The Dragon's Woman (Elemental Dragons Book 3)

by Emilia Hartley

  The human killed Dan.

  The pain in her body was immediate. Roaring loudly, Savannah rose on her hind legs and let go of the immediate rage that filled her. The sound echoed through the woods, her agony over the death of one of their pack echoing through the trees.

  Lucas stood up on his back legs too, but for a very different reason. He was shifting – a sign that they all should do the same. Roars turned into grunts of pain, as bones snapped and muscles shrank.

  Savannah pulled a blanket from the stash they kept by the side of their cabin. They always kept some there, but she couldn’t remember the last time she’d needed to use one. It wasn’t often Lucas allowed them to shift into their human skin, and Savannah still felt more bear than human if she was honest. Her body was sore as she flexed her fingers, trying to get used to the human sensations again.

  “Fix yourselves up,” Lucas barked, walking towards the fire pit they’d built nearby. It hadn’t been used in weeks but, right now, Savannah was thankful for it. She needed to get warm. Her feeble human skin was already shivering, even with the thick blanket held tightly around her. The rest of the pack went in different directions, needing to clean their wounds. They were badly beaten.

  Lucas stayed naked, ignoring the blanket she held out to him. Being pack leader made him extremely dominant, even in his human form. While Savannah sat beside the fire, shivering from the cold, Lucas stormed around the fire, muttering to himself.

  “We wanted Tom and Nick for our pack,” he growled, his eyes glowing in the moonlight. “But not anymore. Not after this.”

  Savannah didn’t say anything, knowing that her input wasn’t needed. Lucas had blood on his mind and whatever he decided, that’s what would happen.

  Suddenly, Lucas stopped pacing, pinning her with a fierce look. It was as though he’d seen her for the first time, but the look in his eyes had her shaking inside.

  “You,” he hissed, bending down to look her full in the face. The gleam in his eyes was terrifying, but Savannah couldn’t look away. Out of nowhere, his hand snaked out and grabbed the blanket she held around her shoulders, giving it a quick tug as though he wanted her to drop it.

  Trying not to gasp, Savannah kept her eyes on her pack leader but didn’t let her blanket fall. She didn’t want to show even a hint of fear or shock, knowing that would make him even angrier, but she didn’t know what it was he was asking of her. Savannah shivered all over as Lucas narrowed his eyes, tilting his head as his eyes brushed over her features.

  “You’ll do nicely,” he murmured, his hand releasing her blanket and making Savannah sigh with relief.

  Shivering slightly, Savannah kept silent. There were times when Lucas scared her. She’d joined the pack to try and find shifters like her, having spent most of her adult life alone. Living out in the countryside had meant that, while there was plenty of space for her bear, she didn’t know anyone like her. It had taken a lot of tracking – and a lot of convincing – for Lucas to allow her to join the Northern Wind pack. She didn’t want to risk being forced out of the pack for any reason, and certainly wouldn’t be disagreeing with anything that Lucas said.

  “You’re perfect,” he breathed, standing up tall.

  “What for?” Savannah asked, her heart thumping painfully in her chest.

  “The one to go there.”

  “Go where?” Savannah was completely confused, not sure what it was Lucas was asking of her.

  “Yes,” Lucas whispered, his eyes back on the fire and away from Savannah. “We’ll be right under their noses and they won’t even see us. Not until it’s too late.”

  Savannah swallowed hard. It sounded ominous, but clearly, Lucas' mind was already made up. She hadn't been with the pack long enough to have a say – her job was just to follow orders. And right now, that meant doing whatever Lucas said.

  Lucas grinned, his eyes glowing for an entirely different reason. “I’ve got an old house in the middle of town. You’ll go there. Make friends with them.”

  Her shock made her gasp in astonishment. What did he mean, make friends?

  Despite her attempts to cover her shock, Lucas caught her gasp of surprise, turning to her with one raised eyebrow. “You aren’t going to tell me you can’t do this, are you? Because I’d be very disappointed.” The growl in his voice made her shiver with fear, and she lowered her head and looked away.

  “No, no,” Savannah replied, quietly. “I’ll do whatever you say, Lucas.” If she was honest, she’d admit that she was terrified at the idea of deliberately going to find the pack who had killed Dan. She didn’t even know how she was meant to make friends with them. They were murderers, weren’t they?

  “Go to town, stay in my house and get to know them. Make them trust you,” Lucas replied, his voice warning her that he didn’t want even a single word more of protest.

  “How do I do that?”

  He shrugged, his grin turning into a leer as his eyes raked over her blanket. “Any way you can.”

  Thinking that perhaps her stomach was going to turn inside out, Savannah dared a glance up at Lucas, who was still staring at her.

  “What if they —”

  “Don’t question me!” Lucas snarled, making Savannah cower back. “Just do whatever you have to, to get them to trust you. Now get out there.”

  Shuddering, Savannah wanted to refuse, but her throat closed up. If she refused, there would be consequences and, most likely, she’d be thrown out of the pack – if not worse. “I have to go…now?”

  Lucas smirked. “Why not? The sooner, the better.” Wandering over to a large wooden chest, he opened it and began to root around inside.

  Swallowing hard, Savannah got to her feet, knowing she had some clothes in the cabin. They were still in her suitcase since Lucas refused to let them wear anything except blankets when they were in their human skin. At least she'd have something to wear.

  Lucas walked closer to her, dangling a key from a chain that he held in his hand. It glinted silver in the moonlight. Lucas threw the chain over her neck, and the cool metal of the key rested between her breasts. Lucas’ breath brushed her cheek, sending waves of dread through Savannah’s form. She could barely breathe. Savannah felt her skin crawl with fear, wanting to look away from his naked body but knowing she couldn’t.

  Leaning down, his face inches from hers, Lucas stared into her eyes. “If you don’t manage this, Savannah, then don’t come back,” he whispered, his breath hot in her face.

  Savannah nodded, jerkily. It wasn’t as though she had a choice, was it? It was doing things the way Lucas wanted, or get out. She would have to do exactly as he asked, without knowing why. It was how things were done in this pack.

  “I can do it,” she replied, hoarsely, aware that he was waiting for an answer.

  “Good,” Lucas murmured, one long finger reaching out to tip up her chin. “I’m glad you’re loyal, Savannah.”

  Nodding, Savannah wondered if, in the end, Lucas was going to kill the bears responsible for Dan’s death. All of her human instincts told her that killing in retaliation was wrong, but the bear in her roared for revenge. Perhaps this was why Lucas insisted they spend most of their time in their bear skins, just so that things wouldn’t be so confusing. It was so much easier to kill when the bear was let loose.

  “I’ll go get ready,” she murmured, watching as Lucas swaggered back over towards his seat on the other side of the fire. This was going to be her test, her way of proving that she belonged with the Northern Wind pack.

  CHAPTER 1

  Nick grinned down at Jo, knowing how anxious she was. He could feel the slight shiver of tension run through her body as she wrapped an arm around his waist.

  “It’s going to be fine,” he murmured, pressing a quick kiss to her temple. Hearing her sharp intake of breath had him wishing he could take her back to the cabin and kiss her senseless, but they were here to speak to Tom.

  Right on cue, Tom walked into the office – stopping dead when he saw the tw
o of them waiting for him. “Right, what’s going on?”

  “N-nothing,” Jo stammered, stepping away from Nick. “Why?”

  Tom raised one eyebrow. “I can hear your heart hammering, Jo. Something’s wrong.” He didn’t need to be a shifter to sense the tension in the room.

  “Oh,” she replied, glancing desperately at Nick. “It’s just about the cabin.”

  His frown was immediate. “What about it?”

  Jo, catching his expression, lifted her hands in defense. "Now, don't start getting angry with me, Tom, but I – uh – moved some stuff in."

  “I’m not angry,” he replied, catching his brother’s grin. “Why would I be? I was wondering when you’d be moving in.” It had been two weeks since Jo had decided to quit her job in the city and move to be with Nick. Now that she had her stuff here, it felt more permanent. It was different, sure, but Tom was glad that his brother was happy.

  Nick let out a bark of laughter, tugging Jo into his chest. “What Jo’s trying to ask you is if she and I could move into the cabin.”

  “Is that all?” Tom replied, shrugging his shoulders. “Go right ahead, Jo. Although I hope Nick gets some better security against the Northern Wind pack.”

  Nick’s chest rumbled with a growl of warning.

  "Stop that," Jo chided, swatting his solid chest. "Yes, he has. Thank you for asking, Tom."

  “So why were you so worried?”

  “Well, where are you going to live?”

  Tom gestured around the office. “Here.”

  “You can’t live in this old place!” Jo exclaimed, immediately. “Especially when there’s a banged up shifter locked in the back room.”

  “Speaking of which, how is he today?”

  “Fine,” Tom replied, with a wave of his hand. “His leg’s going to take a good few weeks to heal properly but he should be fine.” Dan hadn’t exactly been pleased that he was stuck in their back room, but it wasn’t as though he’d had a choice. Tom hated the sight of him at first, but now he was beginning to feel a little bit sympathetic for the guy. Being taken away from your pack wasn’t exactly a comfortable situation. “He’s making it very clear that he still hates us, by the way.”

  The corner of Jo’s mouth tipped up. “Well, that’s not surprising, since I ran him over,” she quipped.

  Nick laughed. “True.” Smiling at Jo for a moment in reassurance, he turned back to his brother. “Are you sure you’re going to be all right here?”

  “Yeah.”

  Nick shrugged, knowing that Tom wasn’t going to give him any more of an answer than that. His brother had never been the kind of man to express himself. For a moment, Nick wondered if Tom would ever find a mate, the same way that he had with Jo. It would mean that Tom would have to actually open up to his emotions, and Nick wasn’t sure that would ever really happen. “Great. Well, we can get back to work then. Jo needs a bit of training on what to do, though.”

  Jo grimaced. “I’ve had a quick look over things and we might need an accountant. Numbers aren’t my thing.”

  Tom rolled his eyes. “Seriously?” He didn’t particularly want a stranger working in their shop. It meant that they’d have to keep their shifting abilities secret again, and he quite liked the freedom he had to change whenever he wanted.

  “Yeah, sorry,” Jo sighed. “Even just to get the books up to date. You’re due on your tax returns soon too.”

  “Fine,” Tom muttered, running a hand through his hair. “As long as I don’t have to put out the advert.”

  Jo smiled, glad there wasn’t any animosity between them. “Right. I’ll do it.”

  “I’d best go check on our patient,” Tom grumbled, walking to the locked door. “Do you think we should let the pack know he’s alive, Nick?”

  His brother frowned immediately. "No, I don't. That would just be a fight waiting to happen." The Northern Wind pack was already going to be sore from their defeat and he didn't want to go anywhere near them right now. That could potentially be a death sentence for them.

  “But if they think Dan’s dead, isn’t that worse for us?”

  Nick shrugged. “Maybe, but right now I’m not willing to risk anything. Hopefully, by the time Dan’s healed up, the Northern Wind pack will have come to their senses. They need to leave us alone.”

  Jo glanced from one brother to another. “Do you think Dan will want to go back?”

  “Of course he will,” Tom answered, remembering that Jo had no idea what it was like to be a shifter. “That pack is his family.” He couldn’t quite explain the deep bond that was between him and his brother, but it was one that was stronger than anything else. No matter their difference, they couldn’t ever really stay apart from each other. Their bears wouldn’t let them.

  Jo looked at him thoughtfully. “So we’re a pack then.”

  "Yeah, I guess. We're a pack now, in a very weird way - but that's the reason Dan won't stay." Tom glanced at Nick but saw his tiny warning head shake. It wasn't worth explaining to Jo that having her as part of their pack made things worse for them. The Northern Wind pack would hate Jo because she wasn't a shifter.

  “I guess Dan won’t want to be associated with the human that very nearly killed him,” Jo murmured, wryly.

  Nick planted a kiss on her cheek, with one hand around her waist. “You only did that to save me, Jo. Don’t feel bad about it.”

  “Anyway,” Tom interrupted, not appreciating watching their affection at all. “The sooner Dan is better, the sooner he’ll be out of here and we can hopefully get on with our lives.” Walking away, Tom tried not to feel the sharp kick of jealousy. Nick and Jo had something special and there was no doubt about the fact that Jo was Nick’s mate, no matter how strange it was for that to happen. Would he ever find the same thing Nick had? Did he want to?

  He walked into the room hospitalizing Dan, shutting the door firmly behind him. He could hear Jo and Nick's murmurs as they talked but focused instead on the man in front of him. A quick sniff told him that Dan hadn't eaten so far, but Tom just rolled his eyes. It didn't make any difference to him whether the man ate or not. If he wanted to die of starvation, let him.

  “Afternoon,” he growled, his muscles tensing at the sheer hostility blazing from Dan’s eyes. There was silence, although Tom could hear the slight rumble in Dan’s chest.

  "You know we're helping you, right?" he continued, pulling out the next dose of painkillers. "Don't think that we don't want you out of here as much as you want to go. For whatever reason, Jo insisted we look after you so that's what we're doing. You can kill us later." A slight trace of humor in his voice, Tom handed Dan a glass of water and his painkillers, waiting until he'd taken them. Dan certainly looked better, although they'd had to set his leg. It wasn’t broken, thankfully, but Nick was suspicious there was a fracture. At one point they'd considered taking him to the hospital but Dan had been too weak to move. Then, of course, there would have been the questions over what had happened, and they couldn't trust that Dan would keep the truth to himself. Yes, Jo had run straight into him with a car, but that was while he was in bear form, which they couldn't exactly explain to the authorities. In the end, they'd kept him at the mechanics, although Dan wasn't exactly grateful.

  “Not hungry?” Tom asked, casually. “Thought I’d do a bit of blue steak later. Let me know if you want some.” He grinned as Dan’s eyes flared. The man still couldn’t shift, since he was so weak, but Tom knew his bear would be getting frustrated by now. A steak would keep him satisfied for a little while. “You’re going to have to tell me if you want some,” he continued, waiting for Dan’s response.

  Dan gritted his teeth, hating the situation he was in. His bear was roaring at the thought of raw steak, and even though he tried to hush it, it wouldn’t stop. It wanted out, wanted to run free but Dan was too weak to change. “Yes, I want some,” he bit out, his voice low.

  “Thought you might,” Tom replied, walking to the door. “I’ll bring you some later.” Slamming the
door behind him, Tom made sure to lock it. Dan was getting a little stronger every day and it wouldn’t be too long until he could leave. Tom couldn’t wait to get rid of him.

  CHAPTER 2

  Savannah was finding it difficult to get used to being in her human skin again. It meant things like sleeping in a real bed and cooking for herself, which she hadn’t done for a long time. Lucas’ place was absolutely filthy, but Savannah wasn’t planning on complaining. Lucas wouldn’t have liked that. Instead, she’d spent the first couple of days cleaning. The old windows creaked when she opened them but the fresh air that had come into the house made a big difference.

  Her muscles complained and she had to remember to do things like comb her hair and brush her teeth, but there was a sense of relief in being back as herself. Sometimes, with Lucas, she’d wanted to change back so badly, but he’d always forbidden it. There were never any disagreements or any questions – people just did what Lucas said.

  The main problem now was that Savannah had no idea how to make friends with these bears. They lived a little out of town and mostly kept to themselves, according to a couple of people she’d talked to. They were honest and hardworking, so they had a good reputation, but that was all she could find out.

  Sighing, Savannah shrugged on her coat and decided to take a walk. Maybe she should just walk up to the mechanics and introduce herself, tell them that she was new in town and was just getting to know the place. It was the only idea she had, and Lucas would be watching her, she was sure of it. Sometimes, when she’d gone to the store to pick up groceries, she would catch the slightest whiff of his scent and feel his eyes on her back. She could never spot him but she knew he was there.

  Her breath came a little faster as she took the path towards the local grocery store, which, she knew, would lead her to the mechanics. She was going to have to do something or risk Lucas' rage. Walking up to the store, she paused for a moment, her eye catching something in the window.

  "Financial assistant wanted," she read aloud. "Apply to Jo at Brewer Mechanics." Her heart began to hammer in her chest as she realized that this, handwritten advert, was for the mechanics where Nick and Tom worked. Was this her chance? Or would someone else have already applied for – and gotten, the job.