Damaged Daddy Dragon

by Leela Ash

  And that was true. Until Vera smiled widely. “All you need now is Daddy to come home and kiss you better.”

  The smile faded from Quinn’s lips as flashes of the last time Vera’s father had kissed her came to mind. She felt a sick knot in her stomach at the mention of him and felt a strange sense of embarrassment and shame for having done such inappropriate things with such an innocent child’s father. The kid was oblivious, of course, or she wouldn’t have said anything about kisses. That only made Quinn feel more guilty somehow.

  “Well, I feel perfectly fine without any kisses from anybody,” Quinn promised.

  Vera squinted at her skeptically, then shrugged a shoulder and ran back to her pile of toys.

  “Everyone knows kisses don’t actually fix boo boos,” the child said nonchalantly as she pulled out a stuffed pony from the chaos. “Just the magic kind. Those can fix anything.”

  “Like in the fairy tales?” Quinn asked, relieved to get off the topic of Vera’s father.

  “No, like the dragons.”

  Quinn felt a strange chill surge through her body as she suddenly remembered the telling look in Apollo’s eyes. He had looked almost reptilian. Like a dragon? Had she just been letting all her strange thoughts and her fixation with his tattoo get to her in a moment of passion? Or had she really seen something beastly behind Apollo’s human façade?

  If he was a dragon somehow, that would explain a lot about his brutish mannerisms. But it still didn’t explain his strange photography incident.

  “Tell me more about dragons,” Quinn prodded, feeling silly for even entertaining the notion that Apollo and Vera might be dragon shifters.

  “Oh… you’re a hooman. You aren’t supposed to know stuff like that.”

  “Aren’t you a hooman too?” Quinn asked, gently mimicking the child’s pronunciation.

  The child looked gravely at Quinn but didn’t speak. Instead, she brought the horse over to the babysitter and plopped it in her lap.

  “You can be this one. I’ll go find a different one and then we can play farm.”

  Quinn sighed. Did the child know something more than she was letting on, or did she simply have an active imagination? Either was a possibility. But there was no way of knowing for sure without confirmation from Apollo. Something tangible Quinn could see and understand for herself.

  But that was silly. There was a lot she was capable of but asking herself if someone was more than a human was ridiculous. She was going over the top. Was it so hard to believe that a man could be an asshole to that extent without attributing it to some inexplicable drive he might have? Just because she liked him didn’t mean she should be looking this far for an excuse for him.

  Wait, no, she didn’t like him. She hated him. Watching Vera had nothing to do with her feelings for him. And there was no way he was going to change, so there was no point in even thinking about him anymore. He had shown her his true colors, and that was that. As difficult as it might be for her, she had to say goodbye to the man she had hoped he might end up being and accept him for the scumbag that he was.

  11.

  “Quinn is nice!” Vera exclaimed just a few moments after Apollo woke his daughter up for the day. “When is she coming back?”

  “Uh…”

  Apollo wasn’t sure that their deal was still on. They had done a very disruptive thing that was bound to put a stick in the gears of the routine he had been hoping to set. How was he supposed to tell his daughter that he had gone and slept with the nanny, then pretty much kissed her then kicked her out the door, then shouted at her for walking her dog, so she might never come back?

  The thought was disconcertingly painful for Apollo to bear. If he had ruined things with Quinn eternally, then he didn’t feel he would be able to forgive himself. He hated that he hadn’t been strong willed enough to prevent the dragon within him from showing up and taking what it wanted.

  Then again, he was also incredibly happy. The connection they shared was real. They had somehow consummated that connection and his body was humming with pleased appreciation. But it had been a mistake. He knew he wasn’t ready to have a mate yet. let alone a mate who was completely human. That just wasn’t in the cards for him.

  But… what if she was more than human? Hadn’t he sensed a remarkably Loni – esque energy coming from Quinn at the yoga studio? She was a healer. A helper of sorts. Maybe she wasn’t entirely human after all? In fact, she had been very thoughtful when they had announced Vera the Dragon Queen. Little Rachel might have been oblivious to the knowledge she held, but Quinn might not have been. Had that look on her face been because she was concerned that Vera’s identity might be revealed? The Loni weren’t exactly well known for their tendency to come right out and say they were Loni. Maybe she just assumed he knew.

  The thought brought a rush of excitement to his chest. If she was a Loni, then maybe he could justify falling for her. Maybe it didn’t have to be just a one-time thing. Maybe it was fate, or something like it, pulling them together so that he could find the mate that the guardians were so hell bent on making sure the five heroes in training ought to have.

  It was worth the consideration, at any rate. He had the device with him that Gavin had concocted. It would just take a simple point and click to discover whether someone was a dragon shifter descendant, or a Loni, or even a wolf or bear shifter. There were so many possibilities, and so many disguises, that Gavin thought it best for everyone to be prepared for every possibility.

  He had concealed the device in the form of a camera. All Apollo had to do was ask for her picture, or pretend he was taking one of his , so he could read the energy levels that Quinn put off. That way, he would be able to know for sure whether this attraction was taboo or simply fated.

  With a new hope in his mind, Apollo headed out of Vera’s bedroom to get the device. He had nearly forgotten the question, until the little girl got to the floor and he heard her footsteps padding along the wooden floorboards behind him. “I want Quinn!”

  “What, I’m not good enough for you anymore?” Apollo teased. He still wasn’t sure Quinn was coming, so he wasn’t about to give his child an incorrect answer. He wanted to be the one she could rely on and trust. When he said something, he made sure that it was the closest thing to the truth as it could possibly be.

  “You’re good, Daddy,” Vera giggled. “Quinn is nice though.”

  “Yes, Quinn is nice,” Apollo murmured.

  He would have to go over there, he decided. Find her, speak with her, ask her if she was still going to come back.

  “Hey, what do you say about playing with Frank and Mike again?”

  “Yeah!”

  “Good. You guys do that, and I will get your breakfast all fixed up. Sound good?”

  Vera nodded enthusiastically and soon, Apollo was out the door, dropping his daughter off with a grumpy bear and wolf shifter duo to hunt Quinn down.

  He cheated and decided to use his dragon senses to see if he could catch her scent. Fortunately, it wasn’t difficult for him to locate her, she was working the reception desk. He sighed in relief, glad that she hadn’t taken off to town and not looked back.

  “Hey,” he said, clearing his throat. He wasn’t quite sure how to approach her. She was the one who had said just that once. But he hadn’t argued with her about it. They both know he was a father and that things were complicated. That didn’t mean she might not be hurt by it though. He had to tread carefully.

  “Hi,” Quinn said, though the normal perkiness he had grown to love and anticipate was lacking in her voice this morning. She seemed not only angry but exhausted by her anger. Sad.

  “I was wondering if you needed me to cancel the babysitting contract,” Apollo said, clearing his throat again. Why was he so nervous? They had slept together. Not committed mass murder or something. It had been beautiful and connecting, despite the animalistic nature of his claim. Until he had fucked it all up by being a prick, anyway.

  “I don’t think that wi
ll be necessary. I was looking forward to seeing Vera this morning.”

  Quinn wouldn’t look directly at him, and Apollo sighed.

  “Listen. I’m sorry about last night. I shouldn’t have yelled at you like that. It’s just…”

  Quinn didn’t budge, or reply, or even make any indication that she could hear what he was saying.

  “I really like you, Quinn. I didn’t want things to happen that way.”

  Quinn quirked her brow at him, lifting her gaze to meet his, finally.

  “I like you too, but there’s no point in focusing on any of that, is there? You clearly don’t know how to treat a woman.”

  Apollo shrugged. “I’m a busy man, you know. A relationship is just a little more than my plate can handle right now. I’m overly stressed, and I overreacted. I thought you were someone else at first. I’m sorry.”

  Quinn nodded, though the expression on her face was pained.

  Apollo felt terrible, then remembered the device in his hands. If he could just discover whether Quinn was part Loni, he would know whether fate was working for him or just playing a cruel joke on him. Whichever it was, he really needed to know, or he was going to keep torturing himself with this. And he didn’t have time to worry about love right now.

  It didn’t look like that was going to happen any time soon, so the faster he dealt with this inconvenient Quinn thing, the better.

  “Can I take your picture?” Apollo asked, holding his breath to brace himself against her agitation as he lifted the camera-like device to his face and snapped a “photo.”

  The image he got of Quinn was one of sheer rage.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” she exclaimed, stomping out from behind the receptionist’s desk to look him in the eye. It was almost comical, considering their difference in height, but the heavy waves of agitation she was radiating were no laughing matter. This woman was pissed. And she knew what to do with it if ten years of self-defense was any indication.

  Apollo stepped back, reflexively guarding his groin with the camera as Quinn began to spout off. “You think you can sleep with me then get a picture as a memento for the notch above your bedpost? Right after shouting at me, then pretty much just telling me that you’re so busy that there is no way that whatever we had together will be meaningful to you?”

  Apollo put the camera down, frowning in confusion. The light sensor in the device had at first flashed a violent red, indicating dragon shifter, then quickly died down back to a complacent green, for human. It had stayed there and settled on green, as if the red flashes had never even happened. What the hell was that all about? Did it mean something? Was she a dragon shifter or not?

  “I didn’t mean to insult you, Quinn! It’s just… it’s important. I don’t want to mess anything up, and trust me, there is a lot that could be messed up right now. And Vera really likes you.”

  He didn’t know why he spat his daughter out as an excuse to take an inappropriate picture of the poor woman, but he did.

  “Vera? What does she have to do with anything?!”

  Apollo hated lying with every fiber of his being, but he saw no other way out of this one short of revealing the truth about the dragon shifters to the one woman who seemed least likely to be receptive of him at the moment.

  “She woke up this morning talking about you,” he stammered. There, that wasn’t a lie. “She really likes you.”

  “Well, I told you I was looking forward to seeing her, too. And I fully intend on fulfilling our contract, for my parent’s sake, not yours. But that is not by any means a reflection of any feelings I have for you. It is an obligation I am going to fulfil for my family, and for this establishment, and about three percent for the little girl you claim likes me so much you want to take my picture.”

  Apollo winced, backing out the door with his tail between his legs. “I’m sorry,” he mumbled. He stepped outside and hastily shut the door behind him.

  Well. That went well. Might as well get back to training now. Shit.

  ***

  Apollo stopped in the clearing he’d found in the woods. It was declared safe for shapeshifting. He was still reeling from his interaction with Quinn. Why did he always fuck things up? He just wasn’t destined to find a mate. That was really all there was to it.

  Fuck it. After all he had done for her stupid bed and breakfast and how hard he had tried to speak carefully and explain as much as he could to her, she still wanted nothing to do with him. That was fine. He had bigger fish to fry anyway.

  So, he had rounded up the alphas and headed out. He wanted to see how they all managed to work together during combat, but there had still been a little bit of tension between Frank and Mike.

  But they needed to get past all that. It was unbelievably important for them to be able to work seamlessly as a team, never letting any personal issues get in the way. Fortunately, none of their tension had been particularly personal so there was still a chance for them to really learn how to work together.

  “I know you two haven’t exactly kissed and made up yet, and that’s okay. Kind of, I guess. But what you should be doing about now is making sure that you aren’t sabotaging any chance you have of coming together in battle. Because I assure you, when the shit hits the fan, you’re going to want to be able to trust each other, whether you like one another or not. Do you understand?”

  “I will not tolerate my race being insulted by a wolf shifter,” Michael said sternly, looking at Apollo as if Frank wasn’t just standing there with a scowl on his face.

  “And you think bear shifters are so innocent? Have you seen the chaos your kind have wrought upon mine?” Frank protested.

  “Michael has never done anything to harm you, Frank.”

  “Not yet,” Mike mumbled.

  Apollo almost cracked a smile. Almost.

  “He wouldn’t harm you unless you posed a threat to him. Now, I am vaguely aware of the issues that Stonybrooke has had with bear and wolf hybrids in the past. And your caution is understandable. But at this point, it is a prejudice that you both harbor against one another that has no factual basis in your relationship with each other. It makes no sense.”

  “I have every reason not to like Frank,” Michael pointed out. “He’s an arrogant son of a bitch who thinks his people are better than mine.”

  “My people are better than yours!” Frank said. “We’re not the ones who started hiding wells of knowledge of the home worlds from the rest of us when we all could have had an equal chance at getting home!”

  Apollo was getting ready to step in when Mike surprised him by not reacting in an aggressive way. He was more concerned about something. Sad, maybe.

  “I don’t even think there is a home for us,” Michael said gloomily. There was a sense of despair in his voice. Everything he had been raised to believe had been shaken by the activation of the portal under Oak Mountain and the ultimate let down of having nowhere for it to go. “We were supposed to go there. They got the portals open and everything. But there was nothing there. Except for this guy.”

  Mike looked at Apollo with contempt. “I don’t know what to believe anymore. We were all so happy… we had it figured out. Why wouldn’t you let any of us go through?”

  Apollo sighed.

  “Look, I know that all had to be very disappointing for you. But the truth is that only the dragon shifters of Earth have figured anything out about the portals. It is incredibly dangerous to take them at a whim. Many, many people have died, all races of shifter just gone from making leaps they didn’t know how to make. We couldn’t let the same happen to your people.”

  Michael still looked dubious and avoided Apollo’s gaze.

  “Why not warn us ahead of time? Instead of letting everyone think we were finally going home?”

  Apollo sighed. “We didn’t know the portal was even being activated. It is a mercy of fate that I happened to be in the Portal Room when the doorway opened, otherwise who knows what might have happened to the lot of you. A
nd from what we dragon shifters are learning about our own planets, we are realizing how unsafe it is to just attempt to blindly make contact with the others. Even if they still exist.”

  “What exactly are you learning about your planets?” Frank asked, eyeing Apollo with a combination of suspicion and curiosity.

  “Well, we are learning that there were massive consequences brought on by the war that took place in the dark ages, as you well know, I’m sure. They teach you about that in wee bear and wolf school?”

  The Champions nodded, and Apollo nodded too. “Good. Well, that’s only the beginning. It was total chaos. Of the kind that I have been assigned to prevent from happening again. That war left a nasty disease in its wake. Radiation, we believe. And it has rendered much of the shifter population on Fiora infertile.”

  “Infertile?” Frank asked. “So, wait a minute. Are you saying that you can’t have kids? That doesn’t make any sense.”

  Apollo chuckled as Vera popped into his head. “I was born on Earth. There is no radiation where I was raised that makes it impossible for me to conceive a child.”

  “I don’t want to build stronger ties with Frank,” Mike protested.

  “Feeling is mutual, bro,” Frank muttered.

  “That doesn’t make much difference,” Apollo stated. “Because you both have something in common. Something that will unite you and bring you together.”

  “Oh really? What’s that?” Frank asked incredulously.

  “Your bias toward each other.”

  Apollo flashed a less than charming smile at the recruits. “Today, you’re going to try to fight me. If you can bring me down, then I’ll show you your equipment. But until you can manage it, you will be stuck using your bare hands.”

  “Equipment?” Mike asked, looking at Frank in wonderment.

  “I didn’t know anything about equipment,” Frank admitted to Mike. Apollo grinned. Good. They were communicating with each other. Phase one was already complete.

  “And you won’t learn anything more about them unless you are able to fight.”