She would have none of that if she couldn’t take the first step, though.
***
Dillon flew above the clouds. He’d been warned to stay out of sight of the town, but he’d become restless since Isabella’s confession. With nowhere to direct his energy, he’d taken to the sky. The roaring winds in his ears and the seemingly infinite space beneath him calmed him, but only by a fraction.
His beast still wanted to roar with frustration. To the beast, Isabella would always be their mate. Yet, even their mate lived in fear of him.
He’d thought he could be himself around her, but he’d been wrong. She couldn’t see who Dillon truly was, only the monster his genetics had made him out to be. How had she kept from screaming every time he touched her? How had she felt when he brought her to climax?
Had it all been a lie?
He wanted to scream, to break something, to watch the mountain crumble under the force of his rage. Now, he understood how Gavin might have felt when Tiffany left him. Dillon knew why Gavin had taken off. He debated it for a short while, but this small clan still needed him.
Dillon would never abandon them. He would remain loyal to the end of his days, even if it meant giving them everything and getting nothing in return. That was his curse. Dillon would remain empty and lonely for the rest of his days.
He dipped his wing through a cloud and felt it drag against him. The cool moisture tried to relieve the heat growing in his chest, but it wasn’t enough. Not even a cloud could douse his fire. It hadn’t stopped burning since the day Isabella confessed her fear to him.
What could he do? Release the fire onto the mountain? Someone would notice. A wildfire would break out. Dillon didn’t want to become any more of a problem than he already was. The clan needed him. He had to behave.
He turned back toward the cabin on the side of the mountain and glimpsed something in the sky above it. At this distance, Dillon could make out the shape of a dragon, but couldn’t see the color of its scales. His first thought was of Gavin, making Dillon’s beast gear up for a fight. Then he wondered if it was Erik.
Dillon sighed and headed back.
***
Isabella marched outside. She stomped up to the small grove with the picnic table and cupped her hands around her mouth. Dillon had to be somewhere around here.
She called his name, shouting into the sky. He would hear her, and he would show his face. If she felt the way she did for Dillon, then the chances were that he felt the same for her. They had a bond, one that would pull them toward each other no matter where they went.
A part of her wanted to call it a mate bond, but she wasn’t convinced. Were she truly Dillon’s mate, she never would have been so horrible to him. This wasn’t the kind of love that Evangeline and Casey had, but it was still love.
“Dillon!” she shouted. “We need to talk. I know you can hear me. Come over here so we can talk this out!”
She spun in a circle, checking the woods, the sky, and every other direction. He would come. He had to. If he heard her…he would come.
But the moment stretched on, and she began to worry that Dillon was well and truly done with her. He’d ignored all her texts and voicemails for the past three days. She shouldn’t have expected this to go any differently.
She put one hand over her mouth and another over her stomach as she choked back a sob. She’d ruined everything. Her life had been great. She’d been so happy, and yet she’d thrown it away over a few words.
A shape appeared in the sky, growing closer and closer by the second. Her heart tripped over itself. She’d never seen any of the dragon men in their dragon forms. It hadn’t occurred to her that they would be the size of houses, or that she would feel a trickle of fear upon seeing them approach her.
She told herself that it had to be Dillon. While she’d never seen his dragon form, she couldn’t think of who else would answer to her calls for him.
The beast hit the edge of the cliff that hung over the cabin roof. His tail slapped the house as he turned a predatorial grin on her. This dragon had a sleek muzzle lined with tiny horns. When his lips parted, she saw rows of razor-sharp teeth like a shark.
It took only a heartbeat for her to realize this was not Dillon.
She took a step back. Fight or flight had misfired, and she was left with shock. It numbed her from head to toe before her body flooded with the cold of true fear.
The dragon before her shrank into a human shape. An unfamiliar human shape. Isabella blinked and prayed this was Casey’s sister, but the form that appeared was definitely male.
“Aren’t you a pretty little thing,” the man purred. “I’m sorry if my landing frightened you. My beast can be a little…overwhelming.”
The clan hadn’t mentioned inviting anyone else to their cause. They had, however, warned that Zander would keep sending dragons after them. She’d gone outside to find Dillon and walked into a trap.
“If you take a step closer, I’ll call…” she faltered. Her first instinct was to call Dillon, but it was painfully obvious to her and her uninvited visitor that Dillon was not answering her calls.
“Ah,” the visitor said. “So, I take it that means no one else is home? That means they won’t mind if I take you out. They shouldn’t leave such a pretty lady all on her lonesome all day.”
Though his words seemed kind, there was an edge to them. She’d never had a blade held to her throat before, but she figured it must have felt something like this. The dragon man on the edge of the cliff could move faster than her. If she tried to run, he would catch up to her.
She didn’t know if this man would hurt her, but she couldn’t take the risk. Her body was not completely her own. There was another life inside her that she had to put first.
“What do you want?”
“I thought I made that clear,” he said, casually stepping closer. “You and I are going to take a little trip out on the town. I’ll make sure you have everything you could ever want, but you won’t be able to contact your friends here. I’m sure you understand. This is war, after all.”
She swallowed.
Before she could find a way to leave a note or a warning, the man lunged. His form shifted mid-leap. Air blasted her from the sudden change. She threw her hands up to shield her face, so she didn’t see the beast when it reached for her.
Claws wrapped around her middle and her feet lifted from the air. Her heart went into overdrive. As they ascended, she gasped for air, but she couldn’t pull any of it in. It was as if the very air was being ripped away from her.
Only when they stopped rising and the dragon coasted on the air could she breathe again. She gulped down mouthfuls and tried to ease her frantic heart.
Isabella regretted being unable to warn the clan. She didn’t want them coming for her. This man had taken her hostage, but it seemed like he didn’t want to hurt her. Taking her was probably a way to intimidate the clan. If only she could have found a way to warn the others that she would be fine, then this man’s plan would fail.
But she couldn’t lie to herself. If this man’s plan failed, then there was a chance he would resort to hurting her. She had to find a way to escape him on her own.
Chapter Fifteen