by Kayla Wolf
Protected by the Dragon
A Paranormal Romance
Kayla Wolf
Copyright © 2019 by The Wolf Sisters Books.
All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of the book only. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form, including recording, without prior written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.
Contents
Chapter 1 – Samuel
Chapter 2 – Jessica
Chapter 3 – Jessica
Chapter 4 – Samuel
Chapter 5 – Jessica
Chapter 6 – Samuel
Chapter 7 – Jessica
Chapter 8 – Samuel
Chapter 9 – Jessica
Chapter 10 – Samuel
Chapter 11 – Jessica
Chapter 12 – Samuel
Chapter 13 – Jessica
Chapter 14 – Samuel
Chapter 15 – Jessica
About the Author
Books by The Wolf Sisters
Chapter 1 – Samuel
“Alexander!”
He turned around, wincing a little and bracing himself for the inevitable expression of disappointment. Sure enough, there was an elegant woman in a dark blue dress standing behind him—and sure enough, her face fell as she looked at him.
“Oh. Sorry, Samuel.”
“Happens all the time.” He summoned his best attempt at an easy-going grin, then scanned the crowded hall for his twin brother, finally spotting him on the far side of the space, standing lost in conversation with his wife. “There he is,” he told the woman, pointing. “With Lisa.”
“Inseparable, aren't they?” The woman—Amara, he recognized her now, mostly from her blue eyes—belonged to the family who lived across the valley. Their youngest daughter, hardly a century old, and their heir. She'd had her eye on his brother for a long time, he thought with a smirk that he kept to himself. Ever since Alexander had come back from his quest to the human world, there had been ripples of shock rocketing across the surface of dragon society. It had been almost a year, and yet the dust didn't seem to have settled. Their people tended to think slowly, it was true, and they weren't exactly famous for their ability to adapt readily to change, but this was unprecedented.
He heard the slight sigh that Amara uttered as she stood at his side, staring at his brother. What had she expected? She'd been at their wedding the previous year—everyone in the valley had been. Every living dragon—or at least, every living dragon that they knew about. So many connections had been lost over the years. Theirs was a hidebound and insular little community, and for all Samuel knew there were hundreds of dragons not far beyond their valley. Alexander was looking into sending emissaries to foreign communities, but everything moved at such a slow pace around here that it would be a miracle if anything happened within the decade.
“How are you, Amara?” he asked, as politely as he could manage given how completely she was ignoring him. He had been instructed earlier in the evening to be on his best behavior. Alexander had taken him aside specifically. It was a special occasion—it wasn't often that the whole valley was invited to an event like this. The last time they'd all come together was for Alexander and Lisa's wedding, and the fallout of that was still descending on them. The gratitude felt by the community for the lifting of the curse had been extremely short lived. After that had come the whispers, the questions, the insults masquerading as concerns—who was this woman, anyway? Where did she come from? Was she honestly, seriously, truly a human? Their own King, centuries of royal blood coursing through his veins, had stooped so low as to marry a human? Why, she didn't even have a second form.
But the Midwinter Ball was a tradition, and the dragons were nothing if not slaves to tradition. So on this day, the coldest day of the year, they'd all come. Alexander had ruffled a few sets of scales, of course, by insisting that part of the evening be spent in human form. This instruction had not been taken well and had in fact been ignored by some of the older council members, many of whom hadn't taken their human shape in hundreds of years and found the very concept insulting. It was the younger dragons, like Amara, who had obliged the King in his request. Not that Alexander was likely to do much about it, Samuel thought with a sigh. He wasn't the kind of King who punished his people for disobedience.
“Tired of this,” Amara answered him after a long pause, flicking those ice-blue eyes up at him for a moment. The gesture she made encompassed her body, and Samuel noticed the awkward way she held herself, the stiff movements of her limbs.
“Not used to human form?”
“What fool would get used to it?” she murmured. “Can't fly, can't see clearly, have to communicate verbally...”
Most dragons preferred the telepathic contact they were all capable of in their original bodies, finding it a lot less ambiguous and confusing than the verbal language that human used. But Alexander had insisted that his guests at least give it a go—for Lisa's benefit, Samuel assumed, for all that the young woman had more or less picked up the knack of telepathic communication even in her human body. She had a rather uncouth and loud mental presence, unfortunately, and a tendency to communicate things she didn't mean to, but nevertheless, it was quite impressive that a human being had learned the skill so quickly.
“There's a reason we have these forms,” Samuel said quietly now, giving his shoulders a little shake. Amara sighed again.
“I don't believe all that dross, Samuel, you know that.”
“It's not dross, it's history,” he said, irritated despite his instructions to be on his best behavior. “It's the only guidance we have from the past. The old texts teach us who we are—”
“It's camouflage, pure and simple, from the crappy old days when we had to blend in with their kind. It's insulting to make us pick it up again for her benefit.” Amara jerked her head towards Lisa, who was laughing at something Samuel's sister Helena had said. “No offense to you and yours, Samuel, but it's all a bit... I mean, Helena's always been quirky, and we love her for it, but this is just....”
“I don't know what you mean by that,” Samuel said stiffly. Helena made no secret of her fondness for their human form, and he'd overheard more than a few snide comments about her aptitude for the 'true' draconic form having suffered as a result. Still, nobody in the room (except perhaps for Lisa) moved with as much confidence and grace as Helena did. Those other dragons who'd agreed to inhabit their human forms moved as though wearing ill-fitting clothing.
But those who weren't in human form seemed even less comfortable if he was honest. There were a dozen or so of them, perched at various points around the great hall in which the event was traditionally held, and their concern about trampling the human-shaped others around them was palpable in the ginger way they moved. It would have been comical if it hadn't been a little bit sad. They were dwarfed by the size of the cavern, which had once been hollowed out with the intention of hosting ten times as many people as were present, and all of them in their largest shape. There was something a little tragic about how few of them there were left, and that sadness was only emphasized by so many of them taking a different form for the evening.
Still, he wouldn't shift forms for love nor money. Samuel had had more than his share of his brother's wrath over the years. They'd always been an odd little double-act. Alexander was always the quiet, forceful one, the stoic leader with a streak of temper that ca
me out when he was challenged. Samuel, the younger twin technically speaking, had had to compensate with humor. So compensate he had—and his constant jokes and failure to take the world seriously had always gotten on his older brother's nerves. Perhaps it had damaged his standing in their parents' eyes, too, he wasn't sure. All he knew was that by the time they'd both come of age, it was as clear as anything to him that his brother was the heir to their mother's throne, not him. He wasn't a contender. Maybe he never had been, he thought sometimes. Maybe simply being a few minutes younger was what had put him out of the running. But no, that was unlikely. Alexander just had that regal bearing that made a king. Just about every eligible female in the valley had noticed that, too—which made it all the funnier that a prophecy had mandated Alexander go out into the human world to find the love of his life. There must have been some grumpy conversations had after that particular announcement. Thanks, father.
Where was his father, anyway? Typical of Stephen to slink off and hide during events like this. He'd been poring over old books all day, trying to figure out what was happening to Lisa as she spent more and more time around dragons. The prophecy that had heralded her coming had also said something about how she'd be changed by her time with them, and according to Stephen, it was possible the prophecy indicated something about a physical transformation. She'd been joking about wanting a set of wings almost since she'd arrived—Samuel hoped it would be something like that. He liked his spunky sister-in-law a lot. It would be nice to go flying with her.
Amara heaved yet another aggravated sigh at his side. “Look, if he's just going to be talking to her all night, I don't see the point.”
“What do you want to talk to him about?” She shot him a sidelong glance, and he fought the urge to roll his eyes. “Amara, you're not seriously still carrying that torch?”
“I'm carrying no such thing,” she hissed. “But you have to admit, a human and a dragon? It's not going to last. He needs a real queen.”
“And that's you, is it?”
“Who else?”
Samuel sighed heavily, feeling the soles of his feet itching. He wanted nothing more than to disappear into the labyrinthine caves that made up their home, go wandering in circles until his thoughts had settled and his mind was calm. Maybe investigate that interesting little branch he'd discovered a few days ago—a passage half-hidden by fallen rocks that may even lead to a new room. Not that they needed much more room. Much as this hall vastly outstripped the size of its crowd, there had to be about ten rooms in the cave system to each dragon that still lived here. They must have had such an enormous community, once upon a time—the legends swore that the caves were full to bursting once, with new caves being carved out all the time. Now, this was all that was left of them—barely a hundred dragons, clustered miserably together for this event, trying to see what the future could possibly hold for them. Were they going to die out? It was something he'd wondered more than once over the long years, especially when it seemed that the curse on their bloodline would never be lifted. Lifted it had been, thanks to Alexander and Lisa—but sometimes Samuel worried that it was too late.
He was aware he wasn't exactly doing his bit for the repopulation of dragon society. With his older brother married and more full of joy and love and life than Samuel had ever known him, he knew that it was a good idea. And if he was honest, he was lonely. Wandering the caves had always been his favorite hobby, but lately, he'd become more and more aware of how much time he spent in his own company. The idea of falling in love—of finding a mate to spend his life with—well, he'd devoted more than a little bit of time to the idea, that was for sure. But who? There were barely a hundred dragons left, and most of them were paired off already. It tended to happen pretty early, especially with the limited choices on offer.
“You're not going to get him away from her,” Samuel told Amara now, trying to hide his vexation.
“Shows what you know.” She glanced up at him as though noticing he was there for the first time. “You're not jealous, are you, Sammy?”
Samuel gritted his teeth at the smirk on her face. Yes, a few years ago, he'd given passing consideration to the idea of courting her. They'd been in the grips of a curse, he'd been aware that it was about time he started considering settling down, and there were exactly two unattached dragon females in the entire valley. One was Amara, and the other he'd already dated—with a resounding lack of success. So yes, he'd given it extremely brief consideration. But that consideration had unfortunately extended to discussing the matter with Helena, who had promptly let the idea find its way to Amara. She'd never let him live it down. “No, Amara, I am not jealous.”
“Good. Because you're not even my backup plan. No offense,” she added sweetly. “But when you've got a shot at the King, his baby brother isn't really—”
“None taken,” Samuel growled, feeling the dull flare of feeling behind his eyes that suggested his feelings were getting the better of him. If he wasn't careful, he'd shift right here. Very embarrassing, losing control of your physical form, especially at a once-a-year event like this one when you'd been all but threatened by your brother that any sign of shenanigans would be met with righteous fury—“And you've got no shot at the King. No offense,” he echoed sweetly. “If you'll excuse me—”
There was a passage he knew on the east side of the hall that would lead him down and through a dizzying, spiraling pattern that would spill him out somewhere further down the valley where nobody bothered to go. It was a strange little passage that nobody would follow him through, and right now, that sounded fantastic. All he wanted was to lose himself in those cold, winding passageways... but alas, it was not to be.
“Having fun, Samuel?”
“Father. Hello. What on earth are you wearing?”
Stephen beamed proudly up at his son. The old gray dragon had an unusually short physical form—a gray-haired old man, his golden eyes shining from a nest of wrinkles. Lisa had been very interested in how their physical bodies demonstrated age, and Samuel hadn't had the heart to tell her that it was mostly psychological. Stephen felt like a stooped old man, so that was how his human form presented itself. His dragon form was still among the largest and strongest in the community—his wingspan was a sight to behold. But not at the moment. At the moment, the only thing noteworthy about Stephen's appearance was a sparkly golden bowtie that he was wearing with extreme enthusiasm—he kept plucking at it with his fingertips as though hoping to draw even more attention to it.
“Lisa helped me tie it,” he confessed, eyes gleaming. “Don't you think it's dashing?”
“It sure is.” Samuel attempted to look pleased for his father’s sake. The death of Samuel and Alexander's mother had been a terrible blow to the man—his human form had aged twenty years overnight. To see him smile like this was an encouraging sign. He was getting steadily less dour, less steeped in misery. For a solid year after her passing, he'd hardly spoken above a whisper. Now, if he got onto a good tangent, it was hard to shut him up. He was healing. The loss of Reagan would never leave him, they knew that. But at least the bright, cheery man he'd been before her death was still there, if sporadically.
“It's our color,” Stephen pressed, tugging excitedly at the tie and accidentally pulling it tighter around his neck. Samuel chuckled, reaching out to assist him with it. The glittering gold of the tie was the same shade as their family's eyes. That was a draconic trait—each family had a different eye color, passed down through the maternal line.
“What about Lisa and Alexander?” Samuel asked, remembering a question he'd been mulling over himself. Traditionally, when dragons became mates, the male's eyes would change to match his mate's. But Alexander's eyes were still the same brilliant shade they'd always been, despite having been married to Lisa for almost a year. Perhaps the rules were different for humans?
“I've been wondering that myself,” Stephen said thoughtfully. “I suspect we'll have to wait until they have children to know for certain.�
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“Can they?” Samuel lowered his voice. “I mean—a dragon and a human? That's never happened before. Not like this.”
“Not within a marriage, no. There have been... dalliances.”
Samuel snorted. “I'd like to see the records dealing with the dalliances.”
“You will not,” Stephen said with finality. “Speaking of dalliances—how's Amara?”
“Insufferable as always,” he muttered. The blue-eyed dragoness had moved to join Alexander and Lisa. A smile played across Samuel's face as he spotted Helena moving to intercept the other woman. “Still has designs on Alexander.”
“Nothing there for you two?”
“Dad, what did we say about playing matchmaker?”
“I don't like you being lonely, Samuel.” His father's eyes were suddenly serious. “Loneliness is a terrible thing, son. I know that as well as anyone.”
“I know, dad.” He squeezed his father's arm, not sure how to express condolences in these bodies. How did humans do it? In his draconic form, it was as easy as a mental touch. But humans were so alone all the time. No wonder they were so physical with one another.
“Just keep an eye out, hm? Your brother's proved that love's often where you least expect it.”
Samuel laughed. “Maybe I should take a trip to the human world.”
“You? Follow in your brother's footsteps? Don't make me laugh.”
Samuel grinned as his father pottered away into the crowd. He was glad the old man was starting to come around. Death was a rare thing for dragonkind, and the death of their Queen had been devastating to everybody in the valley—her soulmate most of all. But for all of dragonkind's eccentricities, they did a very good job of rallying around Stephen when he needed them. Samuel watched as a family from the south end of the valley closed in around the man, their smiles warm and welcoming if a little awkward on their unaccustomed human faces.
His father was fine. Samuel had been on his very best behavior for what felt like seventy years, but what was really about two hours. He'd made polite conversation with everyone he'd ever met (well, mostly polite) and he was feeling exhausted and frazzled and miserable. With a guilty look over his shoulder to make sure that Alexander was still deep in conversation with Lisa—of course, he was, what else would he be doing, Samuel thought with a wry smirk—he ducked behind an outcropping of rock and just like that, found himself alone.