Dean looked on in awe as Justin stepped through to the other side, disappearing out of view for several minutes before sticking his head back through.
“It’s all clear, there are no traps or hidden people,” he told them.
“Ryan, Oz, get the asshole back to his dorm room. He’s not to come near her until he’s ready to challenge. I won’t have anyone else making these fucking accusations against her,” Nick commanded, and the two wolves pulled Asher to his feet and dragged him from the room. “I mean it, Provost, with all due respect, if Shawna comes after us again, I’ll kill her myself and damn the consequences.”
The provost nodded her acceptance. Nobody pissed off a territorial dragon, and right now, that’s how they were all feeling about Melody. Bonded or not, she was theirs, and they were hers. Forever.
Dean gently picked her up so that she lay in his arms facedown. Nick grabbed her legs to keep them from dragging on the floor, and Dean rested her head in the crook of his arm, his palm supporting her torso. It was a damn awkward way to carry her, but it would hurt her the least, and thanks to the provost and the dragons, they didn’t have far to go.
As soon as they were through the portal, it snapped shut behind them. Dean didn’t give it a second thought though, he was too desperate to rip her shirt off and see the damage to her back. On one hand, he needed to see it, so that he could work out how to help her. On the other hand, he was frightened to. He knew that the image would haunt him for the rest of his life.
“Stay alert, Dean, I can’t afford for you to wig out on me now,” Nick warned him, and he nodded.
Together they gently set her on the bed, and then the two dragons turned to him.
“You can’t stay for this, Dean. Your lion is roaring at us even now. We’re going to treat her wounds, and then you can come back in and see her when she’s bandaged up, okay?” Justin took him by the shoulders and turned him around, pushing him through the door, before closing it firmly in his face.
“It’s warded, just so you know,” Justin called out.
Dean grunted. It was just as well because they were right, his lion was barely in control. Minutes later, he was joined by Oz and Ryan who were just as agitated as he was.
“Come on,” said Ryan, after Dean had paced the room a dozen times. “Let’s shift and go for a run. Our beasts are going nuts and we need to let them out. It’ll do us all good.”
“Since when are you the sensible one?” asked Oz.
“Since the pair of you are going to wear holes in the wood,” came the tart rejoinder.
Dean huffed. The wolf was right. He reached for the dragons in their magical link, but Nick was already there reassuring them that it was a good thing, and that they should do an entire lap of the academy. What they were doing was going to take a while.
That nearly caused Dean to lose his shit then and there, as it was, he barely got his clothes off before his lion burst out of his skin. Oz and Ryan were only seconds behind him, and it was then that they realised their mistake. Still connected by the magical link, the dragons sent out their magic and opened the door for them. In the back of the lion’s mind, Dean made a note to change the front door handle to a bar one, instead of the round knob that was impossible for shifter beasts to manipulate.
3. Dean
The three of them jumped out of the cottage, the door closing behind them. From seemingly nowhere, a large fox joined them; Trent. Together the four of them set off at a good clip.
Dean had assumed he would have to slow down for the fox, but the smaller beast had more stamina than the lion, and it was Dean they slowed down for. Lions were not runners, not like wolves and foxes. They could have short bursts of speed, good for a quick hunt, but if they had long distances to travel, lions tended to trot or lope. This galloping speed had him huffing in minutes, and the three canids teased him for being out of shape.
I’m brute force, not speed, he told them, balefully.
Yeah, yeah, slacker. You keep telling yourself that, taunted Oz.
Dean ignored them. Instead, focussing on putting one foot in front of the other, until they ate up the distance around the edge of the academy.
He could feel it every time the dragons touched one of her wounds, his hide twitching in response and his lion whimpering.
She’s in pain? asked Ryan.
Yes, he said, not wishing to elaborate.
Ryan put on a burst of speed, galloping along to the next corridor and then doubling back to them. He did that continuously around the perimeter of the buildings until he must have traveled double the distance that they had. Until they had the all-clear from the dragons, none of them would return.
When they had done a full lap, or more in Ryan’s case, they moved outward until they were at the perimeter of the academy grounds, a circle with a much larger circumference. Then they began their trek again. This time, Ryan stayed with them. The four of them caught the scents of witches several times, unusual this far from the buildings
