Midlife Dragon Daddy (Midlife Shifters Book 10) Read online

  “I wish I understood why you have to take it. I’ve never felt the need to join a pack.”

  “But Sarah runs with wolves all the time anyway,” Haley pointed out. “She had a little pack of her own in Shifter Town. You remember how it was. And when she’s older, if she feels like she wants to be around other wolves, if she wants to belong to something bigger than herself, it’ll be easy for her.”

  “I suppose so,” Valerie said quietly.

  “Danny’s never had that. He’s never been able to surround himself with people like him. And our clan is his best chance to have that kind of life. I have to fight to provide that for him, because he deserves it, and because Ryker and I are the only ones who can give it to him.”

  “You really do love Ryker, don’t you?” Valerie asked. “I guess I never realized. But you do.”

  “I do,” Haley said. “I’m starting to realize that I always have. I thought I left my feelings for him behind a long time ago, but I suppose I never let go of him. Not really.”

  “I guess I can’t understand what that’s like,” Valerie said. “Sarah’s father wasn’t my mate. He was just...some guy. I’ve spent the last ten years thinking you and I had the same history, but we really don’t at all, do we?”

  “It must look so weak to you, my going back to Ryker,” Haley said.

  Valerie shook her head. “It’s not my place to judge you or your choices,” she said. “But if I were to judge...I’d say that it takes strength to overcome your past so entirely. I’m kind of proud of you, actually?”

  “Yeah?” Haley glanced at her friend. “I thought you were mad at me.”

  “Oh, hey.” Valerie pulled Haley into an embrace. “Of course I’m not mad at you. You have to do what’s right for your family. I just want to help. You know that.”

  Haley nodded. “Thank you,” she said. “I don’t know what I would do without you, Valerie. Really.”

  “I feel the same way,” Valerie said. “So just make sure you take care of yourself when you go back into that clan, all right? Don’t make me have to explain to Danny that his parents aren’t coming home.”

  “Promise me you’ll keep him safe, no matter what,” Haley whispered.

  “I will,” Valerie said. “You know I will.”

  Haley felt tears fill her eyes. “I’m so lucky to have you for a friend,” she said. “All the shit I’ve been through in the last ten years is completely worth it if it was what had to happen to bring me to you.”

  “As long as all that shit is in our past,” Valerie said, releasing her and looking her in the eye. “Here’s to a happier future for both of us.”

  “For all of us,” Haley said, hoping that her friend’s wish would come true.

  Chapter Fifty-Two

  HALEY

  “We’ll go in after sunset,” Ryker said.

  “That doesn’t give us much time,” Haley said. The sun was already low in the sky, and the two of them were walking toward the clan’s territory. The farewell between Danny and Haley had been anticlimactic—she hadn’t wanted to alarm him by making a production out of it—but she’d cried once they were out of sight of Valerie’s house.

  Ryker had waited for her tears to subside before bringing up any talk of strategy. Haley supposed he was trying to be sensitive, and she appreciated it. But then, maybe he was also processing his own feelings. He’d just met his son, after all, and now he might be losing him forever.

  Please, just let one of us survive. Just let one of us make it back to him. She didn’t even particularly care which one it was, just as long as someone got out of this and was able to stay with Danny.

  “We are doing the right thing, aren’t we?” Ryker asked. “I promise this is the last time I’ll ask, but—”

  “Do you think we’re not?” Haley asked.

  “No, I think we are,” Ryker said. “It’s just such a risk.”

  “We can beat him,” Haley said, hoping she sounded more confident than she felt. “Last time we were in a council meeting, and they knew we were coming. This time we’ll have the upper hand. We’ll be taking Shane by surprise, and if we’re lucky, we’ll catch him by himself.”

  “If we’re lucky,” Ryker said.

  “It’ll be night, and we’re going directly to his house,” Haley said. “Do you really think anybody else will be there?”

  “There’s no way to be sure,” Ryker said. “The best chance will be if we catch him on his own, like you said. Of course, the moment he sees us, he’s going to call for reinforcements.”

  “Then we won’t give him the chance,” Haley said firmly. “We’ll shift before we drop in on him so that he has to focus on fighting us off right away. We won’t give him the chance to call for anyone else.”

  “And if he’s not alone?”

  “Well...maybe we’ll be able to see that before we go in?” Haley said.

  “Maybe,” Ryker said. “We’d stand a better chance at espionage if we were human. But I think you’re right—the only way we have a chance in a fight is to go in as dragons. That’ll give us the clear advantage if he’s on his own. And if he has someone with him, we’ll be able to overcome them. Maybe.”

  “I think going in when the sun is down is the right call, though,” Haley said. “It definitely increases the chances that Shane will be alone, right?”

  “And the chances that he’ll be in his house at all,” Ryker said.

  “What do we do if we get there and the place is empty?”

  “We wait,” Ryker said. “In the yard behind the house. You can’t see it from the street, so hopefully he won’t realize we’re there at all. We wait for him to get home, and then we shift and go in.”

  “And...well, how do we go in?” Haley asked. “If we’re in dragon form, how are we going to get into the house? It’s not like dragons can go through the front door.”

  “Yeah, I know,” Ryker said. “We’ll have to break through the sliding glass doors that lead into the basement level in the back of the house.”

  “You don’t think he’s going to notice that?” Haley asked. “If we do that before he comes home, there’s no way he’ll come back to the house on his own.”

  But Ryker shook his head. “You can’t see that part of the house from the street either,” he said. “As long as we don’t cause too much wreckage, kicking through the doors won’t be visible.”

  “It really seems like a lot of things could go wrong with this plan,” Haley said quietly.

  “It’s the best one we have,” Ryker said. “I didn’t want to fight Shane. You know how hard I tried to avoid that. But he’s not going to step aside, so it’s going to have to be a physical confrontation. And the only chance we have at coming out of something like that alive is if we manage to get him on his own, because you know he won’t fight fair.”

  Haley nodded, gritting her teeth.

  “You don’t have to come with me,” Ryker said. “Maybe you should go back to Valerie’s and wait with Danny. That way, if...if something goes wrong, he’ll still have you.”

  “No,” Haley said. “I’m not sending you in there alone, Ryker. I want as much strength on our side as possible. This is the best way to make sure that we have a good chance of beating him.”

  “Okay,” Ryker said. “But if it starts to look like we’re going to lose, I want you to get yourself out.”

  “All right.”

  “I mean it. If we go in there and there are seven of them or something—or even if it’s just him and me, but the fight isn’t going my way—I want you to go back to Danny. There’s no point in him losing his mother if we’re not going to be able to take back the clan. If it looks like I’m not going to win, get yourself out and go north with Valerie.”

  “I will,” Haley said.

  “Promise?”

  “Yes.”

  He glanced at her suspiciously, as if he wasn’t sure whether or not to believe her.

  Maybe he shouldn’t believe me. How would she decide, in th
e heat of the moment, that it was time to walk away from the fight? How would she choose between her mate and her son? She had put herself in an impossible situation, and she knew it.

  As long as I believe there’s any chance that I could still help him, I won’t be able to turn my back on him.

  She hadn’t given up hope, she realized. She really believed they both might make it out of this alive.

  Chapter Fifty-Three

  HALEY

  “Okay,” Ryker said. They were still about a mile outside the clan’s territory, but his voice had already dropped to a whisper. Haley wondered if he was concerned about perimeter scouts or if he just felt as nervous as she did.

  “Okay?” she said.

  “We shift here,” he said. “We’ll fly the rest of the way. And...from this point on, Haley, until the fight is over, I’m the alpha.”

  “What do you mean?” she asked. “Of course you’re the alpha. You’re always my alpha.”

  “I don’t like to use that power over you,” he said. “You know I don’t like to push you around. I don’t like to take away your free will. But in a fight, I need to have control over as many elements as I can. So if I signal you that I want you to do something, you should treat it as an order.”

  Haley nodded slowly. It had been a long time since she’d felt the forceful weight of an alpha’s command. Ryker’s father had used his alpha power fairly regularly, but innocuously, guiding the clan in its decisions. She had grown up receiving orders to be in the house by curfew or to stay within the clan’s territory when she was off at play.

  But since her exile, she hadn’t taken an order from anyone. And for most of the time she’d spent on her own, that had been a relief. She had never missed the alpha’s authority.

  Looking at Ryker now, though, she felt something unexpected.

  It would be pleasurable to submit to him. It would feel good. She would enjoy knowing that she was doing what he wanted, that she was performing according to his expectations.

  And maybe it’ll even make the fight go a little more smoothly. After all, Haley had spent the last ten years defending herself, but she had no idea what she was doing. And fighting off bears and wolves was a lot different from fighting off other dragons.

  “All right,” she said. “I’ll follow your orders.”

  “Then shift,” he said.

  He had been testing his power, she realized. Immediately, she felt the weight of the command compelling her to obey. The dragon surged forward, almost as though she wanted to take over. As though she had heard Ryker’s words and yearned to comply with the order she’d been given.

  Ryker shifted beside her. She looked over at him. How long had it been since she had really had the chance to take in his dragon form?

  He was larger than she was—just as much larger as Shane was, and possibly even a little bit bigger than that. And when he unfurled his wings, she saw that his wingspan was absolutely massive. It made her catch her breath. He’s so powerful.

  He strode forward, beating his wings as he went, and his body lifted into the air. He glanced over his shoulder at her, long neck curving about so that he could take her in without turning around.

  She took flight, falling into formation slightly behind him and to his right.

  She’d flown in formation before—it was something they had all learned to do, and when small groups had gone out on flights together, they had been required to remain in a tight formation, following the leader. But it had been a long time.

  And she had certainly never flown at an alpha’s right hand like this before.

  It felt like a return to something she hadn’t ever explored within herself. This was what it meant to be a dragon, really. It wasn’t about having the potential to shift into this form—although that was certainly part of it. But more than that, it was about this part of their culture. It was about the way dragons flew together. Lived together. Developed their society together.

  And she’d gone ten years without that.

  She had allowed herself to forget who she was.

  We have to win this fight today, she thought fiercely. We have to take the clan back. If they were forced to run away, the world would never be like this for Danny. He would never really understand what it was to be a dragon. He’d miss out on the most magical part of his birthright.

  They flew above the treetops. Haley was surprised by how easy it was to move in sync with Ryker. When he glided left, so did she. When he climbed higher into the night sky, she did the same. She didn’t even need to think about it. She supposed that, on some level, her mind and body were picking up the subtle cues of what he was doing. She was understanding his nonverbal communication.

  Maybe I’m following his orders. Maybe that’s what this is.

  He skimmed low above the trees, and Haley followed along, feeling as though she had surrendered control of her actions to him. Whatever he did, she would follow.

  And if he orders me to run from the fight? What then?

  It was so easy for her to understand every subtle movement he made. It was almost as if she knew what he was going to do before he did it. She had no doubt that, if he gave a sign that he wanted her to run, she would understand it.

  Would she be able to resist?

  Or had she handed that choice off to him now? Was it completely out of her hands?

  She didn’t know, and the not knowing worried her more than she liked to admit.

  He won’t force my hand. In the end, he’ll let me make the choice.

  But she wasn’t sure that was true. If he thought he knew best, he might send her away. And she might be forced to comply.

  Could she live with it if that happened? If she was forced to leave him on his own in a losing battle?

  Could she stand it if this night led to her leaving Ryker to his death?

  Chapter Fifty-Four

  HALEY

  The lights of the clan’s territory were shining in the distance. The sun was down now, but it was still fairly early in the evening. Most people were still awake.

  Haley could only hope that they had retired to their homes. Maybe they would get lucky, and Shane would be alone.

  Ryker pulled to a halt, his powerful wings holding him up in midair. Haley glided to a thick tree branch beside him and perched. Why had they stopped?

  He was staring at the clan territory hesitantly.

  Suddenly, Haley understood.

  He’s anxious about flying overhead. If anyone looks up and sees us, they’ll be able to warn Shane.

  And Ryker didn’t appear to have planned for that fact. He was dropping lower in the sky now—he was several feet below Haley—and she realized he was reconsidering the idea of going in as dragons at all.

  Maybe he’s right. Maybe there’s no safe way to do this, and we should just change the plan and approach on foot.

  But she didn’t want to. She still believed that the original plan was the smartest one. After all, if they were seen while in their dragon form, they would be able to fight. If they were seen as humans, they could easily be ambushed.

  I’m not going in vulnerable like that. This is dangerous enough as it is.

  No, there had to be a way they could make the original plan work.

  She rose from her tree branch and allowed herself to fall into a graceful dive, passing Ryker on the way down. Now she was in the shadows beneath the trees, where the moonlight didn’t reach. She could hardly see Ryker, even though he was flying next to her.

  This is how we do it. We stay low. We keep to the shadows.

  She flew ahead of him, taking point.

  It felt unnatural to be in the position that was rightfully his, but she couldn’t think of any other way to show him what she had thought of. As a human, she could have told him her idea, but as a dragon, nonverbal communication was the only option left to her.

  She heard a whoosh of wings and wind behind her.

  He was following.

  He was actually following h
er lead.

  She glanced back. The expression on his face was hard to read—she was so unused to looking at other dragons! But it didn’t look like anger to her.

  If anything, it almost seemed as if he was pleased with her. Maybe even impressed that she had managed to solve the problem.

  She felt warm all over.

  And it went beyond the usual satisfaction that she had always gained when her mate was happy with her. This was something bigger. She had pleased her alpha. It was one of the strongest, most powerful feelings she had ever experienced.

  She waited for him to take the point position back from her now that he understood her idea, but he didn’t. He stayed behind her, allowing her to lead.

  Haley felt giddy.

  He must really trust her.

  It’s as if we’re equal partners.

  It had never felt that way in their marriage. Even though he had respected her and treated her well—up until the day he’d had her exiled, that was—she had always been aware that he was the alpha and she was only his mate.

  And now...

  He was her alpha. That was as true as it had ever been. It was truer than it had ever been. She was acutely aware that he could seize control of this mission back from her at any moment.

  But he was choosing not to.

  He was choosing to trust her.

  Nothing had ever felt so exquisite in all her life.

  The only trouble was that she didn’t know where Shane lived. She fell back slightly now, allowing him to pull even with her, and looked over at him, wondering whether he would understand.

  He did. He swooped into the lead, banking, so low to the ground that his wingtip brushed against the dirt. Hers would have done the same had she not been smaller than he was.

  They flew together around the perimeter of the clan settlement. She watched as he drew closer and closer, transitioning from the shadows of the trees on the outskirts to the shadows of the houses themselves.

  And then he rose slightly, over the top of a stone wall, and dropped down on the other side.