Knock Down Dragon Out

by Krystal Shannan

  Kann and Saul met his gaze for a moment and nodded, giving him their silent word that they would stick with him.

  Col felt a sense of security with the big cats at his side. In Reylea, they would’ve attacked each other on sight. Here, they were allies. Friends. Even family.

  He owed them his loyalty for life.

  Perhaps the separation of tribes in Reylea had been a mistake. There’d just never been a reason to change. Everyone had been set in their ways, including his tribe. His family.

  Now things were different. Just as his mate had pointed out. They were all that was left of the N’ra Lowland Tribes.

  If they didn’t work together, they wouldn’t survive. If they did, they could thrive. Nothing was stronger and more determined than a Tribe.

  Col leaned back against the dome wall. The light from the fire gave the snow tent a warm glow. For being made of snow, it was surprisingly comfortable. The wind outside and the air that burned lungs was the true enemy.

  Kann scooted toward the entrance. “I’m going to see if I can scrounge up something to eat.”

  “Thank you,” Naomi said before Col could even open his mouth.

  “Thank you, brother,” he echoed, using the term of affection again.

  The lion shifter tipped his chin respectfully and crawled out of the snow tent.

  It’d felt strange the first time to call him brother, but now, it felt more and more natural. They were his kindred. His brothers.

  These men had risked their lives to help him save his mate.

  Nothing had asked them to reach out to him. Naomi meant nothing to them. She did now. She was part of their tribe and females were important. Treasured.

  With Fate’s guidance, hopefully their little band would grow, and the other males would soon find their mates as well.

  More women in the group would make his shuarra pleased. A big family. It would be good for him, too.

  Col was used to having a large family as well. Fate had known exactly what he needed to push him past the darkness that’d driven him to deliver justice—revenge.

  Naomi hadn’t been wrong. He had made Jaha suffer. In the end, he’d made Sefa suffer as well. His justice had been mixed with revenge and it’d been bitter and unsatisfactory.

  It was over now.

  Now was the time to rebuild. To start fresh with his mate, and his new brothers.

  Naomi turned and snuggled closer. Her breathing slowed and within moments she was making a soft snoring sound, her breath warming his chest. Her body warming his heart. He’d never fail her again. Never be distracted by darkness and hate again.

  She was his world now.

  “Sleep for a while, Col,” Saul said from across the space. “You’ll heal faster.”

  Col sighed but did close his eyes. He tightened his hold on Naomi and let himself slip away for a few minutes.

  When he opened them again, Saul was gone. Kann was back.

  A small animal was roasting over the fire in the center of the room. The smell was mouthwatering.

  Tor sat next to Kann.

  “He lives,” the tiger shifter chuckled.

  Col growled, and Naomi patted his chest and shushed him. He looked down at her face. Her heart-rate was even. Her breathing was still slow and deep. She was still asleep.

  “Even in her sleep your mate knows I’m only teasing you,” Tor said.

  “It will take time for me to not…” he paused, not sure what he was trying to say.

  “Overreact?” Kann interjected. He sliced off a bit of meat and handed it to Col.

  “Naomi.” Col jostled her gently. “Eat, shuarra.”

  They hadn’t eaten last night before everything happened and now it was well into the mid-day and this was the first opportunity to eat.

  He was hungry, but his mate had been through hell. Her body had changed into a dragon. She hadn’t fed. She’d be starving.

  Naomi stirred in his lap and her brown eyes popped open, flecks of gold swirled in the irises. Her dragon was close, probably nagging and wanting to change again.

  “How are you, my mate?”

  Her gaze flicked to the strip of meat in his hand and then back to his face. “Is that for me?”

  He smiled.

  She clambered off his lap carefully and he gave her the morsel. She tore into it quickly and moaned in pleasure.

  The other men stared, and Col snarled, sending their wandering eyes back to the fire and the roasting game.

  “This is so good. I’m so hungry.” Her voice was husky and needy and sounded as if she’d had more than just a good bite of food. “Ohmygod!”

  Col tamped down his dragon and tried to will his erection back down. Food should not make his mate so pleased. Only he should be able to illicit sounds like that from her body.

  Other men should absolutely not hear her pleasure sounds.

  “Thank you.” Naomi voice was still barely more than a suggestive moan. “Can I have more?”

  Neither Kann nor Tor moved or turned their head. Neither male spoke to or even looked at his mate.

  Col had to give them credit for their control.

  “Naomi.” The word brought her focus to him. Her eyes were half gold right now. Her heart was racing. He put a hand on her leg and pinned her with his gaze. “You must settle. If you change now, you will destroy the shelter. Breathe slowly and focus on your human body. Two legs. Two arms. Beautiful curly hair.”

  “You like my hair.” Her tone softened and returned to its normal tone.

  “I love your hair, shuarra.” Col stroked his hand up and down her thigh.

  “It was so strange. I knew what was going on, but she wanted more and was pushing so hard. I couldn’t think straight.”

  He nodded. “It will take time for you to find the balance with your animal. Reyleans are taught to control them from the time they are small children. You have no training and a full-grown dragon.”

  “So, I could just freak out at any moment and turn into a dragon the size of a single-wide?”

  “I don’t know what a single-wide is, but yes. Younglings struggle with balance and often have moments where they lose control and turn against their will.”

  “Not cool,” Naomi muttered. “I’m still hungry though. Is there enough for me to have more?”

  “You are welcome to as much as you can eat.” Tor sliced off another strip and handed it to Col.

  “Well, you guys need to eat too,” she said.

  Col handed her the warm slice of roasted game and smiled. “You eat what you want. We can always get more.”

  Tor nodded. “Even this high on the mountain, there is plenty to hunt.”

  “You didn’t let anyone see you,” Naomi asked.

  “I don’t—”

  “People,” Saul’s voice hissed through the shelter opening.

  “Wolves?” Col moved quickly through the tunnel to Saul’s side.

  The lion shifter shook his head and pointed toward the bottom of the hillside.

  Col recognized the sound of the thing Naomi had made him ride. The vehicle she had called it.

  The people on the snow machines were wearing brightly colored coats. It was a big group.

  He counted ten people and five snow machines. His skin prickled and burned.

  His dragon wanted to eliminate them.

  No people. No threat.

  “You can’t just get rid of them.” Naomi crawled through the tunnel behind him. She climbed to her feet and shoved her way between himself and Saul’s body. “I know what you’re thinking, barbarian. Hulk smash. But that’s not going to work this time.”

  “I will keep you safe.”

  “I’ll get us off this mountain. They look like people. They smell like people.” She sniffed the air.

  Col raised an eyebrow in surprise. She could scent like a Reylean too? Though, he shouldn’t be surprised. She was a dragon now.

  “Are they?” she asked, looking first to him and then to Saul.

  �
��Yes,” they both answered.

  “Good, then maybe we can get them to drive us down, so we don’t have to walk the whole way, cause if you think you’re going to get me to fly come this evening, you’re wrong, pal.” She patted Col’s arm. “I might be a dragon, but I’m still terrified of heights.”

  Saul covered his mouth and held in a muffled laugh.

  “Don’t laugh at my mate.” Col slipped an arm around her waist and flashed a deadly glare at the lion shifter.

  “You want to laugh too.” Naomi sighed. “Admit it. I can hear it in your voice.”

  He refused to laugh. It rippled inside him, but he kept it together. He’d never encountered a dragon who was afraid of heights. The idea was absurd.

  Dragons were made to be in the sky. They weren’t made to flounder about like a lizard on the ground. She’d overcome her fear. It might take time, but she’d get there.

  “Why would they help us? We have nothing to give them? They don’t know us,” Saul said as the people continued to come closer.

  “They look like campers. Ten to one says they’ve never seen a shelter like the one we just built. We could offer them that in exchange for taking us down to McKinley Park.” She took a step forward and waved.

  The lead snow machine changed course and the entire group started toward them.

  “Plus, if they end up dangerous, Col can burn them up, right?” Naomi glanced over her shoulder with an expectant look.

  Col chuckled. “I will be ready, my shuarra.”

  19

  Naomi pulled on the hem of the coat she was wearing. It covered halfway down her thighs, but still, the cold air whipping up under made her uncomfortable.

  Not cold, but the people quickly approaching were going to wonder how she wasn’t frostbitten and dead. No boots. No pants. No gloves. Just an oversized parka and four oversized dudes.

  Okay, maybe they wouldn’t wonder how she was staying warm. It was quite possibly they would think she was sleeping with all four of the guys.

  The day was beautiful and clear. The sky was pure blue. Not a cloud in sight. The sun fell bright and warm on her face, even though the actual temperature was probably close to negative ten or more.

  She glanced quickly between Saul and Col.

  Saul had a coat on, but Col was of course bare-chested and utterly delicious.

  Focus.

  Their clothes would also raise a lot of questions. Naomi had no idea how to explain away the two giant Reylean warriors at her side, not to mention the other two still inside the snow shelter.

  The group of sleds stopped about twenty feet away and two people got off the front one. A guy and a girl.

  At least they aren’t all men.

  Their bright clothing meant they weren’t hunters. No white coveralls to hide themselves from sight in the snow. Also meant they were very likely to be tourists. Most of the locals she’d noticed wore gear that blended more into the landscape. Black and brown.

  “Hey,” one the approaching guy called out. He was tall, maybe six feet. Burly, but not nearly as big as Col or Saul. “What…who are you guys?” He gazed up and down her body and then turned his attention to Col and Saul.

  “We got stranded out here.” Naomi took a leap of faith and just dove in. “We could really use a ride down to McKinley Park.”

  “What happened to your snow machines? How did you get out here?” The woman next to him asked. She was about Naomi’s size, with long blonde hair sticking out of her knitted hat.

  “The people we were with took them and left us here. It was supposed to be a social experiment, but it’s been a nightmare,” Naomi said, finally landing on a plausible story. “We could really use the help.”

  “We can call the park service. I’m sure they’d come get you,” the guy said.

  “We’re really trying to keep all of this out of the papers,” she continued. The last thing she needed was authorities asking the guys for their non-existent IDs.

  “Is that an igloo?” the woman asked, leaning to the side to get a better look around Saul’s body. “So cool. How did you guys make that? How big is it?”

  “Pretty big. We’ve got a campfire inside and everything.”

  “So, this social experiment. Is that why you guys don’t have enough clothes on? How are you not freezing?” the woman asked, directing her attention back to Naomi.

  “Yeah. Bad joke gone really wrong. I’ve got a lot to report back at work when I finally get off this mountain. Where is your group from?”

  “Oh, we’re all from California. Can I go in your igloo?”

  “Tell you what,” Naomi started, “If a few of you guys can spare a couple hours to give us a ride back to McKinley Park, the campsite is yours. There’re only five of us.”

  “Two more?” the dude asked, looking around.

  “Do they look like these two? Can they talk? Or do they just stand there and look yummy?” the woman asked, letting her eyes rove over Col and then Saul.

  “Barbara!” the guy next to her snapped. “Seriously.”

  “Well, they do look like they just walked off the set of a fantasy movie,” she said, giving puppy dog eyes to her companion.

  Naomi felt her dragon growl. Mine. She coughed to cover the sound and patted her chest, pretending to have choked…on air. Whatever. As long as she didn’t go dragon-woman on this chick’s ass for checking out her mate.

  Col slipped an arm around her waist and pulled her close. “We would appreciate the help. Tor. Kann,” Col called. His voice soothed her dragon. His touch probably even more so.

  The other two warriors crawled out of the shelter to stand next to them.

  Naomi took a deep breath.

  They were quite the crazy looking group.

  “Holy crap,” the woman said, her tone rising. “They really do all look like that.”

  “So, we take you down the mountain and we get your campsite and the igloo?”

  “With our gratitude,” Saul said from his place standing to Naomi’s right. “We also have most of a deer roasting inside that you are welcome to.”

  “I knew something smelled delicious. Jeff, we have to do this. We will get to tell our friends we stayed in a real igloo. Think of the pictures!” The blonde woman practically squealed with excitement. “We have more than enough sleds. It’ll only take about an hour or so to get them over the river.”

  The guy—apparently Jeff—nodded. “Sure. Let me talk to the others. Works for me though.”

  The ride was uneventful. For once, something went smoothly. No shifting. No dragons swooping out of the air to snatch her away. No wolves tried to kill her. It really was an improvement.

  The sky was bright, and the snow was crisp. If it wasn’t for the fact Naomi was riding on a snow machine going eighty miles an hour and naked except for a coat, sitting behind a chick named Barbara she’d only just met, it would be perfect.

  When Col had realized they would all have to ride with someone from the other group, he’d been upset.

  Scratch that. Upset was an understatement.

  She’d had to beg him to control himself when one of the guys offered her a ride. When she explained her circumstance—the no underwear—to Barbara, the nice woman had offered to drive the last sled instead of her male cohort.

  Col had been appeased by this option and they were now approaching the bridge over the river to the resorts in McKinley Park.

  Naomi couldn’t wait to get into one of the shops and get some clothes. Once all the guys looked like they were from this world, they could get back up to the cabin she’d rented and figure out the next step from there.

  Her mom and sister were probably freaking out again, since she’d for sure gone longer than twenty-four hours without calling. Again.

  The snow machine slowed.

  She took a breath and loosened the hold she had around Barbara’s waist. The other sleds slowed as well and a moment later they were at a complete stop.

  “Which resort?” Barbara aske
d.

  “The McKinley Chalet,” Naomi responded. She’d shopped in a store right down the road from the resort before she headed out to Curtis’ cabin. It would be the best option for finding the men something appropriate to wear for the winter weather.

  The blonde nodded and motioned for the rest of the entourage to follow her across the Nenana River Bridge and into the resort area.

  The motors on the sleds roared to life one at a time and soon they were racing down the ice and snow-covered road toward McKinley Park and its wide assortment of cabins and resorts and hotels.

  Everyone from serious climbers to families of four came through McKinley Park to visit Denali National Park.

  The red-roofed Swiss-chalet-style resort was connected by snow-covered boardwalks to several shops and restaurants, all tucked between fragrant spruce trees. Standing in front of the building itself, it gave the illusion of being the only place for miles. Smart designer.

  When in fact there were several other resort hotels, shopping, and cabins just a few miles down the road and an airport not much further south of those.

  The group stopped in front of the Chalet.

  Naomi, Col, and the others climbed off the sleds.

  “You sure you’re going to be okay?” Barbara asked, pulling off her goggles.

  She smiled. “Yes, thank you. We really appreciate your help. It would’ve been a really long walk.”

  “Girl, you would’ve lost toes and fingers if you’d tried to walk that back.” The blonde shook her head. “Okay, well, as long as you’re good from here. We’ve got to get back. Can’t have the group climbing up Denali without us.”

  “Thanks for the campsite,” one of the guys at the back of the line shouted.

  Naomi waved.

  Col and the others stood quietly behind her.

  When she turned, they were staring in awe—and maybe a little hesitation—at the huge hotel ahead of them.

  A few people were out walking the boardwalks, and her mate’s bare chest and eight pack abs were definitely drawing attention.