The Guard

A wall of silver light came out from Herston's small body, spreading outward like a shield.

The rounds fire hit the barrier and fell harmlessly to the ground, flattened and smoking.

Leanora used her hand ordering the guards to stop. "Impossible. She's too young to manifest that kind of power."

But Herston's eyes was glowing with pure silver, no white visible. She wasn't convulsing anymore.

She sat perfectly still in her mother's arms, scales covering half her body, staring at the Dragon Council guards with an expression far too old for a four-year-old.

"Herston?" Jamie called shaking. "Baby, can you hear me?"

The little girl didn't respond. The silver light intensified.

"Everyone down!" Kade tackled Jamie and both children to the ground as the light exploded outward.

The force hit the guards and their bodies flew backward hitting the walls and equipment. Leanora managed to stay on her feet but barely, her silver blade raised in a defensive position.

When the light faded, Herston collapsed. The scales receded and her eyes returned to normal. She looked like a regular four-year-old again, except for the exhaustion on her small face.

"Mama, I'm tired."

"I know, baby. I know." Jamie held her close, but her eyes were on the guards struggling to their feet. "Kade, we need to go."

"No." Briton shifted back to human. "We end this now."

"Are you insane? There are dozens of them and three of us!"

"Two dozens of us," Kade corrected. He pulled out his phone and made a call. "It's done. Bring them in."

"Who are you calling?" Jamie demanded.

The loading dock doors open and Iron Wolves trope into the factory, at least twenty of them, all armed and ready for war. Behind them came more wolves, these ones wearing different pack colors.

"I called in reinforcements three hours ago." Kade smiled grimly. "The second I knew the Dragon Council was involved. Every pack in the territory owes me favors. I think it's time to collect."

Leanora's expression finally cracked. "You're starting a war over one bloodline?"

"I'm ending a war that's been going on for three generations." Kade stepped forward. "The Dragon Council has been hunting and killing innocents for centuries, all because you're afraid of losing power. That stops tonight."

"You don't have the authority…"

"Actually, he does." A new voice sounded behind.

An older woman stepped through the ranks of wolves. She was tall, silver-haired, with scales visible on her neck and arms. Her eyes were the same silver as Herston's had been moments ago.

Jamie was more than shocked. "This is impossible."

"Hello, granddaughter." The woman smiled. "It's been a long time."

"You're dead. I watched you die. I was at your funeral."

"You watched me fake my death to protect you. To give you a chance at a normal life without the Council hunting you every day." The woman walked forward, and the wolves parted for her with obvious respect. "But it seems you've had quite the eventful life anyway."

"Grandmother?" Jamie said sobbing.

"Meredith Hematite, The Dragon Queen in exile." The woman turned to Leanora. "And the Council's worst nightmare, apparently. Since I'm still alive and kicking."

Leanora's face went white. "The Queen is dead. We confirmed it ourselves."

"You confirmed what I wanted you to confirm. A body double, enough magic to fool your sensors, and twenty years of hiding." Meredith's smile darkly. "I've been waiting for the right moment to resurface."

She looked at her great-granddaughter. "And also, waiting for the next generation to manifest."

Herston stirred in Jamie's arms. "Mama, who's that lady?"

"That's your great-grandmother, baby."

"But you said she was dead."

"I was wrong." Jamie couldn't stop staring. "I was very very wrong."

Briton stepped closer to them. "So what now? The Dragon Queen is alive. The Council is exposed. Where does that leave us?"

"Us?" Jamie looked at him. "There is no us."

"Those are my children. You can hate me all you want, but they're still mine, and I'm not walking away from them."

"You already did. Five years ago."

Briton opened his mouth but no words came out.

"That's what I thought." Jamie turned away.

"Jamie, wait." Meredith stepped between them. "Before you make any decisions about this man, there's something you need to know."

"What?"

"The mate bond between you two. It wasn't natural." Meredith looked at Leanora. "The Council interfered, they knew you would find you true mate eventually, so they found him first."

"What are you saying?" Briton demanded.

"I'm saying someone manipulated your bond. Someone made you reject your mate." Meredith's expression was grim.

"The Dragon Council has been playing a very long game. They couldn't kill Jamie outright without starting a war with the werewolf packs. But if they could isolate her, break her and make her vulnerable, that will be much cleaner."

"You're lying," Briton said, but his voice lacked conviction.

"Am I? Tell me, how did you meet Leanora?"

"At a business merger. She was representing the other company."

"And when exactly did you start having doubts about Jamie? When did the mate bond start feeling wrong?"

Briton went very still. "Right after Leanora and I started working together."

"Because she was poisoning you slowly with a magic designed to corrupt mate bonds." Meredith looked at Leanora. "It's an old Council trick. It's very effective."

"You can't prove any of this," Leanora said.

"I don't need to prove it. I just need to reverse it." Meredith pulled out a small vial of silver liquid. "This is a pure and undiluted Dragon blood, one drop will burn away any foreign magic in your system."

She held it out to Briton. "The question is, do you want to know the truth? Do you want to know if your rejection of Jamie was your choice or theirs?"

Briton stared at the vial. Around them, wolves and Council guards watched in tense silence. Jamie held her children close, her expression unreadable.

"If I take this," Briton said slowly, "and the bond comes back full force…"

"Then you'll know you were manipulated," Meredith finished. "And you'll have to live with what you did to your mate under false pretenses."

"And if nothing happens?"

"Then the choice was yours alone." Meredith's eyes were hard. "Either way, you deserve to know the truth. They both do."

Briton took the vial, uncorked it. The silver liquid inside seemed to pulse with its own light.

Then without blinking he drank it in one swallow. For a moment, nothing happened.

Then Briton's body began convulsing as he dropped to his knees with his hands clutching his chest.

His wolf surged forward, fighting something invisible, and then the bond fixed back into place.

It was like five years of suppressed connection were flooding back all at once. The mate bond roared to life, stronger than it had ever been, and Briton could feel Jamie on the other end of it.

"Jamie." He started. "God, Jamie, I'm so sorry. I didn't know. I didn't…"

"Don't." Jamie shut him up. "I don't care if you were manipulated. You still said those words. You still chose her and threw me away like I was nothing."

"But the bond…."

"The bond doesn't change what you did." Jamie stood, still holding her children. "It doesn't erase five years of raising these kids alone. It doesn't erase the nights I cried myself to sleep. It doesn't erase anything."

"Then let me make it right."

"You can't." Jamie turned to her grandmother. "Get us out of here."

"Of course." Meredith raised her hand and silver light surrounded them.

"Wait!" Briton moved forward but the light was already fading with Jamie, the children, and Meredith. And they vanished leaving only empty space where they'd been standing.

Briton stood alone in the center of the factory, the mate bond screaming in his chest, reaching for someone who was no longer there.

Kade walked over and put a hand on his shoulder. "For what it's worth, that was the worst possible way that could have gone, because I could feel the bond too"

"Shut up."

"Just saying." Kade looked at Leanora, who was being restrained by the Iron Wolves. "On the bright side, we've got a Dragon Council operative in custody. That's got to count for something."

"She has two mates," Briton whispered. "Jamie has two mates."

"I already said that before”. Kade muttered with a chuckle.

"And she hates both of us. This should be interesting.”