by Tesha Geddes
“On that note,” Tanya said, “we should probably head home now.”
Chapter 19
“You look nervous,” Erica commented as Kaida glanced at her phone for the tenth time that minute.
“I’ve been adopted into a pack that doesn’t even know me, and I’m going to meet them,” Kaida said, trying not to sound as terrified as she felt. “What if they don’t like me?”
Tanya snorted. “If they don’t like you, it means they don’t have a brain.”
Sophie agreed, saying, “You’re really hard not to like.”
“What if,” Kaida said, her heart clenching in fear, “they don’t accept me? What if they can’t accept such a small dragon?”
Her roommates looked at her in surprise and Erica asked, “Do you plan on showing them your dragon?”
Kaida shrugged. “I haven’t really decided yet. I definitely won’t tell all of them –– kids are adorable, but notoriously bad secret-keepers. I do think Mathis needs to know… at least then he’ll stop going on about all the large, wonderful caves on their land.”
Her roommates snickered as Tanya said, “Who needs a cave? He could just get you a cat tower and stick it in some quiet corner.”
“Hey!” Kaida said indignantly, then paused and thought about it. “You know,” she said, “that’s actually not a bad idea.”
A knock on the door made Kaida jump. She rushed to answer the door as her roommates laughed.
“Hey,” Sen said when she opened the door. “You ready?”
Kaida nodded and grabbed her backpack from where it sat next to the door. She waved goodbye to her roommates and then followed Sen down the stairs to his truck. Mathis sat in the passenger seat, Celicia was already in the back. Sen put her bag in the bed of the truck with all the other bags. Kaida fit easily into the backseat, but Celicia looked a little cramped. Sen hopped into the driver’s seat, looking as nervous as Kaida felt. She hoped he’d relax, but he got more nervous and tense the closer they got to pack lands.
Kaida leaned over and whispered to Celicia, “Is Sen okay?”
Celicia looked over at Kaida and replied, “The pack is excited to meet you. They’ve got some sort of surprise planned, but they wouldn’t tell us what, and that’s stressing Sen out.”
“I see,” Kaida said, fighting down her own nerves. Being the focus of the pack was a whole lot more nerve-wracking than being just another visitor.
The drive was both interminable and far too short. Sen pulled up the long driveway and parked behind several other cars.
“Don’t worry,” Mathis said, patting her shoulder when they got out, “everyone’s going to love you.”
Kaida nodded mutely and they walked up to the large house in front of them. It looked like an enormous cabin, with several smaller cabins around it. She guessed the large cabin was the den, and the smaller cabins were sleeping quarters. As they walked, several people spilled out of the large cabin with a banner strung between them. She recognized a few of them, including Rio, Terri, and Amyra, but most of them were strangers, and they just kept coming. She stuffed her hands in her pockets to hide their trembling. Her dry tongue felt like it was glued to the top of her mouth, and she desperately wished for a drink of water, or maybe an invisibility cloak. Sen swore quietly under his breath, and even Mathis looked upset. One striking woman at the front of the pack stepped forward and opened her mouth to speak, when Kaida suddenly felt a very large presence behind her, and the hair on the back of her neck stood up.
RAAAAAAAWR! A deafening growl erupted behind her, sending her heart skittering in fear. She shifted instantly, leaving her clothes and bag behind as she darted to the safety of the trees. It wasn’t until she was safely ensconced in the leaves of the tree and hidden from view that she stopped.
❀
Sen swore quietly under his breath. He’d told them to keep things relaxed and casual –– a full pack greeting was the exact opposite. The pack alpha stepped forward to greet them when a loud growl erupted behind him. He swore loudly and spun around to find a large brown bear behind them, growling menacingly. He nearly shifted and tackled the bear, but Rio beat him to it, and the two bears fell in a tangle of brown fur and flailing paws. Sen looked around for Kaida and swore again when he saw her clothes and bag on the ground. She’d shifted.
Everyone else must have also come to the same conclusion, because they were looking around wildly, though none of them knew exactly what they were looking for. Mathis looked stunned, and Sen realized he didn’t know how small Kaida was. Alpha Kendra looked like she wanted to murder someone –– that someone being the bear shifter that had scared their newest pack member off. Of all the people there, Sen was the only one that thought to look up. Sen was the only one that knew her love of high places. He looked around and groaned –– they were in a forest, and any one of these trees would hide her from view. He caught a brief flash of purple scales in one of the trees and sighed in relief.
He walked over to the tree and began to climb. He wasn’t the best tree-climber, but the pack had several cat shifters, and they were really good teachers. He climbed as high as he could safely, but Kaida was still out of reach. She gripped the branch like her life depended on it, her talons digging into the bark and her tail curled around it. She was trembling hard enough to shake the entire branch.
“Kaida,” he called softly, “it’s okay. It was just a dumb bear shifter pulling a prank. No one’s going to hurt you.”
She couldn’t hear him, and it wasn’t because he was too quiet. He bit back another curse and began climbing again, testing each step carefully.
❀
This was a mistake –– a very, very big mistake. I shouldn’t have come. How had the dragons found me? Did someone betray me? This was a mistake –– a very, very big mistake. These thoughts spun around and around on repeat.
❀
He eventually reached Kaida, but his position was precarious, and the branch under him wouldn’t hold his weight for long.
“Kaida,” he called softly. No response. “Kaida,” he tried again, louder. She twitched and he called her name again. This time, she raised her head to look at him. Her eyes were wide and terrified, the pupils so large he could hardly see the amethyst irises. He reached out slowly and gently stroked her head. She leaned into his touch, and he could feel her quivering. “It’s okay,” he said, “it was just an idiot bear shifter pulling a prank. No one’s going to hurt you. I promise.”
To his immense surprise and relief, Kaida released the tree branch and wrapped her tiny talons around his fingers as she climbed into his hand. Her tail curled around his wrist, stabilizing her on her new perch. He pulled her in close and said, “We need to climb down now, but I need both my hands. Would you mind riding in my sweater?”
The tiny dragon nodded, and he carefully transferred her to the large pocket of the MMU hoodie he wore. Once she was securely settled, he began the much harder journey of climbing down. The further down he got, the more he relaxed. He sighed in relief when his feet finally touched the ground.
The crowd had mostly dispersed by the time he descended, though Kendra was still chewing out a contrite-looking bear shifter, now in human form and fully clothed. Rio stood nearby, scowling at the other bear shifter, who happened to be his younger brother. Mathis and a few other elders were the only ones watching Sen.
“Did you find her?” Mathis asked. “Everyone else split up to look for her.”
“Um…” Sen said, unsure how Kaida wanted him to handle the situation.
Upon hearing Mathis’s voice, Kaida poked her head out of Sen’s hoodie and gave a little chirrup as she looked up at the elderly wolf shifter.
“Oh, my stars,” Mathis said quietly. “Kaida?”
She nodded and Sen reached into his pocket, and she climbed onto his hand. Her rear legs rested on his palm, while her front talons wrapped around two of his fingers and her tail wound around his wrist. The other elders gathered around as well, smiling in delight
at the beautiful purple dragon perched on his palm.
“I’m sorry about all of this,” Mathis said. “It wasn’t how I was expecting your welcome to go.”
“We’re sorry too,” Marjorie, another pack elder, said. “We’d wanted to show you how excited everyone was to have you as part of our pack, but we terrified you instead.”
“Try not to think too poorly of us,” Tad added. “Our hearts were in the right place, even if our minds had temporarily taken leave of their senses. We should have realized how overwhelming meeting all of us at once would have been. And then that idiot Cody had to go and do that.”
Kaida had stopped shaking by now and minutely relaxed her grip on Sen’s hand.
“Sen!” Kendra called as she strode over to them with an angry Rio and sullen Cody trailing behind her, a furious look still on her face. “Any sign of…” she trailed off when she caught sight of Kaida. “Is this…?” she asked, the anger draining from her face to be replaced with an emotion she normally reserved for the youngest members of the pack… adoration.
The corners of Sen’s mouth twitched with a suppressed smile –– Alpha Kendra was tough and fierce but had a not-so-secret soft spot for all things small and cute. He held Kaida up a bit higher so his alpha could get a better look and said, “Alpha Kendra, this is Kaida Gracewing. Kaida, this is Alpha Kendra, the leader of our pack.”
Kaida dipped her head in acknowledgement and must have said something to Kendra because his alpha shook her head and said, “Dear heart, it’s not your fault. We wanted to give you a warm welcome, but a certain idiot bear shifter thought that meant scaring you witless.” She sighed and said, “He’s got a good heart, even if he does forget to engage his brain.”
Rio and Cody looked over Kendra’s shoulders and Rio let out a soft whistle. “Kaida?” he asked, and the tiny dragon nodded. Rio looked up at Sen and said, “No wonder you were out of your mind with worry the day she disappeared.”
Kaida winced at the reminder of the worry she’d caused by her unannounced trip. Sen stroked her side gently with his thumb and felt her relax. A soft rumble started deep in her chest, and Sen couldn’t hide his smile when he realized what was happening. Dragons could purr –– who knew?
“I’m really sorry,” Cody said, the sullen look replaced with a contrite one. “I meant it as a joke, but I went too far.”
Kaida nodded her head, accepting Cody’s apology, even if she hadn’t fully recovered from the incident. Kendra ordered Cody off to the kitchen with a stern look and Rio volunteered to unpack the truck. Sen offered to get Kaida’s clothes for her so she could shift back, but she tightened her grip on his fingers and wrist, letting him know she intended to stay put. He continued stroking her side gently as he wandered up to the porch and sat on one of the swinging benches. The pack elders followed him while Kendra left to let the search party know that Kaida had been found.
They settled into the ample seating on the porch and Marjorie disappeared inside. Easy, quiet conversation began to flow around them. The elders asked a lot of questions about school and how his architecture internship was going. Sen tried to engage Kaida in the conversation, but she was content to sit and listen. She gradually relaxed and unwound her tail from around his wrist and curled it around herself.
Marjorie then came out carrying plates of lemon cake –– Sen’s favorite. His mouth watered at the sight –– a two-layer lemon cake with a lemon curd and blueberry filling, topped with lemon cream cheese frosting, fresh blueberries, and candied lemon. She passed out the plates and said, “Since the party got derailed, I figured we’d go ahead and dig into the cake.” Then she looked at Kaida and added, “We wanted to make you a cake, but we weren’t sure what flavor you’d like, so we went with a pack favorite. Would you like a slice?”
“I would love a slice,” Kaida said, her mind-voice choked with emotion.
Marjorie set a slice of cake down next to Sen, in the spot they’d saved for Kaida. The pocket-sized dragon hopped off his lap and eyed the cake intently.
“Well, don’t wait for us, dig in,” Marjorie cajoled her.
Kaida took a tentative, polite bite. “Mmmm, so good,” she said as she quickly polished off the remainder of the slice.
Celicia ran up as Kaida licked the last bit of frosting off her plate. “Sen,” she said breathlessly, “Kendra said you found her. Where is she? Is she okay? I’m gonna kill that stupid bear.”
“Hey Celicia,” Kaida said, licking frosting off her nose. “Sorry for any trouble I caused.”
Celicia looked down at Kaida and squealed. “Oh, my stars! Kaida, you’re so cute!” She scooped Kaida up and held her higher so she could get a better look at her.
The little dragon squirmed uncomfortably. “Please put me down,” she said.
“Right, sorry,” Celicia said, chagrined.
She put Kaida back on the bench and the little dragon hopped back on Sen’s lap, leaving her spot for Celicia. His sister arched an eyebrow at that, but wisely said nothing.
Chapter 20
“So, you and my brother?” Celicia teased that night as they got ready for bed.
Kaida blushed as she remembered her behavior in the hour following Sen rescuing her from the tree. She hadn’t strayed far from Sen’s side, preferring to remain in contact with him. Something about him was so steadying.
“He’s a great guy,” Kaida said quietly. “After Cody’s prank, I was out of my mind with fear. All I could think was that a dragon had found me, but then Sen climbed the tree to get me. I realized as long as I was with him, I was safe.”
Celicia smiled. “Yeah, he is a great guy,” she said. “And, for the record, everyone’s peeved with Cody –– Kendra gave him kitchen duty for a month. I’m just… well, I’m just glad you decided to stick around.”
Then Celicia grew quiet and Kaida could tell there was something on her mind.
“Do you mind if I ask…” Celicia began but her voice trailed off, but Kaida knew what she wanted to ask.
“You want to know what it was like growing up as a dragon reject?” Kaida guessed.
Celicia nodded.
Kaida took a steadying breath and asked, “Did you know that dragons cull those they think are too weak or different?”
“I’ve heard rumors,” Celicia said, “everyone has.”
Kaida gave her a measuring look before asking, “Did you know that the person deemed responsible for the presence of that ‘deficiency’ is the one responsible for carrying out the act?”
Celicia inhaled sharply, a pained understanding crossing her face.
Kaida swallowed before continuing: “I’ve always been different. No dragon has purple hair. My mother watched me like a hawk, marking all the ways I was different. After I first took my dragon form, she had me tested, and discovered I was only three-quarters dragon. I never discovered what the other quarter is –– no one would talk about it. My mother secretly had my father tested –– and discovered he’s only half dragon. So, it was up to him to get rid of me. One night, he took me to his mother’s house. He told her he’d received an emergency deployment, and he had to go, but he’d take care of everything when he returned. But he never returned. His deployment kept getting extended. So, I lived with Maribeth for years –– she never let me call her ‘grandmother’. To everyone else, I was some waif she rescued from the streets, and definitely not a dragon. I was never allowed to shift, and every night, she’d remind me I was marked for execution. Some days I wished that my father would return and get it over with. Other days, I was glad he was still gone, because every day he was gone was another day I got to keep living.”
“Oh, Kaida,” Celicia said, tears pouring down her face.
The wolf shifter pulled the dragon shifter into her arms, and they cried together.
❀
Sen stood frozen at the door –– he hadn’t meant to eavesdrop, but when he’d heard what they were talking about, he couldn’t bring himself to interrupt, nor could he bring himself
to walk away. When he heard the two girls crying softly, he quietly backed away –– it wasn’t his place to interrupt the healing that was happening behind that door. He slipped outside and shifted into his wolf form –– he needed a good, long run.
As he ran, he thought about what he’d heard. What would it be like to know that one of your parents was supposed to kill you, and to be cruelly reminded of that fact every day? He couldn’t even fathom the pain hiding behind those beautiful amethyst eyes. He howled at the dark sky, giving voice to his pain and anger. He wanted to run and hunt down those that hurt his dragon, and those that failed to protect her. It wasn’t until the early hours of the morning that he’d calmed enough to sleep.