Draconians: Complete Series (BWW Dragon Shifter Scifi Romance)

by Grove, Scarlett

  These were just a few of the reasons that Joss refused the idea of taking a human wife. He had no interest in mating with a semi-barbaric species, even if he had to spend the rest of his life alone. After losing his one love as a young man, he had vowed to never love again.

  Joss stepped out of the transport vessel and made his way towards the new Draconian building that had been constructed for him and his crew on Earth. They were typical of buildings constructed for Draconian colonies, several stories high and half a mile long.

  Massive amounts of debris had to be removed to build the construction. Now that it was done, it could house many Draconians from the mating armada. Most of the men were civilians, scientists, engineers, men who could help in the reconstruction of human society.

  He walked into the building and was greeted by the commander of the mating armada himself, Commander Nash Or.

  “Greetings, Commander,” Joss said, giving the commander the traditional Draconian greeting of placing his hand on his heart and bowing forward slightly.

  “How was the trip over from Draconia?” Commander Or asked.

  “As well as can be expected.”

  “Were you able to study the materials I sent to you?”

  “I went over some of it. But I didn’t think it was necessary since I do not intend to take a bride.”

  “All new Draconians are entered into the lottery upon arrival in the solar system. By order of the president. We aren’t just here to construct buildings. We’re here to revitalize our DNA. It is our primary objective. One I take very seriously.”

  “I have no interest in a human bride,” Joss said.

  “You have already been entered into the lottery.”

  “My fated mate will not be found among these barbarians.”

  “Who are you calling a barbarian?” said a dark little woman with a baby and a strange little push carriage. She was short but pretty, in a human kind of way.

  “I beg your pardon, madam. I meant no offence,” he said, giving her the traditional Draconian greeting.

  “Humans aren’t barbaric. We just haven’t advanced to your level yet.”

  “Indeed,” he said, not wanting to continue having a conversation with the barbarian female.

  “Let me introduce you to my bride, Lexi Garcia. And our daughter Violet. Finding Lexi was the best thing that ever happened to me,” Commander Or said.

  “And finding Nash was the best thing that ever happened to me, even though I wasn’t so sure about it in the beginning.”

  “Why in the world would a human reject a Draconian?” Joss asked, shocked. Any human female should be grateful to be mated with a Draconian male. The last time they were on Earth, the humans had seen Draconians as gods. As far as Joss was concerned, they still should.

  “Hey, Draconians aren’t the only ones with standards or values,” Lexi said, pursing her full lips at him.

  He narrowed his eyes at her. How dare she speak to him that way? But he supposed this human was mated with the commander of the mating armada. Joss was a civilian and did not have to take orders from anyone, except perhaps his president. But he did have respect for the commander’s position, even though he had no respect for the man’s choice in females.

  “I’m sure that’s true,” Joss said. He was sure it wasn’t true. From the little he’d learned about humans, they had low values and low standards. They let billions of their own kind starve, and they bombed each other for fun. Yet this woman seemed to believe that humans weren’t barbarians. It was really quite humorous the more he thought about it. However, he decided he should not share that fact with either the commander or his silly human bride.

  “Dearest,” Commander Or said to her. “Why don’t you take Violet for a walk around the building while I talk with the grand architect?”

  “I would, but there’s not really anywhere to walk in this place. It wasn’t designed for humans…” she muttered, walking away.

  Joss frowned. This building was of his design, used on all Draconian colonies. What did she know?

  “That’s exactly what I wanted to talk with you about, Joss,” Nash said. “The human brides are not happy living in this building.”

  “This is standard colonial construction,” Joss said. It worked for all other Draconian colonies. Why not Earth?

  “Even our mating armada has been reconstructed and rearranged for human tastes. The apartments onboard had to be redesigned to accommodate our mates.”

  “I do not see why humans should require anything different from any other Draconian colony.”

  “We made a study of human culture so that we could appropriately provide for our brides. But many refuse to live on the ground, which is ironic because this is their planet.”

  “I will take it under advisement,” Joss said.

  The last thing he was going to do was take advice from a military man. Joss had spent two decades in higher education, dedicated to architecture and construction.

  He had spent another two decades as a professional architect and had risen to the rank of Grand Architect of all Draconia. He had personally designed the president’s own quarters. He had also constructed dozens of colonies throughout the galaxy. Those were the very reasons he had been chosen to come to this planet.

  He had the experience, the education, and the skill to do the job. Commander Or didn’t know what he was talking about.

  “Good,” Commander Or said, giving him a suspicious look.

  The man didn’t believe him. As well he shouldn’t. Joss was not a man to take advice from his inferiors. Draconians has learned long ago to treat all members of their race as equals. But they had also learned to give due respect to experts. Commander Or should remember that.

  Perhaps the man had spent too much time with humans and had forgotten how important it was to defer to those with greater knowledge and ability.

  Joss nodded at Commander Or and turned away. He took the elevator up to the top floor to his apartment and walked through the sliding door into a room. It had a very similar design to military vessels and colonial buildings.

  Everything was white. The furniture was in squares and rectangles and made out of advanced foam blocks. A table with a food replicator sat off to the side and a big open window looked out onto the last remaining park within the city that had once been called New York. He had learned that this was one of the most populous cities in the country called the United States of America.

  The city had been chosen specifically by the president. It had political and social implications that the president had been advised were important. Joss didn’t see why they shouldn’t just pick a spot somewhere without the debris and wreckage and start over again. The humans could then move to that new location and spend the rest of their time cleaning out the debris from their old cities.

  He stood at the window and looked out at the park. Human refugees were camped in tents in the snow. The squalor of it was sickening. He could only imagine the lack of sanitation and the resulting sickness among the people down there. He wrinkled his nose just thinking of the stench.

  He intended to build over the park with the same type of construction he used in Draconian colonies. This world and situation demanded quick housing for the population and the designs he used on Draconian outer colonies would be perfect here. These beings, in their squalor, should be pleased with his plans.

  Joss couldn’t believe that any Draconian would want to mate with beings like these. But he supposed that some men had lower standards than he. It bothered him that Commander Or had entered him into the mating lottery. But it was the request of the president, and he was not a man who would defy the command of his leader.

  If he had believed there was any way that he would be somehow mated with one of these humans, he would’ve been concerned. But he no longer believed he had a fated mate anywhere in the universe.

  Chapter 4

  Octavia was stewing in her tent all night and until the next morning when she woke up, still a
ngry. She heard the sound of Dan outside her tent entrance and she grunted in the cold, moving around inside her sleeping bag to open the door.

  “What is it?” she groaned, her breath puffing out in front of her as the cold air blew into her tent.

  “You need to see this,” he said, his voice full of concern. He held out a big plastic square that had writing and drawing on it. She realized it was something like blueprints, except when Dan flicked part of the paper, it became holographic and three-dimensional.

  “What is that?” she asked, her voice still horse and heavy.

  “These are the Draconian plans for New York City,” Dan said.

  Octavia looked more closely at the three-dimensional plans. The buildings were nondescript industrial blocks. They looked like prisons or tenements. There was no variety. No streets. No parks. Just rows and rows of these industrial blocks that went on for miles.

  “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me,” she said. “This is how they plan to redesign New York City?”

  “I guess these are typical Draconian colonial housing. Which kind of makes sense. Seems we’re being colonized.”

  “They expect us to live in these cell blocks?”

  “There will be hot running water and food replicators, so everyone will be clean and well fed. It’s something. Better than what we have going on now.”

  “This is unacceptable, Dan. We could’ve done something better than this.”

  “I don’t know, Octavia. We don’t have any resources. We would’ve been nailing together salvaged materials from the wreckage. Who knows how long it would’ve taken us to even get running water?”

  “Seriously, Dan?”

  “I know it isn’t ideal. We were all hoping for more, some fantasy utopia. But this is reality. We have to take what we can get.”

  “Maybe you have to take what you can get, but I’m not settling for this. I intend to give those Draconian assholes a piece of my mind. The world might’ve been screwed up before they arrived, but they’ve completely destroyed it now. If they want to breed with our women, then they can at least rebuild our cities in a way that’s suitable for human beings.”

  “What are you going to do?” Dan asked, scratching his red beard.

  “I haven’t decided yet. But I’m not to sit around here and do nothing. Can I borrow your car again?”

  “Sure, what do you need it for?”

  “Going back down to the consulate to yell at them until they listen to me.”

  “I’m not sure that’s such a good idea,” he said, handing her the keys.

  “Fine. I don’t care. Thanks for the keys.”

  She brushed past him out of the tent and hurried toward the parking lot where his truck was parked. She wasn’t going to let the Draconians get away with this. Humans couldn’t live in cellblocks.

  The worst part was that they intended to build right over Central Park. Not only were they going to give humans prison-like housing, they intended to destroy the one good thing left in the entire city.

  Octavia screeched out of the parking lot and sped all the way to the consulate, where she hastily parked and ran up the front steps of the building. Inside, the same smug secretary sat at his desk. He looked up at her with a smile.

  “Are you here to enter the mating lottery?” he asked.

  “I’m here to speak with whomever is responsible for these designs,” she said, slapping the blueprint down on the desk in front of the secretary’s face.

  “That would be the grand architect, Joss Noro. He arrived yesterday from Draconia. It is such an honor to have him here. He was sent directly by the president himself.”

  “How long have you been on this planet?”

  “I’ve been here since the mating armada arrived six years ago,” he said.

  “And in all that time have you seen a single human city that looked anything like this?”

  The secretary looked down at the blueprints and frowned. “No. But I’m sure the grand architect knows what he’s doing.”

  “Are you kidding me?”

  “Draconians respect their experts. We defer to their greater knowledge and skill. It is our custom. It is the reason we have survived for so many millions of years. Our society functions. Unlike yours.”

  “Our society functioned just fine before you assholes arrived and ruined it,” she snapped.

  “I apologize. We did interfere with a species at an inappropriate stage in your development. It was wrong, and we are committed to reparations. I will take your concern to my superior officer.”

  “I want to speak to this Joss Noro guy myself,” she said, crossing her arms. She didn’t intend to leave until she got what she was asking for.

  “That’s impossible. Grand Architect Noro does not take meetings with humans.”

  “Is there any way that I could see this guy?”

  “Perhaps if you are mated with a local Draconian on the civilian crew, you might see him socially. But the odds of that are…”

  “So you’re saying the only way that I can talk to your grand architect is to enter the mating lottery and be mated with a local Draconian?” she asked sarcastically.

  When she first said the words, it was because the idea was crazy. As soon as the words left her lips, she realized that if she was going to save her city from those ridiculous plans, she would have to enter the mating lottery. It was the only chance she had to convince this Joss Noro guy that his plans were all wrong.

  “Yes. But there is no guarantee that you would ever have any interaction with the grand architect,” he said.

  “But I would be mated with a Draconian. And you guys do talk to each other, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “Fine. Sign me up.”

  “Miss, I can’t guarantee you that you will ever speak with Joss Noro. As soon as you provide me with your DNA, you will be obligated to take a Draconian as your mate. As soon as the computer identifies your mate, it will activate the male’s mating impulse. That impulse will become stronger and stronger until he claims you. If he is unable to claim his mate, he will eventually lose his mind. We Draconians consider this extremely sensitive, and we will not allow you to run away from your responsibility. You will be mated if you are matched. Do you understand?” His words were almost threatening, and she didn’t like his tone.

  She met his intense stare with her own and crossed her arms over her chest, daring him to question her or threaten her more.

  “I understand. I’m willing to put myself into this position just for the off chance that I can convince your idiot architect that this is not the way that humans are supposed to live. We’ve been through too much. It is about damn time that you Draconians started listening to us. Do you understand?”

  “Have it your way. Please rub this swab on the inside of your cheek, and I will enter your DNA into the system. It will only take a moment to know if you are matched to any of the males in our database. If you are matched, you will be sent to your male immediately. If you are not matched, I ask that you leave the consulate and not return.”

  She yanked the swab out of his hand and rubbed it on the inside of her cheek. When she was done, she thrust it into his face. He took the swab and put it into an open spot on the desk. It closed up and the swab disappeared. He hit a few spots on his holographic computer screen, his face unchanged. A moment later, he frowned and sat back in his chair, shaking his head.

  “What?” she asked, tapping her foot and crossing her arms more tightly over her chest.

  He looked up at her, still frowning. He leaned forward and rubbed his chin.

  “This must be a mistake,” he said.

  “Oh, so your advanced computers make mistakes?” she mocked.

  “No. Never. It’s just…” He took a deep breath. “You’ve been matched with Joss Noro, the Grand Architect of Draconia.”

  Chapter 5

  “So… Let me get this straight. I’ve been matched with the very asshole who made these ridiculous blueprints?”r />
  It had been a silly impulse to enter the mating lottery in the first place. She hadn’t really believed that she would be matched with anyone. Over the last six years, she’d known lots of girls who had entered the lottery, and only one of them had ever been matched. She’d only done it to wipe the smug look off of the Draconian secretary’s face.

  “It appears that way, yes,” he said, his expression dumbfounded.

  “Well, shit.” She turned around as if to walk out the door.

  “You will not leave the consulate, human female.” She turned back to him and glared. Was he threatening her again? No one threatened Octavia Reynolds.

  “Are you threatening me?” she asked, leaning over the desk and giving him her strongest bitchface glare.

  The Draconian stood and stared her down. The guy was too damn tall. Octavia was average height for a human female. Not only was the secretary obscenely tall, he was probably twice as wide as she was. He was all muscle, packed into a skintight uniform that left little to the imagination. She looked him up and down and took a step backwards.

  He’d told her the conditions of entering the lottery. And she’d accepted them. She knew that this one Draconian could break her in half, let alone if the entire Draconian military were sent to find her. It was something she certainly didn’t want to mess with, even though mating with a Draconian was the absolute last thing she really wanted to do.

  Great. Dammit.

  Octavia knew that she had some impulse control problems and some anger issues, especially since the Mulgor invasion. She hadn’t been able to keep her temper under wraps. Now look where it had gotten her. At the same time, she had been mated with exactly the man she wanted to talk to.

  Score one, Octavia.

  “Fine. I’ll meet with this Joss Noro dude. That’s why I came here. I’m the grand architect’s new bitch,” she said sarcastically.