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The shifters, once standing between my fated mate and me, were all engrossed in battle, protecting David and the other dragons. Kiara sat unmonitored, trying desperately to free herself from the ropes. When my eyes landed on her, my heart leaped with relief, then subsequent compassion at the blood smeared across her. I ran to her side, clutching her arms. She flinched away from me at first, only to meet my gaze with a gasp. “Colt!”

“Kiara,” I repeated her name, embracing her. My heart ached to be reunited with her, to feel her skin against mine, to heal her from all she had endured. In the midst of the battle, I kissed her cheek and pulled back, looking her over. “I’m going to get you out of this.”

“Please hurry,” she said weakly.

We were both struggling against the pain. That was the downside of the fated mate bond—when one of us was hurt, both of us were. Frantically scanning the scene, I saw the bloodied silver knife on the table, grabbed it, and severed the ropes around Kiara. She unfurled onto the floor, trying to support herself now that her limbs were freed. As I reached to help her up, a long whip-like tail lashed against my leg and knocked me down.

I turned onto my back to see a dragon ready to lunge. Not a Lycan. One of the other dragons had shifted into its beast form. As the dragon leaped at me, I braced a hand against its throat, barely stopping its snapping teeth from raking my face. My heart hammered as I plunged a dart into the side of its neck. The dragon shrieked and reeled back, the balsam resin already coursing through its veins, poisoning the monster. I crawled out from underneath it and grabbed Kiara’s hand. My first priority was to get her out of here, but as I searched for someone to help her escape, I found all of my companions enveloped in combat. Billie and Aislin were back-to-back, fighting against a dragon. Everett was blocking punches from one of my packmates. Gavin and another Mythguard human were tackling one of the dragon Lycans. I held Kiara close to me, deciding that I would pull her out of the fray myself. “Stay close, Kiara. I’ll get you to safety,” I promised, searching for her lilac eyes again.

The moment I made eye contact with her, a body launched at Kiara, ripping her right out of my arms.

“Kiara!” I shouted, stunned.

The massive creature that had taken her stood up straight, twisting around to stare back at me. Kiara was tucked under its long, malformed arm, its neck arched and teeth bared out of a gnarled maw. Black fur covered his body, and lightning-blue eyes pierced me to my very soul, reminding me of myself. The hulking beast looked neither human nor lupine but a gruesome combination of both, fur missing in patches, muscles and veins bulging. Even in this form, I recognized him—my father.

“No!” I lunged at him. “Let her go!”

The hideous beast roared, evading me with ease. I landed on the ground and rolled to my feet, stumbling after them as my father carried Kiara out of the atrium and toward the trees. One of the dragon Lycans intercepted me, its deformed draconic posture writhing with mindless violence. I reached for my last dart, only to find it missing. In a flare of panic, I stared at the gaping jaws of my fate looming over me, then winced as gunshots rang in the air. Two bullets punctured the Lycan's skull, and it collapsed.

“David has Kiara,” I shouted at anyone that would listen. “He’s heading that way. We have to go after him!”

The battle was already thinning out. Half of our Mythguard operatives were dead or unconscious. Most of my packmates were either dead, unconscious, or had run away, as well as the dragons. As the remaining warriors realized how little there was to fight for, the Dalesbloom and Inkscale shifters fled while we all turned our attention to the direction David had gone.

I didn’t know where he intended to take her, only that I would follow Kiara to the ends of the Earth.

Chapter 29: Kiara

T

he entire situation unfolded like a nightmare. I was barely conscious anymore and couldn’t even find my feet when the Mythguard burst onto the scene. The fighting bewildered me, and then suddenly, Colt was by my side, helping to set me free. For a fleeting few seconds, I thought I would finally be safe. My fated mate had come back for me as he promised. He was going to save me. I barely managed to smile—then I was stolen right out of his arms. 

But not before grabbing any part of Colt I could, hooking my finger into his pocket, somehow managing to snag a dart and hold onto it.

The monster clutching me was the very same that had tortured me in the hours before. I had watched David’s body change into unfamiliar construction. Halfway between human and wolf, he stood on two legs and hunched over, fur rippling down his spine, his gangly arms tipped in long, razor-sharp nails. He hoisted me over his shoulder and ran, alternating between a two-legged gallop and a three-footed amble, gracelessly clearing the foliage ahead of us. Branches scraped against me, cutting my arms. The sight of the manor swiftly diminished as we disappeared into the woods, leaving me alone with the grunting, snarling fiend of David. Even as the sound of the battle faded away, the unnerving silence of the forest was flush with breaking bark and heavy pants.