Hidden Fate

5

Yes, it had gotten me into this situation with Drake, but it had also led me to Thorn. I remember seeing your eyes in the car from underneath the bill of your hat. I felt the pull, too.

That was what we were—destined to be together. Fated mates.

All too soon, our flight came to an end. After looking around to make sure no one had followed us, we began our descent. The others dropped into the trees and started to shift back into human form, but before Thorn and I landed, I noticed something scrambling underneath us—something larger than the usual small forest animals. Do you see that?

Yeah, Thorn replied, and hot anger flared between us.

He swooped down, and I followed on his tail. A section of branches thinned, giving me a glimpse of what—no, who it was.

My stepfather. Peter.

And he was running for his life.

The moment he heard our wings, Peter’s chestnut eyes narrowed as he scanned the area for something…most likely a place to hide.

His eyes widened, and he scurried toward some low brush between two sizable oaks and crawled under the branches. He clearly didn’t think we could see him. His gray stood out starkly among the browns and greens shrouding his body.

Maybe this was comical, but not now. Not when there was so much at stake and with a man who thought only of himself, even over his own children.

Thorn didn’t waste time. He landed and stuck his forelegs into the bush, then yanked my stepdad from his spot. Peter’s face blanched as Thorn lifted him. In Thorn’s talons, he looked tiny, despite standing at five-ten.

All dragons were gigantic, around four times the size of their human form, and Thorn was already huge for a human, coming in at seven and a half feet tall. Smoke flowed out of his nose as his chest heaved. The anger emanating from my mate was stronger than ever before. He needed time to decompress and mourn, but we didn’t have that luxury.

“I…I’m sorry.” Peter’s bottom lip quivered. “I…I didn’t—”

Part of me wanted to stand back and let Thorn do whatever he wanted, but if today had reminded me of anything, it was that I needed to protect my siblings. He was their father, and if something happened to him, they would be parentless…like me. Babe, I know he’s an asshole, but we have to remember Elliott and Eva. It would hurt them to lose him, even if he is a bad father.

None of the anger ebbed, but Thorn replied, I know. You don’t want me to kill him. That’s the only reason he’s still breathing, but we can’t trust the twins to watch him again. And if he doesn’t stop putting you in danger, I don’t know how long I can hold back. He turned to me, his eyes full of concern.

The world tilted.

My siblings.

Peter must have done something to them to escape, and dammit, I couldn’t ask him in this form. I had to get to them.

Thorn and I took off, flying over the treetops. The barn was in view, so we were isolated from any humans. We’d kept an eye out for hikers and campers before landing. None were around, which wasn’t surprising. Theron’s land was private property.

As we drew closer to the barn, Elliott and Eva ran out of the house with stony expressions.

They had to be looking for Peter.

The moment they noticed Thorn and me, shock registered on Elliott’s face. His steel blue eyes widened as we landed in front of them. Thorn released Peter, who fell with a loud thud.

Peter winced and groaned as he reached behind to rub his tailbone.

“What the hell?” Elliott asked as he stalked to his father. “You ran away without bothering to tell your kids?”

Hissing, Peter jerked his head up. “Yes, I did. Because my kids are fine hanging around with fire-breathing dragons who knock out their only living parent!”

Elliott shrugged. “Can you blame us? If Thorn had tied you to that chair and knocked you out, you wouldn’t have gotten away. If you’re going to get mad at anyone, get mad at yourself. It’s not our fault you’re more pleasant when you’re unconscious.”

Your brother is strange, but he’s growing on me, Thorn connected as he moved to stand beside me.

Brushing a loose strand of her dark brown hair from her face, Eva huffed. “El, I’m not sure you’re helping.”

Seeing them standing side by side in the sunlight reminded me of how similar they looked. The same shade of eyes and hair, the same nose and mouth, and the same fair skin tone. The only differences were that Elliott was taller and his hair was cut much shorter but long enough for his bangs to hang permanently in his eyes.

“Me?” Elliott puffed his chest. “I’m not the i***t who ran away, thinking I could get past badass dragons.” His attention flicked to Thorn, and he rubbed his hands together. “Though that’s about to change, since I’m ready to be one myself.”

I sighed, and the sound was more dramatic in dragon form. We’d promised that Thorn would change him when we got back. We had a lot more problems now than when we’d left, so I’d completely forgotten.

Is he expecting me to do it now? Thorn connected, humor and annoyance washing away some of his anger. While in dragon form and with Peter sitting right in front of me after he tried to escape?

Yes. My brother had a one-track mind that I firmly blamed on video games. He couldn’t focus on anything other than what he wanted most in the moment, and right now, that was to become one of us. His need for instant gratification was why I’d forced him to take a few days to think about it.

The sounds of human footsteps caught my attention, and I glanced over my shoulder to find Saphira, Cassidy, Vlad, and Errol approaching. The others must still be shifting, but these four would want to know what was going on.

Vlad took in Peter as he slowly climbed to his feet, and then he looked at Thorn and me. “What happened?”

“Dear old Dad tried to run away.” Elliott rolled his eyes. “I should’ve known he didn’t actually want to watch Eva and me play video games. He’s never wanted to before.”

“You get engrossed in them.” Peter scowled. “Both of you.”

At least he hadn’t done something horrible to them, such as knock them out, like I’d feared.

“You two go ahead and shift.” Cassidy gestured toward the tree line where we’d shifted earlier. Our clothes would still be there. “We’ll keep an eye on him.”

Errol headed to the front door and glanced back.