A Dragon for December (Wiccan-Were-Bear Book 11)

by R. E. Butler

  Meiling glanced at Io and nodded slightly, and the two females lunged at Jun and Ehra, claws drawn. As Meiling sank her claws into Jun’s shoulder, she looked into the frightened eyes of the young female as the drug she’d soaked her claws in took hold.

  “I’m sorry to stick you with another scar, but there is something bigger going on here than you can imagine. You are so devoted to the usurper, you would never stand idly by while I help Yuon prevent the coronation ceremony tonight. Once the sun has set, the usurper will be removed from his station, and the rightful king will take his place. Then the princess will be set free.”

  “Why?” Jun squeaked out as she fought against closing her eyes.

  Meiling released her claws from Jun’s shoulder and lowered her gently to the ground. “Debts must be paid.”

  Glancing at Io, she saw that Ehra was also unconscious. The two women walked out of the employee locker room and bolted the door behind them.

  “Yuon will take care of the guards. Let’s go.”

  Meiling and Io moved to two steam machines, tugging the bulky metal contraptions behind them as they walked to the room where Deci and Alli were waiting. Stopping at the door, Meiling knocked softly and then opened the door.

  “Are you ready, mistress?” she asked, grimacing as her voice trembled slightly. She was nervous, worried that her plan would be foiled and she’d be punished.

  “You bet,” Deci said.

  Meiling and Io moved the machines next to the tables and turned them on. “The steam will help relax you,” Meiling said. She moved the arm of the steam machine so it was directed over Deci’s face.

  Deci reached up and wrapped her hand around Meiling’s arm. For a moment, Meiling worried she’d been discovered, but then Deci said, “I just wanted to thank you. You’ve made me feel very welcome.”

  Meiling’s dragon roared in protest as she stared at who was supposed to be her queen. Shoving the beast’s angry thoughts aside, she gently extracted her wrist and laid Deci’s hand on the table. “It’s my honor, mistress.”

  She turned on the steam machine and glanced over her shoulder at Io. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, the females lifted vials from their pockets and emptied them into the water reservoirs of the steam machines. Immediately, the water turned black, and the steam directed over Deci’s and Alli’s faces became a dark, smoky gray.

  Meiling stepped back as her lungs began to protest, but she had to wait to make sure that the females slipped into the deep sleep that the potion would ensure. Alli and Deci both seemed to struggle at first, and then they relaxed.

  Meiling and Io hurried from the room to let the rest of the drug-filled steam do its job. As she took in a deep breath of fresh air in the hallway, she gasped in surprise to see Yuon and two of his henchmen waiting.

  “You did your job?”

  “Yes, sire.”

  He looked over her head toward the closed door and then spoke to the males behind him. “Get the princess and get her ready for transport.”

  Meiling looked at Yuon in confusion. “You said we were only keeping her here until sunset and then releasing her.”

  Yuon’s hand moved so fast that she didn’t see it, but she felt it as it slapped her hard across the face. He grabbed a fistful of her hair and wrenched her head sharply to the side until she cried out. “Don’t question me again.”

  Shoving her to the ground, he moved out of the hallway and turned toward the back of the building. The two males put on masks and entered the room, and in a few moments, they walked out with Deci slung over the shoulder of one of the males. Her half-naked body hung limply, moving with the motion of the male’s gait.

  Horror swept through her as she realized that she’d been lied to. Yuon hadn’t planned to just prevent Deci and Tosh from completing the ceremony; he had worse intentions. What his intentions were, she couldn’t fathom, and she didn’t have time to as the other dragon male’s shadow passed over her right before everything went dark.

  * * *

  Tosh stood in front of a long mirror in one of the spare bedrooms, wearing his ceremonial clothing. The stiff silk tunic was painstakingly embroidered with a floral pattern made up of swirls and points. He looked at the photo of his parents from their mating day and was pleased that his tunic matched his dad’s almost perfectly. The green color closely matched Tosh’s scales and was the same color of fabric that Deci had chosen for her gown.

  Gen tugged on the hem of the trousers and straightened, looking at Tosh critically.

  “You look just like your father,” Gen said, smiling. “He and your mother would be proud of the male you’ve become.”

  Tosh nodded. “I wish they were alive so they could meet Deci.”

  Gen smiled sadly. “She’s a special female and will serve the nest well as queen.”

  With one final look in the mirror, Tosh declared the outfit complete and perfect. He removed the tunic and handed it to Gen, who hung it over his arm along with the pants after he’d removed them. As he dressed in his regular clothes, he suddenly felt like he was being choked. His vision dimmed, and he fell to one knee, his hand grasping his throat to find that there wasn’t anything harming him physically. His vision swirled, edged with black, and his lungs burned. Gen shouted for help, but Tosh could barely hear him over his dragon’s roaring in his mind.

  As quickly as the symptoms had come, they disappeared, and he could breathe and see normally. The only thing that was different was that he couldn’t feel his connection to Deci as strongly as he had moments earlier. His dragon cried mournfully as worry over her well-being filled him.

  Zixin and Lok rushed into the room, weapons drawn.

  “Deci’s in trouble,” Tosh said as he rose to his feet and dialed her number on his cell.

  “What’s going on?” Lok asked.

  Her phone went straight to voicemail. He dialed a few more times, his anxiety spiking. “I don’t know. I was fine, and then I felt like I was being choked. I can’t feel her as strongly as I did before through our mating connection.” He moved swiftly through the room. “Call her guards. We need to go to the spa immediately.”

  As he rushed down the stairs, with his guards behind him, he was joined by Wei and Dai in the kitchen. Within moments, Tosh was in an SUV as Dai rushed through the streets of Culiver on the way to the spa.

  He closed his eyes and reached for his connection to Deci. Where it had been a bright tie between them earlier that morning, it was now dull and faint. He could hardly feel her at all. He knew she must still be alive, but something had dampened their bond. He didn’t want to think what that might mean.

  * * *

  Deci woke slowly, feeling first a rough concrete floor and then metal encircling her wrists. Her vision was blurry, and she blinked to clear it, trying to draw on her polar bear to help her heal whatever had been done to her. She had little memory of what happened, only that she’d been lying on the table in the room and then the steam had suddenly smelled strange. She’d tried to move to get away from it and call for help, but she’d found herself paralyzed and unable to even open her eyes. She had slipped away into unconsciousness swiftly and had no idea where she was or how long she’d been gone.

  While trying to remain calm and not flip out, she peered around the concrete room. A disconcerting drain was in the center of the room, and the heavy scent of harsh cleanser made her nose itch. As her vision cleared, she reached out to her bear, but she couldn’t feel her beast very strongly. It was as if her bear, and the strength and power she normally felt with their connection, was covered under a heavy blanket. She didn’t want to think what it meant that she couldn’t connect to her beast, and as she closed her eyes and tried to reach out to Tosh through their mating connection, she couldn’t feel him either.

  Utterly alone, Deci fought the sudden tears and breathed deeply, giving herself a chance to calm down. Wiggling into a seated position, she closed her eyes as dizziness swamped her.

  After the dizzy spell quickly pass
ed, she inspected the room more thoroughly. The walls were rough concrete, the same as the floor. A single bulb in the ceiling harshly illuminated the room. Her wrists were covered in heavy shackles, with a thick chain that attached to the floor with a bolt. She tugged on the chain, and it rattled loudly, but the bolt didn’t budge.

  The air in the room was cool and chilled her skin. Without the protection of her beast, she was more susceptible to cold temperatures. Unfortunately, she was nearly naked. She could be thankful that she was still wearing her panties, but being chained the way she was didn’t lend any comfort to the situation.

  Thinking back to what happened, she realized that Meiling must have put something into the steam that had been directed at her face. The question was, why?

  The lock on the door of the windowless room clicked loudly, and Deci struggled to her feet and moved as far away from the door as the chain would allow, trying once more to reach her bear.

  The door creaked open, and a man in a white lab coat entered the room, followed by another man in a suit. She didn’t recognize the man in the lab coat, but the other man looked familiar. It took her only a heartbeat to realize it was Tosh’s uncle. Behind them, two men in gray uniforms armed with guns stood in the open doorway. Her only exit was effectively blocked, and without the use of her beast, she knew she wouldn’t even make it out the door.

  The man in the lab coat said, “So this is the one who’s trying to steal your throne?”

  Yuon stared at Deci. His face twisted into a grimace as if he were looking at something unpleasant. “It is.”

  “Good. We can get started in a few minutes. Do you want to watch?”

  “Watch what?” Deci demanded.

  The men ignored her.

  Yuon shifted his body until he had virtually turned his back on her. “It won’t be pleasant for her, correct? I don’t want her to enjoy herself.”

  The man snorted. “She’s mated. Nothing about this will be pleasant for her, but it will help me a great deal.”

  “And she will never appear again?”

  The man in the lab coat looked at Deci, his gaze roaming over her with curiosity. “If she survives the trials, I’ll ensure she never surfaces. You needn’t worry about being found out.”

  Yuon marched toward the open door, and the guards moved away to allow him to pass.

  “What’s going on here? Who are you? What is Yuon doing here?”

  The man smiled coldly. “What’s going on here is that I paid Yuon handsomely for you. Polar bear shifters are unique. There aren’t many of you in the states.”

  “You paid for me?”

  He hummed. “I’m working on a breeding drug for shifters. You’re going to help me test it.”

  Her mouth fell open. “What? No, I will not. I won’t have sex with anyone but my mate.”

  “You’re not really going to have a choice.” He turned on his heels, glancing over his shoulder to give her another cold smile. “Have fun.”

  He disappeared from the room, the door swinging shut behind him with a loud bang. Deci stared at the door. What had just happened? Had Tosh’s uncle really betrayed him by selling Deci to some doctor who wanted to use her to test a breeding drug? She tugged on the chain, wrapping it around her wrists a few times and reaching for her beast’s strength. The faint connection to her beast offered her no increase in strength, and as she pulled on the chain she knew she wasn’t strong enough to break it.

  Releasing her hold on the chain, she closed her eyes and reached for her connection to Tosh. What had once appeared like a golden tie in her mind to her dragon mate was now so dull that it was barely a spark. She felt tears press against her eyes, but she fought them back. Falling into a weeping mess of emotions wouldn’t help her. She needed her wits about her if she was going to get through this. Her only hope was that Tosh knew she had been taken and would be able to find her before the drug did whatever the scientist was hoping it would do.

  There was a sliding sound, and Deci looked up at the ceiling to see a row of black tubes descend approximately a foot and stop. A thick mist rolled from the tubes, and Deci shielded her eyes, ducking her head as the mist settled around her. It soaked into her skin and made her flesh goosebump. It smelled like lavender, but underneath the cloying scent was a deeper chemical stench. Her stomach rolled, and she fought nausea.

  Her fingertips tingled, and then an almost soothing warmth spread up her arms. It felt as if someone caressed her skin. She shivered and rubbed at her arms where the mist had soaked into her skin. She still couldn’t feel her bear or her connection to Tosh, but suddenly she couldn’t think about anything else except how warm she felt. Her skin tingled pleasantly and a wave of warmth spread over her. She went to her knees and settled back on her heels, rubbing her palm across her collarbone. Her pulse thundered under her fingertips as she stroked her throat.

  She knew she should be worried about the chains that rattled every time she moved, but she wasn’t. The door opened with a soft whooshing sound, and Deci opened her eyes, finding her vision a little blurred around the edges. Two naked males were pushed into the room by the guards she’d seen earlier. They fell to the floor with grunts of pain as the door shut, locking them inside the room with her. Her brows rose as she watched them roll to their knees. They were well-built males, but had clearly been mistreated – their hair was long and shaggy, their faces bushy with untrimmed beards. While they were muscular, they seemed far thinner than they should be.

  She scented the air, but all she could smell was the lavender chemical scent. Opening her mouth to ask them who they were, she felt a wave of pleasure pass over her. It started in the center of her body and spread swiftly, making her skin tingle and her stomach clench. She gasped and fell forward, catching herself with one hand as she pressed her other palm into her abdomen. She heard soft growls and lifted her head to see the two males crouching near her, their eyes the amber of their beasts and their fangs elongated in their parted mouths.

  Tosh’s name flitted through her mind, and she scrambled back as far as the chains would allow. Finding her voice, she said loudly, “I don’t know who you are, but I’m mated to a dragon, and you need to keep yourselves far away from me.”

  “You smell good,” the dark-haired male said with a growl.

  Anger roiled through her, and clarity burst through the haze in her mind. She looked up at the ceiling where the black tubes were still visible. “They drugged me. I don’t smell good for anyone but my mate.”

  The lighter-haired male tilted his head slowly, his eyes shifting between amber and blue. He put one hand on the dark-haired male and shook his head. “She’s not ours.”

  “I don’t care. She smells good and ripe,” the dark-haired male said as he loudly scented the air.

  “Oh gross,” Deci said, shivering in disgust. “You didn’t just call me ripe.”

  She looked around the room, pushing past the strange, warm feeling she had and found what looked like a tiny camera in one corner by the ceiling. Staring at it, she said, “You need to let me go now before my mate comes here and destroys you.”

  A crackling sound was followed by a tinny laugh as the scientist’s voice came over a speaker. “You’re not in any position to make demands. Your mate is far from here, completely clueless as to what happened to you. When he fails to produce you for the ceremony at sunset, Yuon will take his rightful place as king. Not that it matters to you.”

  “Tosh won’t stop until he finds me,” Deci said, wrapping her hands around the chains and tugging with all her strength.

  “He won’t find you.” He snorted. “You shifters think you’re the be-all and end-all of the evolutionary scale. I hate to break it to you, but we’re not even in the same state as the dragon nest and we’re underground. In a few hours, Yuon will be king, and he’ll have your mate killed as a usurper. I’m sure, though, that before he ends his life, Yuon will tell him what’s to become of you.”

  Fear slithered over Deci, but she pushed it
away. She was a polar bear and not used to being afraid of anything. “What would that be?” She looked at the two males warily.

  “I already told you,” he said with an exaggerated sigh. “You’re going to help test a new batch of breeding drugs. It’ll be interesting to see what happens when a polar bear goes into heat artificially.”

  Tugging harder on the chains, she winced as the cuffs bit into her wrists, but she continued to pull. The bolt in the floor didn’t budge. “I won’t touch any male but my mate.”

  “I think you’ll do whatever I want.”

  The speaker crackled again as it turned off. She looked at the males who stared at her as if she was a steak and they hadn’t eaten in weeks. Her mouth watered as she looked at their naked bodies, their cocks hard and ready, their muscles taut. Licking her lips, she looked down at herself and caught sight of the mating tattoo. She brushed her fingers over it and felt a tingling connection to her mate. It was too brief, but it blasted through the turned-on feelings she had toward the strangers.

  “This says I’m a dragon’s mate,” she said, running her fingertip over the green, white, and black tattoo. Her beast roared in her mind, a muffled, anguished sound, and tears sprang to her eyes. “Please don’t touch me.”

  The dark-haired male snarled. “You’ll never be found. We’ve been here for months. Our mates must have given up the search for us by now, and yours surely will too. That mark means nothing here in this hell.”

  Tears rolled down Deci’s cheeks. “It means something to me. I’ll fight with every last ounce of strength I have to stop you from touching me. I’d rather die than betray my mate.”

  The harsh sound of the mist coming from the tubes sounded. Deci shuddered as what felt like a thicker mist collected on her skin and absorbed into her body. Heat spiked within her, and the brief connection she’d felt to Tosh slipped away. Slapping her hand on her tattoo, she screamed, a sound that twisted into a bellow of rage and sorrow as she found the last shred of connection to her bear and her mate, grasping hold of it before it disappeared altogether.