“The fuck you’re not mine, and you will not do Karaoke like that again,” he yelled at her.
“I’m not yours! And I’m getting really fucking tired of having to explain this. If I was, you wouldn't have found that other woman attractive, and it would have taken more than Bane and Bam to give a token show of holding you back. You’d have lost it.” All this was said while she struggled non-stop to keep the giant behind her from pulling her back into the cage of his arms. She didn't notice that she had started doing it, but she was stroking his wrist where he held her and patting him between sentences to Kaid, to try to indicate to Daniel that it was okay, to calm down. He kept snarling at everyone as they watched him trying to protect her from everything and keep her close to himself. Vince saw him doing this and asked, “Man, you good?”
Daniel just responded with a low rumbling, snarly, “Mine,” which had Vince raising both his eyebrows damn near to his hairline. She didn't even have time to process or protest his proclamation before Kaid was immediately stepping toward Daniel. The air felt suddenly unbearable, and in a low, barely audible snarl, “She isn't yours.”
Everybody at that point, her guys, Vince, everybody except Daniel was beginning to hunch a little and step back from Kaid. Kaid was a good guy, generally easy going and quick to joke around with his clan, but Kaid in Alpha mode was a whole other story. He was still in a semi face-off with Daniel, well, as much as he could be with Avaleigh still in the middle, when a couple of women went up on stage for their turn at Karaoke. They started singing and rubbing each other, and he flicked his eyes at them momentarily.
She caught it immediately, “Typical man” she thought to herself. “You see, you see?” she shouted at him. “You can’t stop watching women!!! You do not act like a damn Mate, Kaid. You care, yes, and I love you for it.” This brought a huge angry snarl from behind her, but she ignored Daniel and forged ahead, “but not like a Mate! This guy,” and she thrust her thumb over her shoulder at Daniel, “is acting like a Mate, not you! He’s been standing here, boxing me in, trying to place himself between me and whatever he perceives as danger.” Vince interjected here, “And he’s not looked at a woman the entire damned week he’s been here, even when they openly offered.”
They all shifted their attention to Vince with “Huh?” kinds of looks on their faces, and he shrugged turning his attention back to Avaleigh, “What? Just saying.”
“Anyway,” she started again, “We are not Mates. This guy is acting more like a Mate than you ever have, and he hasn't even actually met me. You are a wonderful protector, but you are not my Mate. You need to back the hell off, and we’ll be just fine.” Everybody had gone quiet just watching them, Avaleigh and Daniel, as she talked on. “When you start acting like the guy behind me, then you’ll know you’ve found her… and,” and oh shit, what she’d just said resonated in her head. They’d heard it, and realization had dawned. And now she heard it, too. She turned and looked over her shoulder at him, and he was grinning at her. “Aww, hell no!” she thought, and that’s exactly what she said, “Aww, hell no!” He just continued to grin at her, while keeping his hands tightly gripped on her hips. Bam spoke up at that point, “Avaleigh, this is Daniel. He’s your Dragon. He’s your Mate.” And whether it was the 6 or 7 Beefeaters she’d had or the adrenaline spike she experienced at learning that the gorgeous man holding her against him snarling about “Mine” was a Dragon, she’d never know — but the last thing she remembered seeing before the blackness tried to slam her to the floor was Daniel’s concerned gaze and the shouts of her men as she passed the hell out with the words “Aw, fuck me!” on her lips.
Chapter 12
Lurin sat forward with his arms draped across the back of the seats in front of him anxiously waiting for any sign of the group of individuals he’d just witnessed going into the bar to come back out. He couldn't believe his luck — his female and the Bear were in the same damn place. Granted, it may be bad luck, because her Dragon and the Bear’s clan mates were here, too. And if he didn't plan this just right, it could all blow up in his face. But, he had to do something. If he allowed that damn female to mate her Dragon, and that Bear to find his Mate, which was almost impossible thanks to him, his very existence would be closer to being wiped off the globe. He did not plan to let that happen, so finding a way to abduct at least one, preferably the two of them, was his only option. Bad luck, good luck, it didn't really fucking matter. He just had to keep them apart, and so he would, so he could continue to exist.
Slatterly watched his boss through the rearview mirror. He was obviously losing whatever small grip he had ever had on reality, and it scared the hell out of him. But he had no choice; it scared him more to risk having his boss find him if he tried to run away. It made much more sense to stick around and wait for an opportune time to slip away. Hell, who knew? Maybe the Bear or that Dragon was enough to take him out, and then Slatterly would be free to slide into the shadows and finally get away from this psychotic fool. Besides, he had decided that his years of service deserved a little reward. And he knew exactly which little reward he wanted. If these shifters managed to take the boss out, his way to claiming his chosen reward just got a whole lot easier. He grinned to himself as his attention was drawn back to the bar as the door opened, and the group of shifters that had accompanied the boss’ female came out, arguing loudly amongst themselves. Right in the center of the group was the Bear trying to get the Dragon to hand him whatever it was he held in his arms. The Dragon snarled loudly at the Bear and wrapped whatever it was tighter in his arms. Slatterly squinted and looked a little closer.
“Fuck, boss, the Dragon has his female,” Slatterly said.
“Just shut the fuck up and watch, Slatterly. I can see just as clearly as you can. Stay back and wait for them to leave. We have to find out where they are hiding.”
“Maybe they’re not hiding, boss, maybe they are just living.”
Lurin slapped him in the back of the head, hard. “I don’t fucking pay you to think, I pay you to do. So shut up and do!” Slatterly didn't say anything, but he hadn’t paid him to do a damn thing lately, he pouted to himself as he watched the group.
The Bear placed himself in front of the Dragon, “Give me Avaleigh now!” he bellowed, with his arms stretched out in front of him as though to receive her body. They could all sense her breathing and knew she had had way too much to drink and had had quite a shock, which was why she had passed out, so they were not concerned other than the fact that Daniel would not hand her over. They didn't really want to engage Daniel because he held her, and they didn't want her to be hurt in the scuffle. But he was dangerously close to trying to leave with her, and it was not good. “No,” Daniel answered him and stepped around him toward his Harley. Kaid roared at him and started a lunge in his direction. All the guys winced, and while some of them hunched to avoid the power rolling off Kaid, Goldy was the one brave enough to step into Kaid’s line of vision. “She’s his, Kaid. We can all feel it,” he hung his head sadly, “give it up.” This stunned Kaid, who just stood there looking at Goldy with a look of confusion on his face. “You can’t just take her from us,” this from Mav, his angst over losing Avaleigh apparent as his distress further pulled at the scar across his face, turning it into an even more severe scowl. Bane stepped to where Daniel stood holding Avaleigh, looking down at his bike. He was trying to figure out how he could get her to the broken down motel he was staying in. She was still out cold, and he had a bike. Not a good combination. His Dragon assured him she was just passed out and not in danger, so he had just about decided to fly when Bane approached him.
“Bring her home, man.”
Daniel raised his eyes to look at him.
“We know she’s yours, we won’t keep her from you. But bring her home. She would be upset if she woke any place other than her own bed. You can stay to watch over her, but you can’t claim her. It has to be her choice. You can’t claim her without her choosing you.”
Daniel to
ok a second or two to think about it. Eyes narrowed, he turned his head to Kaid, who still stood just looking at Avaleigh in Daniel’s arms.
Bam nudged Kaid softly, “She doesn't have to leave us, Kaid. Remember?” Kaid did remember. He remembered Bam saying he could just make whoever her Mate was one of them so they could keep her always, but he just couldn't even wrap his mind around the possibility of losing her right now. Kaid said nothing for a few heavy moments, his eyes never leaving Avaleigh, then, “You can stay until she wakes. Then if she doesn't want you, you have to go.” He raised his eyes to Daniel.
“She’ll want me, I am hers,” Daniel said confidently, puffing his chest out.
“Just bring her to her own home — she deserves at least that much from you,” Kaid snapped at him. Kaid turned and headed toward his truck. Bam reached out a hand toward Daniel, “You can ride with us — we got the Suburban tonight.” The others started toward the vehicle, and Daniel moved with them, with Avaleigh snuggled tightly in his arms against his chest.
Avaleigh stretched her arms over her head, and her legs toward the bottom of her bed. That was weird — she could fully extend her legs. Normally, Kaid was stretched across the foot of her bed, or Mav, or both. She lifted her head a little, and before the avalanche of pain split her skull in two, she was able to see that, nope, nobody was down there. Good, she needed more sleep anyway. She put her head back down slowly, planning on sleeping more. But then she heard the voices from her living room. She laid there and listened a little longer. Angry whispers, snarls, a sliding noise against her door. Bam’s chuckle. She smiled, Bam’s chuckle always made her smile. She loved that he laughed more now. He hadn't done that so much when she first met him. Another shuffle against her door. Wait, she shouldn't be able to hear the whispers from the living room. What the hell were they doing in her hallway? She slowly dragged herself up and very softly tiptoed to the door, not because she was sneaking up on whatever was happening, but because her head hurt too damn much to take an actual step. I am never drinking again, she thought. As she approached her bedroom door, she reached out and opened it in one smooth move. And all the whispers ceased. She was looking down at the most beautiful man she had ever seen, lying on his back, across the threshold of her bedroom door. He was looking at her upside down, as his back would have been to her had he not been lying down. He had obviously been sitting, leaning against her door before she snatched it open. He grinned at her, “Good morning, love,” he rumbled at her. She just looked at him before raising her eyes to look at her guys who were crowded in the hallway around her now-opened bedroom door.
“Morning, Avaleigh!” Bam enthusiastically offered.
She hunched her shoulders and lifted her finger to her lips to shush him. “Hey, Bam, please, quietly,” she pointed to her head. “Imploding as we speak,” she whispered to him.
He nodded his head and then started whisper screaming an explanation. “When you went to sleep last night…”
Mav interjected,“She passed out.”
“Whatever,” Bam continued, “when you passed out and went to sleep last night, Daniel caught you, and when he wouldn't give you to us, we decided to just take him home, too, since he’s your Mate.” At this point, she had her head leaning in her hand as she tried to focus on them from an angle as she supported her head.
“Let me get you something for that,” Goldy said motioning to her head.
“I love you, Goldy” she whispered after him as he left to rifle through her cabinets in search of Tylenol, aspirin, anything. Daniel, as she had been reminded the beautiful man’s name was, snarled and lifted himself off of the floor at her declared love for Goldy.
“Bring Tums or something for my stomach, too, please,” she whispered.
Bam, of course, yelled it to Goldy in the next room, which made her wince again.
“She means familial love, dude, chill,” Bane told the rumbling mountain now standing behind her.
She slowly looked around realizing that someone was missing. “Where’s Kaid?” she asked no one in particular. “He refused to stay here once Daniel planted himself in front of your door and wouldn't let anyone in. He said he didn't have time for this shit and went slamming out,” Bane explained.
“Where is he? The main house?”
“Naw, he was for a while, but when I went to check a little while ago, he wasn't there anymore, but he’s around,” Bane finished.
“Mav?” She swung her gaze to his.
“He’s on the property, darlin’. He shifted and now he’s pouting, but he’s here, and he’s safe.”
Goldy came back down the little hall with her Tylenol and a 7up. The sight of the 7up had her gagging and slapping her hand over her mouth, and she shook her head a little back and forth and pointed at the drink with the other hand. “Aw, hell”, Goldy said, “I didn't even think about that. Let me go get ya an Orange Pop.”
Daniel picked her up from behind and asked, “Shower?”
“Oh, yeah, that sounds like heaven.” He took her into the bathroom and turned on the shower with one hand as he supported her weight against him with the other. It didn't escape her notice that she wasn't even struggling or objecting to him carting her around or taking over. She chalked it up to not feeling well, having the king of all hangovers and all. But when he started to undress her, she had to take a stand. “Uh, I can do this. Thanks, though.”
“I’ll do it. You’re sick. I’ll care for you.” He reached for her T shirt again. “Need to take this off,” he rumbled.
She slapped his hand away, “I will take it off when you leave!”
“Take it off now,” he said a little more forcefully. He reached for her T shirt again and again. She slapped his hand away. “Dude, back off! I said I’ll take it off when you leave!” They were apparently having a stalemate, him with his hands on his hips glaring at her and her with her head in her hand glaring right back, sideways, ‘cause her head hurt. Fucking gin!
“He wants you to take it off, Baby Girl, ‘cause it smells like Kaid. He doesn’t like another male’s scent on you,” Goldy explained as he stepped into the bathroom to hand her her Tylenol.
“Of course it smells like Kaid. Its Kaid’s shirt. My sleep shirt!” She answered him.
“He’s shown a whole hell of a lot of restraint, Ave. Give him a break,” Bane said quietly from her bedroom. She just really didn't feel like cooperating right now — her head was imploding. She was gonna puke. There was a stranger, beautiful though he was, standing in her bathroom trying to strip and bathe her, and her Kaid was off pouting somewhere. “Restraint like what?! And since when are you guys so damned accommodating? Why is it okay for a strange man to be in my bathroom, and you people seem to be okay with it?!”
“Since he’s your Mate, Ave. He only wants to take care of you, and the restraint he’s shown is that rather than roast all of us to a fucking crisp when we stood up to him, he’s been tolerant of us and listened to us when we said you belonged at home. While knowing full well he could have taken you if he wanted to, and we could not have fucking stopped him. He brought you back to your home, here with us, and has not run us out of here when we were trying to check on you. So give the man a break — he could have been a real dick.”
“Oh” was all she could manage. She’d been looking him in the eye while Bane spoke his piece, and he just offered her a gentle smile the whole time.
He gestured toward her shirt again, “Off, please, love,” he said as he raised one eyebrow to make it a question rather than a demand. Bane’s little speech had reminded her of what she’d learned about this man last night just before she’d “gone to sleep” as Bam put it. This man was a Dragon. Dragons were fucking dangerous. She’d been imprisoned and horribly abused by the only other Dragon she’d ever met, and she’d die before she’d go willingly into another situation like that. Her heart was pounding, her head was killing her, and she had to gather her strength and wits somehow to get away from this man. He must have some kind of powe
r of persuasion if he had Bane agreeing with him — trying to make her accept him. Bane was the most cynical of all of her guys, and he was practically handing her to him on a silver platter. “If I take it off, will you leave and let me take my own shower?”
“I’ll allow you to shower alone, but I will not leave. I’ll never leave you.”
“Great, wonderful,” she stepped toward the shower and turned her back to him. She slipped the shirt off over her head and handed it to him. He took it from her, and ripped it down the middle.
She turned on him quickly, forgetting that she had no shirt on, “What the fuck, dude?! That’s my sleep shirt, dickhead!” She screeched at him just before slapping her hands back up to hold her now again pounding head.
I'm Not A Dragon's Mate! Page 12