by Isa Hunt
I had become the dragon. Finally . . . I was the dragon.
CHAPTER 22 – KELLY
As the throes of the final orgasm tore through me, I collapsed forward onto Paul's huge barrel chest, hugging him tightly. I was drenched with sweat from the intensity of the encounter, but I was far from exhausted – in fact, I was energized like never before. It felt as if magma was flowing through my veins as if I had become a being composed of pure fire.
I lay on the huge man, panting slowly, feeling this new, intoxicating sensation flow through me, and for the first time in my life, I felt whole and complete. It was as if I had been missing something my whole life without realizing it, and only knowing now that it had been lacking.
But then, interrupting this memorable moment, there came the sound we had all been dreading – the turning of the key in the lock.
“This is it,” growled Rex. “Now, brothers, we fight for our lives.”
Benoit dropped to his knees before me.
“Now is the time,” he said, shooting an intense look into my eyes. “Lead us into battle, dragon queen.”
“Shift!” said Paul. “Shift into your dragon form!”
I was going to tell them that I couldn't, that I didn't know how to – except that somehow, I suddenly knew that I could do it. Something had changed within me, had changed forever, and I knew that I was the dragon.
As the door opened, I closed my eyes and focused on the fire. The fire. The fire . . .
I felt my muscles and bones stretching. My skin began to change, transforming from the smooth skin of a human female to the steely scales of a dragon. Suddenly, there was a burst of what I could only describe as utter intensity, a feeling that had to be almost like dying, blasting through every atom in my body. My eyes were blinded by a flash of impossibly bright light – and then, suddenly, I was different.
“Oh shit,” murmured Jake as he stepped into the room. “Oh shit!”
Wesley ran in, holding a shotgun. I stared down at him, and it felt as if my vision had improved by about a hundredfold – and he suddenly looked as small to me as a little toddler. I was aware that I was crouched down, that my body was pressing against the ceiling of the room.
“Oh no, oh no!” shouted Wesley.
He pointed the shotgun at me and fired. It would have killed me in my human form, but now it simply stung annoyingly, like being shot with a plastic BB gun. I then called on it: the fire inside, the fire I had dreamed of all these years.
And it came.
Pouring out of my throat came a river of flame, a gushing torrent of napalm. My alphas dived out of the way as the gush of flame hit Wesley. I roared, a sound that blew the windows out of the room in an explosion of glass, and the river of fire intensified. Jake had somehow managed to jump out of the way, but the full power of the fire swallowed Wesley up completely. I was dimly aware of him screaming over the roar of the flames, but those screams were quickly drowned out.
When I finally finished pouring a torrent of flame out of my mouth, there was nothing left of him but a blackened skeleton, and most of the wall behind him had been destroyed, with little left of it but black, smoking rubble.
“Shift, boys, shift!” roared Rex. “Now we take them all!”
All of my alphas shifted into their animal forms – wolf, puma and bear – and with me smashing through the walls, leading them, we charged through the house. A fury like none I had ever known propelled me onward, and I blasted out torrent after torrent of flame, tearing down walls with my huge clawed hands, turning my enemies into ash within seconds. The bullets from their guns seemed like puny playthings as they hit me, minor annoyances at best. I blew any man who stepped in my way away in a river of fire.
Finally, only Jake was left, cornered by my three alphas, begging for his life.
“Please,” he begged. “I was only following orders, I'm not a bad person, I was only following orders, please, spare me, please . . . ”
I shifted back into my human form. It was a weird sensation, becoming so comparatively small again.
Jake got down on his knees as my wolf, my puma and my bear advanced on him.
“I'm begging you, Kelly,” he pleaded. “Just let me live, and I'll serve you. I bow down to the dragon queen. I bow down to you. I'm your loyal servant. Please . . . Just let me live . . . Please . . . ”
“You betrayed your master so easily, Jake,” I said coolly. “So how could I ever trust you to be truly loyal to me? He's all yours, boys,” I said as I turned around and walked out.
The sounds of snarls, roars and howls echoed in my ears as I walked out of the burning house, as Benoit, Rex and Paul finished Jake off. I felt no pity for him. He was a murderous thug who had been ready to torture my Paul to death and kill me, so he was getting what he deserved.
I had already forgotten about him by the time I got outside. Out here, night had fallen, and the burning house was bright against the night, the flames sending showers of gold and orange sparks up into the starry sky.
“This is not the end,” I said to myself. “This is just the beginning . . . the beginning of a brand new story. The beginning of the rest of my life . . . my life as the last dragon queen.”
And with that, I shifted again. This time I unfurled my massive wings and began to beat them against the night breeze. Flight came to me as naturally as walking, and I took off with ease, spiraling up and up in a glorious flight across the starry sky.
I was home. I was finally . . . home.
*****
THE END
Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed reading “Awakening Dragon” as much as I liked writing it. Please consider leaving an honest review here; it means a lot to me to hear from you.
Isa Hunt
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My Shifting Billionaire Boss
Description
A BBW in need of an adventure PLUS a sexy billionaire Werewolf Shifter PLUS a dark secret hidden in a tower!
Agatha Portman had spent years secretly lusting after her very handsome and rich boss, Henry Crane. After finding him naked in her back yard, the morning after a huge wolf was spotted in town, Agatha starts to wonder if there isn't something more to the secretive billionaire.
Now Henry's bastard brother, Marcus, has come to town and if he doesn't get what he wants, Agatha will be the one to pay the price.
Henry takes Agatha under his protection, but it might not be enough. Henry holds a powerful book of magic and Marcus won’t stop until it’s his. It doesn’t matter what it takes or who he could hurt.
Can any woman survive being caught between two shape-shifting brothers? Agatha will have to find out. Nightfall is coming and Marcus with it. Now Henry has to protect Agatha and the book of ancient magic as his brother closes in.
Chapter One
It was way too hot for March. The high that day had been seventy-eight degrees. For the last three nights, Agatha Portman had slept with her windows open so the cool night air could caress her skin. It was late when she finally left the gym, but she kept her car windows down so she could breathe in the primal smell of the forest at night.
She was wearing a pair of black workout pants and a loose t-shirt that was damp with sweat from a tough forty-minute spin class. Not that it mattered, no matter how hard she tried it seemed she was never going to lose those last fifteen pounds.
Her legs felt a little weak as she pulled into her driveway, parked her car and cut the lights. Once the engine had quieted, the sound of hundreds of chirping crickets filled the air around her. The night was pitch black, there was no moon. Agatha lived in a small bungalow at the end of a long solitary lane, far from the center of town. She liked it back here. Her house was
her own little space, no noisy neighbors, no sounds other than the occasional car on the road and the endless chirping of the crickets.
Which had stopped. Agatha tilted her head and listened for a moment, but no, she was right, the crickets had stopped. In fact, everything had stopped. The wind still whistled through the trees, but there were no other sounds. No birds called, no insects buzzed, there was only silence outside.
The hair on the back of her neck stood up as her heart started racing. Something felt wrong, but she didn’t know what. She looked in her mirrors checking behind the car, but she didn’t see anything. The night was dark, but everything looked fine. So why was she suddenly afraid?
Agatha couldn’t name her fear. It was something primal that came from the deep recesses of her mind. It was instinct pure and simple.
Get in the house, she told herself. Her arms were shaking as she reached into her purse. She grabbed her cellphone in one hand and her keys in the other. Her eyes were wide as if they were trying to take in every last detail. Still that strange otherworldly silence rang in her ears. Her heart started to pound and the back of her neck tingled.
It’ll be ok once you’re inside. It was a mantra she repeated to herself. If she could just make it through her front door, everything would be fine. She didn’t know what frightened her, but her instincts told her she wasn’t alone. There was something else in the darkness. She gathered all her courage from within herself. Taking a deep breath, she opened her car door and stepped out, placing one foot on the dirt road of her driveway.
As if on cue, she heard the unmistakable sound of an animal howling. The howl rang in her ears, it sounded like a wolf and it sounded very close. She gasped and turned towards the noise, her heart hammering in her chest. Maybe it was just a dog? She turned towards her house and focused on her brightly painted blue front door. She had painted it that color last spring. It was like a beacon and as she broke into a run she refused to look anywhere else.
The howl came again, closer this time. Gasping, Agatha ran towards her front door. She had just hit the cement walkway when she heard the first panting breaths of a large animal. Her eyes went wide as she took desperate gasping breaths. She glanced behind her, but couldn’t see anything. Where was it? What was it?
Her keys were in her hand. Her door was only a few steps away. Relief flooded her body, she was going to make it. Whatever was out here wasn’t going to get her. She could get inside and call animal control.
Then she heard the low, wet growl of an angry animal. She froze. Every cell in her body froze, only her heart continued to pump, thumping painfully in her chest. The wolf appeared to her left. At first, it was nothing more than a large shadow in the darkness, but then it moved underneath her porch light. It moved slowly and confidently. With one easy leap, it was on her front steps, blocking her passage to the door.
The wolf was massive. It was easily three times larger than any dog she had ever seen, including her ex-boyfriend’s German Shepherd. It was almost as tall as she was. It had mangy with scraggly brown hair and blood-tinged drool dripped from its mouth as the animal reared back and bared his long fangs at her. It smelled horrible; a mixture of rot and sweat and wet dog.
It gave a low, dangerous growl and then, to her horror, it began to move towards her. She staggered back almost falling as her sneakers slipped off the cement walkway. Agatha gave out a muted scream and the wolf growled and snapped its teeth at her. She let out a sob and continued to inch backward. How did it know to block the door? How was this animal that smart?
She needed to get back to her car. She should never have got out of it. The wolf was growing angrier. Its hackles were raised as more drool slipped from the animal's mouth. It seemed to almost smile at her. Then it was moving, running towards her at a speed she could not have imagined.
Agatha let out a terrified scream as she tripped and fell back. She was going to die. She was going to be eaten by a wolf in her own front yard. It lunged at her and all she could see was sharp teeth and matted fur before she closed her eyes and lifted her arm to protect her face as best she could.
The animal let out a painful sounding yelp and Agatha managed to peek from behind her arm. To her horror, she saw that a second wolf had joined them. Agatha was shaking and crying as she pulled her knees up closer to her and wondered what she could have possibly done to deserve this.
The second wolf was different. It was bigger and completely white. Where the brown wolf had mangy fur and a foul odor, this white wolf was like a well-kept pet. Its fur was clean and smooth, no drool slid from between its teeth.
Agatha was frozen, stuck in that dangerous place between fight and flight. Her eyes were wide and white, her face was streaked with tears. A sob escaped her lips, then to her shock, the white wolf turned and looked at her. Right into her eyes. And then it nodded towards her car only a few feet away.
Her jaw fell open, had he come to save her? Was that possible? The brown wolf growled and snapped its jaw at the white wolf who turned to face his opponent, getting down on his haunches in a dangerous pose. He stood between Agatha and the brown wolf, appearing poised to leap should the brown wolf make a move.
He’s protecting me, she realized and then her brain snapped into gear and she was scrambling for her dropped keys. Agatha got up off the ground as the brown wolf glared at her. He growled and took a step towards her, but the white wolf was right there, blocking the other’s path, giving Agatha the chance to escape.
“Thanks,” she whispered as she raced to her car, got in and locked the doors.
Chapter Two
Agatha’s wasn’t the only wolf sighting that night. The small seaside town of Cryer’s Bluff had over fourteen calls to the police station about a huge, shaggy wolf that had been seen in backyards and parks. Locals had been warned to stay indoors and avoid heavily wooded areas. They were reminded that if they saw a wild animal they should not try to engage with it, but should instead seek shelter and call the police. Agatha had been the only person to see a second white wolf.
Agatha didn’t return home until the next afternoon. She went to a friend’s house and slept fitfully on the couch. Her nerves were on edge all night. Even the smallest of noises from outside, like leaves rustling or a twig snapping, would pull her from her sleep, jerking her awake, leaving her breathless. It was all too strange and too wild. Agatha’s life was a simple and quiet one. She worked in an office building, she drove a Ford, she just wasn’t used to this level of strange danger.
It was a bright and sunny afternoon when she returned to her house, but the pleasant weather didn’t put her at ease. Stepping out of the car she could see a paw print in the mud. It was sunk deep down into the mud, the claw marks stood out in stark detail. Whatever had left this had been huge, it must have weighed a ton.
Skirting the paw print Agatha looked around her. The wind whispered through the trees and the grass. She could hear birds chirping to each other in the forest and she watched as a squirrel skittered up a knobby oak tree. Her stomach churned. This was her home, her favorite place in the entire world, but it was tainted now. She had never been as afraid as she had been last night.
Her hands were shaking as she pushed her key into the lock and opened the door. She closed the door and locked it behind her. Taking a deep breath, she moved through her kitchen and to her living room. Her heart was pounding and she was still shaking. It was driving her crazy. She was home now and she was safe, so what was making her so nervous?
Agatha jumped when she heard a noise from outside. She peered through her sliding glass door to her wide back yard. On the back patio, there was a table, a few Adirondack chairs, and a couch. It sounded like something had just moved out there. Agatha moved towards the glass slowly, her cell phone clutched in one hand prepared to call the police.
Step by inching step she moved closer to the door. Her heart was thundering in her chest as she peered around the curtains. At first, everything looked normal. The grass was a verdant green, he
r daffodils were in full bloom and the furniture was where she had left it.
Then she saw it. There was a hand hanging over the back of the couch. Her heart skipped a beat when the hand moved. She moved to the side to try and get a better view of who might be out there. She raised her phone debating if she should call the police.
The hand continued to move, it was pulled back to the other side of the couch. For a breathless moment, she waited and then a head came into view as whoever was out there sat up. He was tall and had a head full of dark black hair. She could tell by his build that he was strong, his shoulders were muscular and those muscles extended down his arms and back.
Agatha’s mouth fell open as the man ran a hand through his hair and then turned around. With a gasp, Agatha quickly hid behind her curtain. It was her boss. Well, not really. He ran the company where Agatha worked. He was at the top of the totem pole and Agatha, who worked in accounting, barely merited a place on the pole at all.
She was frozen, hiding behind a curtain when it occurred to her that this was her house and her land. It wasn’t her, but Mr. Crane who should be hiding. He was the one who had fallen asleep in someone else’s backyard, not her.
Taking a deep breath Agatha pushed open her screen door and marched out onto the patio.
“Mr. Crane?” Her voice came out high-pitched and more scared sounding than she had intended. He turned to look at her and all of her bravado left as she stumbled on the grass.