Dragon Protectors: Shifter Romance Collection

by Lola Gabriel

  “You’re in the wrong area, miss,” one of the younger Valkyries announced, asserting herself in front of her counterpart. The beefy but slow-looking troll behind her seemed content letting her take the lead.

  “I need to see Mr. Owen Parker,” Kennedy said firmly. “It’s important.”

  The Valkyrie snickered. “This is a private residence, lady, not an office. Make an appointment if you have something to discuss.”

  For a moment, Kennedy considered shifting, but she had never gone head-to-head with a Valkyrie before, and she wondered if her chances were good. Valkyries were known for being cunning, not necessarily for their brute strength, and she might be outmanoeuvred. After all, the palace didn’t just hire anyone to protect them. Anyway, Kennedy didn’t want to cause a scene. There were other ways into Owen’s suite—she’d snuck in before.

  “Fine,” she said. “I’ll make an appointment.” As she turned away, she heard someone call out to her.

  “It’s Kennedy, right?” She turned slowly and looked at one of Owen’s brothers, Wilder, stalking toward her, his eyes glittering. Kennedy nodded warily and addressed him as he stood before her. “You shouldn’t be here,” Wilder told her firmly. “You’re asking for trouble.”

  Kennedy almost laughed, but the words affected her in a deeply upsetting way. “I’m looking for Owen,” she replied, trying to keep the emotion from her tone. “Is he here?”

  Wilder cast the guards a look and waved his hand in dismissal.

  “I’ll deal with this,” he assured them. Kennedy didn’t like the sound of that. “I don’t know what kind of game you’re playing, but you’re definitely playing with the wrong people,” Wilder growled. He was standing too close to her, but Kennedy did not back away. If Owen was her favorite brother, Wilder was her least favorite. There was something exceedingly arrogant about him, like he thought himself better than everyone, even though he was as successful as his brothers. He carried himself with an almost menacing air, but Kennedy was not one to be intimidated by anyone, ruler or not.

  “I’m not playing any game,” she flared. “And you have no business interfering with any relationship your brother has!” She knew she might be crossing a line. Who knew what Owen had said to him?

  “It becomes my business when you bring danger to my kingdom,” Wilder retorted, his face reddening with anger. It was clear he had not expected to be argued with, and Kennedy couldn’t help feeling a spark of victory.

  “I just want to see Owen,” she insisted, relenting slightly. She could see that getting into a pissing match was not going to solve anything. “Please, Mr. Parker. He’s not taking any of my calls.”

  “Well, there’s a shock, Kennedy!” Wilder snapped sarcastically. “He doesn’t want to be played as a fool.”

  Her brow furrowed. “A fool?” she repeated. “How is he being played as a fool?”

  Wilder’s mouth curled into an unbecoming smile, and it chilled her. “Your innocent eyes and pretty face don’t work with me, Kennedy. Go back to your Lycan lover and try your charms with him. This is why dragons are so much more powerful. We don’t allow ourselves to fall for the immortals’ commonplace charms.”

  A wave of ice pellets littered Kennedy’s blood, and she suddenly understood why Owen had not taken her calls. He already found out about Rocco. He thinks that we’re seeing each other for real!

  Kennedy shook her head vehemently. “No!” she protested. “It’s not like that! Rocco is doing me a favor—”

  “I really don’t want to hear about the favors that schmuck does for you,” Wilder interrupted. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll stay away from the palace and from Owen. I’d have your daddy place you in another store. Trust me, Kennedy. It’s in your best interest.”

  Shock filled her. The threat was not veiled in the least.

  “You’ve got it all wrong!” Kennedy exclaimed. “Please, listen to me!”

  “I’ve got an empire to run,” Wilder said. “I don’t have time to play head games with a little girl. I hope you heed my warning.” He didn’t give her a chance to respond, and he spun, leaving her to gape after him in shock.

  No! Kennedy thought. I won’t let Owen go that easily, and certainly not when he thinks I’ve betrayed him with another man. I’ll get Rocco to talk to him if need be.

  “Lady, did you hear Mr. Parker? You should probably get out of here.”

  But Kennedy ignored the spunky guard and dug her cell out of her purse, dialing Owen’s number again. Once more, it went straight to voicemail, and she left him a rushed message.

  “Owen, I don’t know what you heard, but I promise you, it’s not what you think. Please, just call me so I can explain. Please.” She exhaled shakily and ended the call, shaking her head.

  This is such a ridiculous mess. I am going to Dad tonight and telling him everything. This vendetta is dated and stupid. Agreeing to this farce with Rocco without discussing it with Owen was even stupider, and I am the stupidest for letting it get this far.

  With determination, she spun and headed toward the exit. One way or another, she was going to make it right with Owen.

  As she walked from the place toward the Maverline parked around the far side of the building, a spark of annoyance toward Owen also ignited. Why is he acting like a child, ignoring my calls? That hardly seems like a mature thing to do.

  Moreover, it seemed uncharacteristic of Owen. No matter how angry he might be, she couldn’t envision him to be the type to ghost her, to hide behind his guards and brother. Surely he would want to hear her side of the story, even if he thought it might be hurtful. He was a businessman, for gods’ sake, not some schoolboy. Something just didn’t feel right about Owen’s almost ominous silence.

  For the first time since things had begun to go awry between them, Kennedy asked herself a question she hadn’t entertained. Where the hell is Owen?

  Kennedy heeded Wilder’s advice, forsaking work and heading directly back home to speak with her father. Theo was at the palace store—he would hold down the fort for the time being.

  She drove at an uneasy pace, at times too fast and at others too slow, depending on where her thoughts wandered. On the one hand, she needed to confront the issues at hand before she lost Owen. On the other hand, she was not looking forward to the conversation with her father.

  When she pulled up to the gate, she noted with some disappointment that her father’s car was in the driveway. Kennedy knew she shouldn’t prolong the inevitable, but she wished she’d had more time, a chance to discuss the situation with Owen.

  What if it’s already too late and Owen won’t ever talk to me again? she wondered. Is it really worth talking to Dad about this if Owen and I won’t be together?

  She instantly shook her head and forced herself to act like a woman, not a scared child afraid of being reprimanded. With renewed confidence, she pushed herself out of the driver’s seat and slammed the door with finality. It was the moment of truth, and no matter what the outcome was, at least her conscience would be clear.

  Then I will find Owen and make this right… if I can get to him.

  Kennedy barely got a foot on the stone patio when the door flew inward, and she was met with her father’s furious face.

  “You…!” he hissed, his eyes sparking. “How could you?”

  Kennedy felt the blood drain from her face, and she stood helplessly before him. She had never seen him look at her with such ire, such disappointment, and her stomach flipped sickeningly.

  “Dad, I can explain,” she murmured. “I-I didn’t—”

  “You have disgraced me, disgraced the pack! You swore to me that nothing was going on, and you lied to my face!”

  “I didn’t know how to tell you!” she moaned miserably, lowering her head. “Dad, I wanted to—”

  “SILENCE!” Cameron’s voice echoed through the caverns, and Kennedy was sure he could be heard clear to the palace and down to the Trenches. She clamped her mouth shut, knowing nothing she could say
would alleviate his fury at that moment.

  “Let’s go inside and talk about this,” she muttered, feeling the eyes of the house staff on her. She couldn’t see anyone, but that didn’t mean they weren’t watching, listening. They’ll be rushing off to fuel the rumor mill as soon as they have enough gossip.

  “You’re damn right we will!” Cameron howled, and Kennedy watched as he struggled not to shift. His nose melded and reformed, deigning to become a snout, and the hairs on his knuckles grew denser as he trembled with rage. “I’ll do the talking. You’ll listen for once in your life,” her father snarled. To Kennedy’s shock, he seized her arm and marched her into the foyer. Kennedy was too stunned to yank her arm free. Never had Cameron ever put his hands on her, and while the motion did not hurt her, Kennedy could tell he wouldn’t care if it had.

  Fear and worry took her breath away as she was half-dragged into the study. The door flew open with such force that Kennedy heard the handle smash into the walls.

  “Sit down!” She didn’t protest and instantly took a chair, perching perilously on the edge of her seat. “How long has this been going on?” her father spat. “How long have you been betraying your kind?”

  “Dad, you’re being—” Kennedy abruptly stopped talking, realizing that calling him out on his rationality would not be the best course of action. “Dad, we’re in love.”

  She knew the words probably sounded lame to his incensed ears, but it was the truth, one he was either going to have to accept or not. At least it was out in the open now.

  “Is this what you call love?” Cameron screeched. He took a laptop and spun it to face her, her eyes fixed on the screen before her. It took Kennedy several seconds to understand what she was looking at, and when she did, a strangled gasp smothered her.

  “W-where did you get that?” she breathed, wanting to tear her eyes away from the shot in the parking lot but unable to do so. Gods, we were never careful! We were always bound to get caught! Why didn’t I see that?

  She knew why: she was so in love with Owen, so swept up in the wave of their relationship, that nothing else seemed important.

  “So you don’t deny it’s true.” It wasn’t a question—how could it be when it was so obviously her and Owen engaged in their first sexual encounter right there in the palace employee lot?

  “Dad, he loves me. It’s not as sordid as all that.”

  Cameron sucked air in through his teeth and glowered at her. “Dragons don’t love anyone but themselves. The sooner you realize that, the better off you’ll be. He has sucked you into his spell. You wouldn’t be the first one to fall for their lies, and you won’t be the last.”

  I’ll be the last for Owen, Kennedy thought.

  “He doesn’t care about you,” Cameron continued. “He cares about ruling the Lycans. Do you think it’s any coincidence that he chose you, the Alpha’s daughter?”

  “It’s not a coincidence,” she replied. “I’m his mate.” Cameron’s face contorted into a mask of fury.

  “You are a bigger fool than I thought!” He fell into his swivel chair and buried his head in his hands. “This is all my fault. I have spoiled and indulged you.”

  Kennedy gritted her teeth to keep from retorting. She knew he was furious, and she didn’t want to add to his anger. There would be no talking to him until he calmed down.

  “That changes as of today,” her father went on, oblivious to Kennedy’s proximity to snapping herself. “You’re forbidden to go to the palace or to the Sunside. You’ll man the stores in Yementi and come straight home. There will be no other stops unless you are with an approved list of friends.”

  Kennedy scoffed. “I’m a fully mature woman, Dad. You can’t enforce rules like that on me!”

  Cameron threw his head back and glowered at her. “Or you can run to your lover and forget about me and the pack,” he snarled back. “Those are your options.”

  Kennedy blinked in amazement. “You would just cut me out because I fell in love with someone you don’t like?”

  Cameron smirked mirthlessly.

  “I love how you oversimplify matters, Kennedy. You act as if this is an insult to you, like you’re the victim, when you are fully aware of the damage this has done. A damned dragon? Of all the beings? Even a mortal would have been better.”

  Father and daughter clashed their eyes, neither willing to break their gaze.

  “So, in other words, I’m going to be a prisoner in my own home?” Kennedy summarized.

  “No,” Cameron answered flatly. “I’m giving you a choice. You can live by my rules, the way a respectable Alpha’s daughter should live, the way you should have always lived, or you can go to Owen Parker.” He waited for her answer, and suddenly his brow furrowed, as if he abruptly understood something. “I’m a little surprised you haven’t already spun and left me standing here,” he drawled slowly. “Has Owen Parker already lost interest in you? Is that why you aren’t running into his arms?”

  Consternation and denial flooded Kennedy. She didn’t want to give her father the satisfaction of knowing that Owen had not taken her calls in days, but she also couldn’t leave the only home she had ever known, hoping that everything was okay.

  “Dad, please be reasonable,” she begged. “This vendetta—”

  “I am not going to stand here and argue the finer points of our code with you, Kennedy. You have been given your choices. Now please, get out of my face before I truly say something I regret.” His expression told her that rational conversation was out of the question.

  There’s no talking to him when he’s like this, she thought grimly, rising from her spot. There may never be speaking to him again. “Should I go to the store in Yementi now?” she asked stiffly.

  “I don’t care where you go as long as you heed my rules and stay out of my way.” The words stung deeper than Kennedy would have liked to admit. She knew her father loved her endlessly, but hearing him speak at that moment made her doubt his feelings toward her.

  “Dad—”

  “Just go, Kennedy. I can’t look at you right now.”

  Tears sprung to her eyes, and she whirled before Cameron could see them. She fled the study and bolted up the steps toward her suite, the saline touching her pale cheeks before she could reach the top landing.

  The grim reality of the situation smacked her with brute force. She had lost her father, the man whom she had always admired and adored. She had lost his respect and possibly his affections. There would likely be no going back from the harm she had caused his reputation in such an obvious way.

  What troubled her more than that was the thought that she had lost Owen, too. She longed to run from the mansion and back to the palace, but she knew what waited for her there.

  Nothing. Nothing but guards who wouldn’t let her pass and Owen’s judgemental brother, who wouldn’t let her explain that she had been trying to protect them both.

  Kennedy knew the life she had always known would never be the same again, but that didn’t stop her from silently crying out to Owen, hoping he could hear her pleas wherever he was.

  Come back to me, she begged him. I need you now more than ever.

  There was no answer to her call. There was nothing but the sound of her own muffled cries in her ears.

  14

  The aftermath of the chaos inflicted upon Parker Insurance was one which Owen knew was going to take years to unravel. It was for that reason that he opted not to stress about it more than necessary. His mind was not on work, despite the insurmountable task before him. The insurance claims were increasing by the minute, and he left Colin in charge of the mess while he dealt with the matter truly pressing to him—speaking with Kennedy.

  His calls were not going through, no matter how many times he called, and when he went to the jewelry store, Theo flatly informed him that Kennedy would not return to work there.

  “Where is she?” the dragon demanded, his temper flaring. He couldn’t believe that Kennedy would not only cheat on him but c
ut him off without an explanation. He reminded himself that she had called endlessly, and he had brushed her off. I did this to her. I drove her away by not taking her calls.

  Owen had no idea if she needed time or if she sincerely had no intention of coming back. It didn’t matter what she intended—he wasn’t letting her walk away. At least not without a conversation as to why.

  “I’m sorry, Your—ah, Mr. Parker. I don’t know where Miss Solstice is. I was told she is not returning to the palace store.”

  “By whom?”

  “Mr. Solstice.” Tension fused through Owen’s spine, and a clearer picture of what had happened began to unfold. Had her father learned the truth and was keeping them apart? If so, why didn’t she tell him? And even if that was the case, that didn’t explain what Wilder had seen the previous morning in the coffee shop.

  Owen couldn’t shake the idea that something terrible was about to happen, but it was hard to know if that was because of all the stress on his head or because his sixth sense was so acute. He had picked up Kennedy’s voicemail, where she had promised him a clarification, but again, when he went to return her call, he was met with nothing but an “out of service” type tone.

  “Mr. Solstice called you and told you that Kennedy isn’t coming back? You haven’t spoken to her?”

  “No, Mr. Parker.”

  Owen studied his face closely. “Do you have a cell phone, Theo?”

  The salesman eyed him blankly. “Yes, of course.”

  “May I see it?” Theo seemed reluctant to oblige his request, but after withering under Owen’s gaze, he finally moved along to obey. A moment later, he returned with the device. Owen was already pulling up Kennedy’s number on his own cell. He dialed Kennedy’s digits on Theo’s cell, and more tension shot through him when the phone on the other end began to ring. Immediately, he hung up and tried her again on his phone. Once more, he was met with an annoying tone. She had blocked him.