Every few weeks, this clan got messier and messier. No one expected to find mates out here, but Dillon started to believe that’s just what he’d done. Isabella filled his mind all the time. Their rooms were only a thin wall apart. He listened to her when she roused in the morning, when she shuffled over to Persimmon with food.
He cupped her chin. “The only thing I will ever ask of you is that you stay safe.”
Isabella didn’t want to hide for the rest of her life. She didn’t want to be the broken creature everyone assumed her to be. While her past had left scars and riddled her with insecurities, she knew she could move forward if only the people around her would let her.
Instead of arguing with Dillon, she pressed her lips into a firm line and nodded. Though she wanted to stand alongside Dillon’s gentle soul in the face of this fight, she had to think of more than just herself now. Torn between her budding feelings, her desire to become stronger, and the small child now growing inside her, she froze.
Thankfully, Zander didn’t stay much longer. The fight between him and his son had ended in a standoff. Which was good for the cabin. Dillon led Isabella back into the living room where she could inspect the damage. She covered her mouth with her hand, all too aware of the drywall dust now coating everything.
“I’ll give Casey a call,” Dillon said before breaking off to find his phone.
Gavin paced back and forth, nearly vibrating with the tension still trapped in his muscles. Isabella kept her distance from him until she couldn’t stand his growls any longer. She whirled on him and threw her hands in the air.
“Do something with yourself!” she said. “Pick up the broken wall pieces. Sweep up that shattered lamp. I don’t care what you do, but you’re not going to feel better until you put yourself to use.”
Gavin snarled at her. She wanted to flinch, but she’d faced mean men before, and Gavin wasn’t like them. He was just riled up. So, she gave him a pleading look, silently begging him to listen to her advice.
He bent and snatched a piece of crumbling drywall from the floor, almost doing it out of spite. Second by second, piece by piece, his actions became less spiteful and more intentional.
Isabella let out a breath and rolled her shoulders. After everything, they would be hungry. While she cooked a big meal full of protein and carbs, Dillon and Casey hauled in fresh two-by-fours and sheets of drywall and began cutting away the broken bits.
She wished she could do that to herself. If only she could dump the jagged pieces of herself into that same trash bin, then she could start anew. Instead, she would have to work through the ways Tommy had changed her. It would take time, time she wasn’t sure Dillon had.
Every now and then, she snuck glances at him. She found herself entranced by his shirtless form and the way his muscles worked as he lifted the drywall into place. Tall and towering, he’d only ever shown her his gentle side. With her, he was careful.
The only issues he could have had with her had been her own fault. He wasn’t to blame for her panic. She wanted to give him a chance but didn’t want to put him through her fleeting moods. If she didn’t tell him how she felt, then she might never get a chance to tell him.
The wall had patches of drying putty, but it was once again whole. She told Dillon to order another lamp and have it delivered and then told Gavin to set the table. Gavin did as he was told and was in the process of gathering plates as Evangeline entered.
Evangeline dropped her bag near the door and stared in awe. “I didn’t know they could behave like this.”
Isabella ducked her head. This was not because of her. The plates on the table, circling the food she placed bowl by bowl, were there because these men needed it. They needed each other and the others they’d brought into their lives as a reminder of what they were fighting for.
Gavin and his clan weren’t fighting against Zander because they all held a grudge against him. They fought to be their own men, to be free from a power that would seek to control their every move. Isabella had fought for that very same freedom, and while it was taking her forever to finally detach herself from Tommy and how he’d changed her, she understood that she wasn’t the only one on a journey here.
Evangeline bumped shoulders with Isabella. The gesture brought up the corners of her mouth until she wore an infectious grin. She glanced around the table, watching others take their seats, and found Dillon staring at her. His lips had parted into a small O. Yellow danced around his irises like his beast was watching her, too.
***
Dillon stood on the edge of the ravine. Night had fallen over the mountain, but he could still see Erik’s hunched silhouette as the man shuddered under the force of his second beast. Dillon wanted to be anywhere but here.
No, he knew where he wanted to be. In the room next to his own, wrapped around the woman that had mystified him. He’d become addicted to Isabella’s soft and sweet nature. When Dillon gave everything he had to Erik and Gavin day after day, Isabella gave back to Dillon. She filled him with bright sunshine, a taste he craved even now.
But Erik needed him right now. Three times since they’d moved into the cabin with Gavin, Erik’s second beast had taken over. The monster had stormed toward the cabin each time, stopped only by Dillon. He’d gotten a couple of new scars from the feral monstrosity, but it hadn’t caused any more harm than that.
He didn’t understand how Erik could hold two dragons. Dillon was a big man and he barely had enough room inside himself for his one beast. Erik had two crammed into his narrow frame. One beast had helped them the night of the fire. Dillon had no problem with that beast. It was the second, the sickly green dragon that Erik kept locked away, that Dillon worried about.
If Dillon didn’t keep his post on nights like these, the cabin wouldn’t be standing. It seemed as though the beast had a taste for destruction and nothing else.
“G-go back inside,” Erik called out.
Dillon responded with a grunt.
Erik jerked, tossed to one side probably by his second beast. “I mean it, man. Don’t worry about me.”
Dillon sighed. If he didn’t worry about his friends, then they would end up doing things they regretted. There was no one else who could do what Dillon did. No one would stand on the edge of a ravine all night. No one would watch over Gavin when Zander paid them a surprise visit.
An incredible weight settled on Dillon’s shoulders until he thought his ankles had descended into the dirt below. He moved his feet, just to make sure he wasn’t sinking into the earth. When he blew out a breath, he struggled to fill his constricted lungs.
“M-man, I’ve b-been dealing with this bitch for almost three decades now,” Erik said from in the ditch. “I don’t need you.”
Dillon shook his head. “I need you. Can’t leave you alone and have you get hurt.”
Erik stopped and looked up at Dillon. The words seemed to have quieted the internal struggle and allowed Erik a moment to process what Dillon just said. The monster didn’t give Erik long, though, because he shuddered and bent double once more.
Both Erik and monster exhausted themselves in the struggle, falling asleep before sunrise. Dillon hauled his friend over his shoulder and carried him inside so they could both crash. After depositing Erik into his own room, Dillon staggered down the hall.