Gold(51)

“You dared to threaten my mate,” Dante said, setting her gently down behind him and then stepping forward to protect her. He put a hand out to the side, and with a flash, a long, golden object appeared in his hand, nearly blinding in the bright sun.

She looked closer and saw it was a rapier, a thin, skinny sword like they used in fencing.

The hilt was ornate, the tip extremely sharp, and the whole thing looked to be made of gold. Dante strode up to the frozen Cliff and pointed the tip of his blade into the other man’s neck.

Ella caught her breath, and she wasn’t the only one, as the entire congregation went silent around them.

What was Dante going to do?



Dante stared at the man who’d tried to take his mate from him, daring him to say something stupid.

He’d love nothing more than to ram his sword through this insolent cat’s neck.

He’d been here since the morning, hovering in the sky over the service, waiting for this piece of shit to show up and make his move.

To his delight, he’d realized that without his ring restraining him, he could hear thoughts from a long distance again. No longer only close range.

He’d been gone all night, flying home and then driving to see Aegis to harass him into taking off his ring. He needed to shift to be able to protect his mate, and he needed Aegis to trust him.

He’d promised the emerald dragon a lifetime of service if that’s what it took to get the ring off, but after hearing the situation, Aegis said he would do it just to get the annoying golden dragon off his porch.

After all, all Aegis and the oracle had wanted was for Dante and the others to care about something greater than themselves. And Dante did.

His strength, his wealth, none of it mattered except for how he could use it to help her.

So he’d flown back here in dragon form the minute Aegis had removed his ring and unleashed his powers.

He’d never been so grateful for wings.

When he’d heard Ella’s terrified thoughts last night, realized she was trying to protect him from a very real threat from other shifters, he knew there was only one solution.

And this solved two problems. He could kill the insolent beast who took his mate while also showing her who he really was.

Because he didn’t care anymore.

He didn’t care how many memories he had to erase (because that was one of his abilities) or how many mountain lions he had to fight or how his mate would feel about his dragon at first.

He had to protect her. She was worth more than his life.

“Let me go,” Cliff said, staring down at Dante’s sword defiantly.

“No,” Dante said. “I don’t think so.” He looked over at Cliff’s men. “Should I release them? They’re going to suffocate.”

“Let them go,” Ella cried out, coming forward to grab Dante’s shoulder.

“It was a joke,” he muttered. Then he raised his hand that wasn’t holding his rapier and the dust fell away from the men and they dropped to the ground, gasping.

“Phew,” Ella said, still holding on to him. He pulled her into his side and looked down at her.

“Nice dress,” he said.

She gave him an embarrassed smile. “I’m just glad you came back for me.”

“Hold on to me,” he said, walking forward to put a hand on Cliff’s shoulder. “In a minute, I’m going to erase everyone’s memory who isn’t touching me. People will be distracted for about twenty seconds, and I’m going to get this guy out of here. No one will really know what went on, so make something up.” He glanced at Cliff’s lackeys. “Blame them maybe.”

“Okay,” she said. “What about you?”

“Meet me in those big woods over there,” he said, pointing.

She nodded nervously as she held on to him.

“Okay,” he said. “One, two… three.”





Sixteen





She closed her eyes as she felt a blinding flash of energy emanate from him. The only thing grounding her was her skin touching his; otherwise, she felt lost in a whirlwind, almost as if her own thoughts were being pulled from her.

But as she held on tight to him, she calmed, kept a hold on her mind.

“I’ll be back,” he whispered. And then he was gone, lifting Cliff in his arms and flying up and away from the crowd in the direction of the trees he had pointed to. They were large, mature pines and would hide him and Cliff well.

She heard moans and muttering as everyone looked around them. Melanie was one of the first to recover. She stumbled toward the broken platform, the ruined flower arch, and Ella felt genuinely bad for her.

“My wedding!” she screeched. “What just happened?”

“Them,” Ella said, thinking quickly and pointing to Cliff’s friends, who were pulling themselves off the ground, covered in dust and debris from Dante’s landing. “They stormed the stage… I don’t know what came over them. They obliterated everything.”