Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 152

Colby

This was so fucking bad.

But Lia had a plan.

I could see it when she and Matt nodded at each other. He said to us that we had to try to protect Lia. The second he said that to us then I knew what we were going to do. We were going to take care of everything and do our best to protect her.

“This is so bad,” Rain whimpered.

Jesse shrugged. “We always knew it was going to be bad, Rain, so calm down and keep fighting.” “Keep calm and carry on,” I joked, earning a glare from Matt.

This caused me to laugh.

“Why are you making jokes at a time like this?” Matt asked, rolling his eyes.

I grinned despite the chaos around us. “Because if I don’t laugh, I might start screaming.” Rain groaned. “Honestly? Same.”

Lia stood in the center of it all, gripping the stone, her body thrumming with power. She wasn’t afraid. She wasn’t hesitating. She had a plan, and we had to trust her.

The dragon roared, shaking the ground beneath us. The shadows swarmed closer, writhing with dark intent. Matt snapped his fingers at us. “Focus! We hold them back Lia does her thing.”

Jesse cracked his knuckles. “Let’s make it quick.”

I exhaled sharply, steadying myself. We had one job-keep her safe. Whatever happened next, whatever magic Lia unleashed, we had to make sure nothing got close enough to stop her.

The dragon’s shadows charged.

We moved.

The battle erupted in chaos. Blades clashed, spells cracked through the air, and the stench of burning magic filled my lungs. Rain dodged a shadow’s strike, flipping backward and landing beside me. Jesse drove his sword through another, its form dissolving into black mist.

Matt shouted over the noise, “Hold the line!”

Lia lifted the stone higher, and the air around her pulsed. The earth trembled. Whatever she was doing, it was working. But we had to buy her more time.

I was ready to do whatever the fuck was needed to do to protect us. Protect all of us. It was a lot but we kept fighting, trying to keep the dragon busy.

But what was Lia’s plan? I was trying to wrack my brain, struggling to come up with what the hell she was doing but I had no idea. Even Matt didn’t know either.

I glanced at Lia, hopeful when I looked at her. She seemed more sure of herself now. Whatever she was doing seemed to be working.

Hard to say what was going on with the dragon. I couldn’t read the facial expressions of a dragon. So if it was scared or angry, then I had no fucking idea if it was feeling this.

It still didn’t mean we were going to stop though. All of us were going to keep going until we were able to stop this dragon once and for all.

***

Lia

The dragon tried to swipe it’s tail at me but I was able to remember one of my spells to make me transparent. It flew through me, enabling me to grasp onto the stone.

I felt nothing when I first touched the stone. Panicked, I was wondering if I was fucked or if I had fucked something up. But then I felt this rush of power inside me.

It was overwhelming, nearly knocking me off my feet. I staggered, knowing the dragon could take advantage and so could its

shadow creatures, but the great thing about this was that I had my mates know what was going on with me. They stepped up to protect me from anything happening.

“You’ve been trapped in this cycle for too long,” I continued, my voice steady despite the chaos raging around me. “Your leader has been lying to you. This future you’re fighting for? It doesn’t exist. You’re being used.”

The air around me crackled with tension. The dragon facing us bared its teeth, but it hesitated. A flicker of uncertainty crossed its glowing eyes.

That was something.

I pushed forward. “I know you can hear me. I know you’re tired. Let me help you. Let me free you. Stand down and then you can enjoy living in this world instead of fighting in it. Isn’t that what you truly want? I can help you all achieve this, so please just stand down.”

The dragon let out a deep, rumbling growl, its wings twitching. The others-wherever they were-had to hear me too. They had to understand.

Because if they didn’t, we were already dead.

I had no idea if it was working, but then the elder dragon suddenly stopped. Everything came to a halt, making me tense.

One thought crossed my mind-it was preparing to unleash a devastating attack now that it had rebuilt its power. My heart pounded as I braced myself. But then I saw the lookin its eyes, and I knew that wasn’t what was happening.

It looked… defeated. But also surprised.

The realization hit me like a shockwave. The elder dragon had finally understood-the others were no longer blindly following its lead. It’s kind was willing to stand down, unwilling to keep fighting for a lost cause.

I let out a shaky breath, relief flooding through me.

All around us, the battlefield shifted. The dragons hesitated, their movements slowing. The shadow creatures faltered, uncertain. Everyone-my mates, the warriors, even the enemy-paused, trying to figure out what the hell had just happened.

It was just a waiting game to see if the dragon was going to respond at some point. I hoped it did because I was growing antsy, unsure of how to take this long stretch of silence.