Dragons of Cinderhollow Bundle

by Hawke Oakley

  The creature that made the noise stepped out of the thicket’s edge.

  Then it charged us.

  12

  Raja

  I recognized it instantly. The shaggy, coarse fur and jutting tusks - it was the massive boar shifter that attacked me the night I left the village for the first time.

  Instinct took over. In one swift moment, I shifted into my agile panther form and leapt out of its path. Beside me, Lorenzo did the same. Normally, I would have been awe-struck at his dragon form, but now was not the time.

  As the boar missed its charge, it turned around to face us again and snorted. Lorenzo let out a fierce snarl as he returned to my side.

  “Who are you and what do you want?” Lorenzo exclaimed, his voice deep and draconic.

  He must have realized already that the boar wasn’t just some dumb animal. But the boar didn’t reply. Its eyes flickered from Lorenzo to me, and it took a few steps back.

  “You didn’t have a dragon with you last time,” the boar grunted. I was surprised to hear its voice in this form, but I assumed it had something to do with Lorenzo’s magic.

  “No, but I do now,” I snapped, my voice laced with my panther’s growl. “So you better fuck off and leave us alone!”

  A sharp squeal tore the air. Another thundering crash sounded from the other side of the thicket. I sucked in a breath. My cat reflexes saved me as a second boar charged. I leapt up, fast and high enough to barely avoid getting gored by the boar’s tusks. My claws extended by instinct and scraped the tips of the pig’s fur. When it passed, I landed on the sand with a great gasp.

  But it didn’t stop charging. This time, it attacked Lorenzo with an angry squeal. These were not regular boars - they were tall enough that their tusks reached Lorenzo’s stomach when he stood on his hind legs.

  “Lorenzo, watch out!” I cried.

  The dragon whipped around and grabbed the boar by the tusks, stopping the pig in its tracks. The commotion kicked up a cloud of sand. While they struggled for control, I noticed that the second boar had something tied tightly to its leg.

  “You better let go before I spill your guts open!” the second boar squealed, its voice deep and rough.

  “I’ll let go when you tell me your identity and what you want with us,” Lorenzo snapped. He squeezed the tusks tighter, threatening to break them.

  The boar grunted. “Why don’t you ask that omega? He has a pretty good memory, I’m sure!”

  “Yeah, I do,” I snapped. “You’re those poachers that tried to kidnap me!”

  Lorenzo’s eyes widened. “They did what?”

  The first boar took advantage of Lorenzo’s shock to charge his other side.

  “Lorenzo, move!” I called.

  But the dragon was faster than any of us. He threw the second boar off and leapt into the air, flapping his wings and hovering above them. The pigs scrambled not to collide. Lorenzo darted over to me and picked me up in his arms, staying safely above the attackers.

  When the boars came to their senses, Lorenzo said, “Now that you’ve lost your prize, you can explain who you are and why you’re after Raja.”

  But the boar shifters didn’t look deterred. In fact, they didn’t seem nervous at all, which sent chills over my skin.

  “We know what you did, black panther,” the first boar announced. “And we’re not afraid to tell your entire clan.”

  “What?” I said.

  The second boar added, “We have evidence to expose you to your entire village. After this, you’ll be known as Raja the slut.”

  The word shocked me like a bolt of lightning. I snarled, “What the hell are you talking about?”

  In front of our eyes, one of the boar shifters transformed into a human. I gasped. I recognized the man - he was one of the bystanders present when Lorenzo and I saved the human girl from drowning. With a jolt of panic, I remembered that he was the man who asked if anyone saw an animal in the water.

  While horror dawned on me, the man reached into the pack tied to his ankle and pulled out a small electronic device. “See this? I’ve been using it to record your conversations during the entire honeymoon.” He paused. “Or should I say, your fake honeymoon?”

  The air was sucked out of my lungs.

  The man rewinded the tape and played it back. Although distorted from electronic feedback, my voice and the words came back loud and clear:

  “Plus, it’s not like I have anyone to knock me up. You are my fake mate, after all.”

  My blood ran cold.

  Not only did they know Lorenzo and I were faking a relationship, but they also had the evidence to prove it. My parents were not so naive that they would assume the tape playback was fake. If they found out everything was a lie, the least amount of punishment I faced was banishment from the Pardus clan - not only would I be banned from returning, but everyone would think lowly of me. I would be the dirty slut who faked a mate to run off and selfishly live my life, with no regard for my family or my village.

  “What do you want?” I asked firmly.

  “You know what we want,” the man with the device growled. “You.”

  “Raja, this is ridiculous!” Lorenzo snapped. “You don’t have to bargain with these people!”

  “Well, what else am I supposed to do?” I retorted. “They have the recording! They know I’ve been lying this whole time!”

  “Why does it matter?” Lorenzo asked irritably. “What are you even worried about?”

  God, he was so frustratingly dense sometimes. “They’re going to tell the whole village we were faking it!”

  “And?”

  I stared at him in disbelief before my muzzle twisted into anger and frustration. “I’ll be banished, idiot! My parents will practically disown me!”

  Lorenzo’s face was tense as he spat back, “And what’s the other outcome? You go with these men, I assume, and do everything they want from you? Because that’s really a great plan.”

  Still in my panther form, I snarled at him and swiped at his arms. “Let go of me!”

  The sudden, sharp claws in his flesh made Lorenzo yelp and drop me. I landed on the sand and bounded a good distance away from him before shifting to my human form.

  “Raja!” Lorenzo yelled, panic rising in his voice.

  I ignored him and asked the poachers, “Please don’t show my parents that tape. Just tell me what you want.” I paused, fear flickering in my chest, then asked, “Are you going to kill me?”

  One of the men smirked. “No, you don’t have to worry about that.”

  “Raja!” Lorenzo screamed, his draconic voice rending the night air. The grief and anger in his roar made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. “This is ridiculous. Come back over here right now!”

  “You don’t understand, Lorenzo,” I snapped at him. “It’s not like this is an easy decision for me!”

  “It sure seems like it is,” he growled, approaching me. “You’re just going to drop everything and go with these poachers? Do you even know what’s going to happen to you?”

  I was so furious that I saw red. I punched him in the leg and practically screamed, “You don’t fucking understand! I might as well be dead either way! Do you even know my parents, my village? My culture? If they found out I faked a marriage and eloped, I’m dead to them anyway - worse than dead! It’s shameful! Both my parents’ reputations - hell, the whole village’s reputation will be shot to shit! They won’t care about me anymore if they find out, you dumbass!”

  Lorenzo’s eyes went wide as he listened to me scream. I couldn’t read his expression.

  Finally, he said in a low, calm voice, “And that’s what you’re risking your life for right now? Shame and reputation?”

  I couldn’t believe how ignorant he was being. I didn’t even want to look at him right now. Furiously, I whirled around and stomped away so I stood halfway between Lorenzo and the poachers.

  “Hey,” one of the poachers said, breaking the tense silence, “it’s not l
ike we’re going to kill him. Do you know how much of a waste that would be, dragon? That’s like throwing money down the drain.”

  “Exactly. Men - shifters and humans alike - would practically kill for the chance to be with a black panther omega, even if he’s not exactly a virgin anymore,” the other added with a confident smirk. “And, if those moans and shouts we heard a while ago are any indication, he’s carrying a half dragon child, too, isn’t he? I can’t imagine how much money - “

  The silence shattered. Lorenzo snarled so loud and viciously that leaves burst from the tree branches. The earth trembled, whipping sand in every direction, as if a quake rocked the ground. Like a silver bullet, Lorenzo flew towards the poachers with fangs and claws outstretched.

  Someone grabbed me from behind. One of the men yanked me towards him, holding me like a shield in front of his face as Lorenzo charged. Despite his rage, Lorenzo saw me. He flared out his wings and braked hard. He struggled to a standstill, but his face was still twisted in fury.

  It was only then that I noticed the tip of a blade ever-so-slightly touching my neck.

  “One wrong move,” the man warned Lorenzo, whose expression was torn between anger and grief.

  “You wouldn’t do it,” Lorenzo growled. “You just said he was worth more to you alive.”

  “He is,” the man admitted, “but that doesn’t mean his corpse is worthless. So if you’re smart and want to keep him alive, you better back off.”

  Lorenzo breathed heavily, frozen and unsure of what to do. Since he wasn’t attacking, the man slowly lowered the blade from my neck and grunted, “Good.”

  “We’ll be leaving now,” the other said. They backed up, keeping their eyes warily on Lorenzo to make sure he didn’t pull any last minute schemes. The man squeezed his hand around my arm tightly to prevent me from escaping. But I had no intention to escape.

  I knew how insane this whole situation seemed to an outsider like Lorenzo - going along with poachers just to prevent my family and village from becoming disgraced. But if they found out about the fake marriage and the pregnancy, I would be considered dead anyway. My life was over no matter which way the situation ended. At least this way, I was still a son to be proud of - not a total fuckup.

  One of the shifters changed into his boar form, and the other man hauled me onto his back. The one still in human form tied my wrists just in case, but I got the feeling both of them were confident I wasn’t about to run off.

  My heart ached. Lorenzo stood behind me, watching, unable to do anything. I hated doing this to him. I didn’t want to leave him behind, and despite how pissed off we were at each other, I still meant what I said about never wanting him to leave my side.

  Everything hurt. I was pregnant with Lorenzo’s child, and now I was being ripped away from him. Not just him, either - my parents, family and friends, my clan… My entire life.

  My eyes wet with tears, I glanced over my shoulder.

  Lorenzo wasn’t there.

  Did he leave already? I felt a pang of agony, thinking about all the terrible things I said to him in anger. He had a right to be upset with me, but I didn’t think he would leave so easily.

  Just as my throat tightened up with a sob, a shrieking sound pierced the sky. The air suddenly felt hot, like the friction of a burning blade.

  Suddenly, the boar shifter beneath me let out a horrible, pained squeal. It thrashed, throwing the poacher and I off. We landed with a thud and I scrambled to get out of the way of the panicking boar’s hooves.

  I gasped when I saw it - a shimmering, translucent silver arrow jutting out of the boar’s side. Unlike a physical object, the arrow was untouched by the blood gushing from the wound.

  Clear magic.

  Lorenzo wasted no time. He swooped down and kicked the thrashing boar out of the way before he snatched the human poacher around the chest, digging his claws into him. The man screamed in fear.

  Lorenzo snapped his teeth and snarled, “You should have thought twice before messing with a dragon’s mate.”

  His claws sunk into the man’s flesh. Blood seeped out of the wounds. The poacher kicked and yelled for him to stop. In between panicked cries, he asked, “How did you do that? The arrow?”

  “Magic. One more reason not to fuck with a dragon. Now give me the device,” Lorenzo commanded, his voice dripping with malice.

  Scrambling, the man reached for his ankle and took the recorder out with trembling hands. Lorenzo snatched it from him and crushed it with ease. The debris fell uselessly to the ground.

  “If you think either of you are getting away with this, you’re sorely mistaken,” Lorenzo continued to growl. “Tell me who you are and why you’re doing this.”

  The man whimpered but didn’t reply.

  Lorenzo snarled. “Now!”

  “We needed the money! Do you know how much money a black panther is worth?” the man cried, obviously losing his mind with fear. “We’re broke! You don’t understand!”

  “Do I look like I care?” Lorenzo asked sharply.

  “We were kicked out of our clan,” the boar shifter - who had transformed back into human form - said weakly. His leg was still bleeding from the clear magic arrow, which had disappeared now.

  “The Skrofa clan?” I asked.

  “Yes,” the man replied. “We knew the Pardus clan had a rare black panther omega, and when we were banished, we needed some way to make money…”

  “Do I look like I care?” Lorenzo snapped. “You should consider yourselves lucky I don’t kill you here and now. Instead, you’re going to pay for your crimes.”

  “What?” they whimpered.

  “Raja is going to tell me where Skrofa clan is, and we’re going to drop you off there. I’m sure your clan chief won’t be too thrilled to hear that you were planning on trafficking a neighboring clan’s omega son,” Lorenzo threatened.

  The men groaned weakly, too much in pain and fear to argue - they knew they were lucky to escape with their lives.

  Lorenzo grabbed both poachers, who remained weakly in their human forms, and then he stared at me, waiting. Without saying a word, I shuffled over so he could carry me as well. It was easiest to travel if I assumed my panther form, so I draped myself over Lorenzo’s shoulders.

  “Lead the way, Raja,” Lorenzo said curtly.

  My voice cracked. “Okay.”

  Lorenzo took to the sky, and with my directions, flew in the direction of Skrofa clan. Nobody spoke a single word for the entire journey.

  13

  Lorenzo

  I had never been so furious. All-encompassing rage raced through my veins like pure fire. My dragon wanted to scream and rip something apart. Never in my life had I experienced anger like this.

  But my anger wasn’t solely directed towards the poachers who were trying to abduct Raja.

  No, the majority of my anger was aimed at Raja himself.

  I didn’t know how he could be so utterly careless. I nearly watched him throw himself into the arms of poachers over something ridiculous, with no regard for his own safety or the safety of our child. A fresh burst of anger exploded inside me. Did he even care about our child? Was the reputation of his village worth more than our baby’s life?

  A low growl escaped my throat, but nobody - not the poachers, or Raja - mentioned it. The adrenaline had cooled off, but the air was still tense and thick. I couldn’t wait to reach Skrofa clan so we could deal with these poachers and leave.

  But what would I do after that? I didn’t know anymore. I didn’t know if I could be with Raja anymore. I certainly didn’t even want to be in his presence right now.

  We couldn’t arrive fast enough. When we finally touched down, I felt a vague relief knowing this would be over soon. Every moment I spent around the poachers was temptation to kill them and be done with it. They were lucky I didn’t rip them apart already.

  Raja dismounted and shifted to human form, while I kept a firm grip on both of the poachers, who were visibly uncomfortable.
<
br />   Good, I thought angrily.

  “Chief Sotu should be inside the village,” Raja mumbled. “Stay back until I tell the guards what’s going on.”

  I prickled at Raja ordering me around, but I stayed put.

  Out of the bushes, a large animal stalked out and stared at us with intelligent eyes. A boar. Unlike the others, this one didn’t attack us. He shifted into human form and asked Raja, “Pardus clan omega, and the Silver Beast. What have you come here for?”

  “Um… My friend and I found a couple of poachers that said they were kicked out of your clan,” Raja explained. “Could we speak to the chief?”

  Anger and confusion and a mess of other emotions churned in my stomach at being called a friend. Is that all I was to him now? Just a friend, after everything we’d been through - and the fact that we had a baby on the way?

  “Well, it’s late and he might be asleep... but I see you brought company,” the Skrofa guard muttered, shooting a dirty glance at the poachers. “Wait just a moment, please.”

  He disappeared into the ferns, then returned a moment later with someone at his side. I recognized the older manas the Skrofa elder, Sotu, who had been present at our wedding.

  Our fake wedding, I thought bitterly.

  Sotu perked up when he recognized Raja and I, then frowned instantly when he saw the poachers in my arms.

  “Raja Kesuma,” Sotu said, “and Lorenzo Drakinus. It’s good to see you again.” In a darker tone, he asked, “Now, what are you doing with those men?”

  The poachers stiffened in my grip.

  “They were trying to kidnap and traffic Raja,” I explained bluntly.

  Sotu didn’t seem surprised to hear a dragon speak - as a clan chief, he must have been wise enough to recognize dragon magic. But his eyes widened in horror at what I told him. “They did what?”

  “They said they were banished from your clan and needed a way to make money, so they wanted to sell Raja’s body,” I growled. Raja said nothing. He hung his head and stared at the ground. The furious part of me wanted to make him even more uncomfortable, so I added, “And not just Raja’s body. He is pregnant with our child, so these poachers intended to make a profit on our baby, as well.”