“Oh, no way! I knew he had a kid, but I didn’t know she was human!”
“Yeah, he treats me like his own,” Adrian said, jutting her hand out. “My name is Adrian. My stepfather is a good man. He’s always looked out for me.”
“Right on,” Hector said, taking her hand and giving it a friendly pump. “Why don’t you two get a table and once you’re settled in I’ll be over to take your order.”
“Sounds good,” Kent said, leading Adrian to the back corner of the diner. It was bustling with activity, and Adrian watched Hector out of the corner of her eye as he weaved in between tables, serving customers and keeping the same genuinely friendly smile on his face the whole time. It seemed exhausting to have to stay positive and charming all day, but somehow on Hector, the act was effortless. Almost as if it weren’t really an act at all. Was it possible anyone could truly enjoy serving others that much?
“What’s on your mind?” Kent asked from behind his menu. Adrian grimaced. She had been caught in her thoughts, and now it was going to be an awkward conversation with a man she couldn’t stand.
“Just wondering what the specials are,” she lied. What would Kent know about what it’s like to be in customer service for years and years? He looked like he’d been born in the forest and had never spent a full day indoors in his entire life.
“We can ask Hector when he gets around to us,” Kent answered, glancing down at his menu. “In the meantime, I suggest you decide what you might want to order just in case the specials aren’t so suitable for someone of your kind.”
Adrian prickled. “What do you mean by that?”
“Humans. A lot of humans don’t like the shifter palate, that’s all. Our tastes are a little bit different, you know?”
“Yeah, kind of like our conduct after sleeping together apparently,” Adrian snapped.
Kent looked almost as if he’d been slapped. He opened his mouth to answer, but he was interrupted by Hector.
“All right, you two! What will you be having? Can I start you off with some drinks?”
“Drinks sound great,” Adrian said, smiling brightly. For some reason, seeing Kent’s stony face change and show a flicker of emotion had made her feel a hundred times better. Maybe he really did care about her, after all. She had no idea what bear-shifters were like when it came to mating and quite frankly, and she had never really wanted to find out. Everything that had happened with Kent had been a fluke.
“All right. What can I start you with, Kent?”
Hector’s pleasant face seemed to help Kent ground himself again and he pursed his lips in a tolerant smile. “Coffee for me. You know how I like it.”
Hector nodded. “Yep. And for you, my dear?”
Adrian sighed. “Maybe an orange juice for now. Thank you.”
Hector nodded and moved away from the table and she was left once again with the man she least wanted to see in the world. For a moment she was afraid that he might actually pick the conversation back up where she had left it. The last thing she wanted to do was to talk about the night they had spent together. Fortunately, he busied himself by looking at the menu, although she was fairly certain he already knew exactly what he wanted.
She decided to do the same, and by the time their drinks were served, they were both ready to order.
“So, what will the two of you be having?” Hector asked jovially, his jolly face shining as if the thing he wanted to do most in the world was to take their order.
“The wildflower combo,” both Kent and Adrian said at the same time.
They froze, their eyes locking.
“Ohh,” Hector said, his voice high-pitched with delight. “Do you want it all on one plate? Like one of those little milkshakes for couples?”
“No!” they barked simultaneously. This made Hector’s good-natured grin widen and he chuckled. “Well, all right.”
Hector left them at the table in silence, both refusing to meet the other’s eyes. It was embarrassing to be treated like a couple. Especially when it was clear that neither of them could stand each other.
When the meal arrived, Adrian smiled graciously at Hector, hoping he could forgive her for the outburst earlier. He seemed not to have taken it personally and she admired his “water under the bridge” attitude. She wished she could be more like that with Kent, but it seemed impossible. He was just too big of an asshole to forgive.
“You should try the slaw first,” Kent said, his voice a quiet grumble from across the table. “It brings out all the best flavors. That’s how all the bears eat it.”
Adrian studied him for a moment, but he seemed consumed by his meal, his handsome face serious as he contemplated the food in front of him.
Adrian didn’t answer him, but she did begrudgingly try the slaw first. When she bit into the burger, it was like an explosion of flavor in her mouth and she closed her eyes, relishing in it all. It was exactly what she had wanted. Even in the morning, a garden burger made of the freshest ingredients on the mountain, seemed to hit the spot unlike anything else ever could.
“What do you think?” Kent asked once they were both finished with their meals.
“It was actually really good,” Adrian said. She didn’t say it because she was willing to converse with this obnoxious man, she said it because Hector was within hearing distance and she wanted him to know just how much she loved and appreciated his effort.
“Good,” Kent said, standing up to go pay the bill. “Maybe after this we can go meet the rest of the townies that were on my list. Your stepdad is very thorough.”
“You can say that again. I kind of wish he would butt out of this one,” Adrian sighed.
“He’s just trying to protect you,” Kent said, fixing a serious, almost caring look on her. Still, she wasn’t going to let herself believe that this man was capable of any genuine emotion. He wasn’t a good person. He had already proven that much.
“I guess so.”
Kent nodded, and they headed out of the diner. Adrian followed him down the road and they went on foot from place to place so that Kent could introduce Adrian, and she had a chance to meet everybody in town. They all seemed impressed to find out that she was Logan’s daughter. He had always been a high-ranking man among the bear shifters, and it was strange to be living on the highly-esteemed Oak Mountain. She had heard about it and visited once or twice, but it had never been anything extensive. The longest she’d been there was the week she had been working on the internship that her father had set up for her, but now that she was going to be staying a while, it made sense that she start to get to know the other shifters.
When they were finally done with their rounds, Kent led her back to the motorcycle. They had been having a pretty good day so far, whether she wanted to admit it or not. There was a point where she truly did enjoy this annoying man’s company.
“Do you want me to take you anywhere before I drop you off?” Kent asked, once she had mounted the bike behind him. She caught his eye in the rearview mirror and a warmth spread through her body like wildfire. She wished she could believe that he was actually a considerate and kind person. But the way he had left her in the motel like that, without a word or a second thought…
No, he was definitely an asshole. She wouldn’t let herself start to fall for the nice guy act. Everyone on Oak Mountain might think he was a good person, but she already knew better. It would be stupid of her to go against her better judgment and allow this guy a second chance that he didn’t deserve.
“Just take me home, please,” Adrian said quietly.
Kent held her gaze for a moment and then nodded grimly. For some reason, the unspoken emotion on his face made her chest tighten, and they rode down the mountain together in silence.
11.
The next few weeks were uneventful, but Kent was ever watchful of Adrian’s every move. She had made it abundantly clear she wanted nothing to do with him, and he had to admit that some part of him was really angry about it. But why should he care? She was
just a pain in the ass princess who didn’t know just how good she had it.
He had finished showing her around Oak Mountain, but now that that part of his job was done, he had to sneak around and watch her from afar. He couldn’t let something embarrassing happen to him like the last time. He was going to have to be careful.
That morning, he was waiting outside of Adrian’s cabin, keeping a close watch on the area. There was something off. He had been feeling it all day, but he couldn’t tell what it was. Logan and Blaine had been spending a lot of time together at Blaine’s place, and whatever it was they were talking about couldn’t be good. Whenever he saw them, they both had a similar wary look in their eyes, and concern etched deeply in their brow.
Now, Kent could tell that something was going on. He had trained well enough to be able to sense a shift in energy, and there was definitely one happening right now. It would be difficult for him to go on pretending like something strange wasn’t happening. There was something going on. Something very, very wrong.
It didn’t take much longer before Kent finally got a glimpse of what that something was.
Off on the horizon, he could just barely make out what looked at first glance to be clouds. But when he looked closer, he was startled to discover that those clouds were not clouds at all, but two dragon shifters flying high above Adrian’s house, circling and getting ready to strike.
“Shit,” Kent mumbled under his breath. This was the last thing he needed, but he supposed it was why the job had fallen on his shoulders. He had to protect Adrian at all costs. Two dragon shifters would be hard to beat, but if he thought on his feet, he could do it.
Kent shifted quickly into his bear form, keeping his eyes locked on the enemies as they approached the house. Slowly, they both became more visible and their nostrils flared as each of them sucked in a deep breath of air. They were preparing to release some sort of magic, breath weapon, and Kent couldn’t let that happen. Not while Adrian was still inside the house.
Without a second thought, he rushed across the stretch of land, closing the gap between himself and the dragons. He let out a ferocious roar, and one of the dragons swooped down at him. It was about to release its breath weapon upon him, but Kent gripped its throat in his teeth, aiming it up at the dragon that was still in the sky.
It flinched away, its wing singed by a horrifying burst of flames. It landed somewhere in the forest, and Kent clenched his jaw, shaking it until he heard the bones pop. The dragon fell limply on the ground and Kent raced after the other shifter, who was badly damaged already.
He found the dragon about a half mile away, struggling to move forward and in the midst of shape-shifting back into its human form. Normally, Kent would have allowed the man to live, but he had gone after Adrian. Adrian, who he had wanted to claim from the first moment he had laid eyes on her. Adrian, who was innocent and kind and sweet and who deserved better than to be sneak attacked over something she had no idea about; even he had no idea. All he knew was that it had something to do with her biological father.
A deep growl rumbled in the back of Kent’s throat and he lunged at the shifter, finishing him off before he even had a chance to register what hit him.
Whatever the dragons were planning, it had to be horrible. To put Adrian’s life at risk, there had to be some kind of explanation, and whatever it was, it couldn’t be good.
“Who’s out there?”
Adrian’s voice rang out through the trees, and Kent froze. He wanted so badly to go to her, but if she knew that he was there at her house, who knew what she might think. Suddenly, he remembered the corpse of the dragon-shifter lying on the ground and he ran full speed toward it, hoping against hope that somehow she hadn’t seen it.
“I’m serious! Show yourself!”
Kent nearly collapsed with relief when he saw the dragon’s body had reverted back to its human form and was well-concealed by the high grass surrounding the cabin. Adrian clearly hadn’t seen anything and was still walking outside the cabin, demanding that whoever was there show themselves.
As much as he wanted to, Kent knew that if he did it would be the last time she would ever even grant him a conversation. So instead, he lurked in the woods, trapped in his bear form until he was convinced that Adrian was left safely inside.
Knowing the danger now was more real than it had ever been made him feel hypervigilant about being there to save her life. He hadn’t realized just how serious the situation was. Things had been quiet there over the past few weeks. Probably too quiet. Hopefully the dragon-shifters didn’t realize that Kent was there to be her body guard, but judging by the fact that the dragons hadn’t been counting on him lurking in wait, they hadn’t wised up to the fact that the bear-shifters were aware of their game.
All he really knew for sure was that he couldn’t just leave these corpses there, littering Adrian’s yard. He had to get in touch with Logan Mills and Blaine and let them know exactly what was going on.
Kent took off down the mountain to make the call to Mr. Mills. He stayed close enough that he could still see Adrian’s house and sense any potential danger, but he was paranoid that she might be able to hear his voice and determine that somehow, he was an even bigger piece of shit than she thought he was already. The assumption hurt him more deeply than he cared to admit. The truth was, he would have done anything to protect her and keep her safe. In fact, until they had spoken in the diner, he hadn’t even realized just how hurt she had been when he had left the motel room. It explained a lot about her behavior toward him.
Bear-shifters were used to coming and going as they pleased, without having to answer to anybody. He wasn’t going to apologize for going out to get some air. The motel had left him feeling caged and confined enough as it was. There was no way he was going to stay there even one second longer than he had to.
Still, he did wish that there was a way for him to go to the girl and explain to her what had been going on with him. It was personal though, and he didn’t feel like trying to make his case to someone who had already passed judgment on him. It would be a waste of time and frankly, one that he didn’t have the patience for.
“Mr. Mills, hi. It’s Kent. Something happened.”
“Kent? What’s going on, Mr. Black. Is everything all right. How is my daughter?”
Logan’s voice was high strung.
“She’s all right, but she almost wasn’t. The dragon-shifters launched a sneak attack on her house. Two of them came and tried to attack from above. Somehow their magic was working here. I fought them off but I’m afraid that this is just the beginning.”
“Tell me exactly what happened,” Mr. Mills demanded.
Kent rehashed the story, trying to remember every detail possible.
“The corpses are still here. I don’t know what to do with them. I can’t get rid of them. I’m afraid they may strike again and I’m not going to let them catch me off-guard. I won’t let anything happen to Adrian.”
“We’ll have someone come out to take care of the bodies. I need you to take Adrian out though, so she doesn’t see what’s going on. Can you find a way to do that?”
Kent nearly groaned out loud. How was he supposed to do that when he wasn’t even wearing any clothes? He supposed he could quickly head down to the convenience store. Most public places had changing rooms for shifters that offered a basic set of clothing for anyone who was in a pinch.
“I guess so,” Kent said, “but I’m not leaving until they get here. I need to make sure the area is secure.”
“Of course,” Mr. Mills said. “You said there were two?”
“Yeah. And their magic was working somehow. If it had been anybody else out here, I’m afraid she would have been burnt to a crisp. Those guys were powerful.”
“Damn it,” Mr. Mills sighed. “This is bad.”
“Well no shit it’s bad!” Kent exclaimed, nearly at the end of his patience. “I don’t have any idea what I’m supposed to do. What if they bring an army next tim
e? I need to protect her, Mr. Mills. I can’t let anything happen to her. But how am I supposed to do that when I don’t even know what to expect?”
“Stay calm, Kent. They aren’t going to bring an army in. They know they don’t have what it is they need in order to win a war against the bear-shifters, especially not on our own turf.”
Kent sighed heavily. “Then what are they going to do?”
“They’re going to keep coming, but you’re going to have to fight. Just fight until there’s nothing left. I can have Coty watch over her through the night to keep you both rested and sane, but it’s you I need to trust in this matter. She’s easy to keep track of at night. During the day, when she’s busy going about her life, that’s when I worry. And Coty needs to take care of his side of the mountain.”
“Mr. Mills, please. Just tell me what’s going on. If you tell me more, then maybe I can help you to—”
“No, Kent,” He interrupted. “This is confidential. If I were going to tell you I couldn’t do it over the phone anyway. You would need to speak to me in person, in our ancestor’s tongue. Do you know it?”
Kent pursed his lips. After his parents had died he’d had nothing. All he had was time. Time he used to study as much as he could. There was nothing he couldn’t learn, and when he put his mind to learning martial arts, Blaine had taken an interest and led him to one of the ancient caves where he began to teach him how to read the hidden scrolls. There were many warrior stances that helped to align the bears with their hidden power; a power that was strong enough to obliterate both wolf and dragon-shifter races combined. They didn’t need that power, but Kent had begun to utilize it and nurture it during his training anyway.
“I’m familiar with the mother tongue,” Kent said. “Can we meet tonight once Coty takes over?”
“Yes, you know where to find me.”
Kent sighed. Yes, he did. “All right, we’ll talk then… and I need you to be honest with me. Because if you’re not, then it could mean your daughter’s life. You understand me?”
Dragon Protector (Dragon Dreams) Page 30