by Sophie Stern
“Dad disappeared on a hunting trip,” Brian whispered.
“He was hunting for your brother,” Raya explained quietly.
“What happened?”
“Your father spent all of his time searching for Felix. All of his time. I didn’t mind taking care of you three, because I wanted Felix back, too. We all did. We needed him.”
“Where did he look?”
“Everywhere. We looked and looked and looked. The only clue we had was that we knew a woman had stolen him. We saw her on the security cameras when we were reviewing everything with the police.”
“He was stolen from the house?”
“He was stolen from a wedding,” Raya whispered. “Like this one.”
Winter felt like this was the biggest information dump she’d ever heard. She couldn’t believe that her mate had a secret brother: a lost brother. There was another Monster dragon brother, and he was still out there. He was still lost.
“We hired some mages to help us.”
“Mages aren’t real,” Allison whispered.
“Oh, they’re as real as dragons are,” Raya told her.
“There just aren’t very many of them left,” Brian added.
“We learned that a witch stole your brother. We don’t know why, but we believe she cursed him somehow and that’s why he never returned to us. We know she lived on one of the Chrystolite Isles.”
“Dad found out?”
“He brought me this,” Raya whispered, tapping the necklace. “He found the witch, and he fought with her, and he stole her necklace. He brought it back to me, and he told me that no matter what happened next, I could never lose it.”
“Why not?”
“The necklace holds the essence of your brother,” she said. “As long as it glows, I know he’s alive.”
“And Dad?” Christopher asked through clenched teeth.
“Your father went with the Mages of Kunzite to kill the witch,” Raya said. “And he never came back.”
Winter looked over at her husband, her mate, and she saw a single tear slid down his cheek. This wasn’t exactly how they planned to spend their mating day, but it didn’t matter. What mattered was that Raya had been carrying this horrible burden all by herself. She’d been tortured with the pressure of keeping this all to herself.
Winter reached for Raya’s cheek and touched it softly.
“I think I speak for all of us when I say that we will help you,” she said. “We will find Felix for you.”
AFTER HIS MOTHER’S great reveal, Brian didn’t feel like dancing anymore. Nobody did. He called off the rest of the party, and the guests were too drunk and full of cookies to notice that the party was over prematurely. Brian and his brothers helped their mother to her hotel room, and then the three of them gathered with their mates in Brian and Winter’s honeymoon suite.
“Did you know?” Brian asked.
“No,” Christopher shook his head. “I had no idea.”
“I definitely didn’t fucking know,” Declan grunted, crossing his arms over his chest. “Another brother? How could any of us have guessed that?”
“Every one of our mates commented on Mom’s necklace,” Brian pointed out. “None of us even thought to ask her about it.”
Perhaps that was what bothered him the most. He remembered each of the human girls being very interested in the necklace. Apparently, it did hold power. It was beautiful, Brian thought, and it was lovely, and apparently, it was the only link his mother had to his brother.
“We have to help her,” Brian said.
“We have to find him,” Christopher agreed.
“She’s one of us,” Declan was on board, too.
“So, it’s settled,” Allison said. “I’ll start looking online tomorrow to see what information I can find. There have to be records of some sort regarding this.”
“I never saw anything online about us having a damn brother,” Christopher muttered.
“Well, it happened before you all launched your enormous security company,” Allison said. “And it happened before the Internet was really big, you know?”
“I’ll help you look, too,” Winter said. Brian was filled with pride that his mate was just as on board with this as his brothers were. Winter had some incredible skills when it came to research.
“I don’t know how much help I’ll be,” Zoa piped up. “I’m just an accountant, but, well, I’ll do what I can.”
Once the brothers and their mates parted ways, Brian and Winter were left alone. They sat on the bed in their honeymoon suite, and they just looked at each other.
“This really wasn’t the way I saw today going,” he admitted.
“It’s okay,” Winter promised him.
“Thanks for being so supportive.”
“Of course,” she whispered. “You’re my mate, Brian, and Felix is your family.”
“I can’t believe I never knew.”
“It’s hard when we learn something new about our family,” Winter agreed. “There are a lot of emotions surrounding something like this.”
“My mom should have told me sooner,” he told Winter. He’d probably never admit that to anyone else, but Winter could handle it. He could trust her.
“I know, but she didn’t, so we just have to deal with that.”
“I agree,” he nodded. Still, the fact that she hadn’t trusted any of the brothers with this secret stung a bit. Brian wasn’t a parent yet, so he didn’t know just how difficult a choice like this could be, but he knew one thing. He was going to do whatever it took to help find his brother and to bring peace to his mom.
“You’re a good man, Brian,” Winter whispered. She reached for her mate and pulled him close. She wrapped her arms around him and kissed him. “A very good man.”
“I love you, Winter Monster.”
“I love you more, Brian March,” she laughed, shaking her head. Neither one of them was actually changing their last name for the other. They were just going to keep their names as they were, and that was perfectly fine with Brian.
He reached for his mate and pulled her close, kissing her, and he closed his eyes. No matter what happened, they were going to be there for each other. Forever and always.
THE NEXT MORNING, RAYA stood in the doorway and looked out at her family. Brian and Winter, Christopher and Allison, Declan and Zoa: it was all so perfect. They were all so perfect. Everything about this moment was wonderful except for the fact that her other child, her oldest little boy, wasn’t with them.
Felix had always been a happy child: kind, energetic, and curious. Raya had enjoyed four wonderful years with him before he’d been snatched away. The truth was that Raya had never forgiven herself for what had happened.
What if she’d been more careful?
What if she’d been more aware?
What if she’d...
Well, what if she’d done more to protect her child?
Nobody ever wanted to even think about the possibility of a little kid passing away or being abducted. Nobody wanted to consider what it might feel like if your child was there one moment, and gone the next.
Raya didn’t have to imagine.
She knew.
She could feel the weight of losing her child every time she tried to breathe. Her chest constricted, and she felt like someone was pressing down on it, pressing down on her. Even though Raya loved her other sons so very much, she missed Felix. She had always missed him.
She would never stop missing him.
Raya looked down at the little necklace that hung around her neck, and she touched it gently. The stone glowed beneath her touch. She knew that he was still alive out there, somewhere. She knew.
And as long as the stone glowed, Raya would never stop looking for him.
Who is the lost dragon?
Find out in DRAGON ENCHANTED, a new series from Sophie Stern.
You can find book one, HIDDEN MAGE, here.
Author
Sophie Stern writes vampires, cowboy
s, werewolves, dragons, and fairy tales. Her books feature deliciously wonderful characters and deliciously naughty adventures. If you enjoyed Naughty Dragon, you may like one of her other romances, such as Dark Favors or The Feisty Librarian.
Please make sure you subscribe to Sophie’s mailing list here.
You can also follow her on Facebook for frequent updates.
Thank you so much for reading.
Books
Other books by Sophie Stern
HONEYPOT DARLINGS
HONEYPOT BABIES
DRAGON ISLE
THE FABLESTONE CLAN
DON’T DATE DEMONS
POLAR BEARS OF THE AIR FORCE
DARK FAVORS
SAVORED
Sophie’s books are available wherever eBooks are sold.
The Bear’s Virgin Darling
Did you enjoy this book? Do you want to read more stories about paranormal creatures and the humans who love them?
I have six books out that take place in Honeypot, Colorado and that feature sweet, sexy, and sassy shifters. Check out a chapter from The Bear’s Virgin Darling now. Then consider reading one of my other stories:
The Bear’s Virgin Darling
The Bear’s Virgin Mate
The Bear’s Virgin Bride
The Polar Bear’s Baby
The Tiger’s Baby
The Jaguar’s Baby
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Chapter One
Hope
Hope.
That’s my name.
My parents struggled for years to have a baby and then finally, they had me. They named me Hope to remind themselves that things can always get better. No matter how tough life gets, there’s always a way to make things better.
Always.
It doesn’t matter if you’re old or young or skilled or uneducated. No matter what you’re going through, you can get through it.
As I grip the steering wheel of my beat-up Saturn so hard I think my hands might bleed, their words run through my mind.
“Sorry, Mama,” I whisper. “There’s no hope this time.”
The highway is empty and I’ve been driving for hours. I still have at least two to go until I reach beautiful, isolated, far-from-home Honeypot, Colorado.
I don’t know a damn thing about the town except that it’s a 12-hour drive from my rink-a-dink hometown in Missouri and that I have a job interview with some ranch.
Like I know anything about ranching.
That doesn’t matter though. I learned this great skill in drama class called “fake it ‘til you make it,” and that’s exactly what I plan to do.
Holbrook can kiss my ass and so can Jacob Clint. Did he really think I wouldn’t find out he was fucking my best friend?
Did she?
It’s been a month since I caught them fooling around, but the pain hasn’t dimmed. It took me a whole month to sell my stuff, give my landlord ample notice I was leaving, and set up this damn job interview.
I applied for a few gigs closer to home, but when I saw the posting for a ranch hand in Colorado, I couldn’t resist applying. I’m still shocked they liked my application. I’m still shocked they called me.
Granted, I could show up tomorrow and they might tell me to get lost, but it’s something new, something different, something brave.
It’s something to keep my mind off how badly my heart hurts.
I hope Jacob and Margaret are very happy together in hell.
I press the gas pedal a little bit harder.
I can’t wait to get to Nowhere, Colorado. Not too much further now. I blast my music and stare out the window, driving with one hand down the highway. My car is loaded with my life’s belongings. I sure as hell hope I get the job because if I don’t, I’m going to be stuck in Colorado with no house, no job, and no boyfriend.
Soon my stomach growls and I decide to stop for a quick burger. The only two things at the next exit are a gas station and a fast food chain, so I eat my run-of-the-mill burger in silence, stretch my legs, and fill up the tank. My thoughts alternate between being horrified Jacob was the best I could do and being horrified that I won’t get the job.
I need the job.
I get back on the road and start driving once more. I need to stop feeling sorry for myself and start getting myself pumped up about the interview, but I just can’t. I’m still too hurt. The pain is still too fresh.
Unfortunately, my thoughts are so focused that I don’t realize when the speed limit drops from 75 to 55 just outside of Honeypot. The sirens in the rearview mirror catch my attention and I growl in frustration as I pull over.
Dammit.
A ticket is not what I need right now. I barely have enough money saved for a hotel room while I’m in Honeypot. If I don’t get the job, or if I have a bunch of unexpected expenses, I will definitely be living out of my car.
This is a problem because my car is full of clothes, books, and trinkets I couldn’t leave behind.
Taking a deep breath, I place my hands on the steering wheel and wait for the officer to run my plates. I’ve never had a ticket before, but I’ve been pulled over, and I remember the cop explaining that he had to call in the license plate before he even came to speak with me.
After a few minutes, my heart finally begins to slow, and I realize that this was just an honest mistake. Besides, getting a ticket isn’t the worst thing that could happen to a girl like me. By the time the officer gets out of his car and walks toward mine, I’ve convinced myself that I’ll handle this like an adult.
I definitely will not cry in front of this stranger. Maybe I’ve been through a lot, but crying in front of strangers is definitely a hard limit for me. Unfortunately, as I begin to roll my window down – yes, my car is so old that I have toroll the window down – I catch a glimpse of the cop and he’s no tubby police officer.
No, this guy is tall, cut, and fit to be tied.
Dammit.
My mouth goes dry when he approaches and I’m very aware of the fact that I’ve been in a car all day and probably smell like stale French fries.
“Hello, ma’am,” the officer greets me, standing outside my window. He places one hand on top of my car and peers in the window at me. I swallow loudly as I stare at his aviators.
He’s so tall he almost has to bend in half to peek into my car. Suddenly, I wish I was wearing a low-cut shirt to give him a show. He smiles brightly, his perfectly white teeth shining in the evening sunset. And oh, is he filling out that uniform in all the right places.
“Fuck me,” I say out loud, and I immediately cover my mouth with my hand and start shaking my head. Shit! Shit. Shit. Shit. I did not mean to say that out loud. “I’m sorry,” I mumble, and look away, completely embarrassed. I can’t believe I just said that to a stranger.
To my surprise, the police officer doesn’t get upset, though. He just chuckles.
“New to the area?” He says, and I nod, but don’t say anything. “Well, do you know why I pulled you over?”
This is the part where I feign innocence. This is the part where I cry damsel, where I say that I just got out of a bad relationship and I’m trying to get a fresh start. This is the part where I say I didn’t know any better, where I simply say that I missed the sign.
Only when he lowers his glasses and I see his deep brown eyes, I know I can’t lie to this cop.
Something tells me he’ll know whether I’m telling the truth or not.
Something tells me he doesn’t do lies.
“I was speeding,” I blurt out, and again, cover my mouth. What is with my bluntness around this guy?
He nods, and asks for my registration and driver’s license. I hand both over to him, cringing the entire time. He flips over my license and eyes my registration,
then he asks me the question I’ve been dreading.
“And where are you headed, ma’am?”
I point to the exit that’s just up ahead, number 234.
“Honeypot,” I say. “I have a job interview tomorrow.”
“Is that so, miss?” He looks surprised, and I wonder why. I’m guessing not too many new people come to Honeypot. It’s basically in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by dense forests. The last exit was about ten miles back, so I’d say it’s pretty isolated.
“It’s not full of murderers, is it?” I ask him on a whim, wondering what secrets I’ll discover in the tiny town. “Because if you say it is, I’ll turn right on back around.”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “No murderers. No need to worry about that. Now, you just hold tight.” He heads back to his car to check something. I don’t know what. Maybe he’s checking to make sure there aren’t any warrants out for my arrest.
I sit still, not bothering to play with my phone or pretend to listen to music. I don’t have anyone to text and I doubt I get cell service out here, anyway.
Lucky for me, dating Jacob really ruined my friendships, so I don’t have anyone to care that I’m gone. There’s no one to miss me, no one to call. Everyone hated him and when I was with him, I became this unrecognizable bitch. It was my own fault, but the truth still hurts.
Finally, the officer returns and gives me a ticket. He looks at me, all business, and tells me to slow down.
“Yeah,” I say, taking it glumly. I shove it in my glove compartment, along with my registration. My license goes back in my wallet. “I’ll do that.”
“Best of luck in Honeypot,” he says, trying to be friendly. I can tell he’s the kind of cop who takes pride in his work, who doesn’t give out tickets just to be mean. Still, it’s annoying he chose me to target for his ticket-writing today.
“Yeah. Thanks. I hear the Blair Ranch is beautiful,” I say, trying my best to stay calm. Don’t cry, Hope. Don’t think about how much this ticket is going to cost you, Hope. “Hopefully it’ll be everything it’s rumored to be.”