By the time they were finished, Rune was one giant ache thanks to what he’d had to do to get them out of that car. He was also running on fumes. Literally. The fire inside him was dwindling, leaving him uncomfortably cold inside. He needed rest and time to allow his body to refill his reserves. Exhaustion clawed at him as though trying to drag him into oblivion.
This must be what death would feel like. Cold replacing everything he was.
“Let’s go,” Levi ordered as soon as they each reported in.
“Hold up,” Rune said.
He turned to the tree where he’d left Hadyn, only his cooling blood froze solid in his veins at no sign of her. “Dammit,” he muttered.
When was the last time he’d checked on her? Not soon enough, apparently. He refused to allow his heart to race away with itself, calming it after the initial jump, and scanned the area with narrowed eyes. The flashing lights from the emergency vehicles didn’t help, screwing with his vision in red and white strobes.
Striding away from his friends he got to the tree and sniffed, but scents from the wreck and the humans all around covered anything left of her. He opened his mouth to shout her name. Before he could, a small sound from above jerked his gaze up.
Sure enough, Hadyn had managed to climb into the tree, positioning herself on the large bottom limb, her back to the trunk and legs dangling to the sides. Her head was tipped back, eyes closed, and she was out, like all the lights in the neighborhood.
Reaching up Rune tugged lightly on one foot, not wanting to surprise her. “Hadyn?”
“Who is this cutie?” Levi asked from behind him.
Rune ignored his old alpha and tugged a little harder. “Hey,” he said loudly.
With a gasp, Hadyn jerked awake so abruptly she lost her balance and tumbled right out of the tree. It said a lot about his state of exhaustion that Rune wasn’t quite fast enough to catch her. They both ended up in a heap of limbs on the ground, her straddling him.
Damned if his body didn’t immediately react, despite having nothing left in the tanks.
Mate, his dragon whispered.
He batted the thing down. Someone else’s, he thought back. This was beginning to be a problem.
If she had been marked with his symbol, he could have understood it. The compulsion to claim her would grow stronger the longer they waited. If he didn’t know better, he’d swear that’s what was happening here, despite the impossibility that couldn’t be ignored.
Hands at her waist, he went to lift her off him, but made the colossal mistake of gazing into wide eyes hovering directly above his, so close he could make out specs of dark green and a lighter color, almost a yellow. Rune stilled at the sight. Sleepy and hot as fuck.
“Thanks for cushioning the fall,” she murmured.
Her voice had gone all husky, with need or fatigue he wasn’t sure, and his body didn’t give a shit, his cock hardening to steel against her. Suddenly all he could picture were her lips wrapped around him in the back of that godsdamned cab. Heaven and hell.
Her unusual eyes widened, so he knew she hadn’t missed his physical reaction. “We really should do something about that,” she said, laughter trembling in her voice.
Then went to lower her mouth, but common sense and a cleared throat kicked him in the ass, and he lifted her straight up off his body, like bench-pressing a pixie.
Hadyn squeaked in protest…or surprise. He didn’t dare check her expression to figure out which. Instead, he got them both upright and facing a small part of his former team. “Hadyn Reece,” he said. “Meet Huracán enforcers Hall Rồng, Drake Chandali, and Levi and Lyndi Rowtag.”
Every single enforcer, like a flock of birds wheeling in midair in unison, first nodded at Hadyn, then glanced at Rune’s face before dropping their gazes to the proprietary hand he hadn’t even realized he’d placed at the small of her back. Tempted to gnaw the damn thing off, Rune dropped the offending limb to his side and stared back, volte-faced, refusing to give an inch.
“She’s human,” Drake pointed out in his usual abrupt way.
Hadyn rolled her eyes. “Nope. Try again.”
“Oh, I like her,” Lyndi said. Anyone who didn’t put up with bullshit tended to rank highly on Lyndi’s list. “But you definitely smell human.”
They all looked to Rune. “Another long story, but she’s not human. We’ll tell you back at headquarters.”
They glanced at each other, clearly communicating opinions he wasn’t about to like.
“What?” Rune demanded.
“You coming to the headquarters isn’t exactly a subtle statement to anyone watching,” Hall pointed out.
“I have a good reason.”
“Do you?” Drake snarled.
Levi elbowed him back and clapped a hand on Rune’s shoulder. “It’s not that we don’t want you, but it had better be a damn good reason.” Then he glanced pointedly at his pregnant mate.
Lyndi scowled. “If you put this on me, I’m going to punch you in the nose.”
Levi held up his hands. “Give me a little credit, min eneste. I’m trying to keep us all safe.”
“He came here because I need your help.” Hadyn’s soft words stopped them all.
They glanced from her serious face to his. Rune stared them all down. “If I didn’t need your help, I wouldn’t have come.”
“I say we deal with the risk,” Hall said. For a sarcastic ass, he also tended to be the most…forgiving, which was why Rune had been able to turn him to his cause a few years back.
“I’ll do what I can to keep my arrival under the radar,” Rune promised.
Drake glowered as Lyndi and Levi looked to each other, no doubt communicating through the special connection mates shared.
“Fuck it,” Drake finally said. “I’ve been tired of waiting for the Alliance to come knocking, anyway.”
All three of his old friends whipped around to stare at the red dragon shifter like he’d grown a second head or three. Rune didn’t blame them. Drake didn’t tend to bend much. This was practically mushy for the guy, no doubt thanks to his new mate.
“Cami is having a good influence on you,” Rune said.
Drake merely grunted and turned away, clearly expecting the others to follow.
Rune and Hadyn brought up the rear of the little group, walking away from the site of the crash until the glare of the flashing emergency lights disappeared, blocked by houses, buildings, and trees. The cool of a California night, even in summer, would’ve been more lovely if he’d had more fire in him to keep him warm. A concerned glance at his little human and Rune stopped walking abruptly. Something was wrong with Hadyn. She wasn’t limping exactly, but her body had turned sort of…slumpy in the way she moved.