The Dragon Shifters III

"Kill him",Riven ordered Cade.

Odyssey's eyes grew wide with fear and he looked towards his brother.

"No! I told you what you wanted to know!", Magnus roared and struggled to free himself from the lycan's grip.

"Tell me the truth Magnus!",Riven said harshly, black eyes glaring at the Dragon Lord. "Whose scale is that? Not only did your kind defy me by shifting, but to trespass on my territory?"

Magnus gritted his teeth in anger. He shook with rage but there was nothing he could do about the situation. So with great reluctance, he spoke through gritted teeth.

"It was my brother"

"BROTHER NO!",Odyssey roared angrily and tried to wrench free from Cade's hold.

Riven wasn't surprised. He knew Odyssey was the culprit and Magnus was just covering up for him. It then made him wonder why the dragon shifter had been spying on his home. He knew it had a connection to his mate and he would find out why. His eyes met Cade's and the beta got the message instantly.

Cade whipped out a dagger from his boots and raised it high, ready to plunge it into the heart of the dragon shifter.

"NO!..."

"BROTHER!...",Magnus roared as the dagger descended rapidly.

What occured next happened as if time had been slowed down.

As Cade was about to stab the dragon shifter, there was a ripple in the air. The building shook violently and a roar pierced the silent atmosphere.

Odyssey's body trembled and with a loud roar, he slammed his elbow into Cade's body, knocking the beta backwards. His eyes suddenly turned bright red and he began to shift. Because of the curse on the Dragon Race, it was a very long and painful shifting for Odyssey. Yet despite the pain, he gritted his teeth hard and forced his body to shift. His body elongated, growing longer and slimmer. His skin darkened to a bronze tinge, bronze scales appearing and cloaking his body. Large thick scaly arms and legs emerged and slammed into the ground, thick claws biting into the earth. From his back, two large powerful wings tore out and busted through the ceiling. Two massive horns crowned his head and he glared at the shifters below him.

The lycans in the room all moved back in shock, eyes locked on the fully transformed dragon. The dragon gave a mighty roar and slammed into the ceiling, tearing out from the roof and soaring into the air.

"Order him to shift back!". In a fit of rage, Riven grabbed Magnus and slammed him into the wall.

"I can't..."

"DO IT NOW!",Riven roared into his face, eyes flickering to red. Suddenly he received a panicked mind link from Caleb.

[Alpha you need to get out of the building now!]

...

Caleb had taken Layla a few meters away from the building, just like Riven ordered him to. There was a clearing not far away from there and Layla was fascinated with the butterflies that hovered over the flowers.

Suddenly the earth shook terribly, as if an earthquake was occuring. It sounded like a volcano would erupt. Layla looked towards the building with frightened eyes. What was that horrible sound, she thought?

Caleb and the rest lycans went alert and they surrounded Layla, protecting her from whatever danger they felt.

"What's that sound?",Layla asked fearfully, her heart pounding in her chest. Riven was still in there and she was worried about him. She had no idea she was worrying for the wrong person because Riven was more than capable of taking care of himself.

"Don't worry Layla. Everything is fine",Caleb said, trying to calm her while his eyes never left the building.

"But Riven is still in there...",she whispered and gasped fearfully when a terrible roar shook the earth again.

"The Alpha will be fine....",Caleb was saying when a huge form suddenly burst through the roof of the building.

Layla screamed and covered her ears with her palms. Her terrified eyes widened when she saw the enormous bronze dragon up in the sky, large wings flapping heavily at his sides. It was a terrible sight. The dragon raised his head to the sky and roared furiously and a part of his spear-tipped tail struck the building and destroyed half of the roof.

"PROTECT THE LUNA!",Caleb yelled at the top of his voice and about four hundred shifters shifted into their lycan form instantly and surrounded Layla.

Caleb stood in his huge lycan form, eyes watching every move of the dragon. The bronze dragon soared in the air twice and opened his mouth wide. The depths of his mouth glowed crimson red and Caleb knew what was going to happen instantly.

The dragon was going to breathe out fire and rain it down on the building.

[Alpha you need to get out of the building now!]

Caleb quickly mind linked Riven.

And before his eyes, hot white fire gushed out of the dragon's mouth and rained down upon the building. Fire and thick black smoke billowed out as the building caught fire and rapidly spread towards every part of the building. The roof caved in and the building that looked so old and worn out collapsed, crashing totally towards the ground. Soon all that was left of it was rubble.

"Riven",Layla whispered. From where she stood, she saw lycans running out of the collapsed house, and a few men still in their human form, probably the dragon shifters. But there was no sign of Riven. She began to tremble, thinking Riven died in the explosion of the house.

"RIVEN!", she screamed, suddenly overwhelmed with pain. If Riven died, it would be the end of her life. She had no other reason for living.

The dragon who was still shrieking and flying around suddenly looked down. Layla's scream caught his ears and his red eyes zeroed in on her. Folding his giant wings back, he swooped down like a fighter jet, moving towards the ground in blinding speed. His eyes were trained on Layla and his intent was pure evil.

The lycans surrounding Layla noticed the intentions of the dragon and formed a barricade before her. Rapid mind links were communicated between them and they formed a shield in front of Layla.

Layla saw the monstrous form bearing down on her and she closed her eyes. Power surged through her, cascading down her arms and brimming at her fingertips. Her grey eyes transformed and glowed purple, burning with purple fire. She was ready this time to defend herself and she waited for the dragon to get a little closer to her.

Suddenly a huge golden beast bust out of the rubble with a ferocious roar and bounded towards the dragon. In a swift move, the beast gripped the dragon's tail and slammed it into the earth, away from Layla.

Layla's eyes flew open and tears pooled in her eyes when she recognized Riven's golden form. This time she wasn't terrified of the beast. She was relieved to see he was alive.

She didn't cower back in fear.

She held her hands open and watched as a purple ball of flame formed in each of her palms. Her eyes landed on the dragon that was in a hot combat with Riven's beast.

She felt the power within drown her.

And she let it go in a powerful scream.