Into The Dragon's World - Brittany White Page 0,51

alive. He closed his eyes for a moment. She was alive.

He bent forward, pressing his forehead against hers, almost sobbing with relief. He breathed her in deeply, taking in her scent of roses and musk and sweat and…

Brady leaned back slightly. He took another long, deep breath.

She was pregnant. How had he not known earlier?

Before Brady’s mind could fully grasp the reality of his child, Zack’s wolf yelped in pain and was silent. The quiet pressed in on Brady. He was torn—now, more than ever, he needed to protect Casey.

But Zack…

Brady forced himself to move away from Casey and took a few steps back towards the cave entrance just as Wallace appeared. He had gone back to human form and was torn and bloody. His eyes were crazed. He smiled, baring bloody teeth, and stepped through the entrance.

In a heartbeat, he shifted to bear again, monstrous with his blood-matted fur and gnashing fangs, his head raised to the sky in a roar. He lowered his head and huffed through his nose like a bull preparing to charge, bottomless black eyes fixated on one thing: Casey.

In a heartbeat, Brady’s human form shifted into a dragon and he unfurled his wings with a powerful snap. He raised himself to his full height and roared back, pure rage echoing through the quiet of the park. He wanted to hurt Wallace. Make him scream. Make him burn.

Brady spit a jet of white flame over Wallace, a five-second burst that engulfed the bear. Wallace seemed to shrug it off, coming out of the fire with patches of smoldering fur but unhurt. He ignored the fire as he stalked towards Brady, his muzzle dripping with foam and saliva, his teeth bared.

He leaped forward, catching Brady across the stomach with a powerful swipe of his claws. The scales protecting Brady’s chest and belly were thick, but the blow brought blood. Brady roared in pain and rage and whipped his tail around, catching the bear off guard and knocking him sprawling into the shallow water of the inlet. Another burst of flame and the water turned to steam.

Everything stopped for a moment.

Brady could hear the soft sounds of the woods—crickets, frogs, a few singing night birds. He could hear Casey’s faint exhalations as she breathed. He could hear a plane passing by high overhead and the hum of electricity zipping through the lines.

But he couldn’t hear Wallace moving. Or breathing.

Brady waited for the steam to dissipate, every muscle in his dragon body tensed and ready to spring. He put himself between Wallace and Casey, wings spread wide, tail slowly undulating. He turned his head slightly, catching a glimpse of movement on the shore.

The bear suddenly charged out of the steam and rammed head-first into the dragon’s belly. Brady, knocked off balance, slammed backward into the water. Before he could raise himself, Wallace was on top of him, driving one massive paw against his head, then another. Brady thrashed beneath him, trying to throw off his weight, but Wallace dug his claws into Brady’s chest, shredding his scales and digging deeper into his flesh.

Brady fought to raise his head to send another torrent of fire at Wallace, but the bear kept one paw gripped around Brady’s lower jaw, forcing his mouth away. Brady bucked and grappled with him as Wallace snapped his powerful jaws at his throat. With the entire weight of the bear atop him, he couldn’t regain his footing.

An explosion of pain shot through Brady as Wallace swiped at his chest, carving four long divots from shoulder to hip. He roared and struggled, but Wallace held him down easily, forcing his head back further and further, exposing his throat.

Wallace bellowed in triumph and went for the kill.

29

Casey

Casey fought her way up from the drowning darkness, clawing towards the light.

Her eyes fluttered, opened, shut again as pain shot through her entire body. Her senses came back to her slowly. She could hear the splash of water and roars of rage. Smell the sharp tang of fresh blood and burned flesh. She was outside now somehow.

The last thing she remembered was Wallace’s claw swinging towards her head. She had thought she was going to die. In that moment, she saw the flash of an image: Brady, holding their child and smiling at her. And then everything was gone.

The sounds of fighting grew fiercer and Casey rose up on one elbow, fighting the urge to vomit. Her head swam. She took a deep breath and forced herself to sit up.

And