Dragon's Frenemy (Dragon Blaze Ops Book 2) Read online

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  Dragon’s Frenemy

  Dragon Blaze Ops: Book Two

  A Curvy Girl Military Romance

  by Jasmine Wylder

  Contents

  Dedication

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Chapter Twelve

  Chapter Thirteen

  Chapter Fourteen

  Chapter Fifteen

  Chapter Sixteen

  Chapter Seventeen

  Chapter Eighteen

  Chapter Nineteen

  Chapter Twenty

  Chapter Twenty-One

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Chapter Twenty-Five

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Chapter Twenty-Seven

  Chapter Twenty-Eight

  Epilogue

  Thank You!

  Also by Jasmine Wylder

  About the Author

  Dedication

  To my loved ones B & B, who encouraged me to fly toward my dream:

  Let’s soar.

  Chapter One

  Captain Liam Young took a moment to calm the fires burning in the pit of his stomach before stepping into Dr. Maura Rizzoli’s office. It wouldn’t be very professional if he was to burst in, wings sprouting from his back and fires roaring from his mouth, after all. Normally, Liam was very much in control of the dragon side of him, but today, after what he had learned? Well, it took quite a bit to keep himself in control.

  Maura gave him an annoyed look as he came in, but it was his Colonel, Patrick Sheen, that drew his attention. The older, battle-hardened dragon shifter glared at him openly. As head of the Blaze Ops, the team Liam was a part of, he’d take it personally that Liam was breaching protocol. His mate and the trainer of the Blaze Ops, Dr. Fiona, put her hand on Patrick’s arm while the lion-shifter head of the Shadow Ops snorted.

  “Captain,” Maura greeted coolly. “What brings you into my office while we’re having a private meeting?”

  He was treading dangerous waters, he knew. Liam took a breath to calm himself. “I was just wondering when you were planning on telling the team that Utopia Tennet’s location had been discovered. Or were you waiting until she slipped from our hands again?”

  Maura’s eyes widened. It was Patrick, again, who had the stronger reaction, though. He jumped to his feet. “How do you know about that?”

  “Everybody knows. I heard it from Dr. Clementine. If you were hoping to keep it a secret, then you should have a chat with the Shadow Ops.”

  “I will be talking to my men about this,” Cooper growled. “We’ve lost her too many times already to get screwed over again because they can’t keep their mouths shut.”

  Maura got to her feet. She smoothed the front of her business suit and continued to frown at Liam. “I appreciate your concern, Captain Young. However, you know what the protocols are here. You do not come barging into my office while I am having a meeting and demand information you already have.”

  “We can’t let her get away again. With all the experiments that she’s performing?” Liam’s fires burned hotter still as he looked at Fiona. “You agree with me, right? We have to end her experiments and destroy her research before she can hurt anybody else. If we know where she is—”

  “We all agree with you,” Fiona interrupted. “Nobody here thinks that she should be let go.”

  Liam nodded, the tension in his shoulders releasing slightly. “Okay. Okay, then I will get the rest of the Blaze Ops suited up and—”

  “Hold on there.” Patrick held a hand up, his voice a deep rumble. “We’ll tell you when to prep the team, Captain. Remember your rank.”

  A swell of agitation rushed through Liam. He ground his teeth, fighting to keep his temper under control. First, it had been weeks, then months. This was getting to be too much to handle. How much waiting were they expected to put up with? With how many times Utopia had slipped through their fingers, taking her research with her and continuing to torture those poor people… How could Maura, Patrick, and the others be sitting here talking instead of suiting up right away?

  “Don’t you remember those two raccoon shifters we rescued last month?” he urged as he looked at each of them. “She all but turned them into wolves. They can’t shift without being in excruciating pain. These experiments are unethical and immoral. Her victims are unwilling, and she is going to keep doing this until she’s stopped. So why don’t we stop her?”

  “Liam, I know what you’re feeling,” Fiona said soothingly.

  “Just let us handle this, okay?” Patrick continued.

  Behind them, Cooper scowled and folded his arms. He met Liam’s eyes but quickly looked away, like he didn’t want to be caught up in the middle of this.

  Liam tightened his fist at his side. “But if I get the men ready right away—”

  “Stand down, Captain,” Maura interrupted. Her voice held a ring of authority that made Liam grit his teeth and duck his head. He always had a great deal of respect for the doctor. She was the founder of the Magnus Academy, after all. If it wasn’t for her, the Blaze Ops wouldn’t exist and they wouldn’t know what a threat Utopia and her organization, known as the Pack, actually were. Maura folded her arms, her curvy figure stretching against the fabric of her suit. “We are well aware of the situation. Now, stop inferring that we’re all too stupid to understand the stakes here. When we have decided what route to take, you will be informed. Until then, you are not permitted to be here. Now leave.”

  Liam nodded, the years of military training kicking in. He turned to go, but even as he stepped toward the door, his fires flared hotter. Was he supposed to just sit around twiddling his thumbs? People were being hurt out there!

  He turned back, noting Patrick’s growl of warning but choosing to disregard it. “I understand that there is a protocol to these things. But let’s be honest here. This is all red tape that is getting tangled up in giant knots and stopping us from doing any actual work.”

  “Captain,” Patrick growled again.

  “I’m sorry, Colonel, Doctors,” Liam pressed on. “I have to speak my mind. I know the way these things work. It’s going to be another week before you decide what is the best way to approach wherever she is. By then, she’ll be gone. She never stays in one place for very long.”

  Fiona shook her head. “She stays more than a week, Liam. And you are exaggerating things and—”

  “I am not—”

  “Captain.” Patrick snapped, making Liam stop. “You have been told several times now to leave. Are you going to do it, or do I need to write you up for insubordination?”

  Liam stepped toward the door again reluctantly. If they’d just give him a timeframe on this… he didn’t want to waste a second!

  “You know the way these things work,” Cooper added. “Just let us decide what’s to be done.”

  Liam growled.

  Patrick grabbed him as he lunged forward and t
hrew him back toward the door. “If we go in there guns blazing without knowing the layout and where to find her, we will lose her again. Do you want that, Captain? For her to slip through our fingers because we’re too busy chasing our asses to find her?”

  “But if we wait too long—”

  This time it was Fiona who stepped forward. Her expression was one that could not be argued with as she took hold of his shoulders and spun him around. Liam knew far too well from the experiences he’d had on the training field to think he could stop her if she’d decided that there had been enough talk. He let her push him out, holding in the shouting he wanted to explode with.

  “The sooner we can reach a consensus, the sooner we get her,” Fiona told him quietly. “Go cool your head, and stop making this take longer than it needs to. Wait for the briefing, Liam. This is going to happen. We aren’t going to let her escape again.”

  “Yes, Ma’am,” he grumbled. Shoulders tense once more, he walked down the hallway. He didn’t turn back, knowing this was a mistake. Talking about it wasn’t going to bring Utopia Tennet to justice or stop her immoral experiments. Only action would. But what could he do about it? Nothing.

  So, he’d have to wait.

  ***

  The solid thump of his fist impacting the punching bag made Liam feel good. Sweat dripped down his back and brow as he punched the bag again and again. He kicked it a few times. It wasn’t much, but at least it was better than doing nothing. It had been hours since he had been in Maura’s office, and there was nothing happening.

  The door to the gym opened and shut and Liam looked up, expecting Eugene or one of the other guys from the Blaze Ops. To his surprise, it was Cooper who entered the gym. The meeting was done. That meant that he’d have his instructions soon enough. He grabbed a towel and a water bottle as he stepped toward the changing rooms. Cooper stopped him, raising his hands.

  “They’re still discussing options.” Copper shook his head, the gold-red mane of hair around his face remarkably similar to his lion’s mane when he was shifted. “I couldn’t stand it anymore. All the talking… I know where you’re coming from, Liam. Although you really shouldn’t have barged in like that.”

  Liam scowled. “If they’re still discussing options, why are you here?”

  “Told you. I couldn’t stand it anymore.”

  Liam eyed him, wondering what his game was.

  Cooper rose his hands. “Hey, listen. I agree with you. The longer we wait… But Maura’s got a point, too, right? We can’t just go in blind. Otherwise… It’s just a shitty, fucked-up situation, isn’t it? Go in too early, we lose her because we don’t have enough info. Go in too late, we miss her. But,” his face fell into a troubled frown and he continued doubtfully, “I’m sure Maura knows what she’s doing.”

  “Maura is smart. She’s an excellent administrator and she keeps this place running. But she isn’t military. She doesn’t understand. I know, I know,” Liam waved his hand as Cooper opened his mouth, “that’s the point. We operate off the books. We aren’t officially part of the military. But the point of that was so that we didn’t have to get caught up in red tape. Now look at us. Red tape all around. Tennet is going to get away again and continue her research.”

  “You know, I hate that I agree with you. You Blaze Ops dragons are always such an annoying, arrogant bunch. For one of you lot to be saying reasonable stuff… things are bad.”

  Liam rolled his eyes. “Thanks, Captain Obvious.”

  “And that’s why I’m here.” Cooper looked around nervously as he stepped closer. “I really shouldn’t be doing this, but we both know the risks if we wait too long. And that’s what is going to happen if we keep sitting around on our asses. Something needs to happen, and as much as I hate to admit it… you’ve got the training for this. I don’t. So I need your help.”

  Liam studied him, curious but holding back any thoughts about what Cooper was doing. He didn’t want to be disappointed if Cooper was just trying to come onto him in some bizarre way.

  Cooper was silent for a moment, hesitating, before he shook his head. “Ah, to hell with it. I know you and I see this the same way. I can’t stand to see more people get hurt.”

  He pulled something from his pocket. It was a small slip of paper, or at least that was what it looked like at first. When Liam took it, he found himself gazing into a pair of brown eyes. Utopia Tennet’s shy smile in the photograph of her graduation belied the monster she would become just ten years later. What research had she started that to lead her to this place now?

  “The coordinates of her location are on the back.” Cooper looked grim. “Memorize it and destroy it. If anybody finds out what we’re doing—”

  “No.”

  Cooper frowned, looking startled.

  “I appreciate this,” Liam said as he lifted the photograph. “But from now on, I have to do it on my own.”

  “I don’t bloody think so—”

  “Chances are, this is going to go south for me,” Liam explained. “Even if I’m successful, there’s going to be a real shit storm when I get back. Maybe even will be kicked out. You need to keep your position. Keep doing what’s necessary.”

  Cooper scowled. “And the dragon’s right again. Just my luck.”

  Liam laughed and extended a hand. “Thank you, though. Really.”

  “Just get her.”

  Liam nodded. He headed for the changing room, turning the photo over to read and memorize her location. A grin spread over his face as his footsteps became more determined. She wasn’t even going to know what hit her.

  And then everyone she had hurt would have justice.

  Chapter Two

  Five minutes.

  Utopia held her face in her hands, her head bowed and every inch of her body feeling too heavy to exist. Not for the first time, she wished she could just go to sleep and wake up to find all this a nightmare. One that she could tell to Adrian before they got Aiden up and ready for school. Six years after his death, she still missed him. The soul-crushing ache had eased but the guilt had not.

  What had she become since then? She’d started out with such good intentions. Such hope for her future. Aiden’s future. The future of the world. Now it was all held hostage in the hands of a man who would readily kill her if she was no longer any use to him. What had brought her to this point?

  The door opened and she jumped up, reaching for a file to make it look like she was busy. Relief washed over her when she saw it was her assistant, Nurse Karey Fisher. Her relief was cut short when she saw the pallor of Karey’s cheeks and the way her hands shook.

  The cause of her fear became apparent when the Alpha stepped through after her. Utopia’s snow leopard yowled in her chest, dropping into a terrified ball. Utopia dropped her gaze as the Alpha gave her a toothy smile.

  “Hi, Mommy!”

  Utopia jumped as Aiden came bounding into the room. He flung himself into her arms, and Utopia hugged her eight-year-old son tightly. Her eyes shot to Karey, who looked away with her shoulders hunched in on herself. The Alpha continued to smile, with that look of perfect superiority that he somehow always managed to have.

  “Aiden was causing some trouble at school because he was missing his mommy,” the Alpha said, his voice perfectly casual, revealing none of the threat that Utopia knew was in there. “He was wondering what was taking her so long and why she was always so busy.”

  “Were you?” Utopia pulled back slightly to look down at her son.

  He wore a petulant frown on his face. Utopia took that as him being alright, not harmed in any way. She still clutched him close, though, hating that the Alpha had brought him here, to this lab. There was still the scent of blood in the air from when one of her unwilling subjects had cut himself trying to attack her.

  “I want to have a picnic,” Aiden declared.

  “Maybe if Mommy cared enough, she’d work faster and then you could go on a picnic,” the Alpha said, sighing as he shook his head.

  U
topia bit back a snarl. How dare he? He piled so much work on her, giving her impossible deadlines, and then said something like that to her son? She would have liked to have slugged the Alpha for that. Even if Aiden wasn’t there, however, she wouldn’t have dared raise her hand. He was not the type of man to take defiance well. He was angry enough at her telling him that her research was not yet in a position to start ‘enhancing his soldiers’.

  She wasn’t sure how much longer she could delay it. And the Alpha clearly wanted to put her off balance and fluster her.

  “That’s not true at all,” she snapped, glaring at the Alpha before turning back to Aiden, looking into his eyes as she attempted to console him. “It’s not that I don’t care, baby. If it was up to me, we would go have a picnic today. I wish things were going faster. I wish I could spend more time with you. I just… have to do what the Alpha says.”

  Aiden glanced back at the Alpha and shivered, leaning into Utopia’s arms. “Alpha knows best. Loyalty to Alpha first.”

  Utopia flinched to hear those words coming from her son’s mouth. The ‘school’ he attended was so full of propaganda. Her heart sank in her chest. She was doing all this for him, and this visit was clearly the Alpha reminding her that Aiden’s life was dependent on her research as much as her own was.

  But what sort of life was this for her son? What sort of future was it making for him? What sort of beliefs was it instilling in him?

  “That’s right,” the Alpha said, purring in a way that made him sound more cat-like than the wolf shifter he was. “Loyalty to Alpha first. You’re a good boy, Aiden. And it looks like Mommy is tired. Maybe you can stay for a while and try to cheer her up. Karey.”

  The Alpha turned hard eyes on the nurse, and she scrambled out, the Alpha following after. He closed the door, wearing a smile that made Utopia want to tear his face off. She pushed back those feelings, though, instead focusing on her boy.

  “So, you have been having a hard day at school?”

  Aiden nodded.

  “I’m sorry, honey. I am so sorry. I wish I could…” she trailed off. Take you away from here. Turn back the clock and never join with the Pack in the first place. Have seen the warning signs and gotten out before the Alpha got his claws in me.