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Screams echoed through the air. Ari dropped the branches he was carrying and took off at a run. It could only be Hope. The trees were too close together for him to change and fly. Crag matched him, both running flat out towards the screams coming from their camp. Tearing through the meadow, Ari launched himself at the creature holding Hope down. Crag slammed into the other one, rolling out of Hope’s view.
Hope’s screams tapered off into whimpers when Ari knocked the beast off of her. Ari wrestled with the creature, both of them rolling on the ground. She backed into the boulder, arms wrapping around her knees. Hope screamed again when suddenly Ari wasn’t wresting the creature but another man.
Ari pushed him away, slamming him into a rock.
“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” Ari was so pissed he could kill him and it showed. Hark scrambled back out of his reach.
“Jesus. What is your problem? I was just playing.” Hark whined.
Ari growled at him and moved over to Hope, gathering her in his arms. Her body trembling in shock. Hope was still making noises no one should make. It was obvious she was terrified. Her arms came around his neck in a death grip. If he hadn’t been a dragon, Hope would have strangled him in her fright. Ari held Hope tightly to him, running his hands up and down her back to try to settle her.
“Shh. Hope, I’ve got you. It’s okay.” Ari glared at his brother, causing Hark to scramble away. “It’s okay. It’s okay.” Ari sat on the lip of the rock, pulling Hope onto his lap. She had her head buried in his neck, and she was crying. Her trembling subsided but she continued to grasp him tightly. He turned to face his brothers.
Crag was sitting on Rog and Hark was scrambling to put on pants in deference to the heated orders coming from Crag. Ari looked down at Hope. He had a feeling she wouldn’t be letting go for a long while. Ari shifted, moving so that he sat on top of the rock and could stretch his legs out. He could hold Hope for hours in this position. Ignoring his brothers, glaring at them when he heard one shift until they froze, he murmured to Hope, trying to calm her down. Hope’s arms loosened, but she still clung to him. Ari held her to him, knowing she was going to be okay. Ari turned his attention to his brothers.
“What the hell did you think you were doing?” He didn’t have the patience for his brothers’ stupidity when they had scared the life out of Hope, and him, when he heard her screams.
“We just came to check out what you were doing.” Hark whined. “Why did she scream?”
“Do you think it was because you scared her? Huh?” Ari growled at him. “What the hell were you pinning her down for?”
“She kicked me in the snout. It hurt.”
“You probably deserved it.” Ari bent over Hope, nuzzling her hair while glaring at Hark. “Why did she kick you?”
Hark looked down and Ari heard Rog snicker.
Crag pinched him.
Rog yelped.
“What did you do?” Ari’s voice was harsh, but Hope still was trembling. Her crying had slowed down, but the terror he had seen in her eyes still had him in a rage.
“I was sniffing her.” Hark evidently didn’t know how pissed Ari still was because he laughed and leaned over to grab a rabbit Crag had discarded. “She smells like you. You two must have been fucking like rabbits...” At Ari’s growl, Hark shut up. He looked at Ari and scrambled further away, paling.
“I think you just need to shut up now.” Ari growled. He knew his eyes were glowing in rage. Ari wanted nothing more than to tear Hark limb from limb. However, he was his brother and their dam would never forgive him. His sire would understand, Hark being the instigator whenever trouble was around. But his dam, nope, she wouldn’t.
Ari knew Hark probably hadn’t meant any harm. He was just an idiot. The whole family could attest to it. It was a wonder none of them had killed him before now. His family obviously had a lot of patience, but Ari’s had just run out.
Ignoring his brothers, Ari concentrated on soothing Hope. Finally, her trembling ceased and her crying changed to sniffles. Her arms still wound around his neck, but no longer in a strangle hold. He nuzzled the top of her head. Ari continued to sooth her, murmuring nonsense into her hair. Ari rocked her until even her sniffling stopped.
Hope lay in his arms, a warm bundle he didn’t want to release. She lifted her head and looked at him.
“Ari,” her voice was hesitant. “What are they?”
“My brothers.” Ari’s voice was harsh, still angry at her upset. Hope’s eyes got wide and she stilled.
“Your brothers.” Hope held her breath then gave out a sharp laugh. “Your brothers.” She sat perfectly still in his arms, too still.
Ari pulled her against his warmth when her trembles began again.
“Your brothers!” Hope sounded nearly hysterical.
Ari held her tightly.
“Yes.”
“But, but, they’re beasts. How can they be your brothers?”
Ari glared at Hark again.
“Obviously a bad mistake by my parents.”
A sharp, hysterical giggle burst from Hope, and she grabbed onto Ari again.
He kept his arms tight around her.
Hope shivered against him. “Ari. They’re beasts. They’re just like the ones that grabbed me.” Hope’s voice trailed off.
Ari sat still, waiting for Hope to finish her thought, even his brothers waited silently.
Hope pushed back away from Ari’s chest. “Just like the ones that grabbed me.”
Hope glared at Ari.
Ari gave her a tentative smile, then blinked. Hope had just growled at him. Ari heard Hark and Rog snicker, and sent them a look that shut them up. He heard them yelp when Crag smacked them both.
Hope looked over at Ari’s brothers and glared at them, too, then turned back to Ari.
“What are you?” She demanded.
Ari huffed out a breath. From the look on her face, she wasn’t going to make this easy. “I’m a shifter. A dragon shifter.”
Hope snorted. “Why did you grab me?”
“To save you from the cat.” Ari tried to look angelic. It didn’t appear to work so he added. “It wasn’t hunting you.”
“Then why didn’t you just grab the other cat?” Hope glared at him, not believing him.
Ari debated answering. He rumbled, his chest vibrating. “I wouldn’t have reached him in time?” It came out more like a question and from Hope’s frown, that’s how she took it.
“Try again, this time with the truth.”
Ari looked at her and just knew that scowl would keep their hatchlings in line when they misbehaved. He scowled back but Hope didn’t back down.
“Because you’re my mate.” There he said it, now to see how she reacted.
Hope was still glaring at him, not softening at all. “How did you know that? You’d never seen me before in your life.” Hope scowled again and Ari’s heart melted. That Hope was aggravated and disbelieved him was okay, since she was still locked in his arms and not struggling to get away.
“I knew you were in pain. It’s what sent me and Crag out here. I was desperate to find you. I had no choice.” Ari stared into Hope’s eyes, begging her to believe him.
“Hmm.” Hope narrowed her eyes at him.
Ari could practically feel the wheels in her head turn as he watched her.
She sat there, in his lap, thinking.
He would wait patiently for her decision.
“You were the one who stole me.”
Ari nodded then shook his head. “No. I didn’t steal you. I saved you.”
Hope glared at him. “You know how to get back to where you found me?”
Ari slowly nodded his head. “I know how to get back home from there.” Ari froze and tightened his arms around her. “But you’re my mate.”
“I’m human.”
“I’m not letting you go.” Ari’s voice was fierce. He ignored his brothers’ eyes on them.
Hope shoved at him, trying to loosen his arms.
Ari didn’t budge. Hope’s face was buried in his chest and he let her anger rise. It was a flush of heat over his senses.
Hope turned her head and bit him.
In shock, Ari loosened his arms.
“Do not ever do that to me again.” Hopes voice was furious, her diction exact.
“I’m not letting you go.” Ari would keep her locked in his cave before that happened.
“Listen to me, you beast, and listen well.” Hope was nose to nose with Ari. “I didn’t say you had to let me go. I said I have to get back home. I’ve told you my family would be worried about me and would go looking for me.” Hope’s anger had her grinding her teeth. “I asked you to take me home before. I still need to go home. I have to let my family know I’m okay.”
Ari huffed out a puff of air. Hope had taken the wind out of his sails, and gave him a glimpse of a breeze. He grinned and Hope growled again.
“Well, Ari, look on the bright side. You won’t have to figure out how to tell Hope you’re a shifter.” Crag laughed.
Hope shared her glare with him, causing Crag to sit back and mumble to Hark and Rog.
Ari laughed, earning a glare back.
“Will you stay with me?” Ari asked her.
“I’m human.” Hope raised a brow and a hand to stop Ari from speaking. “Again, I’m human. I don’t know about this mate stuff.” Hope went nose to nose with him again. “Humans get married. We don’t mate.”
Ari grinned and kissed her. He loved the taste of her mouth, the softness of her skin beneath his hands. Breaking the kiss, Ari grabbed Hope around the waist and shifted her so that she was straddling him, legs swinging off the edge of the rock they were sitting on.
“Oh crap. Hark, Rog, let’s go hunting. Those two won’t be up for air for a while.” Crag sounded exasperated.
Ari looked over Hope’s shoulder and watched his brothers change and take to the air.
“They’re gone.” Ari stripped Hope’s shirt off, flinging it away. He grabbed her panties and pulled, tearing them off. Ari could smell her arousal, feet her wetness against him. Ari lifted her hips and slid into Hope’s warmth. Both of them groaned. “At least if we fuck like bunnies, we’ll die happy.”
“We still have to,” Hope groaned when Ari slid deeper into her, “talk.”
“Later. We’ll talk later.”