by Sky Winters
He raced to the scene, sniffing wildly for some indication of what might be causing the smoke. Nobody entered the north woods without his knowing about it. This was his turf, and anybody who was there uninvited was a threat. He was the last of his kind, and his clan carried on a special bloodline. If he wanted any chance of keeping his blood line of dragon shifters alive in the future, he would have to give his life for them. The key to his form was somewhere in his clan's blood, and unless it was unlocked somehow, there would be no dragons left once he was gone. It was a tragedy worse than anything else he could have ever comprehended.
He closed his eyes and felt the cool air rushing under his wings. To imagine the end of the McKordia clan was a fate worse than death. There was nothing he loved more about life than the fact that he could change whenever he pleased, and provide the ultimate protection for his people. If there was a threat, he would find it.
***
Iona Carmichael trotted pleasantly through the forest. It was much better than being back home, where everybody treated her like a burden. She was just the female pup in her family, and her brothers constantly spoke over her and got all of the attention. She was constantly frustrated by their tendency to act as if she wasn't important, simply because she didn't have the same depth of howl that they had. She couldn't stand how self-important her brothers had turned out to be. They were a rather large family, and most of the time she felt like just another mouth to feed.
The one rule she and her brothers had all been told to follow was to stay within their limits in the south. They hadn't been told why, only that it wasn't their territory and it may be unsafe for them to travel far. It was much better for them if they could all just stay safe and sound in the area they had already secured for themselves. Iona felt that this was extremely boring and longed for something to set her apart from the rest of the pack. They all just listened to the leader's instructions, and never questioned it. The whole unexplored world summoned her and brought excitement to her soul.
That morning, she had been trying to tell her father about something that she had been thinking about–her marriage prospects in the clan–but nobody wanted to listen to her. Her brothers were speaking over each other over their breakfast and interrupting her any time she tried to get a word in edgewise. Her father had looked at her with patient tolerance, but it was clear that he wasn't interested in what she was saying either. He would choose her betrothed and nothing she had to say about it would make one little bit of difference.
After she ate, she decided to get some fresh air by herself. She thought of her mother, who had passed away a few years earlier. There had never been a more beautiful wolf shifter, and her form was unbelievably strong and powerful. Iona remembered being impressed by her mother and hoping to grow up to be just as strong and majestic. She'd been getting far too much male attention from the clan lately though, and wondered why in the world she would ever have wanted that type of attention in the first place. She caught the leering stare of one of the men in her clan and clenched her teeth. She didn't want to marry any of them, and she didn't want to go back home where she was constantly ignored by her brothers and father.
Suddenly, an idea struck her–she would go off on her own. Nobody would notice her absence anyway. They were all so obsessed with themselves that it wouldn't make any difference. And she would go in the direction she had always wanted to go. North. With a heart full of adventure, she hurried off into the trees and transformed into her wolf form, galloping north as quickly as she could go.
Chapter 2
The smell of smoke suddenly struck Iona's sensitive nostrils. Her ears perked up as the sound of a fearful cry reached her. Her heart swelled with panic, and she raced off as quickly as she could toward the sound. As she neared it, the smell of smoke burned her nose and eyes, and she squinted to find the source of the loud cries. A child was sprawled out on the ground, a small hut behind him in flames. She lunged toward him, her teeth bared, and transformed quickly into her human form so she could grab him. Before she reached him though, she was hit by a huge burst of air, and a huge black dragon intercepted them, roaring ferociously.
She shrank back, intimidated.
“There's a boy!” she yelled, trying to match his volume with her voice. She quickly became annoyed, feeling exactly the same as she did when she was trying to speak over her loud brothers. The dragon made no indication of hearing her, and quickly transformed into his human form. They stood facing each other, both completely naked and breathing heavily in front of the small boy. The man pointed at her and backed away, not turning his back to her, until he was cradling the small boy against his broad, muscular chest.
“Don't you harm a hair on this lad's head!” he cried, lifting the child gingerly. “You're coming with me, you're officially a prisoner of the McKordia clan.”
Her jaw dropped in disbelief and she felt the hackles on her skin rising.
“If you dare to think about shifting against me, I will have you for a snack!” he snarled, preventing her from acting before she realized it was exactly what she had intended to do. She groaned and knew he would have her beat easily and powerfully, and didn't want to make a scene in front of the child, who was shivering and crying in the man's strong arms.
“Fine,” she said. “I was just trying to help him though.”
“I'm sure you were,” he said, blowing her off. She was beautiful, but he had known many beautiful creatures to contain a fierce venom that could bring a man to his knees. He would not try to listen to her based on beauty alone. That was for sure.
He glared at her and gestured in front of himself, silently ordering her to walk ahead of him as he lifted the boy and cradled him against his chest. Iona sighed to herself, knowing that anything she said would be ignored. She was a stranger to these lands, and if she were to try too hard to prove her innocence, she would never be able to do so. It would be worse than if she had kept her mouth shut. At the very least she could keep herself from appearing to be too guilty.
They marched for a long time until finally they arrived at a settlement. She suddenly became acutely aware of her nakedness. It was a normal state in her wolf clan, but in a new place, where people had never seen her body before, she was apprehensive.
“March forward and meet the eyes of nobody,” the man behind her said in a low voice. She was surprised by the softness of his tone, despite his fierce appearance. She realized it must have something to do with the boy nestled against his chest. She would have been angry but she was touched by his protectiveness.
She could feel the eyes of the men and women of his clan upon her as they walked. It made her somewhat uncomfortable, but she lifted her chin high and squared her shoulders, walking confidently. Adair watched her move gracefully in front of him, his eyes roaming her perfect proportions, unable to help himself. Her confidence was alluring but he could not let himself be swayed. As far as he was concerned, she was the enemy. Who knew what happened between her and that boy, and he had seen her in her wolf form himself, coming toward him as if to attack. He gripped the child more tightly in his hands. He had been whimpering the whole time, and Adair was frightened for him.
“I need the healer,” he ordered loudly, looking down into the boy's face. The boy would be able to tell him what had happened, so he would have all the evidence he needed to bring down the woman who had destroyed his home and killed his family. He couldn't believe somebody so beautiful was capable of something so treacherous, and yet nothing in the world surprised him. He was the leader of the clan, he had seen many evils in the world. One woman's petty vengeance was nothing to him, and yet she had destroyed the life of this child.
“Lock her up somewhere out of sight, I will deal with her later," He said viciously as an elderly man with a long white beard rushed forward from the crowd and took the child from Adair's arms.
Iona glared at him as two men gripped her shoulders and wrists on either side of her body and whipped her around. She faced the Drag
on man head on, and a deep electricity was exchanged between them. Her eyes bore into his, and he watched as she was dragged off by the arms, staring at him steadily with a look that was hard to pinpoint until she disappeared behind the flap of a tent.
He felt it shake his confidence. What if she truly was innocent? That would change everything. She would have to really earn his trust if that were the case though, there was no other explanation for what he had witnessed in the forest. She was very aggressive, and had lunged at the child as if to strike. Upon remembering the child, he followed the healer to another tent, where he laid the boy down and was examining him.
“He has breathed in much smoke, and his voice is raspy, but he is going to be okay. I would give it a couple of days and make sure that he drinks plenty of fluids. Do you know this boy?"
“Yes,” Adair said quietly. “I met his parents a few years ago when they wanted to settle in the north. They did not know that this was Dragon territory, and I had to make sure that they were well prepared for whatever may happen here. There is magic in these woods, and many types of shifters all over the world. Our prisoner happens to be one as well. This family was not magical, but they were kind. I wanted people just like them to populate my land. They were very hard-working, and they built their settlement in the hopes of building a new future for their young son. They had escaped war and poverty, and chose to be self-sufficient here. I will have to go and look for them to see if what I fear is true.”
“And what do you fear, Adair?” The healer asked, his voice drawn and concerned.
“I fear that the wolf shifter I've imprisoned killed his family and set fire to the home, and was about to go after him as well. Through some quirk of fate I was able to save the boy, but I was not able to save his parents.”
“That's truly a shame," the healer said. “Fortunately, his injuries are slight. He was able to escape somehow, and with your help and mine he will be fine. If what you fear is true, he will be safe in our clan. He won't know any of the different. We will keep the memory of his family alive for him, and he will soon grow accustomed to our ways.”
“Yes, that is very true. Thank you for your words and your service to this child. I don't know what I would do without you.”
Adair gave the healer's arm a firm pat and headed out the door. The boy gave a weak cry as he left, and so he turned and gave him a confident smile. The boy returned the smile and he left to go talk to the wolf shifter. His blood was boiling at the thought of anybody who could harm such an innocent and kind face.
Chapter 3
“I'm not the kind of person you seem to think I am," Iona said with a groan.
She was tied up to a stake in a tent that was guarded by two burly men in kilts. They had not given her anything to wear yet, and she gritted her teeth down at the ground before looking back up at the man who had brought her here.
“What did you do with the boy's family? We will find out eventually one way or the other. Soon you will be able to speak and we will know the whole story. So don't even think about lying.”
“I already told you that I didn't do anything to the boy's family, I was just trying to help them. I could smell the fire from far away and when I saw the boy on the ground crying, I wanted to go and help him.”
“Lies, you left them for dead didn't you?" Adair growled.
Iona couldn't help but feel a deep attraction to the man as he paced in front of her. He had dressed into a regal looking kilt, and his long, sandy brown hair cascaded down his back and floated behind him as he paced quickly.
“I'm telling you the truth, and you're going to find that out for yourself."
Iona looked up at him, her eyes flashing with annoyance. “I know you have no reason to believe this, but the fact is that you are wrong about my intentions. Eventually the boy will tell you this himself, so why don't you just save us both the trouble and let me go? What's the point of wasting two guards on an innocent, nude woman?”
Adair scowled, suddenly realizing that his two guards wouldn't do any good if she chose to shape shift into her wolf form. He was going to have to keep an eye on her himself, he was the only person powerful enough to stop her if she decided to turn on them.
“You're right, I have no reason to believe you.”
He summoned the guards into the room and dismissed them.
“She's going to be staying with me until this whole mess is cleared up. I would like to keep an eye on this myself. Thank you very much for your help so far.”
She looked at him in disbelief. He really wasn't going to back down about this. She wondered what his clan would do to her for believing that she killed an innocent family. The family been part of their clan? She couldn't be sure, but she just knew that she was going to suffer for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Maybe she should have just stayed home annoying her brothers. But no, she had longed for freedom and adventure, and had done exactly what she had been forbidden to do. Now she was paying for it. Still, she couldn't help but feel she would rather be prisoner of the Dragon clan than the only daughter of self-important wolves.
“I'm going to untie you and take you to my own personal tent,” he said. “I doubt any of the men here would be able to handle you. I saw the way they were looking at you, the dumb lads would be just as soon to bed you as to kill you."
She rolled her eyes and looked over her shoulder as she untied her. She let her roughly by the hands, which were still bound, and into his personal quarters. Her hypersensitive senses picked up on many smiles, and she was intrigued by them all. He was a man who smelled of the forest, and of many types of trees and smoke. Suddenly, she wondered if dragons could breathe fire, as the whole area smelled very charred. The idea intrigued her, she couldn't help but ask.
“Do dragons breathe fire?" Iona asked, looking around at his personal belongings
“We can bring you all types of dark and dreary death, lass,” he said. “I wouldn't exactly recommend testing that out though.”
She gazed at him quietly, but didn't speak. He felt himself getting nervous under her scrutiny, and realized that he couldn't seem to distract himself from her perfect skin and flawless body. Her unwavering gaze just seemed to make him feel more drawn to her, and he avoided her eyes, looking around his abode for something that she could wear. Eventually, he found a dress that his mother had made but had never gotten a chance to wear. He wanted to go out and find something from one of the women in his clan, but something stopped him. He tossed the dress over to her and turned toward the doorway of his tent.
“Put on that, won't you? We don't want you dying of a cold before we execute you now do we?"
“I think I would rather die of a cold than be killed at the hands of any man,” Iona said stubbornly. “Besides, how do you expect me to put this on with my hands tied up?"
Adair sighed in annoyance and had no choice but to go toward the woman and untie her. His breath caught in his throat at her nearness, and he tried to think of anything but how good it would feel to bed her right then and there. He swallowed hard the thought, and soon the sound of her breathing was driving him crazy. He had to leave. He untied her quickly, trying not to reveal his hands shaking in anticipation of something that would never happen. He waited patiently, trying hard not to watch her as she dressed, but not being able to help it.
The dress was loose on her muscular body, and hung over her shoulders, the neck line low and revealing the ample beginnings of her breasts. Still, it was better than her nakedness, and once she was finished dressing, he tied her hands together against the frame of his tent. He would have to keep a close eye on her, especially in the event that she might shift back into her wolf form and kill all of his men. It wouldn't surprise him if she did so, after seeing what she was capable of. Imagine what she might do with a grudge. Although she was beautiful, she was also lethal.
“I'm going to have to keep a close eye on you," he said. It was to his advantage that she didn't know he was the only person in the clan w
ho could shape shift into a dragon. All the other people lacked that ability, which was why he was the ultimate protector. However, she knew nothing of their hierarchy, and that she had been watching. He seems to do that though, normally he could sense another shifter from a mile away. No, this girl had just been the wrong place at just the right time to unleash her evil instincts.
“I may be powerful, but I would never hurt anybody. At least not on purpose."
“What, so you hurt the boy and killed his parents by accident? Started at fire out of nowhere?”
“If dragons can breathe fire, how do you know it wasn't one of them who ruined the house? Why are you so insistent on blaming me?"
It sounded as if she was beginning to suspect that there were fewer dragons there than he was letting on. He would have to be more careful about what he told her. She found out the secret, everybody would be in danger. The moment she was vulnerable or out of sight, she would be able to strike. Fortunately, he still held the advantage, and he was used to staying up late at night. He could have another one of the men staying in the tent with them when he slept and rouse him should anything happen.
“I never said that dragons could breathe fire," he said, although they could. “But you should beware, we are even more powerful than we might seem.”
“So there's little bite to your bark," she said with a challenging smile. He could feel himself being drawn closer to her, lured in like a simple man to her attractiveness and confidence, but the idea of being swayed by her charm infuriated him. He would not allow himself to forget the evils that she had unleashed on that innocent boy and his family.
“All I can really say honestly is that if you are not telling the truth, and you are responsible for the death of that boy's parents, you will suffer. And you will suffer by my hands," he said, looking at her evenly. He sat down on his bad and leaned back against the frame, folding his hands behind his head and staring at her. He watched her until she fell asleep, twisted and uncomfortable on the floor. She whimpered like a scared pup, and his heart felt a twinge of remorse and concern. If she was innocent, he wasn't treating her very well. He would have to account for that in the morning. In the meantime, he didn't care how well she slept.