The Beginning: A Shapeshifter Paranormal Romance (Fated Dragons Book 1)

by Lilliana Lord

  But curiosity soon overcame my fear and I opened my eyes slowly. A shadowy figure held my hand as it leaned over me. My eyes gained more focus as I blinked.

  Finally, he came into focus. Dark black hair fell around a lightly tanned face. Then my eyes found his. Emerald eyes looked back at me. Thick dark eye leashes surrounded those beautiful eyes.

  I reached up to touch his cheek as something took me over. I wanted – no – I needed to touch him. But something held my arms down. Looking at my hands, I found them strapped down.

  “Get her out of these,” the emerald eyes ordered with a smooth masculine voice that made my heart ache it was so beautiful.

  People came into the room, bustling around me as the restraints were removed. But he never moved even a step away from my side, his eyes on me at all times. “Sir, we have to see to her now, please step out of the room,” a woman that looked like a nurse said softly to the man with emerald eyes.

  That is all I could see, those eyes. I couldn’t stop gazing into those eyes and crazily enough, he couldn’t seem to stop gazing into mine.

  “I will not leave her,” he said to the nurse, never letting his eyes leave mine.

  Who is this guy? Have I lost my memory or something? Why does this completely gorgeous man say that he won’t leave me?

  The woman in front of me shined a light into my eyes. “Can you tell me what you remember?”

  “Ummm…, I was running, it feels like I was dreaming.”

  “You weren’t dreaming,” she assured me.

  My focus went to the doctor as she turned off the light she’d been shining into my eyes. “What happened to me?”

  “Well, it seems that you fainted right on the street.” She put her hand on a bump on the back of my head. “When you fell, you hit the back of your head on the pavement and gave yourself a slight concussion.”

  I flush, embarrassed. “What a klutz.”

  “Do you have any idea of why you fainted? You know, had you eaten?” The doctor quizzed me.

  “You know, I don’t think I have eaten. Maybe that and…,” I trailed off, just remembering that I didn’t know where Owen was and that I was worried. But for some reason, I didn’t want the guy who looked at me so intently with those freaking gorgeous emerald eyes to know that.

  “And what, Ms. Tyri?” The doctor asked.

  “Just that. That’s enough to pass out, right?” I had to ask.

  “Sure, that and the fact that you were exercising on an empty stomach as well as almost getting hit by a truck from what I was told.” She nodded. “That could do it.”

  Hit by a truck? “What are you talking about? Almost hit by a truck? How?”

  The tall, intensely muscular guy with the wavy raven hair and emerald eyes came even closer to me. “Tyri, I happened to be driving down the road behind you. I saw you running. You must have not seen the truck that was crossing the road in front of you. Thankfully, the driver honked his horn and that brought you to a stop. Unfortunately, you collapsed almost instantly and hit your head on the road. I stopped and picked you up, put you into my car and brought you straight here.”

  “Thank you, ummm… sir,” I trailed off because I realized that I didn’t know his name.

  The doctor moved away from me, messing with some papers. The emerald eyes were suddenly in front of me, so close. “Arsun,” he whispered huskily. “My name is Arsun.”

  I smiled and he smiled back at me. “Thank you, Arsun,” I whispered back as if it was our little secret.

  I realized just how close his face was to mine and blushed fiercely. He must’ve sensed my embarrassment as he backed away from me slowly.

  My head cleared a little more and I began wondering where my parents were. I remembered hearing my mother’s voice while I was coming to.

  “Are my parents here?” I asked the doctor.

  “Oh, yes. They’re in the waiting room. I’ll send them in.” She left the room.

  She’d been the last one in the room, besides the handsome stranger. Since we were now alone, I wanted to know a few things from him. “I don’t want to be rude, so please don’t take it like that, but how come you’re here? I mean you did your good deed; most people would’ve gone on about their business by now. Who am I kidding? Most people would have just called 911 and reported it, then went on about their business.”

  He seemed a little shy all of a sudden. He’d seemed uber-confident and worldly somehow, even though he couldn’t have been more than maybe twenty years old.

  He looked into my eyes from across the room. “I hope you’re not mad. I didn’t want to leave you. Your parents had not been notified when I first brought you in. The thought of you being all by yourself, that you might be afraid when you regained consciousness, was more than I could stand. When I carried you into the emergency room, the nurse asked me who you were and who I was to you. I knew your name from looking at your cell phone that I’d found in the pocket of your shorts. You know it says, ‘Tyri’s phone, don’t touch,’ as your background. So I said this is Tyri and I am Arsun Lestrange, her fiancé.”

  “Oh!” I said quickly with surprise. “So you had to stay on, so you wouldn’t get caught in a lie. Once my parents got here, though… well, I can’t believe that they didn’t throw you out. My Dad is pretty protective. How did that work out?”

  “Ummm… well… that is a bit of a story and I’m not sure that you are up to that one yet. You need to rest and not work that brain of yours too much, the concussion you know,” he stammered.

  The door opened; Mom, Dad, and Scotty came in as Mom gushed, “Oh, my baby!” She hugged me gently. “You had us worried. The doctor told us that you fainted. Probably because you hadn’t eaten all day. Tyri, honestly what were you thinking? Oh, never mind that, I’m just so happy that you’re okay.” Then she turned to the ever-present Arsun. “Thanks to the heroic, Arsun.”

  My father crossed the room and shook Arsun’s hand. “We can’t thank you enough, son, for being there for our daughter.”

  “Not a problem, sir,” he stated as he looked at me. “I’m glad it was me who was coming down the road at just the right time. I shudder to think if it wasn’t.”

  Scotty tried to lighten the mood. “I called your friend Suzanne and told her about how you went and got yourself put in the hospital. She’s coming up here to see you.”

  “I’m sure I won’t be here much longer. That’s silly for anyone to come up here.” I didn’t want anyone coming to the hospital to see me anyway. The reason I was there in the first place was so embarrassing.

  “No, dear.” Mom patted my shoulder. “You have to stay overnight, doctor’s orders.”

  I looked at her in shock. “What? That’s crazy, I feel fine. I would rather be home, in my own bed.”

  Arsun interjected quickly as he was suddenly on the other side of me, “Tyri, you have a concussion, a bruise on your brain if you will. It’s necessary to be under your doctor’s supervision for a while. Just to be on the safe side.”

  I looked at my mother and found myself wondering why this devastatingly handsome young man cared so much about me. The weird thing was that I kind of liked it. “Do, I have a choice?”

  She shook her head, so I resigned myself to the fact that I would be there, at least overnight. My mind went back to Owen and where he was.

  Dad abruptly made an announcement, “So, you’re awake and will be fine. We’re gonna head home, honey.”

  “What, already?” I asked in confusion.

  “You need to rest, dear,” Mom said as she kissed me on my forehead.

  Scotty and Mom walked out the door as I stared at them in disbelief. Dad followed then, but just before he was all the way out, he turned to Arsun. “Call if anything happens or she needs anything.” Then he closed the door, leaving Arsun there with me. Alone.

  Why would my overprotective parents leave a complete stranger in my hospital room? Especially such a damn hot stranger! Something is not right.

  The handsome
stranger crossed the room to come and sit with me on my bed. He reached out to touch my hand where the IV went into it. A bruised place where it entered my hand took his attention. He rubbed it gently. “Such a shame, the bruises are marring up your perfectly ivory-colored skin.” He reached across me to my shoulder and touched me gently there too. I winced a little as I felt the gentle pressure of him touching another bruise.

  Why am I allowing him to touch me like this? What the hell is going on with me? I have made a promise to Owen!

  The beautiful stranger must’ve sensed my thoughts, because he stopped rubbing my shoulder and stood, going to sit in the chair next to my bed.

  “Ummm… uh-huh….,” I stumbled with my words. “Again, not to be rude, but may I ask why you are still here?”

  “I brought you here. I can’t just leave you, Tyri,” he told me as if that was a great reason – which it was not.

  “Not that I want to be alone or anything but there’s a slight chance that if my friends come up here, they are going to freak out that you’re here.” Owen would shit a brick. “Why my parents haven’t is beyond me.”

  “Does it matter what they think, really?” He wore such a serious expression that it made me wonder if it did really matter if they came up to the hospital to find a handsome stranger sitting with me. “As for your parents - we have talked at great lengths while you were unconscious.”

  “I don’t know what to make of you, Mr. Lestrange.” I shook my head slowly back and forth.

  He cocked his head to the side. “You soon will. Don’t worry.”

  And how will that occur exactly?

  To be continued…