by Zoe Chant
Lucas replied icily, “Do you question my honor or my memory?”
“Neither.” Grand Duke Vaclav’s voice stayed cool, but Lucas felt the knife twist as he went on, “It was a rhetorical statement.”
Lucas unlocked his door without another word. He barely stopped himself from slamming it behind him. Once the door closed, he found himself shaking with anger he was honor-bound to suppress.
And that would be his life from now on.
He looked around his apartment. It was sparely but elegantly furnished, unlike the lavish opulence of the palace. He had enjoyed creating a home just for himself, to please no one but himself. Now everything he did would be a joint decision with Raluca, plus consultation with his family and perhaps some important courtiers and members of parliament.
But there was nothing to be done. He hadn’t taught the horse to fly, and now he had to ride it.
Without giving himself time to think, Lucas picked up the phone and called Hal.
“Ready to tell me what’s going on?” Hal asked, without even saying hello first.
“I am. There is something I have never told you. When I was eighteen, I was promised in marriage. It is part of a treaty between my country, Brandusa, and a neighboring country, Viorel.” Lucas summarized the story of his arranged marriage to Princess Raluca of Viorel and the oath they both had sworn. “That is why I left Brandusa, Hal. I did not wish to marry the princess, and I hoped to find my mate elsewhere. But I never found her, and so I must go.”
“But—” Hal sounded more at a loss than Lucas had ever heard before. “Lucas, have you even met this princess? What if she is your mate, after all?”
“We have met. We are not mates. That is why we were allowed to wait for five years. Every dragon must be permitted a chance to seek out their mate.”
“What happens if you get married, and then one of you finds your mate?”
“Honor takes precedence. Dragons do not divorce.”
“Then don’t marry her!” Hal’s deep voice almost made the phone vibrate in Lucas’s hand. “Tell them all to go to hell. You’ll be doing the princess a favor, too.”
Lucas’s jaw was clenched so tightly, his teeth hurt. He forced his mouth open. “You do not understand. It is a matter of honor. Without honor, I have nothing— I am nothing.”
“I don’t see the honor in marrying someone you don’t love and who doesn’t love you!” Hal spoke in a growl; his bear was close to the surface.
Lucas’s anger and bitterness chilled into an icy numbness. Of course Hal didn’t understand. No American could understand. What did it matter that Lucas had to leave this country, where he had never fit in anyway— could never fit in?
“Hal, I leave you my car, my apartment, and everything in it. Keep them or give them away or sell them, as you please.” Lucas hesitated, remembering how Destiny loved riding in his Porsche Carrera. “No. I leave you my apartment and possessions. Please give Destiny my car.”
“This is crazy, Lucas!” Hal shouted so loudly, Lucas was forced to hold the phone away from his ear. “You sit tight. I’m rounding up whoever’s available, and we’re coming to your apartment to talk some sense into you.”
Lucas spoke quickly; Hal did not live far away. “Ah, and also on second thought, give Rafa my apartment. He jokes about getting a ‘swinging bachelor pad,’ but perhaps he would truly enjoy one.”
“I’m not giving anyone anything of yours, because you’re not leaving!” Hal yelled.
“Let the others look through my possessions. If they see anything they want, please let them take it.” Lucas hated to give up his favorite weapon, a gold-plated custom pistol, but guns were illegal in Brandusa. With a sigh, he said, “Shane may have my Desert Eagle. He will treat it with the care it deserves.”
Hal spoke with quiet urgency. “Lucas, don’t go anywhere. I’ll be right there.”
“The key will be under the mat.”
The line clicked as Hal hung up. Lucas hoped Hal had heard him.
Unlike most shifters, dragons could take their clothing and some additional weight with them when they transformed. Lucas had always supposed it was from necessity. If dragons had to leave behind their gold when they shifted, they would probably never shift at all.
He opened the safe that contained his hoard. His dragon’s lust for gold and jewels took him even in his haste, and for several seconds he stood mesmerized by the exquisite glitter of his treasure. Then he poured the precious gems and gold coins into a pouch and tied it around his waist, and put on all the jewelry. The chill and weight of gold was soothing on his skin.
Lucas caught sight of himself as he strode past a reflective window, with jeweled rings on every finger and heavy gold chains wrapped around his throat and wrists. He looked like a king about to ride out to his death in a battle he knew he could not win.
He stepped out into the corridor, locked the door, and slipped the key under the mat. “I’m ready.”
For the first time in Lucas’s life, Grand Duke Vaclav gave him an approving nod. “Now you look like a proper prince.”
Lucas hurried him up the stairs, expecting at any minute to hear the loud tread of Hal’s footsteps behind them. When they got to the roof, he made a quick but thorough scan of the area. No one was in sight, and no planes or helicopters flew overhead.
“Conceal yourself,” Grand Duke Vaclav warned him. “You do not know who might be watching.”
“I know,” Lucas snapped, and was annoyed to hear his own voice. He sounded like the resentful teenager he had once been. He had to keep hold of his real self: Lucas the man, not Lucas the boy.
He could tell already that it would be hard.
Grand Duke Vaclav drew in a deep breath. The air around him sparkled black. Lucas’s vision blurred, and he felt the desire to look elsewhere, accompanied by the certainty that what he was looking at was ordinary and unimportant. But he kept watching. As a dragon shifter, he still felt the effects of draconic concealment, but unlike humans or non-dragon shifters, he could resist them.
The black sparks became a whirlwind, then a blizzard. Grand Duke Vaclav vanished within the flurry. Then the sparks winked out of existence. Where a gray-haired man had once stood, a dragon crouched. Every scale and claw gleamed black as if it had been carved from polished iron.
“Lucas!”
He spun around. Hal and Nick burst through the stairs and stood facing him. Hal must have found Nick in the gym; his chest was bare, and his black hair and werewolf gang tattoos glistened with sweat.
“I am sorry, Hal. I...” Lucas swallowed against a lump in his throat. “I have very much enjoyed working at Protection, Inc. I shall never forget it.”
“What the hell are you talking about?” Nick burst out. “And what’s with all that bling?”
The iron dragon’s obsidian eyes narrowed in contempt. He launched off the roof and rose into the sky, then dipped a wingtip, urging Lucas to join him.
Hal and Nick couldn’t see the dragon, but Hal must have spotted Lucas’s gaze shift.
“Is someone here with you?” Hal asked. His hand was on his gun; so was Nick’s. “Lucas, are you leaving of your own free will?”
No, Lucas thought. I am leaving because honor compels me.
But Hal wouldn’t understand that.
“No one can force a dragon to do anything.” Lucas lowered his gaze, unable to meet the frustrated concern in Hal’s hazel eyes or the hot anger in Nick’s green eyes. “Farewell.”
He reached within himself, seeking his dragon. Lucas drew upon his lust for gold, his joy in flight, and the assured power and detachment that he could only imitate as a human. He saw Hal and Nick begin to run forward. Then he was lost in his own transformation, his blood burning through his veins like molten gold, his body expanding like a butterfly breaking free of its cocoon.
His wings stretched out, his powerful legs tensed, and then he was aloft, soaring above the rooftop. The two humans shrank below, frustration and anger in every line
of their bodies. Their faces turned upward, seeking him, but whether they could see him or not, he was out of their reach.
The part of Lucas that belonged to the man felt his heart crack into a million tiny pieces. Then his dragon took over. He twisted easily in the air, his wings stroking upward, shedding all feelings but glory in the freedom of the sky.
The gold dragon followed the iron dragon, heading home.
Click to keep reading Defender Dragon!
HOWLS ROMANCE
Classic romance with a furry twist!
Did you enjoy this Howls Romance story?
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The Werewolf Tycoon’s Baby, by Celia Kyle
The Alpha’s Secret Family, by Jessie Lane
The Alpha’s Bargain, by Ryan Michele
Dragon Tycoon’s Fake Bride, by Anya Nowlan
Royal Dragon’s Baby, by Anya Nowlan
The Billionaire Dragon’s Secret Son, by Harmony Raines
The Billionaire Shifter’s Secret Baby, by Diana Seere
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The Wolf’s Royal Baby, by Milly Taiden
Her Unbearable Protector, by Raina Torres
And many more! Check them all out at the Howls Romance website.
Did you love The Dragon Prince's Baby Bargain? Then you should read Bodyguard Bear by Zoe Chant!
A BBW witness to a murder + the sexy bear shifter bodyguard sworn to protect her with his life + firefights and fiery passion = one hot thrill ride!
Curvy paramedic Ellie McNeil loves her job, even though her schedule dooms her to perpetual single-hood. But on an overnight shift, she witnesses a murder. No one has ever dared to stand against the murderer, a leader of organized crime, until Ellie bravely agrees to testify. But she’ll need one hell of a bodyguard to make it to the witness stand alive.
Growly bear shifter Hal Brennan runs Protection, Inc., an all-shifter private security company. A former Navy SEAL, he left his clan’s wilderness home for a life of danger and excitement. His parents pester him to look for his mate, but Hal is convinced that he doesn’t need anyone. Then he’s hired to guard Ellie. Now the bodyguard bear has a true challenge: to protect his mate… and open his heart.
Bodyguard Bear is a sizzling hot, standalone BBW bear shifter romance. No cliffhangers!