by Zoe Chant
Protector Panther. (Protection, Inc. # 3). A curvy paramedic who doesn’t know the meaning of fear + a mysterious panther shifter bodyguard with the power to inflict terror + sinister experiments and desperate passion = one heart-pounding romance!
Warrior Wolf. (Protection, Inc. # 4). A runaway dragon princess who wants to experience life outside of castle walls + an ex-gangster werewolf bodyguard with a chip on his shoulder the size of Texas + uptown parties, downtown nightclubs, and deadly assassins = one explosive good girl/bad boy romance!
Ranger Griffin. A lonely reporter in deadly danger + a protective griffin shifter who thinks he’s a monster + a cozy cabin in the snowy woods = on exciting and heartwarming romance!
Firefighter Dragon. (Fire & Rescue Shifters # 1). A curvy archaeologist with the find of a lifetime + a firefighter dragon shifter battling his instincts + a priceless artifact coveted by a ruthless rival = one blazing hot romance!
Firefighter Pegasus. (Fire & Rescue Shifters # 2). A curvy pilot wary of flighty men + a firefighter pegasus shifter determined to win her heart + a high speed air race with even higher stakes = one explosive romance!
Firefighter Griffin. (Fire & Rescue Shifters # 3). A curvy single mom burned by love + a unique half-eagle, half-lion shifter firefighter with a wounded soul + the little boy who brings them together = one heart-warming romance!
A Pair of Bears. One lonely cat shifter + two sizzling hot bears who want to share + a whole lot of action (in and out of bed) = one wild and sexy adventure!
Bearista. A tough bear shifter bodyguard undercover in a coffee shop + a curvy barista with an adorable 5-year-old + a deadly shifter assassin = a scorching thrill ride of a romance!
A Mate for the Dragon. A curvy woman with a broken heart + a hot dragon shifter with a haunted past + a deadly clan of evil dragons = one sizzling and suspenseful romance!
Hollywood Dragon. A curvy singer + a billionaire dragon shifter + shifter battles and sizzling passion = one blockbuster romance!
Mated to the Storm Dragon. A curvy artist down on her luck + a dragon shifter running out of time + a powerful enemy with an ancient grudge = a romance as hot as dragon fire!
See Zoe Chant’s complete list of books here!
Defender Dragon
Protection, Inc. # 2
By Zoe Chant
Copyright Zoe Chant 2015
All Rights Reserved
Chapter One
Lucas
Tick-tock.
Usually Lucas enjoyed the ticking of the antique grandfather clock in the meeting room of Protection, Inc. So many things in America were so new that they seemed cheap and sterile. But Hal Brennan, the huge bear shifter who ran the private security company, had a taste for the old and cozy. Hence, the clock of wood and brass.
But today the ticking was driving Lucas crazy. He wished Hal had been more of a typical American and furnished the room with a silent digital clock. Then Lucas could have simply not looked at it.
It was time for the weekly meeting, when all seven members of Protection, Inc. reported on their cases, but Lucas was the only one there. He glanced at the clock again to see if he was early, but he was exactly on time.
“I said, ‘Where is everyone?’” Nick’s voice, raised and rough with annoyance, startled Lucas. He’d been so distracted, he hadn’t seen Nick come in.
Lucas covered up his inattention with an icy stare. Nick scowled, his tattooed arms folded across his chest and his wolf glaring right back at Lucas from behind the man’s green eyes.
“I don’t know,” Lucas admitted. “It’s late— they’re late.”
No. I’m late, he thought. I’m too late. Today is the last day. If I don’t find my mate today, it’s all over.
Tick-tock.
Hal threw open the door. He held a blood-soaked cloth to his head. His shirt was torn, exposing the bulletproof vest beneath.
Lucas started up from his seat. “Hal! You’re hurt.”
“It’s nothing.” Hal looked more embarrassed than pained.
His curvy mate, Ellie, followed close behind him, a first aid kit in her hand. “Hal, sit down and let me examine you.”
Hal’s rugged features softened into a smile. “Sure. I’m all yours.”
He sprawled out in the huge leather chair that had been custom-made for his larger-than-life size. Ellie, who was a paramedic, sat beside him and took his pulse.
“I appreciate you calling me,” Ellie said softly.
Hal ruffled her hair. “No one but you gets to patch me up.”
The intimacy between them made Lucas feel his ever-present loneliness even more sharply. What must it be like to have a mate? Could that bond of love warm even the frozen places inside of him?
The rest of the members of Protection, Inc. filed into the room. From their chatter, they had run into Hal in the parking lot on their way to the meeting.
Rafa, the lion shifter, leaned over the table, his black hair falling over the anxious creases in his forehead. He and Hal had been Navy SEALs together before Hal had founded Protection, Inc.
“Hal—” Rafa broke off, shaking his head ruefully. “No, wait, you’ll say you’re fine no matter what. Ellie, is he all right?”
“Yes, he actually is. It’s a shallow cut, but any wound to the head bleeds a lot. I’ll just put in a few stitches so it doesn’t scar.” Ellie applied antiseptic to a cloth pad and began to clean the cut.
“How’d you get clocked?” Destiny asked, dumping her backpack and skateboard on the floor.
Lucas was amused to see that she and Fiona had come straight from their undercover assignment at a local high school. Fiona was primly dressed as a teacher, her blonde hair pinned into a bun and glasses she didn’t need perched on her elegant nose, while curvy Destiny was impersonating a student in cut-off shorts and light-up sneakers.
“I was fighting three guys, and number four snuck up behind me,” Hal replied.
“Careless,” Shane remarked, making Lucas jump. The quiet panther shifter had managed to sit down next to him without him noticing. At least that wasn’t due to Lucas being distracted; Shane could sneak up on anyone.
Hal shrugged, then winced as the movement pulled at the stitch Ellie was putting in. “They’re all in jail now. Job done. Okay, guys. Report.”
Normally Lucas paid close attention at team meetings. Though his country, Brandusa, had an elected parliament, the royal family still had a substantial amount of power. As the crown prince, he had been raised from childhood to sit through excruciatingly boring, six-hour conferences on taxes and treaties. And then he’d been quizzed on them. Protection, Inc. meetings were no trouble compared to that. Usually he enjoyed hearing everyone’s accounts of protection and adventure.
But despite his training and the exciting stories everyone was telling, his attention drifted. By the end of the day, unless a miracle occurred, he’d be summoned back to Brandusa. Forever.
Tick-tock.
Hal cleared his throat. “Lucas?”
Lucas blinked. Everyone else was looking at him. “Ah. Yes. My assignment is complete. The stalker made an attempt upon my client’s life. I captured him and delivered him to the police.”
“That’s it?” Destiny leaned over and punched his arm. “Give us the details! That’s where the fun is.”
She grinned at him, her warm brown eyes crinkling at the corners. To make herself look younger, she’d put her hair in tiny braids that fell across her merry face. Unlike some of the others, Destiny had accepted him from the beginning, inviting him to get-togethers and treating him as if he was no different from anyone else. At first he hadn’t liked that— after all, he was a prince and a dragon, and was not like everyone else— but he’d come to appreciate her open-hearted nature.
Lucas looked around the room, observing all the people he’d probably never see again— all the people he’d been putting off informing that he’d never see again. Fiona, the snow leopard, whose cool reserve was almost fit for royalty. Rafa, who ha
d soon joined with Destiny in dragging Lucas to strange places like sports bars and barbecue joints, trying in his own way to make him feel like he belonged.
Shane, who had done his terrifying best to intimidate Lucas, but who had respected him when Lucas had passed his test of courage. Nick, the former gangster, whose rough street background made him dislike people born into wealth, but who had backed Lucas up like a brother when they’d worked together.
Hal, who had invited him to join the team in the first place. Ellie, Hal’s sweet and brave mate. Now that Ellie had finished doctoring Hal to her satisfaction, she leaned so close into him that she was practically sitting in his lap, her head against his shoulder and his arm around her back. That was the mate bond: comfort and companionship, passion and love.
A pang of loneliness pierced Lucas to the heart. He’d run out of time, and now he’d never experience that bond. And he couldn’t bring himself to tell his teammates he’d have to leave forever— not when there was still a chance of a miracle.
He remembered a story his old nanny Vasilica had told him. Once there was a horse trainer who had been sentenced to death by the king.
“Wait!” the horse trainer had cried. “If you postpone my execution for one year, I can teach your horse to fly.”
The king (who must have been very gullible, Lucas had always thought) had agreed to postpone the execution, but told the horse trainer that if he failed to teach his horse to fly by the end of it, he’d not only be executed, he’d be tortured to death.
The horse trainer’s best friend approached him afterward and said, “What was the point of that bargain? You only bought yourself a year, and then you’ll be tortured to death!”
The horse trainer replied, “Many things can happen in a year. In a year, I could die, or the horse could die, or the king could die. And who knows? In a year, maybe I really can teach a horse to fly!”
“Lucas?” Hal asked, frowning. “Are you all right? Did something happen that you’re not telling us?”
Lucas glanced at the clock. Twelve hours. Maybe in twelve hours, he’d die, or the princess would die, or Brandusa would be invaded and no one would care about the arrangement. Or maybe in twelve hours, he’d find his mate.
“Nothing of note,” Lucas replied, and recounted his latest job in more detail. He had been trained from childhood to speak in public, and he let his training take over.
After the meeting, the group had lunch. Lucas didn’t notice what he was eating, intent only on finishing so he could leave and go... somewhere his mate might be.
Ellie stepped aside to text on her phone. Lucas watched her absently, wondering if she was talking to her brother Ethan, a Recon Marine who was off on another mission. Then he decided from her giggles that she was chatting with her best friend, Catalina Mendez, a paramedic like herself. No one in Protection, Inc. had ever met her. Catalina, who was even more adventurous than Ellie, volunteered with Paramedics Without Borders. Soon after Ellie had met Hal, Catalina had been called away to help with an earthquake in another country.
Could she be his mate?
“Ellie?” Lucas called. “When is Catalina coming back?”
Ellie’s eyebrows rose; Lucas had never been curious about Catalina before. “Hard to say. Whenever the emergency services in Loredana get back on their feet.”
That caught Lucas’s attention. “Is that where she is? That’s near my country, Brandusa.”
Everyone stared at him. Again.
“Didn’t you know about the earthquake in Loredana?” Fiona inquired. “If it’s near your country...”
Her words stung Lucas far more than she’d probably intended. He detested the implication that he was neglecting his duties to the land he’d left. He straightened his back and inquired, “Why should I pay special attention to a region to which I will never return?”
His tone would have made most people back off, but Ellie didn’t scare easily. She asked, “Why’d you leave?”
Lucas said stiffly, “I had my reasons.”
Destiny slapped Ellie’s shoulder. “Don’t bother. We’ve all asked, but he won’t say. Even Hal doesn’t know.”
Lucas felt an arrogant expression form on his face, like a mask. He was no more than a couple meters from the farthest of them, but he felt a million kilometers away. And he felt even more distant when he realized that after all this time, he still thought in meters and kilometers instead of American feet and miles.
He’d fled Brandusa partly to escape the feeling that he was always alone, even in company. But nothing had changed. He was still in company, and he was still alone.
Everyone was still looking at him. Ellie seemed puzzled, Rafa and Destiny frowned in exasperation, Nick’s glare was outright angry, and Fiona and Shane had applied their best “too cool to care” expressions. Lucas could deal with all that. But Hal looked concerned, and that was the one thing Lucas couldn’t face.
“Lucas—” Hal began.
Lucas pushed back his chair and stood up. “I have work to do.”
He walked out, the door swinging gently shut behind him. Slamming it would be beneath his dignity.
Lucas paused in the lobby to look at the framed photos of everyone’s shift forms. Rafa’s lion, lazing with his family. Hal’s huge grizzly bear, at home in the forest. Fiona’s snow leopard, lithe and deadly. Nick’s fierce wolf, at the head of his pack. Destiny’s tiger, stalking through the jungle. Shane’s panther, whose yellow eyes seemed to burn through the photo. And Lucas’s dragon, soaring over a castle in Brandusa. Another pang of loneliness pierced him at the thought of Hal taking down his picture.
He had to get control of himself. These feelings were also beneath him. He was a prince and a dragon. He had honor and dignity. And that was all that mattered.
Lucas got his car and drove aimlessly along the streets of Santa Martina. He watched all the passing women walking down the sidewalk, driving their cars, shopping and chatting and working. Out of all the billions of people in the world, one was his mate. But what were the odds that he would ever meet her?
Maybe she was Catalina.
Maybe she was a woman in a country he’d never even heard of, whose language he didn’t speak.
Maybe she was right here in Santa Martina, but had never happened to be in the same place as him. Ellie and Hal had lived in Santa Martina for years before they’d met.
Maybe she was dead.
Maybe she hadn’t yet been born.
Maybe she wouldn’t be born until after he was dead.
Lucas drove until the setting sun turned the clouds to puffs of flame. Then, resigned, he headed for his apartment. As he walked upstairs, he thought, Maybe Raluca found her mate.
And maybe in a year, I can teach a horse to fly.
By the time he reached the landing, he wasn’t surprised to see the tall, straight-backed, gray-haired figure, one arm rising to knock on Lucas’s door. Lucas didn’t need to see his face to know him.
“Grand Duke Vaclav,” Lucas called.
His great-uncle turned around. He had tutored Lucas in etiquette, politics, logic, rhetoric, and swordfighting since he’d been a little boy, often remarking that praise made children soft and a prince needed to be strong. He was a man of his word; Lucas only knew he’d done something perfectly when his great-uncle nodded silently rather than finding something to critique.
The Grand Duke’s stern expression didn’t soften as he said, “Prince Lucas. I have come to summon you home to marry Princess Raluca.”
Lucas’s heart sank into his shoes. Though he knew it was a foolish, obvious thing to say, he couldn’t help asking, “So she hasn’t found her mate?”
His great-uncle’s disapproving stare made Lucas feel like he was ten years old again. “Have you forgotten your lessons in logic after a mere five years? The terms of the treaty stated that if either you or Princess Raluca found your mate, the marriage would not take place. Given that I have come to summon you to marry her, is it possible that she has found
her mate?”
“No,” Lucas started to mutter, then remembered that he wasn’t ten. He was twenty-three. He was an adult who had been living by himself for five years. He had protected others with his life. He might have to return to his childhood home, but he didn’t have to return to his childhood.
Lucas forced himself to meet his great-uncle’s cold black eyes. “I was not engaging in a debate, Grand Duke Vaclav. I was making conversation. Have you forgotten your own lessons in rhetoric? That was a rhetorical question.”
Lucas had the small satisfaction of seeing his great-uncle look abashed, though it only lasted for a second.
“Indeed. Well, enough conversation. It is time for you to leave this... place... and do your duty.” Grand Duke Vaclav made place sound like hovel. His disapproving gaze drew Lucas’s attention to every way in which his apartment was not a palace.
Lucas couldn’t help bristling. “May I invite you into my place for refreshment before you depart?”
His great-uncle folded his arms. “No. I will wait here while you set your affairs in order. We are expected at the castle tomorrow night.”
That gave Lucas a couple hours, at most, to dispose of his apartment, his possessions, and his job.
His entire life.
Lucas looked at Grand Duke Vaclav— looked down at him. With a shock, he realized that he was now taller than his great-uncle.
Grand Duke Vaclav had no true power over him. He couldn’t physically drag Lucas back to Brandusa. Nor was any arranged marriage agreement legally binding in America. All Lucas had to do to make the whole thing go away was to refuse to cooperate. His great-uncle would have to fly back to Brandusa empty-handed. Lucas and Raluca would be free to keep searching for their mates, and perhaps someday find them. Lucas could keep working at Protection, Inc.
As if his great-uncle had read his thoughts, he said, “You swore an oath, Prince Lucas. On your honor and by your hoard. If neither you nor Princess Raluca found your mate in five years, then you must marry each other.”