"I don't even like doggy style."
"You would with me. My dick could change your life."
"And there it is." Emma shoved him hard in the chest as he cracked up.
Barking like a maniac, Gray Dog went blasting past them.
"Shit!" Dustin said, the humor fading from his face. "Gray Dog! Come back!"
They both bolted down the dirt road after the dog, but gads, he was fast. She fell behind quickly because, apparently, Dustin had rockets for shoes. And by the time she reached the clearing, and him, she was winded and her legs burned like she'd just finished a marathon instead of a thirty-yard sprint.
"Why'd you stop?" she wheezed out, hands over her head so she could catch her breath easier.
"Because of that," he said in a strange tone, pointing to a doublewide trailer sitting on a concrete slab. No, not at the trailer, but at a furious-looking Dark Kane who stood in front of it, petting Gray Dog, and glaring at Dustin with pure murder in his green dragon eyes.
Chapter Four
"Dustin, he's coming this way," Emma murmured. She scanned the clearing, but Rowan wasn't here to stop Dark Kane, and neither were Winter or Logan. Shit.
Dustin pushed Emma behind him as Kane strode toward them with unnatural grace. The air filled with a noise she'd only heard in a dinosaur movie. Dustin backed them slowly toward the road, blocking her view completely with his wide shoulders.
"I can explain."
"Dustin Porter, bottom of the Valdoro pack. Attempted murderer of Lexi of the Bloodrunners and assumed murderer of my dog. I've hunted you for months, and then low and behold, your dumb ass shows up on my doorstep asking to get in my crew."
What the fuck was going on? Emma clutched onto Dustin's shirt as he moved her backward.
"Do you know how fucking hard it was for me not to burn you to nothing when I first saw you? Do you?" Dark Kane bellowed.
A crack formed in the ground, splitting the earth between her feet.
"I didn't hunt Lexi. I ducked out before the hunt began against my brother's orders. I couldn't do it. My punishment for abandoning an order was to kill your dog. Axton thought you would catch me, kill me, or I don't know, but I couldn't kill Gray Dog, so I stole him instead. I didn't have a choice! It was get rid of him, or my alpha would take a pound of my flesh. Stop!" Dustin yelled, holding out one hand. With his other, he gripped Emma's hip so hard it hurt. "I brought him back because I want to be part of this crew."
"Change," Kane said in a low, dangerous voice.
"Wait, wait, wait," Emma murmured, sidling around Dustin.
He tried to stop her, but she shook him off and put both hands out to keep distance between the two men. God, she wished Rowan was here. And Winter, Logan, and Beast because she wasn't equipped for this. Dustin was saying something behind her that she couldn't make out since her hearing aids only projected the rumbling sound that emanated from Kane. His black hair was flipped over to the right, exposing long scars on the side of his head, and his green dragon eyes were completely empty.
"Please, Kane, just listen. Dustin's trying to get away from his pack. Look at his neck! Look at it! His own brother tried to kill him last night."
"Change," Kane demanded again, and even Emma-frail human Emma-could feel the power pulse within that order.
When an awful cracking sound echoed through the clearing, Dustin grunted in pain. The air was sparking with something she didn't understand. The hairs raised on the back of her neck as she turned slowly. A pitch black wolf stood there, legs splayed, white razor-sharp teeth bared, eyes blazing blue and green. He was so monstrously big he was almost eye-level with Emma.
"Oh, my God."
Something horrifying was happening to Kane. His skin was cracking like the ground he'd split open, and underneath there were matted, black scales. Black smoke seeped through the splits before they closed again and then opened wider.
"Rowan!" Emma screamed desperately as loud as she could, her voice echoing across the mountains. "Kane, Kane, listen to me."
The dark dragon didn't even see her anymore as she waved her arms in front of his face. He was smiling, and his teeth were elongating. When two ominous clicks sounded, the air smelled of smoke. Dustin was going to burn if she didn't do something.
"He's mine! Kane!" She turned and ran to the wolf, and threw her arms around his massive neck. "He's mine, and if you take him from me, I'll never forgive you. I'll never be okay. I'll hate you forever, and I will call on the Four Devils Coven to avenge him. I will bring every news station within five-hundred miles into your mountains, and you will never escape this decision you're making. Choose differently!" She dragged in a long, shaking breath. "Please," she begged.
Kane's glowing green eyes flicked to her and then back to Dustin.
"Kane?" Rowan called from down the road. She was running.
Hurry Rowan!
Under Emma's embrace, Dustin's thick neck rattled with a constant threatening growl. His fur was coarse and prickled her face, and she was scared to stand this close to his teeth, but what choice did she have?
All that stood between Dustin and oblivion … was her.
Kane backed up a step, eyes narrowed. "He's yours?" The dark dragon didn't sound convinced.
"Yes, yes, all mine."
"Lie. I can hear it. Why are you lying for him?"
"What's happening?" Rowan asked, huffing breath.
"Change back!" Kane yelled, his voice cracking through the air like the tail of a whip.
Dustin's response was immediate. Emma was shoved backward with the powerful force of Dustin's Change to his human skin. He fell to his knees, and propped himself on one locked arm as he grunted in pain. Every muscle in his body was rigid as if he'd been electrocuted.
"I don't understand," Rowan murmured, her blue eyes wide. "Why is he obeying you like that?"
Kane shook his head and paced away, spat onto the ground, and yelled, "Fuck! You want to know why? Because his goddamned animal already thinks I'm his alpha. I'm not, Dustin, you fucking shit. I'm not your alpha."
"It's not like I told him to obey," Dustin yelled. "You think that was enjoyable for me? Fuck, Kane, you forced a Change twice in one minute." Dustin jammed a finger at Kane who stalked toward Emma. "Get away from her."
"You don't get to tell me what to do!"
"Well, you're worked up, she's human, and you are too fucking close, Kane. Back. Up."
Rowan held her hands out like she was settling a startled stallion. "Kane, he's right."
"Whose side are you on, Roe?"
"The side that doesn't get you thrown into shifter prison. Is that Gray Dog? I thought he was dead."
"He was supposed to be," Emma rushed out. "Dustin was ordered to kill him, but he stole him instead. To save the dog! He's not bad."
Rowan gave them both a deep frown, shifting her gaze from Emma to Dustin and back again. "You said Dustin's yours?"
Emma nodded so she wouldn't get caught in a lie again.
"Bullshit," Kane muttered. "There's no way these two are a match."
"That's horribly judgmental," Dustin said, standing stiffly. "What? I can't get a hot babe like Emma?"
Kane flung a hand in the air. "No! Because you say shit like ‘hot babe,' you make four-hundred dick jokes a day, you're a psychotic werewolf, and Emma's too good for you by a lot."
Dustin's mouth flopped open. "Well … agreed, but maybe she feels like slumming it, okay?"
"Okay," Kane said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Then kiss."
"What?" Dustin said, slowly covering his very bare and swinging dick. "I'm naked. No."
"You wouldn't kiss your mate naked?" Rowan asked, sounding more and more confused.
"Whoa there, Cupid," Dustin said to Rowan. "Emma didn't say we were a mated pair. Just that … you know … we belong to each other."
"Also a lie," Kane said blandly.
"We're in the beginning stages," Emma blurted out.
"But he's yours," Kane said, his eyes tightening. "You just threw yourself in front of him to save his sorry hide from me, so convince me. Convince me he's won your devotion because, if so, I'll believe you that he's not all bad. Save his life, Emma. Kiss him."
Balls. She was really going to have to do this. Dustin was extremely naked and looked just as uncomfortable as she felt. This was where their lie was going to become really freaking obvious because she was a terrible actress.