Every Miraculous Moment (Hyena Heat #6)(19)

“Let’s end this,” Mack said, snarling the words. He gripped her neck tightly as she dove for the valley. She let out her most terrifying roar, punctuating the sound with her fire. As she neared the ground, she felt Mack change forms, and she slowed her speed so he could leap safely to the ground. As her mate landed near Tonya, she wheeled around, roaring, and headed straight for the people who were screaming in terror.

It was a bad time to be caught in the woods mistreating the people she loved.





Chapter 8





Mack landed near Miracle’s friend, who was tied from head to tail with ropes that were staked into the ground. There were four males in the clearing by the lake. Three wore dark cloaks and carried the scent of rotting wood and blood. He suspected they were wizards, and that the fourth male was Miracle’s former mate.

Leaping for the nearest cloaked male, Mack wrapped his jaws around his shoulder and shook him like a doll, bones crunching under the pressure. The male pounded on his head to try and make Mack release him. It took only a swift movement to let go of his shoulder and grab his throat, ending his life with a cracking sound.

Racing down the length of the dragon, he cut through the ropes with his sharp teeth until Tonya was able to shake the bindings off herself and rise to her feet. She roared in fury. Mack headed for Miracle, who was facing off against the other two wizards. Her former mate had disappeared. Mack jumped and landed on the back of one of the wizards, digging claws into his flesh.

Tonya screeched behind him, the sound so full of rage that the fur on the back of his neck rose. Miracle growled as the other wizard she fought used magic, shooting blue fireballs that exploded and sizzled against her scales. Mack attempted to lock his jaws around the wizard he was fighting, but the male rolled to the ground suddenly. Mack lost his grip and rolled off as the wizard struggled to his feet and recited something in a language Mack didn’t know. His fingertips began to glow blue, and a wicked smile curved his mouth as he lifted his hands at Mack.

A blast of ice hit the wizard. Tonya had joined the fray, using her ice power to freeze the male in his tracks. His skin turned blue, then frosty white. Icicles dangled from his limbs. With a roar that shook the trees, Tonya lifted one leg and smashed the wizard to pieces, his body shattering as if he were made of glass.

Mack turned to Miracle, but she had already killed the other wizard, snapping him in half with her powerful jaws. In the firelight he could see her parents on the ground, shaking their heads and helping each other to stand. They’d been trapped in a strange blue orb, appearing to be unconscious. Killing the wizards had stopped the spell that trapped them. Miracle lowered her giant head and gave Mack a nudge and a questioning purr. He growled, nudging her back.

“Miracle, are you okay?” her father asked as he joined them, one arm around her mother and the other coming to rest on Miracle’s snout.

Before she could make any kind of answer, a great roar sounded, and another dragon, larger than Miracle and Tonya, rose into the sky. He breathed an arc of fire into the night, and Mack knew in that moment where her former mate had gone.

He’d shifted into his dragon and come back for a fight.

Mack knew he was no match for a dragon head-on, but he had some tricks up his sleeve. He wasn’t about to let Miracle fight on his behalf. Lifting his head to the sky, Mack howled, daring the male to come for them.





*





Miracle was feeling so many emotions at once she could hardly think straight. Mack had killed one of the wizards and set Tonya free, and now that the other males were dead, her parents were okay, too.

But they weren’t done fighting yet. Tais had shifted and was coming for them, his big dragon body covering up the stars in the sky as he blasted fire and battle-cried. Mack had fought well, but he was fur and flesh. One direct blast of Tais’s fire, and her mate would be nothing but ash.

She would fight for Mack, because he’d fought for her. She screeched, letting out her dragon’s fury at Tais’s actions. He circled the clearing once then tucked his wings and dove toward them. She braced for the fire that she knew would come. It would reflect off her scales, and the burn wouldn’t be severe. She lowered her body and curled one arm around Mack to protect him as best she could. When the fire came as he swept close, she heard two more roars join them, and lifted her head to see her parents moving on either side of her as Tonya blasted ice toward Tais. He didn’t stop his descent, or the fire that poured from him.

Mack slipped from her grip and raced up her shoulder, his claws scrambling on her scales as he moved. He leaped from her and landed on Tais’s neck as her ex curved in the sky by them, burning the ground with his fire.

Miracle roared in worry, but then she saw that Mack had climbed onto Tais’s head and was clawing at one of his eyes. Tais screeched, shaking his head to dislodge her mate, but Mack hung on. Miracle and Tonya lunged into the air and grabbed Tais, jerking him from the sky. Mack leaped safely from Tais’s head onto Miracle’s back. One of Tais’s eyes was torn out, hanging from the socket. Her ex rolled to the ground and reared onto his back legs. Miracle’s parents rushed in front of her and Tonya, ready to fight. For a moment, Tais didn’t move, and then he lifted straight into the sky to flee.

The sound of rushing wings filled the air, and she could see the darker shadows of other dragons as they moved swiftly through the sky, heading right toward them. Tais attempted to fly in the opposite direction, but the dragons caught him. They lifted him high into the sky, tearing him to pieces. She didn’t want to watch the gruesome sight, but she knew she needed to see him meet his end.