He disappeared into the large cabin, slamming the door behind him. Kaida rubbed at her forehead as Bones said, “Jesus, what a douche that guy is.”
She smiled a little despite the nausea running rampant in her guts. “What’s Cadmus’s mood like?”
Bones shrugged. “You could probably tell better than I can, but he seems calm. Ever since Valen died, nothing seems to rile him up. The council asks him daily to appoint another member – Ryul hounds him about it, to be honest – but he seems in no hurry to do it.”
“Do you think he’ll appoint Drago?” Kaida asked.
“Fuck, I hope not.” Bones rubbed at his shaved head. “Drago will have us fucking living in caves in the middle of Siberia if he gets appointed to the council. I know Ryul, Collette, and Oben are hoping he is appointed. They’re old school like Drago and having him on the council will give them the majority when it comes to voting.”
He stared glumly at her. “We really will be living in caves in Siberia.”
She squeezed his tattooed arm reassuringly. “Cadmus is still high elder. He has the power to overrule the council’s vote.”
“That’s true, but Cadmus has been high elder since we were yearlings. How many times have you seen him use that particular high elder perk?”
“Only once,” she said.
“Exactly. He didn’t overrule their decision when you approached the council for permission to help Bishop protect his human mate from that rogue dragon, and he likes Bishop.”
“I remember,” Kaida said, “but you know as well as I do that Cadmus likes living near the humans. He always has. If he had his way, dragons would reveal themselves to the world like the other paranormals.”
“Jesus, what a fucking shitshow that would be,” Bones said. “You don’t think Cadmus would actually do it, do you? I mean, it’s one thing to wish we didn’t have to be in hiding, but if he actually tried to show humans that dragons existed – high elder or not, he would be banished.”
“No, I don’t think he would,” she said, but there was doubt in her voice. Ever since Cadmus’s mate Valen had died, the old dragon seemed almost indifferent to the council and to the clan. He’d always been calm and slow to anger, but now he was almost catatonic in his mannerisms. With Valen gone, she had a feeling that Cadmus believed he had nothing to live for anyway, and that could lead to dangerous consequences for the dragon.
“You’d better get in there,” Bones said.
Kaida followed Bones into the cabin. It was the largest cabin and it served as their community hall. The clan ate their meals here, social events were held in the cabin, and the council’s monthly meetings took place here. Any clan member was welcome to sit in on a council meeting, but rarely did. Tonight though, was an exception.
“Shit,” Kaida said.
Bones stared down at her before studying the dragons that filled the chairs lined up in neat horizontal rows in the large room. “Yeah, news spreads fast, right? They all want to know if the humans are gonna be barbequed or not.”
She took a deep breath as Bones sat down in the last row next to Javee. The dragoness, she was short and curvy with long brown hair streaked with a rich dark red, smiled affectionately at him. Bones draped his arm across the back of her chair, and she leaned into him before giving Kaida an encouraging look.
Kaida walked down the center aisle toward the long and narrow table at the front of the room. The six council members sat behind the table. Kaida stared at the empty chair next to Cadmus, a sharp pang of loss eating at her insides.
She stopped in front of the council table and bowed to the elders. “Good evening, elders.”
“Good evening, Kaida,” Walter, the oldest of the elders, replied. His long hair was completely white, and the purple streaks in it had long since faded to a pale lilac. “Do you know why the council has summoned you?”
“I do,” she said.
“Explain yourself,” Ryul said sharply. “You brought humans into our clan. What were you thinking?”
“The fox shifter was injured badly by humans. I worried his head injury would be fatal, so I brought him to Gram for healing. The human is dating the fox shifter.”
“You should have left the fox to die,” Ryul said. “The problems of other shifters are not our concern.”
“Perhaps they should be.” The soft-spoken reply came from the blonde dragoness sitting next to Cadmus. The streaks in her hair were a dark red and the flecks of red in her golden pupils almost looked like blood. “Avoiding other paranormals is a mistake, one we need to rectify.”
“Not tonight, Leia,” the dragon next to her sighed. “It is already late, and this is not the time for yet another discussion on why we should be joining forces with other paranormals. Dragons have survived for thousands of years on their own and will continue to do so for another thousand years. Why is that so difficult for you to understand?”
Leia glared at the dark-haired shifter. “Why is it so difficult for you to understand that the old ways are dying. If we do not make changes now, our kind will not live to see another thousand years. You know as well as I do that fewer and fewer hatchlings are born each year. If we are to survive, we must adapt, Oben.”
“Muddying the gene pool with other shifters is not the way to adapt,” the dragoness on the other side of Oben said. “If you believe allowing dragons to mate with a bear or a lion will not weaken our clans, then you are a bigger fool than I thought.”
“Hold your tongue, Collette,” Ryul said. “We are not here to discuss our hatchling problem.”
Collette glared at him but fell silent as Ryul turned his gaze to Kaida. “What you have done was incredibly foolish and you have risked the entire clan’s safety.”
“The fox shifter knows he must keep our secret,” Kaida said.
“He knew you were a dragon?” Walter said.
“He did.”
“Not surprising,” Leia replied. “Our scent gives us away to most shifters. Even the ones who believe us extinct.”
“Which is the exact reason why we avoid other shifters and humans,” Oben said.
Leia snorted, a tiny bit of flame shooting out from her nostrils. “Humans cannot smell a damn thing. I could stand right next to one and they would have no clue what I am.”
“It does not mean we should invite them into our home.” Ryul glared at Kaida. “As a yearling, your friendship with the grizzly shifter was tolerated because you were young and foolish. But you are an adult now. An adult who brought not only a shifter, but two humans into our sacred space. Not only does one of them work for the human authorities, but they are the children of Senator Matthews.”
Kaida’s stomach dropped. She glanced behind her at Javee who mouthed, ‘I’m sorry’. She turned back to face the council. She didn’t blame the dragoness for giving the information on Bren and Tyler to the council – it was her job after all – but what were the odds that the human she rescued would be the son of the Senator who was doing everything in his power to subjugate shifters?
“Well?” Ryul said. “What do you have to say for yourself?”
She took a deep breath, the weight of the stares of most of her clan burrowing into the back of her skull. “The humans have no idea of our true nature. They believe we are bear shifters.”
“So, that makes it better?” Collette said. “We should feel safer that humans know where our clan is because they believe us to be bears?”
“Many humans know where our clan is,” Kaida said. “We may live in the woods, we may keep to ourselves, but there are humans and shifters in the city who know of us. How many times have hunters stumbled upon us? They too, believe we are bear shifters. There is no reason that this may change.”
“There is a difference between humans who stumble into our home and humans who are invited,” Ryul said.
“They are only yearlings and they were being beaten by other humans. I could not leave them to their fate,” Kaida said.
“You could have, and you should h
ave,” Ryul said, sounding so much like Drago, that Kaida glanced over her shoulder at the redheaded dragon. He was staring at her with a combination of smugness and anger, and she resisted the urge to give him the finger. Acting like a yearling would not help her case with the council.
“The humans are below us,” Ryul continued, “and your compassion toward them is weakness on your part.”
“Compassion is never weakness,” Walter said.
Ryul shook his head. “It is when it will get you banished.”
Her clan gasped behind her and Kaida fought to keep the fear from her face. She knew they would bring up banishment, of course she did, but to hear the actual words coming out of an elder’s mouth brought tingles of panic down her spine.
“There will be no talk of banishment.” Cadmus’s low voice soothed her panic.
Ryul turned to Cadmus. “She brought humans into the clan, high elder. If they discover we are dragons, banishment is -”
“If they discover we are dragons,” Cadmus said. “They believe us to be bears, remember? Humans are not the brightest species in the world. As long as we keep our flame to ourselves when the humans return, they will not suspect our true nature.”
“When the humans return?” Ryul sputtered. “They are not returning to the clan, Cadmus.”
Cadmus stared at her, and a flush rose in her cheeks. How did he know?
“Kaida,” Cadmus said. “What would you like to ask of the council?”
She swallowed down her nerves and kept her shoulders back. “I ask the council to grant the fox shifter mercy. He will keep our secret and when you speak with him in the morning, you will see what I say is true.”
“We will take your request for mercy under advisement,” Ryul said stiffly.
“Thank you, elder.”
“If that is all, then we will -”
“Kaida,” Cadmus’s low voice interrupted Ryul, “what else?”
She licked her dry lips, knowing what she was about to ask was madness and cursing her dragon for getting her into this mess. “I ask the council for permission to train the yearling human and the fox shifter how to fight.”
A smile broke out across Cadmus’s face as the clan made more gasps of surprise and dismay behind her.
Ryul laughed. “You’re kidding.”
“I am not,” she said. “The human believes we’re bears, and the fox shifter will keep our secret. I will only need a week or two to train them. I’ll take them to the training circle and keep them away from the clan.”
“No,” Ryul said. “Absolutely not.”
“Ryul,” Cadmus said. “That is not how this works.”
Ryul sighed before sitting back in his chair. “Fine, we will vote on it. All council members in favour of allowing Kaida to bring a human and a shifter near our clan and thereby endangering all of our lives, raise your hands.”
Her stomach a hot twisted mess of bile, Kaida clenched her hands at her sides and scanned the council. When only Leia and Cadmus raised their hands, a small part of her was relieved. Bringing the humans into her world would only cause trouble.
I want the big human, her dragon grumbled to her. Give him to me.
Shut up. Christ, now was not the time for her dragon to get involved. She didn’t know what the fuck was going on with her dragon, but its sudden crush on a damn human was a complication she didn’t need.
“All those against?” Ryul asked.
The other four raised their hands. Kaida ignored her dragon’s grumbling as Ryul said, “If we decide to allow the fox to live, you will return him to his family immediately.”
“Gram says he shouldn’t be moved for a day or two,” Kaida said. “It could make his injuries worse.”
“That is not our problem,” Ryul said. “As for the humans, if they show up to see the fox shifter, I would advise that you warn them to not return to our lands.” He stood, gathering up his cloak. “The meeting is -”
“I’m overruling the council’s decision.”
Ryul froze and turned to Cadmus. “What did you say?”
“I said, I am overruling the council’s decision. It is my right to do so as high elder,” Cadmus said.
“Cadmus, be reasonable,” Walter said. “I do not think the humans to be the problem that Ryul and the others do but allowing them to be near our clan is madness.”
“Why?” Leia said. “They think we are bear shifters. What is the harm?”
“What is the harm? Have you gone crazy?” Drago jumped up from his seat.
“Watch your tongue,” Leia said to him. “You’re speaking to an elder, do not forget that.”
“Forgive me,” Drago said. “But we cannot allow the humans anywhere near our clan again. Humans are stupid and dangerous.”
“Thank you for your input, Drago,” Cadmus said. A serene look had dropped across his face again. “But as you are not yet a member of the council, your opinion is not asked for or needed. Return to your seat.”
Drago’s eyes flashed with angry light, but he returned to his seat.
“Kaida, do you believe that we are in danger from these humans?” Cadmus asked.
“No, Cadmus,” Kaida replied. “You are right in that they are not very bright. They will not discover our true nature in the short time it will take me to teach the yearlings to defend themselves.”
“Cadmus, you cannot -”
“Hush, Collette,” Cadmus said. “I can and I will. Kaida will train the yearling human and the fox to defend themselves. Will the adult human be joining them?”
Kaida’s stomach clenched. “Some, I would imagine. He is the yearling’s brother and they seem close.”
Both Oben and Ryul snorted in disgust but Cadmus ignored them. “Very well. They are allowed in the training circle and Kaida’s cabin only. I trust you will keep watch over them at all times, Kaida.”
“Yes, Cadmus.” She hesitated. “Will the council still require a meeting with the fox in the morning?”
“Yes.” Cadmus smiled at her before heaving himself to his feet. “I cannot abolish every single rule in one night, can I?” He looked out at the crowd of dragons. “The meeting is done, return to your homes, my clan.”
Chapter Five
“What did Dad say about your hand?” Bren turned off the highway and headed down the two-lane road that led toward the bear clan’s land.
“He didn’t even notice.” Tyler stared morosely out the window. “I could have been wearing a cast and he wouldn’t have noticed.”
Bren reached across and squeezed Tyler’s shoulder. He wanted to ask Ty about moving in with him again, but he knew what his brother’s answer would be. Tyler craved their father’s attention and affection, despite being rejected time and time again, and it killed Bren to watch him be disappointed repeatedly.
“Tyler, maybe you should -”
“Corey texted me this morning,” Tyler said. “He’s feeling better, he said.”
“That’s good news. Maybe he’ll be able to go home today.”
Tyler snorted and stared out the window again. “It’s not a home. His foster parents didn’t even text him last night. They don’t give a shit. All they care about is getting their money. I told him he could stay with me.”
“That’s not a good idea,” Bren said. “If Dad finds out he’s a shifter -”
“He won’t,” Tyler said. “I’m dating Corey and I didn’t even know. He’s really good at hiding it.”
“He shouldn’t have to hide it though, and if he lives with you and Dad, he will have to,” Bren said.
“He hides it at his foster home,” Tyler said. “What’s the difference?”
Bren turned right onto the narrow dirt road. Tyler had a point, but it was still too dangerous for Corey to live with him. “If it came out that Dad had a shifter living in his home, it would ruin him politically. If that happens…”
“Yeah, yeah, he’d disown me,” Tyler said. “I know Dad’s career is more important to him than me. You don’t have to
keep reminding me.”
The road was growing bumpier and narrower and Bren gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. As they crested the hill right before Kaida’s home, his stomach made a funny little lurch that had nothing to do with the potholes they were driving over.
He followed the road – it was more like a dirt path at this point – past three of the cabins and parked in front of Kaida’s. He shut the car off as Tyler unlatched his seatbelt.
“Ty, wait a minute.”
“What?” Tyler stared impatiently at him.
“I’m not so sure that having Kaida teach you and Corey how to fight is a good idea.”
A scowl crossed Tyler’s face. “It is, Bren. We need to know how to protect ourselves.”
“I can show you some self-defence moves, and we can sign you and Corey up for some boxing classes at -”
“I want Kaida to teach us to fight.” The familiar stubborn line had shown up between Ty’s eyebrows. “And if you had seen her kicking Jeff’s ass yesterday, you’d want her showing us how to fight too.”
He opened the door and climbed out of the car before Bren could say anything else. He sighed and slid out of the car, slamming the door shut, and studying the other cabins as Tyler bounded up the porch steps and knocked on Kaida’s door.
Like yesterday, there wasn’t a single person in the clearing surrounding the cabins. He studied the cabins, a crawling sensation on the back of his neck. His feeling of being watched was confirmed when a curtain in the cabin across from Kaida’s home twitched.
He swung his gaze that way, keeping a friendly expression on his face, but the curtain had already stilled. He knew that bear shifters could be standoffish and avoid humans, especially grizzlies, but this was bordering on ridiculous. It was a beautiful autumn day, and there wasn’t one shifter outside raking leaves or -
“Human, come inside.”
He turned around. Tyler had already disappeared into the cabin and Kaida was standing on her porch. His stomach made another of those funny lurches, like he was hurtling down a steep hill on a roller coaster instead of standing on solid ground. She wore jeans and a faded pink t-shirt that clung to her full breasts. Sweat broke out on his forehead. He’d been one hundred percent accurate about what kind of body that cloak had been hiding yesterday, and the semi he was now sporting was about to turn into a full-blown erection if he didn’t look away.
The Dragon's Mate (Book Seven) Page 5