That’s where Cooper had smelled that scent before…when Priscilla tried to rip Alice out of the portal. That meant either Bertha, the portal, was in his house, or Priscilla had somehow managed to infiltrate the house.
Alice’s new client.
“Alice!” he roared, running through the house at full speed. He nearly crashed through the door, stopping in the nick of time to wrench it open. The smell of dying flowers was so strong he coughed. “Alice.”
She was not in the studio, but she had been there very recently. He exited through the studio’s door and scanned his surroundings, trying to pick up any clue. A smell, a catch of his eye. Anything.
“Cooper, stop looking for the witch. You won’t find her.” He pointed toward the door. “Thanks for leaving the front door wide open for me. I appreciate it. Makes my life a hell of a lot easier.”
“What are you doing here? You don’t have your little cronies doing your dirty work for you this time, Michael.”
“I’ve got a witch, though. I think that’s better.”
Cooper shook his head now that Michael had confirmed his fears. Michael and Priscilla joined forces against them, just like he thought they might. It was a good thing he was prepared. Assuming a bored look, he pulled his phone out of his pocket and thumbed through it. He was quick to send the distress signal to John and his enforcers.
“You and Priscilla against Alice and me? That won’t be a fair fight, and you have to know that.”
“You’re the one who doesn’t know shit. Step down. I’ll be the alpha. Go live for the rest of your life somewhere else.”
“I don’t think Alice would like that deal.” As he spoke, Cooper continued to look around, trying to get any indication as to where Alice had gone.
“Why wouldn’t Alice like that deal? See, I told you, Cooper. You’re the one who doesn’t know shit. You would be free to leave. Alone. Your witch dies.”
“You’re insane if you think I am going to let anyone touch a hair on mypregnantwife’s head.”
Michael snickered. “Ah, come on. It can’t be that good with the witch. You don’t even know if the baby will be a dragon. Do you really want to raise a witch?”
“I see no problem with that.”
Michael laughed. “Yeah, I thought you might say that. This is what you’re missing, kid. If your witch doesn’t give you a dragon, then you still don’t have an heir. Dragons won’t be led by a witch. Fuck, I don’t think they would want to be led by a freak witch who steals a dragon.”
“There is no stealing a dragon. That is a Dawson dragon. That name means something, and you’re not going to take the thunder or my family. You’re not worthy of leading the dragons. With that kind of thinking? What kind of ugly bullshit is that? Alpha mates are humans, vampires, and demons. Dragons have followed those alphas before. Do you know why? Because they know that to lead, you can’t only have your own back. You need to have everyone’s back.”
“Oh, yeah, that sounds great. The thing is, pipsqueak, the alphaship was always supposed to be mine. When the war ended, your grandfather just became the alpha, but my grandfather was there too. Andhe,at least, had the old bloodline. He was a dragon’s dragon. He survived the dragon hunters, for fuck’s sake.”
“And what haveyoudone to earn this kind of loyalty, huh? Because I’ll tell you one thing, you come into my house and threaten a pregnant woman. That doesn’t sound like a leader. That’s a coward’s move.”
“Fuck you,” Michael roared before bursting into his dragon. His pale orange scales made him look a bit sickly, and Cooper thought it was probably because there was no real fire inside the man.
No fire to protect his thunder and family.
This power grab…the second, no less…just showed that Michael was not a good leader and also not a very good person. Cooper hated to end a life, but if he had no choice, then he would do what needed to be done to protect his family.
He shifted into his dragon; the healthy and vibrant red of his scales reflected the afternoon sun perfectly. He spread his wings and chased Michael, who was flying away. Cooper flew hard and fast, caught up, and clipped one of Michael’s wings. The beast roared in pain, and the scent of blood wafted around for only a second before the wind blew it away. With an injured wing, Michael tried to steady his flight and had no luck managing it. Cooper dove for him again, and with a short exchange of blows and bites, they landed with a ground-shakingthunkin the land around the manor.
Cooper pinned Michael to the dirt. His nostrils flared with his fire, ready to attack. He clicked his tongue at Michael in warning, but the other beast wouldn’t stop fighting and struggling. Michael was putting up a good fight, but unfortunately for him, he wasn’t strong enough to kick Cooper off.
This was the end of the line for Michael. Now, if only Cooper knew why the smell of dying flowers was in his home. Did Priscilla have Alice somewhere? If he killed Michael, would he be able to find Alice?
We will always be able to find her.
His dragon was certain of that. Cooper squeezed Michael’s long neck, his talons digging into the soft flesh.
There was a suddenbang, closely followed by two women running out of the woods. One was very obviously chasing the other. Alice was leading Priscilla right back to the house, probably in hopes of trapping her in the house somehow, his clever witch.
A quick scan of her told him she was unharmed, but he still worried for the child she carried.
His eyes met his wife’s, and they agreed on one thing in that silent second: this ended today. Their children would never face this kind of fear.