Hakona: Dragon Warrior (Scifi Alien Dragon Romance)

by Jamie Phoenix

  It would be horrible, but then, so was the gap that was between her and Artemis now.

  The morning passed quickly as it usually did, and Holly was grateful that there was plenty of work to be done to keep her from obsessing. When she was in the back, it was easier to relax, and so she busied herself keeping dishes clean and running to get more supplies from the pantry. It was just easier.

  As luck would have it, though, when lunch time rolled around, the diner was so crowded that it was an all hands on deck situation, and she was called to help ferry plates from the kitchen to the tables as well as clean up the tables as people left them.

  Her eyes kept darting to the door and the large windows, and when it finally happened that she looked up to see a very familiar car, followed by another, pulling up in front of the diner, her heart stopped, even though she’d known this was going to happen.

  The dirty plate in her hand crashed the floor, shattering when it fell, but Holly made no move to pick it up. Instead she watched as Dante, Patrick, Jamieson, Evan, Aaron, and Sam all got out of the two cars, talking for a moment before they filed in.

  It was as if the air itself changed as soon as they walked into the diner, and Holly squeaked, pleased that they hadn’t seen her and that she was close enough to the kitchen that she could just turn and run for it before they caught sight of her. Her heart galloped in her chest, and she pressed a hand to it, trying to force herself to breathe.

  Carlos looked at her funny, eyebrows drawn together. “You okay?”

  It was all Holly could do to shake her head, face gone white as she peered out of the tiny window, watching Dante and the other look around, noses in the air. “Where’s Artemis?” she asked. It had been a few minutes since she’d seen him last.

  “Paying for a delivery,” Carlos said. “What’s-”

  He was cut off by the back door swinging open, and Artemis stepping in, a smile on his face. It fell when he caught sight of Holly’s expression and he sniffed, eyes narrowing. “They’re here.”

  It didn’t sound like a question, but Holly nodded all the same, moving aside so that Artemis could look through the little window. His body was tense as he looked out, and Holly couldn’t tell what he was thinking, which worried her.

  “Carlos,” he said. “You and Tammy are in charge.”

  “What-” Carlos tried to say again, but Artemis was already stepping out the door.

  “Fine,” he muttered under his breath. “No one tell me anything. That’s just fine.”

  Holly was barely breathing as she watched Artemis, his stride calm and powerful as he stepped around the counter and walked up to Dante. And god, Dante had always seemed larger than life to Holly, but standing there in front of Artemis, he was almost tiny. Artemis had a good four or five inches on Dante, and was built thicker and more muscular than Dante could ever hope to be. As Holly watched, Patrick leaned in and whispered something that she couldn’t hear into Dante’s ear.

  Artemis could clearly hear it just fine because he smirked, though there was no humor in it. “Turn around,” he said. “And get out.”

  Dante made a face and raised his hands in a gesture of peace. “Hey, that’s no way to treat a potential customer,” he said, usual cocky smile on his face. “I’m just looking for someone, and then we’ll be out of your hair. Isn’t that right, boys?”

  The rest of the pack chimed in with their agreements, and Holly could see Artemis’ eyeroll. She knew that dragons weren’t pack animals, and wondered if there was a disdain there for how obviously Dante sought out the approval of those under him. It wouldn’t surprise her, to be honest.

  “I can assure you, you’re not going to find anything you want here,” Artemis said, pinning Dante with a glare before his eyes flicked to Patrick. “And I thought I ran you out yesterday. When I told you to get out, I meant for good.”

  Patrick paled, and it was a gratifying sight. He took a step back, and Dante scowled.

  “Look, man. I just want what belongs to me. Hand Holly over and we’ll get out of here, no trouble. You don’t want her anyway, trust me.”

  His words hit her hard, and the sad part was, Holly didn’t think Artemis could argue with them. Maybe if it had been a few days ago, before he knew that she’d been using him, but now she could only imagine that he’d be more than happy to get rid of her, and it hurt.

  What she wasn’t expecting was for Artemis to glare, and she could tell there was something going on on a level that she couldn’t perceive from the way all of Dante’s pack had just widened their eyes and were backing away from Artemis. Patrick looked like he was about to wet himself, and even Dante seemed cowed, though he stood his ground.

  The customers, nosy as they were, all had their eyes fixed on the confrontation. In fact, everyone in the diner did, staff included. No one was moving, and everyone seemed to be holding their breath to see what Artemis would do.

  His control was impressive. Holly couldn’t feel how powerful he was since she was human, but judging from the way the pack was reacting, it wasn’t anything to underestimate. She’d never seem them scared before, at least not scared of someone who wasn’t Dante.

  “Belongs to you?” Artemis said, advancing on them. “You have a lot of nerve, don’t you? Someone you consider yours, and she was bruised all to hell when she got here. Is that how puppies treat those close to him?” he asked, voice dripping with disdain and condescension. “I don’t know why you’d think she’d want to go back with you when that’s how you treat her, and I’m not going to let you take her if she doesn’t wish to go.”

  His voice sounded deeper than she had ever heard it before, rough and dark with his power. But if there was one thing that could make Dante find his courage, it was being talked down to, and Holly had no doubts that he was going to try to retaliate. Turning tail and running wasn’t his style.

  “Who do you think you are?” Dante asked, taking a step forward, though Holly noted no one else followed him. “You can’t talk to me like that.”

  “I can do whatever I like on my property,” Artemis said, sounding almost bored, even though that dangerous glimmer of anger was still in his eyes. “If you’d rather take this outside, though, I’m sure that could be arranged.”

  It was a blatant challenge, and there was no way Dante was going to back down from it. As expected, he growled and then bared his teeth. “Fine,” he said. “Guess we’re doing this the old fashioned way.”

  He turned to march outside, and the rest of the pack followed, though they all looked wary. The patrons in the diner seemed stunned, and as Artemis moved to head for the door as well, the silence was thick enough to cut with a knife.

  “Artemis,” Holly said, pushing the door open and stepping out. All of a sudden she felt like the worst kind of coward, hiding while he was defending her. “You don’t have to-”

  He held up a hand, cutting her off while barely looking at her. “Leave it,” he said, and stepped through the door.

  She followed him, standing in the window. Dante happened to look up and see her, then, and he grinned and blew her a kiss. “There you are,” he called, voice audible through the glass. “I knew I’d find you. When we get home, we’re gonna have words about you walking out on me, baby. You know I don’t like stuff like that.”

  ‘Words’, right. Holly knew that was just a nice way of him saying he was going to throw her around and yell at her for being lazy and stupid and whatever else, and right then and there she knew she wasn’t going back with him no matter what happened here.

  Rage flared in Artemis’ eyes and before anyone could say or do anything else, he was shifting. It wasn’t the smooth transition of a planned shift either. No, this was the sudden explosion of power and emotion that caused a forced shift when the animal inside of a shifter couldn’t be physically contained by the human body anymore.

  Skin split and in its place grew scales, hard and shiny and the color of bright bronze. Artemis’ body contorted, elongating and changing, growing
in some places and shrinking in others until there in the middle of the street was a large, pissed off dragon.

  Holly had never seen a dragon shift before, and her mouth was hanging open from the sight. He was gorgeous. All bronze and copper, but still with those gem bright green eyes that were larger and more piercing with him in dragon form. His snout was long and scaled as well, and two thick, dark horns curved back over his head. The leathery wings were kept folded against his body tightly, and Holly wondered if he could actually fly. His body was built on those same powerful lines he had as a human, and while he towered over the pack by a good half a foot at the shoulder alone, he was more stocky than tall, muscular with a tail that he seemed to be carefully keeping away from the buildings.

  Even like this, even after that explosion of change, he was regaining his control, and it was very impressive.

  Dante and the rest of the pack looked ready to run away, all of them pale and wide eyed at the sight in front of them. Even if they shifted, they would be at a disadvantage, and it was clear that Dante hadn’t planned for this.

  “L-look,” he said, holding his hands up again, although now Holly noticed they were trembling. “I don’t want any trouble. Just give me the girl.”

  “She’s. Not. Yours!” Artemis roared, and the glass in the windows and door shook with the force of it.

  “Did you know he could talk in that form?” asked someone behind Holly, but she couldn’t turn away from the scene outside to look and see who it was.

  “I’ve never seen him shift,” the other person replied. “It’s...a little scary.”

  “I’ll say.”

  And they were right, though Holly didn’t know what had her heart racing in terror more, the sight in front of her or the fear of what would happen when it was over.

  “Oh, and you think she’s yours?” Dante snapped. “She’s been mine for five years, and if anyone has a claim on her, it’s me.”

  Artemis glared for a second and then lowered his massive head so he could look Dante right in the eyes. “Then try to take her from me,” he growled, all threat and possession. “I’d truly love to see you try.”

  Holly’s eyes flew open wider at that, and she held her breath, waiting.

  Apparently Dante wasn’t as dumb as he looked because he stepped back. “Let’s go,” he muttered to the pack and they all walked off, apparently forgetting that they’d driven there.

  Artemis snorted in satisfaction and with a surge that all of them could feel, he shifted back into his human form and disappeared around the side of the building, presumably to go find clothes.

  For a long moment no one moved or spoke, but then it was Holly who burst into action, hurrying out the door and into the street. The looming chance of freedom, true freedom without having to look over her shoulder constantly, had her needing to say something, to make sure that Dante wouldn’t come back.

  She didn’t have to walk very far before she found him, leaning against the side of a building. Surprisingly enough, he was alone, and he looked up when he saw her. “Came crawling back anyway?” he asked, voice dull.

  “No,” Holly replied. “Not at all. I’m never going back with you, and I just want to make sure you understand that,” she said.

  “You’ve got a lot of nerve, you know,” Dante said, standing up straight and glaring at her. “After all I’ve done for you.”

  “You never did anything for me,” Holly replied. “Ever. All you did was make me feel worthless and lie to me over and over again. You think I don’t know that you manipulated me into feeling like you were the only thing I had? My only option?”

  Dante glanced away and shrugged a shoulder. “You weren’t complaining before.”

  “Because I was terrified!” she nearly shouted. “You made it pretty clear what would happen to me if I spoke out of turn or did something you didn’t like. The last thing I wanted was to piss you off and get hurt more. That wasn’t love, Dante. That was you using me. All I did was try to keep you happy, but it was never enough.” When he didn’t say anything, she stepped closer to him, fuming. “Look at me! Don’t you have anything to say?”

  “What?” he snapped. “You waiting for an apology? For what? For me feeding you and keeping a roof over your head when your parents threw you out?”

  “They threw me out because I was in love with you!” Holly retorted. “Because I thought you were worth running away with. I should have listened to them when they told me you’d be nothing but trouble.”

  Dante laughed, then. “Oh, poor Holly,” he mocked. “Things were so bad for you. You were mine. And now you’ve got some dragon watching your back, and you think he’s going to be any different? Shifters are all the same. We’re possessive and we keep what we take. He’s going to do the same thing to you that I did because that’s how this goes, and you’re too weak to be on your own.”

  “No,” Holly said, shaking her head fiercely. “No. Artemis is nothing like you or your pack. He’s worth a million of you. You lied to me about how shifters can’t be gentle and it has to hurt all the time. It never hurt with him. Ever.”

  “Then why are you standing here talking to me? Why don’t you run on back to the overgrown lizard.”

  Holly let out a breath and squared her shoulders, drawing on her courage and determination. Hopefully, this would be the last conversation she ever had to have with him. “Because I needed to make sure that you understood that this is the end for us. I’m never going back to you. Ever. And if you come here again, I’ll call the police and tell them everything.”

  For a moment, Holly was stunned at her own bravery. She’d never done anything like this before, but being meek and obedient hadn’t gotten her anywhere, and the truth was that Dante’s comment about her being too weak to be on her own had gotten under her skin in a way that burned.

  She understood that she had been weak. Doing what she’d done to Artemis had been a survival instinct, but a weak one. It’d been her hiding behind one man to protect her from another one, and she was tired of being like that. She was tired of running and being scared, and she needed to do this for herself.

  They locked eyes for a long moment, and then Dante huffed and pushed off from the building. As he did, the rest of the pack came around the corner, looking between the two of them with interest. “What makes you think I’d even want you back now?” he said. “You’re no good to me. So you can consider yourself dumped if it makes you feel better.”

  It was such a Dante thing to say, but it made her feel better. Apparently, he’d decided that she wasn’t worth the risk of making Artemis mad again or having the police called on him. Whatever the reason, as Holly watched them walk off in the direction of the diner and their cars, it felt like a fresh start, like she was being set free.

  Now she just had to decide what she was going to do with her freedom, and she knew she had some amends she needed to make.

  That was, if Artemis would listen to her.

  Chapter 10: Resolution

  Most of the time, shifting wasn’t even worth the trouble. He always had a headache afterwards, and he already knew that the town was going to be buzzing with news that he’d turned into a giant dragon in the middle of the street before long.

  By the time he’d made it up to the apartment so he could get dressed and take some aspirin, Artemis was already considering just hiding there for the rest of the day. The diner would be fine without him, and he really didn’t feel like going back down there and being stared at and interrogated until closing.

  He sighed and sat on the couch, tipping his head back to stare at the ceiling for a second before he closed his eyes.

  Even though he was upset with Holly, and he really was upset with her, apparently someone threatening to take her had set him off so badly that he’d lost control. Artemis had always prided himself on his control, but hearing the way Dante was speaking about Holly had just been too much.

  It had been...well, Artemis didn’t actually know if he’d ever wanted
to keep someone as much as he wanted to keep Holly, and he sighed again and shook his head. He didn’t even know where she was right now or how much of that she’d seen and heard.

  Knowing a little bit about what she’d come from before she’d come to him made him horrified that he’d talked about her like he owned her. Like she was property, another gold piece in his horde.

  The last thing she needed was another controlling shifter in her life, and Artemis didn’t know how to explain that it was different. He didn’t want to control her, he just. Wanted her.

  “This is what happens when you try to be different,” he muttered to himself. If he’d gone the route that all the others of his kind went, he could have been rich and married by now and wouldn’t be getting mixed up in things like this. Because honestly, no matter how naturally protecting Holly had come to him, that wasn’t what he was used to. He had his well worn routines and he liked them. Liked getting up at the same time just about every morning and running through his days in the same way. It was comforting to have a good idea of what was going to happen when he got up each morning, but since Holly had come into his life, all of that had changed.

  Which...wasn’t necessarily a bad thing, just. Something he wasn’t used to.

  He only allowed himself to sit on the couch for a few more minutes, knowing that the longer he hid away from everyone, the longer they’d have to come up with all sorts of questions and theories and rumors, and it would only be worse when he finally emerged.

  So he drew himself up and headed down the stairs, trying to focus his mind on things that didn’t have to do with Holly and wondering where she was.

  “Artemis!”

  No sooner than his feet had touched the bottom stair leading into the kitchen, than Tammy was coming up to him, wide eyed. “Are you okay?”

  He nodded, seeking to reassure her. “Yes, I’m fine. A little tired, but otherwise alright.” And if he was scanning the kitchen for any sign of Holly, well, he hoped no one would notice.