Page 41 of Consumed By Fire

The tension mounts between us more and more with each step. She’s infuriating. I want to shake her and kiss her. No! I want to fuck her… Yes, that’s better.

I get a strange feeling in my gut and grab Trinity’s hand. I gesture for her to keep silent. She nods, frowning. Her eyes dart about the jungle. I realize what is wrong. What’s piqued my senses. The sounds of the jungle have stopped. It’s silent. Too silent, and I can't shake the feeling that we’re not alone. Every rustle of leaves, every twig snap sends adrenaline coursing through my veins.

We have to hide, and right now.

Trinity touches her ear and points to where we just came from. I hear it, too… Footfalls. They’re running. Someone is tracking us. It has to be them. The three Red males from last night. I glance at Trinity, and she has gone pale.

“We have to run,” I whisper, grabbing her hand and pulling her along with me.

Trinity nods, her eyes wide with fear as we dart through the jungle, trying to keep our footsteps silent and our breathing steady. The only problem is that if we can hear them, they can hear us.

As if to confirm it, we hear a shout from behind us. I think it’s Titan.

“It’s no use running. We’ll catch you,” he yells, followed by, “You’re outnumbered. Four against one.”

Four?

Trinity’s eyes dart to mine. I see the confusion clouding them. It is quite possible that they are lying through their teeth. It doesn’t matter, anyhow. I would love to stand and fight, but I can’t risk Trinity. From her reactions to them, I would say that they mean her harm.

“We’re shifting,” I tell her under my breath.

She nods.

“Then we’re flying hard for camp. We’re not too far anymore. We can do this.”

She gives me a resolute nod.

As we hit the next patch of jungle that isn’t as dense, we shift. I do so in an instant. It takes Trinity longer. She is losing her dragon more and more by the day. It won’t be long before she won’t be able to shift anymore. For now, she manages the shift. Her pretty blue scales glint in the sun. I don’t have time to admire her in her dragon form because our pursuers are also shifting.

I can hear it.

We take to the sky. Trinity might be small, but she is fast; I’ll give her that. We fly with everything we are worth. We don’t look back.

I can hear them right behind us. Dammit! They’re too close. I bellow as loud as I can. I do so several times over in a distress call. I hope that there are dragons at the training grounds. If so, they might just hear me and come to our aid.

I don’t think we will make it back. Trinity is fast, but the males behind us are faster. There is no doubt in my mind that she would run circles around all of us if she wasn’t pregnant.

She is.

Very much so.

I bellow again; there is anger in my voice. I growl and nudge at Trinity. Then I turn to face them. She falters for a second, turning also, but I roar at her.

Go!

Go now!

I roar again. This time, she listens. Thank fuck! I almost didn’t expect it, but Trinity races on while I stay to fight.

Four! Yes, there are four dragons. I’m not sure where the fourth one came from. I don’t care. It doesn’t matter. I am outnumbered.

They come at me. All four of them, claws up and teeth bared.

Trinity

No! No! No! No!

Was that…?