by Lucy Lyons
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
Chapter Eleven
Chapter Twelve
Chapter Thirteen
Chapter Fourteen
Chapter Fifteen
Chapter One
Aldain Kincaid sat on the couch sulking. He would never admit that is what he was doing, but that is exactly what someone would call it. His friends Cade and Becca were basking in their love for each other, while he was alone, with no one to call his own. He would never admit he was jealous of their relationship but he craved that kind of relationship for himself.
There were many dragon shifters that never found their soul mate. They either married someone other than their soul mate or chose to remain alone the rest of their very very long lives. He fell into the latter category, he wanted all or nothing. His friends noticed that he wasn’t really acting like himself. By having them watch him every day for the last several months they have been living with him was obviously affecting him. He was glad to have them there. His castle was more than big enough to accommodate them and give everyone their privacy. The only places shared were the Den where the books were kept and the room that housed the satellite television.
Aldain thought of asking them if they wanted their own private den closer to where their bedroom was but he doesn’t want them to think that they are not welcomed in his home and that their company is not enjoyable. He really does enjoy having them there; it was the days like today he was having a pity party for himself wishing that they would snuggle up somewhere else. He knew that today wasn’t a good day for him because his face seemed to be in a perpetual scowl. Becca looked questioningly at him but said nothing. She respected his privacy enough to think if he wanted her to know what was bothering him, he would tell her. He knew it would never dawn on her that he was anything but happy for them. He loved Becca and both she and Cade knew this, but they also knew he could never love her as he would a soul mate and his love for her was more like a family member. There was a time he was willing to try and make a different kind of relationship with Becca work, but that was when Cade was treating her so badly she would cry herself to sleep every night.
Thank God, those days were behind everyone and everything worked out for them. He just wanted what they had and it wasn’t until he was around them long enough that he realized he really was lonely.
He knew he had to get out; he was getting so miserable that he couldn’t even stand himself. He looked over at the couple across from him, snuggled up to each other watching some kind of re-run on television. He quickly stood up from the chair he was in, and while heading for the door yelled, “I am going out for a while. I may be late so don’t hold dinner for me; I will eat while I am gone.” Without waiting for a reply, he shifted into his dragon form and flew away.
Aldain flew for what seemed like hours, then his stomach started to grumble. He seemed to have lost track of time. He was surprised to find that he was starving, he was so deep in thought wondering if he would ever find his soul mate. He flew to an island he saw and decided to see if he could find anything on it dinner worthy. He didn’t see any people on it but he did see wild goats. His mouth watered as he dove down towards them. The goats saw him coming and took off running in all directions, bleating warnings to each other, but a dragon was much faster than a goat. Aldain caught his dinner in his mouth, full of foot long teeth, and landed on the beach as he ate the goat whole.
When a dragon shifter gets extremely hungry, his dragon takes over to the point he is more dragon than human and the only thing on his mind is filling his stomach. If there was a human who knew about dragon shifters and saw anything like that, it would scare them so badly that they wouldn’t care about the human half. They would probably never want to have anything to do with another dragon shifter as long as they lived.
Aldain felt full and his dragon got sleepy so he stayed on the beach basking in the sun and again was thinking of his lack of a soul mate. He fell asleep.
The sounds of bleating woke him up. The sky was dark and the goats, while still a distance from him, were closer to him than was probably wise for them. Then he saw the long lush grass that his very large body was close to and understood why they were taking their chances. He shook his head to help himself wake up for the long flight back home. When he started moving the goats again started to run in all directions bleating, but Aldain knew he could eat when he got home and wanted to get there before the sun came up. He didn’t want to worry his friends and he wanted to sleep in his own bed.
He spread his wings, ran along the beach and took flight. It was a beautiful thing to see, a dragon in flight; Aldain was beautiful in his dragon form. His red scales were shimmering in any kind of light. His eyes were emerald green in human form, but in dragon form his pupils slit sideways like a cat and turned yellow. He has a set of black, wickedly sharp looking horns bending back from his head going almost halfway down his back. He has a mouth full of foot long teeth. His tail even has three spikes on the end. You could tell just from looking at him that his body was made to be the perfect fighting machine. His human form was just as imposing as his dragon form. He has shoulder length black hair and bright green eyes. He stands six foot four inches tall, and has wide shoulders and muscular arms. His waist tapers down to reveal a six-pack stomach and long, muscular legs. With every movement, you saw the perfect muscles formations. His physical body also looks like the perfect fighting machine. In either form, he was beautiful to the point of perfection.
He finally made it home in the wee hours of the morning. Everything was quiet; he quietly snuck into the kitchen to raid the refrigerator. He heard a sound behind him that startled him. He quickly turned to find Becca behind him.
Chapter Two
Wearing a robe and slippers, as it was getting colder out at nights, she padded over to him and hugged him. Aldain hugged her back then put her away from him and said, “Well thank you, but what was that for?”
Becca looked up at him with worry in her eyes. “I know something is going on with you. I figured maybe you could use someone to talk to, my shoulder is all yours.”
Aldain lifted a brow, “Well thank you for your kind offer, but I think you are a little confused. It is my shoulder you should be using not the other way around.”
Becca laughed, “Wow does that sound sexist or what? Who made the rules that only women use a shoulder to cry or whine on? Men aren’t machines, they need to talk too.”
Aldain smiled at her, “I will let you in on a secret. When men need to talk; if it isn’t something they would dare talk to a man about; would rather be holding a woman he cared for in his arms as he vented. A shoulder wouldn’t be enough.”
Becca gave him a questioning look, “Seriously Aldain, you know you can talk to me about anything. I love you. You kept me alive during a very dark time. I will always be here for you.”
Aldain would never talk to Becca about what was bothering him, so he offered to talk about something he knew she would be interested in. “How about I tell you the story of the Dragons of Paragon? That is the nam
e of my clan.” Becca immediately took him up on that offer. After he made a mountainous sandwich, filled a party bowl with chips and took a two-liter container of orange soda out of the fridge, they both sat at the table. Becca sat opposite him, her blue eyes big with a look of excitement on her face. Aldain smiled, she loved hearing stories about anything magical or supernatural. Becca was still learning about that world since becoming a vampire herself.
He sat back and started telling her the story of his clan. “Thousands of years ago, when the Gods lived on Olympus…….”
Becca interrupted him, “What! Wait! They actually existed? The Gods of Olympus? Zeus and everyone?”
Aldain sighed, “Yes Becca they existed, and still do as far as we know. No one knows where they have disappeared though; when religious beliefs started changing, they decided to leave Olympus. Since humans were getting to the stage where they didn’t believe in the Gods anymore, they felt they were no longer needed nor wanted by mankind so they left. They just never told anyone where they were going.
Before I begin my story where I left off, maybe you will want to grab a notebook and take notes on anything I say. That way you can let me finish my story without interruption or we will be here forever, and you can ask me questions when I am done. Hmmm?” Becca took the hint and ran and grabbed a notebook and pen and promised Aldain she wouldn’t interrupt anymore and to please continue with his story.
“When the Gods lived on Olympus, the goddess Athena, who represents military strategy and generalship as the goddess of intelligence, fell in love with a mortal man. He was a general in her army who was a well-liked general and a man whose military strategy was unparalleled. His men would follow him anywhere. He, on the other hand, stayed by Athena’s side and made sure they won their wars because he was so in love with her, he wanted to keep her safely by his side. His name was Paragon. Athena kept her love for him a secret from the other Gods for it was forbidden to love a mortal. They could have relationships with mortals, but not a loving one. Mortals were considered beneath the Gods by Zeus. He and other gods used them more like toys but Athena felt in her heart that the only difference between them and the gods were that mortals died and that they had no powers, but the feelings of the heart were the same. Their relationship went on for almost ten years; then the day came when the unthinkable happened.
Paragon was mortally wounded in battle. Athena loved him so much that she just wanted to heal his wounds and keep him with her, but if Zeus was to find out not only would he punish her by taking away her powers, he could also destroy Paragon’s soul. He wouldn’t even exist in Hades which is the place where souls go. She could always visit his soul there, but she just couldn’t stand the thought of his life being totally extinguished. She made a decision. Instead of healing his wounds; she turned him into a dragon and named him Paragon which stood for virtue. He earned that right by always being her protector, even though she was a goddess. She bid the dragon to always help the helpless and be loyal to those he served, and to have a powerful sense of right and wrong. He must never ever harm an innocent, whether it be human or shifter. She also commanded that once a year, Paragon could turn into a human. She looked far and wide to find a woman she felt was worthy of Paragon and begged him to mate with her; he needed to keep his bloodline alive.
He loved Athena so much that he just couldn’t think of mating with any other woman. She then weaved a spell where he fell in love with this woman to the very core of his being. The love he felt for Athena was all but forgotten. She was the first soul mate. You see, Athena loved him enough to be able to let him go. All that mattered to her was that his bloodline be continued. She would share her love of Paragon with his descendants by always watching over them.
It is said from that time forward; every dragon that meets his soul mate will love her with his whole being, protecting her unto death and have no longing for any other woman but her. He would be incomplete without her. All dragon shifters are male; females don’t have the ability to shift. Some dragons go their entire lives never finding their soul mate. Those dragons either will marry just to keep their bloodline going, or never marry and die quicker than they normally would if they had found someone. The majority of us all are honorable men and dragons, but like mortals, we have some that have turned bad. When we find them, we kill them. They are not allowed to mate and spread evil within a clan. We were even knights at the round table; we take what Athena asked of us very seriously. Honor, other than the love of our soul mate is the code we live by, no other is acceptable.
Becca blinked, her tablet was empty. She was so engrossed in the story Aldain was telling her that she didn’t even think to write anything down. She realized what was bothering Aldain but didn’t want him to know she had figured it out. She got up and walked over to Aldain and kissed him on the forehead, thanking him for that wonderful story, then she told him she was going to her room to write down as much as she could before she forgot anything.
When she got back to their room, she told Cade that Aldain was lonely. That is what was bothering their friend. Cade hoped that night that his friend would be as lucky as him and find his soul mate, he deserved it. Thinking of mates, Cade remembered he was a lucky man that has one and for several hours he forgot about Aldain needing one and concentrated on his own mate.
Chapter Three
Cade and Becca tried to keep Aldain’s mind occupied by including him in some of the things they did. They went on late night picnics and hikes exploring caves near the surrounding area. Aldain went with them on most of their jaunts but he passed at the cave exploring. There wasn’t a cave in Scotland that he hadn’t explored. While they were cave exploring, Aldain was seriously considering taking a vacation, maybe the south pacific. He just wanted to get away for a while.
Becca decided she wanted to make something she found online for dinner. Cade and Aldain went into the den to watch a show as she cooked. She hated having anyone in the kitchen when she was preparing a meal. This was fine with the men; they would rather do something else. Cooking wasn’t at the top of their list as the most enjoyable thing to do.
As they were talking about the day during dinner the phone rang and Becca got up to answer it. They heard her greet her mother, and then they heard her voice raise several octaves. “What! Oh, my god is she o.k.?” The silence was grating on both men’s nerves. They decided to join Becca in the study.
They both walked in to see that Becca had a death grip on the phone and tears were falling down her cheeks. Cade walked over to her and put his arms around her waist. He wanted her to know that whatever was happening he was there for her. Becca then said, “Mom I will be on the next flight out. Tori will be alright. I promise.” Becca hung up and when she turned around her eyes were red and her fangs were out in full force.
Cade holding her close asked. “What happened Bec? What is wrong with Tori?”
Becca growled, “That bastard of a boyfriend of hers beat her so bad she is in the hospital. Mom said she is going to be alright, but Tori is pressing charges and Tom, her now ex -boyfriend has sworn he is going to get even with her. The police said he will probably be able to post bail, even though it is probably going to be a stiff one. His parents come from money.”
Aldain growled; he has never understood how a ‘man’ could ever hit a woman. In his mind, there wasn’t even a name low enough to describe such scum. He looked at Becca, “Let me go!”
Becca looked at him like he grew another head. “What? Why? You don’t even know her. She has never met you and after what happened I don’t even know if she would go anywhere with a strange man. I think it’s best if I go alone.” Becca turned to go upstairs to pack.
Aldain stopped her to plead his case. “Listen Becca. Why don’t you let me go? While you are a vampire and able to take care of yourself her ex doesn’t know this. If he sees just the two of you; he may decide to do something stupid and then you would end up giving yourself away when you protect you and your sister. Look at me, me
n like him never mess with men my size. They prey on the weaker person, someone whom they know they can beat. Like he did with your sister. I can go get her and stay there a few days so she can get comfortable around me, then I will bring her back here. It’s a win win situation for everyone.” Becca really wanted to see her sister, and what Aldain said made sense. She knew he would keep her sister safe. He could fly as a dragon at night and she knew he would keep her sister safe. Flying as a dragon would save him the worry of taking night flights. In the day, he could take a regular plane.
Becca picked up the phone to call her mother; she told her of the change of plans. She assured her mother that Tori couldn’t be in better hands than Aldains’. She also pointed out that Tom would never go after Tori while a bigger man than him was around. The idea that Tori would be safe seemed to placate her mother. Her father was wanting to beat the hell out of Tom and it took her mother everything she had to keep him from taking a bat to Toms head and beating him half to death. Becca was sure he could do it too, but he wasn’t a young man anymore. Tom wouldn’t think twice about cheap shotting him. Becca didn’t want her dad hurt next.
Aldain said he would arrive the next morning; he planned on flying all night. Her family lived in Boston so he could just go under the radar while it was still dark and shift back before anyone would see him. Becca’s mother told her Tori would still be in the hospital when Aldain got there so he should go there when he got into town. The doctors wanted to keep her for at least a couple of days but Tori was fighting that idea tooth and nail. She hated hospitals and insisted she was fine, the doctors begged to differ. To calm her down they knocked her out with a sedative. She wasn’t going to like that when she woke up.
Becca stopped Aldain from leaving right away. “Maybe you should go and put a few clothes in a bag. You are going to be there at least a day or two. You did say you were going to give Tori a chance to feel comfortable around you before you brought her here.” Aldain agreed and shoved some clothes in a bag. He hugged Becca telling her he would protect her sister with his life. If it would have come from any other man, Becca would have rolled her eyes. Coming from Aldain, she knew he meant it.