from the brink of death.

But death was welcome in the face of a world without Brittany. He had to find her. Save her. Help her understand how he truly felt.

“She? Who?” Cobalt inquired.

“A dragon. She used a portal, broke down the barrier protecting the house. She has Brittany.”

“Holy shit,” Arsenic cursed.

By then, Marina and Mercury were already in the room. Marina came up to Lead, then, without saying anything, started to pace around the room, moving to the wall where Brittany had disappeared through the portal.

“We need to go after her,” Cadmium said, clenching his fists angrily.

“How? We don’t even know where she’s been taken, idiot,” Arsenic said.

“Shut up!” Mercury commanded, and the room went silent.

For several moments, Marina paced back and forth, deep in thought. Then she turned to Lead, pointing at the wall.

“Was it here?”

“Yes,” Lead replied, his body recovering but his soul feeling emptier than ever. He’d make that evil dragon pay for taking his mate.

Marina put a hand up to it, closing her eyes, and then Lead felt energy hum through the room, like static electricity ready to spark.

“Whoever this is, she is strong to pull down the barrier I put up. But she made a mistake. The magic she used leaves a… How would I put it? A fingerprint. I can reopen the portal using the leftover power, but not for long. You’ll need to get in, rescue Brittany, and get out.”

“So you know where she is?” Lead asked, mind racing with plans now.

“No, I only know that the portal opened here. I have no clue what’s on the other side. So be ready for anything.”

“And the she-dragon?” Zinc asked, folding his arms.

“If you can, capture her. She’s a danger. But don’t get caught on the other end, or else we might not be able to bring you back,” Marina said.

At that, she pressed her palm into the wall, and when she pulled away from it, a bright-blue doorway appeared, blindingly white so nobody could see what was on the other side.

“I’ll stay on this end. Make sure nothing comes through on our side,” Mercury said.

Lead and the others gathered around the doorway, ready to charge through.

It reminded him of their missions on Drakkaris. Working together in tandem to face an enemy greater than their individual strength.

But this time, there was so much more than honor on the line.

This mission was for love.

“Anything else we should know?” Lead asked.

“Good luck,” Mercury said with a shrug.

At that, Lead charged through the doorway, and he felt a rushing sensation wash over him. It was like falling but even faster, surrounded by blue and green light.

And then suddenly, they were standing, all of them, in the middle of a room.

His senses on high alert, Lead took stock of his surroundings.

They were in a gigantic living space, pristinely decorated with cube-shaped furniture. A tall, vaulted ceiling rose above them, and he noted an adjoining kitchen and entertainment area with hallways leading out on the sides and a staircase circling in the center of the room leading somewhere upstairs.

At the ends of the room, tinted windows gave a view of a city skyline at sunset, with tall buildings stretching out in every direction. But from the looks of it, they definitely were not in New York.

And surrounding them, busying themselves by eating, milling about, or chatting amongst themselves, were wolves.

And patrolling the halls and sleeping on the ground around their feet were wyverns.

They’d landed right in the middle of the hornet’s nest.

Perfect.

Before any of the creatures in the room could react, Lead and his dragon guard leapt into action, each going straight at the nearest enemy they could reach. Two wolves yelped, dropping their drinks, as Cobalt grabbed them by the throats and threw them bodily into a nearby wall, making the drywall shatter from the impact.

Two wolves stood in front of them, turning in the direction of the noise. Arsenic advanced on them, kicking an expensive table up as though it weighed nothing and sending it cracking in two as it connected with them, knocking them over.

“Intruders!” Lead heard someone yell, and the entire room flew into mayhem, all eyes on them now.

A wyvern reared its ugly head, jaws snapping toward Lead, and he dodged back, then swung his blade at it, knocking it backward. He then lunged forward, driving his blade deep into its chest.

The foul beast deserved no less.

To his side, he saw Cadmium make for the wolves attacking from the kitchen, many of them charging with whatever makeshift weapons they could muster on short notice. But Cadmium knocked their knives and broken bottles away like toys with his sword, then sent them flying like ragdolls with his fist, practically laughing as he did.

Lead headed for two wyverns that were waking up from slumber, looking around him for any sign or scent of Brittany as they lunged at him. He parried their attacks effortlessly, then slashed his sword in a wide arc, cutting through them.

Behind him, a door opened, and several wolves rushed out, howling as they shifted into their wolf forms. They snarled, baring huge, white teeth.

Lead raised his sword but stopped when a huge couch, probably ten or fifteen feet long, flew past him and slammed into the wolves’ faces.

From nowhere, Zinc appeared at Lead’s side, cracking his knuckles.

“I needed this,” he said, pausing for only a moment before flying headlong at the wolves, who were recovering from the unsuspected furniture flung at their faces.

Lead turned, seeing Arsenic and Chromium carving a path through wyverns and wolves in the center of the room, using chairs, tables, swords, even the TV as weapons. Anything they could get their hands on. A wyvern attacked Chromium from behind, but before Lead could warn him, it snapped its jaws down on Chromium’s arm.

But to the Wyvern’s horror, its fangs snapped, and Chromium turned around, his skin glistening momentarily with a bright silver glow, then returning to normal. He grinned, then grabbed the beast by the neck and head-butted it, the loud crack sounding even over the chaos all around them.

Then the noise was interrupted by a voice, raspy and somewhat feminine. “What’s going on?”

Lead looked up and saw the dragon standing at the top of the stairs, still wearing that shimmering, blackish-purple chainmail gown she’d had on before. She was glaring disdainfully down at the melee below.

The next instant, she leapt over the railing of the staircase, crashing down onto the marbled floor beneath her and making it crack under the impact.

“Whoa,” Cadmium said, eyes going a little wide from the display, then turning to a nearby wolf and sending his knee into its stomach, sending it reeling.

“Where’s my mate?” Lead growled, raising his sword and turning his full attention to her.

“Your mate?” She sneered at him, the corners of her cruel mouth turning up. “Not anymore, if Zaros has done his job. A pity. She really did seem to like you, that one.”

Lead stepped forward. “I swear, if you’ve laid a hand on her, I’ll make you pay.”

Her eyes narrowed. “I doubt it.”

Lead was about to leap at her when he felt Zinc’s hand on his shoulder, holding him back.

“We don’t have time to toy with the she-dragon. We have to find Brittany,” Zinc said. “We need some kind of distraction so that you can get around her.”

Just then, Chromium glanced over at Lead, a strange look in his eyes, and he nodded, though Lead had no clue what he meant by it.

At that, Chromium dropped his sword, letting it clang to the ground, and walked toward the she-dragon, who turned to him, eyebrow raised, lips pursed in confusion.

“What are you doing? Do you want to die?” she warned.

Then to everyone’s shock, Chromium ripped off his shirt, the fabric flying away in tatters as he posed, flexing every muscle.

But against all reason, the she-dragon paused, and Lead saw her eyes go wide for a fraction of a second, taking in every inch of his half-naked friend from top to bottom.

And even though the opening couldn’t have been more than a short moment, Arsenic took it, drawing metal up from the floor all around her, encasing her in a bubble of dark metal. “That’ll knock her out,” he said. “No air.”

“That distraction, though,” Cadmium said, looking over at Chromium. “What on earth?”

“It worked, didn’t it?” Cobalt said as Arsenic pulled back his prison and plucked the now-unconscious female dragon off the ground and hoisted her over his shoulder. Chromium just nodded in agreement, grabbing his sword and turning his attention to several more wyverns that had appeared at the end of the room.

Around them, any wolves that weren’t lying on the ground unconscious were making for what Lead could only guess were the exits, and he turned his attention to looking for his mate.

But his thoughts were interrupted by a shrill shriek, and Lead’s blood boiled, sending him into an unearthly rage as he headed toward the sound of his mate.

Someone was going to pay.

* * *

Lead’s heart was going to implode inside his chest, the sound of Brittany’s distress calling him toward her. He rushed across the living room, heading toward a hallway at the end of it. Through the hallway was a door, and he kicked it open, moving into the room.

Inside the spacious suite was a large bed. Standing on one side was Brittany, poised as if to run. On the other was a tall wolf with short, blond hair, arms raised as if he’d just been in the act of chasing her.

But the look of fear on Brittany’s face made this anything but a game.

“I love a woman with some fight in her,” the wolf said gleefully.

By then Lead’s presence in the room had registered with its occupants, and Brittany turned to look at him, relief in her eyes.

“Lead!” she said, trying to run around the bed to get to him. But the wolf was faster and got between Lead and Brittany, a cold, feral look in his eyes.

“Back off,” Lead said in a low voice. That would be the wolf’s only warning.

The wolf raised his eyebrows haughtily. “So you are a contender for this woman. Very well. I accept your challenge and shall acquit myself with honor. But I’ll have you know that I bested three of the world’s strongest bears by myself. So I hope you’re ready for a fight.”

Lead just glared at the man in disbelief and probably would have laughed at the ridiculousness of the situation if not for the fact that Brittany was still in danger.

Oblivious, the wolf continued. “You have no idea who you’re dealing with. I’m the firstborn of the honorable house of Thane, leader of the wolves of the redwoods,” the wolf drawled on, listing his achievements.

Ugh, it sounded just like Lead when he’d been back on Drakkaris, where honor meant everything.

He was so done with that.

“I’m going to take care of this,” Lead mouthed to Brittany, moving forward and readying himself slightly.

The wolf didn’t seem to notice, going on about challenges and achievements and whatnot. Lead just leapt forward, catching the guy by surprise and ramming the handle of his sword into the guy’s face. It sent him flying backward, shattering the headboard of the bed into dozens of pieces.

The wolf recovered surprisingly quickly, though, getting up and dusting himself off.

“That was not honorable!” he said incredulously, still staggering from the impact.

“Fuck honor,” Lead growled, and he leapt onto the bed, punching the wolf again and slamming him into the wall. He punched him again and again, pounding him harder into the wall with each strike.

Lead didn’t care if he had to dishonor the whole planet. He wasn’t going to let anyone else have his mate.

“She’s mine,” he shouted angrily as he pummeled the wolf. “She’s all I care about in this whole damn world, and I’ll end you for even trying to lay hands on her!”

Honor, achievement, rigid rules of conduct. Screw all of them, so long as he could keep Brittany safe and by his side forever.

The wolf struggled, but couldn’t escape from Lead’s hail of blows. But he was interrupted by the sound of a loud cough coming from the behind him.

Lead whirled around to see his comrades standing in the doorway, watching him with various looks.

“I think you got him,” Cobalt said, crossing his arms.

Lead looked down and saw the wolf was indeed bloodied, unconscious, but still breathing.

“We get it. You love your mate. Now let’s get out of here,” Arsenic said drily, the female dragon still on his shoulder.

“Lead and Brittany, sitting in a tree… Something about kissing. I don’t remember how it goes. I only heard the song once,” Cadmium said with a grin.

Lead leapt off the bed, clearing the distance between him and Brittany and pulling her into his arms.

“Thank goodness you came in time. How did you find me?” Brittany said, the sound of her relief sweeter than any food or drink he’d ever tasted.

“No time to explain everything,” he replied, picking her up and hoisting her into his arms. “I know you might still be mad at me, but I want you to know this. From now on, you’re fucking mine.”

She stared up at him, blinking quickly, then laughed and rested against this chest. “That’s all I wanted, you silly dragon.”

“I don’t have feelings for Marina,” he said bluntly. “Or anyone else. Only you.”

“I kind of figured that when you were beating the shit out of that wolf and screaming that I was all you cared about in the whole word. I still don’t understand everything, but this time I’ll give you a chance to explain.” She smiled. “After all, I do sort of owe you for saving me. Again.”

“I would never let anyone hurt you,” he said, brushing her hair back. “You’re mine.” Then he leaned forward to kiss her, needing to show her all the feelings in his heart.

Someone cleared their throat.

“I’m glad you worked out your shit,” Arsenic said sardonically. “But we need to get the fuck out before the portal is gone.”

Arsenic was right, so Lead took the front with Brittany still in his arms. As they walked back in the direction of the portal, Lead noted the additional destruction his comrades had done to the place while he’d been saving Brittany. Anything that wasn’t bolted to the ground was shattered and broken, bodies (unconscious or moaning) lay strewn about the place in every direction, and the floors, wall, and even some places on the ceiling looked crushed and broken.

“Better hurry up, guys. Unless you want to get stuck over there.” They heard Mercury’s voice calling through the other side, though all they could see were two fuzzy figures, presumably Marina and Mercury.

“Based on the preponderance of art-deco finishes in the nearby buildings and the surrounding topography, I’d guess we’re somewhere in—”

But Cobalt’s words were interrupted as Chromium shoved him forward into the portal, making him disappear in a flash of light. Chromium followed shortly afterward, still shirtless.

Lead was about to go in when he heard muffled struggling from behind him, and he whirled around to see the she-dragon still on Arsenic’s shoulders but awake now. She had one elbow locked around Arsenic’s mouth, and when he jerked to pull her off of him, she slid down his chest a bit. Before Arsenic could react, she aimed a quick punch at his groin that landed with an audible thud.

Arsenic’s grip on her immediately slackened, and he slumped to his knees, bunching up in pain.

The dragon, now free, fled at shocking speed, and before Zinc or Cadmium could stop her, she leapt through one of the huge tinted windows, disappearing.

Arsenic, now on his hands and knees, feebly crawled toward the window where she’d fled, dragging his sword behind him, unable to even hold it up.

“Vengeance…” Arsenic rasped out, hand outstretched. “I must have vengeance.”

“You can have your vengeance later,” Cadmium said, grabbing Arsenic by the collar and dragging him through the portal.

“Don’t keep us waiting,” Zinc said to Lead with a grin, and he vanished as well.

“You ready?” Lead asked Brittany, making sure she was comfortable in his arms. “When we get back, I’m going to make you mine.”

She smiled, looking up into his eyes. “I’ve been ready since the first time we touched.”

“Good,” he said. “That’s all I wanted to hear.” Then he stepped through the portal, and flashing light engulfed them both.

And for the first time since coming to the planet Earth, Lead felt like he was going home.