Skyfire Dragon

by Natalie Kristen

  She knew immediately that he was a shifter, and she began to shiver. Was he a wolf? Or a half wolf—like Skinner?

  The thought jolted her out of her libido-driven haze and the sudden spark of fear made her jerk away.

  “P-please...don't touch me...” she whispered.

  “Elle...”

  “A-are you a wolf?”

  Aidan frowned.

  Her voice rose sharply. “Are you a wolf?”

  “No. I'm a bear shifter,” Aidan answered. His eyes flashed briefly. He knew immediately that a wolf had hurt her. He had caught the faint scent of a wolf in her bakery earlier, but the scent was very weak. He suspected that her attacker was half wolf, half human. All scum.

  “Elle, can you tell me what happened? Tell me who hurt you.” He practically snarled the last sentence.

  Elle swallowed and began, “My ex-husband, Skinner. He just got out of jail, and he found me. I thought I'd be safe here in Shadow Point, but it seems I'll never be safe. I guess...I can only stop running when I'm dead.”

  “Did your ex-husband do this?” Aidan touched the scar on her cheek very gently with his thumb.

  Closing her eyes, she have a shaky nod.

  Aidan stood up and pulled her to her feet.

  “I'll write up the report and have you sign the statement tomorrow morning. Give us a description of Skinner. I promise you, he won't escape. But tonight, you are coming home with me.”

  She gasped when he pulled her to her feet.

  “What? Home?”

  “Yes. You live alone, Elle?”

  She blinked at him. “Y-yes.”

  Aidan growled. “It's not safe for you to be alone tonight.”

  Elle gulped and peered at him. “Do you live alone, Mr...deputy sheriff?” The thought of being alone with him the whole night quickened her pulse and breathing.

  “No. I live with my two younger brothers, Mason and Jackson. Tristan, our eldest brother, used to live with us as well. But he's married now, and his house is just down the road from us.” He spoke calmly, casually, as if to assure her that he was just a normal guy, a good guy and not an ax murderer.

  Elle bit her lip. He was right. It wasn't safe for her to be alone in her dingy apartment tonight. Skinner was on the prowl. He had found her shop and she was sure he knew where she lived as well.

  She shouldn't be alone but she had nowhere else to go. Aidan offered the only safe harbor from the storm right now. But...should she be spending the night in a house full of big, growly bear shifters?

  “I'll call my Gramma and Ne-ma to come over,” Aidan said, as if sensing her worry. “They're the owners of Broomstick Inn, and they're at the inn day and night, but they'll pop over to meet you for a while.”

  “I don't want to bother...” she began, but Aidan was already on the phone.

  “Hi, Ne-ma, can you and Gramma come over to the house for a few minutes tonight? There's someone I'd like you to meet,” Aidan was saying into the phone. “Yeah, it's a she. Yes, Ne-ma, she...” Aidan glanced at her and lowered his voice to a growl. “She's real pretty.”

  He murmured and snapped monosyllabic answers into his phone before clicking off.

  Aidan turned back to her. “My Gramma and Ne-ma are on their way.”

  “Oh, I...” Elle stuttered, flustered and nervous. “I shouldn't keep them waiting. I'll lock up the place...” She fumbled for her bag and keys. “I'm so sorry to bother you and your family, Mr...”

  “It's no bother. And it's Aidan. That's what my friends and family call me.”

  “Okay.” She managed a smile. “Okay, Aidan.” She guessed that meant they were friends now.

  The thought made her smile and blush.

  She didn't have a single friend in this town. Perhaps given time, they could be...more than friends?

  The deputy sheriff was one hot, sexy hunk and from what she could tell, he was a good, protective guy. He had even taken the trouble to get his family to meet her so she could feel safe with him.

  When he held out his hand to her, she took his huge, strong hand immediately.

  “I'll call the station and request for an officer to keep an eye on your bakery,” he said. “I don't think your ex-husband will come back here tonight, but it's better to be safe.”

  She nodded. “I don't think Skinner will trash the shop. It's me he's after.”

  “He won't get to you. I won't let him hurt you, Elle,” Aidan said.

  Elle gave him a small smile.

  No one had ever looked out for her and protected her before. Not even her mom. Her mom had been too busy with her string of lovers to pay much attention to her. She had told Elle that being pretty was the most important thing. If you're pretty, you could get a man to love you, her mom said. That's why her mom taught her those glamour spells. To make herself pretty so she could be loved. Her mother made it clear that no one could love Elle the way she was. No one wanted a short, chubby, red-headed half witch.

  Just for a moment, Elle allowed herself to forget all about Skinner and the danger she was in.

  It felt real good to hold Aidan's hand and walk down the street with him. If only she could do this every day, she thought sadly. She would be happy to hold his hand and walk with him for the rest of her life.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  By the time Aidan drove up to the spacious double-story house, he knew that Gramma and Ne-ma had called Mason and Jackson and told them to roll out the welcome mat.

  This was their parents' house, and the Gray brothers continued living in the family home together. Tristan only moved out after he got married but he and Alisa were always dropping by to deliver food for the boys.

  Alisa was a great cook. She was the chef at Broomstick Inn, and she always made sure that the guests at the inn and her own family were well fed and happy. She was like the big sister they never had, and she enjoyed fussing over Tristan's younger brothers, whipping up all their favorite dishes and using them as her guinea pigs for her new recipes.

  All the lights in the house were on. The porch lights were blazing and the front door was thrown wide open. As he cut the engine, Aidan could see Mason rushing past the window with an armful of dirty laundry. Mason was eleven months younger than him, but Mason always insisted that they were the same age. Jackson was the baby of the family, but he was the tallest and brawniest of the lot.

  Jackson was scrambling around with a broom in his hand, and when Aidan got out of the car, he heard Mason shouting, “They're here! Hurry up, Jackson! Never mind now, just sweep the wrappers under the carpet!”

  Aidan put his hand over his mouth to hide his chortle. His brothers were trying to clean up the place to welcome their guest. None of them were very good at housekeeping, and Gramma and Ne-ma sometimes cast a Clean-Up and Clear-Out spell on their house out of exasperation and to teach them a lesson. Their house got cleaned in a jiffy, and old, dusty things that were past their use-by dates got thrown out. But the spell made no distinction between old junk and old collectibles. All old things got thrown out. Even precious, beloved, highly valuable old things.

  Aidan and his brothers would return home to find their old posters, prized possessions and collections, favorite old t-shirts and jeans in the rubbish bin. They would spend all night retrieving and rescuing their treasures from the bin while Gramma and Ne-ma looked on and clucked their tongues disapprovingly. “Serves you right!” they said.

  Mason threw the last armful of their dirty clothes into the washing machine and skidded out to grab the broom out of Jackson's hands. Jackson snatched the dirty cups off the coffee table and rushed to the sink. Then he pirouetted out of the kitchen and pulled the kitchen door shut behind him. Another door slammed and Mason ran to the front door, mopping his brow.

  “Welcome!” Mason and Jackson bowed low as Aidan came up the front steps with Elle. “Welcome to our humble but homely abode.”

  Aidan rolled his eyes. This was over the top.

  His brothers eyed Elle curiously and grinned. Elle was
looking around with a bewildered and amused expression. She smiled at Mason and Jackson and said, “Thank you. You have a lovely house. I hope I'm not imposing...”

  “No, no, not at all.”

  “Please, make yourself at home.”

  “I'm Jackson...”

  “I'm Mason...”

  “And we're Aidan's brothers!” they recited together.

  “I'm Elle,” she told them. “I'm really happy to meet you.”

  Aidan shook his head at his brothers and said, “I saw you running around trying to clear the laundry and the trash. You didn't have to...”

  “It's not for her,” Jackson blurted out. “Gramma and Ne-ma are coming!”

  The three brothers shared a look of understanding and commiseration. “Good job, guys,” Aidan said, surveying the place. “Gramma and Ne-ma won't be able to find anything to clear out this time.”

  Elle turned at the sound of excited female voices down the driveway. “Is that…?”

  “Yep. That's Gramma and Ne-ma. They…”

  Two silver-haired ladies burst into the house, chattering at the top of their voices. They seemed to be congratulating each other, giving each other high-fives and low-fives and bumping their hips.

  They ignored the boys completely and simply made a beeline for her. “Oh, there you are!”

  “You're such a pretty little thing!”

  “Perfect!” they trilled. “Just perfect!”

  CHAPTER SIX

  Elle sat down at the kitchen table with Gramma while Ne-ma put the kettle to boil and made three mugs of strong tea. Aidan was watching TV in the living room with his brothers, and Elle had a feeling that Gramma and Ne-ma had ordered them to stay out of the kitchen.

  Elle put the bags of cookies on the table and said, “These are from my bakery. I didn't manage to sell them today, so...”

  Gramma grinned and immediately grabbed two plates and filled them with cookies. “I'll go out and give these to the boys. This bigger plate is for us girls.”

  Elle helped Ne-ma carry the mugs of tea to the kitchen table and sat down with her. “Mmmm...” Ne-ma took another cookie. “These are divine! Yum!”

  “Are you going to eat them all, Neveah?” Gramma demanded as she waltzed back into the kitchen. “Leave some for me!”

  “You can have the crumbs, Glynda,” Ne-ma answered, snagging another cookie.

  “Oh no you don't.” Gramma snapped her fingers and the cookie flew out of Ne-ma's hand. Gramma snatched the spinning cookie out of the air and bit happily into it. “Crumbs, eh?”

  Elle watched in awe and wonder as Gramma and Ne-ma used their spells effortlessly to spar with each other over the cookies. Colorful sparks landed on the kitchen table as the cookies danced from the plate into Gramma and Ne-ma's grasping hands.

  “Gimme!”

  “I'm having the last chocolate chip cookie!”

  “Hey!”

  As Gramma and Ne-ma giggled and tried to outdo each other with their playful spells, they turned laughingly to Elle and encouraged her to join in the spell-fest. “Come on, hit her with your best shot!” Ne-ma grinned.

  “I...I c-can't.”

  Gramma and Ne-ma stopped fooling around and the cookies clattered lifelessly back onto the plate. “But you're a witch, right? Like us,” Gramma said, frowning. “I can sense you have magic in your blood.”

  Elle shook her head. “I'm a half witch. My dad was human, but I never knew him. He was...just one of my mom's many lovers.”

  “But your mother's a witch. She should have schooled you in basic spell-casting and manifesting,” Ne-ma said, blinking in surprise.

  “The only spells my mom ever taught me were glamour spells.” Elle swallowed. “She said that was all I needed to know. And since I'm not a full witch, she said there's no need for me to know anything else. She wanted me to be pretty, but...” Elle blew out a long sigh. “I'm not the pretty daughter she wanted. I'm short and plump, with unruly curly red hair. My mom was tall, blond and slim. She wanted me to use my glamour to look more like her, but...I just couldn't do it.” Elle looked down and mumbled, “I'm not good at spells. I'm not good at anything—except baking.” She shook her head and added softly, “My mom...wasn't a happy woman. She never found what she was looking for. I think...she was looking for true love, but she never found it. Not in this life. She's gone now, and I hope...she's happy where she is...” Elle blinked away the sudden tears in her eyes and reached for her cup with shaking hands.

  Gramma and Ne-ma came round the table and sat on either side of her. They put their arms around her and held her lovingly.

  “I...I'm okay,” Elle said, wiping her eyes on her sleeve.

  “Of course you are,” Gramma said. “You're wonderful.”

  “You are a witch, Elle,” Ne-ma said firmly. “A half witch has magic in her blood, just like a full witch. You just have to learn to use what you have. And you have a lot of potential and talent. There are a lot of spells you can cast, not just glamour spells. Those are pretty useless, in my opinion. What's the use of being a pretty but hollow-headed thing?”

  Elle smiled sadly. “It's too late now. My mom's gone...”

  “It's never too late,” Gramma snapped. “You can start learning now. We'll teach you.”

  Elle's eyes rounded. “You will? T-teach me?”

  “Of course! We'll teach you to be a proper witch. You'll learn to focus your will and cast all kinds of wonderful, good spells, not just airy glamour spells and nasty love spells!” Ne-ma made a face.

  Elle let out a short laugh. “I don't think I can even cast a simple love spell properly. I made a wish, and see how that turned out!”

  “What wish?” Gramma said slowly.

  Elle lifted her shoulders in a tired shrug. “I wished that I would finally find true love and live happily ever after. What a silly wish, eh? And as soon as I made the wish, my ex-husband appeared and tried to kill me. I can't even make a wish properly. I can even screw up a wish, fancy that!” She laughed mirthlessly. “True love doesn't exist, at least not for me. The little love that I thought I'd found turned out to be cold and twisted. That wasn't love. That was a terrible mistake.”

  Gramma and Ne-ma shared a long, silent look.

  Finally, Gramma patted her hand and said, “You didn't screw up your wish, dear.”

  “Huh?”

  “You must be exhausted now. Go have a good night's rest. Put all your unhappiness behind you. We'll begin our training tomorrow. You're going to learn how to be a real witch!” Gramma smiled.

  Ne-ma pushed her glasses up her nose and said, “We'll teach you everything we know.”

  “I...I don't know what to say. Thank you, thank you so much!” Elle whispered. “Nobody has ever done this for me.”

  “You're going to be a fine witch, Elle,” Ne-ma said. “Everything will be fine. You'll see.”

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  Aidan hesitated for a heartbeat at the door of the spare bedroom, and continued walking.

  Nope, Elle wasn't sleeping alone in that bedroom. She would be sleeping with him tonight, in his bed.

  Aidan opened the door to his bedroom and ushered Elle in. She looked around in surprise. “This...is your room,” she stuttered.

  “Yes.” It's our room.

  She smiled awkwardly and went to stand at the edge of the bed. “Um...where...”

  “You'll sleep here.” Aidan patted the bed. “With me.”

  Her lips parted, but before she could protest, he said, “This is your side. And this is mine. I'll draw an invisible line right down the middle, like this. I won't cross over to your side—unless you want me to, of course.”

  “Of course,” Elle repeated in a monotone.

  Aidan went to pull out one of his big t-shirts from the drawer. “You can wear this,” he said. “The shower is over there, and there's a new toothbrush on the shelf. I'll go downstairs and talk to Gramma and Ne-ma for a while, but just holler if you need anything.”

  At the door,
he heard her whisper, “Thank you, Aidan.”

  He turned to meet her shimmering hazel eyes. “You're safe now, Elle. I promise,” he said gently and closed the door.

  He stood outside his bedroom door for a moment, resisting the urge to charge back in and hold her. She looked so small, so fragile and precious. The scar on her face was just a reminder of how much she had been through, and how strong she was. She'd moved to a new town all by herself to try to start a new life. Elle was a survivor. She hadn't experienced much warmth and love in her young life, and she had made some mistakes. Her mother had given her the wrong notion of love and beauty, and undermined her self-worth. Elle had wanted her mother to be proud of her, to love her. She was so desperate for love she had looked for love in all the wrong places.

  But all that was past.

  She was in his home now, in his life. He would make sure she never got hurt again.

  Aidan trudged down the stairs and went to the kitchen where Gramma and Ne-ma were speaking together in hushed tones. They stopped their furious whispering when he stepped into the kitchen.

  “She's getting ready for bed,” he told them. “I'll hunt down that Skinner guy and skin him alive!”

  “Come here, Aidan,” Gramma said. “Sit down.”

  He sat at the table with them and stared at the plate of crumbs. “Her cookies are delicious,” he muttered. “I only had one. Mason and Jackson finished the rest and licked the crumbs off the plate.”

  Ne-ma smiled and said, “We're going to start training her tomorrow.”

  “Training her?”

  “You do know that Elle is a witch, right?”

  “Yeah. She tried to cast a glamour spell over herself. To hide her scar from me.”

  Gramma sighed sadly. “The poor girl. She's been made to feel that she wasn't beautiful enough, not tall enough, not slim enough, not blond enough. And she's ashamed of her scar...”

  “She's got nothing to be ashamed of,” Aidan said hotly. “She's perfect!”