“And, let me guess, they are working off one of their top secret, not-so-secret, analyses of the shifter populations, and have concluded you are good-hearted people. They want to force you to accept the Cysgodians as citizens in order to help save them, which will let this planet officially become part of the Federation Alliance. Since you let them build the settlement, they know you are not the type to turn away those in need.” Salena gave a long sigh and closed her eyes briefly in irritation. “Am I close? Become an official part of the Alliance or they won’t allow you to run tests and save Cysgodian lives? It sounds like the faulty logic of the Federation to me.”
“She’s not stupid,” Payton told Roderic, who nodded in agreement.
“And that is why in the midst of this mess the shifters are being attacked by Cysgodians?” Salena furrowed her brow and gave a small shiver of disgust. “I’m not sure I understand. They’re not hunting you for food, are they?”
“I should hope not. What I’m telling you is the beginning of the reason things are the way they are,” Grier said. “Cysgodians were cured of their initial illnesses, but they’re still dying before their natural time. They had expected to live longer because that is what happened to shifters when our ancestors came here.”
“Death causes fear,” Roderic said. “Fear causes irrational actions and jealousy.”
“We should go.” Payton motioned at the door, prompting them to leave as they talked. She lifted a bag of supplies she had packed while Jaxx made food.
Salena fell into step next to him. Grier wanted nothing more than to lift his arm around her and pull her close. He wondered if there was a reason the gods kept allowing them to be interrupted every time he tried to kiss her.
“Those irrational actions are beginning to increase because of rumors that shifter blood holds the key to a long life.” Grier did not want to see his people attacked and drained of blood due to a cultish myth. Draining a dragon of blood would do only one thing—kill the dragon. The same thing went for cat-shifters. “And how do you obtain shifter blood? Direct from the source.”
“I understand now.” Salena nodded. “The Federation is a slippery foe.”
“We have resisted joining the alliance for generations.” Grier let her pass through the door before him as they went toward the forest. “It is believed that—”
“It is a fact that,” Jaxx inserted.
“—if we joined, the Federation would try to take over and regulate our ore mining. It is the only reason they want Qurilixen in their alliance.”
“What ore?” Salena’s arm brushed against his. Her eyes caught his and for a moment everything else faded. He opened his mouth to tell her how beautiful she was.
“Galaxa-promethium,” Jaxx said when his cousin didn’t answer the question. “It is used to make fuel for long-distance space travel. We like to call it liquid space credit.”
They walked at a steady pace, moving quietly through the woods. Salena appeared to be considering what she had learned. Jaxx, Roderic, and Payton just looked exhausted. No one complained. They were all considered leaders to their people, and this was part of their responsibilities even if no one would ever know what they had been up to.
“So, I don’t get it. Are you two married or not married?” Jaxx asked. “I saw the glowing crystal myself, but you arrived at my home a little too early to have gone to the official announcement ceremonies before the elders this morning.”
Grier thought of the softly glowing crystal on the bracelet hidden in his pocket and couldn’t answer.
“It was a kind offer, but my staying here would only complicate the shifters’ situation with the Federation more,” Salena answered.
He was both hurt by the truth and relieved that he was saved from forming a response.
“It is going to take too long traveling like this.” Payton gave Salena a pointed look and almost tripped on a low branch.
“You two should run. Grier and I will fly. Grier, you carry Salena. I can carry the pack.” Jaxx’s tone didn’t exactly sound like a suggestion.
Salena’s eyes rounded and she looked up.
“You did all right with me,” Jaxx said.
“Didn’t you dangle me by an ankle while I was mostly passed out?” Salena returned.
“But you’re unharmed.” Jaxx smiled.
“I will leave the decision to you,” Grier told her, having no desire to force her to do anything, “but you would be able to get a better look at the terrain to see if anything is recognizable. We won’t be able to fly the area too long, since I was told to stop flying over the city, but we should be able to get a decent look.”
“I heard you tried to roast some of the citizens,” Jaxx said.
Grier frowned at how the small deed had been embellished by rumor. “I swooped them to break up two mobs that were starting to fight in the streets.”
“I heard that you tried to steal two children,” Roderic put forth, “but their parents bravely fought you off.”
“I heard they cornered him in an alleyway and he cried like a baby,” Payton said. His friends laughed. Salena suppressed a smile.
Grier grumbled under his breath. “Stop making up stories.”
They laughed harder.
“I’ll do it,” Salena said. “I’ll…fly.”
“Wonderful!” Payton dropped the bag on the ground. “Let’s get naked.”
“Wait, what?” Salena unconsciously placed her hand over her neckline as if to stop the naked plan.
“To shift,” Roderic clarified, pulling on the cross-laces of his shirt. “Please be so kind as to pack our clothing for us.”
Salena nodded.
Roderic, Payton, and Jaxx stepped behind some trees. After a few moments, articles of clothing were flung in her direction. She gathered them up and shoved them into the pack.
A roar sounded, and Payton leapt from behind a bush in the form of a large white tiger. She landed in a predator’s crouch.
Salena yelped in fright and instantly pressed against Grier, grabbing his arm.
Payton made a strange noise that sounded like a laugh. She looked to have gained an extra two hundred pounds. Her fur was a light cream with gray stripes, setting off her blue eyes and pink nose. Thick fur covered her limbs. She may have been a rare beauty, but she had the ferocious spirit that surpassed that of many of her peers.
“Payton, behave,” Grier ordered, “or next time we’ll shave both of your furry ass cheeks.”
She slashed her claws at him, whipped her head around, and turned her butt toward them. Her tail swished before she took off running into the woods. The sound of her roar filled the forest, and he knew the freedom she felt in that moment as the animal inside surged through her.
“She’s being a brat,” Grier said. “She has complete control over the shifting and won’t hurt you. She knows what she is doing.”
Roderic appeared in a much more civilized manner. The cougar came from the trees with his head down. He paused before Salena, letting her see his sleek body. Tawny fur faded to a lighter shade along his neck and chest. Yellow entered his shifted eyes, masking his human blue. Salena’s hand shook as she slowly reached out to touch his head, but she instantly snatched it away when he moved. Roderic looked up at her, made a small noise in the back of his throat, and then took off after his cousin.
“That’s…” Salena whispered.
“I’m worried about, if you’re scared of the cats, what you’ll think of the dragon. I promise I won’t—”
“That was remarkable,” she exclaimed. “And they can do that whenever they want? Just turn into an animal?”
“Not any animal. Only their big cat form.” Grier buried the ping of jealousy he felt at her amazement over the Var. “I can half-shift into a dragon-man, or—”
Salena gave a small laugh. “Yeah, I remember. Now that was terrifying.”
He thought of the crystal in his pocket and wondered if it still glowed, or if it had given up now that the ceremony night
was over. He was too afraid to look.
Tree limbs rustled, and he saw a glimpse of Jaxx as he shot up into the sky, not bothering to come back to the small clearing where Grier waited with Salena.
Salena looked up, but Jaxx could not be seen through the tops of the trees. “And I take it the full shift is the flying dragon. I take back my first comment. From what I remember of Jaxx when he saved me, that was truly terrifying—oh, wait, he forgot the bag.”
She went to pick it up from the ground.
“No, he left it on purpose,” Grier said. “Even though he can carry the pack, doesn’t mean he intended to. I would have done the same thing to him.”
Salena stopped mid-action and eyed him.
He didn’t move.
She gave him a small smile.
“What?” Grier wasn’t sure what she was doing.
If he followed his instincts, he would cross over to her and start kissing her, and this time he wouldn’t stop. He wanted her too badly—wanted to touch her, beg for her, make demands. He wanted to marry her. He would give her everything, anything, whatever she so desired.
The ache he felt only deepened with each passing second. Here she was, so close, and yet he couldn’t have her. This was the cruelest punishment from the gods, for what else could this be? To have the only woman he would ever want, he would risk a war with the Federation and the death of his people. It was a choice no one should have to make, but he wasn’t just anyone. He was a Draig prince. His wants would never come first.
“Can I watch?”
It took him a moment to process what she was asking him. She wanted him to strip out of his clothes while she watched? The very thought sent a heat wave of desire down his body, pooling in his already oversensitive regions.
How could he say no?
His gut tightened.
How could he say yes?
Thankfully, he couldn’t mate in dragon form so he could half-shift before disrobing. That might help him control his desires.
“I won’t hurt you,” he said.
“I know.” She nodded. “I trust you.”
“When you’re ready, climb on my back and grab hold at the base of my wings. I’ll try to fly slow and steady. Keep your head down while I’m going forward so the wind does not take you. When I hover, you can lift to get a better look. If you get scared, kick me with your knee. If you fall, I will catch you. No harm will come to you. I give you the word of a prince.”
“I understand,” she said, her hands shaking a little. He couldn’t blame her. If he didn’t have wings he’d be terrified of being so high in the air. Her bravery humbled him a little.
He reached for his shirt and pulled it over his head. As he went to the pack, he made sure to wrap his crystal in it so that no one would see it. The stone still glowed softly. He put his boots in as well. “You will put the rest of my clothes in the pack for me?”
Salena moved closer and again nodded. Her eyes strayed to his pants, but he did not remove them. Already the arousal would be unmistakable.
Grier knew he could not let the wild nature take over like the night before. Though heartbroken, his dragon would have to behave and prove he was worthy to the gods. Maybe then they would forgive him and let him have her.
Maybe.
Hopefully.
Somehow.
The prince was acutely aware of how he must look to her as the hard armor of his shift started along his neck and hands. His vision became focused, and he looked past her to the trees. The familiar pain pulled at his jaw and gums, reshaping his face. Though he was fully protected by the armor of his shift, she could still pierce him with just a look. Nothing could protect him from her.
Even now his need for her swirled in his blood, but the arousal had been covered so that it would no longer show his desperation. It took the edge off his desires and allowed him to concentrate. Barely.
He was being selfish, thinking of how this affected him. Salena was a fugitive. Cysgodians were starving and their city could not take another influx of people brought in during the darkness of night. It might already be too late to stop another shipment. They all needed the Federation gone from their planet, peacefully and willingly.
The last part was proving to be impossible.
When he didn’t shift further, she came to him and touched his face. He felt the pressure of her fingers, but not in the same way his man flesh did. They brushed over his cheek and down the center ridge of his forehead to his nose. The smell of her filled him, and he memorized her scent so that he may always track her. He observed her face for signs of fear or repulsion. There only seemed to be a fascination. That was good. He didn’t want her to be frightened of him.
Her exploration continued down his neck to his naked chest, only to stop over his heart. He wondered if she would be able to feel just how fast it was beating. Probably not with the armor of flesh protecting it.
“You are captivating.” She lifted one of his hands in hers and touched a taloned finger. “The progression of man to man-dragon in such a short span of time, so seamless a transition. I have never seen anything like it.”
His communication would be gruff in his current form, so he said nothing—not that he could form words if he wanted to with her standing so near. The dragon part of him wanted to yell “Mine,” and the man part of him wanted to beg “Please have me, I can’t imagine a life without you.”
She dropped his hand and stepped back. He took her silent meaning and turned partly to the side to push the pants from his hips. He tossed them toward the pack and, as she went to shove his pants inside and tie it closed, he let the full shift overtake him.
Grier tried not to let her see how painful it was to transform. The cracking of his bones and popping of his extending jaw sounded loud in the quiet forest. Wings tore out of his back, ripping their way free. His feet lifted slightly off the ground before he fell forward onto all fours. His tail extended from the base of his spine and he realized he should have warned her to stay away from the spade at the end. The talons grew longer on all four limbs. His mouth made room for more sharp teeth.
Salena was slower to approach him this time. She stared at his face, eyeing the protrusions that grew like spikes from his head. Instead of touching him, she reached to pick up the pack.
Grier stepped forward, and she paused mid-reach. He took the bag in a taloned fist, not wanting her to add extra weight to her body. It would be easier for her to hold on without worry about a bag of clothes and food.
Now that he’d come closer, she lifted a trembling hand to once again touch his face, this time as a full dragon. It hovered by his mouth as if testing the heat of his breath. He lifted his head and spouted a little stream of fire so that she could see it. Grier should have warned her about that as well. He didn’t want her panicking in the sky if he needed to use it.
He thought about changing back so he could explain everything better, but her look stopped him. She nodded, as if to say she understood. Her hand skimmed his face, patting his cheek, before she moved along his side. She ran her hand over his flesh. He lifted his wings, and she ducked beneath one.
Grier lowered himself toward the ground and leaned in her direction. He felt the slight weight of her body moving on top of him. She inched around, as if trying to find a position with her legs, before finally straddling his sides and taking his wings. He felt her fast breaths and pounding heart as she lay her chest flat against him.
Salena tapped his shoulder a couple of times before again gripping his wing. “I’m ready.”
Grier moved his wings slowly a few times, letting her feel the movement before he pushed harder to lift off the ground. He hovered for a little while until she tapped him again. He rose up into the trees. Her legs tightened as they reached the top of the branches. His hearing picked up a little noise of what sounded like panic. Again, he hovered, concerned as he gave her time to adjust. They had given rides to the cat-shifters before, but normally the goal had been to scare them.
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She tapped his wing really fast before gripping it tight to get him to move.
Grier propelled them forward at a slow pace, but still much faster than they could have walked. He didn’t take her high into the clouds. He found no reason for it. Her hand and legs held on tight, but he felt her head move from side to side as if she looked over the treetops at the distant landscape. The mountain palace was within eyesight, built into the cliff face of a small red mountain. From the distance it looked like any other cliff, crafted that way to hide what it carried within.
Grier focused on keeping a steady path, and on the movements of his passenger. The soft green light of morning had grown stronger. Jaxx had gone on ahead and he could not see him in the sky. Somewhere below the Var shifters ran to meet them.
Slow and steady, Grier repeated to himself, his body tense. Slow and steady.
12
By all the stars, she was flying.
In the air.
On a dragon.
Salena had to be crazy. Insanity was a viable explanation as to why she’d agreed to this.
Her heart pounded so hard that she found it difficult to draw a satisfying breath. The cold of the wind whipped around her, causing her to shiver. It never occurred to her that flying would feel so cold. Or that they would be going so fast. The trees moved in a blur, almost nauseating to stare at directly. It was entirely possible she would have chosen Jaxx’s unconscious ride dangling by her foot over this complete awareness.
Her eyes dried from the rush of air and she closed them. Not seeing was almost worse than seeing, so she opened them again and dealt with the discomfort.
Grier’s powerful body flexed. Each beat of his wings rippled the muscles beneath her. Her fingers became numb from gripping him so tightly, and from the cold. They ached, but she didn’t dare let go.
If insanity ever hit her again and she did this a next time, she would wear more clothes. And she’d also tell him to go slower.
She focused on a distant cliff jutting out of the trees. His wing blocked her vision in steady beats. It helped the nausea to watch something that didn’t appear to be flying by at a breakneck pace. The faint shape of a tower appeared to peek up from the top.
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