Ancient Protector

by Katie Reus

  “You’re right.”

  “I kind of expected pushback from you.” Axel could be such a mother hen sometimes. Which she appreciated.

  He lifted a shoulder as they passed a teal house with yellow trim and a group of shifters and humans building a greenhouse in the corner of the yard. A couple waved at them, but mostly continued what they were doing.

  “I don’t like you putting yourself out in the open. I don’t like any of the band doing that. Because it’s going to let Oscar know where you are if he doesn’t already. But my money is on him figuring it out sooner than later regardless. You’re Star. And…” He shrugged his broad shoulders, constantly scanning for danger even as they walked. “We can’t operate as an island. We need friends and we need to be seen. It’ll be a hell of a lot harder for Oscar to come after you or Aurora if we have public favor. I hate that it matters, but it does.”

  “Yep.” And Star’s friend Cynara, a half-demon, half-vampire, was powerful in her own right and had four very powerful brothers. Not to mention an old-as-hell mate who’d once been a Roman general and was a badass, if what Star had heard was anything to go on. “I’m glad you’re on board.”

  “Hey! Stop!” a female voice cried out from somewhere nearby.

  Axel shared a glance with Star and they bolted into action, her boots pounding against the concrete in tune with his as they raced down the sidewalk.

  “Stop that now, you jackass thief!”

  They rounded the corner to find a woman yelling at a male who was walking off with her generator. The male didn’t even glance at the human, just picked the generator up as if it weighed nothing. Okay, so he was a shifter. And Star was pretty sure the woman was human since (a) she wasn’t attacking the thief and (b) she had a distinctive human scent.

  Star motioned for Axel to stay back. She raced across the neighboring front yard to confront the thief at the edge of the lawn. “What the hell are you doing?”

  The male looked her up and down, a sneer on his face. He was a shifter of some kind, but she wasn’t sure what type. Jaguar maybe. Feline for sure, given the beast that flickered in his eyes for a moment.

  “He’s taking my generator. It belongs to King’s pack.” Star couldn’t scent any lies rolling off the human woman. She didn’t scent fear from her either, just anger.

  “You’re dumb enough to take one of King’s belongings?” Star didn’t make a move toward him yet, but she was ready to rush him if necessary.

  A casual shrug. “He’s not my Alpha.”

  “He is your Alpha if you’re living in New Orleans. Or the surrounding area.” And really, she wasn’t going to argue semantics with some random stranger who was stealing. King was the Alpha. Period.

  The male set the generator down and stalked toward her, his face twisted into a snarl. He let his claws release and his cat show in his eyes. Okay then, definitely jaguar. And it looked like this fool wanted to fight.

  Star started forward, her fingertips tingling with fire. Right now she needed to let out her repressed anger, but before she could take another step Axel raced past her, a snarl in his throat even as he shifted to full lion, his clothes shredding as he moved.

  Damn it. She’d wanted to take care of this herself, but apparently Axel had the same idea. He tossed the jaguar to the grass in a full-body slam.

  “Are you okay?” She turned to look at the human, quickly assessing her from head to foot. Her curly hair—which was chocolate brown with a riot of auburn streaked through it—was secured into a thick ponytail that looked as if it was straining against the band, and her T-shirt and ancient-looking jeans were paint-splattered with a variety of colors. But Star didn’t scent any blood or see any physical injuries.

  “I’m fine,” she murmured, wrapping her arms around herself. She actually did seem shockingly fine with the savage fight going on a few feet away. “I’m in charge of the reconstruction of these few blocks and a big part of Uptown. Normally my dragons are with me or King leaves a couple wolves with me, but I just stopped by to assess the work my crew did today. I hadn’t even planned to be here this evening.”

  Star looked over as the jaguar howled in pain, Axel pinning him to the ground with a giant lion paw.

  “So this guy has never hassled you before?”

  The woman shook her head. “No—holy crap, are you Star?” The woman dropped her arms, her eyes widening as she seemed to fully see Star for the first time.

  She nodded. “Yeah.”

  The woman blinked once. Then twice. “My name is Avery. I’m a huge fan. I didn’t know you were supernatural too. That’s so cool. I didn’t recognize you at first because your hair isn’t indigo.”

  Star half-smiled even as she kept an eye on the males, both of whom had shifted back to human form. They were also buck naked right now and Axel had ruined his clothes. “Thanks. Hey…did you say ‘your dragons’ earlier?”

  “Ah, yeah, I live with a bunch of dragons and my younger brothers, who are human. They’re all basically a bunch of adolescents—not literally, it just feels like it most days—and they’re great at construction.” She shrugged.

  Now it was Star’s turn to blink. This human female lived with dragons?

  The woman smiled at her. “It’s a long story… So I’m not supposed to ask what you are, right?”

  Star grinned. “That’s right. It’s considered offensive by some. But the really old ones, the ancients, don’t care. They’ll ask you what you are in a heartbeat. And they’ll comment on your smell, whether it’s good or bad. And they might even lean in to your personal space and just sniff. So…yeah.” The ancients had very little civility in them.

  Avery snorted. “Oh, I know all about some of the ancients. The smelling thing took me off guard at first, but whatever. Look, I need to call King because—”

  Two wolves raced down the street, heading toward them like missiles. It didn’t matter that they were in human form, the dark-skinned male and bronze-skinned female had that whole rangy, lean wolf look about them. And they were dressed in simple fatigues that seemed to be the uniform of King’s pack.

  The wolves took one look at Axel and the jaguar, then headed straight for Avery. “What happened?” the female asked in a way that made it clear she knew Avery. “Either of them hurt you?” The wolf’s eyes said that if Avery had been hurt, someone was going to die.

  Star stepped back as Avery started talking to the wolves. Before Avery had even finished, the male had the jaguar trussed up in cuffs that were very likely spelled. Or something of the equivalent, she guessed, because the male was struggling and couldn’t break them even with his supernatural strength.

  Axel shifted back to human and strode up to Star, his arms crossed over his chest as he eyed the cuffed jaguar with annoyance.

  “Thanks for stopping this asshole,” the female wolf said as she turned from Avery. “We’ve got him from here. But are you guys good?”

  Star nodded. “Yep.”

  “All right, then. We’ve got this covered. Oh, if you’re headed that way, there’s a yellow house on the left. Stop in and ask for extra clothes if you need them,” she said, looking pointedly at a naked Axel. “Tell them Maria sent you.”

  “Thanks,” Axel said. Then he looked at Star. “I’m just going to go full lion for the rest of the night.”

  She nodded as he shifted to his animal form, not surprised he’d decided to shift again. He hadn’t gotten to run in a while. Then she turned back to the adorable human. “Hey Avery, I live in the purple and yellow mansion on Harmony Street. Stop by tomorrow any time after ten if you want. You can meet the whole band.”

  The human’s eyes widened and she nodded enthusiastically, the dark curls of her ponytail bouncing wildly. “I will totally be there.”

  Half-smiling at the woman’s enthusiasm, Star headed off with Axel. She was glad the human hadn’t recognized her at first. It gave her hope that she’d be able to blend in a bit better. Star hadn’t used magic to change her hair color now th
at they’d settled down here, but she probably would for any future shows.

  She had a feeling the lack of recognition also might be because people had a whole shitload on their minds now that half the world had been decimated. Things like fame weren’t that important anymore. At least not to everyone.

  The rest of the walk was brisk and uneventful. As they reached the back door to Cynara’s nightclub, one of the security guys raised an eyebrow as he looked at Axel, who was still rocking his lion form.

  “Look man, sometimes it’s okay to come inside in animal form, but not tonight.”

  “We’re here to meet with Cynara, not go into the club,” she said. “And he doesn’t have any clothes with him.”

  The guy rubbed a hand over his bald head, then spoke quietly into what must be an invisible earpiece. Then he nodded once. “All right. Through here, up the stairs, first door on your left. You’re free to hit the club—afterward, obviously, but shift to human form if you do.”

  “Will do,” Star promised.

  The guy nodded as he opened the door for them. “By the way, I saw you live a couple times before… Before The Fall. You’re fucking awesome. Any time you come to the club, don’t wait in line, all right?”

  She nodded once and held out a hand. “Thanks.”

  Axel made a sort of snuffling sound and trotted by the guy, his tail swishing in the air as if he was actually king of the jungle. When he shook his mane, letting all his fur fluff out, she didn’t bother stifling her laugh.

  “You are so far beyond ridiculous sometimes,” she muttered as Axel raced up the stairs ahead of her. The walls were a deep purple, the railings all black, and there was fun, funky art dotting the walls.

  Axel turned around and looked at her from the top landing, then simply licked his paw once before racing on. When she found him, he was sitting perfectly still in front of the door the bouncer had indicated.

  The door had a simple sign in black and white that said OFFICE. And the color of the door was indigo. Seriously, what was up with that color popping up so often lately? Yeah she’d dyed her hair indigo for ages, but now when she thought of the color, she thought of Lachlan’s eyes.

  She wasn’t sure why she couldn’t stop thinking about that sexy, smoldering dragon with his delicious Scottish accent. Okay, she’d literally just answered her own question. She knew exactly why she was thinking of that male. And she was almost positive he was the dragon who had saved her and her band as they’d made their escape from the airport in Wales.

  The dragon’s scales had been the same beautiful indigo color as Lachlan’s eyes. So yeah, it had to have been him. Gah, she needed to stop thinking about him. AKA fantasizing about him.

  Before she could knock, the door swung open and Cynara smiled at the two of them. Of Asian descent, she had bright purple hair that definitely wasn’t a dye job. And her matching bright purple eyes weren’t contacts either, though Star was sure humans had always assumed they were. Petite and lean, she had on a black and gold bandage dress that hugged every inch of her body. It was like slashes of material simply covered the important bits but everything else was all skin. And the spiked black heels she wore were killer.

  “Star! I’m so happy to see you.” The half-demon, half-vampire flashed her fangs as she stepped out, raising an eyebrow at Axel’s huge lion form. “I don’t know if you’re going to fit in here comfortably.”

  “You got any clothing?” Star asked as she pulled Cynara into a tight hug.

  “Yeah,” she said as she stepped back. “A couple of my brothers leave stashes here.” Turning on her heel, she went to a closet and rummaged around before pulling out a pair of cargo pants and a huge T-shirt that looked like it would definitely fit Axel.

  She tossed them to the lion. “Change outside. Justus gets annoyed when I see other men naked.”

  Star snickered and shut the door behind her so Axel had privacy. “Are you serious?”

  Cynara nodded. “Oh yeah. Mated males are so bizarre sometimes. I mean, I work at a club with shifters who are constantly in a state of undress.”

  “Do you like him to see naked females other than you?”

  The woman laughed, throwing her head back. “Fair point. Hell no. Look, thanks for stopping by,” she said as Axel stepped inside as well. She gave him a nod as she continued talking to Star. “As you know, I wanted to talk to you about doing a few charity shows. The city is rebuilding but people have lost so much. Especially humans. Not only did they lose a lot, and in many cases entire families, but their whole reality has shifted to this new one where they’re not at the top of the food chain. It’s a lot for anyone to deal with. I was talking with King and another Alpha, Finn, who is the Alpha of—”

  “Girl, I know who he is.” Star had performed at Cynara’s brother’s club in Biloxi, where Finn was a powerful Alpha who ran a huge swath of the Gulf Coast area. He’d also mated with a bloodborn vamp.

  Cynara nodded once. “That’s right. My brain is running on like two cylinders right now so I forgot. Anyway, I talked to him and a couple other dragon clans spread around the United States. Everyone is rebuilding as quick as they can, but it’s the same thing everywhere. Humans really are struggling. I think it would be pretty awesome if we could do a few charity shows for morale. One in Jackson Square, one near Tulane. Obviously it’s a lot to ask, but—”

  “Of course I’ll do it! It’s not a lot to ask. I would be more than happy to.” Star actually missed singing. “I know it hasn’t been that long since we performed, but…I thought it might be frivolous to put on shows now.”

  Cynara snorted. “Art and entertainment are never frivolous. We need it now more than ever.”

  “Agreed.” Axel nodded in approval as he scanned the shelves of her tiny office. The male was always curious—typical feline.

  “Great. I thought I’d have to convince you more. But if you’re on board then I’d love to sit down and talk about an actual schedule with you. I’d also like to ask you to do a show here at the club. I’ll pay you for that one of course. We’ll figure out something. I can pay you in favors or whatever.”

  Star shook her head. “No way. It’s on the house.” Ever since The Fall, the powers that be hadn’t worked out a monetary system yet. Right now people were basically dealing in favors, and King had made sure that no one in the city was going without food or shelter or healthcare as they got a structure set back in place. In her opinion, some things actually worked out better in this new world since nobody had to worry about going bankrupt because they broke a leg or needed emergency surgery. They just got what they needed taken care of at a human hospital—and supernaturals went to see a healer.

  There was a sharp bang on the door, followed by a male voice. “Cynara, you’re needed on the floor.”

  Star smiled at the female. “Look, you know where I live so if you want to sit down and go over anything, feel free to stop by tomorrow. We’ll figure everything out.”

  “I will. I’m gonna go take care of whatever’s going on downstairs, but I’ll call you later.”

  “I kind of can’t believe how busy you seem to stay.”

  She lifted a shoulder. “People need to blow off steam and this is the place to do it.”

  “How are you even getting things like alcohol?”

  Cynara grinned, flashing her fangs again as she headed for the door. “I struck up a deal with a local witch. She’s hooking me up with some prime magic. Not to mention a couple local breweries survived the carnage and are going full steam with production. People are freaking crazy—the world’s upended, but they’ve got their beer.” She rolled her eyes with a laugh.

  “I think a lot of supernaturals are going to be surprised by how much we have to depend on witches and half-demons to rebuild this world.”

  Cynara grinned then. “I agree.”

  “It’ll be good for their egos.” Witches and half-demons had been looked down upon for far too long.

  Her grin grew even wider. “You’re p
reaching to the choir.”

  They talked for a few more minutes before someone banged on the door again. As Cynara ran off, they let themselves out. Once they were in the fresh night air, Star inhaled deeply. “You were pretty quiet back there.”

  “Nothing to say,” Axel said. “And when have I ever questioned you in front of outsiders anyway? You’re my Alpha.” He looked almost affronted.

  Reaching out, she patted his forearm once. “I know.” She and Axel and all the others had been friends literally since childhood. Each of their parents had belonged to an artists’ commune. Or more like a co-op, in supernatural terms—but humans had called them a commune.

  So they’d grown up surrounded by artists, sculptors and writers. Their commune had been a great cover in the human world—just a bunch of “fucking hippies” living in a giant mansion when in reality they’d all been various types of shifters who hadn’t fit into packs, clans, covens or prides. Their parents had just lived the life they wanted and taught all of them to do the same. Their parents had wanted them to grow up free to be who they wanted.

  But from the time they’d been little, Star had more or less been the Alpha of their group. With the exception of her sister, because Aurora had been born later and they had a different relationship anyway. She wasn’t even sure what it was that drove them to have a leader, some sort of animal instinct, but shifters always looked for someone to lead them. And her crew had always trusted her role. Probably because she’d never given them a reason to doubt her and she would die for all of them.

  As they turned onto Chartres Street, Star paused as she inhaled a deep, familiar masculine scent.

  “What is it?” Axel asked, clearly sensing a shift in her.

  She swallowed hard and forced herself to keep walking, to remain casual. “Just ready to get back home.”

  He nodded but straightened slightly, scanning every face on the street as they walked.

  For her part, Star scanned too. But for a different reason. She scented him, the male who fueled her fantasies.