Filed to story: Reclaimed Book by Roxie Ray
I pulled him into my arms again, overwhelmed with pride. “Good boy,” I said. “Smart as hell. You take after your mom.”
“Now what? What do we do?”
I stood up. Hawk and Striker were standing a few paces away, faces cold with anger that mirrored my own.
“We find Sean,” I said. “And we find Harley.” I squeezed Dylan’s shoulder, then pushed him toward Hawk. “Take him to your place. Feed him. Striker and I will go to the accident site.”
Hawk nodded. “Ace, do you think…?”
He couldn’t say it. I couldn’t say it, either.
How far would Sean go?
What would he do to Harley?
What would he do to hurt me?
I couldn’t wait any longer. I couldn’t continue hoping or praying that he’d come to his senses and become the brother I knew as a child.
This time, he’d gone too far.
This time, I’d have to kill him myself.
“I don’t know,” I answered. “But I’m going to fix this. No matter what it takes.” I met Dylan’s eyes. “We’re going to find your mom. Everything’s going to be okay.”
Dylan nodded. His eyes were flicked with gold, and he was exhausted, but he trusted me.
I walked toward the edge of the lake with Striker at my side. My dragon was ready to take over, to take to the skies, when my phone suddenly began to ring.
I ripped the device from my pocket. Harley’s name was on the lock screen. “Harley!” I said as I answered. “Harley, are you all right?”
“Hello, Ace,” Sean said coldly.
I tasted smoke. “Where’s Harley? Where is she?”
“I’m with her now,” Sean said. “She’s a little out of it. You’ll have to chat later.”
My stomach turned. “What the fuck did you do to her?!”
“I’m in charge here, Ace,” Sean said. “I’ll offer you a deal. Just this once.”
“What kind of fucking deal?
You think you can negotiate this? You think you’ll ever be a real alpha after stooping this low?”
“It’s a trade,” Sean said, as if I hadn’t spoken. Venom dripped from his voice. “Simple. I think you’ll be amenable to it. I’ll give you your woman back. Won’t touch a hair on her head.”
“For what?” I hissed. I gripped my phone so hard it nearly cracked.
“For Dylan.”
PART II
ACE
“What’s going to happen to Mom?” Dylan asked. He had his face buried in my chest, and his arms were wrapped around my waist, like he was afraid I’d leave him behind. “Where’d Uncle Sean take her? Why did he take her? Is she okay?”
I squeezed his shoulder. My dragon’s rage burned inside me. He was torn between the need to track down Harley, our fated mate, or staying exactly where he was and protecting our son Dylan from the world. I picked my son up and held him close. He threw his arms around my neck and started to cry so hard he was shaking. At nine years old, he was already an independent young dragon shifter, so the fact that he clung to me was a testament to the fear radiating off him.
I carried Dylan into the clubhouse. “Send the enforcers to the scene,” I barked at Hawk.
“Already on it, Ace,” he said. Tank and three other enforcers were pulling on their leather jackets as they headed toward the door. Hawk spoke into his phone, his eyes soft, then hung up. “Mia’s on her way.”
“Let me put you down,” I said to Dylan. When I tried to set him down, though, he only clung to me harder.
“I’ll go,” he said between sobs.
“Go where?” I asked.
“I know… I know I have to go with Uncle Sean.” Dylan’s voice was muffled in my shirt. “I heard on the phone, he said he’d… he’d trade, and I want Mom back, but I’m scared, Dad, I don’t want?-“
“Hey. Look at me.” I patted Dylan’s back, and he pulled away enough to look at me. His eyes were red, and his face blotchy. “You’re not going with Sean. Not now. Not ever. There’s no trade. I know it’s scary, but we’re getting your mom back, okay?”
My dragon was roaring at me to go find Harley, but Dylan needed me just as much right now.
“You’re very brave, though. You know that, right?”
Dylan nodded, though he looked a little unsure.
“The guys are on the way to the scene,” Hawk said. “What’s our next move?”
I knew what we had to do. We had to play this wisely. I couldn’t charge into Sean’s territory guns blazing-as much as I wanted to, that would end with Harley getting hurt. He wouldn’t hesitate to harm her as a way to hurt me. The mere thought of that happening made me exhale a thin stream of smoke.
We had to get rid of Sean. I couldn’t stand around and bide my time anymore. He was never going to change. He would only get worse. The fact that he was my brother had nothing to do with it anymore. He wasn’t family. He was a bomb waiting to go off.
And I wondered now if I had waited too long.
“Hawk!” Mia burst into the clubhouse, eyes wide and terrified, her blonde hair a frizzy halo around her head. “Is everyone okay? Where’s Dylan? Oh, thank God, there you are!”
Dylan wriggled a little, and I set him back down on his feet. “Auntie Mia!” He rushed over to Mia, and she scooped him into a crushing hug.
“Let’s fix you something to eat,” Mia said in a low, soothing voice. “Then we’ll go lay down for a little while. That sound okay?”
“Not hungry. I want Auntie Cassidy,” Dylan said through sniffles.
“We can call her,” Mia promised. “Let’s go to your room.”
I touched Mia’s shoulder as she passed. “Thank you.”
Mia nodded, her eyes warm and kind. “It’ll be okay. We’re gonna get Harley back.”
As she carried Dylan upstairs, Hawk grabbed two beers from the fridge-the regular kind, not the potent stuff from Night Shift Distillery that worked on shifters. It wouldn’t take the edge off, but at least it gave me something to do. There was nothing to do but wait for the guys to return from the scene of the accident.
Luckily, it didn’t take too long. Barely an hour had passed before Tank and his enforcers were back.
