Always (Dragon Wars, #3) Read online

  She pushed buttons to stop the alert. “I owe you an apology.”

  Her cousin leaned against the computer console. “Actually, I think I owe a sorry to you. I came in without you saying come after I knocked. I was kind of excited. A single near miss before we take off.”

  “You find the strangest things fun.” She rolled her eyes. “There are five more days, four more nights of things potentially blowing to smithereens in our faces. Don’t count your chickens until they hatch. I’m apologizing because of the way I threatened you during the wolf operation. I told you I’d tell people about your interests knowing it would terrify you. Our people are many things, but sexual sophistication isn’t great with humans. I want you to know, I’d never do such a thing.”

  Gordon mock punched her on the shoulder and then grinned. “You were mad because I was being judgmental about Robert.”

  “I know it’s not normal. Jocey got finished telling me what a loser I am during our five minutes speaking...”

  “Your sister,” he interrupted her, “is a real piece of shit.”

  She snorted and then covered her face with her hand as if she could block the noise. Why did she make such weird noises? It was so gross. “Yes, well, I know I shouldn’t care so much about a man—a wolf—I’ve met twice in person. I just...do”

  “I know.” He patted her back. “Five more days and we’ll be out of here. I obviously care about them too. I would have left with everyone else if I didn’t. I really believed we owed them a debt we had the ability to pay.”

  “Me too.” She walked to the window, although she couldn’t see anything in the pitch darkness. The barrier around Hatton kept their light from getting outside. Looking at the world outside their walls reminded her at least there was one. “Do you know Robbie wanted me to give them the broken tech? Give it to them and teach them the basics of fixing it. He’s convinced his brother can.”

  And despite the fact she presented it as a crazy idea, the longer she sat with his request, the less insane it seemed. When the humans had fled to the compound from the rest of the surface, keeping themselves to only the parts they could hide with a shield, hundreds of years ago, they’d left behind lots of technology, such as cars and refrigerators. The wolves had found the items and although they viewed them as almost fossils to another time, they had learned to fix and use some of it.

  Why should the more advanced machines be any different?

  “Not a bad idea, actually.” He shrugged. “If they were still here, you could have done it. Too bad they’re out there and they’ll never know they were ever aware of advanced technology, since we’re under orders to bring it with us.”

  “Jocey cares more about the scrap parts from the cannon guns than the people getting on the shuttle.”

  “Well, she can’t sell us off.” Gordon raised an eyebrow. “Can she?”

  “Don’t give her the idea.”

  Her cousin laughed as he left the room, and she stood to stretch her arms over her head. Sleep still felt far away. How could she have so much energy?

  “Screen.” She spoke before she could change her mind. “Show me Robert Owens.”

  Lights flashed on her viewer and the search box showed the computer worked. After a minute it stopped with the words unable to find scrolling across the viewer. Her heart dropped.

  She took a deep breath. The machine would tell her if he was hidden behind the privacy mode. The minutes passed and the screen remained black.

  “Oh no.” She covered her mouth. As far as she knew, there would only be a single reason why he couldn’t be found.

  He was dead.

  Chapter Four

  It took longer for Robbie, Devon, Dougal and Caitlyn to reach the rendezvous spot than Robbie would have liked. Dougal was amazingly capable with only three legs in wolf form, but they slowed a bit to accommodate him. Robbie would never complain. He never thought to have his younger brothers with him again. If their mission was the last time he ever spent with them, he’d take the extra few hours it took to reach their location.

  Lena, Devon’s mate, stayed behind with Caitlyn and Dougal’s son. Lena’s pregnancy made it impossible for her to shift—if she did so, she’d hurt the baby, so she had to stay home. Before they’d all left, Dougal handed him the baby as if he was supposed to know what to do with it and quickly took him back when his brother saw how much he really had no interest in hold children. He wasn’t sure if it was the utter horror on his face or the way the child screamed as though he was being murdered during the experience which gave him away. The baby was breakable, and Robbie wasn’t going to be responsible for any disasters with the kid.

  As they approached the meeting area, in the middle of dragon territory, he skidded to a stop. After a second, he shifted back and turned to his family who made their own shifts after seeing him do it.

  The dragons loved hilly country. They could maneuver the mountains faster than the wolves and, to ensure they held the land, had burned all the trees in their wake. Nowhere to hide, nothing to do except hope they got lucky and didn’t get caught out in the open.

  He stared at his three companions. “You should stay here. The trees make it safer. The further we move in, the more exposed you’ll be.”

  Dougal shook his head. “Waiting will make it slower. We’re pressed for time, right? We’ll come with you. We’re really not safer here than anywhere else. Besides, I’d rather have my elite brother here to take care of us.”

  “You’re funny. Keep digging me with the elite if you want. I wouldn’t ever wish my life on you.”

  Caitlyn looked around. “I’m seeing cameras everywhere. Well, not out here. When we were in safe zones, I could almost sense them. They smell metallic.”

  “Me too, I can avoid them since I know.” He nodded at her. “Come on. We’ll meet with the others, they’re all likely to try to drag me to command and have me executed for coming to you. Hopefully I can convince them to help me find the humans first.”

  “Your mate, you mean.” Devon’s remark made the hair on the back of his neck stand upright.

  “How did you know?” He never explicitly said anything about it.

  “Lena knew.” Devon glanced at the sky. “She always does. Has a sixth sense for these things. Your woman is human, so it makes it complicated, I guess. As long as the boy parts combine okay with the girl versions...”

  Robbie held up his hand. “Please don’t elaborate.”

  “Right on. It’s going to rain. My knee aches when it’s about to. I suggest we move on.”

  The only good news about inclement weather was sometimes it kept the dragons home. Although, not always. With his luck, he’d be wet and fighting dragons by the end of the day. There had been a time when life wasn’t so hopeless.

  Never one to be sentimental, the family reunion brought old memories to the surface. The way the lake looked at home when the moon hit it during full moon runs. The smell of a fire pit during bonfire night. His mother baking bread.

  Shifting once again into his wolf form, he ran the rest of the way with his family behind him to rejoin his group. He smelled the six of them before he saw them and, from the way Auggie leapt forward, he assumed they could also do the same. The last time Auggie had seen any of them had been when he ripped Devon from the dragon prison.

  Robbie let his human form take shape again. Other werewolves suffered from multiple daily shifts, only Robbie never did. He could move back and forth between shifts with barely a thought and absolutely no trouble. He couldn’t remember a time when his ease wasn’t the case, except, of course, when he’d been trapped in the dragon’s mouth.

  Reintroductions and new meetings took a few minutes and Robbie tried to give Auggie the time to do what he needed in terms of speaking to their younger brothers. Dougal and Homer knew each other and Robbie noted his younger brother’s joy in finally getting to introduce Caitlyn to the man who had joined him on the long walk from the prison to home.

  “All right.” Ro
bbie spoke to his men. “I’ve obviously committed treason. Any of you who would wish to go are free to do so with my blessing.”

  He waited. Auggie wouldn’t leave him. They’d been together since conception, however, if all the others took off he’d insist on saying August had been forced to come along. His brother wouldn’t face execution with him.

  Trevor spoke first. His voice had been destroyed in a dragon blast and he always sounded hoarse when he spoke. “Maybe it would help if you told us what we’re doing. I mean, I trust you. I’d walk through fire with you. I have, actually by coming into dragon territory. I’m more curious than anything else.”

  “Auggie, Jake, you and I went missing for a while. You woke without any memory of where you were and the reason for the lapse was because humans took us. They wiped our memories using medicine It’s actually the second time they’ve done this to us specifically. They have machines which could beat the dragons.” He realized his tale sounded like fiction as he spit the information out to his men. Saying it fast didn’t make it sound less odd. It did, however, get him through the telling of it sooner. “I propose we find the humans, take their broken machinery, fix it and turn the tides of our hellish existence.”

  “Humans?” Chris answered first. “You actually saw them. What do they smell like?”

  Robbie’s mouth fell open. Chris was always his most skeptical warrior. “Ah...” He wasn’t about to tell him how Tatyana’s scent of roses stayed with him.

  “You did vanish.” Homer nodded.

  “And,” Jack interrupted, “I haven’t liked the idea of getting hurt twice and not having any memory of it.”

  None of them moved and Robbie gritted his teeth. “I’m serious about my course of action. Before you become wrapped up in all of the crazy with me. I wouldn’t wish it on any of you unless you are committed to wanting to find the humans the same as I am, you should run out of here.”

  Homer finally spoke. “I think you seem to be under the wrong impression any of us wouldn’t follow you anywhere. We all would, Robbie. You’re our Alpha.”

  He jerked at the word like he’d been punched in the gut. “I’m not. Packs were dissolved. You know as well as I do we have no such things anymore. I’m not your Alpha, Homer. Don’t make the mistake of thinking I am.”

  “Of course you’re our Alpha.” Auggie shocked him further. Robbie swung around to stare at his brother.

  “What?” He couldn’t have heard him correctly.

  Not shying away, his twin met his stare. “You’re always the Alpha. You were born to be. If the dragons had never come, you would be Alpha of our pack, giving orders about crop rotation and pediatric care.” He shuddered. “As things are, you’re Alpha here. Wherever you go, Robbie, you’re always going to be whom you are. With very few exceptions, you’ll always be the most powerful werewolf in the room. If you didn’t enjoy the subterfuge of our group, you’d probably be general of the whole war. So shut your mouth and take the honor because the only thing you denying it does is make Homer and the others want to work harder to prove their loyalty to you. You’re going to get them killed.”

  “Ah.” Damn. He really had no idea how to respond to the moving declaration. Still, they couldn’t stand their all day, even if Auggie declared him Alpha. “I think you just said more words than you have uttered in a year.”

  Auggie shrugged. “Yeah, well, I’m sick of it, too. I’d rather follow you than anyone else. You at least give a shit about our well-being. And, for the record, I know where the humans are. I’ve been aware since we came back the first time. Can’t you smell the barrier?”

  “What?” His head pounded. “Why didn’t you say something? Why have you walked around for a year without letting us know?”

  “First, I thought you’d think me crazy. Since you’re a lunatic, too, I don’t feel as stupid saying so. You are the Alpha after all.” The word banged around again in his head, only he wasn’t going to go there in his thoughts again for a while. “We’re not far from the humans here. Let’s go. We can be there in two hours, if you want.”

  “Lead the way.”

  His brother had known for a year and not said anything? And he and the others thought he should be Alpha? What the hell?

  Devon walked next to him. “Better you than me, brother. By all means, come home and lead. I think I’d make a great Beta wolf. Bring the human with you. We’ll figure it out.”

  Tatyana. Her name was a festering open wound. He had to see her again or he might lose his mind. Fuck. He was in so much trouble.

  ****

  It took the two hours Auggie promised to reach where his twin claimed the humans hid. Robbie took a deep breath. He didn’t smell anything other than the cool breeze and distant cedar trees. Goosebumps broke out on his arms and suddenly he wanted to move and fast.

  Wherever they were, it felt...wrong. “Something is wrong with me.”

  Next to him, Dougal nodded. “I’m not the only guy here who feels the need to flee?”

  “No. And neither of us are cowards.”

  “Can I suggest something?” Dougal’s mate Caitlyn had remained quiet most of the trip. She had wanted to help, volunteered when he explained his plan. Yet the way her eyes darted around and the general slope of her shoulders told him she was uncomfortable. He knew from the file command kept on her, she couldn’t heal from shifting. They had to make sure she was kept safe, even beyond the amount they would for any female.

  “Sure.”

  “We are so attuned to smells. Particularly when we don’t realize it. In the lab, we used to find certain chemicals would make us all start behaving really strangely without us knowing why. I think the same thing’s happened here. We’re meant to run away. We’re being chemically made to, which is one of the reasons we’ve not found them all these years.”

  “Can you all seriously not smell the humans in there?” Auggie shook his head. “A whole crew of them.”

  Robbie closed his eyes. He wished he had Auggie’s abilities. Hell, he’d love to smell Tatyana right then. The roses.

  Lost in his desire to smell her, he was startled at the shout next to him. Homer jumped to attention. “Dragons. Damn it. Six of them.”

  Robbie opened his lids. “Great. I got bested last time. It’ll feel good to take these suckers out.”

  His sister-in-law turned to him. “I can manage four with dragon speak. I can send them away. Call me a coward, but I can’t tell them to kill themselves.”

  “It’s not in your nature.” Dougal shook his head. “Stand back, my love. Robbie wouldn’t want you to do anything. Trust me. You’re here. Your presence here will be as far as you’re getting involved in fighting the dragons.”

  The loud cannon sounded. He knew what it meant then. Tatyana was taking out the dragons and while everyone around him fell to the ground he refused to give in to the blackness. No, he would stay awake. Robbie dropped to his knees in time to see a dragon hurl straight from the sky with a crash onto the ground.

  The dragon falling was so fucking cool. He had to acquire the cannon.

  “Robert?” Tatyana’s voice rolled over him as a soothing boon. “How are you awake? And why are you here?”

  “Never underestimate me, sweetheart. Turns out I’m an alpha. We have to talk.”

  And by all that was true in the universe, he wanted her. Bad.

  ****

  Taty couldn’t believe she sat at the table in the kitchen across from Robert Owens. He was there, alive, and fully aware of who she was and where he found himself. “How can you know what’s going on?”

  “I’m remarkable.” His face stayed impassive yet his tone indicated he found her question ridiculous. “Sweetheart, if you know anything about wolves at all, and you should consider the measures you’ve taken to watch us, you’d know how badly we react to drugs.”

  “I know your people are addicted to a number of them right now, including the secretions from the dragon eggs. With Caitlyn’s formula working to burn the eggs,
the supply is getting harder and the werewolves who crave the substance are going to become desperate. They will need to detox or die.”

  “Yes, a real gift from the dragons.” He drummed his fingers on the table. “I guess your memory wipers only work once. Or maybe not even then. Auggie’s been fully aware of you for a year.”

  “Damn.” His not reacting to the drugs was new information she really needed. If only she had time to figure out why. What was it about werewolf physiology, which made the amnesia less effective? She chewed on her lip.

  “Tatyana.” The way he enunciated her name grabbed her focus. He had one eyebrow raised and an amused expression pulling on his lower lip. Her cheeks warmed under his attention and she decided not to fight the feeling. She had four days left with him. After she left...she wanted no regrets.

  “Yes?”

  “Come here.” He extended his hand. Grasping his offered palm, she let him pull her forward. “I don’t lie, well, except to Command, my family, and anything to do with the dragons. You watched me. You must know what I say is true. I’m reminding you how you know me because I want you not to question what I’m about to say.”

  “You seem to lie, frankly, whenever it suits you.”

  He leaned back in his chair then drew her against him. His body heat warmed her cold soul. She had really thought he was dead. The world had darkened. His presence meant there was light again.

  “Okay, I’m pragmatic. I won’t lie to you. Of course, I suppose I could be lying.” He tweaked her chin. “Do you think I am?”

  She stared at his face. Taty had watched him for so long. When she was a teenager, she’d first noticed the dimple in his chin. So many of her dirty fantasies began with his dimple.

  “When you lie, your eyes don’t.” Since he touched her, she accepted his tacit permission to respond in kind. “Right now, you’re telling the truth.”

  “Couple of things then. Number one, if you use your cannon on me again in any situation other than a near-death scenario, I’m going to paddle your behind.”