by Roxie Ray
“I don’t mean to overstep. I’m sorry. It was just an idea.” I knew she didn’t like being told what to do, but I thought our relationship had progressed to the point that I could be an active member of her life. “Hang on.” I held up a finger. “Why are we in a place where I can tell you I love you and you can tell me, and we’re thinking about building a life together, but I can’t make suggestions without you getting angry with me?”
She stared at me for several seconds before responding. “I’m not used to someone telling me what to do like I’m a child.”
Never did I think she was a child. “That’s not what I did. Not at all. I’m a cop, and I want to be a lawyer. And I’m your...” Mate, but I couldn’t say that. “Boyfriend or whatever we are, and it’s my responsibility to protect you.”
Her eyes narrowed. “Responsibility? Why isn’t it my responsibility to protect you?” She tossed her hair as if she’d made some big point.
“Because I’m a cop,” I exclaimed.
Tiffany ran into the room. “Are you fighting?”
“No,” Bethany said sharply. “We’re having a conversation.”
Tiffany didn’t buy it, but she sat on the couch and stuck her feet out. “Shoes, Mommy. I want to go see Ava.”
Bethany sat beside her. “Maddox, I’m a strong, independent woman. I’ve relied on myself for a long time, and I’ve been relying on you too much. I don’t need a man to do anything for me.”
“You may not need me to, but isn’t it nice to share the responsibilities with someone?” I pointed out. “I want to help. I want to be a part of your life. Why is that so galling for you?”
She took a deep breath and patted Tiffany’s leg. “Let’s drop this for now and go have dinner.”
Well, at least that was a good sign. She didn’t want to cancel or break up because we were having one argument.
Although, if we were this upset over one argument, what would happen when it was something bigger? Only time would tell, but it didn’t bode well for us.
Stop upsetting her. This is a big day.
I’d been so excited about today. I was going to tell Bethany about Artemis. I hadn’t meant to upset her. And Artemis kept going back and forth. I couldn’t protect her without upsetting her, apparently.
Why were women so confusing?
Tiffany chattered all the way to my parents’ house, helping break the tension up a bit. We talked to her and smiled at each other. I knew we’d figure this all out, but the night had a bit of a sour tint to it now. I just wished she’d stop fighting me at every turn.
Bethany drove, and Tiffany’s car seat was behind the passenger seat, so when she parked the car in my parents’ driveway, I hopped out and got Tiffany out. She’d fallen asleep on the drive. She held up her arms, a little shy. I’d noticed it took her a few minutes to warm up, but once she did, she was a firecracker.
I picked her up and was again reminded that if I decided to go to California, I wouldn’t just lose Bethany, I’d lose Tiffany, too. Probably, Bethany and I would reconnect later. That was the nature of mates. But I’d never gain the same trust and relationship with Tiffany when she was older.
My attachment to both of them had grown pretty damn strong. I really loved them. As Tiffany clung to my neck and went back to sleep with her head on my shoulder, I hugged her and waited for Bethany to catch up. Today wasn’t about California, anyway. The more time went by, the less I wanted to go. Today was about Artemis and Bethany. The other stuff would work out, one way or another.
I’d decided to tell Bethany about Artemis with my family around, so she’d have support from people who had already been through this. It was one hell of a shock when I found out, and I had Artemis inside me to help me. It had to be beyond difficult for the mates of dragons.
Tiffany was totally wiped. “She didn’t nap today,” Bethany said. “She was too excited.”
I tapped on the door, then opened it and stuck my head in. My mother pulled the door open the rest of the way. “Hello,” she cried, then clapped her hand over her mouth when she spotted Tiffany. “Take her to the guest room,” she whispered. “You and your father can listen for her.”
But I was already heading up the stairs. That was exactly what I’d planned to do, anyway.
Tiffany fluttered her eyes when I laid her down, but she muttered my name and rolled onto her side. After covering her with a blanket, I turned to see Bethany had followed me. “Hey,” I whispered.
“Hey.” She looked at me with big, vulnerable eyes. This wasn’t going to be an easy night for her.
“Can we pretend we didn’t fight and have a good night?” I asked. “We’ll find a balance where you let me help you some, but I don’t overstep.”
She nodded and stepped forward. I took that as a cue to gather her into my arms and press a kiss to the top of her head. “Starting a relationship isn’t easy,” she said into my shoulder.
“No, it’s not. And I don’t have any experience with committed relationships. I’ve only ever dated casually.” That was something I’d been embarrassed to admit before.
But she chuckled. “Same here. Kyle was my most committed relationship, but he was my best friend who I only had sex with once. I’m not exactly what you’d call a relationship expert.”
“At least we’re newbs together,” I joked. “Come on. Let’s go eat.”
As we headed down the stairs, she stopped suddenly. “With our argument, I forgot the wine. I told your mom I’d bring the wine.”
With a chuckle, I tugged on her arm. “If I know my mom, she forgot all about that.”
We walked down the hall and entered the kitchen to find Mom placing dishes on the table and Dad setting out silverware. “We thought we’d eat in here,” Mom said. “It’s more intimate and casual.”
Bethany nodded, but then turned to my mom. “Ava, I’m so sorry. Maddox and I were talking when we left, and I walked right out without the wine.”
My mother touched Bethany’s arm. “Honey, it’s fine. I’ve got plenty. I prefer if my guests don’t bring anything, anyway.” She squeezed her arm, then hurried away to get the rest of the food on the table.
“Hello,” Hailey said brightly from the table. “I can’t wait for Tiffany to wake up!”
“You’ll wait just fine,” Mom said. “Boys, if you want to go out back and make sure the steaks are ready. They should be about done.”
“Can I help?” Bethany asked.
Mom didn’t want anyone to bring anything, but she wasn’t afraid to put us to work. “Sure,” she said. “Here, cut up this tomato for the salad.”
I followed Dad out onto the deck and the smell of the steaks hit me. “Bethany likes hers medium well,” I said.
“We’ll have to leave it on a bit longer with Hailey’s and your mother’s,” he said. “Ours should be done. Rare.”
Rare meat was a particular favorite of any dragon shifter. The dragons loved to hunt game for themselves, but as humans, we had a real preference for rare meat and never got an upset stomach.
“Are you ready for this?” Dad asked as he took our seared pieces of meat off the grill.
“It’s time. I love her and I plan on keeping her in my life, so it has to be done, doesn’t it? I mean, I’m not looking forward to it, but what choice do I have?” I held out the plate for the steaks.
Dad closed the grill to cook the ladies’ steaks longer, then patted me on the shoulder. “It’ll work out. I’m proud of you.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
We hung out on the deck a few more minutes until all the meat was done, then took it inside to rest.
Mom took over as soon as we came in, bustling around and making everyone sit. Before I knew it, I was crammed next to a blinking Tiffany, who had just woken up from her impromptu nap. Hailey sat on her other side, cutting up tiny bits of steak for her. Bethany kept looking around me to make sure Hailey did it right. “She’s fine,” I said, and winked to let her know I was teasing. “Relax and enjoy yourse
lf.”
I waited through the entire dinner. The more time went by, the more Bethany relaxed. I wanted her to be as at ease as possible before springing the news on her.
My parents were lifesavers. They kept her talking and laughing and by the time Mom brought out the pies, she was totally at ease. Too bad I was about to rip her right out of that comfort zone.
“Hailey, would you care to take Tiffany to your room and play?” I asked.
Hailey’s face lit up. She knew what was going to happen, but she didn’t care about seeing me shift. She’d seen it before, repeatedly. She cared more about getting to be a babysitter. “Sure!” she chirped. “Come on, Tiffany, do you want to play makeup?”
I glanced at Bethany, worried she’d disapprove of a thirteen-year-old putting makeup on a three-year-old, but she laughed. “She loves to play makeup.”
One problem down. Now the big one. “Let’s go onto the deck,” Dad said. “Have a glass of wine.”
We’d all had one with dinner, though Mom had filled Bethany’s up every time she took a sip. It was a little obvious she was trying to get her tipsy, but I didn’t think Beth had noticed.
Mom nodded eagerly. “That sounds lovely.”
Bethany looked at me, but I grabbed both our glasses and followed my parents out, holding the door open with my foot for Bethany to follow.
“It is a nice night,” Bethany said. Our summers came in late, so it wasn’t exactly hot, but the chill was gone out of the air.
I handed Bethany her drink, then scooted a deck chair close to the one she sat in. “Bethany, there was a bigger purpose for us having dinner here tonight. There are some things about me that you should know before we go any further with our relationship.”
She went from relaxed to high alert. I sensed her anxiety. “Why are we talking about this here, now?”
My mom scooted her chair closer. “Because I’ve been through this, too. I can help you.”
Bethany tried not to bristle, but her spine straightened a bit.
“Bethany likes to be independent,” I said. Maybe thinking she’d need help from my family to get through this had been the wrong idea. “But, Beth, I think it’ll be good for Mom to be here while I tell you all about me. She’s just like you, or she was once.”
Mom nodded eagerly. “I know how you’re going to be feeling, more than perhaps anyone alive. I had a daughter when Maverick and I got married. And she wasn’t much older than Tiffany is now.”
Bethany fixed me with a glare. “What is going on?”
“First, you need to know that I or my family would never hurt you or Tiffany. Not in a million years.”
Her eyes widened. “What the hell are you people into? Mob? Some sort of gang?”
I shook my head and held up my hands, but Bethany recoiled. It was already going badly. “No, no, please, please try to keep an open mind. And remember, no matter what, that we’d never hurt you.”
Just say it.
Artemis was right. “This is a part of who I am. It’s half of me.” I chuckled. “Sometimes it feels like all of me.”
Bethany stared at me with wide eyes. I couldn’t read her mind, of course, but it was obvious a million thoughts were racing.
“Bethany, I’m a dragon shifter. Like you might read about in novels or see in movies. I can shift into a dragon.” Oh, man, that felt good to get off my chest.
Her wide eyes crinkled, and she burst out laughing. “Is this how you guys introduce someone into the family? With a practical joke?” She looked at each of us and her laughter faded. “It’s not all that funny,” she said lamely.
“It’s not a joke, dear.” My mother tried to touch Bethany’s hand, but she jerked it away.
“You people are crazy. Actually mad. What makes you think this would be funny? Why would you joke like this?” Bethany’s mood started to shift toward outrage and pure panic.
“This isn’t a joke, Beth.” I nodded toward my parents. They stood, and Bethany recoiled at their movement. She was freaked. They walked inside to give us a bit of privacy. I knew they’d come back out if I needed them. I waited until they shut the door to continue. “This is the truth, and I can show you, but you have to promise me you understand that I will not hurt you. My dragon, Artemis, won’t hurt you. You are in absolutely zero danger.”
She nodded her head.
She’s about to bolt.
I stood and backed away, stepping down the stairs by feeling with my toes while I had my hands up. “Just don’t run, okay? Give me time to show you, prove it, and explain. Promise you won’t run.”
She shook her head. “I’m not promising anything. You’re freaking crazy.”
There was nothing I could’ve done but show her. I intentionally wore the clothes I did for a quick change. No underwear, no undershirt, no socks. In seconds, I was naked. Bethany jumped up. “What are you doing?” she hissed.
“Just don’t run!” That was the last thing I said before I let Artemis do his work. I encouraged him to shift quickly. In the late evening twilight, she wouldn’t have been able to see the transition clearly, which could either help or hurt our cause.
As soon as Artemis was fully shifted, I smelled Bethany’s fear. She was absolutely terrified. “No,” she said. She backed up, hands up in front of her until she backed right into the house. “This isn’t real.”
Mom opened the back door, making Bethany jump. “It’s okay,” Mom said. “I went through this, too. I’m not a dragon. Only men can be.”
“I’m hallucinating,” she whispered.
“You’re not,” Mom said. “But it’s okay to be freaked out. Everyone is when they first find out.”
“Who?” she asked. “Who all is like this?”
Just the Kingston men. And Stefan. Artemis projected his thoughts into Ava’s head, and she jumped with a little squeal.
“What was that?”
I am Artemis. I am Maddox’s dragon. Or, Maddox is my human.
“How are you in my head?” she asked with honest terror in her voice.
You are our mate. I can communicate directly with you when shifted, and sometimes when Maddox is in his form if you open your mind enough.
“No.” Bethany moaned and batted my mom’s hand away again.
Please do not fear me. I would never hurt you.
Bethany continued to shake her head as the back door opened again. We all froze, shocked, as Tiffany came running out the back door. I heard Hailey calling her name.
“Dinosaur!” Tiffany screamed. But she wasn’t afraid. She laughed and hurried forward, but in her excitement, she missed the stairs. Mom and Bethany lurched forward, but so did Artemis. He wanted to catch the little girl he loved as much as I did.
In his haste, he didn’t retract his claws properly. He managed to catch her, but not without a long scratch up her arm. Tiffany recoiled and stumbled back up the four deck stairs, crying and screaming about the bad dinosaur. Bethany rushed forward, screaming for Artemis to get away from her daughter.
Artemis recoiled back into the yard and hung his head. Intense shame washed over both of us. He’d just been trying to help but made things exponentially worse.
What a disaster.
19
Bethany
I was completely losing my mind. Utterly disconnected from reality. Maybe I’d been drugged. Because there was no way dragons were real or that my boyfriend and his family were packed full of them.
As Tiffany ran toward me, I gathered her into my arms and yanked her as far back as I could. She held out her arm and showed me a scratch. It was shallow and slight, but long.
After he promised nobody would be hurt, that he and his family and his dragon—his dragon—would never hurt us, that was the first thing that had happened. I’d watched as the beast tried to grab Tiffany into his big, dangerous claws.
“This is unreal,” I said, holding Tiffany close. “You said you’re not dangerous,” I yelled at the dragon.
I am not a danger to you.
Shaking my head, I blinked as if that could keep the creature from projecting his thoughts into my mind. “You obviously are. You tried to grab my daughter.”
I tried to catch her. She was about to fall down the stairs.
How could I know if that was true?
“He won’t hurt you,” Ava said. “The dragons, they can be dangerous, of course. They can hunt and kill game, and they protect us. But he’d never intentionally cause you injury.”
“He just did!” I pointed to Tiffany’s arm. It had quit bleeding, but God only knew what sort of germs were in the cut from the dragon’s claw. “I need to tend to her arm.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off the dragon. He began to shift back again. It was hard to see exactly how it happened in the waning light, but within a few seconds, a naked Maddox stood where the dragon just was, holding his hands over his privates. My body trembled, rejecting the notion of what I’d just seen.
Ava shaded her eyes and tossed his jeans off the deck railing to him. Maddox caught them and tugged them on, then lurched toward me with concern on his face. “Artemis didn’t mean to do that. He was trying to help.”
I slid sideways toward the door but didn’t realize Maverick was in the way. Suddenly, I felt like a bunny cornered by predators. “Stop,” I said forcefully, the way we were taught as teenagers when approached by someone we feared wanted to rape or kill us. “Don’t come any closer.”
Tiptoeing around Maverick, I darted in the door. “Stay out there,” I yelled. “I need to breathe and take care of Tiffany’s arm.”
Hailey stood in the kitchen with a crestfallen look on her face. She reached for Tiffany, but I hugged her tighter. “No,” I said. I tried to inch past her without touching her. They were all tainted now like they had a disease. They’d known all this time, all of them.
And if it was all Kingstons, that meant Jury was a freak like them, too. And that meant Abby knew.
She’d become one of my best friends. How was it possible that she hadn’t told me? A real friend would have warned me. Broken it to me gently that the man I was sleeping with was a ravenous murdering beast.