Ancient Enemy

by Reus, Katie

  His dragon had immediately liked the look of her, and okay, he could admit that she was very attractive. Her eyes were a pale gray that had seemed to see straight to his soul. And her scent reminded him of moonlit nights and gentle spring air.

  He inhaled deeply, following her distinctive scent and the sharp fear scent of the dragon as it zigzagged across the sky in random patterns.

  The sun was setting as he trailed after them, and twenty minutes later he found himself back at the first farm they’d visited. It didn’t matter that it was now dark out, there were solar string lights stationed everywhere, lighting up the place for half a mile in each direction around the house and farm. Not that it mattered, because they were definitely hiding. He couldn’t see the dragon or females anywhere but he could smell them very clearly. Especially the witch.

  Dallas. He liked the sound of her name.

  Find Dallas, his beast rumbled. And don’t be rude.

  Landing in the middle of the field, he shifted back to his human form, then picked up his bag of clothing. If the females and young dragon ran away again, he’d deal with it, but he figured if he wanted to convince them to stay put, he needed to be dressed. Not walking around with his dick hanging out.

  Once he’d pulled on his pants and shirt, he stalked across the grass toward a huge red and white barn. There were a multitude of scents here now, not just a dragon and Dallas. He scented the one called Naomi and the other one with dark, curly hair, Hazel. And…at least eight other individuals. He couldn’t sift through all of them so there might actually be more.

  He couldn’t see any threat so he stalked straight to the barn. As he reached the set of doors, they slid open and Naomi and Dallas stepped out.

  “What are you doing here?” the petite Naomi asked, her eyes narrowed. This was her land so it made sense she was out here demanding answers.

  His gaze flicked to Dallas and he found he couldn’t tear it away from her. She watched him warily, her hands balled into fists at her side. “You can’t take my dragon!” she suddenly shouted.

  Naomi winced and rubbed her temples with her hands. “Dallas, you’ve got to chill for a minute.”

  “She’s never hurt anybody!” the female with the long, dark hair shot through with strands of red shouted again as if her friend hadn’t said a thing. “She’s the sweetest thing ever. And you’re a monster if you hurt her!”

  “I’m not going to hurt your pet,” he snapped out. He was a lot of things, but he wasn’t going to hurt a little dragonling unprovoked. Not even if King ordered him to.

  The witch’s shoulders seemed to ease a little bit as she watched him. “Swear it?” she demanded.

  “I swear on the name of the Donnachaidh clan—my clan—that I will not hurt your dragon unless it attempts to hurt me or any other beings.”

  She nodded once, the mistrust in her gaze easing back a little more. Not by much, but it was something. It was a little ironic that a witch was trusting him, when he’d all but loathed witches for ages.

  “I’m pulling my phone out of my pocket,” he said, holding his hand out to make it clear he wasn’t reaching for a weapon. Not that he actually needed one, but he wanted her calm. “I have to call Darius and tell him where I am.”

  He could hear murmuring inside the barn as well as the whining dragon when Dallas spoke again. “You think we’re going to wait around for him to get here?”

  “Look, I can track you all night. Your dragon is not a very skilled flyer. She’s small and young. You’re not going to get far, which means the only thing you’re going to do is tire her and yourself out. And likely annoy King’s wolves. King wants to bring you in to talk to you about something—it’s part of the reason we were out here today visiting everyone.”

  Her face paled at his words and for the first time in a very long time, guilt punched through him. He didn’t know this female. The only thing he knew was that she smelled liked heaven, cared for a dragon and…was a witch.

  “He’s not going to hurt your dragon,” he continued. Inside, his own dragon agreed. King was a fair Alpha. Young, but fair.

  “You can’t know that.”

  “Fine, I’m not going to let anyone hurt that damn dragon,” he snapped in exasperation. “King simply wants to see you.”

  “About what?”

  “I don’t actually know. I’m not part of King’s pack.”

  “Then you can get off my property right now,” Naomi said, stepping forward. “You have no right to be here if you’re not part of his pack.”

  That was…actually true. Damn it. He shouldn’t have said anything. Since he had already texted Darius, he shoved his phone back in his pocket and held his hands up in a placating gesture. “Why don’t you just take this up with King’s wolves when they get here? I might not be part of his pack, but I’m here under his orders.”

  Naomi bit her bottom lip and looked at Dallas, who appeared just as worried.

  Every farmer they’d met today had been a shifter of the peaceful variety. He was pretty sure Naomi was a deer shifter. He wasn’t sure what Hazel was, but she’d seemed so peaceful that he wouldn’t be surprised if she was something along the same lines as Naomi.

  “Okay, fine. I’ll go with you, but I’m not bringing Willow,” Dallas said.

  “That’s not my choice.” Frustrated, Rhys rubbed his hands over his face and stepped back. That wasn’t his call to make and he didn’t even want to be here—didn’t want to be tangled up with a bunch of random farmers and a random witch who made him uncomfortable. He wanted to be out hunting down Catta.

  Just then the barn doors opened and a dozen people strode out, mostly females. But there were two male children as well. None of them looked happy as they watched him with mistrustful gazes.

  “You big bully, you think you can come and take our sweet Willow,” one of the females he didn’t know accused. She had to be pushing sixty and was definitely human. Her white curls bounced wildly as she strode forward. “You listen to me—”

  “Listen, ladies, calm down—” The second the words “calm down” were out, he knew that he’d made a huge mistake.

  The tension in the air ratcheted up as they all continued to glare daggers at him.

  “I mean… Dammit, can we just wait for King’s wolves to get here? No one will hurt the dragon,” he insisted for what felt like the tenth time.

  Dallas turned away from him then and he felt the loss of her gray gaze on him as she looked back at Willow, who was cowering at the back of the barn, her wings covering her face.

  Oh, hell. Poor thing really was scared. Not a vicious beast at all. He stepped forward slightly, only stopping when the other shifters seemed startled by his movement. “Dallas,” Rhys said quietly, even though they hadn’t been formally introduced.

  Startled, she turned to look at him.

  “I truly swear, on my honor as a dragon, that I will keep Willow safe,” he told her. He wasn’t sure why he wanted her to trust him. It didn’t make sense, but it was clear that she cared about the little beast. And it was hard not to like that.

  She stared at him with those piercing gray eyes for a long moment and finally nodded as if she approved of what she saw.

  He hadn’t felt very good about himself in a long time, but when she looked at him like that, as if she actually might trust him, he realized he didn’t want to let her down. Which was…disconcerting to say the least.

  At that moment, he heard the gentle sound of the wolves’ paws against grass in the distance. They would be here soon.

  Less than five minutes later, he was proved right when Darius and the other two strode out of the darkness, in human form and fully dressed. The wolves looked surprised to see all of the farmers outside the barn and glaring at them.

  For a moment, as all the farmers stared at them with mistrust in their gazes, including Dallas, he was struck by the reality that he’d mistrusted all witches for so long. Even if he hadn’t known them. That was…not a good feeling. The mistru
st that rolled off them right now scraped against his senses, making his dragon edgy.

  “I’m sorry you felt the need to run from us,” Darius said as he approached Dallas.

  “Are you really surprised? When four warrior males show up on my land and try to take my dragon away?”

  He paused. “Fair enough. Look, King wants to talk to you about setting up some greenhouses, food plots and mini-forests in the city. He knows how talented you are with natural magic and basically growing things. He wants your help. The dragon surprised us, that’s all.”

  “Willow. Her name is Willow,” she snapped, all fire and attitude.

  “Ah, yes, Willow surprised us. You can bring her into the city with you. Nothing will happen to her and I swear she’ll be under King’s protection.”

  Dallas looked over at Rhys then, eyebrows raised.

  He nodded, and the fact that she actually trusted him felt strange. She didn’t even know his name.

  “Okay,” she finally said. “But first I need to go talk with the others to make sure my goats and crops will be tended to. And I need to get my sprinklers set up so everything is watered.”

  Hazel strode up then, a couple inches taller than Dallas, and wrapped an arm around her shoulders. “Don’t worry about anything. We’ll take care of everything. Just make sure you take your damn phone and I’ll keep you updated. Stay as long as you need.”

  Dallas turned and gave Hazel a big hug. “Thank you.”

  Rhys had the strange thought that he wished she was wrapping her arms around him.

  “I guarantee if any of you hurt Dallas or Willow, you’re going to answer to all of us,” Hazel said matter-of-factly as she looked Darius in the eye. “You won’t like what happens if you screw up.”

  Rhys blinked in surprise because it was clear that Hazel was a peaceful shifter. There were no waves of aggression rolling off her and she didn’t carry herself in the way apex predators did. But he could also see the electricity spark between her and Darius.

  Darius cleared his throat, and there was almost a hint of amusement in the wolf’s gaze as he nodded in agreement—as if he didn’t take her seriously.

  Rhys kind of figured that he should, because this whole group of pissed-off females could probably wreak havoc if they chose to. It didn’t matter if they were apex predators or not.

  “I will bring your friend and dragon back in one piece, unharmed and happy,” Darius said quietly, watching Hazel with a whole lot of male interest.

  Hazel sniffed once. “Good.”

  “How long will I be in the city?” Dallas asked Darius.

  A deep, completely uncivilized part of Rhys wanted to demand that she look at him, and only him. Which was ridiculous. But there it was. His libido had been dead for…as long as he could remember. But one sniff of this beautiful female—this witch—and something had awoken inside him. He didn’t like it at all.

  “A week, maybe. But I can’t say for certain. We’ve got a place for you to stay, though we didn’t realize you had a pet,” Darius said, looking past her at the still cowering Willow, who was watching them with her wings lifted just enough to show her eyes. “She really is cute,” Darius murmured.

  Dallas sniffed as if to say “duh.”

  “How do you think she’ll do around a bunch of wolves?” Dallas asked, biting her bottom lip.

  “She can stay with me,” Rhys said before Darius could answer.

  They both turned to look at him then. He lifted a shoulder. “What? You know who I live with. Almost all females.” He was staying in a mansion owned by his oldest brother’s mate and a random group of shifters—avian shifters, a phoenix, a couple tigers, and a lazy male lion. It was a misfit crew to be sure, but he had a feeling Willow would be at ease with the females. They would probably fawn all over her and spoil her.

  “We’ll talk more about it once we get back to the city,” Darius said instead of answering one way or the other. He turned back to Dallas. “First, let’s head back to your place so you can pack a bag and then we’ll head out. Will Willow be okay flying to the city?”

  She nodded. “She’s a little wobbly but she can do long-distance fine.”

  “Okay then, let’s go.”

  Rhys scented the subtle pop of fear rolling off Dallas and he couldn’t blame her. She was going to be heading into the city with him, her treasured pet, and three other warrior males.

  In that moment he vowed to make sure she felt secure during the trip as much as he could. His mistrust of witches might run deep, but right now she was a female who needed protection. And he would keep her and her dragon safe.

  Chapter 4

  Dallas couldn’t remember ever being so scared in her life. Not even when she’d defied her coven and left them decades ago. The only silver lining tonight was that for some inexplicable reason she intrinsically trusted the giant dragon, flying in front of her and Willow, to keep his word.

  She was really good at judging people, and while she didn’t think she could trust him a hundred percent, he’d given his word and named his dragon clan. That was serious business where dragons were concerned. Especially since he’d made it a thing about “honor.”

  So here she was, flying into the city with a trembling Willow and a glittering dragon escort who could breathe fire at any moment if he chose. As the wind rolled over her, she realized that the huge dragon was angling himself so that they were protected from the full force of the wind. If it was intentional, it was actually pretty sweet.

  Willow was still nervous, her big body tense underneath Dallas as they swooped over the sprawling oak treetops throughout the city, but as they followed after the dragon some of Willow’s tension seemed to ease. Willow almost seemed to be…mirroring his movements. Anytime he dipped downward, so did she. Anytime he banked left, she did the same. Yep, she was definitely copying him.

  The moonlight and city lights guided their way, making the flight easy enough. However, she was nervous how Willow would react to being around so many people. Maybe she should have left her with Hazel. Willow might be large, but she was only around three months old if Dallas had to guess. And Dallas wasn’t sure how dragons aged in relation to other animals. Unfortunately she didn’t have a way to look up the information either.

  The big dragon—she really needed to learn that male’s name!—circled what appeared to be a huge walled-in compound and landed on a grassy patch in the back.

  Dallas could see plenty of wolves trotting around inside the walls and outside as well, either patrolling or just out for a stroll. With the exception of her former coven and her current neighbors, she didn’t have much experience with other supernaturals. Well, not good experiences anyway. She knew the basics of how packs worked, but that was about it.

  Willow circled in the air, making little crying sounds and refusing to touch down—probably because of all the wolves milling about. Crap. Dallas had no idea what to do now. She made little soothing sounds, trying to convince Willow to land, but it was no use.

  Finally the male dragon lifted his head and let out some kind of call. Whatever it was, Willow dove straight down for him, forcing Dallas to hold on tight as Willow basically crash-landed next to him, sending dirt and patches of grass flying up everywhere. Dallas tossed out a small spell to cushion her landing as she was thrown off into the grass.

  Willow made a happy chirping sound and flapped her wings out, definitely showing off for the other dragon.

  The male shifted to his human form and Dallas looked away automatically, not wanting to stare at all that expanse of bare skin. Especially at what was between his legs, because after the little glimpses she’d had… Well, it was impressive. Something she was most definitely not thinking about. Nope. Not gonna think about it at all.

  “I’m dressed,” he said a few moments later, clearly having understood why she’d turned away.

  She turned back to face him to find that he was indeed dressed, though he didn’t have on socks or shoes. In faded jeans and a body-
hugging T-shirt, he looked rugged and had a natural, earthy scent to him that appealed to all of her most feminine senses. His dark hair was cropped close, showing off a strong jaw and sharp cheekbones she was a teeny bit jealous of. She had a feeling the reason he kept his hair cut so short was more for efficiency than anything else. He seemed very no-nonsense. His shoulders were broad and that freaking T-shirt was leaving little to the imagination. Not that it mattered since she’d seen him without his shirt. Sure, she’d been scared on her farm, but she’d still seen all those muscles and hard striations. Kinda hard to miss. If she had to guess, she’d say he was about six feet four inches. She was five feet nine, and he still towered over her. Which was kind of hot.

  Nope. Stop that train of thought right now, she ordered herself. “I still don’t know your name,” she said as she kept her hand on Willow’s head. It seemed to calm her dragon down.

  “Rhys,” he said simply, pinning her with those dark blue eyes before he turned away and began scanning the yard, his body language alert, as if he was preparing for danger.

  And that was when she realized a handful of wolves had trotted over toward them, some in human form, others in wolf form.

  Next to her Willow was trembling, letting out little whimpering sounds at all the new animals. Dallas wanted to tell her that she was a dragon, that she could fly away from them or at least do some damage if someone attacked her. But Willow didn’t seem to have any idea what she was, except a pet.

  “Back up!” Rhys snapped at the others, his voice commanding and oh so deep.

  Dallas felt a shiver of awareness spiral through her at the sound of that voice.

  He’d clearly surprised them because one of the wolves held up her hands. “Chill, dragon. We’re just curious.”

  “Well, Willow here is clearly nervous, so I think it might be better if you guys give her some space.” His tone made it clear it wasn’t a suggestion.

  The female nodded once then held up a hand, motioning for everyone else to move back. The wolves all obeyed instantly.

  She turned to Dallas then and smiled. “My name’s Cat, and you must be Dallas.”