Chapter 28

Chapter Twenty-Eight

CALVIN

The noise on the other end of the line sounded an awful lot like a pissed off dragon. Kiara didn't explain other than to say she was on her way, and to stay out of sight before her phone cut off. I didn't know if she hung up or if she was hurt, or what. I couldn't dwell on it, though. Andrew and Christian were both struggling against the guys holding them down face first on the ground while a few more searched the house. I barely had a second to be glad Talia, Leo, and Teddy were with the Blackridge crew for dinner tonight. I ducked back into the forest and hid behind some trees, listening as Jasper went full evil villain with his very own monologue.

"This is for the best. I hope you know your sacrifice will have a positive outcome. The council has been too lax on our brethren. They allowed dragons to have same-sex partners, despite the fact that we are near extinction. It is wasteful. But once you are gone, Callisto, just like the rest, will get back to doing what he must to further our race."

"You're delusional," Christian screamed. "Hurting Andrew won't make Aiden less gay!"

A growl that sounded a lot like a warning filled the air, silencing Christian's protests.

"You're lucky you are related to Callisto. There is always a chance of dragon young through family members as well. It would be a waste to kill you."

Jasper snapped his fingers, and the guy holding Christian yanked hard on his shirt, exposing long scars on his shoulder.

"Oh good. You're already mated. Have you sired children yet? They'll need to be monitored from now on."

Considering Christian's mate was also a guy, that wasn't ever going to happen. Luckily, Christian was smart enough to keep that to himself. Otherwise, Jasper would go after his mate as well.

"Now, when I first began rolling out my vision for the future, I made the mistake of killing mates without the dragons being present. Even with proof of their mates' demise, those dragons struggled to accept what had happened and refused to move on. I know better now. I'll wait until your mate returns. Tell me, are there any more of Callisto's children here?"

I felt my breathing pick up as panic filled my veins. Jasper was going to kill Andrew once Aiden got back, and I freaking called him home. I had to do something to get Andrew away before Aiden got back.

If I had their numbers, I'd call the crew at Blackridge, but my phone only had one number in it and I wasn't about to go traipsing through the forest trying to find them when it was too dark to see. Besides, I didn't want to leave Andrew and Christian alone. I needed a better plan. I considered going to find Runa, but she ran off and I couldn't get close to her cottage without killing myself.

Another shifter came out of the compound, growling low in his throat. "I scent nine in total. No one in the house." He jerked his chin at Christian. "That one lives with another male, though."

Shitshitshitshit.

Jasper's growl made the air vibrate a lot like Aiden's did when he was pissed off. Christian didn't seem affected when Aiden got pissed the other night, but he flinched and made choking sounds now. Andrew too. They both looked like they were struggling to breathe.

"You're just like him, aren't you? Wasting precious DNA on a fruitless mating. Where is your mate? You will fall in line once he's gone."

"Stay the hell away from him!" Christian screamed, his face turning red as he struggled against the guy on his back. Blood rushed through my ears so loud, I couldn't hear myself think. It was the only excuse I had for stepping out of the shadows and whistling to get the group's attention.

"Hey, asshole! Remember me?"

Jasper looked up and bared his teeth at me. "You!"

"Do your little friends know you got your ass kicked by a human?" I taunted. I needed them to get off Christian. He had freaking wings. If he got free, he could get help.

The cronies closest to me stalked closer and I forced out a laugh that sounded a little manic, actually. It was weird, though, being stalked by a bunch of naked dudes built like linebackers. I understood the whole clothes shredding thing, but it didn't make it less weird.

"What's the matter? Too weak to face me yourself? You gotta have your friends chase me down? I thought dragons were supposed to be the strongest shifters? Sounds like a load of shit to me!"

I took a step back to keep the distance between me and the naked dudes, but the taunting was working. Jasper's eye was twitching, and the air shook harder. I was farther away than Andrew and Christian and I felt really bad for making them suffer, but maybe if I pissed Jasper off enough, he'd chase me and Andrew and Christian could get away.

"You've got this big vision for the future, but do you have any dragon babies? Or are you just looking for a stronger dragon to do what you couldn't pull off?"

"Enough! After him!" Jasper yelled.

Yeah, maybe Kiara had a point about me being stupid while panicking. Instead of running back into the forest, I darted between the ones closest to me, going straight for the two on the ground. The asshole pinning Christian lunged to grab me, which lifted his weight off Christian long enough for him to explode out of his clothes and take off. Jasper bellowed, his shift so intense it threw me and his little friends several feet away. It also got Andrew free, and he shoved to his feet, elbowing the asshole who tried to grab him as he ran away.

Since I wasn't as important as Andrew, I went in a different direction, hoping to split their attention. But Andrew barely got a dozen feet away before Jasper whipped his tail and sent Andrew flying.

"No!"

He hit the side of the compound and the sound it made when he impacted was sickening. The stupid compound was ninety percent glass, and yet he hit the one part that was all concrete. I could only stare in horror at his limp body on the grass.

The sound of Jasper drawing in a breath barely registered. I couldn't move. It was my stupid idea to challenge Jasper. If I would've waited for Aiden, Andrew might have lived. I killed him.

Kiara

What should've taken hours took less than thirty minutes at the speeds Aiden was going. It was jarring and painful. It felt like it took hours and minutes at the same time, and I couldn't open my eyes long enough to see where we were with how cold the air was around us. I almost passed out from the force when Aiden dove toward the earth again.

When we finally slowed enough for me to lift my head, we were over the trees in very familiar mountains, barreling straight for the compound. Camden lifted his head about the same time I did. I shouted over the wind to get his attention.

"Two minutes. Be ready."

We'd have to hit the ground running to get Jasper under control and get people to safety. I was terrified for Cal, but if he did as I asked, he wasn't going to be my first priority. Andrew and Christian were already captured, and they needed to get out before Jasper killed them.

Of course, I never should've expected Cal to do what I told him to do. Not when he had the propensity to panic. He stood in the middle of the open field, unmoving, as Jasper filled his lungs to breathe fire at him. We were barely low enough to survive the fall, but I leapt without thought and shifted mid air, rolling and tearing across the field for Cal. My lioness tackled him, covering him with her body, but we wouldn't survive dragon's fire. At least he wasn't all alone. I squeezed my eyes shut, waiting for the pain, but Jasper cut himself off just before he let the fire loose, and two explosions of power washed over my head.

Oh shit. More dragons. I lifted my head, watching in horror as Jasper and Aiden went head to head, only for Aiden to be knocked away by two more. It was an all out dragon fight, and I had to get Cal out of the way before we were squashed in the process.

Pushing to my feet, I grabbed him by the back of his shirt, tugging him, but he wasn't moving. He was sobbing, staring across the lawn and repeating over and over again, "I killed him. I killed him."

I couldn't get him moving in this form without hurting him. I shifted back, grabbing him under the arms to force him to his feet. "Cal, you need to move!"

Camden came out of nowhere, still human, with his little fanny pack of dragon suppressors on his hip. He picked up Cal like he weighed nothing, and we tore across the grass towards the trees. A black bear shifter with scars across its face cut us off, and I shifted mid stride, launching myself at him with the full force of my pissed off lioness. They weren't going to hurt Cal. He might be bigger, but I was faster, and I tore him apart with my claws before biting down hard on his neck. He went limp, and I moved on, going after the other shifter, a male panther stalking towards Cal and Camden. He was too focused on them and didn't see me coming, but I didn't hit him alone. A familiar jet black wolf came whipping through the trees, snarling and looking for blood. We slammed into the cat on each side, and I had to leap out of the way to avoid Ethan's wrath.

"Kiara! I need to get close enough to dose them!" Camden called out, already racing towards the dragons attacking Aiden.

This… was not what I signed up for.