Page 38 of Having the Dragon's Baby

SIXTEEN

MARCUS

The valley was dark and silent in the night. Marcus and his two enforcers followed the path of the moonlight through the air like a blade through flesh. His prey ran through the forest below them.

There’s a clearing ahead, an enforcer said. That may be their destination.

They landed in the field and then hid among the trees to wait for the kidnappers to emerge. Marcus blinked, barely able to hold still. He was focused despite the hammering rage that had been surging in his heart since he heard his mate’s scream.

Wait for my word. No one move.

The enforcers froze, seemingly turning into stone, like protective gargoyles. Marcus watched closely as the wolf shifters, still in human form, stopped in the clearing.

Marcus's heart buzzed in his ears, the silence too deafening. An image of Rachel’s body lying limp under the spotlight of the moon, her throat slashed and glittering ruby-red to soak the grass below, passed through him.

It made him whimper like someone had gutted him. His enforcers remained quiet, standing loyal by their alpha’s side.

The wolf did not harm Rachel, thankfully. He merely dropped her in the center, a thud onto her butt as she tumbled.

Marcus scowled as the wolves immediately sprinted in the opposite direction, swallowed whole by the inky black forest. Had the wolves sensed him and his men? Why dump what they risked their lives to take and then run?

Marcus launched forward toward his mate when a shadow slinked along the field. It looked like an airplane was flying low and blocking the moonlight, but there was no sound of jet engines. He glanced up and saw the source.

Swooping over the forest on the side where the wolves had disappeared came three large dragons. Their size and majesty were stunning, even to Marcus, who was considered on the larger side himself as an alpha. They cut through the pale shade of the moon, their scales as glossy as a crystal ball. They swarmed overhead like vultures, the sound of the flapping wings akin to that of a ship's sail.

Marcus and his enforcers watched, moving from their hiding spot to battle stance on the ready. Marcus could not believe how colossal the foes were. The sight of creatures that mirrored the power of his own was shocking.

And when it came to protecting his mate, it was downright terrifying.

He shot his glare from the dark sky back down the clearing. Rachel was in a panicked run, heading away from him. He needed her to leave the scene if he was going to focus on taking down these shifters.

Protect her! he ordered his enforcers. Take them out. Take them all out! I want blood!

His enforcers took heed of his demands, entering the clearing and shifting as their enemies zeroed in on Rachel, still exposed on the far side. Marcus shifted, then leaned his head back, parted his mouth, and let out a shattering sonic screech.

With the call came an emergence of glowing red and orange fire. It lit up the night like an explosion.

Run! Marcus screamed in his mind to his mate. Run into the forest! Now!

He watched as Rachel heard his cries in her mind as she fled from the enemy dragons coming for her. The unknown visitors saw them and dove at her as fast as rockets, their snouts wide with fangs shining like massive bones. Rachel moved into the trees while the enforcers blasted into the air, with Marcus catching up at the speed of light.

The enforcers smashed into the enemy dragons with ease, using their body weight to collide with them and push them off the path of the retreating Rachel. Marcus watched her move quickly. The sound of his own blood was like the raging sea echoing through his eardrums.

Two of the shifters were taken out briefly, spinning sideways as the enforcers gored them with their large lizard heads. The third, and arguably the biggest of the opponents, slicked his wings back, becoming like an arrow launched by an archer. Rachel had barely made it into the thicket of trees, disappearing into the black, when Marcus intercepted the largest aggressor and grabbed hold of his tail with his fangs.

Relief sank into him as his fangs bit through the scales of the dragon, who shrieked out more with annoyance than pain. It was a cheap move when battling dragons, but Marcus thought it was cheap to kidnap an alpha’s mate.

It was no holds barred as far as he was concerned. Fuck with her, then you fuck with me.

Marcus locked his maw around the enemy’s tail, encouraging its wrath as he thrashed back and forth to the point where he tasted rust. The animal roared out and slashed at him, bent backward mid-air, and moved robustly enough to tear his tail from the clutch of Marcus’s jaws.

The second he released it, the dragon charged him. Marcus was thankful his attention was no longer on Rachel, but that didn’t mean the fight wasn’t going to be a challenge. The shifter before him was bursting with bloodlust, his eyes a sickly and dazzling shade of dead green. His mouth was parted, and his teeth protracted like a thousand tiny swords. He immediately went for Marcus’s jugular, which was rather bold but also quite telling.

Marcus smacked him directly in the chops, which only subverted the beast for a moment. Marcus’s blow only enraged him, which spurred a rather speedy recovery and a stream of fury in the form of a blazing firestorm.

Usually, dragon shifters need a few seconds to garner the strength and effort to emit such an inferno. During the build-up, the potential victims had the time to escape, but the dragon in front of Marcus needed little to no time, giving Marcus no time to move.

The enforcers punched the dragon from all sides, but it didn’t stop the enemy from emitting a stream of fire at Marcus.

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