My voice was suddenly overpowered by another, a roar much louder, darker, and spine chillingly scary. Braxton had moved forward in the protective dome, standing as close as he could to the edge without touching the white beams of energy – both hands clenched at his side, eyes locked on me like a heat-seeking-missile.
Air whooshed around me as Louis and Jonathon stepped away, both of them holding their arms aloft.
“No one is touching her, Braxton.” Jonathon was using his calm-down-crazy-shifter voice.
The moment I realized that Braxton’s reaction was about me, slivers of cool started to thread through my previous rage. Now, I couldn’t focus on anything but my mate; his expression was terrifying me to my very core. And apparently I wasn’t the only one. Hearing a scuffle, I whipped back around and all I saw of the terrible trio was the ass ends of them as they scurried into the elevator.
Weak. I’d scented weakness on them from the start, and this fatal flaw was why they actually worried me. They would not come at me with honor, they would lie, cheat, and manipulate to get what they wanted. My biggest disappointment was Mischa.
She was a Lebron. Wolves do not cower in the shadow of others. We’re a pack, we stick together, we don’t lie with snakes. You lie with snakes, you either become a snake, or you get bitten and die.
I was guessing that Lienda either hadn’t found her or Mischa had ignored our mother. It was time for someone to have a slightly stronger chat with her. Judging by the expression on Jonathon’s face, and the low rumbles that spurted from his throat every so often, he was going to be the one. She would learn the power of an alpha wolf, that was for sure. The leniency she’d been receiving was about to come to a swift end.
I hadn’t forgotten about Braxton. I was giving him a few moments to calm down. But when I couldn’t keep my eyes from him for any longer … holy crap on crackers – okay, there’d been no calming. He’d separated himself from his brothers, blue flames licking across his tawny skin. Still right on the edge of the barrier.
As soon as we locked eyes, I couldn’t stop myself from stepping toward him. The scent of fear was filling the room. Everyone was afraid. Even Jacob, Tyson and Maximus were keeping a decent distance between them and their brother.
It was a struggle to pull my eyes from the semi-shifted dragon-fire-ball in front of me but I did look away long enough to see that the other Compasses were back to their own hair colors. Why was Braxton still twice his regular size? He remained in a semi state of fusion, minus the scales.
Was he still my Braxton?
I wasn’t even sure he recognized me, and if his calling was to hunt marked … were they right? Would he actually hurt me once freed from this cage? I had to physically stop myself from crying out, the slices of fear and hurt ricocheting through me were enough to double me over. I drew on the strength of my dragon and wolf, I needed them to keep me semi-calm.
Braxton’s attention never wavered from me, locked in with an animalistic intensity. The mystics were in a sort of semi-circle, no doubt trying to conjure some sort of protective magics to use against the quads. I couldn’t stop myself from taking another step toward the dragon shifter, pausing at the edge of the cage. He was like a statue carved from the smoothest of stone. I barely recognized my best friend. Gone was that twinkle in his eye, that mirth which always curved one side of his full lips.
“W-what…?” I stuttered, not even sure what to say. “What the hell is up with Braxton?”
I could sense no one was standing close to me. Even my father held himself back.
Louis answered me from about ten feet away. “Braxton’s not quite himself right now. He has merged fully with the dragon, so he is very much a fusion of man and beast. Which in some ways is worse than being full dragon.”
“What do you mean worse?” I asked, without removing my eyes from Braxton. The dragon shifter’s flames increased every time I looked away.
“He has the strength and instincts of an animal, but with the human emotions attached. Human emotions which are increased a hundred fold. Fear, love, jealousy, anger and … pain.”
My heart lurched.
Pain. Oh hells no! I could live with a lot of things, but not Braxton’s pain.
My fear disappeared, I rocked forward and slammed my hands against the barrier. Energy blasted me back, not enough to hurt or knock me off my feet, but I still ended up away from the cage.
“Disable the magic,” I was shouting without even realizing it. Deep down I knew I was acting irrationally. Braxton could kill everyone in this room and I wanted to just free him.
I didn’t throw myself at the barrier again, and no one approached me. Probably because they didn’t want to touch me and rile the dragon shifter even more.
It was then he must have decided that he’d had enough. He moved swiftly, his arm almost a blur as he reached forward for the barrier, and all it took was a blast of his energy. A partial shift of hand to talon, and the cage simply fell away.
Note to self, dragons are badass.
Braxton did not pause, flowing smooth as honey, the blue fires flickering as he strode to me.
Second note to self, dragons are scary.
“Jessa, do not run from him.”
The unnecessary warning came from my father, who had moved himself a little closer. I could scent him at my back. Probably five feet away. Jonathon definitely loved me. Nothing else would have a supe braving a dragon’s wrath.
Louis was close too. “I’m almost a hundred percent certain that he won’t hurt you, Jessa, but you are the only one safe right now.”