Captured By The Dragon
Episode 83

The fire consumed the first line of defense. I banked left as the three behind me left forth fire and banked right. They fumbled trying to shoot us as they ran and screamed. The fools hadn’t been prepared for an attack. The Tiger King must have stroked their egos with his little speech and in secret for them to be so bold as to declare allegiance with him and not expect retaliation.

Bullets flew past, missing me. I dove and avoided their shots easily, ordering the rest of my unit to drop to the ground while I kept them distracted. They tore through the wolves like paper. The few who cowered in their homes, clutching their children to them were spared so long as they didn’t look like they planned to be a threat.

When I landed, they had the leaders dragged out among the raging fire. It was just the beginning. I landed and walked towards them, looking down as they had the nerve to glare up at me as if they didn’t understand.

“Traitor!”

“I’m the traitor?”

“You attacked the Tiger King with shifter weaponry after all your—”

“Let’s not pretend that you have the moral high ground.” I crouched, taking a deep breath. They reeked of human women and b***d. I could almost imagine the human women they had raped and abused while dreaming of returning to the old way of doing things.

“Where are they?”

“They?”

“The human women you’ve stashed somewhere in your settlement,” I said lightly.

Their eyes widened and I smirked, “Traitor? Do you remember what my rules are? No shifter weaponry and no trafficking. If you’d like me to make your death painless, I suggest you speak.”

“I don’t know what—”

I ripped his throat out. His friend froze in terror as he slumped in his bonds and b***d began to pool beneath his body.

“Would you like to answer the question?”

“T-The alpha’s house,” he said stiffly. “He brought in all th-these girls from the human side a few days ago, the same day we got the weaponry.”

“From where?”

“The snake shifters.”

I smirked, of course, those slimy, shifty little bastards were in on this. I should have stomped them into muck ages ago.

“Keep him alive and replace out what else he knows. Where’s the alpha?”

“in his house, we have it surrounded and all the escape routes are being watched from the skies.”

“Good.”

I walked towards the house, “Search the houses and drag out anyone who looks suspicious. If they smell like a human, question them.”

I marched towards the alpha’s house and kicked in the door. The man inside lunged at me and I slammed him to the ground easily. He was too young and too small to be the alpha. I moved on into the house, dealing with every man that jumped out of the shadows at me until I reached the alpha’s parlor. It reeked of human women. The man had the nerve to have a woman in his lap, trembling and fearful as he regarded me, aiming a handgun at me. It was an older model. He must have had it for a while.

“Dylan.” He greeted, stroking the woman’s hair, “Come any closer, and I’ll slit her throat… or shoot you.”

He laughed, but there was nothing funny about it. Werewolves weren’t as prideful as tigers, but they were just as annoying. They were arrogant under the right circumstances and prone to believe that their reflexes were faster than anyone else’s. All I had to do was wait for the moment he was distracted and scorch him.

I glanced at the woman and caught her eye. Her eyes widened, but as our gazes met, I hoped that she understood my intentions.

“It seems you understand I am here to kill you?” I smirked, “You’re not as dumb as I thought even if you were dumb enough to declare a formal alliance with the Tiger King.”

“Oh, I’m sure you would like to, but the age of your tyranny is at an end. We’ve played nice because of all that fire, but he’s got weapons that will put you down for good if I don’t put you down here.”

He laughed and squeezed her h*p, slipping his hand between her thighs. She twisted against him and flushed in shame, trying to hide her body.

“Don’t be shy lovely.” He purred, forcing her to turn and open her legs as he fingered her roughly. I blocked out the sound of his fingers sliding into her and her whimpering, focusing on him.

“You want to deny us all the pleasure of human women while you have one of your own,” he said. “Sounds like a tyrant to me.”

“Let’s not pretend you care about this woman’s feelings,” I said. “You’re nothing like me.”

“Oh? You don’t enjoy having your human woman under you, pounding into her weak and supple flesh?”

“My wife is with me by choice.”

He laughed, throwing his head back, his hand went lax and I saw the moment the girl had made a decision. She twisted sharply, tumbling herself out of his arms. I shot a torrent of fire at his armed hand and lunged across the space before she hit the ground, wrapping my hand around his throat.

“F*****g—” I tightened my grip on his throat, silencing him.

“Take that blanket over there and wait outside the room. Don’t go far.”

She crawled towards the couch and obeyed, wrapping herself in the blanket as tears streamed down her face and left the room.

He growled at me, “You—”

“The arrogance of a wolf,” I said lightly and contemplated my hand, shifting it so my claws appeared.

“Now, why don’t you start with how long you and the snakes have been in cahoots?”

His eyes widened and I saw the fear blossoming in his eyes as he realized I had no plans of allowing him to live.

It was hours before I left the werewolf territory and headed back to my house. The alpha had been difficult to crack, but pain tended to loosen the lips of even the most stubborn men. The women were held in the basement of his house. I had them all brought up from the basement, wrapped in blankets, and sent back to my settlement for medical care and to get them some real clothing.

If there was a chance to send them home, I would take it, but I doubted there would be. We returned back to my house around dinner time. I raided the fridge for food and went looking for Ethan.

“Ethan?” I called, walking upstairs, searching for him. I followed his scent to my room and found him curled up in Patara’s arms, clinging to her.

She was awake and smiling, stroking his hair. She looked up as I entered and her eyes widened. I crossed the room in a few quick strides and took her hand.

“Patara,” I cupped her face, “How are your feeling? Do you need more medication?”

She shook her head, her eyes glossing over as she sniffled, “I thought… I thought Ethan was…”

I drew her into my arms as she cried, trembling against me. I hushed her, pressing a k**s to her head.

“I’m sorry, Patara. It’s all my fault that she had a chance to take you. She’s dead now.”

“H-Her father?”

“He’ll be dead soon.”

She shuddered, “M-Malcolm was there.”

“What do you mean?”

“He was delivering weapons to them.”