DRAGON'S GAP: Set Includes Stories 1-3 Plus Love's Catalyst

by L M Lacee

  She looked wary as she said. “Yes, just like Molly.”

  Reighn grinned. “My heart this is wonderful. I am a dragon and as a dragon we live for improbabilities. What of Ava who I have not met yet?”

  Sage smiled as she said. “Ava is around five months old. So she will not shift until after her first birthday and before you ask, she is full Lynx. Are you pleased?”

  “I have lived a thousand years and thought to never have a shadow or hatchlings, so my dragon and I are beyond pleased. We are forever in your debt and honored to be yours.”

  Sage saw the hole, saw the never-ending abyss and still she jumped feet first into the overwhelming emotion called love. As a shifter, instinct drove her mating or at least the willingness to chance a mating. The side of her that named her witch recognized power and felt the draw of spirits as they met, melded and entwined. Forever to be bonded together throughout eternity. She crept onto his lap and placed her lips on his and together they shared the first of many kisses.

  Eventually, Reighn lifted his beloved into his arms and took to the skies shifting as he did. Cradled in the large claws of her dragon she marveled at the deep rich red color surrounding her. Before she could do more than stroke her hand over his scales they were landing on a castle balcony and he was human again carrying her into his bedroom.

  He laid her on his bed as he kissed her deeply while he caged her between his arms. His dragon growled. “Mine!”

  She stroked his chin letting her hand trail down his neck as she nibbled on his lips, moving her lips just enough to say. “Yours! Come my dragon. Come to me make me yours forever.”

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN:

  T he ‘Day of Judgment’ was upon them. Four days later than planned. In the past trials of the nobility were held in seclusion within the dragon court. Punishments if any were also carried out in private. Reighn had decided those days were over.

  He stood now with his legs braced apart, hands clenched on the railing that surrounded their private balcony. His shadow slept feet away exhausted after another passionate night in his arms. A night that once again had scorched the sheets literally. Sage had tremendous control of her power until they made love, then all bets were off. He chuckled quietly they were practicing enough, she would eventually find her balance and truly burnt sheets. A little embarrassment on her side, a tremendous amount of pride on his. So worth it.

  His hatchlings were asleep in their room. He had tucked them in earlier. His adorable Ava and beautiful clever Molly. Every night since they had moved in, he and his dragon stood in total fascination. Watching the rise and fall of their little chests as they breathed deeply, while they slept the sleep of the innocent. His dragon was positive they would forget to breathe if they left them. He was sure they would remain their all night if Sage did not drag him from the room. His Dam had assured him and his dragon that fear would lessen in time and that all new parents went thought the same worry.

  Truthfully it was not so much fear, Reighn and his dragon were just enamored of the girls. He finally had hatchlings of his own to love and to protect. His dragon was in a permanent state of bliss and had been since they had bonded with Sage. He grinned as he thought back to when she had asked for an introduction to his dragon. Reighn thought his dragon was going to expire from happiness.

  Two days ago he had introduced Sage to his dragon and when she had stroked his scales and admired his coloring. His dragon had made the sound of contentment he vaguely remembered him making from his childhood. Sage had been shocked at how soft his scales were and how warm, of course he could adjust them to amour at a thought, a quirk of being a dragon. He was pleased and impressed with his shadow not once had she shown any sign of fear that people often did, when confronted with an eighty-foot dragon.

  He had laid his massive body on the grass behind the castle, and she had placed the girls for him to scent, then they had allowed crawled all over his hide while his Dam and Grace had watched his young explore his massive form. His Dam as usual stared at him with pride, love and laughter in her eyes and Grace with wonder in hers. Tentatively, with coaxing from Sage and Verity, Grace had finally brushed her hands over his fiery scales and exclaimed. “You are so warm.”

  Sage grinned. “All the time.”

  Grace threw her head back and laughed. “Don’t go there, young lady.”

  Reighn snorted flame as he laughed which made the girls squeal with delight. Verity had moved beside Grace and explained. “Reighn is a fire dragon which is why he is red and at any given time there are only ever two in existence. We have always believed it is for balance. Reighn by himself could level a city or four in one flight, can you imagine what two can do? But that is nothing to what havoc a horde of dragons would do whether they have fire or not. So we have fire dragons. It is a fact of dragon society that they are the most ethical of all dragons. Again we believe it is to counter any dragon or dragons with evil intentions. He keeps us safe, or I should say they keep us safe.”

  “Who is the other fire dragon?” Sage had asked absently as she brushed her hands over the dragons hide. Verity said sadly. “You will meet him at court I imagine. His name is Ace Tomas the oldest son of Councilor Tomas.”

  From her voice Sage knew Verity did not like the councilor and not just because of the rebellion Reighn and his brothers had halted. Grace asked as she smoothed hands over Reighn’s scales. “So how many colors are there and do all dragons have purple eyes when they shift?”

  Verity answered. “There are seven prime dragon colors and there are as many variations of those, but all colors come from the royal family. Each of the royal males is a dragon prime color, my Rene` is emerald green. As you can see Reighn is fire red. Sharm is a black. Storm is what we call medieval dark blue and my Keeper is stone grey. As for the eyes, only a royal will have some form of purple eye color. Johner is burgundy with light purple eyes.”

  “Oh so Johner is of royal blood?” Sage asked, she knew that Johner had been adopted when his parents were killed in a territory war and that Verity had been his mother’s sister.

  “He is my sister’s son.”

  “Oh so you are of royal blood too.”

  Verity inclined her head, “Yes from the royal line.”

  Sage asked her. “So if you are royal, do you have purple eyes too? I have never seen them?”

  “Sometimes and no I am not telling you when those times are.” She said with a slight blush, leaving Grace and Sage in no doubt when her purple eyes appeared.

  Sage grinned at Grace and said. “Well okay. I am impressed.”

  Grace asked Verity. “You said seven and only mentioned five?”

  “True the other two colors are gold and silver. So far no dragon has been born even remotely close to those colors but they are mentioned often in our histories.”

  “A puzzle for sure!” Murmured Grace.

  Sage asked. “What of Lars and Stanvis?”

  Verity smiled. “Stanvis is a very charming brown, and Lars is a beautiful black.”

  Sage stroked her hand over the snout of the red dragon who waited patiently, his head on the grass as the girls lay on his back and said. “Well, I love the color of your scales and eyes. They are spectacular.”

  Reighn’s dragon snorted a little tongue of fire again much to the delight of the little girls. “Dada!” Molly squealed. Reighn’s dragon sighed deeply as she called him Dada and fell even further under her spell. Grace said to Verity. “It is love at first sight.”

  “I think for all of them.”

  Reighn nudged Sage gently with his snout, she laughed then said. “Okay let us fly.”

  Verity grinned. “Well we are all here let’s go for a ride. We need to feel the wind.”

  Sage and Grace whooped in delight. Verity showed them how to climb a dragon and then when they were up in a comfortable position. She passed the girls to Sage who placed them both in front of her. Verity slipped up behind Grace and then when she was sure they were all secure she tapped her feet
against Reighn and he lifted gently from the ground.

  From that moment on or maybe it was from when he had found Molly. The girls had fallen in love with their new daddy as he and his dragon had with them. Whether in dragon form or human, his girls knew he was their father.

  Molly squealed Dada every time she saw him and called for his dragon. His sweet Ava always put her hands up for cuddles from her daddy regardless of what form he was in.

  As besotted as he was in their girls, his parents were over the moon. They finally had grandchildren to spoil and shower with love his own father had returned yesterday to meet his new family and for the trial.

  Rene` Reighn’s father adored Sage and one look from his papa and the girls fell in love with the old dragon. He had cuddled them close and Molly always the clever little lynx, had called him. Granpa which had his father beaming a smile that could be seen from space.

  Reighn came back to himself with a thump and sighed, it had been a magical few days. Days he would remember for the remainder of his life and hoped they would be repeated time and again in the future. Unfortunately today would not be a happy one for him to enjoy or one he will wish to repeat but it was a necessity for dragon kind.

  He looked out over the land as the sun peeked its head above the earth’s rim. With a mighty leap from the balcony, he transformed, allowing his dragon to take control and shortly thereafter they were surfing the air currents. His dragon could feel the magic on the waves of air that brushed his scales. And feel it enter his soul as it flowed from the center of the earth. Reighn felt it enter his heart and mind strengthening his resolve. Dragons were entering a brand-new world, and he was going to drag his people fighting and screaming if he must. Into the future that awaited them all. Today he would make them see his vision of the future for dragon kind, for all the world.

  There would only be one choice left open to them join him or be banished and be forced to live wild. Reighn was about to show the dragon nobility that their entitled lives had come to an end. Their choice was change and grow with his vision or be stripped of all their wealth and privilege. The days when nobility dictated to the rest of dragon kind the rules of behavior, and decided who was worthy and who was not, were at an end. Dragons were going to be a leading force in the new world, but he would not allow them to become oppressors. This had not worked for the humans or the shifters, and it would not work for dragons.

  Magic was returning to earth and with that advent, beings who had not been seen for thousands upon thousands of years would also return. And he knew these people would not be willing to accept the rules of dragon nobility. So Reighn's mission would be to impress on dragon kind that the world was changing and they must as well. As he flew the lightening skies Reighn told his dragon. Elementals were once again walking earth’s surface as they had in times past. And dragon kind would have to accept they too had to follow the Elementals rules. Today they were to demonstrate that their Justice when asked for was fair and final.

  Just as Reighn would show the nobility, that like his Sire before him he bowed to no dragon. Unlike his Sire he would not rely on the word of a council or the nobility for advice. As of today the council would be disbanded, and the nobles would no longer rule over dragon society. Dragons had, but one ruler and it was their Dragon Lord, he was their voice, their protector, their Lord and it was time for them to all remember that. He had made a decision to save dragon kind. He found out how unpopular the decision was. When he had Lars and Stan accidently drop hints of what he had in mind to the sons of several nobles. Which is why there was a rebellion, one of their major dislikes was the idea of shifters and dragons bonding.

  As if they had a choice in that! Reighn’s dragons snorted as Reighn laughed. True my friend.

  Short sighted his father called them and Reighn knew it was only partly true, he believed it was mostly the fear of being made accountable for their behavior. It is hard to lord it over another, when you have no right to do so or any threats to level against them.

  The race of dragons had been dying becoming extinct for many years. Reighn like his father before him could find no way to halt the decline of dragon kind. Until that is the Goddess realized that her shifters would be a viable match for the dragons. She had asked the Elementals to intervene on her behalf with the Dragon Lord, to discuss the possibilities of mating’s. To allow her chosen to live and with his dragons at Dragon’s Gap.

  He had agreed at the chance that his dragons could find their shadows and maybe reverse the death of his race. He prayed the Goddess knew something he did not and his dragons would once again have hatchlings. In discussing this with the Elementals, he was rapidly swayed to the decision. When they assured him that regardless of what species the dragons bonded with, dragons would breed true.

  So against noble opposition Reighn had introduced shifters to Dragon’s Gap. And as far as he was concerned it was the best decision as Dragon Lord he had made to date. His dragons would live and prosper. Hatchlings would bless the houses of dragons again. The Elementals had told him that not every shifter, full blood or half would be a match for dragons. But in time compatible beings from other worlds will return and be willing to join with his dragons. He knew that the half-bloods did not shift now, but the Elementals hinted that it was expected in time they may be able to do so. By mating with a dragon or even just by immersing themselves in the magic of Dragons.

  Sage and Grace had told him, when he explained why he had opened Dragon’s Gap to the shifters. That for a chance at finding a mate and the possibility of being able to shift regardless of what species they were. No female would willingly ignore the gift of finding a mate and the possibility of shifting. For that alone it was worth the risk of opening their hearts to another. He smiled as he thought that just maybe his Molly was proof of what was to come for shifters and dragons. Settled in his thoughts and heart Reign glided to the balcony and the waiting arms of Sage as she stood looking up into the morning sky. He shifted at the last minute and stepped to her gathering her into his arms she asked. “Have you sorted it all out?”

  He laid his head on top of hers. “Yes, it is the only way. I know they will not like it but we must evolve, all of us and this is the first step.” Continuing a discussion from the night before, he asked once more. “Are you sure, you should come?”

  Sage tipped her head up to capture his eyes. “You know I must. We are a shadowed couple. I will not be hidden away as a dirty secret.”

  Reighn and kissed her lips, then rested his forehead on hers. “I do not think of you like that?”

  “Of course you don’t but if I do not go. There will be some who may say, you do.”

  Reighn knew she spoke the truth. There will be nobles, who would be quick to say she was not present because he was ashamed of her. “So we will show them a united front.”

  Sage kissed him as she spoke the words against his lips “Yes, we will. The house of Kingsley has taken stock and found the dragon nobility lacking, so it is time for change.”

  Reighn deepened the kiss and knew nothing about today would be as good as it was right here, right now in his Shadow’s arms.

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN:

  R eighn’s parents the former Dragon Lord Rene` and his shadow Lady Verity walked into the elegant court. Accompanied by castle guards and their son master healer Sharm. All three stepped up onto the raised dais and took their seats. They made an entrancing sight, dressed as they were in royal attire. Once seated they looked out over the nearly empty court.

  The recently repaired twenty foot wooden doors swung open, and in marched a company of five hundred dragons. The Hunters were at the castle. The stones beneath their booted feet hummed a welcome in recognition.

  Every Hunters hair was styled in the traditional single war braid with a red and gold ribbon entwined. This contrasted nicely with their uniform of long black sleeved shirts and black trousers with red and gold pin striping. On their backs were strapped two silver swords which completed the look of pr
otectors for dragon kind. They paced to a stop as twenty-five rows of twenty dragons saluted their Commander and stood at attention. Rene` felt his Verity’s hand squeeze his in pride as he rose, his voice rang out with suppressed emotion.

  “Hunters welcome to court be at ease. The Dragon Lord arrives.”

  Each warrior moved to parade rest. It was a stunning synchronized movement which made Sage who was watching from her spy hole behind a tapestry, whistle in appreciation.

  “They are impressive.” She told June who had arrived back two days earlier and was now staying with Grace. She pushed Sage aside and pressed her eye to the spy hole. “Oh mama!” She fanned her face. “Can someone say hot? Claire is going to be so pissed she missed this! Sage look, yummy.”

  Sage yelped as an arm snaked around her waist as Reighn’s rumbling voice stated. “No, she cannot.”

  June grinned up at him, she really liked Reighn. He was good for Sage, and June could tell they synced well together. She laughed softly. “I can look, and I have got to tell you Reighn your dragons are very delicious!”

  Reighn acknowledged that statement with a dip of his head. He liked and admired June. Enjoyed how she called him Reighn and never with disrespect, she did not seem intimidated by him in fact it was very much the reverse. Sage told him it was that she recognized he was part of her pack, her Alpha which allowed her to be natural around him. His dragon decided she felt right. Reighn knew when he was in the presence of the gifted as he was now. As of yet he did not know what her gift was but when today was over he would find out. His dragon had told him on numerous occasions over the last few days she was important and not just to his shadow.

  Changing the subject, he asked. “June, you will watch over Grace and our hatchlings?”

  She turned fully to him and bowed, a courtesy she gave few and said. “With my life. There are several shifters patrolling on the ground. Your father, who I find delightful, has Hunters in all the castle hallways leading to your apartment as well as you have assigned several Shields inside the apartment.” She battered her eyelashes at him as she smiled and said. “Which I thank you for.” She fanned her face again and laughed up at him as he raised his eyebrows over his twinkling eyes. Sobering she said. “They are as protected as you can make them. No one will touch them I swear.”