Hope drained from within him. There was no winning this. The only way he could save the girl was to kill Myers, but that’s what Nox wanted. Or he could watch that butcher cut up an innocent girl.
I have to at least try.
Letting out a deep roar, he called on his grizzly. It was only happy to oblige, and his muscles rippled and his limbs stretched out.
“Start filming!”
Sharp teeth grew from his mouth and fur sprouted all over his body. As his shoulders and torso swelled, the chains strained, the sound of metal breaking apart ringing through the forest. Just one more—
A pained shout tore through the air. But it wasn’t the girl.
What the hell?
A great big brown blur whizzed past him and barreled straight into Myers, knocking him down. He didn’t know what it was, but something about it was familiar. Then, something shimmered in the corner of his eyes. Sunlight glinted off gold metal.
Thoralf!
Dressed in his full armor, the dragon shifter swung his sword as he sliced through two of Nox’s minions. Another tried to get him from behind, but Thoralf easily evaded them and ran his weapon through the attacker’s stomach.
“What the hell—get them!” Nox sputtered.
Daniel wasted no time as he finished his shift, his grizzly’s body completely breaking free of the chains. As he charged toward Nox, from the corner of his eye he saw the remaining goons point their guns at Thoralf. Instantly, scales rippled from his body, and the bullets bounced off him.
“No!” Nox screamed indignantly. “Damn you—”
But the grizzly landed on top of him, full of rage as it dragged its long claws down his face. The metallic smell of blood tinged the air, and Nox’s screams of pain echoed through the woods. Another paw came down, ripping at his chest and piercing through the Kevlar. Finally, the grizzly’s giant maw opened up and went straight for the man’s throat.
The warm trickle of blood in their mouth made Daniel want to gag, but the grizzly was in charge. Only when Nox’s body stopped twitching and convulsing did it let go. It got up and backed away, lumbering around to check their surroundings for more danger.
It seemed they had gotten rid of all of Nox’s men as there were no more of them around. Not alive, anyway. Myers’s bloody body lay on the ground, his torso shredded in a similar manner to Nox’s. There had been another bear who had come in, but who was it?
“Daniel, are you all right?”
The grizzly swung around and roared at the dragon shifter.
Thoralf chuckled. “I’m sorry, my friend, that it took so long to come and rescue you. The mountains were much vaster than I initially thought. It was a good thing I came across your bear friend, and he deduced where you could be.”
Bear friend? But that other bear wasn’t Damon or anyone else that smelled—
Krieger.
John Krieger was one of the five men he’d gone into the ranger training with five years ago. He’d been a quiet guy, mostly kept his head down and did all the exercises without complaint. The old chief had assigned him a permanent position up near Contessa Peak, and as far as Daniel knew, he mostly stayed up there.
“Are you unharmed?” Thoralf asked.
He nodded, but of course he didn’t see that. He was fine but—the girl! Quickly, he pushed his grizzly back down, shifting back to his human form. “There’s a girl,” he managed to say as he took in a big gulp of air. “She’s—” Glancing back, he saw that she was still there on the ground, but it looked like she had passed out.
“I’ll see to her,” Thoralf offered and rushed toward the prone form.
“Jesus.” He raked his hand through his blood-soaked hair. Adrenaline was still pumping in his veins, making him jittery. Hopefully there would be no more surprises.
However, the wind picked up, making the trees shake all around them. The sound of wings flapping made him look up to the sky.
“Oh, fuck!” Spoke too soon. “Ack!” He was blinded again as something gold flashed above him, slowly getting larger. Two giant clawed feet landed with a thunderous thud, making the ground shake. The fifty-foot golden dragon stood there for a moment, shaking its mighty wings before it began to shrink. Soon, Jason Lennox’s naked form stood in its place.
“Daniel—Jesus!” His silvery eyes bugged out as Daniel’s blood-covered form greeted him. “What the hell happened?”
“The Knights,” he said. “They took me. And a hiker,” he nodded toward Thoralf, who was untying the girl’s bonds. “Long story. But we took care of them.”
Jason winced at the carnage around them. “Yeah, you did. Fuck, I’m gonna have a whole bunch of paperwork to fill out.” He raked his hands through his hair. “I—shit. They’re here.” The sound of engines drew closer.
“Did you bring backup?” Daniel asked, and Jason answered with a nod. “And by the way, how did you find me if you weren’t with Thoralf and Krieger?”
“Damon called me when you didn’t check in while doing your rounds,” he answered.
“But how did he know I was in trouble?”
“It was Sarah,” Jason said. “Apparently Thoralf was looking for you and she figured out there was something wrong and called Damon. She blew our cover, but I understand. She’s your mate; of course, she’s worried about you.”
“How did you know she’s my—never mind.” Damon probably told them.
“Speaking of which,” Jason said. “She’ll be here anytime now.”
“Wait—she’s coming here?”
“Of course. She raised hell when we wouldn’t let her come. Threatened to expose us, then sue the rangers and me for every penny I got until I let her in the truck.” Jason removed a drawstring bag hanging from his shoulder, opened it, and tossed Daniel something which he caught. “Brought you some
