by Eva Chase
“I love you,” I said, the feeling of it rushing through me as if saying the words out loud had uncorked a whole new bottle of adoration.
Aaron’s face lit up. He kissed me again, even more deeply this time. Then he said, with his lips just an inch from mine, “I love you, Serenity. Always.”
I drifted from him to Nate beside him. The bear shifter welcomed me into his arms, already grinning. I snuggled into his embrace and kissed him hard, wanting him to feel how much this mattered to me. He rumbled in his chest, his fingers caressing my back. I touched the side of his face as I pulled away to meet his warm brown gaze.
“I love you.”
“I love you too,” he said. “Don’t you ever doubt it.”
I brushed my lips to his again. Then I turned. West watched me from the opposite corner of the tub. His body was tensed, but his dark green eyes looked softer than usual.
“Come here, Sparks,” he said. “I might as well get my kiss.”
Did he think he wasn’t getting the rest? Well, maybe I wasn’t totally sure either. It was a little hard to follow how I felt with all the push-pull between us. But if he was offering a kiss, he’d better believe I was going to take it.
I floated over to him, half expecting him to change his mind. Or to grab me and plant one on me so hungry it made my head spin.
He reached for me, easing his fingers around my wrist to tug me a little closer. He teased his other hand into my hair. We held each other’s gazes for a moment, his strangely searching. A flutter passed through my chest. Then he drew me the rest of the way to him.
His mouth claimed mine with a tenderness I couldn’t have been prepared for. His lips coaxed mine apart to deepen the kiss, and just like that, I was lost in him. Lost in the gentle passion of his embrace, lost in the smell that lingered on his skin as if he’d brought the forests of his home here with him.
This was the man I’d known my mate could be. The one I’d caught glimpses of in the rare moments when he let his guard down.
My head was spinning when he released me from that lip-lock. I stared at him for a second, catching my breath, my whole body aflame with both lust and a more heartfelt longing. I drew in a breath to say what I’d said to the others, what felt undeniably true now—and the door thumped in the other room.
As I swiveled around, Marco strode into the room. He was frowning, his eyes dark with concern.
“A few of the rogues escaped,” he said. “Not so many that we’d need to worry about them on their own, but—my people’s reports say they headed north. Straight toward a troop of vampires that just annexed my New York property and is now moving on from there. It looks like the rogues have even more allies than we realized. And they’ve just incited a full-scale paranormal war.”
I groaned, tipping my head back against the cushion of the water. So much for resting. But the resolve I’d felt during the battle only hardened inside me.
“Fine,” I said. “They’ve got no idea what they’re getting into when they mess with a dragon. It’s time to show all our enemies what a bad idea that is, once and for all.”
DRAGON’S FATE
THE DRAGON SHIFTER’S MATES #4
CHAPTER 1
Ren
AS THE PRIVATE jet soared down toward the canine shifter estate, resolve sat tight and heavy in my chest. I should have been arriving here to meet the last group of shifter-kin as the newly confirmed mate of their alpha. I should have been bringing good news. I was their dragon shifter—the last dragon shifter alive. By taking the four alphas of the kin-groups as my mates, I was supposed to unite all shifter kind and end the turmoil they’d all been through.
Instead I’d have to announce that we might be on the verge of a paranormal war. That was what Marco, the feline alpha I’d consummated my mate-bond with less than a day ago, had called it. And I hadn’t consummated my bond with the canine alpha yet. Sitting in the seats closest to the jet’s door, West looked even more grim and tense than usual.
We’d been through plenty of turmoil already, but this time it was worse. Before, it’d just been our own kind we’d had to fight, rogue shifters who wanted to disrupt the status quo. Now, the remaining members of the rogues’ sort-of pack had fled to the vampires, and the vampires, for whatever reason, had decided to attack us.
All we knew for sure was that the bloodsuckers had taken over a house that Marco’s feline kin used as a local base of operations near New York City. He’d told his kin who’d survived the attack to meet us here, at the closest shifter estate nearby.
My hands clenched as the plane bumped across the runway. The view of the majestic pines outside the window reminded me of our strength. I’d come through a hell of a lot in the last few weeks since my alphas had come to me and woken me up to my true role. I’d faced challenge after challenge and won. No undead creeps were going to get the better of us now.
The jet rumbled to a stop. Kylie reached across the armrest to grip my hand. My best friend, who was as human as I’d used to think I was, had come to visit me with even less of an idea of the shifter community’s turmoil than I’d had, but she was still here. Still supporting me even though she’d seen me at my most vicious. Still giving me that brilliant smile as her neon pink pixie cut shone under the overhead lights.
I didn’t know whether I was more worried or grateful that she was here. But I wasn’t pushing her away anymore.
West stood up first to open the plane door. The wolf shifter’s dark green eyes blazed with concern for his kin and anger at the people who’d put them in danger. Seeing him like that, my heart squeezed.
The rest of us got up to follow West. “How many of your kin were heading to the estate?” Aaron asked Marco. The eagle shifter, alpha to the avian kin, had a habit of focusing in on the facts. Hearing his calm, warm voice always settled my nerves at least a little.
“There were seven of them using the house,” Marco said. “The last I heard, three of them were on the run—one of them injured. We’ll get the whole story now. They should have made it here before us.” The jaguar shifter’s usual mischievous gaze had darkened. He raked an anxious hand through his jagged black hair as he stalked down the aisle toward the exit.
Nate, the last of my alphas, stood back to let Kylie and me go ahead of him. He rested his strong hand on my shoulder. Tall and brawny as the grizzly bear he could shift into, he’d always had my back. But he was a total softie when we weren’t under threat.
The early morning breeze rushed over me as we clattered down the steps. It was cool and thick with the smell of the pines. A high stone wall bordered the runway. I headed in the other direction, along a winding path through the trees, and discovered a house that matched the wall at the other end.
To call it a “house” was really underselling it. Kylie sucked in an awed breath when she saw it. The place was a mansion, no doubt about it. Three expansive floors encased in solid stone blocks, with an arch of dark hardwood over the heavy door.
Several of West’s kin had come out to meet us. If we’d been making our expected visit a day or two from now, there might have been a crowd. As it was, I couldn’t help feeling grateful to see so few faces beaming at me in greeting. The canine shifters had always been welcoming to me—overwhelmingly so sometimes—but danger seemed to chase me wherever I went. I’d rather have fewer kin in the crossfire.
“Dragon shifter,” they murmured first, with respectful bobs of their heads. The one who held himself with the most authority, one of West’s lieutenants I guessed, turned to his alpha.
“Three feline kin arrived a couple hours ago. We offered them guest rooms, and the one who was wounded has been seen to.”
Marco stepped up beside West. “Is she all right?”
The lieutenant—a coyote shifter by his scent—nodded quickly. “Her injuries were serious, but not fatal. She’s sleeping now.”
“And there’s been no sign of vampires in this area—no word from any of the villages closer to New York City?” West a
sked.
“The settlement by the edge of New York City,” the coyote shifter said with a grimace. “We got word that they’d scented vampires in the area not long after I last spoke with you. Then we lost contact. I sent a few of our people out there to check first hand.”
West’s jaw set. “You let me know as soon as you hear back.”
One of the other canine kin, a fennec fox shifter with a narrow face and a shock of tawny hair, had zeroed his attention in on Kylie. “What’s a human doing here?” he said in a needling voice.
I bristled. “She’s my friend. Anywhere I go, she’s welcome.”
The fox shifter cocked his head. “I’m just saying, it seems like we’ve got major shifter business to take care of here, and I don’t see—”
“Felix,” West snapped. He pushed in front of us to glower at his underling, who stood a good half a foot shorter than the wolf shifter’s lanky frame. West’s teeth bared slightly. “As should be obvious, she’s here with my permission.”
The fox shifter’s body had gone rigid. “Yes, sir. Of course. I wasn’t thinking.” He raised his chin high enough to show the pale length of his neck. I hadn’t seen the gesture before, but there was something clearly apologetic about it.
Aaron had come up beside me. He leaned over to murmur by my ear. “Among canine shifters, exposing the throat is their most overt sign of submission.”
West had already relaxed at the posturing. “All right,” he said in his usual gruff voice. “Maybe try to do a little more thinking before you start shooting your mouth off next time? We do have a lot of important business to see to.”
“And you’d better believe I’m going to help with that business,” Kylie piped up. “Just wait. In a few days you’ll be wondering why you don’t have humans like me around all the time.”
Felix raised a skeptical eyebrow, but he was smart enough not to say anything with his alpha watching over him.
“Let’s go in,” West said. “We should talk with Marco’s kin, find out exactly what happened.”
The outside of the mansion had looked kind of hard and cold, but warmth washed over us as soon as we stepped inside. The walls were painted a subdued gold tone and thick rugs covered the floors. The front hall opened into a great room with a massive stone-lined fireplace that must be incredibly cozy in the winter. A hint of fresh-baked bread in the air caught my attention, and my stomach rumbled.
“I’ll summon the feline kin,” West’s coyote shifter lieutenant said. His gaze slid to two of the other attendants. “Bring the alphas and our dragon shifter—and her friend—some breakfast.”
West gave him a thin but approving smile. I sank onto one of the wool sofas, the cushion immediately enveloping me. This place was a lot like its master, I observed with a tickle of amusement. Tough and apparently impenetrable on the outside, but with unexpected pleasures if you made your way past those walls.
West was the only one of the four alphas I hadn’t yet consummated my mate bond with. We’d had a tumultuous run of it over the last few weeks. He’d been skeptical of me from the start, but I’d thought he was softening toward me lately, at least a little. It was so hard to tell with him. But the moments of passion he’d allowed himself with me… My skin heated just remembering them, even with everything else on my mind.
Kylie sat down on the sofa at my left and Nate at my right. The bear shifter gave my knee a reassuring touch. Aaron took an armchair across from us, his golden Disney-prince hair gleaming in the dawn sunlight streaking through the picture window. West and Marco stayed on their feet. West stood stiffly, his arms folded over his chest, while Marco paced.
“This never should have happened,” he muttered. “We barely scuffed up those vamps the other day. We settled things with the king. Why is he going to listen to a few mangy rogues whining to him anyway?”
He fell silent when breakfast appeared, buttered bread and jam and slices of fried ham that made my mouth water despite myself. I put together a quick sandwich to ease the pangs in my stomach.
I’d only gotten in a few bites when Marco’s kin appeared, one of the figures familiar: Leonard the lion shifter, one of Marco’s lieutenants, his round face split by jutting cheekbones. We’d had kind of an unfortunate first meeting. That was, he’d kidnapped me, thinking that was the easiest way to get me to his alpha.
Now, he looked even more down-beaten than when Marco had laid into him for that mistake. His eyes were hollowed and a slash of red ran across one of those high cheekbones where a wound was only just sealing. It looked like the scrape of a bullet. My gut clenched. I put my sandwich down on the coffee table.
“Look what the cat dragged in,” Marco said, but he couldn’t quite work a teasing lilt into his voice. He motioned Leonard and his companion, a stocky silver-hair woman who smelled like a lynx, to one of the other sofas. “Sit down before you talk. You’ve clearly done enough running for one night. We just need to know what happened at the house, and then you can get back to your napping.”
Leonard dropped onto the sofa and leaned his head into his hands. He rubbed them up and down over his face.
“We had no idea they were coming,” he said hoarsely. “We never keep watch that closely at the house—it’s in the middle of the suburbs for Christ’s sake. Not where you’d ever think… Right after sundown, they blasted down the door. At least ten of them, maybe fifteen. I couldn’t have counted. They charged all through the place, spraying bullets. I barely pulled Lindy out of the way in time. Sandra and I carried her out to the car and got out of there. There wasn’t anything else to do.”
A chill ran over me. All of us around the great room had tensed. “Spraying bullets,” I repeated. “They all had guns?” Some of the rogue shifters had fought us with pistols and rifles, going against one of the firmest shifter laws, but their resources when it came to human weaponry had seemed to be limited. I didn’t know what restrictions vampires faced—or didn’t.
Leonard shuddered. “They had machine guns, most of them. Pistol-sized, but still not anything I’d want to tangle with again. The bloodsuckers didn’t even try to bite us. Knew they’d lose if it came to hand-to-hand fighting.” His lips curled back. “Treaty-breakers and cowards.”
Machine guns. Fucking hell. I saw the same horror echoed in all the alphas’ expressions. How could we fight against an army of undead stocked up with military grade firearms?
“And they’ll be dealt with as the treaty-breakers they are,” Marco said, his voice taut. “I don’t suppose they offered any clue as to what this surprise assault was prompted by? Blasting up our homes isn’t one of their usual hobbies.”
Leonard shook his head. “They didn’t say anything at all. Just opened fire. And the other four in the house—they’d fallen before I even realized what was happening.”
He faltered, his face crumpling. Marco stepped toward him.
“It isn’t your fault,” he said firmly. “You couldn’t have expected an attack like that. And believe me, the bloodsuckers are going to pay.”
“Is there anything else you saw or heard that might be useful to us, for fighting back?” Aaron asked.
“I… I can’t think of anything. It all happened so fast.” Leonard rubbed his face again. He was obviously exhausted.
“Sandra?” Marco said.
The lynx shifter looked equally worn-out—and shell shocked. She swayed a little on her cushion. “I did hear one of the vamps say something to one of the others,” she said. “That—that they’d been hoping the shifters would take each other out, but handling it themselves was more fun.” She winced at that last word.
My hackles rose. If there’d been a vampire in the room with us right then, I don’t think anything could have restrained me from shooting my dragon talons from my hand and slicing its head straight off.
“They know we’re getting stronger,” I said. “Because I’m here. Because there’s a dragon shifter to bring the kin together again.” I inhaled sharply. “And I am going to do that. W
hat Marco said is right. The vampires are going to pay, any way I can make them.”
It was almost painful seeing the hope light behind the anguish in the lynx shifter’s eyes. I’d better fulfill that promise, even if I wasn’t entirely sure how yet.
“All right, you two,” Marco said with a shooing motion. “You did what you could. You got out of there alive, and saved Lindy too. Now get your rest. We might need you by nightfall.”
“What happens at nightfall?” Kylie asked as Leonard and Sandra headed back to their rooms.
“Not all the legends about vampires are true,” West said. “But sunlight does burn them to a crisp. They can stroll around in the subway tunnels all right, but they can’t make any attacks above ground until the sun goes back down.”
“So we’ve got some time to decide our next steps.” Nate leaned forward, running his hand over his thick chestnut-brown hair. “We should find out if there’s been vampire activity near any of the other city centers where they have their clans. New York is the biggest one—what else is there?”
“Los Angeles,” Aaron said. “Las Vegas. Chicago. And Atlanta. But they’ve got smaller pockets scattered through the smaller cities too.”
“I don’t understand,” I burst out. “Why would they suddenly attack us like this? I know shifters and vampires aren’t, like, friendly, but this… the comment Sandra said she overheard… It sounds like they hate us.”
Marco grimaced. “There’s no love lost between vamps and shifters, that’s for sure. We keep the peace with our treaty rather than any affection on either side—the same as with the fae. It’s always been easier for both of our peoples to keep to our own territories rather than get into some kind of war. I don’t know why they’ve changed their minds about that.”