Rancher Dragon Page 11

  18

  Beck eyed the half-empty container of alcohol blearily, wishing he could just disappear into its depths.

  He was back at Dragonclaw now. He’d gone back in order to let Harrison and the others know that he would be heading out with TJ.

  Permanently.

  Harrison—at least Beck thought it was Harrison; it was hard to tell after a few dozen beers—was watching Beck with an expression that was half disbelief, half anger. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this drunk. And that’s saying something.”

  “Leave it be, Harrison. You won’t have to worry about me or my drinking habits in a bit,” Beck slurred. “I’ll be off with TJ.”

  “I still don’t see how you could leave her,” Harrison said, taking off his Stetson and shaking his head in disappointment. “She’s your mate!”

  “Monsters don’t have mates,” Beck said, scowling as he took another drink.

  “What about us, then? Are you leaving us? After so many years?”

  Beck considered it for a second, then set down his cup. Couldn’t Harrison understand that Beck didn’t want to leave? Couldn’t he see that it was better for everyone that he stay the fuck away?

  “You know I’m useless. Drunk. On the edge of the property more often than not,” Beck replied. “I’m not safe for you guys either.”

  “That’s bullshit. We’re all Texas dragons,” Harrison retorted. “And you’re as reliable as the damn mountains. Only time you’re not a benefit is when you’re out wandering, doing God knows what for that friend that only shows up when he needs something.”

  “Don’t talk about TJ that way,” Beck said, shooting Harrison a glare.

  Harrison snorted and folded his arms defiantly. “I’ll talk about him any way I want since he’s not standing up for my friend and telling him he should be with his mate. What kind of man could tell a friend he doesn’t deserve the woman he loves?”

  “You don’t understand anything,” Beck replied bitterly. Harrison had never had to wake up and realize everything he cared about was gone and it was all his fault because he was a monster.

  The only one who understood the situation was TJ.

  “I know you’ve been carrying a lot of guilt, Beck,” Harrison said, his voice taking on a gentler tone. “I know something happened long ago that has you feeling bad, even if you’ll never talk about it. I don’t know who you were back then, but I know who you are now. And you wouldn’t hurt a flea, not unless the flea was attacking someone you cared about.” He shook his head. “You can bring hell down, Beck. But not on anyone who doesn’t deserve it.”

  Beck got up from the chair and held a hand to his head, confused and sad and trapped.

  He was locked in a no-win situation. If he stayed, he risked the chance of accidentally eradicating everything he cared about. Sierra, Dragonclaw, the crew.

  If he woke up one morning and realized it was all gone, and it was all his fault, he didn’t know what he’d do.

  On the other hand, he’d seen the hurt in Sierra’s eyes as he’d left. Looking at Harrison, he could tell the grumpy boss dragon didn’t want him to go.

  But it was better that they stay alive to miss him than be dead because of him.

  Beck slumped in the doorway, his body heavy. “That don’t matter anymore,” he said, his voice breaking. “I ain’t good enough for her.”

  “The hell you aren’t. I see the way you look at her. It’s the same way I look at Marian. I can’t live without her, Beck. And I don’t think you can live without Sierra either.”

  Harrison had a point. A world without Sierra was about as pleasant as a mattress made out of vipers.

  But it was still better than the alternative: a world where she was dead.

  “At least stay here until you’re sober,” Harrison urged. “Don’t go drunk flying again.”

  But it was already too late, Beck realized as he slumped through the door and out into the yard.

  His dragon was coming out, and it would do as it pleased. As usual.

  19

  Sierra popped open a new box of tissues as the soft blue light of the TV filtered across her living room, showcasing the movie she had been watching.

  It was a romance, one of her go-tos when she was sad. Her favorite thing about it was that all the characters got a happy ending. Now, however, the ending was tinged with jealously and longing for the cowboy she would never have.

  Happy endings only happened in movies. Real life gave brief, fleeting moments of happiness, only to cruelly swipe them away without a moment’s notice.

  That had been Beck. Her moments with him had been the most beautiful in her life by far. Dancing with him, sleeping with him, spending time with him.

  With every moment, the wonderfully handsome, gruff man had infused her world with life and color that she had been missing for years.

  And now he was gone, and as much as she respected him, she still couldn’t fathom his reasons for leaving.

  Just as the credits were about to roll, Sierra heard a knock at the door. She wiped her eyes a few more times in an attempt to make herself look presentable, then got up to answer it, wondering who it was.

  To her surprise, it was TJ standing there in his work jeans and flannel shirt.

  “Hey,” he said, peeking through the door. “Seen Beck anywhere?”

  She shook her head, tears still biting at her eyes.

  “That’s odd. I was supposed to meet him at Dragonclaw, but he wasn’t there,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.

  “Well, I’m sure you could go wait for him there,” Sierra said, folding her arms and going to shut the door.

  She almost succeeded, but he caught the door and pried it open. “Wait,” he said. “I wanted to tell you I’m sorry. I know you two care about each other. I promise to look out for him.”

  That didn’t make any sense to Sierra. Beck changed his mind and left shortly after talking to TJ, so obviously, he had something to do with it. How could TJ watch out for Beck when he was taking him away from someone who loved him?

  She didn’t have time to say anything, however, because he pushed the door open and strode confidently into her living room, looking around like he owned the place.

  “I presume you won’t have problems from Ross anymore,” he said. “I talked to him.”

  “Oh yeah,” Sierra said, uncomfortable. She still wasn’t at all sure how he could have done it. The Clarksons were as greedy as they were stubborn, and they’d been that way for generations. “How did you manage to convince them?”

  He shrugged. “Gentlemanly chat. They came around after a while.”

  Sierra didn’t believe it. “You must be thirsty. Can I get you some water? I’ll be right back.”

  “That would be nice, thank you.”

  She nodded and went into the kitchen, grateful to be away from the person that was making Beck leave her. But as she was filling up a cup from the refrigerator, her phone began to buzz.

  Perplexed, she picked it up and held it to her ear.

  “Hello?”

  “Sierra? Thank goodness I could get ahold of you.” It was her friend Susan, who she often saw when she went to town. She sounded frantic. “Have you heard the news?”

  Sierra frowned as she held the phone against her shoulder and went back to filling up the water cup. “Susan, calm down. What’s going on?”

  “Ross is in the hospital!” Susan exclaimed. “They found him and his daddy severely injured. Someone tortured them, but they won’t say who. Seems like they got mixed up in something messy.”

  Sierra blinked and lowered the phone from her ear, the pieces of the mental puzzle all clicking into place.

  So that’s how TJ got the letters signed, she thought, ice-cold fear in her heart as she realized the same man was now in her house.

  “But it could be someone or something bad is loose in town, so I wanted to let you know so you could stay safe,” Susan said.

  “Thanks, Susan. I appreciate
it so much.” She was about to go on, but she heard footsteps behind her. “I gotta go. Stay safe! Bye.”

  She managed to end the call and stuff her phone back into her pocket by the time TJ walked into the kitchen, eying her curiously.

  “Taking a long time to fill a glass of water,” he joked, moving closer to her. His easy smile turned to a frown. “You look pale. Is something wrong?”

  Sierra stepped back nervously and feigned a smile. “No, nothing wrong. Just a lot happened today.”

  “Ah, so Beck told you about the mudslide, then,” TJ said, nodding. “Did he also tell you about him being a dragon?”

  “Yes, he did,” she replied, taking another step back. “But it didn’t matter to me. I love him either way.”

  Was she just imagining it, or had TJ’s eyes almost looked gleeful when he had mentioned the mudslide?

  “So you’re both dragons,” she said. “And you were there when it happened, right?” She hadn’t imagined it. As soon as the word “mudslide” left her mouth, a gleeful expression crossed his face, but it was gone a second later.

  “I was,” he said, covering it with a solemn shake of his head. “It was a truly unfortunate day. I can still hear the screams of the townspeople.”

  But the tone of his voice didn’t make it sound like it was unfortunate. No, he almost sounded like he was… wistful.

  Sierra couldn’t take it anymore, and the words spewed from her mouth. “Then why weren’t you able to help him stop? Why didn’t you watch out the night of the mudslide? You saw it happen, or at least you say you saw Beck do it. But if that were the case, why didn’t you stop him? You’re the only one who knows, so how did it happen?”

  He stared at her, his dark-blue eyes black and dead in that moment, but he didn’t say anything.

  “Beck blames himself for everything.” She continued. “But if there’s one thing I can’t picture that man doing, it’s killing innocent people. Not even as a dragon, if he actually is one of those things.”

  Suddenly, TJ’s eyes bulged with anger. “You know nothing! I couldn’t have stopped him even if I wanted to.”

  Sierra took another step back, slowly growing more and more nervous by the minute. “But what did he do?”

  TJ took another step closer, backing her up farther.

  “Beck said you were also a dragon, but what kind are you?” she asked.

  He laughed bitterly. “It doesn’t matter. I’m not the type that could’ve stopped Beck. His dragon is monstrously powerful. Giant, even compared to other dragons. I would never stand a chance going up against him.”

  When she’d met TJ just a few days ago, she’d felt like there was something off about him, and the slipping of his façade only emboldened her.

  “I know you tortured Ross and his father and put them in the hospital,” she said. “And I know why you did it. So you could get Beck away from me and keep brainwashing him into believing he’s a monster.”

  TJ just stared at her, his gaze cold as a frozen lake.

  “I don’t think you like Beck.” She continued. “I think you made him hate himself. I’m going to tell on you. I won’t let you just run off with him and use him and let him feel like garbage and take away his chance at happiness.”

  Suddenly, TJ snapped, grabbing the cup of water out of her hands and throwing it across the kitchen. Water splattered everywhere, and the plastic cup bounced on the ground a few times before coming to a stop.

  “You’re right,” he spat angrily. “I’ve always hated him. You know what kind of dragon I am? A rain dragon.”

  “So?”

  His eyes were fully black now, and gone was the charming character from the day before. Now all she saw was a jealous, obsessed man. “So I could never take on a mountain dragon. But a mudslide to make him hate himself forever? Now that would do just fine to punish him for ever being born stronger than me.” He grinned malevolently.

  “No,” Sierra said as she tried to take another step back before realizing she was trapped against the counter.

  “Yes,” he said as he took another step forward, that crazy grin still on his face. “The mudslide was my doing. I’ve never liked him. I’ve always hated him. So much power that he didn’t even appreciate. If only I could have been born like him instead. So strong. And then all his fake, humble niceness… I hated him from the moment we met. But you’re right. I can’t just keep playing games and pretending. Not when I have the best game ever. His mate and something that can fight him if I just bring on a little… rain.” His gleeful, evil expression sent shivers down her back.

  Outside the window, storm clouds gathered ominously, heralding an impending doom as he leaned forward and grabbed her by the shoulders, yanking her out of the kitchen and pushing her toward the living room.

  20

  The night air stung Beck’s blearily drunk dragon eyes as he flew low over the hills and mountains behind Dragonclaw Ranch.

  His dragon was restless. Asking him for something.

  Beck didn’t know what.

  Beck didn’t want to think about it.

  This was his time to be free. Still, his head hurt and his eyes hurt, so it was hard to enjoy the pure freedom of the wind under his wings.

  With a heavy sigh, he slowly uncloaked and flew lower along the property line toward the place he loved the most, at least in dragon form.

  As he landed with a heavy thud and settled himself into the well-worn dent in the land where his dragon liked to lie, he let out a sigh of pure contentment.

  Right before he felt another stab of pain in his heart.

  He slumped, putting his dragon head on the ground and looking at the blur that was the land in front of him.

  He’d always thought he merely chose this spot because it was as far from Dragonclaw’s main buildings as possible while still staying legally on the ranch’s land.

  But as he looked to his right, he saw that he was actually at one of the corners of Sierra’s land, the opposite corner on the same side where his camp was set up.

  He blinked, wondering at the serendipity of it. Then he huffed and curled his tail around him, feeling like he was wounded inside.

  Why did he hurt so much?

  What had the human done? No, what had he done? He needed to be one with his dragon more. He knew that. He needed to start staying present, even when drunk.

  To get to know that side of himself.

  Why always here? he wondered, hoping something inside him would answer.

  And then, as if from his own heart: This is where our mate is.

  How long had his dragon known?

  I knew my fate had something to do with this place.

  Now I want to stay and see her safe.

  Beck chuckled to himself. He wanted to stay also. But then he frowned, thinking of her beautiful face.

  And a mudslide.

  The dragon cried out in rage, and Beck felt his entire reptile body tighten.

  Of course even the creature would feel bad about that day.

  But he wasn’t just sad exactly. Also angry. Wronged. Betrayed.

  Why?

  Harrison’s words came back to Beck’s mind. Harrison’s trust in Beck. His belief that he couldn’t hurt anyone.

  If only that were true.

  We couldn’t hurt our mate. We could never…

  Beck wanted to believe what his heart was telling him. That would be convenient for sure.

  But sure as the beautiful new Texas moon rose above him, casting light on his granite-like scales, his mate was safer without him.

  You’re wrong. She would never be.

  But TJ said—

  At that, Beck’s inner dragon was quiet. Beck’s inner heart that throbbed beneath all his frantic thoughts.

  Then it spoke in a feeling that was so much clearer than words. And Beck knew.

  I could never hurt my mate.

  It just wasn’t possible.

  He raised his head, trying to cut through his foggy thoughts and the
alcohol that was still slightly affecting him, though he was starting to sober up now.

  The pain of losing Sierra was enough to do that.

  We can never leave her, his dragon said.

  I know, Beck answered.

  But Beck couldn’t forget what TJ said. The good points that TJ had made.

  Beck also couldn’t forget how many nights he’d spent here, his dragon presumably longing for and waiting for his mate.

  Beck wished things could be different. That he hadn’t gone and made that mistake so many years ago.

  That no one had been hurt, and that Beck didn’t have to worry about hurting the most important person in the world to him.

  Whether TJ or Harrison was right about him, Beck didn’t know.

  But more than anything, one question had him still sitting there, clinging to his beloved spot at the edges of her land.

  If he was gone, who would protect Sierra?

  Of course his friends would try, but they had the ranch to attend to, and Harrison had a mate of his own.

  No one could protect her like he could. If only he didn’t have to protect her from himself.

  Damn himself for being a mountain dragon. Curse the day he was born!

  Beck’s pity party was cut off, though, as a terrified scream filled the air, coming from Sierra’s place.

  Beck instantly felt himself sober as he transformed into his human form and began running for her house.

  It appeared he’d be around to protect his mate at least once more after all.

  He prayed harder than he ever had that he could make it in time.

  21

  Sierra fought back against TJ’s grip on her shoulders, trying to resist as he pushed her back and sat her down on the couch, looming over her and keeping her pinned.

  Her heart was pounding with pure panic, but she had to stay calm. Had to figure out a way to get out of this.

  If only to tell Beck what she knew and give him some peace in his heart.

  After what he’d been through, he deserved that no matter what.

  TJ pushed at the sleeve of her shirt, pulling it down her shoulder as he came forward, attempting to place a kiss there.