by Meg Ripley
She hadn’t even made it inside the building. She whipped her head around to see just how close he was.
Too close.
But as she turned back toward the preserve, an arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tight in a vicious grip.
“I knew you wouldn’t be able to resist. Eventually, you were going to come back,” Damon Cross whispered menacingly against her ear, the brush of his lips against her making violent chills shoot down her spine. It was like he had appeared out of nowhere, but really, she’d once again been so caught up in purpose, she hadn’t been paying attention. And now she was going to pay the ultimate price for her foolishness.
There wasn’t any doubt about what he intended to do, but he was even angrier now than he’d been the last time he had her trapped. He intended to take his time and make her suffer for his impatience.
He dragged her with him, his arm still firmly locked around her. If he’d been human, perhaps she might have been able to wrestle free, but she couldn’t compete with the dragon’s strength, even when he was in human form. Still, she flailed and dug her heels into the ground. She let out a scream that echoed through the preserve, but he clapped his hand over her mouth, nearly smothering her in his attempt to silence her.
They passed into the open stretch where she’d watched in terrified awe as Noah and Damon had battled it out weeks before. Where was he taking her? And then she saw it, and wished she hadn’t. Vicious teeth and razor-sharp claws appeared in her mind, but they didn’t belong to a dragon. She wished for a sword now; it would be a kinder end than what Damon had in mind.
Tigers, black bears, coyote, mountain lions…she knew these animals lived in various preserves throughout the state. Which ones were lurking here? Which ones would he toss her to like a bone to a dog?
A black shadow soared through the sky right in front of them just as she heard Cade calling out from behind. Moonlight glimmered off the iridescent plates on Noah’s body as he came fully into view and landed. Relief flooded her veins and she went slack in Damon’s arms as his head darted back and forth. She felt a sick satisfaction in knowing he hadn’t been expecting either of them, and for the first time it pleased her to feel the wave of fear that rippled through him. She focused on separating the feeling from herself; she wouldn’t allow it to become her own.
“You got this, Noah?” Cade shouted from behind her, and the black dragon nodded in reply.
“It doesn’t have to be this way,” Damon called out, turning his back to Cade as if he was no longer a threat. “She was getting too close to the truth, and now that she knows it—thanks to you, Brother—you know there’s no other way.”
Brother? No, it couldn’t be. She’d had no idea. Unwittingly, she had come between Noah and his brother. And now, the anger that radiated from Noah’s great body told her she’d done more than just come between them; he was now forced to choose between her life and Damon’s. He would have to protect her by killing his brother, or leave her to the end Damon intended for her.
The vice grip around her wrist loosened suddenly, and Damon was no longer holding her. In the next second, a blur of black and forest green surged forward, ready to ram the black giant in front of him.
But Noah was obviously prepared for it; he took one thunderous step to the side and reached out a long, powerful arm. He grabbed Damon by the long, plated neck and lifted him high in the air. Damon flailed, and just as his arrow-tipped tail began to slash at the air around him, Cade wrapped his arms around her and dragged her well out of harm’s way.
“Front row seats are great for the theater, not for a dragon fight,” he said, his tone far too light given the gravity of the scene before them.
The vicious tail whipped futilely, back and forth, but Noah dodged every attempted blow. But one more strike, and the sharp end of Damon’s tail caught him in the chest.
“Noah!” she cried as he lost his grip on Damon and the black and green giant fell to the ground. She couldn’t tell if either one of them was seriously injured. Noah staggered back, but he regained himself quickly.
“Cade, do something. Can’t you help him?” she implored, but Cade still appeared unperturbed.
“Even if Noah needed my help—which he doesn’t—he wouldn’t want me getting involved. Damon…he’s Noah’s brother, Claire. Just trust me…Noah is one hell of a fighter.”
Right then, Noah let out a roar that shook the ground beneath her and then he was moving forward, heading straight for his brother with his claws at the ready.
Damon had gotten to his feet, and Noah swiped at him high on his belly, making contact with the exposed, leathery flesh there. Damon roared and Noah swiped again, not giving him any time to recover. Once more, and it was Damon’s turn to stagger backwards. But then he was charging forward again. As he rammed into the massive, black body, Noah spread his wings to full span, and suddenly they were in the air, soaring so high, she lost sight of them quickly. She could feel him though, the unique color of him still bright in her mind.
Seconds passed; they ticked by so slowly she could have sworn time was approaching a near standstill.
“Cade, where is he?” she asked as calmly as she could.
Before he could respond, a dark blur fell to the ground, at least fifty yards away. Noah? Damon? It landed with a finality that was unmistakable, even from this distance. No haze, no aura surrounded the fallen form, and in her panic, she was having difficulty trusting the aura that still hovered somewhere high above her.
He came into sight and she breathed a choked sigh of relief, and then she was running toward him before he’d even touched down. She flung her arms out as she reached him, encompassing as much of his massive body as she could with her short, human span. He shifted right there against her, his smooth plates giving way to chiseled muscle, and he wrapped his arms around her, pulling her close.
Damon was dead, and Noah was safe.
“Noah, I’m so sorry. I didn’t know…”
“You have nothing to be sorry for. Damon has been…what he was for a long time. He should have met his end sooner. God only knows how many lives he’s taken, Claire, and I couldn’t let you be one more, no matter the blood between us.”
She couldn’t help but wonder just how many lives Damon Cross had taken. So much hate; centuries of killing to keep his secret. Perhaps he would finally find his peace now.
“Claire, I have to take him home. He can’t be found like this.”
She nodded, figuring it was safe for her to take a cab back to Noah’s place now that there were no more dragons hunting her.
“Want to give me a hand?” he asked Cade, nodding in the direction of Damon’s body.
“Sure thing,” Cade replied as he grabbed onto the hem of his shirt and yanked it off over his head. He folded it up neatly and placed it on the ground before unzipping the fly of his pants.
She looked at him strangely, wondering what on Earth he was doing. Was this some sort of dragon ritual thing?
“Um…Cade?” she asked as he started to yank his pants down.
“What?” he replied with an innocent smile that wasn’t the least bit innocent. “Maybe Noah doesn’t mind showing up naked when we’re done here,” he nodded knowingly at her, “But Hope and Lexi are expecting me at dinner in an hour, and I hardly plan on arriving without clothes.”
“Always the pragmatist, aren’t you Cade?” Noah joked back.
He kissed her so thoroughly, her head started to spin and then turned to the task at hand. “I’ll see you back at the hotel soon. I promise,” he told her a split second before he changed, his muscled human body giving way to the obsidian-plated dragon.
A thrill shocked through her body, very much looking forward to his homecoming.
8
She’d taken a cab back to Noah’s hotel suite and paced back and forth across the length of the spacious living room more times than she could count. She was anxious to see him again. It was foolish—of course Noah was alright. The threat was
gone, but still, after so much turmoil and terror, she just wanted to see him home safe.
He returned a little more than an hour later, and she hurried to meet him at the door to the suite, but he wasn’t alone. Nevertheless, he wrapped her in his arms and his lips descended on hers in a painstakingly tender kiss. The moment it began to grow fiery, he pulled away with a rueful smile.
“Claire, you’ve met Cade already. This is his partner, Hope and their little girl, Ruby. And this,” he said motioning to the young woman standing next to Hope, “this is Lexi. I think the two of you will have a lot to talk about.”
She smiled politely and nodded to each woman in greeting, but her mind was too caught up in what she saw to do much else. Hope and Lexi weren’t the same, that she could tell for certain, but they weren’t human either. The aura surrounding Hope was light and airy, not quite the color of an opal, but pearlescent in the same way. She immediately liked the woman.
And then there was Lexi. She was perhaps fifteen or sixteen, with honey blonde hair and blue eyes that were…well, they were identical to her own. She’d never seen her own aura, but knew without any proof of it that this young woman was a kindred spirit. She was the same. All these years she’d felt utterly alone, and standing right in front of her was a woman just like her.
Lexi reached out her hand and clasped Claire’s in a grip that she quickly realized wasn’t meant only as an introductory handshake. But there was no confusion in her head; no need to recoil from an onslaught of emotion that didn’t belong to her. It was a conversation of thoughts, though it was somewhat slow and stiff on Lexi’s part as if she was only beginning to learn the unspoken language.
“Lexi’s only recently begun to develop her gift, but the Venefica Eis can communicate with one another even from a much younger age,” she heard Cade explain, though her attention was mostly focused on what Lexi was telling her.
Lexi had been born to a Venefica Eis but was given over to a human woman just days later after a hunter got too close. It was the only thing her real mother could do to protect her daughter. Years later, the human woman married a man who wasn’t what he said he was. He was human, yes, but he wasn’t just the lawyer he appeared to be. He was a hunter, too, and whether it was deliberate or happenstance, he wound up with his prey for a stepdaughter. The man wasn’t certain at first, but he treated Lexi with vicious contempt, nonetheless. When it became evident that Lexi never got sick and no matter the injury, she always healed quickly, he began to do more than suspect. He had come to her room one night, knife in hand and his intention plain on his face, and Lexi had fled. Finding Hope had been a godsend, and she’d been safe and happy ever since.
Claire shared her own story with the girl, but the moment she’d finished, Lexi pulled away, looking up at Noah expectantly.
“I figured this is what you were looking for tonight,” he said and held out the fragment of the Creag Bruadar that had been in Damon’s office.
Her fingers shook. For so long, she’d searched for it, hoping it would undo the curse. But it wasn’t a curse; she saw that now. What if she touched it and it took back everything she was?
“The Creag Bruadar holds the potential of every living being. When you touched it, it simply opened your eyes to what was already there, Claire. It can’t take that away,” Noah assured her gently.
She nodded, staring at the luminous glow that surrounded the rock. He was right.
With trembling fingers, she reached out and took the fragment from him. Right away, she could see it, just like she could a human being. It also spoke to her, just like Lexi had. But it had so much more to say.
In that one moment, she knew every secret it contained—secrets that humans had been searching for throughout time. But like a living being, it gave her something else, too—a warning: these secrets were meant to be kept, and they were hers to guard, not to reveal.
So, she placed the small, living fragment on the table near the door, giving it her word she would heed its warning. And then she wrapped her arms around Noah and gave herself over to the new life before her. She was good at keeping secrets, but there was one, she realized as he held her close and she felt the connection between them, that she didn’t have to keep.
“I love you, Noah,” she whispered against his chest.
“I love you, too, Claire. And I will for a very, very long time.”
It struck her then just how true that was. A dragon and a Venefica Eis—they would be together for centuries.
Or longer, if she believed everything the Creag Bruadar had told her.
And she did.
THE END
Part III
Ranger Trent
Werebears Of Acadia
Ranger Trent
There were three brutal murders at Acadia, so as the Law Enforcement Ranger of the park, I should be on the case. Because a crazed bear shifter is at fault, the possible exposure of our clan—and shifters everywhere—is on the line if this news goes public, but thanks to government politics, the head of the park was forced to call in an FBI agent to investigate the deaths.
Bianca Gianni is her name, and this fiesty little thing is all business—more importantly, all human. If she could get off her high horse and stop barking orders for a moment, maybe I could grow to like her, even if she is stepping on my toes. Hell, with curves like hers, we could have a lot of fun.
Getting on her good side isn't going to be easy, but that’s exactly what I need to do to make sure our kind isn't thrown into the limelight.
Will I be able to keep her from the truth, or will this firecracker figure it out on her own, leaving on the next helicopter to expose us to the feds?
With a little luck, maybe I can have my cake and eat it, too.
1
Trent
This does NOT look good…
I was standing over a body. Not just any body either. The body of Danielle Peterson of Danielle’s Destinations, a well watched show on Maine’s Travel Channel.
Only this time, it didn’t look like she would be ‘signing off from this destination.’
I ran my hand through my shortly cropped black hair and reached out to Sophia with my mind, urging her to come quickly. I looked around for any sign that anyone had been present at the scene before my arrival, trying to find any clues that could tell me what had happened.
Danielle’s small, plump body was contorted in ways limbs should never bend. Her chocolate-brown eyes were wide, yet empty and her black curls were matted into a knot with leaves and branches caught in them. She was sprawled out on the ocean shoreline of Acadia’s most well-known beach, Hunters Beach, located in the south-eastern region of the park; it was usually far outside of my normal hiking area, but I had wanted to look at the ocean that day.
And instead, I had found a body.
If I didn’t know any better, I would have thought that maybe she had slipped on one of the rocks, hit her head and was just unconscious. Rocky beaches were always difficult to navigate—and extremely slippery. The rocks were glistening, which told me that the Atlantic had risen enough that day to coat the stones with a beautiful shine that reflected against the sunlight. So, it could have been possible. And I would have thought that were the case, had there not been blood everywhere.
There were lacerations and puncture wounds all over Danielle’s body. She didn’t slip and hit her head: it was an attack, and judging by the damage, my mind went to only one explanation.
“What seems to be the pro—Oh no! I know who that is: it’s Danielle, from Danielle’s Destinations! What the hell happened?” Sophia Ross, our emergency manager, rushed up to the body laying before me, checking for any signs of life. She was carrying a basic medical kit, which definitely would not be enough to aid the fallen celebrity.
“Has she moved at all?” Sophia asked while checking Danielle’s pulse at both her neck and her wrists, her brunette ponytail bobbing as she worked over the body quickly. Her hazel eyes looked up at me waiting for an answer.
“No signs of movement. When I found her, she was just lying there,” I said, snapping out of my daze and crouching down next to her while trying to stay out of her way. She pulled out a stethoscope and listened for a heartbeat.
She didn’t seem to find one.
Sophia started doing chest compressions and breathing into Danielle’s mouth, but quickly jumped back. As her breath had entered Danielle’s lungs, blood splattered out from her wounds.
“These lacerations went deep and punctured her lungs. She’s gone,” she admitted, looking down at the body sadly. She started scanning around just like I did, trying to find the person who could have done this.
“What do you think happened?”
“Well, someone attacked her, obviously. Judging by the contorted limbs, she put up a pretty good fight. These lacerations, though...I would say it was probably—”
“A bear…Right?” I made direct eye contact with her, knowing the answer before she even agreed.
“Yeah. A bear, for sure,” Sophia nodded.
“Dammit!” I stood and threw my fist into the nearest rock, causing it to crumble at my feet. I stared down at the ground, wondering how this could have happened.
“Now you know Cassidy isn’t going to be happy about that.” Sophia shook her head, putting away her stethoscope.
Cassidy was our park planner, and she had each rock meticulously placed on the beach. My gaze rose to Sophia, who was looking down at Danielle. “So, do you think it was one of us?”
Sophia’s eyes met mine and they were filled with worry. I could tell we were sharing the same thoughts.
Could a bear shifter have done this?
Was he or she one of our own?
Why would anyone have done something like this?