Charming the Alphas (Hex My Heart, #5) by Talina Perkins

when she’d left for work this morning and now...
    A guttural growl worked up his chest and he struggled with his wolf. Everything in her told her the wolves were no match for the elder she sensed hidden beneath the bowing pine branches. Their beady little eyes probably tracked their every move.
    “He’s here.” Still holding her gaze, he spoke to Zane over his shoulder. Lucian didn’t bother with who he was, but Zane apparently understood. Rage darkened their features as their attention turned fully toward a shadowed area of the forest off to their left. Her men wanted blood. She could read it from the way they postured their shoulders and braced for a fight.
    “You go with her. I’ll handle this.” Zane’s muscles bunched and rolled beneath his flimsy T-shirt as he moved away from them and her hand shot out. Deep down she knew if she let go, there was a good possibility she’d never see him again. Not gonna happen. If she didn’t get to die, neither did he.
    Fatigue weighed heavy and her breath quickened. Her fingers tightened. Fear fed her the strength to make it this far, but even that wasn’t strong enough anymore. Her grasp slipped.
    “We...” she flipped a finger to encompass all three of them, “...all have to go.” Lucian gave a curt nod and lunged toward Obsidian, who was still reeling from the magick ball. If a dragon could have a pissed off face, he wore it well.
    Ye goin’ to stand around and play dodge ball all night? It’s now or nae, witch! Her gaze met the amethyst eyes of the dragon. Aye, thought I sensed the dragon in ye. Ye father was right.
    Wait. He knew her father? Her father knew dragons? Thousands of questions hit her and before one could roll off her tongue, more golden orbs slammed into the ground, surrounding trees, and one into the side of Obsidian who answered with a bellow, dislodging Lucian footing. They fell forward and Lucian tucked her close, rolling sideways to take the brunt of the impact. Covered in snow, Zane scooped her up and called out over his shoulder to Lucian, his voice drowned out by the wail of orbs that hailed down on their position.
    “Got her.”
    Okay. Later she’d freak about how exactly she could hear dragon voices in her head. If they survived.
    Quickly Zane placed a foot on Obsidian’s extended leg and hauled himself up with her in tow. Straddled over the ridge and arms anchored around his neck, she glanced sideways to find Zane’s once coffee-colored eyes now crimson red with shafts of ice blue too. Her brows pinched. How long had she been out? Were they mated? A hand went to her neck.
    “No baby girl, we’re not mated. Fully, anyway. We’ll explain everything later.”
    Sounded good. Lucian hauled ass to the white dragon and made quick work of securing himself. Wings flared open. The power she felt in them, around them, seeped into her bones as much as the winter air did. Several thunderous beats kicked up a thick shield of snow, and they were already past the treetops as night enveloped them into its hold. Weak, she relaxed into Zane’s hold and let him pull her closer. Wind brushed through the tips of her hair and stung the sensitive skin of her cheeks. His heat chased away the worst of the cold. Face buried against his chest, she closed her eyes and focused on his strong, steady heartbeat against her ear.
    Mountains rushed them moments before Obsidian’s dragon angled his body and glided them over smaller peaks. Werewolves and witches with a handful more of otherworldlies had come out to the human world. Dragons not so much. Guess that little secret wouldn’t fit back into the shadows after tonight.
    A small voice reared in the back of her mind. The mess left behind wouldn’t go away and the High Council would want answers. Sweet Briar Hollow was a small town but that only gave the Royals a stronger hold over all the witches. Maybe—eventually—the shifter kind as well. That placed her sisters in danger in a way she’d never