by Crystal Dawn
Winged Beasts Series
Prequel Book 0
Sergeant at Arms
By Crystal Dawn
Cover by Janiel Escueta
Any resemblance to persons living or dead are merely coincidence. This story is strictly written from the imagination of the author.
Dedicated to that inner beast we all have no matter how civilized we become.
Smashwords Edition License Notes
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2015 Copyright by Crystal Dawn
Prologue
Who ever heard of a race where all births were male? Everyone on the planet Draconis that’s who. For as far back as anyone could remember only male children had been born on their planet. No one knew why and maybe it had something to do with the fact that his people were shifters, dragon shifters. They had been this way for centuries and would be this way as long as one Draconist lived.
It had been a bit inconvenient having to import women from Laurelia Proper as brides but the planet rich in females was only too happy to trade its only real commodity for Draconist gold. The trade had worked well for all concerned for centuries until the moon of Laurelia had been hit with a giant asteroid and made their planet unlivable. The population had scattered in days, most going to lands in far distant space and only one ship coming to Draconis to claim sanctuary for the families on board.
Even with three females to each male on the ship, there’d only been three dozen mates available for the Draconist males. None of the higher level males had found a mate among them and with several of mating age, it was urgent to find a new source of life givers. They had several planets targeted and his group would be the first to go to the planet Earth. If they were successful, a group of older and more established males would go. If they were successful, only then would the royals go because an unsuccessful mating for them might prevent an heir from being born. That was to be prevented at all costs.
Jarel was honored to be chosen with the other five males for this most important mission. He planned to find his mate and bring her back to the ship. He would work out everything else once he had her with him. He glanced around at the other males. They would all stand out on Earth since six foot six was their average height and all of their kind were muscular. He hoped it would draw the females to them.
Earth was the farthest any of them had been from home. With the fast ships they had, it had actually been much faster than it would have been even a year ago. Ten days might not seem long to some, but when your future awaited you, it seemed to drag on endlessly. The only thing that made it bearable, was the modern and well equipped facilities on this ship that the old ones hadn’t had. In the past, comfort had not been a consideration in their ship designs.
Even with sharing such wonderful facilities; gym, spa, game room, and kitchen on the ship could compete with any on their planet of equal size, none of the males had become close. He suspected some of them felt competitive even though they had been assured there were plenty of females to choose from and the females would have the biggest say in the choosing. For now, he would just pray that the goddess sent his one perfect match to the city they were now headed to.
Sergeant at Arms
Chapter 1
The Chase
Davinia was unhappy with her name and had been all her life. That was why she went by Davy. It was funny how random thoughts like those came to you when you feared your life was about to end. It was her own fault, but that didn’t make her lament the end any less. She was in her extra closet and they were out there searching her apartment for her or some sign of where she might have disappeared to.
“What are you doing, Dufus?” a squeaky male voice asked.
“Dammit. Sam, you know it’s Rufus!”
“Whatever you go by, stop fucking around and help me here,” Sam said.
“We haven’t looked in this thing yet,” Rufus said.
“It’s an armoire,” Sam said.
“Yeah, that thing.”
“It’s locked from the outside so she’s not in it,” Sam said.
“Maybe something worth money’s in there,” Rufus said.
“You’re on a fucking treasure hunt while I’m doing all the work?” Sam asked his voice harsh.
“It’s just a little bomb. You set them all the time,” Rufus said.
“Well this one’s done and we have thirty minutes to get as far away as we can before it blows. Why don’t you just stay here and hunt for valuables you dumbfuck!”
“Shit! Don’t leave without me,” Rufus whined and she heard heavy steps moving quickly away from her. The door opened and a minute later slammed shut.
She pushed open the door to the armoire. Damn, they’d messed up the place. She quickly grabbed two bags loading clothing, personal items, and getting her money out of the fake bottom of the armoire she’d been in. She’d been saving for a house but that had been a pipe dream. She knew she’d be running for the rest of her life because there was no place that would ever be safe from the long arm of her ex-boyfriend. Joe Maggio had been sent here to Las Vegas by the mob to find out who had started this new gambling hot spot ten miles south of here. They just wanted information but he planned to muscle in on the action.
Joe was sweet, romantic, and gorgeous. He was the perfect man until you dug deep and found out what he was really like. She’d had shitty luck with men before but this time won the prize. She’d found out about his business dealings and had pulled information off the computer to insure her safety. It hadn’t worked and he was aggressively trying to remove the threat.
Her suitcases full, she carried them down to her new SUV. She’d sold the car he’d given her as a parting gift when they’d broken up. She saw it was being picked up by the middle aged salesman who had bought it from her yesterday. He knew she was desperate and he’d cheated her until her eyes crossed but what choice did she have? She was putting her SUV into reverse when a loud noise reverberated through the garage. Had her apartment blown up early? She turned to look around and saw the car engulfed in flames. It was just like Joe to be twice as sure he got her. That poor man had been at the heart of the explosion. She’d mourn him later, right now she‘d better get away before she joined him.
She backed up and burned rubber getting the hell out of there as fast as she could. The devil was on her tail and he was a tall blue eyed Italian named Joe who looked like heaven but wouldn’t hesitate to order the death of someone he’d claimed to love just a few days ago. Her experience with men had shown her that their definition of love wasn’t the same as hers. She’d never told him she loved him and that had bothered him. When she told someone that, she would mean it with all her heart.
Driving south for no particular reason, she pulled into a truck stop. She needed to think things out and come up with a plan. They would assume her dead for at least a few days maybe even a week but she’d best be careful not to give them any reason to think otherwise. This SUV that she had already started packing with those items she felt important, was unknown to them and registered in her cousin Caroline’s name. Caro, as they called her, was in Africa with the Peace Corps and she would be there for at least another year. Since she didn’t need her life here for now, she’d agreed to let Davy take over her identity for now. They looked a bit alike even though Caro was beautiful and Davy, well she just was.
Her scrawny figure and
her thin face was something she didn’t like to talk about. She did have beautiful long hair even though it was just brown at least it had several shades of brown and it was glossy and healthy. Her eyes were brown too matching the rest of her ordinary self. Caro had brown hair and brown eyes but they looked so much better on her. She pushed her food around on her plate. She needed to make some decisions like what the hell she was going to do now.
She decided to go to a beauty salon and get her hair dyed. She would buy some cheap glasses at a dollar store, both plain ones and sunglasses. She couldn’t hide her body so she would show it off, something she’d never done before. By the time she was done, her mother wouldn’t recognize her. Once she was done, she was going to go to that super casino that Joe was so worried about and see if she could make some contacts. Maybe she could get their protection in exchange for what she knew about the plans Joe had for their business, namely stealing it from them. Once she had protection, she would make a deal for the evidence she had stolen and get a new life.
It would be hard leaving her family and friends behind, but it was better to leave than to die and those were her only two choices. She got a cheap room for the night because all the beauty salons were closed. There was time to go by the dollar store and get the glasses. The hotel was nearby and the cheapest one worked just fine. The mattress was lumpy but at least the room was clean. Exhausted, sleep was on her in minutes and it was morning before she woke.
All her stuff was loaded and she checked out because she wasn’t coming back. Davy found a beauty salon in the nearest town with no trouble. Three hours later with a horrible smell floating around her from the dye, her SUV hit the highway again. Two more hours and she pulled into the latest casino hot spot which was south of Las Vegas, Dracon City. That was one weird name for a town but not the worst she’d heard. There was no mention of how it had been decided on so maybe it wasn’t a good story or it was a personal one.
Parking in the hotel parking level, she hoped she could get a room. Luckily it was Tuesday and rooms were available. She booked for two weeks hoping that would see her plan put into action. For now, she would just go tourist and have some fun. Fixing herself up and trying out some of her new clothes and makeup, she had to admit she didn’t look too shabby. Even more important, was the difference from what she usually looked like. She set a limit of a hundred dollars just to play around a bit in the casino and planned to leave enough at the end of her night to eat on.
Davy went and got a player’s card so she could get some free meals from her play. She’d just settled on a slot machine when she caught sight of a man she knew worked for Joe. He was an informer not hired muscle but if he recognized her, she was up shit creek without a paddle. He wasn’t even looking her way because he was watching a group of men walk around the edge of the casino that looked like body builders. Was there a competition going on?
Their heights ranged from about 6’4” for the shortest man to 6’8” for the tallest one, but they were all big and muscular by any standards. One man in particular caught her eye and made her heart beat faster. He was probably a dud, all the men she liked seemed to turn out that way. He had long wavy brown hair, he was tall but slim, and she could see a hint of muscles more like a runner might have than a weight lifter. He made her panties melt and he was even better looking than Joe. That was saying something.
They went to the elevator and the informer followed discreetly at a distance. It gave the impression that Joe was trying to work fast on finding out what was going on around here. One thing that was for sure, Joe was too well known to show his face in this casino. She didn’t expect to see any of the men he worked closely with either, they were too well known in many circles. Davy considered getting off her machine to join the parade trekking to the elevator. She pushed the button absent mindedly and her machine went crazy. It had just hit its progressive jackpot of a hundred thousand plus dollars!
It was ironic that the one time in her life she didn’t need or want attention, everything conspired to bring it to her. A crowd gathered around her, some even taking pictures of her and her machine. Casino employees came from everywhere. The ladies seemed to be the ones who did the regular payouts on the machines but due to the size of her hit, the big bosses had come out to pay. Every one of those guys reminded her of the body builders that had walked through earlier.
Digging out her ID and her player card, since the ladies asked for them, made her drag her eyes away from all the male eye candy around her. No wonder this place was so popular with the ladies, half the men were incredibly handsome. They reset the machine so she could pull her money off it and she followed the ladies to an office at the end of the cashier’s cages.
A drop dead gorgeous guy in a three piece suit with a name tag that said manager above his name slipped around her and the desk to sit in the seat across from her. He had her ID and player card in his hands. “Miss Fraser?”
“Just call me Caro,” she suggested. He had a dazzling smile that he turned on her.
“We can do this any way you want. I can issue you a check, you can get cash, or we can send the money to any account you would like it sent to,” he assured her.
“I don’t have an account right now, but I’ve been using my cousin’s account. Could I put it in there?”
“We can put it anywhere you want it to go, but I feel I should caution you. Money can bring out the worst in people. Please think it through and make sure this is what you want to do.”
“I’d trust my cousin with things far more valuable than money. This is the best way to do it. I owe her something anyway.”
“Okay, if you’re sure. Just fill out this form with all the requested information and then sign the form so we can release the funds to that account.” The man looked at her with interest and she wished her situation was different. He was attractive, competent, and kind enough to warn her of the consequences her choice might cause. Her interest in him was almost as high as it had been in the other sexy guy she’d seen earlier that she probably would never meet.
After filling it out, she handed him the filled out form and he input the information into his computer. His printer buzzed to life and paper came out the end. He pulled it off and handed it to her. “This is a transaction confirmation. All the money is now in your cousin’s account.”
She looked at him a moment considering if she should trust him with the deal she hoped to make but she decided he wasn’t high enough in the food chain here to help her. “Thank you, Mr. Cliffs?”
“Yes, but you can call me Ranger,” he said with a smile.
He escorted her out of his office and he looked as if he wanted to say something but decided against it. It was probably for the best since she had no future. Then again it might be presumptive to think he wanted to ask her out. Maybe he’d just intended to give her some more well-meaning advice. It didn’t matter since he’d thought the better of it. He went back into his office and she went out into the casino. She decided to get something to eat. She could afford to enjoy herself now without worrying about money.
Once she made her way to the second level she looked for the incredible steak house that she’d heard about. She entered and waited to be seated. The hostess led her to a small table that seated two. The hostess gave her a menu and hurried away. Davy looked to see what had gotten the waitress so excited. It looked like the sexy body builders had heard about the place too. The hostess seated them at a large table that just happened to be right next to hers. Those guys were so hot that Davy thought she might need a fan placed where it would blow on her.
Her waitress came and distracted her and she ordered a sex on the beach which had all the men staring her way and a mixed appetizer platter. The waitress hurried away to put her order in and brought back her drink. Then the waitress made her way to the men and took their drink and appetizer orders. They took a while to decide and one of the men, seemed to be making suggestions that all of them were taking. That was odd because they all looke
d like the kind of men that liked to make their own decisions. Maybe he was their boss, coach, or something like that. She only knew that she’d like to strip them naked and snack on them. The women sitting near them all seemed to be giving them equally hungry looks.
Davy checked her chin. Good, no drool had escaped. That would be embarrassing even if she didn’t know any of these people and would be leaving in a couple of weeks. She checked out her brown haired guy. She thought she was being discrete but he looked up and their eyes caught and held for a moment before she turned red and looked away. Her appetizer came and she ordered a steak dinner. She didn’t think she could eat it all, but she had a refrigerator in the room and a microwave so she could take leftovers with her. She looked up and her brown haired guy was running his eyes up and down her figure. His eyes moved up to hers and this time she’d caught him. If only things were different.
Her meal came and she enjoyed it but couldn’t finish it. She ordered dessert to go and when it came the waitress told her that her meal had been complimentary to celebrate her win. She wasn’t much of a gambler but that sounded alright to her. She thanked the waitress and took the bag with her leftovers and dessert in it and headed out. She cast a side glance at her guy as she walked by. Damn he was so fine. His hand snaked out and he lightly touched her arm bringing her to an immediate stop.
“What was that drink you had? I’d like to try it,” he said with a smile that almost made her heart stop.
She flushed feeling a wave of heat wash over her. “Sex on the beach,” she whispered hoping the other men didn’t hear her. It was too much to hope for and they all looked at her with a range of assessing looks and smiles.