Always (Dragon Wars, #3) Read online

  She stormed forward. Tatyana wasn’t usually so short with her crew. They were all on the same page, helping the wolves before leaving the planet for the last time, and sometimes things got really intense. However, all she could think about was Robert Owens bleeding on the ground. If anything got in the way of her helping him, she would freak.

  Tatyana dropped to her knees next to him. He’d been torn in two places, his arm and his leg. By the universe, she couldn’t believe she had to fix his arm again. He hadn’t remembered the first time she saved him and he wouldn’t again. The beauty of the drugs they injected him with was their side effect. They healed, but they also caused temporary amnesia.

  He’d never know, again, yet she would continue to live her life thinking about him every spare minute of every day—sometimes even when she didn’t have extra minutes.

  Her cousin Gordon knelt next to her. “The wolves are in bad shape. I don’t think we can fix them in ten minutes out here in the open.”

  She’d assessed the same thing herself. “Kill the dragons. Blow them to kingdom come, or dump them in the lake. I don’t care. We’ll take these four back with us to Hatton. We’ll be in and out. We’ll keep them sedated the whole time.”

  “And then put them back where?” Gordon lifted his eyebrows. “It’s going to be hard to create a story for why they can’t remember where they’ve been for hours. The group here has already done the waking in a medical tent and not remembering how they got there scenario. And three of them aren’t here. They’re going to come looking for their fellow werewolves.”

  “I don’t care what story we tell.” She really didn’t. Rising to her feet, she pointed at Robert and the other werewolves indicating to her people they should make them ready for transport. “We’re leaving in less than a week. They can search for answers all they want. We won’t be here to be caught anymore.”

  Robert moaned. The stun cannon halted all things, including the flow of blood. Hitting him with the blast had stopped his rapid death. However, he’d bleed out soon. She bent over and injected him the dosage appropriate to slow his demise. The injection wasn’t a permanent fix, but the meds would have to do.

  “As you know, your orders go against protocol. Taty.” He placed his hand on her shoulder. The wind blew his blond hair in the wind. The Knox family had long been known for being one of the few human families with platinum coloring. Maybe the coloring changed because of the lack of sunshine playing havoc on their DNA. The changes over the population were worth a study although the research would have to happen on another planet since their leader declared they were done with the one she resided on. “My cousin, blood of my blood, I know you have a...fascination with him. I understand the feeling. I’ve watched them too. And Robert is impressive in any species. Still, you know what you have to do.”

  “I won’t let him die. They can try me for my crimes if they still want to in a week. I’ll plead guilty.”

  She would not let the most impressive werewolf...man...she’d ever witnessed perish when his people needed him so badly. The world couldn’t spin without Robert Owens.

  “So be it.” He nodded and she grabbed her cousin before he would walk away.

  “Don’t ever talk about my fascinations again. I know all about yours, too. We keep each other’s secrets or you’re no longer blood of my blood.”

  Gordon paled, but she didn’t care she threatened her cousin with exposure for his orgies. She was a woman with a mission and she’d get it done.

  A human girl did what she had to do to survive.

  ****

  Robert moaned and Taty wiped his brow with a washcloth. An infection tried to set in, but the illness wouldn’t kill him, not with the drugs already working. Still, he would have a bad night. All of the werewolves would survive. August, Robert’s twin—albeit not identical, although close physically—had woken twice. He’d given her quite a fight, trying to shift back to his wolf form, so they’d needed to drug him.

  Jack and Trevor were getting restless. She’d told the nurse to give them a sedative minutes earlier. However, she wouldn’t knock out Robert artificially, not until she absolutely must. If her fixation made her pathetic, then she’d gladly wear the title.

  Tatyana Knox had watched Robert Owens for years. Her father Drake, the president of the Werewolf Studies society, raised her in front of the Wolf screens. When she hadn’t been able to sleep at night she’d crawled to town square to sit in the dark and watch what the werewolves were doing.

  Robert had been her favorite feature. The Knox brothers were all still alive, which proved amazing unto itself. So many of their families had been so completely decimated during the war. Yet the four Owens boys continued to breathe air.

  Granted, Robert and Auggie would twice be truly dead—not simply pretending to be for their families—if not for her and the other human recruits who cared about what happened to the creatures they were bound to leave behind.

  And Robert meant so much more to her...

  He mumbled something she couldn’t understand. Their languages were close enough she’d be able to understand him even if she didn’t speak werewolf, yet his words sounded like gibberish.

  Did he talk in his sleep all the time? The cameras didn’t follow them when they slept, only when they seemed to be doing something worthwhile. Little details of his life continued to evade her.

  When he eventually mated, she’d have no idea.

  Taty took a deep breath. Maybe not knowing about his love life would prove a gift. She’d be inclined to kill the bitch.

  His eyes fluttered open. “Where?”

  She rubbed his forehead with the washcloth again. “Sshh. You’re okay. You’re safe. We’re taking care of you.”

  “My wolves?”

  Letting herself stroke him one more time, she took a second to compose herself. “They’re all going to live. The good news is, you won’t remember you were here.”

  Robert blinked rapidly. “You. I’ve seen you before. Haven’t I? Who are you? You don’t smell right.”

  Taty winced. “I’m afraid you’re getting way too coherent and I can’t have your brilliant neurotransmitters start to make connections they should not be able to do. I’m afraid you’re going back to dreamland. I am sorry about the scent. We’ve heard you guys hate to smell us.”

  She picked up the narcotic, which would kill his pain and put him in la-la land until he woke elsewhere. Letting him drift was such a shame. The last time she saved him she’d gotten more time to simply revel in having him near her in person.

  A few scarce minutes seemed so unfair. Of course, beggars couldn’t be choosers.

  “I didn’t say you smelled bad.” He groaned. “Did you save me? I should be dead. The dragon bit my artery.”

  “I guess today was your lucky day.” She pressed the needle to the skin on his arm. “After everything you’ve been through, a tiny poke shouldn’t hurt you at all.”

  “Don’t knock me out. I want to understand. I’ve been here before. The room we’re in seems familiar. I know the medicinal scent of the place. And you. You’ve helped me before. Why? Who are you? Some kind of angel?”

  She snorted and then covered her mouth with her hand. Why couldn’t she be feminine and easygoing as the werewolf women were? Even when she laughed, straight through her nose, she sounded coarse.

  “I’m not angelic. I’ll tell you what. I’m actually going to answer your question and then I’m going to inject you. You won’t remember ever being here, let alone how I told you something I absolutely am not authorized to share.” She waited until she saw understanding kindle within his brown eyes. “Still want to know?”

  “Absolutely.” His voice sounded hoarse, so she fed him a couple of ice chips. Caring for someone medically never made her so hot before. She’d love to have her hands on his lips for reasons other than administering medicine. Of course, her desire was exactly why she knew she’d gotten sick in the head. He was a werewolf. He wasn’t for her to desir
e.

  Despite his politeness to her, if he possessed two bits of strength he wouldn’t want her near him. Humans smelled of manure to werewolves, several studies she read had outlined the horrible reaction werewolves had whenever they were around her kind.

  “My name is Dr. Tatyana Knox. You’re in Hatton, the last human city. You’ve been here before, although you should have no memory of that visit. My group is taking care of you. When you wake again, you’ll be somewhere else and confused about how you got there.”

  His brow furrowed. “Not knowing how I got somewhere has happened to me before. The time we all found ourselves in a medical tent. They told us we must have all gotten hit on the head. I never bought their crap. The whole team wouldn’t suffer from concussions all at once.”

  “I’m afraid you’re going to be confused again. Not to worry though, because these memory losses will never happen again. We’re leaving. If you’re seriously injured again, I won’t be around to stick you back together and send you back out. You’ll have to rub some dirt in your wound and keep going.”

  Tears she wished she didn’t still have the ability to shed threatened, and she pushed them back. “You smell sad. Where are you going?”

  “Away. Where the rest of our people have long gone. Some of us stayed, because we thought we could quietly help you with your war. Turn the tides of things. I’m afraid we no longer have the support to do so.”

  He raised his hand to grip the side of her face, and her whole body shuddered. “I don’t get what you’re saying.”

  “I know and I’m afraid you’re going to get even less, Robert.”

  He shook his head while she poked the needle deeper into his skin. He winced and then his eyelids started to droop. “No one calls me Robert.”

  She pulled the needle out. “Then me calling you Robert will be our thing, although you’ll never know we shared a moment at all.”

  “Yes, I will.” He shook his head before his eyes closed altogether. “I’ve decided to remember what happened here.”

  If only such a thing were possible.

  She disposed of the needle then retreated to the door, needing to put some distance between herself and the werewolf who she couldn’t have. The best thing for Taty would be to launch the hell off the planet and forget him forever.

  Maybe she should drug herself.

  Chapter Two

  Robbie felt movement beneath him. His mind had drifted and he wasn’t certain where he was or who the person doing the transporting of his nearly unconscious body was anymore. He was only sure of a single thing—he had decided to remember what happened to him. He had no intention of going anywhere unless it was on his own terms.

  The scent of roses followed him everywhere. It was an odd smell, not an aroma he usually associated with anything except the flower itself. Werewolves didn’t smell of flowers, and underneath it the aroma of vanilla. He found it intoxicating to say the least. However, he had no time to stay asleep and drift in the scents of flowers and cooking.

  Before he even opened his eyes, he jumped to his feet, ready to shift if needed. Several people cried out and, as he growled, he took in the sights around him. There were four other souls in the room, and a quick deep breath told him none of them—three men and a single woman—smelled at all of wolves.

  The blonde goddess was the source of the sweet scents beckoning to him. She seemed...familiar. He shoved the idea out of his head. He’d probably seen her sometime during his stay there. She was probably the bitch drugging him.

  He wasn’t concerned with handling a woman. If she were smart, she’d stay back. The men looked as if they wouldn’t be a problem either. They ranged from much shorter than him to right under his height. In any case, he could take out the whole room if necessary.

  “Robert.” She rushed forward in front of the men. He waited for someone to object. What kind of creatures let a female step in front of them when a predator was in the room? He had seen old men who could barely move throw their bodies into a fight to stop a woman from being hurt.

  “No one calls me Robert.” A sense of déjà vu accompanied the words and he ignored the sensation. “You are in charge, ma’am?” He added the last bit to be polite. A female led the dragons, and he’d never be nice to her. If this female proved competent and not psychopathic, he’d maintain a certain amount of respect.

  “I’m in charge when we leave here. It’s complicated. Here, we’re all in charge.”

  Her words were bullshit. Hierarchy existed to keep everyone safe. Someone was in charge, even if it wasn’t explicitly stated. Since she stood in front of her pansy colleagues, he was going to speak to the blonde hottie while ignoring how much he liked her fragrance.

  “Where am I?” He was obviously in some kind of facility. Where was the place located and how he had gotten there?

  She took a deep breath, her face paling. “It goes against policy for me to tell you.” Blondie dug into her pocket and pulled out a needle. “I promise you—if you let me, I can help you. You were injured. We helped you. I can make all of your confusion go away. Your friends are fine. Your brother, too. You’re all going to wake in a bed, perfectly safe. You’ll never know you were here.”

  “Being drugged to forget part of my life doesn’t work for me, lady. You don’t smell as if you’re wolves and you’re certainly not dragons. What, pray tell, are you?”

  “We’re...”She raised her chin. “Humans.”

  Robbie laughed, throwing his head back in a loud hoot. The strangest things tickled his funny bones. The humans in the room didn’t seem to know what to do with his reaction. They looked at each other, and the female shifted the weight on her feet.

  “Why are you laughing?” She lowered her voice. “I don’t see how our being humans is funny.”

  “Well, you haven’t spent the last three years looking at cave paintings from humans. Never mind. Okay, you’re humans.” Why not? They weren’t wolves. His nose never failed him. Unless the dragons had figured out how to shape shift, they weren’t them either. Humans. Sure. “Why do you have me?”

  “Mr. Owens.” One of the males finally spoke. He had blond hair similar to the hot female. In fact, they had other features which were similar, too. Maybe it was the chin. “We aren’t going to answer any more questions. You’re going to go where you belong, and we’ll all move on, too.”

  “You’ve made a fatal error. You seem to be under the impression I am going to listen to you. You’re nothing. A maggot. You’re not the kind of male who can give me orders.” And it offended his sense of right and wrong. He made a quick choice. Rushing forward, he grabbed the female and pulled her against him. “I’ll speak to you and only you.”

  With a flick of his wrist he knocked the needle she held onto the ground. It hit the floor with a clink. She gasped.

  “You and I are going to have a conversation, alone, without these puny males to make ridiculous demands they can’t possibly follow through on. If anyone tries to interfere, I’ll kill you. Am I clear?”

  In his life, he’d never harm a woman, with the large exception of the dragon queen. The human female had nothing to fear from him. Although, she didn’t need to know that. Let her be afraid.

  She didn’t struggle when he tugged her from the room and the wimpy humans—no wonder they’d had to go into hiding or whatever happened—did nothing to stop him.

  “Your men are useless.”

  The female snorted and it was everything he could do to not grin at the sound. In other circumstances, he’d give in to the urge. However, he was too busy trying to make sense of his current circumstances. The smart thing to do would be to find his people and get them out. Except in front of him were humans no werewolves had ever seen.

  He wasn’t going to waste his chance to find out what they knew about the dragons.

  Robbie had dragged her distance when he saw an open room. With windows on all sides, he’d be able to see if anyone came or went. As he was basically making up his plan as
he went along, a little advanced notice for potential enemies seemed his best option.

  He let go of her arm after he locked both the doors. She wasn’t going anywhere until he had the information he wanted from her. Anything else he might desire was quite out the question. Her heady aroma played havoc with his cock.

  The realization jarred him. Robbie hadn’t wanted a woman in over a year. At least he still could, it appeared, which was something.

  “You can cut the act.” She shook her head. “We both know you aren’t going to hurt me.”

  “Oh?” She was right, although he didn’t intend to tell her so. “How do you know I won’t?”

  “Because I know everything about you, Robert Owens. Well, not everything. To claim everything would be to overstate the truth. I’ll say I understand you well. A lifetime of observation has afforded me some insight into your mind.”

  The room stilled with her words. She couldn’t mean it. He had no memory of her. Granted, the lack could be chemical, but how the hell could she have watched him his whole life? Certainly he’d have to possess some kind of recollection about so close a relationship.

  “I think you’d better explain yourself.”

  She crossed her arms, which only pushed her very fine boobs out further. What the hell was wrong with him? A year without any interest sexually and he couldn’t stop thinking about her when he needed to focus on life and death issues.

  “We watch you. The wolves, I mean. I’m only telling you because there’s no way you’re getting out of here without having your mind wiped again. So, yeah, you’re the best television around. A series of very well hidden cameras let us watch you all the time, to study the wolf population. You happen to be a personal favorite of mine.” She shrugged. “Well, of a lot of people actually. Women, specifically.”

  “I...” He had to take a breath. They had television when he was a child, only the wars had destroyed all the cable. Since then, they were lucky if they got print news. All forms of entertainment had ceased. “Are you telling me that my society, werewolves, as we struggle through a war, are a source of amusement to you?”