I'm so sorry I left this for so long. But I plan on finishing this piece. I'm glad so many like it, because I'm not sure if I do, but none the less.

Thank you for the review Sapphire12985! I'm so glad you like it!


Chapter 28

Tyler was a ball of rage, and I could tell the emotion attracted attention. Looking sharply over toward the wolf, I glared at him as he shot his turn. Seeing my gaze, he took a big breath and calmed himself down. We didn't need to draw attention yet.

"I'm going to go get another round," I offered, and walked toward the bar.

Moving through the crowded space, I felt Paul's eyes on me the whole time. I walked up next to the two people we were walking. Thankfully, it was the only open spot available. I got the attention of the bartender, and ordered my drinks. The man with Nora was engaged with the person next to him, so I glanced toward her.

"Should we be worried?" I asked, whispering.

"Yes," she replied. "Not a mated dragon. Older than I am."

She was taking care, making sure not to talk over him, so that he didn't hear us. I looked at the body language for a moment and knew we were dealing with a fighter. I had never, ever come into contact with a dragon, so I didn't know what to do.

"Forced?"

"Will be." She glanced at her drink.

"Can it be stopped?"

"By someone else."

I nodded to her, as the bartender gave me my drinks. I grabbed the three bottles of beer and walked off, going back to the men. They were playing pool still, and Paul won the round, making Tyler grunt.

"She's not mated," I said softly, as Tyler walked over. "He plans on forcing that, apparently. It can be stopped by someone else. You two were courting weren't you?"

"Yes," he muttered.

"How does that work?" I asked, tilting my head. "Paul and I...must have done everything backwards."

"Well, mates mark each other," Tyler rumbled, as Paul snorted in laughter at my comment. "And then, from there...well."

I laughed at that. "Easy!"

It was a joke, but I had a feeling if Tyler could mark her, it would offer some protection. Humming a little, I glanced back toward them. There was only going to be one shot at that. We had to do it quickly, and I wasn't even sure it could be done.

"Fucking hell, Tyler," I muttered. "This all seems just a little barbaric to me."

"Doesn't it?" he mused, glancing down at me.

Taking a drink of what I had, it took all of my control not to chug the whole bottle. Pausing, it gave me an idea and for a moment I felt like a pup all over again. Seeing the focused look on the bottle, Paul arched his brow.

"I don't like that look," he muttered.

"It's such a damn shame we can't get wasted," I sighed.

"That might have actually worked," Tyler sighed, his eyes still on Nora.

"Well, I guess a good old fashioned bar scene will have to do," I grunted, taking the last of my beer.

"What do you mean?" Paul asked, and then grunted. "Oh no..."

"Kayla," Tyler hissed, reaching out to stop me.

"Let's just get this part over with. Either way, it'll be a fight," I replied flatly.

This was probably the dumbest thing I had ever done in my life. Gathering my courage, I walked toward the bar again, and shoved my way between Nora and the man who had brought her in. Except for he wasn't a man at all, but the disturbance still surprised him. Setting my bottle on the bar, I gestured for another, shoving Nora sideways, away from me. She took the gesture, and disappeared into the crowd.

"Excuse me."

His voice was deep, like Tyler's got when he was real angry. I felt the hair on the back of my neck stand up, but I forced myself to look at him. Grabbing my beer, I eyed him for a long moment.

"Well aren't you handsome," I said point blank. "Here I was thinking you'd be ugly."

"I'm sorry and you are?" he asked, his silver eyes meeting my own.

It made me shudder, and my stomach tightened the moment he noticed that Nora was missing. A reptilian growl left his throat, and he eyed me once more. I blinked at him, and then glanced behind me.

"Oh...I'm...was she with you?" I asked, sounding dumb. "Well..."

I trailed off the moment his hand fell on my shoulder. His touch sent a shiver through my whole body, and I cringed a little when he tightened his hold. It didn't last long, because someone reached out and grabbed his wrist. They squeezed it so hard that it broke instantly, making the beast before me wince.

"Hands off what isn't yours, snake."

Paul's voice was so low, that I almost missed it, but the man in front of us heard him clearly. I saw his eyes flash, but something had him backing off. Tilting his head, he removed his hand from my shoulder and leaned against the bar.

"You think you're clever?" he asked. "She's only going to get so far before I take her again. I have to say, it is so kind that you're trying to help her. Very touching."

"We didn't have to do much," I replied, giving him a smile.

"We simply had to distract you long enough for something else to happen," Paul added, standing at my back.

I saw anger flash through his expression, and it soon turned to rage. Grabbing my waist, Paul quickly moved us both and we left the bar as fast as we could. The moment we were out in the alley, the dragon was before us. His silver eyes landed on me, and he snarled loudly.

"You tell me where she is, and I'll think about sparing the both of you," he snarled, and Paul tensed.

"I don't know where she is," I said defensively.

"Wrong answer," he hissed, and charged.

I barely saw it coming. I heard Paul's snarl of rage and pain, before his body connected with the alley wall. Blood oozed from the wound on his head, and I ran for him as he slowly pushed himself up. We had known that this was going to be dangerous. I repeated that over in my head as I rushed for him.

"Behind you!" Paul roared hoarsely, shoving himself up.

He lunged forward, catching me around the middle and jumping. I heard him grunt in pain, and his blood flew in the air. He landed safely before falling to his knee. I shoved myself to see the wound on his leg.

"I'm fine," he managed.

My eyes glowed angrily at the wound, and I found myself phasing before I could stop it. Swinging around as the air around me moved, I snapped my jaws down and tasted blood. The dragon roared, and I yanked him back away from Paul. It saved him precious time, giving him the chance to heal whatever had been broken. I felt claws dig into my neck, making me whine and let go of my prey. I'd had him! Snarling, I felt myself get lifted from the ground, and slammed into concrete.

"Kayla!" Paul cried.

"Enough!"

The voice wasn't his, but Nora's. Her power washed into the alley and it wasn't alone. I yelped when the dragon threw me, and I crashed head over paws onto the ground. Staggering to my feet, I braced myself for what was going to happen next.

"Maverick, enough," Nora growled, placing herself in front of Paul.

Tyler appeared in front of me, steadying my body as it swayed slightly. That had hurt. Blinking, I watched Maverick snarl in rage at the scents that hit his nose. Shifting slightly, Tyler put a bag over my neck that held clothes. I was able to phase back to human behind a dumpster and put them on.

"You….you mated that filth!" Maverick snarled.

"It's over," Nora said lowly. "If you come after me, you come after the whole community of wolves. And I don't think you want them hunting you."

"H…."

"It was easy really," Paul smirked, pushing himself to his feet. "All we had to do was buy them enough time to make the marks."

"Clever little dog," Maverick spat, glaring at him.

"It worked didn't it?" Paul arched his brow.

"Now I advise you to get out of here," Tyler said loudly, drawing Maverick's attention. "If you aren't gone in an hour...we'll hunt you down."

I watched Maverick's face go through several emotions, and then suddenly, he was gone just as quick as he had come. I had a feeling that wasn't the last we'd be seeing of him. I hoped I was wrong. We stood there for a few minutes, and Nora's shoulders relaxed.

"Well, it wasn't the best plan, but it worked," she sighed. "I am in your debt."

"No, you're not," I shook my head. "We're just happy this worked."

"I'm glad it wasn't worse," Paul muttered.

Tyler smiled down at me, before walking over to Nora and wrapping his arm around her shoulders. Paul came over to me, and I was glad to see he wasn't limping.

"Let's go home," Tyler sighed. "I'm starving."

We were cautious all the way back to his house, but no one had followed us. None that we knew of anyway. Nora said she was good at sensing her own kind, and that we were safe. Paul and I let them go in first, greeting the pack together. This was their home, not ours.

Sitting down on the steps, Paul sighed and I joined him. He glanced at me, and I reached forward and laced our fingers together. Pressing my head into his shoulder, I let out a heavy breath, and he did the same.

"I think we're done here," he murmured.

"I think so too," I smiled, staying where I was. "Thank you, for supporting this. You didn't have to."

"Well, as insufferable as he was, I wasn't about to let his chance at happiness fade," Paul hummed. "I'm a dick, but I'm not that big of one."

"You're so charming," I teased, making him chuckle.

"And anyway," he mused, tilting my head up. "I got you, so it doesn't really matter now, does it?"

"No, I guess not," I replied, giving him a smile.

Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to my lips. It was soft, and full of so much love, that it almost overwhelmed me. He pulled back just as the door opened, so we glanced to see Sarah smiling at us.

"Come on love birds, we have a feast ready," she teased, and I chuckled.

We joined them inside, and everything fell into place. The house was much lighter now that Nora had been found. Everyone was smiling, and the pack seemed back to normal. I didn't get my hopes up, because this was just the aftermath of what had happened. From what it looked like, everyone knew Nora before this. She flowed easily with the others, and it warmed my heart.

"Thank you."

Startled, I looked up to see her looking over at Paul and I. Nora smiled, gesturing to us and Paul wrapped his arm around my waist. She approached the both of us quietly.

"It was nothing," I shrugged, and Paul smirked a little.

"Truly, thank you. I know what you two did tonight was risky," she murmured. "It could have cost you your lives."

"Yeah, well it didn't," Paul replied. "Let's just leave it at that for now."

"Well, should you ever need anything...I will help," Nora said firmly. "Whatever it is."

"Thank you," I said softly.

She smiled at me, before moving away to go see everyone else. I watched her for a moment, and watched as she made her way to Tyler. Seeing the look he gave her as she approached had my heart clenching. It was so intimate that I turned and pressed my nose into Paul's chest.

"Thank you guys," Tyler said loudly. "Thank you for traveling across the country to help this old wolf."

"Yeah well..." Paul shrugged, and lifted his beer. "Cheers, mate."

"Cheers," Tyler smiled.