Dragon Heat by Charlene Hartnady

Chapter 13

Azure made a noise of irritation as soon as she shifted. “I still can’t believe it.” She was mad at herself. Frustration rode her hard.

Best she get to work. She grabbed the nearest elk carcass and hung it on the closest hook. Then she walked over to the basin and chose one of the knives. She needed to get a move on, since she had four of these things to get through.

“Everyone guts their own kills today,” Ice commanded.

“I didn’t kill anything,” Azure ground out, carving her elk from the throat in a straight vertical line. “That means I clean and skin.”

“Yeah, Azure didn’t kill anything,” Sun said, pointing his thumb in her direction.

Fog gave the male a smack upside the head.

Sun got into Fog’s face. “You do that one more time, and I’m—"

“Enough,” Ice said. “I said to skin your own kills.”

“Yes, you asshole,” Fog told Sun. “Azure had a rough weekend,” he snarled.

“I didn’t kill anything,” Azure insisted. “I’m fine. I can do it.”

“You could have been killed,” Fog said. “You need to take it easy. You saw the male you chose to spend your heat with abducted. Is that what really happened? Some of the males are saying that it was a two-headed beast. That isn’t true, is it?”

At the start of the day, Ice had told the team not to ask questions.

“Leave it alone,” Ice said, his eyes blazing.

“It’s fine,” she told Ice. “Long story short, the male was taken. We don’t know what took him. I got a glimpse of one of them, but the lighting was bad. I didn’t see much. I managed to get away. I’m shook up, but okay.”

“That poor male.” Fog shook his head, frowning.

“Yeah, that’s rough,” Sun agreed.

“Do you think he’s dead?” Avalanche asked. “You could be with whelp by a male who—”

Ice growled low and deep. “That’s enough,” he snarled. “I don’t want to hear one more word from any of you. It’s not any of your business what happened. The three of you are finishing up here.” He looked at the elk hanging on the hooks.

Azure gave Ice a tight smile. He was only trying to help. “For the record, I’m not with whelp. We…didn’t… I wasn’t… It didn’t happen,” she mumbled, praying they didn’t ask her to elaborate as to why it hadn’t happened. She didn’t want everyone to know what Skarn had done. She felt ashamed, even though she had nothing to feel ashamed about.

“Get to work,” Ice snapped at the males. “Azure and I have a meeting we need to attend,” he added, looking at her when he said it.

“Thanks,” Azure told the males. “I owe you one.”

Fog nodded. “And don’t you forget it.” He grinned at her.

They washed up and dressed quickly. She could feel the tension coming off Ice as they walked away. “They were trying to be nice,” Azure said as soon as they were inside.

“They were being nosy as fuck.”

“I suppose they were a little bit nosy, but mostly they were just curious because we’ve all become friends. We spend a lot of time together. I’d like to think they care about me.”

Ice grunted. “I guess.”

“Okay, so, we’re going to see Storm.” It wasn’t a question, it was a statement.

Ice nodded. “Yes.”

“Do you know if he’s in or if he’ll even see us?” she asked.

“He’ll see us.” They arrived at a door just down the hallway from Thunder’s office. “Ready?” he asked.

“Yep.”

Ice knocked. It took a few long seconds before they heard Storm tell them to enter.

“Oh, good,” he said as he saw them. “I was going to call the two of you in for a meeting. Come in. Please, sit.” He gestured to the chairs across from him.

The prince’s brows lifted once they were seated. “Before you even ask, there is no news on Skarn. He’s still missing.”

“We don’t care about the male,” Ice pushed out.

“I was hoping to hear if there was any more news on those creatures?” Azure asked. There had been a part of her that was wondering about Skarn, though. Anger filled her when she thought of him. She wanted him back so that he could face up to what he did. She wanted to look him in the eyes.

“I’m sorry.” Storm shook his head. “There is no news on that front. We heard back from the elders, who all told similar stories about a fifth tribe. Several elders from all four tribes swore that the stories were true. The oldest member of the Fire tribe elaborated by saying that the fight was between the Fire King and the king of the fifth tribe. It was over a female. They wanted the same she-dragon. The Fire King won. All was well until the king of the fifth tribe stole the female on the night of their mating ceremony. He took her against her will and forced her to mate with him instead. That is why the Fire King was so furious. That is why he retaliated so heavily. He got his female back, but she was never the same. That’s it. You know the rest.”

“How sad,” she half-whispered. “For the Fire King’s female, that is. It sounds like he loved her very much,” she added when she was met with a blank stare from the prince.

“I’m not sure if I believe these stories,” Storm said.

“There must be some truth to them. Skarn was taken by something,” Ice pushed.

“We may never have those answers. It’s too much speculation based on fairytales.”

“And also, on what Azure saw,” Ice insisted.

Storm nodded, looking irritated. He scratched the back of his head and shifted in his chair. “Azure didn’t see much of anything,” he finally said. “It was too dark.”

“She saw enough,” Ice pressed on.

Storm sighed.

“Oh…um…we’ve taken up too much of your time. Thank you for the feedback,” Azure said.

“I will let you know if we hear any more,” Storm said.

“Are you planning on sending a rescue team into the cave?” Ice asked.

“We discussed this at length, and the decision that was taken was not taken lightly.” Storm paused for a few seconds, lacing his fingers together on the desk. “The kings collectively decided that there would be no search party sent. Not for one male. Not after what happened.” Storm glanced at her. “We have no idea what kind of tunnel systems they have under the ground, or of the creatures we would have to face…on their terms, and in their environment. It would be too much of a risk.”

“What next?” Ice pushed.

“Nothing at this stage. It sounds like these creatures have been there for many years. This is the first sighting we’ve had of them. For now, the heat caves are out of bounds. We will be extra vigilant. The head guards are aware of the situation. You both know to be careful.”

“That’s it?” Ice shrugged.

“For now, yes. We have no reason to believe that anything will change. One male was taken. For all we know, they may have been helping Azure. We don’t know if they are the enemy. We don’t know anything at this stage. It could be the last we see of them.”

“Or they could attack our lair.” Ice folded his arms.

“We would be ready.”

“Would we?” Ice countered. “You mentioned yourself that we have no idea what we would be up against.”

“Yes, but at least out here, it would be on our terms and on our playing field. We are ready. Our males train daily for such a possibility. Thunder will address our tribe this evening. Rumors are making the rounds. Please don’t spread suspicion and fear among our people. Until we know more, we are not telling everyone that this was a fifth tribe. All we have is speculation…bedtime stories. The kings won’t incite all of the tribes based on that.”

“I’m not spreading anything, my Lord. I’m merely asking questions that others will be asking as well. Our people deserve to know the truth.”

“Fair enough,” Storm said. “You raise some good points. I will mention them to Thunder. I know the kings are meeting again soon. This will remain a point of discussion. Until you are told otherwise, please keep all information surrounding a fifth tribe a secret. All our people need to know is that Skarn was taken by an unknown foe, but that there is nothing to fear.”

“One last question, my Lord, if you don’t mind?” Azure asked when it looked like Ice wanted to argue further. Storm was pretty clear about the kings’ decisions.

Storm nodded. “Certainly.”

“Did our king inform the Earth king of what Skarn planned to do to me?”

“Of course,” Storm growled. “It was unacceptable behavior. If he is returned, he will be dealt with, I assure you.”

“If he returns, I want to see him. I need five minutes, that’s all,” she said.

“If he returns, we will discuss it. I’m sure that Granite wouldn’t be opposed to you seeing the male. He is greatly angered and disappointed by Skarn’s behavior. He wishes to extend his apologies. I had planned on setting up a meeting to inform you of all of this but you saved me the effort by coming.”

“Thank you,” Azure said.

“Now, if you’ll both excuse me, I have a lot of work to do. There are problems at one of the platinum mines.”

“Thank you for your time,” she told the prince, who was already looking down at his computer.

Ice didn’t say anything. They left, and he closed the door behind them. “Why would you even want to see that male?” he growled. “After what he did to you?”

“Keep your voice down,” she whispered. “I just do. He did what he did to me. I want to look him in the eyes. I want an apology. I want to be there when his punishment is meted out.”

Ice snorted. “An apology would mean nothing. If you ask me, they plan on slapping Skarn on the wrist. He should be put to death.”

“That’s a bit harsh.”

“Harsh!” Ice’s eyes were bright and glowing. “Harsh would be several days of torture first. What if those creatures hadn’t taken that prick?”

“I would’ve taken care of myself. I like to think that he would have come to his senses.” Although from the look she remembered seeing in Skarn’s eyes, she doubted that would have been the case.

“Come to his senses? You don’t mean that?”

“I would’ve handled him.” She didn’t put much into her counter because she didn’t quite believe it herself.

“If any female can stand against a male in his prime, it is you, Azure, but there is a good chance he would have caught you and overpowered you. What then?”

“You would have been there to save me.” She reached out and took his hand, squeezing it once before letting go. Her eyes suddenly stung. She swallowed down the lump that had formed in her throat. “You came,” she added.

“I might not have made it there in time,” Ice said softly. “What if I hadn’t gone at all? There are too many what-ifs, which I don’t like. If that male ever sees the light of day, he could do it again to another female.”

“Let’s leave it, for now. We may never see him again.”

Ice’s jaw was tight. “We can only hope.”

Azure felt something inside her soften. “Why did you go to the cave in the first place? What made you skip the stag run? You males live for human females.” A stone settled in her gut as she said the last.

“I saw you, Azure. I saw the two of you arguing. We were on the next balcony assembling to leave for the run. It was too far away to hear what you were saying, especially with the wind direction. It was blowing towards the two of you.” His eyes flared. “Not that I would have tried to eavesdrop. I could see that you weren’t happy. I know you, Azure. I didn’t like how upset you looked. I wanted to make sure you were alright. That was all.” He pushed out a breath through his nose. “I had this gut feeling. I’ve learned to listen to those over the years. Turns out I was right.” He kept his eyes on her. “You’re part of my team. I care what happens to you. If it had been any of the others, I would have done the same for them.”

Again, she felt him push her away. A firm reminder that what happened between them had nothing to do with feelings, or real attraction, at least on his part. She needed to get her head on straight.