Eternal (Dragon Wars, #2) Read Online Free Page B

exploded into flames. She skidded in time to be hoisted into the sky by two claws. They dug into her skin and she cried out.
    By the Gods, the creature had her. She was going to die, it would eat her or maybe lock her up to torture her in a prison as her brother-in-law had been.
    Four simultaneous growls filled the air when the four Werewolves leaped higher than she’d ever seen Werewolves jump. They landed on the wings of the dragon, and the creature bellowed.
    “Werewolves. I will eat all of you.”
    It talked !
    She wasn’t sure what happened next. Maybe she lost consciousness. The world kind of tilted on its side. Everything went blurry. She knew the feeling, having experienced it once before when she’d been a young girl, when the boiler had exploded.
    There had been heat... dragon heat ...and then nothing.
    “Caitlyn?” A voice called to her, and she tried to surface from the black nothingness sheltering her with safety. “Time to come back.”
    She opened her eyes and stared at at least a dozen male Werewolves, including Dougal Owens. She’d wanted to wake to Dougal for more years than she could count. Where the hell was she, and what the hell was going on? It took her a moment to orient herself to the present and remember why she was still laying on the ground in her wolf.
    Before she did anything else, she had to be back in her human form to speak with the dozen Werewolves staring at her as though she were some kind of foreign object they’d never seen before.
    When her body finally shifted, probably less quickly than any of the males staring at her, she looked at them. Her cheeks heated. Embarrassment wasn’t a new emotion for her, just one she wished she could do without.
    Speech came a few seconds later. “Did I pass out?”
    Dougal squatted in front of her. “You did.”
    “It’s to be expected.” Brett spoke quickly. “Females have no business being around dragons.”
    “Shove it. I’ve seen grown male Werewolves fall over at their first glance at dragons. Half of you lot vomited, and I wanted to go run and hide. She got scooped by a fully grown female who could speak. I’d say she did pretty well, right until the end.” Dougal extended his hand to her. “Come on. Stand up.”
    She did as he’d asked and rose to her feet, taking his strong hands in her own. A jolt of electricity passed through her body and for a second she couldn’t breathe. Dougal seemed unaware, so she tried to play it off as though it hadn’t happened. As nonchalantly as she could, she took her hand from his and shoved it in her pocket.
    “I assume you got it.”
    Dougal moved out of the way and she could see the downed dragon being torn apart behind her by at least ten wolves. It was dead.
    “She’s fine.” Dougal spoke over his shoulder. “Everyone get ready for tomorrow. Let’s let the Miss Caitlyn do the same.”
    There were some nods of agreement and the group who had been staring at her intently moved off. She was able to take a deep breath.
    Except for Dougal, he didn’t move.
    “I’m sorry I said the things I did to you earlier, about how the other males would behave, about them not mating you and the things they would do.”
    What had he said? It took her a few moments to remember. “Oh, your words were nothing I haven’t heard before.”
    “Every capable male close enough jumped the dragon to try to rescue you. Rather than making them nuts, your presence here seems to be bringing out the hero in all of them.”
    “I don’t know if I’ve ever provoked such a response in anyone before.” Her head hurt. Dougal’s suggestion of bed sounded really good.
    “As for me.” He laughed. “I’ve never been so scared in my life.”
    “What?”
    “When it pulled you off the ground, I thought I might explode from the inside out. I don’t know Caitlyn. I think I might be losing my mind.”
    He ran his fingers along her bad cheek and her body vibrated. What was he doing? Why was he touching