CHAPTER 25

They were my kinda people. I wanted them as allies.

Still, they'd started it, and I wanted to kick a little ass. Needed to. Thankfully, they'd respect me more for it.

I kicked out and then shoved with my foot, sending someone sprawling. Then I swiped the legs out from under another woman and kicked her as she fell.

A fist sailed through the air, and I turned my face to take it in the cheek instead of the eye while I clotheslined a woman and broke through the line to punch a man in the throat. I tossed him and grabbed the next person, hurtling them behind me too.

The problem was that because I wasn't hurting anyone too badly, and because they were stubborn dragons, they popped back up like they were on springs and rejoined the fight.

End it hard, and then explain yourself, my dragon thought as I hammered my fist into a man's sternum, then tit-punched a woman. That would hurt. I didn't envy her.

Okay.

I tossed another man, felt a hand grab the sword and pull, and knew a moment of horror when the sword was yanked halfway out of its sheath.

Without thinking, I sent a shock wave of power all around me, shoving with my will and layering it with a stinging slap that wouldn't be soon forgotten. Power gushed from me but filled right back up, singing with Neff's essence. Begging to be used. Urging me to unleash more of my rage. He was joining the fight from a distance, and he would have his say.

I smiled. Tears came to my eyes. Fuck, I missed him. I hated being separated.

I pumped out power again, blasting it.

People fell back, stumbling over themselves to get away now. A man fell and then started crawling along the stone, no apparent destination in mind.

Mr. Belvin appeared in front of me like a phantom. A fucking enormous phantom with his broad shoulders and thick chest.

He flexed and leaned toward me. A blast of his power sandpapered my face, rich and heavy. It commanded me to back down. To submit.

Neff and I had clearly released his dragon. He wasn't from Jerman, I didn't think, so it was only a matter of time before the suppression spell kicked back in. In the meantime, he thought he'd pull alpha around these parts.

He thought wrong.

I cut through his power with my will, slicing his skin with it on the backstroke. His eyes widened and jaw dropped. Surprise!

He barely lost a beat, though, before grabbing me and swinging me around. He walked forward and shoved my back against cell bars, so quickly I didn't have time to react. His power beat into me again: Submit!

Kill this motherfucker, my dragon said, and I was pretty sure this last week had made her a little too hungry for blood.

Before I could respond to her with thoughts, or him with will, a great tide of power welled up in me, the likes of which I had never experienced before. Ruthless and volatile, vicious and uncompromising, it made my body quiver as it coursed liquid magma through my blood. A scent curled around me as the power gushed into my middle, pine and lilac with a hint of honeysuckle, a delicious, balmy smell that I knew as well as I knew myself.

Neff had felt another alpha try to pull rank with his mate, and he was losing his fucking mind.

I used it, pushing aside Mr. Belvin's command and then hammering into him with my will. I didn't lift a finger. I didn't try to get out of his hold. Neff had always said male dragons had the upper hand with physical force, but females had the power of will. I could manifest that will physically, and I wanted to prove it beyond a shadow of doubt.

Gush after endless gush of power battered Mr. Belvin, pounded against him, sliced his skin and pummeled his ribs. Still, Neff sent more, his dragon joining the show, turbulent and wild, as they pummeled this other alpha to prove their dominance.

Mr. Belvin seized up, his fists locked in a hard grip around my upper arms. Sweat broke out on his face. His eyebrows stitched together. His eyes kept increasing in size, fully rounded and a little panicked. He'd had no idea what he was messing with.

"Let go," I said, loud enough for everyone to hear. I stuffed magic into the command.

Mr. Belvin didn't struggle with the command like Neff always did. He didn't make me wonder whether he would ignore me.

No, his fingers peeled away almost immediately, and he dropped his arms at his sides.

"Step away," I said, making that command a bit spicy. It would race down his spine violently and tingle his balls uncomfortably.

He took two halting steps, giving me space. His chest rose and fell quickly, and his eyes had taken on a wild edge. Accustomed to being the dominator, Mr. Belvin was now being dominated.

"Submit," I told him, my dragon right near the surface, riding me hard to make a statement. I could feel Neff's dragon through the bond, pumping in more power, wanting to make a statement just as much as my dragon did.

Mr. Belvin stared at me but didn't act or comment.

Tell him to kneel, my dragon thought. Saying he's submitting won't be enough. Not after the way he manhandled you. Make him kneel, and make sure you don't have to tell him twice. You've already fucked up, allowing him to resist your first command—you need to make this one count.

That seemed a little extreme, but this wasn't some milquetoast human interaction. There were dragons in the mix, and they were crazy.

I summoned the power. I straightened my body. If there had been any pain left over from the whipping earlier, there was no way in hell I'd feel it with all this power running through me.

"Kneel," I barked, giving the command everything I had.