by Sky Winters
Adair had changed into his Dragon form, and was flying around in the sky, looking out over the area for the woman. Now that he trusted her, they kept each other in much better company. Suddenly, Iona found a shawl a little ways away from the hut. She gave a howl and soon Adair was landing powerfully beside her. He glanced at the shawl and saw the direction that she must have been heading in after she left the house. Iona sniffed it and took off immediately in the direction where Adair was looking.
She ran as fast as the carrier, until she reached a lake. The woman had probably gone to get some water, and maybe she had fallen into the lake. The rapids were strong, and could easily have carried away the boy’s mother. Adair and Iona exchanged worried looks, and quickly she crouched, signaling her to climb onto his back. She changed into human form and mounted him, and he took off flying over the landscape.
“Do you smell anything?" He asked her. “I'll take you in any direction. Just tell me if you find anything.”
Iona furled her brow and continued smelling the air, until finally she caught wind of the same scent of the boy's mother's shawl.
“Go more to the east!" Iona cried. "I smell her in this area.”
Adair flew down, swooping into the trees, and lo and behold, there was the figure of a woman and tattered clothing, shivering in front of a small fire. Adair landed beside her, and her eyes widened until she recognized the familiar shape of Adair as he transformed back into human shape. He studied with Iona in front of the woman, and held his strong arms out to comfort her. She ran toward him sobbing.
“My boy, my husband. I miss my family! I need them so much," she cried.
“I've bad news about your husband, but your boy is fine there's some twist of fate, he was able to survive. There was a terrible house fire and your husband was not able to make it out. However, we were able to save your boy. I will take you to him now.”
Adair transformed back into his Dragon form, and Iona offered her hand gently to the woman, who climbed onto his back beside her. They held on tightly as Adair rushed her to the encampment, and he landed outside the gates. The woman rushed in calling for her son, and he ran to her, his face lit up and shining brightly. Adair and Iona watched the reunion from afar, before retreating into his tent to give the family some time alone.
It was late in the evening, and the sky was dark. Adair lit a torch in his tent and looked at Iona.
“Seems I don't quite know what to do with you now lass, you've outgrown your chains here.”
“I'm going to take that as a good thing," she said with a grin.
“Yes, I would certainly say so," Adair said, his handsome, broad face breaking out into a large smile.
“Should I head back to the South now?" Iona asked. "I already caused too much trouble here, I don't want to be anymore."
“You were never any trouble lass, I was just concerned about the boy and my clan. I have to be careful you know. Our type are rare now."
“I'm very sorry to hear that," Iona said softly, approaching him slowly. “The dragons are very beautiful, it would be a shame for them to die out.”
Adair sat heavily onto the cot and sighed. “I'd be lying if I said I wasn't concerned,” he admitted. “But that's enough draft talk for now. Sit down and tell me more about yourself now that you're no longer my enemy."
She studied him, shamelessly naked and sitting on the cot, offering a seat beside him to her. If she did, they would both be on his bed in the nude, and she wasn't sure what would happen after that. All she knew was that she was curious about it and willing to find out. She approached the bed cautiously before sitting, and noticed his eyes rest upon her round breasts. She swallowed hard, and thought quickly about how she could make more conversation.
“Thank you for your help today," Adair said, before she had to try to speak. She looked down at her hands and laughed nervously.
“It was no problem, I'm just glad that she's okay now. I was worried that something might happen to her by the time you actually let me go out and look for her."
Adair laughed sheepishly. "Yeah, I'm sorry about that. I just couldn't be too careful. If my clan is in danger, there may be no dragons left after myself."
“You mean you're the last Dragon here?" She asked, her face contorting in surprise and concern. "That's terrible. You must feel so lonely!"
"Well it's a big job to fill, but I have to do it. I don't mind protecting everybody, I'm just concerned about the future. And it's not like I like anybody here enough to sire an heir, so who knows. There may be no dragons from here on out."
“You don't like anybody enough?” She asked, her bold, flirtatious smile tracing her face again. Adair stared at her, his desire for her welling up stronger than it had ever been before. Now that he knew that she was not a murderer, her eyes widened in surprise as she saw his member swell along the length of his leg. She had never been with a man before, nor has she heard much about what to expect, but seeing this change in his body brought a change in hers as well. She bit her lip and looked him in the eye, and before she knew what was happening, he lifted her with his strong arms by the hips until she was nestled on top of him.
“Well I may like somebody, but she's not from my clan," he said with a sly grin.
“Well that sounds inconvenient," she said, slowly touching him and sending sharp thrills down his body. She felt the effect it had on him between her thighs, and she groaned as her desire for him swelled and pulsated. She thrust into him gently, and he gasped quietly as his strong hands around her body sent pleasure all throughout her. She closed her eyes and experienced the pleasure that he gave her, her hips buckling against him as he began to push himself slowly into the folds of her body. She had never experienced such ecstasy before, and soon she was throwing her head back and pleasure coursed through her powerfully.
He grinned at her and ran his hands through her long hair, before holding her hips with his hands and pushing her body the rest of the way down his shaft. She cried out as he began rocking against her, answering her with slow and steady thrusts that drove her mad. Finally, she couldn't help herself any longer, and gave a wolfish growl of excitement into his ear. This seemed to arouse something deep and primal within him, and he let go of all of his human inhibitions. She began to smell the crackling impressions of embers burning in the fireplace, and she knew that dragons could create fire without a doubt as he turned her on her backside and began thrusting powerfully into her, losing all sense of gentleness and purely satiating a deep need in both of them.
She cried out softly in pleasure, gripping his hard muscles in her hands and sighing with pleasure as his mouth found her sensitive nipples and sucked them gingerly as he made love to her. Suddenly, she felt herself being overwhelmed by a sense of sheer ecstasy that she didn't know her body was capable of reaching. Her entire body cleaved in his grip, and she could feel herself contracting around him as he pushed and pulled inside of her. She could tell that it felt good for her to squeeze him that way, and he gritted his teeth and groaned deeply with the masculine timber as he unleashed a flood of liquid desire deep inside of her.
They both collapsed onto the cot, panting and satisfied. He held her tightly in his arms, and she fell asleep against him, feeling more at peace than she had ever felt in her life.
Epilogue
Ten months later, the young child and his mother had both recovered completely from the unfortunate incident in their home. Adair and Iona took special care of them, treating them with great kindness and love. They made up for the family that the boy lost when his father died, and his mother was eternally grateful for their rescue.
This is why Iona had begged for her to be her midwife as she delivered Adair's first child. The boy kept their company outside as she gave birth, and the woman was ecstatic to be able to return any kind of favor to the woman who had helped to save her and her son. With one final cry, Iona was able to push out the child completely, and she heard a strangled cry as the woman held the baby up for her exa
mination. Tears sprang up in Iona's eyes, and she called immediately for Adair to share this special moment with her.
He rushed in, and immediately fell to his strong knees. It was more than he could have ever hoped for. The child was a dragon shifter just like he was. They watched it off as the child shimmered and the midwife's arms, going from baby to wolf pup to Dragon pup, resembling his father's Dragon form with his mother is wolf color, and his father's Dragon color with his mother's wolf form. The midwife gave the child to Adair, who walked quickly over to cradle the baby with his new wife. They cried over the child and everything that he represented for the McKordia clan's future. Their leader had an heir, and everything was going to be all right from then on out.
The end.
LORD OF THE WOLF
Chapter 1
I squinted my eyes and looked about me. The place I was in was a hazy, purple world, full of flames and fury. Violence was everywhere. Suddenly, I saw what I must have been looking for. I ran toward my brother Kain's silhouette. He seemed to be further away from me with every step that I took toward him, and I knew that I would never reach him in time. It was the same, endless battle, the same gruelling images playing in my mind since the day he died. I heard his murderous cry, and I knew what was going to happen before it ever did.
He was fighting for his life – a battle he had lost once, three years ago, and again, over and over in my dreams many nights since. Suddenly,the image of Kain disappeared, and standing in front of me, as if keeping me from reaching him, was a great, white wolf. It was the most majestic and beautiful creature I had ever seen, and seemed to have no place among such violence. We stared at each other for a moment, and I had the silly impulse to reach out and touch it. I had no idea what it might want, or whether or not to be afraid. The war was loud in my ears, and the sounds of death surrounded me. The wolf howled, and I was startled into wakefulness.
I sat up in my bed panting, my heart racing in fear. Kain's name was on the tip of my tongue and I cried out, reaching my hands into the darkness and touching nothing. My nightmare had stirred the servants down the hall, and the woman who had cared for me since childhood burst through the heavy doors of my room. I looked down at myself, the vision of my chest, heaving against the thin fabric of my nightcloths, surreal. All I could see was my brother Kain, my twin. The person I'd loved the most in the world and the only friend I'd ever had. That is, until he was taken from me by the highlanders, slaughtered in cold blood.
“Lady Bethia, are you all right?” Rose asked, fanning me from the bedside. “You must have been having one of those dreams again. Kain?”
My heart lurched at the sound of my brother's name and I nodded, holding back tears.
“Everything's all right now, my Lady. He's made it to the west, and will be taken care of in Tir nan Og. Many men would envy him for his residence in the land of eternal youth, my Lady, and he is waiting there for you still. Do not shed tears for him. Time will heal your wounds, and reunite you to him inevitably.”
Rose, normally a quiet and simple woman, was the only one who could console me when my brother's death racked my frail body with sobs. She knew just what to say, and took comfort in the tales of the west of Scotland, where the souls of the dead were said to dwell. Her quiet faith brought me peace when nothing else ever could.
“Now lay back down with you, miss, you don't want to catch your death of cold. Your dreams were a fright, but everything is all right now.”
She gently pushed my shoulders against the soft down of my bed and tucked the covers over me. I nestled into them and returned her kind smile.
“I'll be down the hall if you need me,” she whispered, and picked her candle up off the bedside table and headed from my room, casting lengthy shadows in her wake until my door closed on the candle light and left me alone in the darkness.
***
The next morning, the halls were in a flurry of activity. I dressed and was suddenly whisked away to speak with my parents, who were sitting autocratically at the large banquet table where we usually dined with guests. I opened my mouth to ask what the occasion was when they told me to take my place at the table.
“This is the last meal you will be sharing with us for quite some time. Tensions between the highlanders and the lowlanders has been high for far too long. Finally, we have a chance to change the course of our history together. We can bring peace between these clans. We have made a deal, one that can finally unify the land again.”
I stared at my father in disbelief as he spoke. What was he talking about? Our last meal together?
“What kind of deal?” I asked, suddenly nauseated. The servants were bringing out dishes of food and the smell wafting in my nostrils brought bile to my throat. I was afraid I knew what was coming.
“You are to be wed to Lord Lachlan. Your betrothed is to send his emissaries here to retrieve you and take you to your new home. He requested the wedding be held in the highlands, where he feels most comfortable.”
“The highlands?!” I exclaimed, rising from my seat. For the first time in my life, I was yelling at my father. “I am betrothed to a highlander? It was the highlanders who killed Kain! My brother, your only son! Or did you forget that?”
“Know your place, child! Sit down at once.”
My father's steely gaze piereced through me. I seethed, tempted by years of training to sit down and shut up, but I held my ground.
“I understand your distaste for the highlanders,” he said. “But it is this union that could prevent another war like that which your brother died in. Your hand to Lord Lachlan could mean that no other men have to die for the sake of our disagreements. Do you not understand that there are bigger things at work in this world than yourself? You silly, selfish girl. Now sit down and eat your breakfast.”
I opened my mouth to retort, but my father made the kind of stern sense that he always made, and all I could do was sit down and poke at my food, waiting for the moment when my life would change forever.
Chapter 2
Breakfast had been very uncomfortable, like most meals with my parents were. We didn't have the closest of relationships. They were both frequently busy with the toils of the kingdom. My father was always cooped up in his office, signing documents and chattering passionately with his advisers. As a child I used to sneak in with Kain to spy on him. It was the only way we felt close to our father. We would listen in from our hiding place in the curtains, but the older we got the harder it was to remain concealed. And the bleak nature of our father's conversations began to leave me with a heavy heart, full of doubts and concerns for the future of our kingdom. Directly after breakfast, he told me to ready myself to meet my betrothed and locked himself away into his study.
I quietly mourned the distance between my father and myself, and turned to my mother, who was eyeing me sternly. I knew exactly what she was thinking; I was hardly presentable to be wed in the outfit I had chosen for breakfast. I wasn't close to my mother either. My father, of course, busied himself constantly with the affairs of the kingdom. In the meantime, my mother had taken pity upon the impoverished, and spent much of her time out in the world, accompanied by servants as she made it her business to feed and clothe the sick and hungry. She had recently made a name for herself for feeding a small group of vagabonds who had made their camp just outside the limits of our kingdom.
Most of the villagers were disapproving of her tendency to take pity on that group. They had caused trouble just weeks beforehand when they raided a few farms of food and mead. My mother announced that they would not be punished – instead, they would be fed. Time revealed that the group were an unfortunate band of highlanders who had lost their supplies to bandits on the road as they headed back home. My mother took care to show them all great kindness, something I privately resented her for. I wasn't alone, but I still felt defensive of her when she was heckled for it.
The vagabonds had escaped back to the highland not long ago, undoubtedly boasting about my mother's great
naivety. It was undoubtedly the message of her kindness that had caused Lord Lachlan to reconsider peace with the lowlanders. Perhaps he saw a window of opportunity to take something valuable from the poor woman. His kind had taken her son, perhaps now they could take her daughter as well.
My blood boiled as I stared into my mother's regal face. She was certainly beautiful, and had passed on her stunning looks to me. What good would they do anyone now if I were to be enslaved to wed Lord Lachlan? There couldn't be a fate worse than that. Except perhaps to be slayed by him.
Again, my thoughts returned to my brother Kain, and I suddenly remembered the white wolf in my dream. It had appeared there many times before, and I still had yet to make any sense of what it might mean. For some reason, the wolf's image in my mind pacified me, and I allowed my mother to whisk me off to my chambers to help prepare me for my journey.
***
I inhaled as shallowly as I could, grimacing at the sharp pain I felt in my ribs from the tight corset my mother had laced for me. She claimed that I had to be presentable to meet Lord Lachlan for the first time, and when I had rolled my emerald green eyes toward the ceiling she gave me a resigned smile.
“He is rumored to be quite handsome,” she said as comfortingly as she could.
“He is a brute, I shall hate him until I die,” I vowed, jutting my lip out. Mother laughed quietly.
“It may not be so bad as you think,” she said before spritzing me with scented water and walking out of the room. “Pack a small bag and be down soon with it. Don't make poor Rose drag you down for me. You know she will.”
I sighed and glowered out the window, annoyed that she would use my warm feelings toward Rose against me. Whatever would I do without Rose by my side in the night, comforting me from the horrific nightmares of Kain that I was haunted by? Nothing about this was right. Everything was all wrong. I wasn't supposed to marry a disgusting highlander. Even if mother was right and he was attractive, I would rather die. Maybe I could find some way to escape.