THRAX

by Bonnie Burrows

The other books in the Dragons Of The Universe series are:

  Book 1 – THRAX

  Book 2 – RAWN

  Book 3 – CORAM

  Go check them out and collect the whole series!

  Otherwise, add your email to the simply shifters mailing list to be the first to know when it is released!

  Bonnie x x

  P.S Turn the page to discover a free complete novel that I threw in extra for you as a way of saying thanks. (It is a previous bestseller!)

  SHARED

  BY THE DRAGONS

  A BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance

  BONNIE BURROWS

  Copyright ©2015 by Bonnie Burrows

  All rights reserved.

  About This Book

  “Can two dragons really share one woman?”

  Daisy Alexander is a curvy woman with a lot of courage who can usually take care of herself. However, when she stumbles into the middle of a shifter turf war she finds she is about to be caught in the cross-hairs.

  That is until she meets the impossibly handsome dragon shifter, Nick. Handsome and with a body to die for, Daisy feels like she is in love at first sight. From the looks of it, it seems Nick might feel the same way.

  Only thing is, Nick's stubborn brother Damien wants a piece of Daisy too.

  Will Daisy be able to choose? Or will she have to be SHARED by the dragons?

  CHAPTER 1

  I knew I couldn't say no. Even if it meant I might die. I couldn't let a six-year-old boy lose his own life for lack of a simple herb. Not on my watch.

  And so, sitting on one of the wooden benches in the packed meeting hall, I raised my hand. "I'll do it. I'll go beyond the city walls and try to get the herb for little Matthew."

  After the mayor had given a brief speech about Matthew’s plight, people were talking among themselves and the vice-mayor was preparing to make a few additional comments. But now, all conversation suddenly hushed. And all the hundred or so people present slowly turned to look at me sitting there in the back row.

  An elderly woman named Mrs. Baker, who used to babysit me, frowned at me from where she sat, two rows up. "Have you lost your mind, Daisy? You can't do this. You can't leave Stone River. Haven't you heard the tales? Haven't you heard about what's out there?"

  I certainly had. Every man, woman, and child in Stone River, our town, which had a population of about four thousand, had heard the tales. Practically from birth. Repeatedly. Over and over and over. And that's why, in the previous hundred years, only a few people from our town had dared venture outside the high stone walls surrounding it. And none of those few people had ever returned.

  Beyond the high stone walls, wolf shifters, human men who could transform into wolves, stalked the wilds of Northern Michigan. And dragon shifters breathed jets of fire in the skies. These creatures had come into existence about a hundred years earlier, when the world, as humans knew it at the time, had changed.

  Everyone in town had an idea of what the world had been like before, because of the dusty old books, pictures, and other artifacts in our town museum, which I kept up and ran. But the before had changed suddenly at the time of The Catastrophe, which is what everyone called whatever event had happened a century earlier. Every so often, some optimistic soul would refer to it as The New Beginning, though that never really caught on.

  Some of the old-timers in Stone River had their theories about what had happened. Some of them had heard tales from their parents and grandparents, who had actually lived through the changing of the world.

  Those elderly folks insisted something called a nuclear war was what had happened. Others insisted that a supernatural event had been to blame. One older woman, after reading a stack of dusty old books about what had been called pop music, was convinced that The Catastrophe had been the doing of a beautiful but secretive, dark-hearted lord named Justin Bieber.

  But at any rate, nobody knew for sure. Everyone just knew that a hundred years earlier, the sky went black for several days and wolf and dragon shifters had appeared. To protect everyone, the citizens of Stone River, which had been called Stone River even then, had built a high, several-miles-long stone wall around the town and some of its nearby forestland and farmland.

  Since then, people had done the best they could to survive, and the population of Stone River had even doubled.

  People farmed and raised cattle and poultry for food. They still got married and had babies. Cotton was grown to make clothing. We maintained and repaired the old, crumbling town buildings, schools, and homes as best we could with very limited resources. Engineers maintained ancient, rebuilt generators that supplied our homes with electricity, though it wasn't very reliable. These same engineers maintained a system of pumps and mills that provided running water. In addition to the museum and a tiny adjacent library full of old books, our town even had a general store, three small restaurants, and a couple of clothing boutiques. People still used American coins for currency, even though nobody knew if America, as it used to be, even existed beyond the walls of Stone River anymore.

  But for all these survival skills and self-sufficiency, one thing our community constantly struggled with was maintaining a supply of herbs for our doctors and nurses to use as medicine. And currently, we needed a very rare, difficult-to-grow herb that had been used for decades to save children from dying of a particular kind of fever. But it could no longer be found within the walls of Stone River, and some said it hadn't been seen since a particularly long and cold winter several years earlier.

  However, I'd done some research in the library and had learned from an old book about local flora and fauna that this rare herb grew in relative abundance in a valley several miles east of Stone River. Or, at least, it had over a hundred years earlier, when the book had been written. But there was a chance that it still did, and according to local herbalists, there was actually a pretty good chance. They thought that because of the stony hills on either side, the valley, and the plants within, might have been better protected than other places during a particularly long, cold winter several years earlier. And as long as there was any chance at all, I knew someone had to try to help the little boy in our community who was gravely ill.

  When I'd told the mayor that the herb might still exist in the nearby valley, he'd called a town hall meeting to see if anyone would be willing to make an attempt to get the herb. But despite the fact that we'd placed additional chairs and benches against the walls of the town hall, expecting an overflow crowd, only about a hundred or so people out of our town's population of four thousand had shown up. And after the mayor's speech appealing for help, no one had raised their hand. And that's why I did.

  In response to Mrs. Baker's question asking me if I hadn't heard the tales of the wolf and dragon shifters beyond the town walls, I moved my head in a slight nod, looking her right in the eyes. "Yes. Of course I have, Mrs. Baker. But I'm not afraid."

  That was not exactly true. But I was hoping that if I said it out loud, it might help make it so.

  Mrs. Baker had been looking at me over her shoulder, but now she turned on her bench to face me more fully, frowning even harder. "Well, you should be afraid. Those wolf and dragon shifters outside the walls will kill you for sure." She gave her head a little shake. "What a waste of a life, and such a young one, too. You're only...what now? Nineteen?"

  I was actually twenty-three. And I said this, quietly, though no one heard me. Many of the hundred or so people on the wooden benches in front of me had chimed in with Mrs. Baker, echoing her sentiments, murmuring about my decision being a waste of a life and asking me why I wanted to die.

  But presently, Mayor Erickson grabbed an antique microphone from his podium and spoke loudly into it, cutting everyone off. The microphone didn't even work, but he just liked holding it and speaking into it during town hall events.

  "Quiet, everyone. Quiet. Please." Once everyone had hushed, he cleared his throat and looked directly at me. "Miss Alexander, I appreciate your offer. And like
you, I believe there's a chance, albeit a very slim one, that an individual may be able to accomplish getting the herb to save Matthew. However...I called this meeting thinking that a...." He paused and cleared his throat again. "That a man might volunteer. Just because the task may be physically arduous, and if the individual who volunteers is attacked by shifters...not that a woman can't be strong and brave as well, of course, but...."

  With his round face reddening, Mayor Erickson trailed off and didn't seem like he was going to continue.

  Mrs. Baker turned from him back to me, knitting her dark gray brows together. "He's right. If anyone is to take on this journey to get the herb, it certainly shouldn't be a young woman. This is a job for a man."

  Everyone else in the hall, who'd also turned back around to look at me again, murmured in agreement.

  A little flustered, irritated, and self-conscious all at once, though trying not to show it, I sat up a little straighter. "Well, no men have volunteered, have they? So, if one thinks he's brave enough and strong enough, and able to get the job done better than a woman, now would be the time."

  Several men in the rows ahead of me slowly turned back to face the front. Several others swallowed and shifted their gazes from my face to a point just above my head. No one responded to me right away.

  Eventually, Mayor Erickson raised his non-functioning microphone again and spoke into it. "Well, I myself would volunteer to get the herb, of course, but with a wife and three young children at home that I can't risk leaving without a father...."

  Several men in the audience suddenly piped up with similar comments. One woman said that even though she had two strong, single sons in their early twenties, she wasn't going to let them throw their lives away on a "suicide mission."

  I nodded. "I understand all of your concerns. But as most of you know, I don't have a family to worry about. I'm not married and I don't have children. And I also don't have parents to stop me from doing this."

  My father had died shortly after I was born, and my mother, who'd been my last surviving family member, had passed away the previous year.

  Mrs. Baker frowned. "Well, sadly, that is true. Which is why I feel I should forbid you in their stead. Because no teenager-"

  "I'm twenty-three. I'm completely an adult. And more than capable of making my own decisions. And so, while I really do appreciate your concern, Mrs. Baker, I'm doing this. It just makes sense. Matthew has only had six years of life, and I've had twenty-three. If he loses his life to the fever, his parents will be devastated beyond belief, I'm sure. Whereas if I don't make it...well, I'm sure you can all select someone else to run the museum."

  A long moment or two went by, and nobody spoke. Mrs. Baker turned her gaze downward, still frowning.

  Mayor Erickson raised his microphone to his mouth again. "All right, then. You are indeed an adult, Miss Alexander, so I won't attempt to change your mind. If you'd like, I'll even escort you to the gate on the west side of the city wall myself. Which...I suppose I'll really have to do, so that I can immediately lock it back up when you leave."

  No one was exactly sure why a gate had been put in the wall, since no one was ever supposed to leave. We all figured that the folks who'd built the wall a hundred years earlier had maybe just hoped that there would come a time when the world would return to normal and be free of shifters again, and they could leave. Though judging by how many people had spotted dragons flying high above the town in the previous few years, that time wasn't going to be any time soon. We weren't sure why the dragons never swooped down and attacked the town; we were just glad they didn't. Some suspected some sort of magical force field, though that was just a wild guess. No one really knew for sure.

  I nodded at Mayor Erickson. "Thank you. I'd be glad if you'd accompany me to the gate. And, also...I'll be packing some supplies and my longbow, but I'd really appreciate it if I could take one of the town's guns and a few bullets, too. And if you could quickly teach me how to shoot."

  I was good with a longbow, my skill developed while participating in the town's annual deer hunt for food. But I knew nothing about guns. The town had several old guns from before The Catastrophe, though despite the fact that they'd been cleaned regularly over the years, they didn't work as they should, and they often misfired, if they even fired at all. But I figured an old gun that often misfired would be better than not having one at all.

  But Mayor Erickson gave his shirt collar a little tug, reddening. "Well...we're down to one functioning gun and just three bullets left. And I've promised the town council that those three bullets will be saved in case there's ever a shifter attack."

  Mrs. Baker turned and looked at me again. "Doesn't even matter. Remember what some of the townsfolk wrote in the books right after The Catastrophe? They wrote that man-made weapons can't even kill the shifters anyway; being hit by a bullet or an arrow from a man-made weapon will only stun them. Meaning, knock them unconscious for a minute or two. The townsfolk wrote that the shifters can only be killed by another shifter stabbing or biting them in the eye, and then stabbing or biting them in the heart.

  Remember that? So, you won't even be able to kill a shifter with your longbow if you need to defend yourself. Which makes this all the more ridiculous that you're insisting upon doing this...that you're insisting upon leaving the city walls in search of a herb that perhaps no longer even exists."

  I realized I'd been gritting my teeth, and I unclenched them. "Well, at least I'll be able to stun a shifter with one of my arrows if I need to, which might give me time to get away. And ridiculous or not, I'm not just going to sit on my hands while a little boy is dying; I can't. I have to try to help save him. And I'm going to. Whether I make it or not. Whether I live or...or not."

  Suddenly more than a little claustrophobic and self-conscious among all the packed benches in the hall, and with the gazes of a hundred or so people on me, I stood, looking at the mayor. "Mayor Erickson, if you'd still like to escort me to the gate, please meet me at my house well before dawn tomorrow. I'm thinking around four. I'd like some cover of darkness while I make my way to the valley."

  And with that, without even waiting for a response, I stepped by several people sitting on the bench that I'd been sitting on and left the meeting hall.

  But I didn't even get maybe ten feet beyond the tall, wooden double doors before someone called for me to wait. I turned, sighing, expecting to see Mrs. Baker. But it wasn't her. Instead, another elderly woman I recognized, but didn't really know, was hobbling her way over to me. When she reached me, she introduced herself as Matthew's great-grandmother and asked if she could just give me a hug. I nodded, tears suddenly welling in my eyes.

  She wrapped her arms around me and spoke near my ear. "Thank you. I'm so grateful. And I know Matthew's parents will be as well."

  I hugged her in return, patting her back. "I'm going to try my hardest not to let them down."

  Soon I took off down the narrow dirt lane that led to the little house I shared with a roommate. Even while the skies darkened as the evening deepened, I strode briskly and with purpose, knowing that I was doing the right thing.

  However, a few hours later, I realized something. And it made me certain that I'd actually never be able to take a single step outside the town walls.

  *

  Shortly after I returned home to the little house my roommate and I shared, groups of visitors began knocking. Some of them had been friends of my parents, and some of them were friends of my own. But sadly, my best friend wasn't among the visitors, and she'd never be visiting me again. Right after my mom had passed away, she'd also died after eating a wild mushroom that had turned out to be poisonous.

  Most of the visitors who came tried to talk me out of my decision. Before leaving, Mrs. Baker gave me a hug, wishing me luck but then saying that I was going to be deeply missed. As if I were going to be gone far longer than the day or two it would take me to get the herb and bring it back. As if it was a sure thing that I wasn't going to return.
As if it was a sure thing I was going to be killed by shifters.

  When all the visitors finally stopped knocking on the door around ten, I packed a large backpack with jars of food, glass bottles of water, some clothes, and other supplies. Once my packing was completed and I couldn't think of anything else I'd need besides my longbow and some arrows, I went to bed.

  And it was then, while I tossed and turned in my darkened bedroom, that I had a realization. It was possible, maybe even likely, that I was never going to see the sun again.

  I knew it depended on when and if the shifters attacked me. I knew it depended on whether or not I'd be able to defend myself. But I also knew that because I'd be leaving well before dawn, if they attacked me right away, and I wasn't able to defend myself, I'd never be seeing the sun again. I'd never again feel its warm rays on my face. I thought about how I may have seen it for the last time earlier that day and hadn't even known it. And this thought made me a little misty. I wanted to help save a little boy's life, and I felt that I had to. But I didn't want to die.

  And while I sniffled, looking up at the moonlit ceiling, I became seized by fear. I thought about dragon shifters and their massive claws. I thought about wolf shifters and their sharp teeth. And I suddenly wasn't so sure I was going to be able to take a single step outside the city walls. I was going to have to have Mayor Erickson push me, literally push me, out.