by R. E. Butler
A Dragon for December
Wiccan-Were-Bear #11
By R. E. Butler
Copyright 2016 R. E. Butler
A Dragon for December (Wiccan-Were-Bear #11)
By R. E. Butler
License Notes
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people of dpg. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
Cover by Vallerie Tibbs
This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, charactters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be consttrued as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is coincidental.
Discllaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and conttains graphic sexual content and is intended for those older than the age of 18 only.
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Editing by Jennifer Moorman
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Thank you to Joyce & Shelley for beta reading, and much love to my Aunt B.L.
Table of Contents
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
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Other Works by R. E. Butler
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A Dragon for December (Wiccan-Were-Bear #11)
By R. E. Butler
Polar bear shifter December Merricks is visiting her angel best friend, Allisandrea, in Cleveland. When the February new moon rises, Deci heads into what she believes are neutral woods for some hunting when she comes snout to fang with an enormous dragon who is not only trying to swipe her prey but also happens to be her mate.
Dragon Prince Tosh Okida loves hunting in the woods of Culiver, the territory owned by his nest. When the new moon rises, Tosh feels an incredible pull to the woods and goes hunting. To his surprise he finds a polar bear roaming his woods, trying to steal a buck. Not only is the feisty bear a thief, but she’s also his mate.
With his mate by his side, Tosh can claim the kingship of his people, but someone is hiding in the shadows and plotting against him. When an innocent trip to the spa ends with Deci kidnapped and drugged, her body is forced into a painful mating heat. Will Tosh be able to get to her before she’s lost to him forever and put down the threat to his throne, or will all be lost in a flurry of fur and fangs?
Chapter 1
Polar bear shifter December Merricks pulled into the visitor parking space at her friend Allisandrea’s apartment complex. Alli had been begging Deci to visit for months, and she’d finally taken Alli up on her offer to crash at her place. Deci worked as a cook at a private shifter school in the mountains of Pennsylvania, and two days earlier the negative temperatures had frozen the pipes in the school, causing them to burst, which resulted in massive destruction due to the flooding. The school was closed for two weeks, which was plenty of time to veg out at Alli’s and take a vacation.
She and Alli had been friends for almost ten years. They met at a bridal show in New York City, where her sister, Noel, had dragged Deci to help her pick out a gown for her wedding. Deci loved her sister, but she hated shopping, and she especially hated taking a long trip into the city just for that purpose.
Deci and Alli bumped into each other at a display for chocolate fountains. Alli, a fallen angel, had taken a trip to New York City for her favorite author’s book signing and had peeked into the bridal show out of curiosity. While Deci and Alli chatted over chocolate-covered strawberries and marshmallows, a friendship formed, and the two had been close ever since.
Deci returned to her job at the school and kept in touch with Alli, who came to visit once a year in the summer because, according to her, it was “too damn cold” in the winter to be anywhere near the mountains. As a polar bear shifter, Deci loved the cold. There was nothing better in her mind than being in her shift and lumbering through the snow.
After grabbing her bags from the trunk of her car, she walked to the glass security door and pressed the button for Alli’s apartment. The door buzzed as it unlocked, and she walked inside, stamping the snow from her boots before heading to the stairs. When she reached the second floor, she found Alli standing in the hallway, hands on her hips and a big grin on her face.
“It’s about time you got here, woman!”
Deci smiled as Alli hugged her and then took one of her bags. “Sorry, I got a late start. My sister called because she’d heard about the flood and wanted to know if I would come to her den. I think she’s trying to set me up with someone.”
“She wants you to be mated and pregnant like her. Sisters are good for that kind of thing.” Alli led the way into her apartment and shut the door after Deci set her bag down in the front room.
“She and Trag are happy together, but he’s not her truemate. I told her I wouldn’t settle for anyone but the one male who is right for me. It doesn’t matter to me if he’s a bear or some other kind of shifter, or even a human.”
Alli rolled her eyes. “I bet she loved to hear that. Noel is very pro-bear.”
“She is, but I’m not. I was always surprised that she didn’t find a polar bear den so she could hook up with a male who was just like her. That she went grizzly was surprising.”
Alli snickered. “Went grizzly sounds like something a guy does when he stops shaving.”
Deci laughed. “I missed you.”
“Me too. Let’s get you set up in the guest bedroom and then we can eat dinner. I made you my famous takeout from the Italian joint down the street.”
“Can’t wait.”
After unpacking her bags, Deci joined Alli in the kitchen where she was removing the clear lids from aluminum takeout containers. Each one held a different pasta dish. “I remembered that you liked chicken Parmesan, but help yourself to whatever you want. There’s definitely plenty.”
Deci gathered glasses and filled them with ice and sweet tea and then joined Alli at the table. Deci placed a thick breaded chicken cutlet on her plate, along with a generous helping of spaghetti, and dusted it all with grated Parmesan.
“Wait, let’s toast,” Alli said.
“With iced tea?” Deci asked, smiling.
“It’s not the content of the glass. It’s the heartfelt words.”
“What do we toast to?”
“Your vacation.”
Their glasses clinked and Deci said, “Thanks for letting me stay. I’m looking forward to hanging out in Cleveland, even though it’s not nearly as cold here as it is in the mountains.”
Alli snorted. “You and your cold. It’s a fricking freezer here in February. It’s just because you’re a polar bear that you think it’s not as cold as it really is.”
“It’s all relative,” Deci said as she cut into the chicken, her mouth watering at the savory scents filling the air.
“I suppose. So, any plans to hook up with some sexy guys while you’re here? Because I have some rules about that.”
Deci snorted as she laughed. “You have rules about me hooking up with someone?”
“Oh sure. Like…if he stays over, he must have a sexy friend for me to play with. And he absolutely can’t leave the seat up. I will flip out.”
She chewed on her bite of chicken and tried not to laugh too hard. She took a drink of tea and said, “No up-seat business and sexy friends. Anything else?”
“It would be nice if he’d make breakfast for your friend because I’m so awesome.”
Deci smiled. “I’m not looking to hook up with anyone, but if I happen to fall onto someone’s dick at some point, I’ll make sure he’s got a friend plus breakfast-making skills.
“Sexy friend.”
“You got it.”
Deci honestly wasn’t in the market for a mate right now. She was only nineteen plus five, which according to the long-life that most supernatural creatures had, she still looked like she could be in high school even though she was technically sixty-six. Noel thought she should have settled down years ago, but Deci wanted to meet her truemate and didn’t want to settle. She dated from time to time, but she hadn’t had a serious boyfriend in years. Someday she’d find the male meant for her and then she’d be glad she’d waited.
Alli shared the news about one of her friends, Arissa, who was a vampire’s beloved mate and a Wiccan. Deci had never met Arissa, but she felt as though she knew her because of Alli.
“We can go to Fang tomorrow night. They’re really hopping on Saturdays.”
Deci hadn’t ever been around vampires before, and Fang was the club owned by the Cleveland coven. Shifter blood was addictive to vampires because it was stronger than human blood, and she didn’t want to become some vampire’s snack.
Alli rolled her eyes. “Don’t make that face. They only feed on the people who work there. You’d have to make arrangements to be bitten.”
“No thanks.”
“Fine, fine. I wasn’t suggesting you become a midnight snack to a vampire. I was just thinking it would be fun to go there because it’s a great club. There’s another club we could go to; it’s more for shifters than vampires.”
“I guess you’re in the mood to dance, huh?”
“Oh sure. I’m a regular twinkle toes.” Alli wiggled her brows, and Deci laughed.
“Sounds like a plan.”
Chapter 2
Dragon shifter Prince Tosh Okida sat at the long table in his home’s conference room and listened as one of his dragons went over the nest’s annual earnings from the previous year. The nest owned several businesses in Culiver, the dragon-only town. Tosh’s ancestors had settled Culiver centuries ago, with the intentions that it become a safe haven for their nest, and since Tosh was the prince of the nest and the leader of their people, he was in charge of the town as well. A lot rested on his shoulders and had since he had taken over as prince fifteen years ago after the passing of his father.
“Thank you, Huan,” Tosh said after the older male had finished his report. Clearing his throat, he glanced out the windows at the setting sun. “If there’s nothing else, we can adjourn for the evening.”
Tosh’s uncle, Yuon, stood slowly. His uncle was old fashioned and spent his time studying the laws of their people. At almost five hundred years of age, Yuon was one of the oldest dragons in Tosh’s nest. As shifters, dragons enjoyed what was known as long-life, which meant they aged one body year for every twelve years that passed. Tosh was one hundred years old, but technically he was only twenty-four plus ten, so although he’d been alive for a century, he could pass for a college student.
“Yes, uncle?” Tosh said.
“You are one hundred now, my nephew,” he said.
Tosh frowned. “And?”
“Our people must be led by a king, and you cannot take the kingship until you’ve found your mate.”
Tosh was well aware of his unmated status.
Huan spoke up. “There is nothing in our laws that states a prince cannot continue to lead until such a time as he finds his mate.”
“Do you have a point, uncle?” Tosh asked.
“I believe your mate is not within Culiver. I recommend you reach out to the Wiccans and have them do a seeking spell. You may step down from your position while you search for your mate and another can take your place, temporarily.”
The males at the table clamored in disapproval. Tosh lifted his hand for silence. Suspicion filled him. He knew that his uncle had always harbored some resentment for not being given the leadership of the nest. Yuon was his mother’s brother, and Tosh’s mother had died when he was young. His father had never re-mated. His father had stayed on as king for many decades, an excellent leader and a strong, honorable male. When he died during a hunting trip, the elders of the nest had poured over the laws, which stated in no uncertain terms that the mantle of leadership passed from father to son. Yuon had been cut out of the equation entirely, and Tosh had never really understood why his uncle thought he should become king in Tosh’s place anyway.
“I will be doing no such thing. I will find my mate when it is the right time, and I would never consider forcing the issue by going to the Wiccans. You’ll do well to put the thought far from your mind, uncle.” Tosh stood and addressed the group. “We’re adjourned until next month.”
The males left quickly, his uncle among the first out the door. Tosh moved to the windows and stared out at the woods that surrounded his hometown. His dragon growled softly as Tosh considered that his uncle might have more sinister motives in mind. Tugging his phone from his back pocket, he called his guards into the room. They joined him quickly.
He explained what had occurred during the meeting, and the four males growled.
“It makes no sense,” Zixin, one of his oldest friends, said. “It has never made sense that your uncle thought he should become king. He was a blood relation to your mother, not your father, and our ruling line passes from father to son, not brother-in-law to brother-in-law.”
“Maybe he thought I was too young.”
Wei scoffed. “You were technically eighty-five years old. Humans retire from work before that age. You were hardly a spring chicken.”
Tosh looked at his most trusted friends and guards. “We need to be vigilant. It wouldn’t surprise me if my uncle made a bid for the throne under an obscure law about me not having my mate. He mentioned specifically that I’m technically one hundred years old.”
“I’ll ask my sister to look in the archives,” Dai said. “She loves those old books.”
“We’ll increase security around the house as well,” Lok said. “We would respectfully request that you don’t go anywhere without one of us.”
Tosh knew that the constant guards would be a hassle, even if they were people he’d known his entire life and trusted.
Zixin smiled. “We could always just kill him. That would solve a lot of problems.”
Tosh shook his head. “You’re always full of such wonderful ideas.”
“I’m just saying,” Zixin said. “Sometimes easiest is best.”
Lok sobered. “We won’t let you down, Tosh. If he thinks he can worm his way onto the throne because you’re not mated, he’s got another thing coming.”
Tosh shook all of their hands. “I trust you.”
When his guards were gone, Tosh left the conference room and headed into the kitchen. He lived in the home he’d grown up in, which was impeccably maintained. The ten-bedroom house was stately and reminded him of the kind of manor that could be found in historical films based in the Old South. It was tradition for the king and his family to live in the center of the town, and Tosh hadn’t wanted to be the first one to break it. The house had been torn down and rebuilt every few hundred years. He’d read old records that described the different homes throughout the generations, some of them modest and some of them grand.
In the kitchen, his assistant, Gen, looked up from where he laid slices of green apples artfully on a plate. The four-hundred-year-old male had also been Tosh’s father’s assistant and was an invaluable male. “I was just fixing you a snack, sire.”
“You’ve got good timing.” Tosh sat down at the kitchen table, and Gen brought the plate to him, along with a glass of lemonade.
“Is everything all right, sire?” Gen asked with his hands folded neatly in front of him and his head bowed respectfully.
“Nothing that can’t be handled.” He took a bite of apple and looked at the male. “How old were you when you mated?”
He lifted his head slowly, a smile gracing his features. “Liu and I were childhood sweethearts. When I shifted into my dragon form, I knew immediately that we were truemates. I think I had known before that, though. We’d been very drawn to each other. We mated officially when she was eighteen and I was eighteen plus one.”
Liu was one of the housekeepers that Tosh employed in the house. He liked to use members of the nest to care for the large home. He knew if he left it up to himself, that the house would fall into disrepair. He wasn’t much for cooking and cleaning, and the nest business kept him busy.
Gen said, “You’ll find your mate when the time is right. The fates are never wrong.”
“I know. It’s been a long time, though. My parents mated when they were eighteen plus two.”
“There’s nothing in the laws that says a male must find his truemate in a certain amount of time. When the stars align, things will happen.”
“You’re pretty sure of yourself,” Tosh said.
Gen shrugged. “It’s the way of our people to find our truemates. Yours will seek you out or you will find her yourself, of that I have no doubt.”
Tosh liked his enthusiasm. He dismissed Gen and went back to his snack, opening the browser on his phone to read the news. Someday he would be sitting at the table with his mate and their kids, and that was a future that he greatly wished would start soon.
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