by Leia Stone
The what and what rooms? Keegan left down the same hallway that Nadine and Sophie had gone down, and Logan looked at me. “That leaves you in the unicorn room, and me in the grandma room.”
I couldn’t help but laugh. “Are you all on drugs? Because I’ll have what you’re having.” It was a joke obviously. Drugs were not my thing. But it got him to smile and he motioned for me to follow him upstairs.
I picked up my pillowcase full of belongings and followed his tight butt up the stairs. As I passed the front door, I saw Gear sitting out on the porch staring at the dark trees. Was I going to be able to sleep tonight? Knowing they could be out there … hunting us? I had been staring off to the side, so I didn’t notice when Logan stopped, and I slammed into the back of him.
“Oofh.” All the air left my body. Feeling the tight muscles in his back up against my chest was making my dragon and me flush with heat. I stepped back a pace and tried to catch my breath.
“Sorry. This is your room,” he said in a growly voice. We’d reached the top of the stairs and mine was the first room to the right.
I stepped forward and peeked into the open door as Logan flicked on the light and set Mitten’s down.
I smiled. “The unicorn room…”
Logan grinned sexily. “That’s right.”
There was a white daybed against one wall, and above it was painted a giant and beautifully-done unicorn, complete with green trees, a rainbow, and even butterflies. I stepped inside and moved closer to the bed, before spinning around to face my fellow dragon.
“Like I said, it was a home for kids.” Logan had one hand tucked into the front of his jeans as he leaned against my doorframe.
“I have a stupid question,” I blurted out.
He nodded. “Shoot.”
I plopped my pillowcase on the bed and looked up at him, playing with the hem of my shirt. “Are my dragon and I … the same person. I mean, are we one?”
Logan nodded in understanding. “Yes. Although it doesn’t feel that way at first. Especially if you have lived your whole life as a human. She’s just another aspect of your soul. It’s all you, but she will come to the surface to keep you safe, just as your anger or rage would come to the surface in an argument.”
Huh. Interesting.
When I didn’t say anything else, he ran his fingers over the scruff on his chin. “Well, I’m just next door, so … if you need anything or whatever.”
He was positively blushing and I couldn’t help but smile. I don’t think he had meant it to sound like a sexual invite, but it did; now he looked embarrassed.
“Alright. Thanks,” I muttered.
“I mean if you hear something in the night and get scared or whatever…”
I nodded. “I’ll run in screaming, don’t worry.”
He relaxed a little. “I’ll see you bright and early for training.”
Ugh. Training. Sounded awful, but I nodded because I knew he was trying to keep me alive.
As the door closed behind him, I sank into the bed and stared up at the happy unicorn jumping through a rainbow on the wall. What the hell had become of my life? Dragon shifter, on the run with a bunch of wild animals. Selling my scales for major cash.
Cash!
I sat bolt upright and scrambled through my pillowcase to pull out my black laptop. It had a custom skin of a fairy on it that I drew in freshman year of college. All those years of fantasy drawings, I couldn’t believe some of them could be real. Now they were.
After pulling up my banks website, I logged on. My sharp intake of breath hung in the air. “Holy shit!” I screeched. My account read $100,009.64.
I did nothing, thought nothing. I just stared. My mother worked her entire life as a teacher dedicated to nurturing young minds, and when she died the insurance payout was barely a quarter of this. I had just made this in one night. Oh my God! All of a sudden I was giddy and squealed, bopping up and down on the bed.
I heard someone scramble in the hallway. “Sloane? You okay?” Logan’s voice came from the other side of my door.
Crap. “Yes. Sorry.”
The knob turned. “Are you sure? It sounded like you screamed?” He didn’t sound convinced that I wasn’t being held hostage by a druid.
“Come in,” I said. The door burst open as Logan took in every corner of the room with his gaze.
I felt stupid. “I just checked my bank account,” I told him.
His entire posture relaxed and he chuckled, giving me that glimpse of his sexy straight teeth. “What are you gonna buy with it?”
I didn’t know. I wanted to hold on to it for a rainy day. Being poor my whole life made me want to save the entire thing. “Probably pay off my student loans and save the rest.”
He nodded, impressed. “Smart girl. The first time I sold a scale, I paid for the entire town of Glastonbury to drink at the pub. Was a fun night.”
Glastonbury? “You’re from England?” He didn’t have an accent.
He nodded, looking a bit uncomfortable. “Yeah, but I’ve been in the US long enough to lose the accent.”
Something occurred to me then. “Do you need the money? I mean, should I be sharing this with you guys?”
I remembered he had said he paid the pack’s salary on the sale of his scales and other dragonly things. He smiled. “Don’t worry about it. I can take care of you.”
I can take care of you. How long I had wanted someone to say that to me … since my mother got sick and I had become the adult. Normally I was independent and didn’t like the idea of depending on a guy, but hearing Logan say he could take care of me did funny things to my insides.
“I’ll share next time. I like to pay my own way,” I told him.
He smiled and nodded. “As you wish.” He turned to leave and I nearly melted at the fact that he’d probably unknowingly made a Princess Bride reference.
As he closed the door, I collapsed back in bed and kicked off my boots. This crazy day was catching up with me and I felt the pull of sleep weigh down my limbs.
I was a dragon and there was no getting out of it. Might as well embrace reality.
7
AT SOME POINT in the night the upstairs got too hot, so I opened my door and cracked my window to allow for a cross breeze. This permitted a certain tiny kitten to jump up on my bed and sleep atop my head. As the early morning light peeked into the room, I cracked open my eyes to see a small paw on my forehead.
I groaned. “Mittens, get off.” I shook my head a little to dislodge her, and she must have thought it was my invitation to play, because she began attacking my hair, causing me to yelp and sit up.
“Ow!” I shouted at her, and her mood changed lightning-quick as she leapt onto my lap, purring and kneading my thigh like a well-trained masseuse.
A shadow at the open doorway caught my attention. Logan was standing shirtless in low slung sweats. He looked perfect, and here I was with a cat-hair rat’s nest on my head and yesterday’s make up.
“She’s a horrible bed mate,” Logan warned me.
I scratched Mitten’s head and her purr ramped up a notch. “Yeah, I gathered that when I woke up at 2AM with her tail in my mouth.”
Logan smiled sheepishly. “Ready to train? Nadine is suiting up.”
I groaned. I hated working out. Like, my workout hate was so strong I didn’t even own workout clothes. I was the only chick in America not to own a pair of yoga pants.
Logan’s brows knitted. “If you’re not a fan of lifting weights, we can start with a run.”
A run! I groaned louder and Mitten’s hair stood up on end as she hissed at me. Crazy cat.
“Look, there’s something you should know about me. My favorite activity is sitting on the couch and drawing while devouring a bag of potato chips. Unless I’m running for my life from some hunters, I don’t run.”
Logan’s eyes danced with amusement but his face didn’t crack a smile. “Have you ever played sports?”
I nodded. “I played competitive socce
r for ten years.”
He looked shocked. “Perfect.”
I cocked my head to the side. “I was the goalie.”
“Oh.” His face fell.
I was damn good at stopping that ball; my reflexes were insanely fast. Almost not human now that I thought of it. But running? Lifting weights. Never.
“Do you like living?” Logan finally asked me as Nadine slipped into the open doorway beside him.
I rolled my eyes. “Obviously.”
Logan shrugged. “Then this is going to be the hardest week of your life, because there will be running. There will be lifting weights. And there will be no potato chips. If you want to survive attacks from hunters and druids, you need to train.”
Dammit. My twenty-one years of laziness were gone. Rest in peace.
Nadine looked at my pathetic pile of clothes stacked in the corner of the room. “Do you own workout clothes? Tennis shoes?”
I shook my head. “Nope. All a part of my genius plan to avoid exercise.”
Nadine smiled. “I like her,” she told Logan, and chucked a pair of hot pink sneakers at me. I caught them midair as Mittens flew from my lap and into the safety of Logan’s arms.
“Meet us downstairs in five,” Logan told me sternly as he and Nadine left me to myself.
I looked at the clock on the night table and inwardly shivered. It was 6:06 AM. An ungodly hour. If there were two things that were true to my soul, it’s that, one: I hated exercise, and two: I was not a morning person.
I rifled through my pile of clothes and found some black knit harem pants and a lacy bralette that might pass for a sports bra. Then I slipped on a long sleeve V-neck and put on the pink tennis shoes. It wasn’t exactly attractive, but it would do.
After slipping into the bathroom to brush my teeth, I made my way downstairs. Sophie was wearing skin-tight leggings and a bright pink sports bra, her hair into a high pony tail as she flipped some eggs on the stove. Nadine and Logan were stretching, and I noticed Dom was asleep sitting up in the corner of the room with his gun on his lap, finger on the trigger.
Sophie looked back as if she sensed me; when she got a look at my outfit she stifled a smile. Scooping some eggs on a plate, she motioned towards them.
“None of the idiots around here can cook, so I’m left with the job,” she told me, as if that was some sparkling invitation to eat the eggs she had just made.
I grabbed the plate. “Well, I’m a pretty good cook, so I don’t mind helping out.”
Her body flinched for a moment and then relaxed. “Cool,” she said.
“Is Keegan still asleep?” I directed my question at Nadine.
She shook her head. “Nah, he got up about an hour ago. There is an alpha nearby and he wanted to introduce himself and let him know this is our new territory.”
Let him know. Not ask him. I raised an eyebrow and Nadine laughed. “Cooper and Gear went with him. He’ll be fine.”
I shoveled the eggs in my mouth and looked at Logan, who was staring at me with a smirk. “I’m afraid if I train you right away I might kill you. So go for a light jog with Nadine and then meet me in the barn.”
Dick #2. Keegan definitely got the #1 spot, but Logan was close behind.
“I can run when my life depends on it,” I informed him with a glare. All of a sudden I felt butt hurt that Sophie’s ass looked like you could bounce a penny off of it and mine had a unique jiggle. My eyes fell on Nadine’s arms and I decided that she was probably stronger than Gear. Those guns were toned.
“I know. But when you stop, and you’re out of breath and weak, that’s when the hunters attack,” Logan told me. Dammit, he was right, but I didn’t want to admit it.
I decided to say nothing, and Nadine just linked arms with me and pulled me for the door. “Ignore them. You’ll be kicking ass and taking names before you know it.”
I smiled. Nadine was like my own personal fortune cookie.
“Call 9-1-1. I’m having a heart attack,” I told Nadine between labored breaths. We weren’t running on flat terrain here. I was leaping over fallen logs and rocks and it was a miracle I hadn’t broken my ankle yet. There was a distinct burning in my chest and I was sure my ticker was about to explode.
Nadine smiled. “Okay, let’s walk and talk for five. Didn’t you hike the Grand Canyon?”
She mercifully slowed to a fast walk and I followed, getting some relief to my lungs. Air. Air is good. My legs felt like Jell-O. Damn all of those nights watching Netflix for six hours straight. When I could finally speak, I answered her question: “Yes, but walking and running are like two different species. And I thought I was dying then too.” The Grand Canyon had been tough, but I had gone alone, and no one was there to push me harder or see me complain. Just the average fellow hiker. It had been freeing being out there alone, just me and Mother Nature. I was used to being alone.
Nadine ignored my comment and switched gears. “Okay, so I know you’re dying to know the scoop about everyone,” she told me as we ducked under a low branch.
I wasn’t really, but sure. I nodded.
“Sophie and Logan dated for like six months, against Keegan’s wishes, and it totally blew up. They were all wrong for each other and now it’s totally awkward.”
Oh, this was the scoop. Yes, I did want to know this. “Wrong how?” I asked, confident now that I had enough oxygen to talk.
Nadine shrugged. “They just didn’t mesh. Logan is the strong, silent, moody type. Kind of a Keegan and Dom mix. Sophie is superficial and high maintenance. They had nothing in common.”
“Cool,” I said stupidly, trying to ignore the way my dragon purred inside of me at the admission that Logan and Sophie were all wrong for each other.
Nadine continued: “So Gear joined the pack about two years ago and I’m totally in love with him.” She swooned, but her face didn’t look happy; it was marred with a frown.
“Two years? Why haven’t you guys hooked up?” Two years was a long time to crush on someone.
Nadine slowed to a slug’s pace, for which I was grateful. “Too many reasons. One, I don’t think he’s that into me. I mean, we kissed once on New Year’s Eve, but he got weird after. Two, Keegan forbids two shifters in the same pack to date unless they are mates. It messes everything up, as Logan proved. And three, Gear really loves the pack and so do I. If we broke up and shit got weird, then one of us would have to leave, and I know Keegan would boot him before me. I would never do that to him.”
Damn, I thought I had problems.
“How do you know if you’re mates?” I had seen enough fantasy novels and watched enough movies to know what a werewolf mate was, but I didn’t know how it worked in shifter real life.
Nadine sighed. “It’s not like you see in movies. There is no magic. At least not with us shifters. Your mate is just the person you choose to marry and be with forever. There is a whole magical binding ceremony and everything, but you can choose who you want it to be.”
“So potentially Gear could be your mate,” I pondered as we came upon a creek.
That got a slight smile out of Nadine. “I mean, yeah, but we would have to date first.”
I frowned. “Sounds like Keegan’s rule is messed up. I think you and Gear would make a cute couple. Your babies would probably come out all tatted up.”
Nadine’s laughter rang out into the forest and I smiled. It was nice having a girlfriend I could talk with.
“Now, dragon mates are a whole other thing. They’re predestined. When two skyborn mates find each other, it’s supposed to be crazy. Like fireworks and magnetic attraction and all of that.”
My dragon coiled tightly inside of me sending small pulses out through my body.
“Really?” I asked in disbelief.
Nadine nodded. “I heard when dragon mates kiss for the first time … it’s crazy magic.”
I was about to ask her to elaborate when her arm came out quickly and stopped me. She put one finger to her lips and inhaled deeply. I did the same,
but couldn’t decipher all of the smells. Dog, cat, pine needles, sap, smoke…
“You’re trespassing,” a gravelly voice came from behind us, and Nadine spun in a crouched position. I spun too, less coordinated, and my gaze fell upon two young men, big, tall, and scary looking. One of them was holding an axe. Like a legit axe murderer.
Nadine relaxed a little when she saw them. “Oh, you’re in Sam’s pack, right? My alpha is over there now making things right with him. We just moved in next door.”
One of the guys was blond with a scar over his bottom lip, and the other had a shaved head. Blondie was eyeing Nadine’s body. “I haven’t heard anything about that. Why would your alpha let two unmated females go traipsing around another shifter’s territory? It’s almost as if he is giving you to us.”
The shaved head guy licked his lips. “Yeah. Like a gift.”
My stomach rolled with nausea at the same time fear spiked through me. My dragon was slithering, agitated inside of me, and I had to bite the inside of my cheek to keep her from coming out. Nadine must have sensed it, because she looked at me.
“Don’t shift. I got this,” she whispered.
I breathed heavily through my nose, trying to calm my dragon.
“Look, boys, neither of you is going to lay on hand on us unless you want to lose your lives.” Her voice was strong, but I saw her hand shake the slightest bit at her side. “This is no way to greet a new pack.”
The men looked at each other and laughed. Finally, the bald-headed guy spoke to his friend. “I get the redhead.”
My body flinched, and that’s when Nadine grabbed my hand. “Run,” she growled, and took off to the left, pulling me along with her. Shit! I was already so sore my legs were wobbling as she dragged me along with her blinding speed.
“GEAR! LOGAN!” she screamed as we tore through the tree-lined property, and I heard the sound of cracking bones at our back. Oh, God. No…
“Run home!” Nadine shouted to me, and gave me a light shove as she pivoted on one foot and turned to stand her ground against our attackers. I turned to look over my shoulder just in time to see a huge wolf arcing through the air, ready to jump right on me. Nadine was underneath him and she leapt into the air, wrapping her arms around his ribcage and slamming him to the ground like a professional wrestler. She was already halfway through her own shift, holding his snapping jaws open with her hands as her face formed into a wolf’s muzzle and she bared her teeth.