ROMANCE: SHIFTER: Shifter to the Max Collection (Dragon, Bear, Wolf and Panther Shifter Romances) (Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection)

by C. J. Ayers

  Stunned, Alisa got out of her car to get a closer look at the monsters dancing in the sky. The longer she gawked, the more she came to terms with the sight before her.

  Dragons.

  Not possible. This isn’t real. This can’t be real. She repeated the phrases over and over again to herself, unable to comprehend the sight before her.

  And then the dragons twirled and crashed against the ground, their massive bodies tumbling rapidly toward her.

  There was no denying it anymore.

  Screaming, Alisa ran into the side of her car before her fumbling hands found the handle. Once she opened it, she threw herself inside and crawled over to the driver’s seat.

  The dragon’s tumbling bodies made the ground rumble and shake-hard.

  Her breathing wispy and squeaking, she just managed to get her seatbelt on when a dragon crashed against her car and sent it rolling.

  She screamed again. Her world spun around and around, screeching metal and other jarring sounds piercing her eardrums. Her body felt like it was twisting itself into a tight ball, and something beyond panic—much stronger than panic—iced through her veins.

  When the car finally stopped moving, it lay on the floor of the desert upside down, its roof pressed against the sand.

  Alisa was wrapped around her seatbelt with her eyes wide, waiting for her vision to returned. Distantly, she was aware her pulse was racing and her heart felt like it would beat out of her chest. She felt cold and nauseous.

  The continued rumbling of the earth—softer but nonetheless threatening—woke her from her stupor.

  She unbuckled her seatbelt and crashed to the ground. Ouch! She crawled out of the wreckage and was poised to run when she glanced over her shoulder and froze. She could no longer get herself to move at all.

  A dragon rose to its feet, its bright yellow eyes locked on hers. It was too dark to make out the small details, but the creature’s silver-gray scales shimmered in the starlight.

  When it bared its long, sharp, glistening teeth, Alisa, awash with horror, was certain she was going to die. The instant that she knew her demise was imminent, a giant torpedo zoomed down and plowed into the dragon, the both of them spiraling and crashing over the ground. The third dragon, behind them, followed with its wings outstretched before flapping once and shooting itself off the ground.

  It was all too, too much. Alisa could only stand gawking, her jaw trailing the ground. She couldn’t even catch her breath as she watched the torpedo unfurl itself from the ground and stand upright on its hind legs.

  Not a torpedo, another dragon.

  Bile rose in the back of Alisa’s throat.

  The dragon shook itself off and turned to her just as the other two commenced fighting one another again—balls of fire, ungodly wars, swiping claws, flapping wings—it was a cacophony of noise and action.

  The torpedoed dragon rose and flew toward her.

  Alisa didn’t know what she was expecting. Death? To be ignored and forgotten? Either way, before she could process what was happening, the dragon was flying over her head, and as he neared, he swooped down and grabbed her with his large claws.

  Alisa had the good sense to scream.

  Chapter Two

  Alisa screamed until her throat was hoarse, and then she screamed some more. The sound was drowned out by the whistling wind—speeding past her—speeding around her—but she couldn’t get herself to stop even if she wanted to.

  In the darkness, it was hard to make out anything. All that she knew was that she was being held tightly by giant, powerful claws and that they were extremely high up in the air. Oh, Lord... in the air! All this monster had to do was loosen his grip just enough, and she would fall to her death.

  Her hands shook so violently that she couldn’t get a decent hold on the creature’s fingers. Which was probably fortunate because she was constantly torn between clutching at the dragon and punching at it.

  Was it taking her to its nest? Its lair? Was it going to eat her? Was it going to feed her to its offspring?

  The dragon swooped down, making Alisa’s internal organs feel like they were splattering against one another and then being yanked out of her body by invisible forces. Her breath caught in her dry throat choking off her scream as they grew closer and closer to the blurry black ground.

  She was going to vomit. Or pass out. God willing, the latter. Everything came to such an abrupt and sudden stop that Alisa was convinced they had crashed into the ground and her brain was having a delayed reaction to the unbearable pain that was about to come. But then, inch by inch, she was taken lower, the dragon’s massive leathery wings swooshed downward a couple of times, making Alisa feel as though she were floating to the ground rather than falling.

  She was placed gently on the sand, but her dizziness made her collapse to the ground anyway. Adrenaline still shooting through her, she scrambled away from the beast, as her mind continued to spin. She managed to stand but after only a few seconds, she ended up tilting too far to the right and falling over herself. As her eyes adjusted and her vision sharpened, she noticed they were surrounded by trees of various kinds, though their numbers were so few that it could hardly be called a forest. It looked more like a specifically planted patch. A forest landscaping motif, or something. The highway was a distance away, but visible. Alisa watched a few headlights sluggishly moving off in the distance.

  She managed to push herself back onto her feet, her equilibrium relatively stable now. She heard strange noises— squishy yet firm, quick and precise. When her eyes followed the sounds, they became saucers. The dragon was shrinking drastically. Its scales lost their shimmer, the tail shrunk until it disappeared altogether, the claws—

  The beast became a man, fully clothed. The eyes still glow a bit with a reptilian hue amidst the darkness. They seemed to shine with concern.

  Alisa screamed again, though it came out more like a choked gasp from her sore, ragged throat. She tried to get herself to move away again, but her muscles were so weak by this point, and her body felt heavy and exhausted, she remained glued to the spot. She was still quite shocked and frightened, and could feel her heartbeat pounding in her chest.

  “It’s okay,” the man said, raising his hands in a placating manner. “You’re safe now. I’m not going to hurt you. It’s okay.”

  Alisa screamed-choked-gasped again, shaking her head. This was insane—terrifying—ridiculous.

  “Please,” the man said gently, “calm down. It’s okay, I promise.”

  Like his promises meant anything to her. She wagged her finger at him, her mouth opening and closing while cruel accusations flew through her brain. There were so many horrible things she wanted to say, even though she also wanted to cower and beg for mercy. In the end, overwhelmed, she ended up looking down to check the state of her favorite dress.

  It was torn, of course. Her fat rolls were peeking out of it, and her arms had never looked less flattering.

  She dropped her hand and released a shuddering breath. When she looked up at the man again, she had forgotten what she’d wanted to say. Her adrenaline faded away, leaving her drained and aching.

  She studied the man before her. He was large, handsome, slightly familiar. He had a chiseled jaw with a day’s worth of beard grow, a sharp nose, dark hair, and slight wrinkle in his forehead, no doubt from the concerned look he gave her—

  Alisa’s eyes widened. She recognized that face. Though it had aged a little, it was still relatively the same. She stepped forward, still gaping. “Matt? Is that you?”

  The man stiffened. It really was Matt; the boy she had met in the streets of Seattle years ago as a teenager. He acted just as awkwardly then as he did now.

  “I’m Alisa Gartner. Remember? We were both runaways, and we spent the entire day together before going back? You walked me to my house and said you had had the best day of your life with me.”

  The man didn’t say anything for a long moment, but she saw the recognition in his eyes. Then, in a s
mall whisper, he said, “Alisa…the girl bored with her too-ordinary life.”

  “You’re a…” She waved her hand toward the sky, like it explained everything. And it kinda did.

  Matt bellowed a breath, his gaze shifting to the side. “Look, I know all of this must be strange, but you’re better off going home and pretending none of this happened.”

  “Strange? Is that what you think this is? How about mystifying? Mind-bending? Life-altering?” She struggled to think of more appropriate words than “strange,” her lips parted for a few seconds. A squeaking sound came out of her before she spurted out, “You’re a dragon-thing. There are dragon-things fighting in the sky. This could be the end of the world or something. Armageddon!”

  “It’s not the end of the world.”

  “And how do you know? Are you a psychic-dragon-thing?”

  He sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “Well, what do I know?” she snapped defensively. She crossed her arms over her cleavage—a bit more revealing than before the impromptu dragon-flight. “Dragons aren’t supposed to exist either, but now here they are. Here you are.” She waved her arm up and down gesturing from his feet to the tip of his head.

  “You need to pretend this never happened.”

  “Pre- Uh huh… and how might I do that?”

  “I don’t know, but you better figure out a way because if you go on telling people the things you saw, those dragons are going to hunt you down and kill you with no mercy. And they’ll do that even though no sane human being is going to believe anything you say about tonight.”

  Alisa’s anger withered, and she swallowed thickly forcing herself to keep her eyes on Matt. “What are you talking about? Why would they want to kill me?”

  “Secrecy is immensely important to dragons. They’ll kill anyone who threatens their anonymity. Anyone.”

  Dread sank into her gut when she realized that he may very well be threatening her himself right now—not on the other dragons’ behalves—but as she eyed him once more, she didn’t see him as a killer. Not Matt. “But you don’t do that. That’s why you…you saved me back there.”

  Matt blinked slowly a few times—tiredly. “Yeah. Pretty much.”

  Neither his words nor his tone were all that comforting, but they would have to do. Alisa licked her lips and hugged herself tighter, her mind still processing everything she had just learned. Eventually, she found herself nodding. “Okay then. This never happened. I had one too many drinks—maybe something a little stronger than that—and I had a little episode. That’s all.”

  “Good.”

  “Right, sure.” She glanced around at the trees and at the nearly deserted highway. A few cars drove on it—maybe it wasn’t a highway. But what did she know? It was nearly pitch-black. The reminder sent an eerie chill up her spine. She looked back at Matt. “So…are you going to take me home, or…?” She pointedly glanced around. “I can’t just walk through the desert by myself in a skimpy little number which, by the way, wasn’t skimpy before you and your friends decided to completely ruin it.”

  Matt’s eyes traveled up and down her form, his intense gaze on her body made her shiver and blush. He was practically stripping her down with his stare. He was a dragon-thingy. If he wanted to, he could pin her down on the sand and have his way with her. Perhaps under different circumstances, such a fantasy might leave her hot and bothered, but Alisa knew from experience that sexual fantasies and reality were two entirely different things. She really hoped she was safe alone in the middle of the desert with Matt. He had been a sweet kid. She, too had had one of the best days of her life hanging out with him as two carefree runaways, she didn’t want her memories of him to be tainted.

  She considered making a break for it, but again, she was a woman in a skimpy dress in the middle of a desert. There was no way that would end well for her. Maybe if the sun was out, she would be more comfortable with being alone, but…

  “I see your point,” Matt finally said. He turned and looked down where the highway—or whatever—led. “I’ll walk with you to the closest town, and then you can call for a cab. That won’t look suspicious, and I’ll keep you safe.”

  Alisa nodded, satisfied. “I guess. So, um…thank you?” Her face twisted. She felt more scared than grateful, but it just seemed like something that needed to be said, even though her voice held total insincerity.

  Matt didn’t seem to mind. “You’re welcome. Now come on. We might have a lot of ground to trek.”

  And she was wearing high heels. Great.

  For the first part of their little journey— with the stars providing a twinkling light—silence hung between them. It was eerie and awkward at first, and Alisa found herself tensed, awaiting an occurrence that would cause her another systemic shock. Hell, this entire night has been a shock to the system. Eventually, their silence became more comfortable, it settled over her like the feeling of slipping into a warm bath. She rationed that if Matt wanted to do something terrible to her, he would have done so already.

  She glanced at Matt, who kept his gaze forward and his body stiff. She was curious about him. She didn’t really know too much about his past. Had he told her anything on that long, beautiful day they’d spent together years ago? She didn’t remember. He walked like a military man. Was he in the military? A dragon-military? Was there such a thing? There were so many questions popping up in her brain now. Which one to start with…?

  She went for broke and blurted out the first thing that came to mind. “How long have you been a dragon?”

  Matt frowned. Not that he was smiling before, but his lips spread a little wider and the corners lowered.

  The silence became tense again.

  “Were you born like that?” Alisa asked. “Or was it a puberty thing?”

  His eyes narrowed, still aimed forward.

  “You can’t ignore me,” Alisa said, frustration and awkwardness overwhelming her. “We’re the only two people here.”

  “You’re supposed to be forgetting about tonight,” Matt said tersely, a light growl tainting his words. He still wouldn’t look at her. “Asking questions is only going to make that harder. Stop being foolish and do what you need to do to stay alive.”

  Alisa clenched her fists, anger bubbling. “I’m sorry, did you just call me stupid?”

  “Foolish. And you are. Be quiet now.”

  “I didn’t ask to be attacked by dragons tonight, and I sure as hell didn’t ask to be kidnapped by one.”

  He spun on her so fast that she nearly reeled back and fell over herself. Luckily, she kept upright, though one of her heels caught on a rock, wobbled and nearly twisted to the side.

  “I saved your life,” Matt growled, hovering over her. “You were the one who parked your vehicle in the middle of nowhere, and then proceeded to exit said vehicle to stare at the dragons attacking each other, not you. You got yourself into this mess, and I got you out of it. If that doesn’t merit even an ounce of your cooperation, then by all means, you can continue walking to town by yourself. What do you say?” His eyes flashed a bright yellow, snake-like. No, dragon-like.,

  Alisa paled. Words caught in her throat, though she had no idea what she would even say if she could speak. She swallowed and tried to nod, but the motion felt too jerky to be right. She forced herself to be still.

  Matt seemed appeased. His eyes lost their glow, and he continued onward. “Good.”

  Alisa mentally swore at him and his brutishness, but she followed him like the lost puppy she metaphorically was.

  It had to be nearing morning soon, but it was still dark by the time Alisa could make out the generic shape of a store in the distance. Its orange lights flickered and faded, but they were closest thing to a beacon of hope and freedom that she had.

  Wind—inconsistent in feel and sound—had Alisa shivering. She grabbed both of her elbows and curled over herself a bit, but as suddenly as the wind had begun, it ceased.

  Matt stopped. Alisa had assumed he
would continue his pace, and when he didn’t, she stopped also. She turned to him. His brow was furrowed.

  He then faced the opposite direction, his face tilted toward the sky.

  Alisa released a taut sigh. “What are you doing? Or am I still not allowed to speak?”

  “He’s coming,” Matt said. “Dammit, he’s moving much faster than I anticipated.”

  Alisa’s face fell, dread and fear twisting inside of her. “Who’s coming? One of those dragons?”

  “Yes.”

  Alisa’s gaze snapped to the sky, to the distant store, and back to Matt—why wasn’t he moving? Why weren’t they moving? Why—?

  And then she saw the dragon. It was nothing more than a black blob in the sky, but its massive wings—stroking over the stars—gave it away.

  Alisa gasped and flailed back, then froze in place. Matt still wasn’t moving; had he given up hope? Was he going to turn her over to be slashed to death by huge reptilian beasts? Indecision had her gaping at approaching dragon, though some of her attention was absorbed by Matt, the only man who could possibly save her.

  The dragon nose-dived before swooping up several feet above the desert. It soared over the ground as though it was a body of water, the beast gliding towards them.

  Alisa stopped breathing, and she would have sworn her heart stopped beating if that was even possible.

  The dragon was going to crash into them—crush them. It was flying too fast toward them. But Matt remained in his military-style stance, seemingly undeterred, so Alisa remained where she was too. Even if she did run, she couldn’t get very far, anyway. What was the point?

  At the last second—as Alisa screamed and hunched down—the dragon swooped up and vanished in thin air.

  At least…it looked like it vanished.

  An old man fell to the earth, his knees bending at a painful angle in order to catch himself.