BOX SET: Shifter 4-Pack Vol 2 (Wolf Shifter, Dragon Shifter, Mafia, Billionaire, BBW, Alpha) (Werewolf Weredragon Paranormal Fantasy Romance Collection)

by Candace Ayers

  “I want you,” she whispered in his ear.

  He moaned, an affirmative response. Cheyenne pushed his shoulders so he sank back down onto the bed. She bent down removing her panties and taking the shaft of his penis in her hand. She stroked his massive length up and down, up and down, then wrapped her mouth around the head of his penis. Virlek emitted a long low moan of pleasure. She wet the head with her tongue, then spread the wetness down with her lips, tongue, and cheeks. She didn’t linger there, though. She wanted him. This was her dream, after all.

  Cheyenne climbed onto the bed, straddling him, angling her hips so her body could take him in without any assistance. As the head of his erection entered her, Virlek grasped her hips. Then, she sat up straight, making sure his cock went all the way inside her in one, fluid stroke. Then, she paused. They both did. His male member contracted several times, as did the walls of her channel. Cheyenne felt her head spin a little. She took in a breath. The pleasure of the moment was almost unbearable. As the initial feeling passed, though, she only wanted more. She braced herself with her hands on his hard abdomen. His grip on her hips tightened. She slid up and down in long, slow strokes.

  She couldn’t take this for long. She could feel her orgasm build.

  As if he sensed her hesitancy, Virlek grasped her hips harder. He thrust his hips, his strokes deeper and faster than hers. The tingling, pressure, and pure pleasure inside Cheyenne grew to a crescendo. No, she couldn’t take it for long. Every nerve ending in her body screamed in ecstasy as wave after wave of pleasure hit her, overtaking her senses. She heard herself crying out. Virlek looked up at her watching her in awe. He took in the sight of her open mouth, closed eyes, and the sound of her moans. Then, as she cried out, she shouted his name, sending him over the edge. As she pushed her hips down, he forced his hips up and released himself inside her, their groans of pleasure echoing the momentary, unfettered connection of their souls.

  Chapter Five

  While Cheyenne had certainly saved Virlek from dying, his condition hadn’t actually improved so quickly. His fever continued, though at a lower grade. His boils were healing daily, but that, too, took time. In fact, the doctors kept him in a medically-induced coma for four full months. After his first dream about Cheyenne, he hadn’t dreamt again. At all. Even after he awoke, the medication he was given inhibited his telepathic communication abilities.

  Now, five months after being transferred to the med bay of the ship, he was finally allowed to leave. His first action as a free man, he had already decided, was going to be contacting the Plarizakian Council. The caravan’s speed was hampered by the slow cargo ships, but a passenger ship, accompanied by Zarek’s ship, could make it back to Earth in a week. He wanted permission to rescue Cheyenne and her people.

  Alone in the cockpit of Zarek’s ship, Virlek powered up the bridge, inserted an earbud into his ear, and took a seat on Jandric’s chair at the communications station. He flipped a switch, opening up a channel. He tapped a code into the square, black gel pad in front of him. The code would be interpreted by the computer as a request for communication with the Council office. His request was quickly accepted, and as he flipped on the switch that turned on the viewer screen, an elderly man in a highly-decorated uniform appeared on the screen.

  “I see you’re doing better, Virlek,” Commander Jorka said.

  Virlek stood, approaching the screen. “Yes, sir, but something is still troubling me.”

  Commander Jorka’s smile faded. “Is there anything I can do to help?”

  “Well, sir,” Virlek started. “There is something. Do you remember the legends of the Guardians?”

  Jorka laughed. “Sure. Old fairytales to make us feel as though we’ve rescued and saved an entire tribe of people. Makes us look good. Makes us proud. I remember one story my mom used to tell me—”

  “Sir,” Virlek cut his superior off with a respectful tone. “What if those legends are true?”

  Jorka stared at Virlek, confused. “But they’re fairytales.”

  “What if they aren’t? When I was on Earth, I met a woman. She told me of her people. They are sick, dying. I’ve dreamt about this woman for a very long time—”

  “Mate dreams?”

  “Yes. Mate dreams. She would tell me stories her mother and father told her. The tales were about men who could turn into dragons. Her people call the dragon men Guardians. Her people are sick and dying. What if we are the Guardians? What if they are who we are supposed to rescue?”

  “Virlek, we can’t turn back now. We’re running out of supplies. Soon our people might start dying.”

  “But, sir. Her people are dying. I’ve seen it—”

  “No, you dreamt about it while you were in a fever-induced delirium.”

  “But surely you could spare one passenger ship? ”

  “The ships are full, Weapons Officer Z’and. We can’t spare anything. I will not give you permission to go chasing fairytales and dreams when our people’s existence is at stake.”

  “But—” Virlek stopped short as the screen went black. Commander Jorka had closed the communication. Virlek punched the metal frame of the captain’s chair, tearing the skin of his knuckles.

  The ship’s door opened. Virlek hid his hand behind his back as Zarek entered, Aubrey at his side and Jandric trailing.

  “What’s happening?” Zarek asked, looking Virlek up and down.

  Virlek was silent for a moment. In his mind, Virlek saw Cheyenne as she had appeared in her dream. Her pleading eyes begging him for help once more. He saw her clinic, its rooms crowded with sick, boil-covered children. He saw the stumps of the little girl’s legs. He saw the boy’s eye. Then, he sat his friends down and asked them for help.

  Unlike Virlek, they didn’t hesitate to go against the orders of the Council. Virlek had helped rescue Zarek’s mate, and Zarek was only too ready to return the favor.

  Zarek’s ship was scheduled to report to the head of the caravan the next morning. Instead of heading to the front of the pack, though, the ship would be headed back to Earth.

  No one would stop them. There was only one thing on the Council’s mind, and that was getting to the new planet.

  How will we rescue her people? Virlek asked himself. The question was on the minds of all the crew, but no one had an answer. What they did know was that heading back to Earth was the first necessary step.

  Chapter Six

  “She’s there,” Virlek pointed to a Southwestern section of a plot of land called the United States. Zarek, Jandric, and Aubrey had left the ship in the shadows of the Milky Way. They hoped bringing a smaller shuttle to the surface would help them avoid detection. “I can sense her.”

  Zarek directed the shuttle toward the dessert, finally landing in the dust and sand just outside a Native American Reservation. The group walked past several shacks on the outskirts of the village. At first, Virlek thought the houses were abandoned, but then he noticed little eyes peeking out dirty window onto the dusk-shadowed streets. He saw little fingers holding back curtains.

  “Her building is this way,” Virlek said, pointing toward the center of town. Virlek ascended the steps of the building he had seen in his dream but before he reached the door, Cheyenne stepped out. Her eyes widened and her mouth opened as if she were about to speak, but she didn’t.

  She just stared.

  Then, in two steps, she closed the distance between herself and Virlek, throwing her arms around his neck, burying her face into his chest. Her hair smelled like wildflowers and antiseptic. Virlek breathed the scent in before he noticed the difference in her embrace. He pushed her away so he could get a look at her middle. Her stomach was rounder, bigger, protruding. He pulled back farther.

  Cheyenne was pregnant with child.

  Rage made its way up from Virlek’s neck to heat his face. Every muscle in his body stiffened. He let go of Cheyenne’s shoulders, dropping his hands to his sides before returning to the bottom of the stairs. Cheyenne remained on the porch
, looking down at him, her expression one of confusion and hurt.

  “Virlek, it’s, the baby, it’s—”

  “Where are your leaders?” Virlek cut her off. How could she do this to him? He had come for her. He had risked his place with his own people, had asked Zarek to risk his place, too. They had taken enormous risks because of the deep love he had for her, his mate. His mate. Now, she was pregnant with another’s offspring.

  “Where are your leaders?” he repeated, glaring up at her.

  But was this her fault at all? Virlek wondered. He had been in a coma. He hadn’t contacted her. Maybe she thought he had abandoned her. But these guilty thoughts simply fueled the feelings of anger and betrayal. He hadn’t been able to contact her. It wasn’t his fault!

  “There,” she said, pointing to a large building not far away. “They’ll meet you there, just give me time to gather them.”

  Cheyenne stared at him for a moment. Virlek could see the tears brimming in her eyes, but there was nothing he could do for her. She had betrayed him.

  Cheyenne turned to re-enter the hospital. Virlek turned to lead his group toward the council building.

  Why are we here? Virlek asked himself. His friends hadn’t come up with any suggestions about rescuing Cheyenne’s people, and now, it looked as if he would not be claiming his mate, either. I’m putting Zarek through this for nothing. A fool’s errand. That much is my fault.

  Still, he went through the motions, and within a half hour, all the elders and leaders had gathered around the table inside the council building. The Plarizakians and Aubrey sat at the table, too.

  “Welcome, Guardians,” Chief Artie spoke, gesturing to the Plarizakians.

  “Welcome, Guardians,” the men and women around the table echoed their Chief.

  Virlek couldn’t smile back at the villagers. His stomach turned just thinking about the news he would have to deliver to these welcoming leaders and elders. Why had he come back?

  “I’m going to be honest,” Virlek said as soon as the greetings faded. “I don’t know what we can do for your people. We surely can’t transport all of you without the support of the Plarizakian Council. Our ship isn’t nearly big enough. I couldn’t bring more than five of you with me.”

  Virlek wondered if that had been his subconscious plan all along: to convince Cheyenne leave her people and come back with him. His face burned with shame and humiliation.

  Virlek glanced at Cheyenne. Though her stomach was blocked by the table, he could see it in his mind. He looked away, anger mixing with the shame. Then, he continued quietly, looking at a spot in the center of the bare table as he spoke. “I came back to see what I could do, but now I’m not sure there’s anything I can do at all.”

  He saw the faces of the leaders and elders drop. They weren’t taking the news any better than he had expected them to. Virlek looked down at the table in front of him, flames of mixed emotions building—for himself, for this lost tribe.

  “Do your people have legends of the Guardians?” a very old man asked from the end of the table.

  “Yes, sir, we do,” Virlek responded, looking up at the man. The man was serious, but he didn’t frown as deeply as the rest. His eyes weren’t completely empty of their sparkle. He hadn’t lost hope like the others in the room. Virlek envied him for that.

  “And do your legends say the Guardians will return to help us?”

  “They say we will return to help someone, but those are just fairytales. They are told to make us take pride in ourselves and in our race and ancestry. They’re not real.”

  I sound disturbingly like Commander Jorka, Virlek thought. Had the old man been right? Or were my feelings for Cheyenne right?

  Virlek wanted to scream out his confusion.

  “Oh, but what if they are?” the old man asked, his quiet, gentle tone soothing. Virlek shook his head, not letting himself be drawn back in to a pointless cause.

  “But, they’re not. My people are not coming here. They stated their position very clearly when I asked.”

  “I see. But, I wonder, do your ‘fairytales’ say how else the Guardians can help our people?”

  Virlek played along. He remembered the story about the initial transportation of a race of people to a new planet. He remembered the story of the Plarizakian’s eventual return, but he had heard the stories so long ago. He didn’t remember all the details.

  “I don’t know,” Virlek said.

  “Oh, wait,” Zarek spoke up, looking at the old man. Zarek was obviously letting himself be drawn into the cause. “I remember. Something about blood. Something about the Guardian blood healing the people.”

  “Precisely,” the old man smiled. “Precisely. Do you know what that means?”

  “If we give you some of our blood, the sickness will be cured?” Zarek guessed.

  The room was silent.

  “Blood transfusion,” Cheyenne finally spoke up. “Maybe there’s something in Guardian blood--antibodies maybe—that can help us. It’ll take a while, though. A pint of blood will only go so far. We can start with the sickest patients. It could work. Yes, it could work.”

  Virlek watched as hope re-entered Cheyenne’s eyes. He loved the way her face lit up, her lovely dark brown eye twinkling. She was beautiful. He wanted to hope, too. He wanted to smile with her. He wanted to look into her eyes and share her joy, but he couldn’t. The Plarizakians weren’t coming, and she was pregnant with someone else’s child. She had mated with another. This woman, the one and only woman he would ever want as his mate, his companion, his lover, was lost to him. She never be his. Virlek cleared his throat and looked away from her. Her smile faded.

  “We’ll do it,” Zarek said.

  “But, Zarek,” Aubrey touched her mate’s arm before speaking to the people around the table. “Before I left with Zarek, I was a biologist at Gen-Ex Labs. I had to draw Zarek’s blood every day. Because he is my mate, I felt the pain he went through during those extractions. It was excruciating. Zarek described the pain in better words than I ever could. When you cut off your hand, your wrist hurts. When you cut off your foot, your ankle hurts. His blood is a part of his whole body, so when you take even a drop of it, his whole body feels the loss. His whole body screams in agony.”

  Aubrey looked at Zarek, Virlek, and then Jandric before speaking again. “Are you each willing to do this?”

  “Yes,” Zarek answered quickly.

  “Yes,” Jandric said, nodding his head.

  Everyone looked at Virlek. He looked back, his gaze resting on Cheyenne. He looked into her eyes as he answered.

  “Yes,” he said.

  Because I love you. Because I would do anything for you, even if I can’t have you as my mate. I would die for you, Cheyenne. I will go through this pain for your people because I know their pain is your pain. He wanted to add all this, but he just set his jaw, stood, and walked from the room, leaving the others to celebrate. He was in no mood for celebrations.

  Virlek stood in the middle of the road, his back to the council building when he heard the door squeak open then slam shut.

  “Aubrey and I are going to get the supplies,” Cheyenne hollered to him. “Figured we’d meet you at the shuttle. There’s not much to carry, so we’ll just meet you there.”

  Virlek was still, fighting the urge to turn to her, to embrace her, to offer to carry everything himself. He didn’t turn, though, he simply adjusted his path and headed toward the shuttle.

  Chapter Seven

  By the time Cheyenne approached the shuttle, the men had set up three tents. The silver flaps of the tents wiggled in the slight afternoon desert breeze.

  “I’ll deal with Zarek and Jandric,” Aubrey told Cheyenne. “I’m guessing you and Virlek need a little time alone.”

  “Thank you, Aubrey,” Cheyenne responded, smiling at the woman.

  Cheyenne stood outside as Aubrey entered the shuttle.

  “Virlek’s waiting for you in the tent over there,” Aubrey said, poking her head
out the shuttle door. She pointed to the tent farthest from the ship.

  Carrying her medical bag and a cooler, Cheyenne made her way to Virlek’s tent. She bent down, thinking the flap zipped, but she couldn’t find a zipper. She fumbled some more, trying to shift the cooler into her other hand, which still held the medical bag. Then, she tried to unzip the flap again. The cooler handle pinched her fingers, and she dropped both the cooler and the bag, cursing as she did so.

  Finally, Virlek opened the flap from inside the tent.

  “You just trace your finger along the seam,” he said. Then, he looked down and saw the bag, the cooler, and her round stomach. He scooped up the cooler and the bag. Though he was still angry, shame was the emotion of the moment. “Oh, I’m sorry. I should have helped. I was just—”

  “Laying there laughing at my fumbling and cursing?” she pretended to be irritated, but she was actually relieved by his apology. Maybe, just maybe, she could get through to him.

  “Sorry, I didn’t—” he tried to apologize again.

  “It’s fine. I’m teasing,” she said, taking the bag and cooler from him. “Just lay down so we can get this over with. I hear it’s painful.”

  “Fortunately it won’t be for you,” his eyes darkened as he took his spot on the makeshift cot.

  “Why are you so sure?” Cheyenne asked.

  “You have a mate,” he looked at her belly.