by Celeste Raye
The gray shifter ran his hand through his thick sideburns and gave me a humorously horrified look before turning back to the crowd. "Happy thoughts."
I followed his sightline and watched as Tredorphen finally emerged, eliciting a thunderous roar from the hundreds of shifters that had come out to see his return.
There was an undeniable vibration that hollowed through the ground beneath us, as though we had all connected too fully with our joy so that the ground itself couldn't take it.
I, along with dozens of other Weredragons, cried out in a fury of heat and fire that cascaded into the sky and caused a great orange glow to hover over us like an electric fog.
Aurlauc didn't roar. He didn't even clap. He just watched with careful eyes as Tredorphen, the rose shifter, stood before his people on a raised platform jutting out of the human's ship. Aurlauc used to be so young, full of life and wit and humor, from what I remembered anyway. Now there was something broken in his spirit: something stony.
Tredorphen watched us with dark eyes as his neck craned across the crowd. At first, I thought he might have turned on us: that he had forgotten our code and culture.
Just as my mind drifted elsewhere, I watched as the rose shifter flew into the air and bared his wings to us. He spread them wide and let out a painful cry: one a Weredragon could only summon from the pit of his belly when he had returned to his soul—returned home.
Diana
My love's son returned back two days ago, and since then I hadn't been able to see him or our child. Most of the humans were kept indoors. I was beginning to suspect the Weredragons were worried about a possible revolt, now that the girls knew we had a means to leave Dobromia.
The girls were confined to our quarters in the new wing of the underground city. These were Sillevia's personal quarters, and all of her servants were supposed to live there like faithful dogs. Just another way for her to keep a close watch on all of us.
When we first arrived on Dobromia, it was a lot more primitive than it was now. Instead of stone and mud caves, the new wings of the underground city of Graynar were made of metals and cold surfaces, much like other planets’ societies we had explored back when I worked on the Vulcana ship.
The Vorteous wing where we were kept was a small set of quarters in a domed building that sat far out on a metal arm in the center of the pit.
I could feel my heart speed up every time I heard a noise outside the metal walls of my cold room. I traced my tongue across my lips with impatience. I couldn't help but wonder whether or not Sillevia was with Boradrith.
I was one of the first women who saw the value in seducing a Weredragon. I just had my sights set a little bigger than the rest of the girls. While some old friends went for guards and warriors for their protection, I wouldn't take any less than the best. The king. The D’Karr.
Sleeping with a Weredragon was everything I had dreamt it would be. Like being with a man, only more powerful. The touch of my skin to the stony scales that covered the D’Karr's body sent waves of ecstasy through my body. He was girthy; thicker than any man I had ever been with before.
My crewmates were infuriated with me when news of our affair had come up. They told me I was an idiot for pursuing someone so dangerous.
The thought of Boradrith sent a wave of heat down the center of my body, and I drifted to the edge of the bed, setting my feet on the cold floor below.
I stepped closer to the door and hit the access panel that caused the metal slides to conceal themselves in the wall and open the hallway to me. I grabbed a sweater off a nearby stool and threw it on lazily as I walked out the door.
The way down to the D’Karr’s quarters was far off, but I knew the route well.
There was a large staircase that flowed down from the women’s quarters. I reached the bottom stair and heard distinct footsteps behind me. With a gasp, I spun on my heel and was met with the face of the new guard, Kavryiss.
“Oh, it’s you,” I said with a relieved sigh before looking him over with some skepticism. “What are you doing?”
“It’s my job to keep watch, remember?”
“Right,” I said absent-mindedly.
“Where are you off to?”
I turned my head confidently and backed against the cold wall behind me. “Nowhere.”
“Huh,” the shifter said, taking a step closer to me. “Because it seems to me like you were going to go see someone you shouldn’t be seeing.”
“Just stretching my legs,” I said blithely before giving him a pointed look. “Something shifters don’t rightly understand, I suppose.”
“Uh huh.” He raised an unamused brow to me and crossed his arms. “Back to your room.”
I pushed myself off the back wall and raised my chin to him, carefully watching what I could see of his eyes in the darkened staircase. “There’s a crime against walking now?”
With a drawn-out sigh, the shifter said, “There’s a crime against coming out alone when you were told not to.”
“I’m not really alone now, am I?” I taunted, looking him over.
He was quite a handsome figure. Shorter than most shifters, enough that he matched my tall stature. He had dark curls that fell to his shoulders and a mass of stubble. Also unlike most shifters with their shimmering scales, his scutes and scales were matte amethyst. I had to admit; it gave him a more rugged appeal that looked good on him.
“Who are you, again?” I asked, cocking my head to the side.
“Kavryiss,” he said smoothly, his full face smiling at me with purpose. “What’s the appeal, here?”
“What?” I scoffed. “Sleeping with him?”
The purple shifter shrugged almost uncomfortably and looked away from me, sticking his hands deep into his pants pockets. He wore armor, something like leather that strapped across his whole body. His wings were retracted, making him look more human than I was used to.
“Yeah,” he finally said. “Research not cutting it anymore?”
“Hey,” I defended quickly, “I’m one of the people you can thank for putting these hefty walls up.” With that, I banged my hand against the hard metal wall, slapping it a few times for emphasis.
“Somehow, I doubt that.”
“Well,” I brushed my hand against my arm bashfully, and my eyes flicked down to the massive spike that edged at the end of his tail. I’d never seen a tail like that before; such an obvious weapon. “Okay, I didn’t like… put it up or anything. But I’m the one who found the compound to make it.”
Deep blue eyes circled the walls behind me, and the warrior before me drew into a slow nod. “Alright.”
“So, what’s the consensus?” I asked, taking another daring step down the staircase while keeping eye-contact with him. “Am I being sent back to my room like a child, or what?”
“Those who behave like children get treated like such.”
My eyes went wide at the comment, and I couldn’t help but laugh. “Is that right?” I asked and watched as the side of his mouth erupted into a cocky smirk. “Pleased with yourself, are you? Well then. Take me to see my son, at least. I haven’t been able to see him since Tredorphen made his great return.”
The purple Weredragon’s eyes flickered up toward mine, and he thought on my request. Then, as though something occurred to him, he relented. “Alright.”
Leading the way down to the depths of the Graynar caves, Kavryiss stopped only once during our long trek to turn and regard me. He looked at me curiously before bowing his head in submission to me. Even though I wasn’t D’Sharr yet, Boradrith’s servants knew well enough to show me respect.
Back home, I couldn’t imagine anyone bowing before me or treating me like royalty or any sort of political figure. But, here I was, and I loved every second of it.
Sparkling gemstones peeked through the stone walls of the pit like glimmering crystal. An expansive, oval door stood guarding the entrance to the nursery. This area had become well attended to since the arrival of the humans, or so Boradrit
h told me. It was entirely guarded and cared for by females, mostly human, much to the dismay of Sillevia.
A female shifter guarded the door. She had large, black eyes and stark white wings and skin. She was as pale as someone could be without being dead. Her feathered wings were rare, and I'd often heard guards and warriors talking about how much they wanted to bed her.
"Nephra," Kavryiss said coolly, and the dark-haired shifter moved elegantly to the side, and the oval door mechanically slid open.
The woman did not speak to me, nor would she look my way. I didn't even get a catty once-over from her. I walked confidently between her and Kavryiss and stepped into the nursery.
The walls were done up with oils, taking on a playful rainbow effect. Like a child's finger painting. I pressed my feet into the dyed fur beneath me and got to my knees, waiting for one of the stewards to bring me my son, Plovoeus.
I was part of the Starship Vulcana, back in the day. Back when we landed. It was run by two sisters.
Head of the research team was Marina Livingstone, and head of the security detail was her sister Athena. Both had taken their own paths while on Dobromia. One ran away with my love's son and the other, Athena, stayed. She was head of the nursery.
She didn't like me much.
Which was a shame, because I used to like her just fine. We were even pregnant around the same time.
She gave birth to a girl and myself to a boy. In another life, I would wish that our children would grow up to be best friends, and then maybe more. Athena and I could then gush over how adorable they were and how we hoped they would grow up and get married. Then I could have someone to talk to.
But this wasn't another life; it was Dobromia. And on Dobromia we were enemies, of her choosing, of course.
The blonde emerged from the recesses of the nursery with my child, a beautiful golden shifter like his father. He had white-blonde hair and oversized yellow eyes. He looked like something straight out of mythology with his deep-set scales and pudgy baby cheeks. He was just a year now.
"My boy!" I exclaimed, setting my knees on the makeshift carpeting below and I watched as he waddled sheepishly into my arms.
"I saw you come in," Athena said simply, looking in my direction as if to see what I might do with my child.
Kavryiss leaned against the wall behind me, looking decidedly uncomfortable with the bustle of children around. He was lucky it was well past everybody's bedtime, or he would have gotten swarmed with offers to play.
"Thank you," I said and looked up at her pointedly.
Athena met my stare with a challenge of sorts before begrudgingly nodding her head in submission: as close as she would ever get to a bow. The purple shifter looked between us with no small amount of curiosity at whatever palpable energy he could feel.
"You clearly don't like me very much," I said to the girl, and then my eyes flicked over to Kavryiss. "You don't seem to be my biggest fan, either."
"I guess she's perceptive, after all," Athena said, her thick brows shooting up her forehead as she let out an annoyed laugh. "You're not one for leaving things alone, are you?"
"No," I snapped, now avoiding her gaze as I lay my son on the floor and ran my fingertips down the sides of his glittering arms; lulling him back to sleep. "I like things out in the open."
"Funny rules to live by coming from a girl who's sleeping with the D’Karr," Kavryiss laughed to himself, looking down at his hand as he leaned casually against the beautiful nursery walls.
"Yeah," I quipped. "And I'm open about it. I do exactly what the shifters do, but you guys want to scorch me for it."
Athena looked away from me and busied herself in the electronic device on the counter, inputting statistics about the children: logging their health and who's been fed in the hunger crisis. Or, maybe she was just hitting buttons to look busy and avoid talking to me. I could never really tell.
"Explain," Kavryiss asked curiously.
"You've stayed alive by annihilating other races, right?" I said. "You're a warrior race. That's what you do. When we showed up you took our ship, you robbed us, you killed us, and now you've kept us. Right?"
The purple shifter's tongue ran across his lips hesitantly; unwilling to answer. I pressed my glare, and he met my eyes, finally relenting, "Right."
"So, when I show up, ready to be cooked basically, I saw an opening, and I took it. Now, look where I am. I'm as good as the new D’Sharr."
Kavryiss frowned at the comparison and looked openly disgusted. I could hear Athena scoffing behind me, but I pretended not to notice.
"Well, first," Kavryiss began matter-of-factly, "you are a human, so it would be physically impossible for you to become the D’Sharr. And second, what you're saying is that you're entirely self-serving?"
"I'm pragmatic."
"I'm not berating you for it," the shifter corrected, "I'm a little impressed, actually."
"Oh," I breathed, pink rushing to my cheeks. I turned from his sight and looked back down at Plovoeus, stroking his face and using my thumbs to brush all of his eyebrow hairs in one direction.
"Thanks, then."
"So, what you're saying is... you don't love Boradrith?” the man asked suddenly, prompting my attention once more.
"No," I corrected quickly. "That's not what I meant, at all."
A silence hung in the air between the three of us. If the two of them were exchanging some kind of 'knowing look', I didn't want to see it. I had enough people talking behind my back by now that I was used to it. My body could practically sense the heat in the air whenever my name was being ill-spoken of. And that was just fine by me.
"So," I said after some time, never looking to Athena but addressing her all the same. "Have you seen her?"
"No,” she said quickly. "And I don't want to."
"I saw Vaikrand in the crowd at the salute," Kavryiss added, absolutely toneless.
Athena blinked at the sentiment and lowered her brows in a displeased dismissal of her mate. "And I bet he just cheered and cheered."
"Apparently, they brought in some hush-hush secret project that we're not supposed to know about," I said with a laugh, my eyes never leaving my son. "Any ideas what that might be?"
The two remained silent, and I began to giggle out noises to Plovoeus. "Not much for sharing, I guess? That’s fine. I wouldn’t be either, if my sister betrayed me. Or was it you who betrayed her? I could never figure that one out."
"Athena was betrayed," Kavryiss snapped suddenly, and my attention snapped in his direction.
"Sorry," I scoffed. "Was I speaking to you? Do you two know each other?"
"I know Vaikrand," he said of Athena's former castaway mate. "And have known Aurlauc all my life: the one who guarded her."
I waved him off. "I was on the Vulcana, too, remember?”
I remember Aurlauc. He was one of the ones who lied to our crew in order to get us to come to Dobromia. I wasn't sure whether I should hate the gray shifter or thank him.
"Right," he said with a sigh. "Marina abandoned Athena to a cell."
"Right," I repeated with the same influx Kavryiss had just used. "And then Athena called her back so that her dragon mate can kill Marina's dragon mate. Isn't that exciting?"
Kavryiss' brows sunk to the bridge of his nose, creating a deep crease along his forehead. His eyes shot to Athena, who looked defiant but startled all the same. "I'm loving this assessment of my life here on Dobromia but if you'll excuse me," Athena said, scooping my son off the ground and took him back to his private room, "I think the company is making me ill."
The blonde exited the main room and returned my son to his private quarters. As she disappeared from the room, Kavryiss looked at me with an unspoken question on his lips, and I quickly mouthed: it's true. Reading my lips, Kavryiss blinked in surprise and let out a small, amused laugh.
Within a moment, Athena returned to the metallic doorframe and kept her eyes on the floor. "What's wrong, Athena? You don't like dredging up the past?" I asked
with a wicked smile.
Athena shrugged and showed her palms to me, ready to be done with my company.
"I don't understand what the problem is. You are with Vaikrand. Khrelan died in the proving to restore your ridiculous traitor back to favor. You have your child," I said pointedly. "You got what you wanted, didn't you?"
"Hm," Athena hummed, her body moving with the effort of the sudden sound. "That's pretty much your anthem, right?"
"You don't get anywhere by being angry at everybody, Athena," I seethed. "You can't just keep living your life being a total bitch and shutting out anyone who remotely displeases you. You have the cushiest job on Dobromia, and part of your family just came back to Dobromia."
As soon as the words left my mouth, my throat erupted into an intense sob, tears falling down my cheeks relentlessly as I pulled myself off the ground and stepped toward her.
"Do you know how rare that is?" I demanded, stomping my foot. "Do you know how many Vulcana teams we'd been with who never got that chance? Who died on planets and never heard from their loved ones again? And you're just squandering it!"
"Of course, I know!" Athena screamed back, her tan face turning red with anger. Her voice cracked from the call and woke the dragonlings in the other room, causing an eruption of cries to echo through the building.
"Do you know if any of the women are planning on going back with them?" Kavryiss asked suddenly, speaking as casually as if we were all sitting down to tea together.
Athena's lip trembled, and she gave an unwilling shrug.
"She knows," I scoffed, wiping my tears with my arm. "She just won't say. Hell, she's probably planning to take off with them."
"And what, Diana?" Athena said firmly, her visage of strength breaking ever so slightly. "Take my shifter son with me? If I did that, I might as well guide the rest of the Weredragons back to Earth."
Kavryiss shrugged playfully. "Might not be such a bad idea..."