by Leela Ash
Without a word, Archer watched in despair as Alana turned her back on him and walked backward into the forest, back the way that she had come.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
When they finally reached the farmhouse, Archer and his men were in low spirits. They looked around, none of them entirely clear on what the plan should be. It was a difficult situation, and once Archer made a choice, he would have to defend that choice with his life and the lives of his men.
He signaled for them to follow him around back. Maybe they would be able to sneak attack the remaining Guardians.
His men followed dutifully, until they had nearly reached the back door. Archer peeked in every window he could find. The coast seemed to be clear. Maybe this would be easier than he thought.
If the Guardians were holding Tanna, maybe they would have him in a cellar or a tunnel. Maybe he would be in the huge barn behind the house. He wouldn’t know for sure until he had the upper hand.
One by one, he gave the signal for the men to transform into their dragon forms and prepared himself to bust the door open.
Before he had the chance, an earth-shattering roar nearly knocked Archer off his feet.
“What was that?” he whispered. But nobody answered him. All eyes were on the monstrous beast behind them.
When Archer turned to face it, his blood ran cold.
The ugliest dragon he had ever seen, a Frankenstein cacophony of Loni, human, and dragon shifter body parts, was looming above them, staring down at Archer and his small group with wild, frenzied eyes. It was horrific, and Archer could tell that his men were paralyzed in fear and revulsion.
Archer had to make a move, or the beast would maintain the advantage. It already seemed to have it, towering above the normal shifters by at least ten feet. Still, it would be better to be moving than to be sitting ducks, and Archer pulled the sword from his hip and charged.
***
Alana’s blood was boiling. Who was he to tell her what to do and order her around like an inconvenient little dog? Since when had she sacrificed everything she knew and loved only to be with such a stubborn, arrogant fool? Why did Archer assume that he was more powerful than she was? He was walking right into a trap and he couldn’t even see it. But Archer didn’t seem happy until he could control her and tell her where to go. He probably thought that he was protecting her, but it was he who was walking right into danger without being able to see it. She had never been so insulted.
She growled and rubbed her temples in agitation. Were all relationships like this? She had heard about bull-headed men before, but this was too much. Maybe she should just give up and go home. Archer seemed to believe he had it under control, so why shouldn’t she? It would really show him if she let him have his way. He’d get himself and everyone he was with killed.
Suddenly, an ear-splitting roar shook the ground and Alana’s heart nearly stopped. The beast in their dreams. She knew suddenly that it had been unleashed.
She had come all this way to protect the man she loved. She couldn’t turn back now, even if he was being rash and foolish. She had to save him.
Alana followed the sounds of battle, running with all her might. It didn’t take long for her to find the desolate farmhouse. From a distance, she could see the battle raging. Several dragons flying around the monstrous beast from her dreams. It swatted at them like flies and there was already one man down on the ground, struggling to live.
Alana tried to find Archer, but she had no idea what he looked like in dragon form. Suddenly, a tiny figure became clear to her, hacking away with a sword at the beast’s legs. It was Archer. The beast hissed down at him and with frightening speed, swooped down and lifted Archer into its jaws.
The world became a blur as Alana’s body shapeshifted into her impressive dragon form. Archer was being swung wildly in the creature’s mouth as the other dragons tried, to no avail, to injure the beast. Its reptilian eyes were placed in sunken pink human flesh, and its body seemed diseased, splotched with scale and flesh with no discernible pattern. So this was what the Guardians had been working on for so long. A dragon-human hybrid. Their own abomination to counter the threat of alien life.
Alana flung herself at it and soon the creature was on its back. Archer managed to scramble from its mouth and crawl to safety. Alana would have to handle this on her own. Soon, they were engaged in a life or death battle as the other dragons sat back in awe of her impressive strength. They did their best to help, but Alana did the most damage, relying on instinct to find where the beast was most vulnerable to attack. She sunk her teeth deeply in its loose flesh and cringed as a foul aroma was unleashed. This was the weapon to end the war between the Guardians and the shifters, and that meant the Guardians had played it smart.
“Run!” she exclaimed urgently to the others. The gas that the hybrid’s bloated body released was noxious; something that wasn’t found on Kaldernon because it was toxic to all life on their planet. Alana realized suddenly that she was probably going to die. But she was satisfied to know the others would be safe, and were running for their lives.
She fell limply to the ground as the poison began to overtake her body. Just a few more breaths of it would kill her. But she was prepared to die.
Suddenly, Archer was between her and the hybrid, his eyes hard and serious. He stripped his shirt off and covered her nostrils with it and started to attack. He had been studying the way the hybrid moved from a distance and realized it was stitched unartfully together. If he could hack and slash at the stitches with his brute strength–always his preferred method–it wouldn’t be able to withstand the impact. It was an imperfect creation.
Alana’s eyelids were heavy as she watched Archer take on the beast alone, standing protectively over her. The gas didn’t seem to affect him for some reason. Maybe because he had been born on Earth and was protected outside of his dragon form. Whatever the reason, Archer fearlessly fought the hybrid off, hacking at its stitches until suddenly, it crumbled to the ground.
Alana was so weak that she had reverted back to her human form, and Archer lifted her over his head as he slashed the beast apart. It would have been impossible for either of them to defeat it alone, but together, it lay in a heap on the ground. Archer held his breath and ran as far away as he could before striking a match and throwing it at the corpse. The gas ignited immediately, and the farmhouse, the barn, everything the Guardians had there, exploded.
The force of the explosion threw Archer backward. The group of shifters were waiting for them on the other side of the property, and Archer stared sadly at the scene. He had been hoping to rescue Tanna, but it seemed as though he was a goner.
“Long time no see,” a deep voice suddenly said to him.
“Tanna?” he asked in disbelief. “I thought you were–“
“While you were fighting that thing, Thom figured to look for me in the barn. Got me out quick. Never been better. Thank you guys.”
“I’m so glad you’re safe,” Archer exclaimed, throwing his arms around Tanna in a big hug.
“Me too. And who is this?” he asked, raising his eyebrow approvingly at Alana, who was standing weakly beside Archer.
“The woman of my dreams,” Archer replied. “And my hero.”
Tanna nodded approvingly. “Well, thank you all.”
Together the band moved slowly through the forest and returned to the Kersh clan’s underground settlement, each of them grateful to be alive.
CHAPTER TWELVE
In the tunnels where Archer had made his lonely home, he tended to Alana until she was feeling better.
“The portal will open tomorrow,” she told him, lacing her fingers through his. “It’s going to take me home.”
“You’re going to leave me already?” he teased gently, stroking her hand with his broad thumb.
“Not necessarily,” Alana replied, pulling him close to her. Their lips lingered just centimeters apart. “I want you to come back with me. I want everyone to come back.”
A scouting party had returned to the scene of the battle from the night before and confirmed that the Guardians, at least twenty-four of them, had been slaughtered in the explosion. Archer had been smart enough to both wipe them and their hybrid creation out.
“I don’t know…”
Archer’s heart longed to be surrounded by the people from his youth. But it had been so long. How could anything be the same again? He was used to being right where he was.
His thoughts were interrupted by the luscious warmth of Alana’s lips. The sudden physical contact brought a surprised moan from Archer, and he caressed her shoulders and gently climbed over her. Alana’s breath was taken away by the abrupt sensation of Archer’s body so near to hers, and just as she had done in the dream, she bucked her hips up against him.
“Don’t leave me alone up there,” Alana warned him, gently pulling his member from his pants and guiding it to the heat of her middle. “I don’t think I can live without you now that we’re together at last.”
Archer had been thinking the same thing himself, and closed his eyes as the pleasure overwhelmed him. Alana was gently rocking her hips against him, wetting his shaft with her desire. He pushed aside her dress and slid himself fully inside of her. Alana gasped in pleasure.
“That’s not what I want either,” Archer admitted, showering her with hot, lingering kisses. He removed her blouse and fingered her breasts, in awe of the perfection of her body.
“Archer…”
Soon they were both lost in the hot rhythm of their desire. Archer made love to her gently on the small bed where she had been recovering from the battle. It had been hard for her to breathe since the gas had infected her, so he wanted to take it easy with her.
“Alana…”
He was enveloped between her thighs, and moaned as he was once again taken to heights he had never before imagined. It was much tamer than the dream, and yet it was even more intimate. This time it was real, and they were able to fully appreciate one another. They knew each other now. They were no longer strangers without a name. They were soulmates.
Alana began to shudder under Archer’s touch and soon he felt the familiar tug of her contracting muscles. His member was massaged left and right until he could no longer hold back the powerful culmination of his lust. Alana moaned deeply as she was filled with the explosive power of his climax, and he kissed her gently and held her close as they floated down together from the ceiling of their ecstasy.
“Okay,” Archer said finally. “I’ll come with you.”
EPILOGUE
Kaldernon had only seen the likes of such excitement when the people of the Kersh clan had finally been liberated from the Guardians. Now, Archer, son of Clayton, was finally returning home. His parents were beside themselves with joy. The portal had opened, and the remaining members of the Kersh clan, all but Thom, who wanted to keep an eye out for more potential shifters and protect them from danger, had chosen to come back to Kaldernon.
Alana had teleported first, and was met by an expectant crowd. At first, Clayton and Krista’s faces fell when they saw that she was alone, but then she beamed brightly out at them.
“Hold the portal,” she said. “There are many more coming.”
Nobody was able to contain their excitement, and Alana went into Lopu’s waiting arms as one by one, the shifters and Lonis who had stayed behind began to reappear.
Finally, Archer was standing in front of the crowd, his icy blue eyes in a daze.
“I’m the last,” he said, blinking hard and trying to take in the vibrant colors of Kaldernon.
Clayton and Krista rushed toward their son and he was immediately embraced.
Archer’s defenses melted immediately, and he allowed his parents to hold him until they were all crying in joy.
“I missed you,” he said.
“We missed you, too!”
That was clearly an understatement.
“Come, meet your little sister!”
“I have a sister?” Archer asked, his face brightening. “I always wanted a baby sister.”
He was led off by his family, and after a long while of playing and eating delicious Loni food, Alana found him perched on the ledge of the fountain. He stood when he saw her, his smile more broad and beautiful than anything she had ever seen. He held his hands out to her and she took them, her eyes twinkling with pleasure.
“Welcome home,” she said.
THE END
Wolf Shifter Romance
Mated to the Highland Wolf
Samantha Leal
Copyright ©2015 by Samantha Leal. All rights reserved.
No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
1.
Muriel looked out across the loch as the sun began to set over the mountains. Even though winter had yet to arrive around Inverness, the air was crisp and the chill seemed to rattle gently through her bones. She wrapped her arms around herself and sighed. She had always loved her home and this moment was no exception. The beauty surrounding Cawdor Castle was incredible, the mountains, the lush greens of the land and the deep loch that was laid out before her always took her breath away.
Behind her, in the distance and coming from deep within the forest, she was aware of the sounds of her brothers and father playing with their swords. They clashed their steel together and laughed as if they didn’t have a care in the world, even though Muriel knew the real reason behind why the boys were being trained was definitely not funny. Clan Calder was at risk like many other of the highland families that were scattered around Scotland. The bigger and more powerful clans were trying to claim them and take over them all. Muriel shuddered at the prospect of a war and bit her bottom lip. The cold had turned it dry and she wet it with the tip of her tongue and felt the icy chill bite at her again.
“Back to the castle,” she whispered to herself as she turned on her heel and wrapped an arm around her horse’s neck before she hoisted herself up and sat astride it. The beast had been a present for her thirteenth birthday and they had grown up side by side over the years, their love and deep bond strengthening with each passing day. She had named him Hugo after the ancestral legend of how their clan had come to be, started by a French knight who had settled there and begun the Thane of Calder. Hugo had grown into a strong and powerful beast, and was one of the finest horses within the entire castle. Muriel was honored to be able to call him hers and each time she climbed up onto his back and dug her heels into his side, she knew that he accepted her and wanted to be her steed.
She kicked her heels against him and he picked up his pace into a gallop. Muriel clutched tightly onto his mane as they approached the forest and the sound of her brothers and father came closer. As Hugo slowed and they trotted slowly into the forest and between the trees she smiled as she saw her youngest brother Hamish standing tall and proud with their father’s sword, a piece so big it dwarfed him in size.
“I think you may need one of your own, Hamish,” she smiled warmly. “Something tells me that will be hard to take into battle.”
Hamish smiled boyishly and tried to lift the huge hunk of steel high over his head, failing with his trembling arms which brought it crashing down into the soft, moist earth.
“But I’m a big lad now,” he said triumphantly. He pushed his hands sturdily into his hips and looked at her challengingly. Her father laughed with a hearty roar and slapped the lad on his back before they both made their way over to Muriel and her horse at the clearing’s edge.
“It’s late,” her father said. “You should have been back at the castle hours ago.”
Muriel nodded sheepishly and shrugged her shoulders.
“No place for women out here at night,” he father said, “It’s not safe.”
“Och, I know pa,” she said. “But I lost track of time.”
“Back now,” he emphasized sternly but without anger. “Your mother will be worried sick.”
Muriel nodded and turned Hugo around, ready to begin their walk back to the castle gates. Her brothers all let out low chuckles and she wanted to turn around, jump down and punch the lot of them, but she knew it was pointless. She could easily be just as good a warrior as them, when the time came… but because of her sex she was destined to be cast aside and married off to a worthy suitor just to keep alliances sweet.
She stuck her tongue out at her brothers before she dug her heels into Hugo’s side and they galloped back out across the valley and towards Castle Cawdor. Muriel, the only female offspring of the Calder’s, had lived a sheltered life up until this point, but she knew in her bones it was all about to change. It wasn’t just her father training the boys, or him insisting she wasn’t beyond the walls of Cawdor after nightfall, there was something hanging in the air. She could tell there was a storm coming. News reached them from the peasant boys every so often, stories of other castles that had fallen, whole families wiped out and the bloody trail that was headed in their direction. And even though her mother, father and any of the other elders would deny it… she could sense something was coming for Cawdor that none of them would be able to prevent without an army.
As Hugo’s hooves clattered across the drawbridge and the guards helped her down before leading him away to his stable for the night, Muriel vowed that she would never be as secretive with her own children. Whoever her husband turned out to be, she would insist that they were a real family, open, honest and full of love. This above all else, is what she craved. And she knew that if she wanted it enough, one day she was sure to get it.