Chapter 86

Xaden’s POV

Zach and I were on our feet before our men broke through the clearing and ran towards us. Terror was clear on their incredibly pale faces. They ran at us at all their speed before they collapsed to the ground, breathing heavily.

“There was a dragon,” Johnson gasped, pointing over his shoulder.

To confirm his words, I watched as trees in the far-off distance lit on fire and flames erupted from the ground. I heard the croaking of a dragon and then its wings beating. I stared up at the sky to see a large red dragon swirling around the night sky, breathing fire and lighting up the world as if it were a sunny day.

I felt the heat of the flames burning into my flesh and I had to squint from the brightness.

“Shit,” Zach hissed through his teeth.

He didn’t have to wake the others; the loud growling and croaking of the dragon, along with the heat of its flames, were enough to wake them. Warriors were scrambling out of tents holding their weapons firmly in their hands. Some were already in their fur and ready to attack.

Not that it would do any good against a dragon.

I heard guns in the distance; no doubt trying to take down the dragon. There was no way others couldn’t see what was happening in the sky. The dragon was circling like it was hunting for its prey and then it nosedived to a certain section, blowing fire to the ground. I heard the screams and I winced.

“What’s the plan?” I asked Zach who had his eyes glued to the dragon.

“I…I don’t know,” he finally said after a beat of silence. “How do we fight against a dragon?”

“What are we supposed to do?” I heard one of the gammas yelling in the background.

I quickly turned to face him.

“Go back to the Alpha house and have everybody get into the basement. My priority is to keep them safe. If you aren’t fighting, you are hiding. Understood?”

“Yes, Alpha,” he said scrambling to his feet and running in the direction of the Alpha house.

“Get down!!! It’s coming!!” I heard another shout.

Without even looking, I grabbed Zach and brought us both to the ground, covering our heads as the heat of the flames burned through the grass and dirt that surrounded us.

“Shoot!” I yelled to the warriors who had the guns.

I heard their guns clicking and then the explosions as they shot at the dragon in passing. This seemed to piss the dragon off even more and more fire was blown from its mouth.

Zach had grabbed a sword and was running in the direction the dragon had gone.

“Zach, no!” I yelled, running after him.

Zach broke and ran further into the forest, dodging the flames that threatened him. Fireballs were flying out of the sky and burning through the trees quickly. The ground was becoming too hot to walk on, even with our shoes on.

I have to admit, I admired Zach’s bravery in this moment, but he was also acting stupidly by charging at a dragon like this. There was no way we were going to be able to fight it with just a sword. A dragon-like this can only be stopped by its master or the king. If we find one of those, we will be able to stop the dragon. But knowing who and where the dragon master or the dragon king was nearly impossible.

The dragon had its sights on Zach and as it opened its mouth to blow more fire at him, I jumped into action and shoved him out of the way. I didn’t realize there was a cliff nearby though and as I pushed him out of the way, we both went falling.

Our screams went out on the void as we continued to fall, my back slamming into the rock wall and Zach’s head slamming off a rock and cutting deeply into the side of his face.

I heard the croaking of the dragon as it flew off into the sky, blowing more fire down at us. I felt the sting of the heat before I actually saw the flames. Soon, the dragon was going in the opposite direction when more gunshots blared throughout the night.

Zach landed first and I heard his grunt and groan as he rolled over in agony. I fell beside him, and I heard something cracking upon impact. As I went to move, a shot of pain went through my arm and into my spine.

“Shit,” I groaned, attempting to roll over. There was a stream of water at the end of the cliff, a rapid river flow. But we happened to land on the hard surface right beside the river stream. “I think I broke my arm.”

“I definitely have a concussion,” Zach moaned. He was lying on his back, staring up at what would have been a starry night. But the sky was so clouded with smoke that it was hard to see anything.

“What were you thinking? Running at a dragon like that?”

“I’m not the one who pushed you off a cliff,” Zach muttered.

He groaned as he sat up to look at his surroundings. I sat up too, wincing as I felt the pain in my arm. I could hardly move my fingers.

“Fuck,” I hissed. “There’s no way I can climb back up.”

“We might not have to,” Zach said, pointing behind me. “There’s a trail over there. We just have to get to the trail and walk back to our territory lines. Let’s just hope the others are okay.”

“The dragon went in the direction of the gunshots. As long as those shots weren’t from our men, they should be fine,” I said.

I tried to stand, but everything hurt.

“That bad?” Zach asked, studying me.

I nodded.

“We did just fall off a cliff,” I muttered. “We are lucky to be alive.”

“We are wolves. Takes a lot more than a cliff to kill us,” Zach responded. “Shift so your wolf can heal you.”

I shook my head.

“It could damage my arm even more if we don’t reset it first,” I told him.

Zach looked at me for a moment, understanding my meaning and he shook his head.

“No way am I doing that, man. I’m not a doctor. I could tear your arm off.”

“It’d feel better than it does now,” I told him. “Come on. I don’t want to be stuck here like a waiting duck.”

“And if I make it worse?”

“It can’t be any worse than it already is,” I admitted.

He opened his mouth to say something, but then his eyes grew large when he looked past me.

“Shit,” Zach said through his teeth as he grabbed me and pulled me behind a giant rock. I grunted at the quick motion. Sweat collected on my forehead from the amount of pain I was in. “Sorry, but look,” Zach whispered, peering behind the rock to get a better look.

I followed his gaze, trying to keep my head down and that’s when I saw it.

The dragon was at the end of the river stream, ducking its head under the water like it was casually getting a refreshment.

It lifted its head and nibbled turned it, in our direction. We ducked even further, hoping and praying that it didn’t sense us hiding over here. It was quite a distance away, but it was so big that we could see it clearly. But did that mean it could see us clearly too? Did dragons have accelerated senses as wolves did?

There was very little I knew about dragons. If I knew for certain a dragon was involved in this battle, then I would have read more about them. But they have always been a forbidden subject because of how feared they are.

“I think its wing is injured,” Zach whispered.

I peeked around the rock, ignoring the stinging of my arm. The dragon was nibbling on something on its arm. I squinted, trying to get a better look.

“It was shot by something,” I said. “Whatever it was, it was strong enough to hurt it.”

“But not strong enough to kill it,” Zach muttered.

He was grabbing his sword which had fallen beside him.

“Don’t even think about it, Zach. You’ll get us killed,” I muttered, shaking my head at my brother.

“Somebody has to do something. It’s going to destroy the entire island if we don’t.”

I knew he was right, but I wasn’t going to risk either of our lives.

I looked back over at the dragon and saw that it had successfully chewed the bullet right out of its wing, and it was clattering to the ground beside him. The dragon looked as if it had signed in satisfaction and then to my utter shock, it got smaller.

“Zach look,” I motioned for the dragon.

We both sat and watched as the dragon shrunk. Its wings were tucked into the sides of its body, and it lowered its head. It started to transform before our eyes.

I couldn’t hold in my gasp when I saw what was standing in its place. Or rather, who was standing in its place.

“Is that Edmond Richards?” Zach asked, shock clear in his tone.

“Yes,” I said, feeling just as shocked. “That’s the Alpha King. He’s a dragon.”