"I'm taking it out."
"Ella!"
I looked at MacKenzie as I took hold of the claw. His face was white with fear, but he nodded. I pulled. A hideous sound issued from Alistair's throat, one of animal pain. I saw his body flux, a fluttering of dragon scales passing across his skin and vanishing again. He was trying to shift—his body's natural reaction to pain and danger—but he no longer had the strength.
The claw came loose and I wrenched it from Alistair's chest with an ugly, guttural sound. It was followed out by a flow of blood.
"Come on!" MacKenzie shifted to dragon in an instant, scooping Alistair up with as much care as if he was made of glass, then leaping into the air and taking off at high speed towards the exit of the hive. Callum shifted a moment later and Duncan and I climbed onto his back before heading out in pursuit. No words were said, but I could feel the fear, fierce in all of them, and was sure they could feel the same in me.
The flight back felt like a thousand years, and when we finally reached the castle, we piled inside in a rush. The men, heedless of their nakedness, quickly set him on the couch and circled around their fallen brother, whose wound ran thick with fresh blood.
His cheeks looked so pale…so drawn, that my stomach bottomed out.
“No!” Callum roared, dropping to his knees and pressing a hand to Alistair’s chest. “All of you, put your hands on mine, now!”
The brothers did, as I paced, panic gripping me in its icy fist.
“You too, Ella. You’re one of us. He needs his whole clan to pull him through.”
I walked over on shaking legs and joined the fray, wedging myself between Duncan and MacKenzie, a prayer on my lips.
Please, let me have done the right thing. Dear god, please don’t let me know the pain Alistair himself has suffered…
We stayed like that, heads bowed, for endless minutes. And for most of those minutes, I didn’t feel anything but Alistair’s rapidly cooling skin against my elbow. Tears ran, unchecked, down my face and I spared a look at the others in hopes of seeing some sign of optimism, only to find their faces ravaged with tears as well.
And then something happened. It was subtle at first…a warm pulse of energy arcing between our hands, giving off the faintest of flickers.
“Did you see it?” Callum demanded. “More…dig deeper.”
I closed my eyes and pushed every ounce of energy and love outward, into our joined hands. The warm pulse grew stronger, heating into a ball of energy that rivaled the sun.
“It’s working. Jesus, it’s working. His wound is closing, I can feel it,” Callum whispered.
The only question now was if we were too late…
Chapter 22
Two weeks later…
Exterminating the drakes completely was never realistically going to happen, a few stragglers escaped, but nowhere near enough to be a problem for dragons in the future, and they would be keeping a very low profile now that they were the ones in the minority. In short, the plan had worked, the day had ended in victory, though it had certainly not felt like it at the time.
I looked out of the window to see my boys at work, chopping wood for the endless fires required to keep the castle warm. Unconcerned by the freezing cold, Alistair worked with his shirt off so I could see the scars that lined his body. They were healing well, thanks to dragon magic, and would soon have vanished altogether, all but the deep, livid blemish on his chest where the drake claw had punctured his lung. That one would likely be with him for the rest of his life, like the scars on MacKenzie's chest, a reminder of how close he had come.
There had been long, anxious nights after we brought him home, taking it in turns to sit by his bedside and watch over him as he slept, his breathing rasping and shallow. On the third night, I had started to drift off, unable to keep my eyes open any longer, when I felt something touching my hand. Wide awake, I had looked down to see Alistair holding my hand. I squeezed and felt the answering squeeze—weak but certain—and I knew then he would live.
I did not tell the others about that moment, but kept it as my own, along with the quiet hope that maybe, just maybe, I had given him something worth living for. Nothing could bring back Catriona, but he had fought for life and had found love again.
With me.
With us.
That thought made me touch my belly—the signs were small but noticeable; I was pregnant. Was “pregnant” still the right word when it was an egg? I wasn't sure. Still so much to learn, but I was going to learn about dragon babies on the job. The males had been so adorable when I’d told them, going so far as to assure me that if I wanted to go back to night-school and complete my degree, they would hold down the fort and care for the egg once it was time, but that part of my future was still uncertain. For now, I felt contented and grateful that our little family hadn’t been torn apart by grief and wanted to relish every moment together.
Once Alistair was fully recovered, the five of us had spent another memorable night together. This time it was not about the survival of the Dragon Shifter species. This time it was about fun, and about intimacy. But it was also about affirming life and how lucky we were.
I had a lifetime of these men to look forward to. A lifetime of being loved, a lifetime of loving, and a lifetime of being a family. I had no idea whose baby I was carrying, but it didn't matter. MacKenzie had told me that it was easy to find out, but that many dragons preferred not to know who the “sire” was—all the males were fathers. I liked that; this would be a house/castle filled with love.
I opened the window and called out. "Come on in! You need to get ready! We've got to go soon!"
They stored the split logs in the woodpile, put their axes away, and trotted back towards the house, laughing and chatting together as they came. They had always been a happy group, but now they were so much more relaxed. With the problem of the drakes solved once and for all, they had the luxury of clear minds, and it suited them.
I wandered through to the hall and checked myself out in the mirror for the fifteenth time in the last half hour. It wasn't that I was worried about whether or not my family would like the guys—I knew that they would love them. It was just that there were four of them and that would likely take some explaining. And then, depending on what sort of detail I wanted to go into, there would be a lot more explaining, and I did not hugely want to spend Christmas explaining things. But as I looked at my reflection, I knew that my mom and my sister would understand and accept whatever I told them, no matter how outlandish, because they would look at me and know I was happy. Nothing else would matter to them. And once I had explained how things were over presents, a huge dinner and drinks, then my sister would soon be asking the guys if they knew any unattached clans in search of a female. If I had dragon blood then, presumably, she did, too.
It would not be a regular Christmas, but it would be a very enjoyable one. And by next Christmas there would be another place to set at the table. Christmas was always best when children were involved, although, how everyone would cope with a child that shifted into a dragon on a whim would be interesting to find out. One thing at a time.
The guys strode into the hall, naked, of course, but each carrying a bag with their clothes in, and a bag of presents.
"You sure they wouldn't like us to turn up like this?" suggested Duncan with a grin.
"I'm sure my sister would love it," I replied. "But I'm not that keen to share you."
"I hope they like us," said Alistair.
"What's not to like?" wondered Duncan.
"They might be a bit taken aback," said Callum. "The whole 'I'm bringing my four boyfriends home for Christmas' is a bit weird for humans."
"They're the weird ones."
"Crazy species," MacKenzie nodded. "Don't know how they survive. Now, come on, we don't want to be late and make a bad impression on our mother-in-law."
He kissed me and then kissed my belly before shifting, and the others all followed suit. It had become a little bonding
ritual between us whenever they went out. I climbed onto MacKenzie's back as Callum opened the huge doors and out we flew, diving through the bright, crisp winter air.
I was excited to be heading home again. I was excited to see family and friends, and maybe pull a few shifts at Sunshine Daycare after Christmas to keep my hand in, and get some practice. I was excited because it was Christmas. Most of all, I was excited for my family to meet my new family. We landed some small but safe distance away and the guys shifted and dressed, then we walked through the falling snow to the little house I had grown up in, out on the fringes of town.
"Keep quiet," I told the guys as we grew closer. "I want to surprise them."
"I think we'll do that," muttered Callum under his breath.
At the back door, I lined the guys up and then knocked.
My mom answered. "Ella! You made it. Rosie! Your sister's here! And she's brought... She's brought..." Mom noticed the four hulking men who loomed behind me, each carrying an armful of presents like GQ Santas.
My sister Rosie ran up and did a double-take before looking at me questioningly.
"I've..." I wondered how best to put this. "I've got some news."
Rosie turned an appraising eye on the guys. "Looks like good news to me."
I looked at my mom and she smiled. "You'd better come in and tell us all about it."
The snow continued to fall as we shuffled in, the guys offering “Merry Christmases” and “Compliments of the seasons” as they went. On the icy breeze, I caught the sound of carol singers, going house to house, coming our way, and from within I smelt Christmas dinner, unmistakable and unique.
Nothing says family to me like Christmas, and boy, did I have a family to share it with.
Want more Savannah Skye? Check out Her Vampire Harem, available for pre-order now!
Starling Mitchell likes her quiet little life. Aside from the constant barrage of bad (like, really bad) blind dates, she has it all together. A fulfilling job, good friends and a sister she loves dearly. But when she’s attacked on her way home late one night, everything changes, and she topples into a world she never knew existed. A world of nightwalkers and lust. A world where a woman can command the love and attention of not just one toe-curlingly sexy guy, but four of them.
A world that is as seductive as it is deadly…
Other Books by Savannah Skye
Her Demon Harem 1 (Succubus Chronicles)
Her Demon Harem 2
A Witch’s Harem
Kidnapped by the Dragon Harem
Her Howling Harem
Her Vampire Harem
Axe to Grind
Breaking Colt
Better to Eat You
Hard Lesson
Hard Sell
Bad Boy Next Door
Check out all Savannah’s books on her Amazon author page!
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Kidnapped by the Dragon Harem: A Paranormal Holiday Fantasy Page 15