Page 58 of Been There Dragon That
“You’re not going to do anything, you fool,” Aarav said quickly, walking toward Ryan. He reached for the shotgun and took it, then tossed it to Wrath.
Wrath caught it, unloaded the shells, and put it on the counter near the register.
“The hell I’m not, they killed someone. This isn’t only thieving anymore. This is murder. Ryan’s gaze flitted about the store, focused mainly on the area where Leif’s body lay covered. “There’s blood spatter everywhere. What did they kill him with?”
“We’ll take care of this. Ryan, I need you to—” Aarav gestured to the door.
“No. Mystery only has you and the deputy. You need more help. I don’t know why there’s so many other civilians here, but you need me. I’m military trained. Deputize me. Let me help before someone else ends up dead.”
“No.” Aarav’s voice took on more of a growl. “We’ve got this handled. Just let us do our jobs. Go home.”
Ryan ground his jaw but did finally turn and leave. A few seconds later, Wrath heard his car start and then watched him drive north away from the station.
“He’s not going to let it go,” Wrath said, his tone laced with concern.
No one said anything, and the only sound in the store was the hum of the overhead lights and their racing heartbeats. Not only was there a killer wolf to catch and his band of violent thieves, Ryan was likely going to insert himself into the investigation and make it that much harder for the tribe to exact vengeance for Leif.
TheGame of Thronestheme song split the silence. All eyes fell on Col’s pocket. Col’s mate was obsessed with a TV show about dragons. They all knew who was calling.
Their alpha pulled his phone out and answered Naomi’s call.
Her words exploded through the silence like a sonic boom.
“Wolves are attacking the cabin!”
Wrath felt his heart wrench inside his chest. His dragon pushed, demanding to be freed. But he knew they couldn’t risk the exposure. It was daytime. The sky was clear. People for miles would be able to see them if they took to the skies.
Mate.His dragon bellowed deep in his subconscious.Mate.
He roared, his voice taking on his beast’s pain. Col’s voice joined him, a mixture of frustration and rage. Then they all ran for the parking lot.
Wrath got to his SUV, and Col jumped into the passenger seat. They were out of the parking lot first and tearing down the main road that would lead through town and across the river toward the tribe’s property. The others were close behind him, but Wrath could only focus on the road.
Getting to Rylee was the objective. That was all that mattered.
He hoped he wasn’t too late.
ChapterNineteen
Rylee
Rylee stood in the center of the nursery room, her heart racing as the cries of seven children filled the air. That last wolf who’d cracked the glass had stopped her heart in her chest.
Naomi and Penny had shoved two babies into her arms and herded her up the stairs and into this room. It was all such a blur.
She and Penny had put her four into cribs with Naomi’s. Then Penny had told her to stay in the room no matter what she heard and left.
What were Naomi and Penny going to do?
Against a pack of wolves? Giant moose-sized wolves.
Then the gunshots started. High powered hunting rifles. She recognized the sound from hunting with her dad.
But it was the roaring animals that were throwing her off. Wolves didn’t roar. And she could’ve sworn some of the roars sounded like fucking lions–like African-Mufasa-Simba-type lions. She knew for a fact, cougars screamed more than roared.
Another roar, a different sort of roar, rippled through the air making her skin nip into gooseflesh.
How was she going to protect these kids if an entire zoo was attacking the cabin? She couldn’t even think straight. You couldn’t punch an animal. You couldn’t reason with it.
