Chapter 72 Reaper 49

Chapter 72 Reaper 49
The crash of the house falling apart around them made them pause, covering their heads as dust and pieces of plasterboard rained down on them. Rory whined, her nose in the air. Scenting.

“Looks like our men are here.” Bethany grinned at her friend. “Want to go see your mate?” She asked the wolf, who’s eyes positively shone. “Stay close.” She aimed that at Mae, who nodded wordlessly.

Dust covered them all like snow. It stuck to the sticky blood on her hand and arm. Bethany wiped at it absently. The feel of it even worse, now that it was sticky.

She inched her way to the staircase, a massive hole in the wall letting in what little light there was from the almost full moon.

They needed to be careful, Requiem had really done a number on the structural integrity of the house. It wouldn’t do if the stairs fell down with them on them.

After everything, she didn’t fancy death by neck breaking when she was this close to escaping and finding Reaper.

“What the hell is that?” Mae’s voice was panicking again as roars filled the air, shattering the few remaining windows with a boom.

“Dragon.” Was the only feasible explanation. Requiem hadn’t shifted back.

It would have been exciting. Her first real life dragon. If she hadn’t been so scared.

“We need to keep moving.” She took that first tentative step on to the stairs, stepping down lightly. It didn’t move and she sighed in relief. The stairs seemed sound.

Picking up her pace, she started to run. Taking the stairs two at a time and almost ran straight into a man fleeing.

He would have bowled her over if Rory’s huge frame hadn’t launched herself at him, tumbling back into the room he had been running from in a mass of fur and teeth.

Bethany followed, adrenaline pumping as she lowered the handgun she was holding. Shooting another man as he tried to rush them, the bullet hit him straight between the eyes.

And he dropped soundlessly.

The room was a mass of blood and fur.

But she spotted Reaper's dark head at the same time his eyes found hers.

Rory ran full tilt, tail lifted high as she bounded towards her mate, who met her with a whine. Rubbing his giant face onto hers.

Bethany flashed Reaper a smile. Teeth white in her grey dust covered face. “Hello lover.” She wrapped her arms around his neck, the gun loose in her hand as he gathered her to him. “Need some help?”

He was staring at her like she had grown another head. “Bethany, what are you doing?”

“Rescuing you.” She winked at him again.

“We came to rescue you!” His voice held disbelief. He took her in, the blood that was caked on her face, and the fresher redder blood on her hand and arm. “Are you hurt?”

Bethany shook her head no. She lifted the hand holding the gun. “It’s not my blood.”

He nodded once.

“Is he dead?”

“Yes.”

He nodded once. “I guess you ladies had it all under control after all.”

“That we did.” She wrapped her arms around his waist, suddenly so tired it was hard to stay upright. It was only his arms around her that stopped her from stumbling. He swooped her up, cradling her like a child.

“Rory?” Reaper's voice was uncertain as he stepped up on the two wolves, who were busy licking each other and whining to pay any attention to anyone else. Not that Reaper could blame them. They had their mates back.

The pack could take care of any abductors who were still alive.

“You got your wolf Rory, and she’s beautiful. Well done.”

Roman yipped happily.

“Shall we go home?”

“Please.” Bethany snuggled into his chest.

It was tiring business, saving yourself.

A scream rent the air, cut off at its highest point and all eyes turned to the ruins of the front of the house.

Requiem was there, in all his dragon glory, and Bethany felt the breath leave her lungs in a whoosh, as her eyes took him in.

Standing taller than the house they were in, his head, body and tail a mass of wickedly pointed spikes, he shone in the moonlight. A deep dark forest green. His foot tipped by claws the size of swords were pinning something to the ground.

He snapped at it with giant teeth, his eyes still the strange yellow bird eyes he was famous for.

Bethany had expected lizard eyes. “You think you can hurt my friends, my family?” His voice sounded strange coming out of such a mouth, but it sounded just like Requiem. The deep earthy timber of it. Just spoken around a mouth of super sharp teeth. “You can think that, and run? Do that, and LIVE?” The boom of the last words made Bethany cover her ears, next to her, Rory flinched. Back in human form, her nudity covered by a t-shirt, a wolf-like whine escaping her lips.

“We need to stop him, that’s Mae.”

Reaper shook his head. “She doesn’t deserve mercy, they all die. That was the agreement. I know it’s not nice, but she must have known what would happen if she went against us and failed? Requiem will make it quick. Quicker than Roman, believe me.” He seemed set on it and Bethany slapped at his shoulder. “You don’t understand, let go of me.” She struggled against him. She wasn’t about to let them execute a scared girl. No matter what she had done.

“Look away, Bethany.” Reaper flinched as the girl on the ground started begging for her life. “Finish it Requiem, so we can go home.” Roman’s voice was flat, his brows down over his face and Rory started pushing him. Her yelling was drowned out by Mae’s pitiful begging.

“Please, please, please don’t!” The girl was sobbing hysterically, as if somehow that would change her fate. As if her words would somehow stop those giant teeth piercing her body.  “Please, Requiem!”

Requiem paused, his eyes suddenly wide and then he was gone.

Requiem, the man, stood where the dragon once was, and he stumbled back. “No, Amber? No, it can't be?” His head in his hands as he fell to his knees. “No. No. No!” He was yelling. “No one is to touch her!” Then he was gone, running as fast as he could, naked across the grass before throwing himself into the air. His change was instant.

“What the hell just happened?” Roman was there, dragging on trousers that one of his pack mates tossed in his direction. His chest is bare.

They watched as the mammoth dragon flew over the horizon.

“God knows.” Reaper answered.