The Imprisoned Dragon and the Witch (13 page)

“Nice,” she said, as she blushed again.

“Oh, yeah, I’m not sure if you know anything about Vamps finding their loves, but, well, if another male touches you I’m kinda gonna lose it and will want to rip them to shreds. Nobody is allowed to touch you, except me.” Sam spoke quietly, not allowing his fervor to show through in his words.

Charmaine’s response surprised him greatly. “I like that. I don’t ever want any other man touching me again. Not ever.”

Sam let out a long sigh, his heart swelling at her words. “Good, ‘cause I don’t want to have to rip someone’s throat out. Charmaine, now you know what you are…to me that is. I think we need to get to know each other better. More importantly, you need to know
me
for what and who I am. Are you ready for that, or, do you want to wait a bit longer?”

Charmaine cocked her head to the side, the movement endearing, as she replied, “I’m ready, but maybe we should wait ‘til you get back. What do you think?”

He grinned. “I’m okay with that,” he said as his hand now traced her jawline gently, noting her quiver at his touch.

“What
is
that?” she whimpered.

“That, Charmaine, is the touch of your mate.” He smiled before gently placing another quick kiss on her mouth.

As she stared longingly up at him she whispered, “I like it.”

The last few minutes had changed Sam in ways he didn’t think possible. His lust for Charmaine was still there, deeply rooted inside him, but he also felt a sense of peace that he had never felt in his long life.
“Is this what finding a mate does?”
he thought and decided he would ask Ronan. His friend would know. Whatever the reason he felt immense happiness as he nodded down at his Witch. “Me too, babe, me too.”

Chapter 13

Ronan returned to work with a cheeky smile on his usually stern face, getting a few raised eyebrows as he passed by. He left Starr in their bedroom, packing some backpacks for the upcoming mission. Sam was sitting, waiting on him as he entered. Observing his friend, Ronan thought that Sam looked somehow...different.

As he stared intently at Sam he couldn’t actually see anything changed, he just
seemed
altered in some way. “What’s up?” he asked as he sat down.

Sam’s eyes sparkled as he looked at him. “I think, no, I know, Starr was right. Charmaine is my mate!”

Ronan chuckled at the incredulous tone. “Yup, think everyone else figured that out a few days ago.”

Sam scowled over at him. “Really? It was that obvious to folks?”

Ronan checked his emails as he nodded. “Yeah, it really was. I assume you’ve spoken to her about all this? Has something
more
happened between you two? Have you bonded?”

As he read through his mails, he fired off questions, hearing Sam snort before replying, “Yes, sort of. No. We’re gonna wait ‘til after the operation against Quintas. It’s really strange, ‘cause I still want to take her to bed and not be seen for a week,
but
, after we talked...and kissed...I feel much more settled. In fact the word I would use is peaceful. I feel at peace and I was wondering, is that normal? You’re the expert after all.”

Ronan pulled his attention away from his emails, focusing on his friend. “Yes, that’s normal. Feels good, doesn’t it?”

As Sam’s face broke into a huge smile he stood up. “It’s freaking awesome. I’ve never felt like this in my life. Now I know it’s the norm, I’ll just go and get on with some work. Charmaine is at home, she’s looking online for some clothes ‘n stuff. The clothes that folks here gave her are okay but she says they’re not ‘her’, whatever the hell that means. Anyway, I’ve told her to check stuff out and I’ll get her whatever she wants.”

Starr joined them, carrying two backpacks and placing them on the floor just inside the door. “What’s this? You’re buying Charmaine some clothes? About blinkin’ time, poor girl’s been going around in other folks hand-me-downs. Trust me, we girls don’t like that.”

Sam blinked hard, several times, before knocking his fist against his forehead. “Shit! You’re right, I shoulda thought on this before.”

Starr gave him a playful punch in the shoulder. “Hey, better late than never. You can take care of her better from here on out and if you need any advice just come ask me. Oh, yeah, Sam, why don’t you pop out and get her some flowers and chocolates before you go home?”

Sam’s smile was huge as he looked at Starr. “I sure will, anything else?”

Ronan watched as Starr gave Sam a little push. “Hey, only trying to help. One thing you’ll have to find out is whether she’s expecting a ring of some sort. I’m not sure if Witches use them or not but it’s worth finding out to avoid any upset. Or, why don’t you just get her one anyway. No girl is goin’ to say no to some nice sparklies.”

Sam groaned. “A ring? As in a diamond? Jeez, this is gonna get expensive, I just
know
it!”

Starr laughed as Sam carried on, leaving them alone. “Our stuff is in there, change of clothes, my throwing knives too. I also had a thought, after the cavern when the Vamps had to feed on the plane to heal themselves. I know they tried to be discreet about it, but I could smell the blood, so that got me to thinking. What if you get hurt and we’re separated?”

“Not going to happen,” Ronan said, firmly.

“You don’t know that, Fang. Plus, I’ve also been thinking ‘bout this mission...I’m going Dragon. No! Don’t interrupt, don’t stop me, let me finish.”

Ronan’s entire body was strung tight as a drum but he motioned with his hand to let her continue.

Starr started pacing back and forth. “I know you want me near you, to keep me safe. But, you’ve got to realize how much I
need
to do this. It’s burning inside me. I need to be Dragon, Ronan. I just
have
to do this. Please don’t argue, I don’t want to argue with you,
mo chroi
.”

As his mate finished, using his native tongue against him, he sagged down into his chair. “Low blow, Puff, you know I can’t resist when you speak Gaelic.”

Starr walked around his desk, stopping in front of him, her head cocked to the side. “Please,” she implored and his heart almost broke at the longing in that one word. How was he going to deny her?

“There will be conditions. First, you stay well out of the way of any Witches. Two, you stay out of the line of fire of any magical battles. Three, you do not go off after
anyone
on your own. If needs be, then you come and get me, or Creed. Understood? If you can’t agree, Puff, then you’re not going and
that
is not up for discussion!”

Ronan’s face was inscrutable as he stared into Starr’s violet eyes. Watching for any sign of mutiny but he saw none. She nodded, once, before heading for the door where she turned. “Okay, I’ll do as you ask. However, I’ve a couple of conditions of my own. One, you do not take on Quintas on your own. Two, you don’t get involved in the magical battles either. Three, you do
not
get hurt, not even a scratch! I kinda like you just the way you are, so you need to take care too, Fang.”

Ronan smirked as she turned away, heading to her own office. “Sure!” he said to her retreating back, noting once again just how
fine
her ass was in jeans.

The rest of the day was made up with finalizing the fine details for the combined attacks on
Na Cúnant Dorcha
and specifically Quintas Crane. Everything was being timed to the second, and if everything went as it should then they would either have Quintas in custody or dead by tomorrow night.

He and his team would leave first thing in the morning, with an hour or more spent traveling to get to the ranch. Already he had two Wolves patrolling around the property, which took up a large area with nothing or nobody close by. So far they had reported that Quintas was on-site with at least four other Witches.

Esther’s sister was coming with them on this one as they were aware of several Witches on-site. Some of the other properties that Quintas owned were abandoned but squads from local offices were still going to raid at the same time as everyone else. The two other sites in their targets were manned by two women and one man. Both properties under surveillance. The one near Vegas was being dealt with by Josef and he had men watching it closely.

At one of the targets that he was in charge of taking down, their Wolves had fought every instinct inside them not to intervene when the man they were watching started to beat on one of the women, before raping her viciously in front of the other. If they hadn’t held back, then Quintas would’ve been alerted and their whole plan would’ve failed. However, Ronan knew that those Wolves would dole out their own version of punishment, as soon as possible.

One less for incarceration!

A knock at his door brought him out of his thoughts. Seeing Serge standing outside, he motioned him in. “Sit down, Serge. How’s Kyra settling in?” The tattooed Wolf sat down, smiling. “She’s doing well. I thought she might miss her own Pack, but she had no family there, so she’s not missing it too much. Hmm, reason I’m here is to let you know of a
possible
problem with her Alpha.”

Serge squirmed as Ronan cocked an eyebrow. “Go on.”

The Wolf lowered his eyes. “Well, when me and Kyra grew closer and things
progressed
, I approached him to ask for his permission to mate, as is the norm. But, well, he wasn’t very happy and said some stuff ‘bout there not being enough females for his own male Wolves and he would prefer Kyra stay there. As you can imagine, I wasn’t agreeing to that, so we
had words
. It never went past words and, in fact, it ended in him banning us from his Pack home. The last week or two Kyra and I have been mostly Wolf in the mountains, staying clear of his land and his Wolves. Kyra basically arrived here with the clothes she stood up in and not a hell of a lot else.”

Ronan steepled his hands in front of him, resting his chin on them as he stared at Serge. “Hmm, not ideal, but not the worst outcome either. If the Alpha had challenged you and you took up that challenge while on a mission, well,
that
would’ve caused you problems with me, my friend. However, he didn’t, you didn’t, so let’s just hope he doesn’t take things further.”

Ronan looked at Serge, noting a faraway look in his eyes and waited on him answering.

*****

Serge’s mind was lost in thought, going back to the days just before he and Kyra had to leave her Pack.

“He won’t allow it! I know him, Serge, he’s always going on and on about how few females there are and paces around every time one of the mated She-Wolves goes into labor, praying on a daughter and not a son. He’s delayed some of the ceremonies to accept a new cub into the Pack because he’s so annoyed that it’s a boy and not a girl! He’s obsessed about it.”

Serge couldn’t help the growl that rumbled in his throat, his eyes staring into the face of his truemate. “Kyra, you must know what kind of man I am. Running around behind folks backs does not sit well with me! I’m sure he’ll understand, once I tell him we are truemates. Hell, he has to understand!”

Kyra’s soft fingers caressed his face, calming his beast as only a mate can. “Serge, I’m scared he’ll make us part. What do we do if he doesn’t agree?”

“I’ll fight him if I need to, my Wolf. Don’t think I won’t, but if it comes to that I’ll need to contact Ronan. If I’m injured then I can’t carry out my duties and that can’t happen. I couldn’t let my boss down, Kyra.”

Her face upturned, her tongue darting out to moisten her lips. Christ, did she know what that did to him? “Kyra, I know you’re scared but I’m going to talk to him.”

Kyra’s hand looped around his neck, pulling his face down. “Later, my Wolf, later.”

At the first touch of her lips against his, all thought of talking to her Alpha left his mind. Only concentrating on the hardness now pressed against her belly as he held her tightly against him.

It was another few days before he managed to get an audience with her Alpha. At first he thought he would need to fight him there and then, the anger rolling off the man in waves. Serge stood his ground, knowing to show weakness would be his undoing. He also knew he would win the fight, the Alpha not as strong as he thought he was.

Serge had watched the man closely over the last few months, especially since he and Kyra had found each other. The Alpha was tall and appeared strong, but to Serge’s trained eye he was more flab than muscle and even calling on his Alpha power would not suffice in a fight with him. He knew he was stronger, faster, better trained in combat than the Alpha and at the crucial moment he thought the Alpha realized that too.

Scowling at him as if an errant child. “You know I am not happy with this, and the reasons why, so I have no other option but to ask you to leave the Pack. Hopefully, your love will keep you warm out there on the cold mountain!”

The sneer the Alpha ended with almost had Serge ripping his throat out. Only his thought of the repercussions halting him. “It will, we’ll leave as soon as we can and, Alpha, I look forward to seeing you again sometime.”

Serge was well aware the tone he used was not at all the humble one he should use to an Alpha and he didn’t give a fuck. The man was an ass and a poor excuse for an Alpha. Banning a member of his own Pack just because they had found their mate outside of the Pack was not the actions of a good and just Alpha. Hell, Serge thought, I may just come back one day and take his spot as Alpha, would serve the fucker right!

The look of resolve on Kyra’s face as he told her causing his heart to swell with love. “Now, we leave now, Serge. No looking back.”

She had left the relative comfort of her Pack home with nothing more than a rucksack. Christ, he loved her!

*****

Ronan’s voice interrupted his thoughts, “Serge, you with me?”

“Yeah, was just thinking about Kyra and how much she gave up to be with me. I fucking love her, Ronan, far more than I could ever let her know.”

Ronan nodded his head, “I know, Serge, I know. Let’s just hope her Alpha doesn’t decide to cause any trouble. I could do without the added stress right now. I’m also glad you didn’t compromise your mission. If you had then this conversation would be going in an entirely different direction, my friend.”

Serge looked upset as he answered, “I know and I’m sorry I didn’t say anything sooner. If he had challenged me I would’ve contacted you immediately. As it turned out, I just hoped nothing more would come of it, not until I could tell you that is. Kyra has been worried since we returned in case I ‘got into trouble because of her’ as she put it. So, here I am, confessing and asking for your forgiveness for letting my need to mate with her impact on my mission. I would also like to ask if my own Alpha can carry out our mating ritual, after this operation, of course.”