Filed To Story: A Claim of Fortune Book PDF Free by Jaymin Eve
Talon roared, and I felt hope that I’d found the key to ensuring his loyalty.
Well, let’s ensure that doesn’t happen again, he said.
This time, when his dragon’s power probed at my center, I opened myself to the bonding, and the surge of energy between us swelled out of control. There was no way to stop the wave of darkness, and with the witch slipping out from under my grip, I fell into the abyss of what Talon had just awoken between us.
Until I was no more.
EMME
Hunter held me back as I screamed and clawed at him. Kellan and Finley remained near us, the former’s expression torn, while the bear growled.
But neither interfered.
I sliced my nails through Hunter’s arm, my wolf fired up at hurting our mate, but it was a fucking scratch. A scratch was nothing to Cora dying at the hands of that magic wielding lunatic.
When Slade’s tail hit the witch, Cora flew off to crumple hard on the ground, and I froze to stare at her, begging for her to open her eyes. She remained sprawled against the curb, unmoving.
My fault. My fucking fault.
Another shifter I loved had been hurt.
Fletcher wouldn’t stop until he got his hands on me and my power.
“Emmeline,” Hunter growled. “I don’t want to hurt you. Please. Stop fighting me.”
“Let me go to her,” I shouted, and he flinched at my rage-I was pissed and he knew it.
“Let Slade take Jewels out first,” he countered, his voice unnaturally calm. As if he hoped that the calmer he was, the more it would filter to me through our bond.
Not fucking likely. “If you race over there, you’ll be close enough for the witch to grab you.”
I snarled, and the force of it tore at my throat. “I don’t fucking care! I swore after Kellan that no one would ever get hurt because of me again.”
Hunter’s grip remained unyielding as he shook his head. “That wasn’t your fault, and neither is this. You’re not hurting them, Fletcher is. When we get our hands on him, he’ll die for his role in all of this.”
I scoffed, because I got mean when I was terrified and devastated. “You haven’t found him in weeks. He’s had a witch inside playing you for fucking years. He’s ten steps ahead, and eventually he’ll get what he wants, since evidently we aren’t evil enough to play this game. Especially without knowing all the rules. Our lack of knowledge is what he’s using to take us down.”
Hunter’s face could have been carved from stone, but I saw a flicker deep in his stormy eyes to suggest I’d hit a nerve. But he did not relent and let me go.
Talon!
I mentally screamed for him again, not sure it had gotten through the first time. There were flickers along the incomplete bond, and I decided then and there that if we survived this, I would fully seal the bond with all my mates. The disconnect in our quintet kept us weak.
We could sort out the logistics later, but to survive we needed to be a whole circumference of power. No more excuses. No more fear.
When my strength was spent, I went limp in Hunter’s hold, conserving my energy for when I might have a chance to break free. We watched as Jewels battled Slade, her shield preventing his claws and body from crushing her. Which was the least she deserved.
Even before finding out she’d been trying to kill Kellan rather than help him, I’d never liked the witch. For two reasons: one, magic was the worst, and two, her cold, calculating stare made me uneasy.
Fletcher probably had sleeper agents everywhere, and I wouldn’t be trusting any witches or other shifters ever again.
A spark shot through Talon’s bite when his beast burst from the wall of the garage, momentarily tangling up in the metal before he got free. My initial reaction was relief, which was insane when Jewels was here to drag him and me back to Fletcher. I’d called him anyway, to keep Cora safe, but I wasn’t sure what choices he’d make here today.
When he landed next to Slade, Talon’s darker beast nudged his head into his brother, and it was as if time froze for seconds as the two stared into each other’s eyes. There was a soft humming of energy in my bond, and then the street was flooded with a light so bright it rendered me blind.
Energy exploded a moment later, knocking us all to the ground. Hunter cushioned my fall, and I pushed at him, needing to see what happened. As the light faded, I found Slade and Talon’s beasts on the ground, while Jewels had used magic to shoot herself into the air, hovering above them.
“What just happened?” I asked, voice shaking as Hunter dragged us back to our feet.
“I have no damn idea,” he said, moving us a step closer to his brother, “but their energy is shattering the air and smashing into our pack bond.”
I could feel it too, like dominance pressed our beasts into the ground.
Most of our friends and family were still down. Even Finley and Kellan struggled to get to their feet. My eyes watered as I examined the dragons, while Hunter kept his focus on Jewels hovering above the street. She moved in our direction, but didn’t descend close enough to touch any of us.
I stifled a cry when pain shot through Talon’s bite. It almost felt like I was being marked again, the tendrils of our bond knitting together.
What was happening?
When the last of the light faded completely, and our eyes recovered from the flare, I could finally see what had happened to the dragon twins. The sight drew a harsh gasp from me.
“What in the ever-loving fuck,” I breathed. I opened and closed my mouth, having no idea how to explain what I saw, and Hunter followed my gaze to find Slade and Talon in their new form.