by Starr, Maia
“Sure, anything to help a damsel in distress.” I winked at her, hoping the gesture would put her at ease. It seemed to work because she smiled back, those sparkling green eyes shimmering in the moonlight as she looked back at me.
“What do you do for a living?” James asked her as if he were trying to keep the conversation moving.
“I work at a bar. Bartending, but it pays the bills,” she said. I frowned, wondering if she had known the people who had hurt her. James and I began to walk quicker, following after Malick and Cree. I didn’t know where exactly we were going, but I knew Hailey was about to be thrust into our world, and I wondered how long we could keep our secret.
Chapter Three
James
Life was meant to be lived; that was the motto I had always lived by, and yet it sometimes meant dealing with situations you really didn’t want to come across. The beautiful raven-haired girl that the four of us had found in a crumpled mess had been violated and disposed of. She was lucky worse things didn’t happen, and I felt like fate must have been smiling on her to let us come across her trail. So far, it seemed like the one person she was connecting with was the baby of us: Cree. Cree and I hit it off rather well, but when I noticed that she was laughing and cracking a smile at the stupid jokes he made, I felt that she was stronger than I first deemed her to be. More than just a damsel in distress, the woman had willpower, drive, inner strength, which was kind of amazing to me. I felt a sudden pang of resentment at what I was seeing though because it meant that Cree held more of a chance of developing something with her.
“So, Hailey, right?” I asked her as Cree scooted closer to her and listened to me.
“Yeah,” she said, nodding slightly. She was visibly injured from her ordeal, and I figured she might want to clean up, so I decided to offer her the opportunity.
“Do you feel up to bathing now, or are you still hurting too much?” I asked. She had come back with us, and I didn’t know how she wanted to proceed against her violators but knowing what they were made that a little harder than usual. Cree perked a brow at me as if he were annoyed that I had asked her that question.
“You want to come outside and talk for a minute?” Cree asked me before Hailey had the opportunity to speak for herself.
“After the lady gets a chance to speak for herself,” I said, nodding toward Hailey. Cree’s expression flat-lined.
“No, I think we need to talk outside,” Cree said, a bit more seriously. Hailey seemed to sense something awkward and blurted out,
“Look, I’m fine. I just need to eat, and yes, a shower would be great,” she said. “Please don’t get into an argument on account of me. You both, you all,” she waved around the room, “saved me, and I cannot thank you enough for that.” The tension was at a height, and I knew this girl had no clue what she was dealing with. The men who had attacked her were monsters, but by comparison, the four of us were beasts. And a human woman was enough to make our hormones and rages flare. It was like a box of TNT waiting to be ignited, and when it finally went off, I knew it was going to be disastrous.
Cree sighed and glanced at Hailey, his expression softening as he looked over her. I could tell from his eyes that he felt a link to her, and knowing that he would need to find a mate, I almost deciphered the look as an unsaid claiming. He was already showing the signs of defensiveness, a need to be protective and keep her safe. He showed all the tell-tale signs that he felt she was meant to be his mate, and that made my blood boil slightly, but I didn’t show it, instead choosing to keep my tongue and continue watching over Hailey. It was my one way to ensure she would stay safe. I dared anybody to come in and mess with her while I was on watch.
Hailey smiled and looked at Cree, who was right at her side.
“Would you mind finding me something to eat?” she asked, “And maybe some water or juice? I don’t know. Anything simple will work,” she added. Cree arose and smiled as he nodded to her.
“Sure, I’ll go in the kitchen and see what I can scrape up for ya,” he said, winking at her and brushing past me. Well, I guess it was better than me going in there and burning the place down. I had no idea how to cook and never really cared to spend a lot of time in the kitchen. Hailey had chosen right to ask Cree to procure her a meal.
“I can get a warm shower going for you. Just let me know when you want to take it,” I said. She smiled.
“No, I think I should eat first, and then I’ll take a shower, but if you could show me where the bathroom is, I can get it started myself later on,” she said. I wondered if she was intimidated by me and frowned slightly.
“Well, is there anything else I can do for you?” I asked her. She looked around the room and nodded to the flat-screen TV that was bolted to the wall.
“Could you turn something on for me? I’m a little bored,” she confessed. I chuckled. All she wanted was to watch some TV? That wasn’t too hard of a request. I walked over to the set and clicked the power button on without hesitation.
“Anything in particular you want to watch?” I asked, handing her the remote. “I’m pretty sure you probably know how this stuff works,” I added. I didn’t want to baby her too much and offend her in the process. Women were strange things, I’d always heard.
“Yes, I do have a question, though,” she said suddenly, looking up at me quizzically before she asked, “Where am I?” she finished. This was a question I didn’t want to answer and so I didn’t, avoiding it entirely and saved by the crashing sound that echoed off the side of the house. Hailey perked her brow and tilted her head as Cree came running back into the room.
“Weston and Malick are fighting outside! We need to go break it up,” he exclaimed, running back out of the room.
“Hailey, just stay put and sit tight,” I said. Hailey sighed and curled her legs up on the couch, flicking the television channels in search of something to watch. Seconds later, I heard the front door slamming open, and I shook my head, sighed, and turned to follow after Cree. Sure enough, walking out the door, I saw Malick and Weston, each standing opposite the other and just as Cree ran up, Weston landed a blow to Malick’s left cheek, damn near knocking him to the ground. From what it looked like, Malick had taken most of the blows, and Weston was barely bruised.
“Hey,” I bellowed, running out to help Cree break them up. Cree moved toward Weston, and I pulled Malick back, “What the hell is going on?” I asked him, holding him back as he fumed in anger.
“He thinks he’s got a right to her over all of us, and that isn’t flying with me!” Weston growled. Cree was standing with his back to Weston looking at me as I held Malick back.
“Okay, guys. Let’s chill out. We can’t be fighting like this. The girl’s going to balk and get scared,” Cree said. “I don’t want to fight with anyone, but Hailey doesn’t need this added stress. Think about her and not just yourselves,” he said, in a calm and neutral tone. I had to give it to the kid: he had a sensible demeanor, and I appreciated that. Malick snorted in front of me.
“One of us is going to have to claim her, and what she went through isn’t going to change that!” he roared, clearly not buying into Cree’s attempts to diffuse the situation. I groaned in annoyance.
“Cree’s right; the girl doesn’t need added shit to deal with when she’s still recovering from what happened to her. You need to choose your battles more wisely,” I said sternly. I hoped that both of them would put themselves in check, but it was Weston who chose to behave more responsibly. A natural leader, I thought.
“Go back inside and tend to the girl. I’m right behind you,” Weston stated, placing his palm on Cree’s shoulder and pushing him out of his way. Malick snorted again and tilted his head, causing a popping sound.
“Fine,” he said, wiping his face and wincing slightly from where Weston had cut his cheek when he punched him. I sighed in relief and released my hold on Malick’s arms, my hands dropping to my sides. Cree didn’t waste any time shaking his head and jogging ahead of Weston to ent
er the house.
“I was just about to start cooking some food. Maybe you guys should go sit with Hailey while I fix us all something to eat,” he said, looking out the doorway. This sounded like a hell of a plan to me.
“You need a hand?” I asked, hoping to force Weston and Malick to play nice while the two of them watched Hailey. Cree and I had spent enough time trying to keep her occupied and feeling awkward about how to explain the island and our lifestyles, let alone what we actually were. I walked into the house, and Cree nodded.
“Yeah, if these two clowns can keep their cool long enough,” Cree said, walking down the hall toward the kitchen. Behind me, Weston entered the house and shook his head, making way to the bathroom where I assumed he was going to clean himself up before going to see Hailey. Cree chuckled.
“Come on, we got several omelets to make and lots of crap to chop,” he said. I nodded; this was going to be a hell of a living arrangement, and who knew how long it would last.
Chapter Four
Malick
I watched as Weston lazily lay next to Hailey with a smug-ass look on his face. Just because I had taken the brunt of the bruising didn’t mean I couldn’t have taken him down had the right moment presented itself. Had I shifted, then James and Cree might have been scraping that pansy up off the ground. There was no way that I would ever allow him to make me look the fool again.
I found it damn amusing that Weston was practically breaking his neck making sure Cree was not making goo-goo eyes at her from the kitchen because Weston knew that Cree was probably his biggest competition. Hailey didn’t seem a bit interested in Weston as he practically sat in her lap watching some foreign soap opera.
“What do you want in your omelet, Hailey?” James called from the kitchen.
“Got any ham or cheese?” she asked in return.
“Both ham and cheese, my dear,” Cree answered her with a smile in his voice.
“Sounds good to me,” she replied. “I will take both.”
“Kiss-ass,” I whispered under my breath, but to be honest, I didn’t think it was that loud.
“What was that?” Weston asked while he raised off the couch.
“Nothing,” I lied as I had watched on in disgust.
My people would have never done the whole cater to the girl in hopes she fell for you game. If I had my way about the situation, I would have swept Hailey up and taken her back to live with my people and me. I knew if I didn’t find a woman eventually that the beast within would take over, but I was much more aggressive than most. I didn’t think I could get much worse. I rather liked being the tough guy.
Cree and I had known each other for a while, but he was always too soft for me. I had fully intended on dumping his ass once I had figured out my path. I didn’t want to have to be banished to the island because humans didn’t know about our kind, but it seemed I had ended up right where I never wanted to be.
“Here you are, Hailey.” James handed her eggs to her as he took a seat opposite of me.
Cree, on the other hand, threw my plate at me and commenced to wedge himself right between Hailey and Weston on purpose as he began to shove his mouth full of omelet.
Weston, Cree, James, and I slammed down our food in seconds, which, to be honest, was how most dragon shifters ate. Due to our high metabolism and the energy we exerted shifting, we were pretty much always hungry. Stupidly, we all sat and watched Hailey eat as if she was going to break at any moment.
After she finished, James checked her wounds and gave her the okay to take a shower. Hell, he had pretty well been hounding her about a damn shower since we arrived. I watched as Cree and Weston took dishes back to the kitchen. I chose to sit back and relax. I think I felt like I had nothing to worry about and that Hailey had no choice but to choose me when push came to shove.
“I think I am going to hop in the shower,” Hailey announced.
“Ok,” I grunted. “Need anything?”
“Ummm,” she thought, “I think the only thing I might need is some clothes. James, do you have anything I could wear?” she asked.
“Sure do,” he beamed. “Follow me,”
They both walked off in the direction of the bathroom. I waited until I heard shower water running and James had come back into the room. At first, the four of us sat looking at each other, but something in me could not stand the smug look that Weston still had on his face as he looked at my ever-swelling jaw. James eventually scurried off to do the dishes, but Weston and his attitude had been getting the better of me.
It pissed me off the way he thought he was better than us and lay some claim to Hailey because he was the first to get to her.
“What are you looking at?” I snarled.
“Nothing, man,” Weston snapped back.
“Look, guys,” James the peacekeeper began from the kitchen, “let her get used to us before we go running after her.”
“Well, we can’t all have her,” Cree admitted.
“That’s for damn sure,” I agreed.
“Why, Malick?” Weston began. “Do you think you have this already in the bag? I mean, after all, we have to all four find a mate, and it looks like you aren’t getting one anytime soon, so why not leave Hailey to me?”
“Do you want to take this outside?” I howled.
“I already did that,” he had the audacity to say.
“I already let you win, but boy, you haven’t seen me fight yet.” I looked him in the eye.
“Now, fellas,” James began again as he walked from the kitchen, his shirt was soaking wet.
“Shut it, James; let them kill each other. Then there will only be two of us left for Hailey to fight for,” Cree beamed.
I casually walked out the front door of James’ home and squared my shoulders. I fully planned on taking Weston down, and I didn’t mind if Cree got in the middle of it; I had planned on taking him down too. After that, James was a pushover so, what competition would he have been?
Weston came out of the house as well and slammed the door behind him. He stood in front of me and tightened his jaw as he stared me down.
Cree and James chose to stay inside the house.
Weston’s clan had always fought mine and lost the biggest part of the time. Our clans had been at war for as long as any of my people could remember. His too, I would have guessed. I didn’t think he would be any different than his wimpy descendants. I took the first punch and landed it to Weston’s jaw. I had put a mark on it to match the one he had put on me. He turned on me and hit me twice, but it was nothing.
“Come on, tough guy,” Weston bellowed at me.
“So, you think just because you were the first to save Hailey that you have some strange dragon claim to her?”
“I think so,” Weston said as he blocked my left hook.
I returned the same hook a second time, but he never expected it: it had made impact with his jaw again, and hard.
He then backed up, and I knew I had pissed him off because he was beginning to blur the line between human and dragon. Bright green light had begun to form around him. The transition between what he was and what he was to become had started. With that much anger inside Weston, it was only a matter of time before he transitioned altogether.
Allowing myself to purposely feed on my anger, I thought back to seeing Hailey on the ground and all those wolves that had gotten to her. Even more than Weston, Cree, and James, the damned wolves pissed me off.
In seconds, Weston completed his transformation into a massive green dragon, with the ribbons of green light dying down as they returned into his chest. I knew that if I did not allow myself to shift, Weston would have taken me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Cree notice Weston begin to slither towards me. The heat of fire had already been pouring from his nostrils.
Cree jumped out the door, ready to stop what was about to happen. There was no way we could expose ourselves to Hailey because the humans knew nothing about us.
While the wolves and their shifting w
ere well known with the humans, us dragons had kept our identity secret for a long while. That was the one and only thing the clans agreed on: anonymity.
Cree finished transformation mid-run, as his red dragon burst forth from the loose shirt and khaki shorts he had been wearing. At this point, I was the only shifter outside that had not yet shifted.
Before Cree could do any damage control, Weston in dragon form whipped his tail around and threw my feet out from under me. Midway down, my deep purple dragon emerged, as it ripped my clothes to shreds. Shrouds of purple light flowed through me as I let my scales heat up and the fires within form.
Just as I had fully planned to devour Weston, a large crashing noise had come from the house. Simultaneously, the three of us shifted quickly back down into human form. Our bare asses were then exposed for all to see. We all ran off in different directions in search of some clothes.
On the island, many dragons were smart enough to have hidden changes of clothes everywhere for moments such as that.
Within minutes, we were all back at the house, curious as to what had happened. Cree ran through the door right in front of me while Weston was not all that far behind.
When we got back inside, it was apparent what had happened. James stood silently over a fully passed out Hailey; she was wearing James’ clothes from head to toe.
“What happened?” I ask.
“She saw you,” James confessed. “Then she passed out cold.”
We all sat in silence as we awaited Hailey’s return to reality. The fumes of anger that I had to push down at that point were beyond ridiculous. I was mad at Weston, I was mad at Cree for getting his ass involved, and I was mad at myself for risking it all.
Hailey woke up hours later. She had no clue at first what had happened or why she had been having dreams of dragons. Her confusion was causing her to distrust her own thoughts, and eventually, she figured it out: she had come out of the bathroom, and upon wondering what had happened to Cree, Weston, and I, she had come to the window before James could stop her.