by Kari Thomas
Slade’s jaw clenched and he forced a calm he wasn’t feeling into his tone. “Sorry about the suddenness, Reed. Aleta and Summer hit if off completely as if they were separated twins. And Aleta is a well-trained bodyguard. I told you, I trained her myself. If Summer feels safer right now, here, then I’m not going to stop her from staying.” He gripped the phone tighter. “And as for that damn cat, he’s here too.” But not for long… “You’re just going to have to accept that Summer is a grown woman and can make her own decisions.”
“The hell I will,” Reed stated angrily. “Get her on the phone. I want to talk to her now.”
“Can’t do that. She’s resting. She and Aleta went for a long hike this afternoon.”
“Damn it, Slade, I’m warning you…”
His patience gone, anger burning a hole in his stomach, Slade lowered his voice. “Don’t threaten me, Reed. You may be my boss for now, but that can be remedied anytime.”
“Yeah, it can.” Reed was silent for a long moment. “Fine. Tell her to call me as soon as she can. If I don’t hear from her by tonight, I’m coming to the compound.” He disconnected before Slade could say anything more.
Allowing Reed into the compound was not an option. Too much was at stake.
He slowly got to his feet. There were no more reasons to put this off. He had to tell Summer she was staying here permanently.
He thought over the rational reasons. First, it was her duty as the Clan’s Healer to always be there. Second, if she went back to live with Reed, there was every chance the Clan’s secret would eventually be exposed. They couldn’t risk that, no matter what. She couldn’t go back to live with Reed now that Leo had admitted his own secret; she wouldn’t be able to explain his presence. He damn well knew, she wasn’t going anywhere without that cat.
Third–and the hardest of all to admit–was that he couldn’t let her go.
His dragon roared in harmonious agreement. He finally admitted what he had known all along. He kept it buried deep inside him in fear of the change it would bring to his life.
Summer was his. She belonged with him
Chapter Twenty-One
She was a little weak from the healing, but it was nothing like what she’d experienced when she’d tried to heal Ruliard. Summer paced the bedroom, her thoughts chaotic. Healing Chen had come natural to her; she hadn’t even had to strain in the effort to call forth her healing powers. Why had it been different with Ruliard? She wrapped her arms around her waist, nibbling at her bottom lip with her teeth. She had the bad feeling she knew the answer; and it wasn’t one she was proud of.
Had she unconsciously sabotaged her power because Ruliard was an Air Dragon?
Was the horrific memory of her past too strong, the soul-deep resentment of a species that had destroyed everything precious in her world too soul-scarring that she couldn’t allow herself to do what she knew she could and should do?
Contradicting thoughts raced through her mind. When she’d watched Chen fight that Air Dragon, and then watched as the Firestorm Warriors had changed, ready to dive into the fight, something had settled in her soul. Like pieces of a puzzle that had been missing all her life, the final resolution fell into place.
Then, when Slade had changed to dragon, everything inside her miraculously morphed into something that shook her to the deepest, darkest, depths of her being. Although he was obviously a fire dragon, those small scales on his chest were proof he also had Air Dragon in his blood. It shocked her that it really didn’t matter. Yesterday, she wouldn’t have believed that possible.
Standing there then, staring at the dragon form of the man she had fallen in love with, she felt an odd, calming acceptance come over her. She was Fabrizio Clan. She was a Healer. This was her heritage, her destiny.
She didn’t want to run away anymore.
She stopped pacing. Then he ruined her precious moments of acquiescence. That arrogant, condescending dragon shifter had the nerve to treat her like she was nothing more than a servant he had to deal with and dismiss!
When she saw him again, he wasn’t going to know what hit him.
A knock on her door startled her out of her thoughts for revenge. She called out, “Come in.” If it’s Slade…! She braced herself.
Leo walked in. She stared at the handsome man who had so mysteriously entered her life and then shocked her with the revealing truth of what he really was. How could she have not known all these years? How could she have not even suspected? Was she that innocent about everything around her?
They stared at each other for a long tense moment. Leo finally glanced away. “Time for our talk?”
“I’ve done all the talking, all these years,” she told him, trying to sound nonchalant and knowing she failed. “So, it’s definitely your turn.”
“Let’s sit down.” He sat with her on the love seat and then turned to face her. She studied his features more closely. He had the aristocratic looks that spoke of European heritage. His hair was a dark blond, thick like a lion’s mane, and his heavy brows were the same color. His eyes were the same hazel-green he’d had as a cat.
“First, I want to tell you I’m not sorry for never telling you what I was. I could better protect you with my secret intact.”
Summer shook her head. “All these years you were with me to protect me? Why? How did you know who or what I was? Who sent you to protect me?”
Leo grinned at her. “Always so inquisitive. I’ve loved that about you.”
Loved. The word made her uncomfortable coming from a man she had always thought of as a pet cat. She peered at him closer. Just how old was he, anyway?
“Are you like all shifters and don’t age the same way as humans?”
Leo chuckled and she had to grin back as he answered, “I’m thirty years old in human terms. Let’s not add that up to see what it is in cat terms.”
Okay. One answer down. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t come up with a logical reason for him being in her life. “What is your real name?”
“Time to admit I have a little psychic skills. When we first met I put the idea of Leo into your head.” He bowed his head, slightly, royally. “Leonathalus Leander, Second Alpha to the Pili Pride of Canada.”
“What is a Second Alpha?” Dragon shifters, cat shifters, magic users. What next? Why have I allowed myself to be so blind to the rest of the world for so long? That is going to change. Now.
Leo’s expression suddenly darkened, but then he ran a hand over his face and appeared to be back to normal. “Second is when there are two Alphas, and there can be only one. I was forced out of my Pride until my father dies.”
“I’m sorry,” she murmured. “Is that when you came here? And why here? Why me?”
“It’s the proverbial long story,” Leo answered. “The shorter version is that while I was wandering in exile, I ended up in Romania. There are a lot of shapeshifters in that country. Odd, how the human world knows so little of what really exists right under their noses.” He settled back against the love seat. “Through a set of unusual circumstances, I met your grandmother, Rawnie, and knew right away it was Fate. Our Pride didn’t have a Healer, nor did we know any still existed. She told me about you, everything. We came to a mutual agreement. She would go to live with my Pride as their Healer, and I would come here to live with you as your protector.”
Even though she’d lived in fear all her life, it hadn’t been because she was afraid of any existing dragons finding her. She’d thought them all dead. No, it was because she was afraid of being exposed, of being a freak of nature, an experiment that others could use. Her grandmother had been thinking about the supernatural world instead, and the threat of danger it would be to her.
“Did you know that there were still dragon shifters alive, especially those of the Shamara Clan?”
“Your grandmother suspected. The Air Dragons that slaughtered the Fabrizio Clan were never found. Rumors were they had perished in the destruction of the island, but there was no d
efinite proof.”
“Is she okay? Still alive?” She’d thought about her grandmother every day of her life and wondered how she was.
“She’s fine. The Pride loves her, reveres her. She will always be safe among them.”
Thank God. One less worry to deal with. “Did you know about Slade and the Clan here?”
Leo growled under his breath. “I recognized his scent and aura the moment he first came into the house. I wasn’t fully sure; I’d only been around one dragon in my life, and he was only half human. It took a lot of willpower not to change and beat the hell out of Slade.” He growled again, nastier this time. “Even kill him. I had every right. He should never have come into your life.”
“Reed assigned him as my bodyguard.” And then she gasped. “Oh my God. Reed. Does he know the truth too…about it all?”
Leo shook his head. “No. Not that I can tell.”
Summer studied his face. The gleam in his eyes was strange. “What are you not saying?”
His frown was heavy, dark. “There’s always been something about that man I can’t trust. Don’t ask me what; I’m not sure.”
“Maybe it’s because the two of you never got along?” That was an understatement. Reed hated Leo almost as much as Slade did. Had both men suspected the cat wasn’t all he pretended to be?
“He has a strange scent,” Leo stated. “Almost as though…he isn’t full human either.”
Summer felt the color drain from her face. Her stomach knotted. “That’s not possible. I would have known.”
Leo raised his brows at that statement. She blushed. “Okay, so I’ve been a bit blind for years. But I would have known if something was different about Reed. Why should there be? He’s just a man who adopted a five-year-old child and raised her with love and protection.”
Her words echoed in the silence between them. Her heart raced as thoughts rushed through her mind; little memories flitted through, odd moments in their lives together. How naïve she was! Reed had never explained why a single man had wanted to raise a daughter on his own. He’d never fully explained his over-protectiveness, his strict rules while sheltering her from the rest of the world.
“Grandmother would have known,” she told Leo, but her words didn’t sound convincing.
“Your grandmother met Reed here in Kings Mountain, before she left to live in Romania. She said it felt like the guiding hands of Fate bringing him into her life. She said it was like a soul-deep conviction that leaving you with him was the right thing to do. She didn’t understand the logic, but couldn’t deny her feelings it was right.”
The pieces were fitting together. Too perfectly. Something deep inside her made her doubt the possibilities, but what proof did she have?
“You said you have a little psychic talent. Do you also have magic powers?” Maybe it had been Leo all along that Slade had sensed when he said a magic user was around her somewhere.
“No. None. Why?”
Her heart lurched. The only other answer was too frightening to think about. “Slade said my stalker used magic. If it wasn’t you he was sensing, and it must not have been Chen—he seems to trust him—then who is still out there? And why?”
Leo started growling under his breath. “I need to talk to Slade.”
Summer gasped. “Oh no. You two need to stay away from each other.”
“Why? Afraid I’ll whip your lover’s ass?”
Shocked, she stared at him. “He’s not my lover.” Not that she didn’t really like that thought! “Why would you even say that?”
“If I hadn’t arrived when I did out there in the woods, he would have had you stripped and beneath him in another minute. Damn dragon. He’s been lusting after you since day one.”
She held back her smile. Leo’s protectiveness and Slade’s possessive jealousy was giving her a much-needed boost of feminine power, and she was relishing every nuance of it. If someone had told her a month ago that her life would change this drastically, she would never have believed it. She was stronger now, completely confident in her own powers.
Time to change the subject if Leo’s dark scowl was any indication. “If you think you might know something Slade needs to know, then maybe you should tell it to Aleta. She’ll tell Slade.”
Leo’s dark hazel eyes lit up and he grinned. “Yeah, I like that one. She’s different.”
Hmm. Interesting. “I did notice that you took to her very quickly when she first showed up. Any reason?”
Leo’s grin was pure male. “She recognized me as a shifter immediately. I saw it in her eyes. And I could sense she can be trusted. She’s not like the others. Not completely. Why else would I have allowed her to shove that cake into my mouth that time? The little minx was testing me. When I didn’t bite her, she knew then she was right in her discovery. She has very expressive eyes.”
So, I’m not the only one who has fallen for a shapeshifting dragon. “What are we going to do now, Leo? Everything has changed.”
Leo gently patted her cheek. “We adjust, little baby. I know all this has been a great shock to you, but I truly feel you will be a lot safer and even happier settling in here with the Clan. And I won’t leave you. I’m not going anywhere. Despite what that arrogant bastard thinks.”
Summer leaned into his hand. “I’m always calling you little baby. Guess I was wrong, huh?”
“Yeah,” he rumbled a fake growl. “And I don’t ever want to hear you call me that again. Got it?”
“Got it.” For just a moment her heart felt lighter, happier than she’d been in too long a time.
Just for a moment. There were still so many things left unexplained. Still, that nagging danger she felt stalked her. “Where do you think that Air Dragon came from?” She shivered in remembrance of the battle. “He’s powerful. Could he be the one stalking me?” God help her if that was the case. She wasn’t sure even Slade could protect her from something that powerful.
“That’s why I really need to talk to Slade,” Leo stated. He stood up. “Don’t look so worried. I promise I won’t attack him. First. I know for your sake, I’m going to have to tolerate him. Damn it, honey. Couldn’t you have fallen for a human instead?”
The truth shocked her. No matter what happened, Slade was the only man for her. The practical side of her realized she was risking her heart and soul. The woman in her knew she was willing to risk it. No matter what.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Tension hung heavy in Slade’s office after the slamming of the door. He stared at the door and couldn’t decide whether he wanted to be angry or laugh. Damn, but Summer was incredibly sexy when she was furious! Her violet eyes shot purple fire, her cheeks flamed with a rosy blush, and her soft lips puckered with her ire. She was going to make him pay for this one later, and damn if he didn’t look forward to the confrontation!
Weeks ago he would have never wanted someone like her in his life. He had too much to do, too many people to protect, too many priorities. He hadn’t had time for a relationship.
Now he couldn’t help but wonder how he’d ever lived without her. The revelation shocked him to the very core of his soul. She was in his constant thoughts, even with the danger surrounding them now and the worry over Ruliard and Ansel. He wanted to know every minute where she was and that she was safe. He wanted to see her face, hear her voice. He dreamed about her, ached to claim her.
Damn. He had it bad.
A disgruntled chuff distracted him from his unsettling thoughts, and Slade looked at Leo sitting in the chair opposite the desk. The cat-man hadn’t left Summer’s side since he’d been here, and it was starting to get on Slade’s nerves bad. He itched to slam his fist into the aristocratic face. His dragon kept stoking the fire, wanting to get rid of the competition as much as he did.
As long as Summer wanted Leo around, then Slade was willing–although reluctantly–to try and be civil about it.
“She knows it’s for the best,” Leo finally broke the tense silence between them. Slade had told
Summer she would have to call Reed and tell him she was staying at the compound. She hadn’t been happy about it, and they had argued. He knew it was because she wasn’t planning on staying after she healed Ruliard and Ansel, and that angered him more than anything. He’d won this round–though barely—and she’d made the call. Then she’d stomped out of the office, slamming the door behind her.
“She’s been forced to comply with strict rules all her life,” Leo told him. “She’s just now realizing she doesn’t have to.”
Slade hated the intimate tone in Leo’s voice when he spoke of Summer. He had to fight down the urge to beat the hell out of him every time, but his conscience told him that the damn cat knew her better than anyone, and he should be glad he’d been there to protect her all these years.
Leo’s words sunk deep. He studied the cat-man closely. Aleta had told him the story behind Leo’s presence in Summer’s life after Summer had told her. There was something that had been nagging at him for days now and maybe Leo could help make some sense of it.
“What do you think about Reed?”
Leo leaned back in his chair. “I’m still debating.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
Leo shrugged. “I’ve been with Summer for over seven years. In all that time, I’ve barely come to figure out the man.”
“Could you be a little more precise?” Slade growled at him. Damn it, did he have to pull information out of the man? Come to think on it, punching it out of him sounded so much better.
“He has a…strange scent.” Leo frowned. “And his background is completely hidden. There would have been no reason for you to do a background check on him, but I did when I first came here. I found nothing. It’s as though his past never existed. Why?”