Fated Dragons Complete Series: Books 1 - 5

by Emilia Hartley

  Including Liana.

  Including Raphael.

  Including the white dragons overhead.

  Nothing could happen until Raphael let go of Liana. If… when he did, Rhys would strike.

  An unfamiliar dragon sidled up beside Rhys. He kept himself from turning toward the beast when he caught the odd smell of American dragon. A sidelong glance told him it was their tall leader. The American dragons’ eyes were trained on Liana, on the blood dripping down her neck, his fist tightening to turn his knuckles white while he stood helpless.

  “Oh, but she would make such a pretty wife. Going to have to clip her wings though. Can’t have a woman who can fly away from you.”

  The American dragon had to stand in line. Rhys would have Raphael first. Then, maybe, he would throw the scraps to the American dragon pulsating with anger. The American dragon’s foot slid forward, his body slowly settling into a fighting stance. One that would launch him at Raphael.

  They couldn’t afford that kind of mistake.

  “Is it true?” Rhys whispered.

  The American dragon startled, his eyes whipping toward Rhys with an eyebrows skyward.

  “That Americans have an obsession with oily cheese?”

  The tension in the American dragon receded for a moment. Caught off guard, neither of them noticed the flash of gold soaring over the Territory, slithering through the Welsh skies. They roared to announce their arrival only moments before wrapping their long bodies around white dragons like whips. They squeezed and their jaws snapped with long, curved teeth and tore at thin wings.

  ***

  Farida couldn’t believe it.

  Her dragons came for her. Because she asked.

  Of course, she’d lied and said that she was the one being held hostage. Karim wouldn’t have been dumb enough to believe such a bald-faced lie, but there were others who would be. Others who were a bit naive and charismatic enough to gather his fellow dragons to her aid.

  To whatever end, she thought. It had worked.

  The gold dragons had come to help them.

  She would owe them, of course, but it made her entire body feel light to know that her people were willing to help her in a time of need. She had hope, for her future, for her family’s future. It would be a thing of beauty to see the Embassy become a thing spread all over the world. It would be a place, not only for human and dragon interaction, but one for dragons to interact.

  She had a vision.

  One of a new future.

  CREATED BY JUTOH - PLEASE REGISTER TO REMOVE THIS LINE

  Chapter Eleven

  Liana moved. She was fast. Always had been.

  One moment she hung limp and quiet in Raphael’s arms. It lulled him into a sense of superiority. The next, she’d spun on him. His claw raked against her tender flesh.

  Her hand folded back to reveal scales.

  And claws.

  Her neck burned. But, her claws bore down. They sliced through skin and flesh. Red mist filled the air. A body slumped to the ground.

  That fast, it was over.

  Her hand fell back to her side. Human skin had returned, the scales hidden once more. Before she could get far, a shape filled her path. Looking up, Liana expected her brother’s form to envelop her in his arms. It was the last thing she wanted.

  She didn’t want to be coddled anymore. She didn’t want to be treated like she was some fragile being, ready to fall apart at any given moment. Like anything might kill her.

  Liana was a survivor. A fighter.

  A killer.

  She would be no one’s puppet. No one’s hostage.

  Blood still warmed her neck and there was a sharp pain when she lifted her head to stare the American dragon in the eyes. She gave no hint at the emotions she might have felt. In that moment, she felt nothing. There was a peaceful silence settling inside of her for the first time in a while.

  Her mind had been filled with screams, her own, the dragons she’d managed to kill before they took her. Screaming all the time. Even when Rhys allowed her to turn the television volume full blast.

  Now, the American dragon held out an open hand. Studying his face, she tried to find a hint of guilt, a hint of apprehension. Instead, he looked down at her with pride.

  She would take it, she thought as she put her hand in his. It was warm, but not massive. Maybe that was because her own hands were large for a woman’s. Still, he held her like she was an equal and the feeling warmed her.

  Across the clearing, Rhys watched her. His mate stood beside him with her head turned toward the battle above them. But, all Rhys could see was his baby sister and the corpse she’d left behind her.

  “You could have let us know that you could have done that this whole time,” Cameron called out from behind her before he took his dragon shape and surged into the sky.

  The siblings’ eyes met again and, against each of their wishes, a laugh burst from between their lips. Liana smiled. She was alive. Some silly dolt like Raphael wasn’t going to get to be the one to kill her.

  ***

  The gold dragons had quickly shut down the threat in the skies, while his sister… his sister had single handedly removed Raphael from this world altogether. Rhys had not seen this coming. For the past weeks, he’d been treading lightly around his sister, thinking that there was something broken about her.

  Something weak.

  But, it wasn’t that she’d weakened. If anything, Liana had hardened into a whole new creature. He didn’t know who this creature was, but it certainly was not the woman he’d grown up with. This was a monster lurking alongside her beast. It was a thing that could kill without remorse.

  That was why she’d barely wanted anything to do with his movies, with any interaction. They were probably useless wastes of time to the thing she’d become. It cared nothing for human entertainment. It was an animal, pure and simple.

  Rhys feared for his sister. This was a different kind of broken. This was the kind that kept you from living a real kind of life. One that kept you from loving and being loved. But, he didn’t think he had to worry about the being loved part. Not only did he fiercely love his baby sister, it seemed the leader of the American dragons had taken a strong liking to her as well.

  He couldn’t say as to whether or not he approved of the American dragon, but he knew that it wouldn’t be up to him. Love was like that. The mating bond was even more unpredictable. He never once thought he would have the Egyptian beauty that he did. He just hoped that the American dragon, if the bond really was there, took care of her the way he cared for Farida.

  Then, maybe, his sister might come back from the dark place she’d gone.

  His family, on the other hand, was about to go to a dark place. In the night, because of what Rhys and his mate had done, Raphael had attacked Drystan. Rhys knew that it was his fault. The feeling sat heavy in his chest and gripped his heart every time he looked one of his family in the eyes.

  Drystan was dead.

  Their leader was gone.

  Owain had retreated into his mountain home after wailing his despair into the Territory. All of the trees and even the mountains shook at the sound. Wesley’s cries echoed it from inside the basement as he stood over his father’s corpse.

  It was Rhys’s fault. All this pain. The new hole in their family. It was Rhys’s fault for bringing Raphael into the Territory. They could have killed him in the forest and none of this would have happened. The red dragons would be getting on with their lives and the white dragons would have been scattered to the wind.

  Now, the red dragons had to pull themselves together. Wesley was next in line to lead, but even he didn’t know if he was ready. Drystan had been strong and immovable, seeming like he was going to live longer than the sun itself. So, Wesley hadn’t prepared himself for the future he would have.

  For the now.

  It was Rhiannon, pregnant and fierce, who stood up and tried to pull them together. She didn’t push Wesley aside. Instead, she pulled
him into her fold and began to work toward piecing their family together. Liana was still going to America, like Drystan wanted. Rhys saw what Drystan saw. He could see the leader of the American dragons and the fierce bond growing between him and Liana.

  It was Maggie they worried about now. She kept long hours in her University office, refusing to even step foot inside her home. Neither Wesley nor Dakota could lure the woman home so that they could comfort her, so that they could have a proper funeral for their leader.

  Rhys was left to wonder where their family was going from there. Who would rise to lead them? Rhiannon or Wesley? Or, would they form some kind of council and work together? It was new territory. One that the entire family should have been there to see, but it felt like they were about to be scattered to the winds.

  CREATED BY JUTOH - PLEASE REGISTER TO REMOVE THIS LINE

  Chapter Twelve

  Farida dug a card from the pocket of Rhys’s pants while he laid back on the bed, catching his breath. She knew that nagging scent. It had been prickling her senses for the past few hours, whenever Rhys’s hands were not on her skin.

  Rhys rolled over and she heard him curse ever so quietly. She spun to face him. They were mates. He wasn’t about to cheat on her. The bond pulled them together far too tightly for anything like that to happen. But, she couldn’t make sense of the business card that smelled like the young, Welsh woman who had originally claimed Rhys.

  “I owe her a bloody dinner date,” he groaned into his hands.

  “Please,” Farida said with a laugh. Watching his discomfort was always amusing. “Tell me the story of how this came to be.”

  He glared at her, but launched in anyway, detailing the run in he’d had after she slipped through the air vent. The woman would only leave him when he promised the girl a date. Was she so desperate to become the mate of a dragon that she would force the bond into place?

  It was an impossible dream, Farida thought. She turned the card over and over in her hand when an idea finally hit her. Farida tossed the card and Rhys’s cell phone to him. He looked up at her with confusion written across his face.

  “What do you want me to do with these? I’m fairly confident you aren’t looking for a ménage a trois with this woman. Well, I doubt you’re looking for one at all.”

  Farida playfully slapped him. “Call her, set up a date.”

  Rhys looked at her with skepticism, but did as she told him. The woman’s voice on the other end was sweet and ecstatic that he actually called her back. She teasingly warned him she would have gone through on her threat, not that Rhys or Farida understood exactly what that meant.

  ***

  Farida waited at the bar, finger playing along the rim of her drink while she waited for the young, Welsh woman to show up. The woman was punctual, Farida had to give her that. Daisy McShane arrived at precisely seven o’clock in the evening. The waiter led her to an empty table to wait as he notified ‘Rhys’.

  Farida smiled. Her mate was not there. The waiter, at her request or bribe she should say, notified her that Daisy had arrived. Farida slipped off her seat. She wore a short cocktail dress that mimicked the color of her beast’s scales, flashing gold and white as she walked toward the table. For the first time in a long while, Farida wore her family’s crest at the end of a long chain.

  Sliding into the empty seat, Daisy perked up. Her lips parted as if she might say something, then recognition crossed over her face. Her eyes dipped lower, taking in the crest that hung between Farida’s breasts. If she knew what it meant, this Daisy was not the person she presented herself as.

  “I came to tell you that whatever you think you had with Rhys is officially over,” Farida began. “Although, I’m starting to think that was never your plan at all.”

  “Well,” Daisy began, but a waiter appeared with her drink, making her pause. She took a slight sip before starting once more. “The idea was always to get myself a dragon lover. It would be even more beneficial if said lover ended up being a mate.”

  “You’re not the typical dragon groupie. There’s another game at play for you.”

  Daisy smiled, smug and sure, and shrugged. “What can I say. I have something that needs finishing and I need a big, strong dragon man to help me do it.”

  Farida shook her head, letting out her laughter at this woman’s long running game before getting down to business. The laughter fell away from her face. Farida turned gold eyes upon the woman.

  “If I ever see you near either of my families again, I will hunt you down and end you.”

  Daisy’s eyes gleamed. It was not fear that crossed over them. It was the excitement of a challenge. It was the processing of information. Farida knew it was good to worry. It was good to be wary of Daisy McShane.

  “I am a mate of a Welsh red dragon and the future Queen of the Egyptian gold dragons. I would take my… advice to heart.”

  Daisy nodded. There seemed to be an understanding, one that was forged between two women that knew each had power. Farida had it in the people behind her. What did Daisy have that gave her the courage to stare Farida in the eye after such a threat?

  “I take it you’re not paying for my drink tonight?”

  “I wouldn’t count on it,” Farida said, slipping out of her seat. At the door, Rhys waited for her.

  He was also dressed in the finest he owned. Farida asked him, when she saw him and she was able to get past the breath caught in her throat, if he’d borrowed the suit from his cousins. Rhys had only smiled at her question.

  They were going to be late for their meeting. Farida didn’t know if she was ready for it. Even if she had asked for it. Thirty years had passed since she last set foot in her home. Only a few days had passed since her family sent a team of dragons to kidnap her and drag her back home. Now, she had to sit down with Karim and some of the other dragons and negotiate the terms on which she would come home.

  Turns out, her father was sick. She didn’t know that dragons could get sick, but it seemed to be some kind of fast acting disease that was burning him out. Farida needed to return home or there would be no leader for her people.

  She just hoped that it did not cost her the freedom she’d worked hard to get.

  ***

  Dakota glared at Liana as she leaned back on a threadbare couch.

  “What is your problem?” Rhys snapped at the human woman.

  Liana cracked an eye and sought out the human. Dakota had her arms folded over her chest. Her face was twisted in an expression that was less a scowl and more of a childish pout.

  “I wanted to be the one to kill him,” she whispered.

  “Too. Damn. Bad.” Liana closed her eyes and laid back again.

  Rhys wanted to know what was going on inside his sister’s head. When had they lost touch? When did they stop being able to read one another like open books? He still felt like an open book. Liana must have closed hers and that made him sad. He wanted to know what was going on inside of her so that he wouldn’t make the same mistake.

  She hadn’t been broken. Or, if Liana had broken, she’d healed stronger.

  Rhys just hoped that the survivor she’d become didn’t evolve into a killer. It was one thing to kill to save your life or the life of a loved one. It was another thing to take pleasure in it.

  Then again, he’d never realized exactly how blood thirsty women were. They amazed him. Dakota really wanted a piece of Raphael for what he’d done to her. He could hear the human woman grinding her teeth as she thought about it. Was she replaying her options behind those glass eyes?

  His Farida entered the room. Her pencil skirt was gone. It was replaced by a pair of swinging, linen pants. A loose tank top barely covered her shoulders, if at all. He could see the thin lines of black ink escaping the top of her shirt, lines that he’d explored at length.

  In exchange for the help her people had offered, Rhys and Farida were leaving Wales. Her father was dying and, not only should she see him one last time, their people needed a leader.
Karim had not been happy when they informed him that there was not to be any marriage between him and Farida. She was her own woman. Thankfully, after a night of bickering and glaring at each other, the group had come to a decision. Their flights to Cairo were booked. He was going to meet her parents and that terrified him. Farida’s parents were the king and queen of the gold dragons in Egypt, their distant, fire-breathing cousins. He was nothing short of terrified.

  He worried that they would take one look at him and send him packing. He would hold onto Farida for as long as he could, but he was one man against a nation of dragons. What if he lost her to them?

  What if they forced her to marry within their people? With Karim? He knew that they’d come to an agreement with Karim, but her parents functioned as royalty in her family. They could…

  “You’re thinking,” Farida said as she slid into his lap. She grabbed his hands and wrapped his arms around her for him. He eagerly agreed, holding on so that she would never leave him. “Stop.” She punctuated it with a kiss.

  He turned his face up to hers, trying to hide the turmoil inside of him. Too bad Farida could see right through him already.

  She straightened, her shoulders squaring. “Karim has been banished,” she confessed.

  “What?” His body suddenly came alive. Only a few nights ago, they were negotiating with him for Farida’s return.

  His mate nodded. “My parents were not happy about the report I gave to them. A number of Karim’s men backed me up and told my parents the truth about how Karim treated me. His actions have gotten him banished from the nation.”

  He breathed a sigh of relief before another worry picked its way toward the front of his mind.

  “And what about me? What about us?” He didn’t express the rest of it. He didn’t want to give voice to the weakness, lest it come true once he let it out into the world.