The lion immediately jumped up, running toward them once more. Aiken grabbed her wrist, pulling her up to her feet and then pushing her behind him.
“What are you doing? I’ve got my gun.” Which she did have in hand now, thanks to the seconds it had taken him to remove the lion from her lungs and toss it down the alley.
“You’re gonna need more than that,” he shouted and before she could ask what he was talking about more white lions appeared. Shit was about to get real.
Where they’d come from, she had no clue, but Mel raised her arms and aimed her gun dead center between one of their eyes. She barely got off the first shot before they all charged. Forcing calm over fear, she stood close to Aiken, ready to do whatever was necessary to catch their target, just as they always did. They’d been partners for just about a year and a half now and worked seamlessly together. There was no doubt in her mind that tonight would be any different.
“Shift!”
She froze. Her finger stuck on the trigger of her gun, arms still extended as the lions grew closer.
“Shift! Now, Mel! Now!”
His voice rang louder than the lions’ roar in that alley, sending an undeniable vibration through her body. Still, she didn’t move. She knew what he was asking and she wouldn’t do it. He knew why, dammit he knew, and yet he’d still made the command. It was hard to tell what part of that scenario pissed her off more. There was a blur of motion then and a blast of hot air as Aiken did what he’d instructed her to do. The toned body of the man, her partner and her lover, shifted into the larger-than-life body of a dragon.
Those lions had no idea what hit them.
* * *
Mel didn’t need him to speak to know that he was angry. The emotion, thick and heated, filled the room and threatened to smother her. Yet, she didn’t walk away. It wouldn’t do any good, this conversation needed to happen. They’d put it off for too long.
“You’re a Drakon, Mel. A dragon shifter born on the Far Realm and relocated here to the Human Realm at a young age. You have powers, just like the rest of the Drakon, in addition to being a killer. Your power, passed down by your clan, is that of a chameleon, and you can change your body to match any surface or thing in order to protect yourself in battle.” Aiken ran his hand down the back of his head, his lips spreading into a thin line.
Droplets of water still beaded over his face and ran down his neck, over his shoulders and chest. An ivory towel was wrapped around his waist. Another time, she would’ve pulled the towel away to stare at his amazing physique. Perfect biceps, sculpted abs, muscled thighs, and in-between...but not tonight. Not after what had just happened.
“You could’ve been killed.” Those words were spoken more quietly than the others, but held the same deadly tinge. “I know you’re a skilled Collector. You’re smart and cunning and, I... I just don’t know what I would’ve done if you’d been killed.”
“I wasn’t.” She hated the thread of fear she also heard in his tone and despised the part of herself that felt weak with the need to assuage him.
He stared at her. “You could’ve been.”
“And the world could stop spinning. The craziness of preternatural beings could not be invading the Human Realm. My parents could still be alive.” She huffed. “There’s a lot of could-haves in this world, Aiken.”
His eyes were still the deepest brown striped with bright orange. They were his Drakon eyes, not the ones he wore as a human working alongside her—his girlfriend—as a Collector.
“My only concern is you.”
Her heart pounded, her mind clouding as the love so evident in his gaze combined with the intensity of her feelings for him. Yet, despite the bond they’d built, both professional and personal, she knew what he’d want to discuss next. That knowledge caused immense pain and disappointment to spread like wildfire throughout her body. She inhaled deeply and released the breath slowly. “We lost the target.”
He nodded, a look of conquest and satisfaction pouring over his face. “I killed those rogue feline shifters. The realms are better off without them, so I’m not about to feel regret for what’s done.”
“We won’t get the bounty. And the leader of the shifters won’t get