Dragon Protectors: Shifter Romance Collection

by Lola Gabriel

  “I remember,” Scarlet said shortly. She didn’t like thinking about her mother in a negative way.

  “Despite the feud with the dragons, Scar, the witches have contributed a great deal to our world.”

  “Can we not talk about the witches right now?” she snapped, rising from her chair. She needed a break from talking about dragons and witches or anything else that would remind her of Theo.

  I made a terrible mistake leaving him. Maybe we can make it work. Maybe— She stopped herself short. It was a conversation she’d had over and over with herself since making the decision to leave. I did the right thing.

  “Do you hate me now?” Scarlet blinked and looked up at her sister, who had followed her into the living room, tea in hand.

  “Hate you? Of course not!”

  “Resent me then?”

  Scarlet sighed and shook her head. “No, Bea. I don’t.”

  “If it wasn’t for me, you could be with Theo—”

  “If this hadn’t happened, something else probably would have. You know as well as I do that the Tallants weren’t going to openly accept a witch into the family.”

  “You don’t know that!”

  “I know that we can’t do anything about the past, and I’m certainly not about to play that in my head,” Scarlet lied. “No, I don’t hate or resent you. You’re my sister, and I love you more than anyone.” Beatrice perched at her side, a wry smile on her face.

  “More than Theo?”

  “Beatrice!”

  “Too soon?” Scarlet pushed her gently, and they shared a chuckle, even though Scarlet’s laugh sounded hollow to her own ears. “Well, if it means anything,” Beatrice offered, taking a sip of her cup, “I liked him better than Cal.”

  “You would prefer a trained monkey to Cal,” Scarlet remarked, and Beatrice nodded in agreement.

  “A stray cat, actually,” she conceded. “Although, to be honest, Cal kind of was like one, spraying all over the place.”

  “Ugh, Bea!”

  “What?”

  The doorbell rang, and the sisters looked at one another.

  “You expecting anyone?” Bea joked. Scarlet smirked.

  “Hardly.”

  “I’ll get it, seeing as I’ve showered this week. If it’s a client—”

  “Oh, get on with it.” Scarlet scowled, pushing her off the couch. Giggling, Beatrice rounded the corner, and Scarlet heard the door open.

  “Oh!” Beatrice gasped. “W-what are you doing here?”

  Alarm spiked through Scarlet’s veins, and she bolted toward the entranceway, also freezing in shock when she saw who stood there.

  “Mr. Tallant!” she gasped, her mind racing. “What are you doing here?”

  “Well,” Carlyle said, “I would tell you if you both stopped bombarding me with the same question. May I come in?”

  Scarlet and Beatrice exchanged nervous looks.

  “Uh, sure…” Scarlet ran her hand through her unbrushed hair. Carlyle was, of course, dressed immaculately in a three-piece suit which only served to make him more distinguished. “Can I get you something to drink?” Scarlet asked while her sister continued to gawk at the man from her spot by the door. “Tea? Coffee?”

  “No, Scarlet, thank you,” Carlyle declined, sitting stiffly on the edge of a recliner. “I wanted to have a word with you.”

  “I’ll be in the kitchen,” Beatrice said, but before she could move, he stopped her.

  “No. I’d like a word with both of you.”

  Again, the twins looked at each other. Scarlet, though, did not detect the same animus from Carlyle as she had when they had stayed at the estate. If anything, the ancient dragon almost looked humble.

  “Please, sit down. You are making me quite nervous, looking so similar and all.” The sisters obliged, matching his terse poise as they faced him on the sofa. “Side by side, there are several distinct differences about you,” he commented.

  “Are there?” Scarlet asked.

  “Will you get to the point?” Beatrice breathed. “Are you here to kill us?”

  Scarlet frowned, but to her amazement, Carlyle laughed.

  “Kill you? Hardly,” he chuckled. “I am here to ask for an…” He cleared his throat, and they stared at him expectantly. “An… apology,” he managed to say.

  The twins spoke in unison. “Pardon me?”

  “You heard me correctly,” Carlyle went on. “I was hasty in my dislike of you.”

  “Well… you had cause—” Scarlet started to say, but Beatrice gave her a scathing look which silenced her instantly.

  “We captured Mara, and she confessed to everything,” Carlyle continued. “In fact, she confessed to more than we were even aware of.”

  “Oh…” Beatrice sighed, sinking back in shame. “I’m… happy to hear that.”

  “You may be happy to hear that her confession gets you off the hook in more ways than one,” Carlyle continued, directing his attention on Beatrice. “She admitted to using mind control on you.”

  Beatrice blinked and laughed in disbelief, but to Scarlet, it suddenly made perfect sense. Never before had her sister ever shown ill-will toward the dragons. It was like she had been put under a spell overnight.

  “I am afraid it is true, Beatrice,” Carlyle sighed. “You would never have poisoned Bruno if not for the spell that Mara cast upon you.”

  “Oh, God,” Beatrice muttered, shame coloring her face. “I can’t believe I didn’t see that sooner.”

  “Thank you for bringing this to us, Mr. Tallant,” Scarlet said. “It means a great deal that Beatrice has her name cleared.”

  “There is another matter to address,” Carlyle said.

  “Sir?”

  “The matter of you returning to the estate to be with my son.”

  The words filled Scarlet with wary hope.

  “Theo and I have discussed it, Mr. Tallant, and we know that with the ongoing feud between witches and dragons—”

  “Ancient history,” Carlyle interjected. “When you return, you will find that there will not be the same friction as you experienced when you came before.”

  Scarlet’s eyes narrowed. “What has changed? You hate witches, Mr. Tallant. We have spent centuries hiding ourselves from you because of it.”

  “Again, ancient history,” Carlyle repeated, waving his hand dismissively.

  “There’s a catch,” Beatrice said suspiciously. “You’re a Tallant.”

  “Of course there’s a catch.” At the doorway of the living room stood Theo, heaving a sigh. “But don’t expect him to tell you anything.”

  “Theo!” Scarlet breathed, jumping to run into his arms. “Is all this true?”

  “I shall leave you to discuss the details of moving back,” Carlyle said, nodding at his son. “Shall I send for another limo?”

  “I can bring him home,” Scarlet said. “Take the limo.”

  “Very well. Welcome to the family, ladies.” He bowed out, but Scarlet was too fixated on her mate to notice him leave.

  “Now I really will be in the kitchen,” Beatrice muttered, sounding uncomfortable. Scarlet couldn’t pull her eyes away from Theo’s face, her heart racing as if she hadn’t seen him in a year.

  “What is this all about?” she demanded, hands splayed over his cheeks. “Why did he change his mind? Is this for real, or is it a trick?”

  “It’s real, Scar. Beatrice is forgiven, and Father wants you both to come back to the estate.”

  “How?” she asked. Even though she did not want to be so cynical, it was impossible to believe that their fate had somehow changed just like that.

  “Let us just say that Father has learned the virtues of witches and dragons uniting.” Theo winked but did not offer anything else by way of an explanation, leaving Scarlet more perplexed than ever. She was done looking a gift horse in the mouth, anyway. “What do you say, my love? Will you come back to the estate with me?”

  “I— Yes!” she squealed, placing a kiss on his full lips b
efore throwing her arms around his neck to hold him tightly. “Yes, of course I will.”

  “You could have asked me before agreeing,” Beatrice muttered from behind them. Scarlet’s smile faded, and an apology sprung from her lips.

  “I’m sorry, Bea. Of course. This is up to you. If you don’t want to go, we’ll stay here.” Theo groaned, and Scarlet nudged him into silence. “We can still exist if we don’t live together,” she murmured. As she spoke, Beatrice’s face broke into a wide grin.

  “Of course we’re going to live on the estate!” she howled. “It’s a damned hotel! There’s an indoor pool! And the eye candy…”

  “What?” Scarlet laughed, melding her body to Theo’s. She never wanted to let him go. “I had no idea you were hot for dragons.”

  “I’d have to be deaf and blind, wouldn’t I? Have you seen them?”

  “I only see one man,” Scarlet replied, staring lovingly up into Theo’s eyes. “My soulmate.”

  Epilogue

  Theo frowned as he looked up at the sky.

  “I hope the weather holds for this,” he commented, and Scarlet nodded in agreement.

  “It would be a shame for it to rain,” she conceded. “I wouldn’t want my dress to get soaked.” They exchanged a look and grinned as Theo took in her flowing gown of crimson and white.

  “You look beautiful,” he murmured, pulling her into his arms. “And I cannot complain about you being wet, either. You are stunning in all seasons.”

  “I bet you say that to all the girls who look like me,” she teased, and Theo chuckled, placing a sweet kiss on Scarlet’s lips.

  “Of all the girls I know who look like you, you are most certainly the most beautiful,” he told her.

  “I won’t tell the bride you said that,” Scarlet giggled. “Speaking of which, I should find Bea. Have you seen her?”

  “I only see you, Scar. You know that.” Again, Scarlet snickered, but before she could untangle herself from Theo’s embrace, he drew her back to stare into her eyes. “Are you happy?” he asked gruffly. The question took her aback, and she blinked.

  “Of course I am,” she replied, and she meant it.

  At first, returning to the estate with him had filled her with wariness, but as Carlyle had promised, the tension that had been there before Mara had been caught seemed to have miraculously disappeared. Slowly, over the course of months, both Scarlet and Beatrice had learned to adjust to their new home with ease and comfort.

  It helps that we found our mates here, too.

  No one had been more surprised than Scarlet when Beatrice had found love with Bran, announcing her engagement to Theo’s cousin within six months.

  “Bran always did like to show me up,” Theo muttered when he learned about their betrothal. “He had to know that we were meant to get married before them.”

  “I’m not going anywhere,” Scarlet had promised him, the sentiment filling her with excitement. She had no doubt in their future together, but knowing that Theo was already thinking of marriage made her almost giddy.

  Every day with him was a new adventure. To say she was happy was an understatement, really.

  “Before you go find her,” Theo said, “I have something for you.” He reached into his breast pocket and withdrew a red velvet box. “I did not want to upstage the bride,” he told her. “So I am asking you here, while we are alone.”

  He unlocked his arm from her waist to drop on one knee, his head tilted back as he stared at her with hopeful eyes. Propping open the box, Theo raised the ring for her to examine it, and Scarlet gasped. The piece was dazzling, a glorious single diamond encompassed in a circle on a platinum band.

  “Scarlet, from the minute I saw you, I knew that you were my soulmate,” he began. “And we have overcome so much to be here. I never want to live without you. Will you be my mate and my wife?”

  Scarlet’s luminous eyes filled with tears, and she nodded eagerly, reaching to pull him to his feet.

  “As if there was any doubt,” she said. “Of course I will.” Theo’s smile lit up the suite, and he quickly slipped the ring out to place it on her finger, where Scarlet admired it with a sigh. “You know I can’t wear this right now, don’t you?”

  “Yes,” Theo answered with a smile, shrugging. “Your sister is a bit of a bridezilla. If she sees that, she will not be pleased.”

  Scarlet wrapped her arms around him and hugged him tightly. “I love you, Theo Tallant.”

  “I love you, Scarlet Gale.” She dropped her head against his chest to hear the sound of his heart beating, closing her eyes to relish the sound.

  I could stay like this forever, she thought, content. A knock on the door caused them to part reluctantly.

  “Yes?” Theo called. Bruno peeked his head through the doorway, seemingly uncomfortable in his tux, even though he did look very dapper.

  “Beatrice is looking for you, Scarlet,” he sighed, looking defeated. “Please go to her before she takes it out on me.”

  Theo and Scarlet laughed.

  “I tried to warn you that being best man meant you’d have to deal with my sister,” Scarlet chimed.

  “I just wanted to show that there were no hard feelings,” Bruno muttered. “But I think I might be having second thoughts on that matter.”

  “Tell her I’ll be there in a minute,” Scarlet said. Bruno nodded quickly, bowing out of the room and closing the door behind him. Reluctantly, Scarlet slipped off the ring and handed it to her fiancé. “I can’t wait to show this off,” she whispered. “But today is about Beatrice.”

  Their eyes locked, and Theo gave her a warm smile. “You are a good sister, Scarlet.”

  She returned his smile.

  “You are a good everything, Theo…” She trailed off slightly, and he peered at her.

  “What’s the matter?” he asked, sensing her desire to say something else. Scarlet swallowed the lump in her throat and met his gaze with a watery smile.

  “I was going to tell you after the wedding, but since you’re the one making grand gestures…” Theo’s eyebrow raised expectantly, waiting. “I’m pregnant,” Scarlet said. Theo’s jaw dropped, and tears of happiness filled his eyes as he seized her and covered her face with kisses.

  “Oh…!” he muttered, finally managing to breathe in his joy. “We are going to have a baby!”

  Scarlet dropped her eyes and shook her head.

  “No,” she replied quietly. Theo pulled away from her, eyeing her with confusion.

  “No what?” he asked, alarm twining through his question. “Is something wrong with the baby?”

  “No.” Scarlet grinned. “There’s nothing wrong with the baby.” Theo didn’t understand, perplexity clouding his face, and she laughed aloud. “You don’t need to be so worried,” she chuckled.

  “I do not get what you’re trying to say,” he replied slowly. “What’s wrong?”

  “Nothing!” Scarlet insisted. “It’s just that we’re not having a baby…” She inhaled and exhaled in a laugh. “We’re having twins.”

  THE END

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