So, when she stood before him an hour later, she tried to keep her chin raised and her spine straight even though the cold tendril of fear never quite went away. Gavin glared down at her. She suspected he saw her as an annoying ant and nothing more.
When she laid the situation out before him, his reaction defied all her expectations.
“I didn’t expect him to be the first to end up in handcuffs.” Gavin pinched the bridge of his nose.
Isabella blinked.
“I’ll handle it. And before you start to worry, unlike my friends, I know how to mitigate situations without using my fists.”
She doubted that but clutched her phone tight and watched Gavin head outside. Soon, a bright Jeep raced past the front window like a bat out of hell.
Chapter Six
Dillon sat in the small cell. There were three other humans in the cell with him, but they made sure to keep their distance. Dillon sighed, annoyed that people either raced to be the first to hit him or gave him a wide berth.
He hoped Isabella had made it home safe. Dinner could wait for another night. So long as she was back at Gavin’s cabin, Dillon was satisfied. Gavin and the others would keep her safe, no matter how they felt about her.
They wouldn’t do a whole lot for him, but he didn’t think they would abandon a simple human woman.
When a familiar voice started issuing demands, Dillon leaned forward. A growl slipped up his throat. He narrowed his eyes and waited for Gavin to appear.
It took longer than he expected. Dillon didn’t know the legal system very well, which meant he didn’t know what the cops needed to do before they could let him out. To him, it was as simple as unlocking the cell and getting out of his way.
Gavin’s voice continued to fill the station. When he wasn’t giving in to his dragon’s whims, he sounded great. Like he had complete control over himself and the world around him. Just the way a clan leader should.
Dillon had faith that Gavin would rise to the occasion and become a great clan leader. Not just because that’s what Gavin had been raised to be, but because he was a protector. Dillon could already tell that Gavin was pissed that one of his dragons was locked in a jail cell.
When Gavin and his sneer appeared, Dillon grinned.
“What do you have to smile about?” Gavin asked, obviously confused and annoyed.
Dillon shrugged, still grinning. “You sound like a real clan leader, is all.”
“Oh, go fuck yourself,” Gavin snapped.
Dillon chuckled, stood, and wiped off his jeans. His cellmates looked between him and Gavin. Their eyes were wide, as if they’d never seen men like them. Dillon paid them little attention. He didn’t want to insult their manhood much more. Gavin, on the other hand, clicked his tongue and gnashed his teeth.
One man flinched, then looked wholeheartedly embarrassed.
Once the cop opened the cell, Dillon stepped out and put a hand on Gavin’s shoulder. “Don’t play with them. If you’re here, then Isabella is alone.”
Gavin seemed offended. “Do you really think I’d leave your human all on her own?”
Dillon’s upper lip curled against his will. “Don’t tell me you left her with Erik?”
“No one deserves to be left alone with that freak. I called Casey home. He and his chihuahua of a mate are babysitting your human.” Gavin seemed to have no problem drawing a line between himself and humanity in public.
So, when Gavin dragged Dillon outside and cornered him, Dillon didn’t expect what he had to say.
“You shifted and flew over town earlier.” Gavin’s voice dropped into a warning growl.
Dillon shrugged Gavin’s hand off his shoulder, but Gavin slapped it back down and dug his fingers into Dillon’s flesh.
“You need to listen to me. You could risk our safety by doing that. Don’t shift during the day. Don’t fly over town. If you do it again…”
Dillon spun on his leader. “Are you going to threaten to punish me? What happens when I have to chase your ass down because you lost control to your dragon again?”
They stared each other down in silence. Gavin’s eye twitched, the only indication that he’d heard Dillon’s truth. Dillon held his ground. He’d given so much of his time and energy over to Erik and Gavin, only to have Gavin shout this bullshit at him? Dillon wanted to be grateful that Gavin had come to bail him out of jail, but it was painfully obvious that Gavin was out of touch.
“Get in the fucking Jeep,” Gavin snarled.
This conversation wasn’t over. Dillon could tell it was just on hold until Gavin could come up with a proper counterargument. Until then, Dillon would keep watching over his little clan. He would keep staying up all night with Erik. He would hunt Gavin down when the beast took over.
Dillon would keep giving his all to this clan. He wanted it to work so badly. Even though they sometimes acted like this, they were the closest Dillon had to family. They didn’t know that his own mother dropped him on Zander’s doorstep because she couldn’t handle raising a little dragon boy on her own. He’d tried to be the best little boy for her, but that still hadn’t been enough to make her want to keep him.
Not even Zander had wanted to keep him. It was as if Zander had seen some sort of defect from the get-go. Zander dropped him in the lap of an old, childless couple who’d never had plans to raise a child. The moment Dillon could leave, he struck out on his own. He never wanted to be the weight that pressed on anyone’s shoulders. Yet, Zander had thrown him into this mission to save Gavin.
Which could only mean that even supporting himself on his own, Dillon was a dead weight.
It was why he threw everything he had into this small clan. He wanted them to know that he was worth keeping. He wasn’t just a ham-fisted oaf who could push people around. Dillon had patience and love and even some wits.
It seemed like Gavin hadn’t taken notice yet.
“Look,” Gavin began without taking his eyes off the road. “I don’t say the things I say because I think I’m above the law. I know I’m setting a horrible example. My own safety isn’t exactly paramount to me right now, but I need you and the others to stay safe.”
Dillon cocked his head, paying attention while staying silent.
Gavin sighed. “It’s not because I like any of you assholes.”
“Uh huh,” Dillon said.
Gavin had bailed Dillon out of jail after all. That had to mean something. Maybe that wasn’t the kind of affection that Dillon craved, but it might have been the most he would get out of Gavin. He would take it.
“That dipshit Isabella left isn’t going to press charges, either,” Gavin said. “I think he was there that night, with Trevor. That witch said she erased their memories, but I’m not sure she scrubbed them well enough. Guy took one look at me, and I swear I saw a stain forming on his jeans.”
Dillon cringed. He didn’t bother to ask if the stain was on the front or the back end. He didn’t need to know.
As the jeep coasted to a stop in the driveway, Gavin paused.
Dillon could tell Gavin wanted to say more. He didn’t press but waited patiently until Gavin raised his chin and sucked in a slightly shaky breath.
“Don’t get attached to the human,” Gavin warned him. “She’s as jumpy as a rabbit. A man like you is going to scare her away. Having a woman run out of you isn’t a good feeling, and if she runs right back into that guy’s arms, you’re going to start a night like that again.”