The Shifter's Gift

by Haley Weir

  “Belle,” she replied, taking Jennifer's hand. Claire also walked up and patted her husband’s shoulder.

  “If what Corey has said is true, Drake, then she might not be like the rest. I don’t think Sky would have risked bringing her here if he hadn’t come to the same conclusion.”

  “It doesn’t give him the right to take that chance,” Drake countered, his jaw tightening. “Not with the members of this household, not with my mate and child…”

  “To be fair, you’ve taken all other rights away from Scyros as of late,” Claire told him gently. “Surely you didn’t think it wasn’t going to backfire in some way.”

  The man snorted and glared at Belle. “I figured he would rebel, but this…”

  Belle’s temper got the better of her. She was accustomed to people judging her because of her past. She did not have to stand here and listen to a complete stranger talk to her this way.

  “I don’t care what Scyros did to piss you off,” she told him, noticing that the man at her feet had started to stir. “But I won’t stand here and take your judgements based on things that other women did to you. You don’t know me.”

  “Serpentina-”

  “Whoever. I’m not one of them. I’m a nobody. I have never hurt anyone or killed anyone, and I sure as hell am not going to start now. I just wanted to know why his eyes were like mine. I wanted to know where I came from. But if it has anything to do with a pompous brute like you, I think maybe I don’t want to know anymore!” She heard a chuckle around her feet and looked down. Scyros was blinking and mopping up the blood from his nose on his sleeve. His broken nose was already healing.

  “Be that as it may, you are still a Serpentina by gender alone.”

  “So you’re saying being a female automatically makes me a homicidal maniac out to kill you and your…your…”

  “Brothers,” Scyros offered.

  “Brothers,” Belle repeated.

  Drake looked around at the women in the room. “Of course not. Humans are different than dragons.”

  “And I’m also half human, so stop assuming you know my story. It doesn’t define all of who I am.” Drake turned back around and looked at her for a long moment. Belle felt like he could see right through her, so she took a deep, steadying breath and locked eyes with him, refusing to look away.

  “Perhaps not,” he said at last. But his face hardened. “It does not give Scyros the right to bring you here, unannounced, without conferring with myself, Ari, or Laine.” He gestured to the two other warriors behind him. Belle glanced at them briefly and then shrugged.

  “Fine, I’ll leave. I did not ask to be here in the first place.” She started walking to the door and for a moment everyone else was frozen in shock.

  “You can’t leave!” Drake exclaimed.

  “You just told me you didn’t want me here. So I’ll leave.” She turned back to the door, and Ari blocked it with an amused look on his face. She sighed and looked at Drake. “I don’t understand. You don’t want me here, but you won’t let me leave. You think I’m some dangerous Serpentina, but you haven’t killed me yet, so what is it that you want from me?”

  “Our butler Corey found your file at the orphanage.”

  “He did? I want to see it. What does it say?”

  “It basically states that a woman with fiery eyes left you at the orphanage, indicated your name was Belle, and that was it.”

  “That’s it? That’s all it says?” Belle felt her heart sink. She was no closer to any answers about her family.

  “That might be all the report said, but to us it says a whole lot more about the history of the dragon race,” Drake told her.

  Before she had a chance to ask him any follow up questions, Scyros piped up and said, “it means if a Serpentina could blend in with humans and not destroy everything in her path as recently as twenty five years ago, we have been totally wrong about them. They have waged this war based on choice alone, and not some biological abnormality. We’ve been fighting and losing warriors, regretting having to put down our own kind, but the evil festering in the Serpentina does not deserve that mercy. ” Belle looked at Sky and noticed the hardened look on his face. His voice shook with fury, and she suspected it had something to do with his brother.

  Laine looked around the room and asked, “so what about her? Her presence means a half-breed can be carried to term without consequence. It also means you and Claire can stop worrying too much, my Lord. Unless her mother has come back for her and convinced her to be a spy, this female seems ignorant of her own kind.”

  “It raises many questions, Crylaine,” Drake said. “If she isn’t a spy, then how will we know when she has her first shift into dragon form? Just because her mother could carry her to term, doesn’t mean my wife, a human, can. And we still don’t know Belle’s real intentions.” All eyes turned to Belle and she found his use of her real name to be ominous. Belle looked over at Sky, who stepped to her side, brought his hand to his mouth, and slashed his palm open with a tiny budding fang. He placed the bloody palm over his heart and looked directly into the eyes of his leader, Drake.

  “Upon my word, I give my oath to protect this woman and keep her as my own. I will shoulder the responsibility of her actions and I vouch for her presence in this household. I believe she means no harm, but if the Serpentina catch wind that she is alive and well, they will use her against us. I mean for that not to happen. I am honor-bound to protect this female. My oath is given.”

  All eyes had turned to fire at that point, and Belle even felt her own heat up. It was a calling of some kind, and she had no idea what it meant. “What just happened?” she whispered to Claire.

  “Scyros has given his blood oath to protect you. He is honor-bound.”

  “But what does that mean?”

  “It means that none of the warriors can lay a hand on you without having to kill Scyros first. It means that the two of you have just been married.”

  Chapter 6

  Scyros was led into Drake’s office with his brothers. He was comfortable leaving Belle alone for a few minutes while he got chewed out by Drake. It was clear by the look of shock on Drake’s face that he never thought Sky would marry a Serpentina, even if it was the last female on the planet. Not after what they had done to his brother. But Sky knew Drake always underestimated him.

  “Are you out of your mind?” Drake asked, pacing around the room.

  “It depends. Are you going to hit me again?” Sky looked at him warily. Drake wasn’t typically a leader provoked to violence against his warriors. His reaction to Sky bringing a Serpentina into his house was surprisingly mild, considering.

  Scyros had been battling the tugging sensation he felt since meeting Belle. He understood what it was now. It was the inexplicable bond a male feels to his female. He knew it wasn’t love at first sight, but he could never let anything happen to her. He would give his life to save hers in the end. Unless he admitted his bond with her to himself and the others, the outcome for her would not be favorable. She could live here, a captive in their presence for the rest of her life. She would never be an equal, always being carefully watched and guarded until her resentment built too much and provoked her into attacking them as her sisters had done. If left alive, the likelihood of being discovered, used, or killed by the Serpentina was also great. Sky and the other warriors couldn’t be here at the brownstone to protect her constantly, so the responsibility would be left to Corey.

  Sky knew that marrying her would spare her life. By forming that bond, his brothers were also now honor-bound to protect Belle. They could no longer harm her. He had cornered Drake into protecting Belle whether he wanted to or not. Now it was time to deal with the backlash of that decision.

  “I knew you would lash out when Lucien brought you to us from the European Council, I knew you came with grief that was unspoken...but this. You’ve not just endangered yourself. You have endangered everyone in this house!” Sky felt a stab of guilt thinking of his brothers a
nd their mates, but in his bones he knew that Belle posed no true threat.

  “She has done nothing wrong! All she wanted was answers. I thought it was a trick as well, but she just wants to know where she comes from. She just wants to fit in! Not unlike myself, Lord Drakkain,” Scyros hissed. He always felt like an outsider looking in. Drake hadn’t wanted him to begin with. Sky was only allowed in his ranks because it was required after the European Council investigated the destruction of their house in the Hudson Valley.

  Drake’s eyes grew brighter with anger. “I’ve never made you feel…”

  “Save it, Lord Drakkain. We all know you were forced to take me. But if you don’t want either of us here, fine. We will go someplace else if it means we’re out of your hair, but even still, you can’t harm her now that we’re mated.” Scyros let the full weight of his emotions guide his words. If Drake and his brothers didn’t want him there, now was the time for them to speak up.

  “Of course I want you to stay, Sky. You’re our brother. And we will honor your decision, but can you not see how brash this was? Your actions since coming to America have invited risk and danger at every turn. You don’t think before you act. That’s the problem here. That’s why I’m so angry. You want to be a part of the inner circle, you want the same responsibilities as Laine and Ari, but your decisions are selfish or motivated by how you think you can earn more respect.”

  “There’s nothing wrong with wanting a little respect, Drake,” Scyros said.

  “You’re right, and you had it the day you walked into the rubble of the Hudson home and fought by our side, grieving as you were. But lately, since we’ve moved to Manhattan, I feel like you keep slipping farther and farther away.” Drake raised his hands and let them fall to his sides. Sky hated the look of defeat on his face; he appeared to be at a loss.

  “I miss home,” Sky blurted.

  “If you want to go back to Europe…”

  “No,” he cut in quickly. “You misunderstand me. I miss home, in the Hudson.”

  “That home was nothing but rubble when you arrived. I don’t understand.”

  He was not sure how to explain what he meant. Yes, it had been rubble, but they had rebuilt it together, much like he and Cairne had when they made a home for themselves. It seemed like the only homes he knew were those first built out of rubble. Maybe that’s why he embraced a life of risk taking. Gambling and taking the risky shots in the sky were his way of recreating the chaos from which he had evolved. It was where he was comfortable. In the city, everything was so proper and right with the world. The amount of love and mated bliss around here was almost nauseating. Scyros was happy for them, but he felt like the odd one out again.

  Drake’s face flooding with understanding before Sky needed to say a word. He looked around at his warriors. “I know none of you were given a choice about moving to Manhattan. I apologize for that. It hasn’t been an easy adjustment, and then the amount of changes to the household since…” Drake ran his hand through his hair. “If I had known just how hard it would be for all of you…”

  “Don’t second guess yourself as a leader, Drakkain,” Laine spoke up. “We’re all in this together. You did what you had to in order for us all to survive. Without your decisiveness, none of us would have met our mates. Including Scyros and Belle.”

  “Yeah. For better or for worse, right Sky?” Ari nudged his shoulder and Scyros felt the grin tug at his lips. Ari and Laine were forgiving him, he could tell by the light banter. Drake’s face remained impassive.

  “Having a mate is a huge responsibility, Sky. There’s no going back from that decision.” Sky looked down at the spot of blood on his t-shirt. He could almost feel it tingling against his skin.

  “I wouldn’t want to. Serpentina or not, I could feel the pull from the moment she walked into the bar. I can’t describe it; I tried to ignore it when she ordered her drink. But when she approached me after my shift, I knew for sure.”

  “She needs protecting, Sky,” Drake urged. “This isn’t something that will fade in a month from now. What we have learned about the Serpentina changes everything. They are consciously aware of their actions. it isn’t a biological malfunction or chemical reaction that causes them to attack us. I need to speak with the Council about this. But Sky, I want you to be prepared that if the Serpentina in the past turned on us, she…”

  “She won’t,” Sky insisted.

  “For your sake, I hope she doesn’t.” With those words, Drake did something he hadn’t done since the night Scyros had joined them in the rubble. He reached over and pulled Sky into a tight hug, resting his chin on Sky’s head a moment before letting him go. It was the kind of hug Sky yearned for since they had moved to the city. It was full of sorrow, love, regret, reassurance, and a promise to do right by him and Belle. When he let go, Sky grinned up at him, feeling the weight of forgiveness lift the burden of insecurity from his shoulders.

  “Does this mean I still have to work at the bar?”

  “No, but you can bet your tail I will have Corey find plenty of jobs around here for you if I pay off your gambling tab. And it is still a no on the advance. You will have to wait. You can start your first task by figuring out if and when your mate will shift to dragon form. And try not to break the furniture. Corey will be displeased if he has to replace the Tiffany lamps.” Drake picked up his phone and dialed the private headquarters of the European Council. Sky, Laine, and Ari found all four women in the kitchen being doted on by Corey, who was serving them cookies and coffee.

  Sky was all smiles as he looked around for Belle. He was not prepared for the coffee mug that came flying at his head when he spotted her, or the look of pure fury on her face. He hadn’t considered that by saving her from certain death, he was enslaving her to the honor-bound ties of the mating ritual by his actions. Maybe that was what had originally infuriated the Serpentia, causing them to turn against the dragon warriors. Dragon law was certainly archaic, but Sky was certain that, if he didn’t think quickly, he was bound to have a battle with a Serpentina in the middle of the kitchen as Belle advanced on him.

  Chapter 7

  It took Belle twenty full minutes to come out of her state of shock when it was announced that she was married to Scyros. She sat on the edge of his bed, watching as the women around her offered her something to eat, drink, and a shoulder to cry on. They were all being very nice, but she felt numb. The last few hours felt like someone else’s life, not hers. Was she really married? Were dragons actually real? Belle was prepared to wake up from this bizarre nightmare at any moment.

  Claire suggested lightly that they all move down to the kitchen where Corey would have snacks for them. Belle moved woodenly with the other women, Jennifer and Riley, and they made their way downstairs. Corey was an African American man with silver tips at his temples and a warm smile. His homemade cookies warmed Belle, coaxing her out of her daze. She blinked and finally realized she was sitting, chatting with three women who all treated each other like sisters, fawning over Claire’s robust belly. And they were including her in their sisterly treatment. She was being given the very thing she had yearned for so long; a sense of family and friendship. She had to blink furiously to avoid crying, and it was as if the other women could sense her distress. Riley put her hand over hers. Her skin was only a few shades darker than Bella’s.

  “Hey, it’s overwhelming,” she cooed. “All three of us have been there. But we get that it’s even harder for you because you’re one of them.”

  “How many times do I have to tell you people that I am not a Serpentina?” Belle cried.

  “No, no. I’m not saying you’re a Serpentina. I’m saying finding out you’re a dragon.”

  Belle blinked and looked around at the women. They didn’t think she was evil? She felt her lips twitch as a smile started to form. Their acceptance helped ease the sting of rejection she’d faced her entire life, including from the dragon warriors and the Serpentina, in some small way. Why had her mother given her
up? Belle wasn’t sure she would ever know the answer to that question. But the acceptance of Claire, Riley, and Jennifer helped ease the ache.

  But she was angry. Angry at Scyros for marrying her without her consent. She had just wanted answers about her past, not a lifelong binding vow. Belle shook her head, focusing on her fury. She had taken care of herself for as long as she could remember; even before she had left the orphanage. At sixteen, she got a job and saved money so that she would have somewhere to go at eighteen. She would not allow anyone else control her destiny.

  Belle heard the sound of the door open and the men walked in. She was still fuming about her predicament and when she saw Sky’s smiling face, she picked up her empty coffee mug and threw it as hard as she could at him. How dare he kidnap her, threaten to kill her, then turn around and marry her against her will? He was not her savior, she did not need him to protect her. The room went silent as she got up from her chair and marched over to him.

  “How dare you? How could you possibly think it is okay to…” Before she could get out another word, Sky opened the door, eyes on fire, and pulled her out into the hallway. She was so stunned that she forgot what she was yelling about. He guided her by the arm back up the stairs to his bedroom where he closed the door, blocking her in.

  By the time Belle regained her faculties enough to be enraged that he was commanding where she could go once again, he folded his arms over his chest and was staring at her.

  “You can’t just bully people into doing whatever you want!” she hissed at him.

  “By marrying you, I ensured you would stay alive,” he countered.

  “I didn’t need you to keep me alive. I have done that just fine on my own!”

  “Until you started asking questions about where you came from. Once the Serpentina catch wind of your existence…”

  “Why does everyone around here base everything on what the Serpentina do? Why can’t you all just live your lives on your own terms? I’m not involved with them, I never have been. So you can just-”