Finding Forever

by B. A. Stretke

  Angus kept his tone even and his words the truth. Juan watched him appearing enthralled by the story. He didn’t speak just listened and waited. “We traveled the country, every corner, searching for over a hundred years. It was here in Laramie that Calum scented his mate Chance. He was sitting in the coffee shop downtown when we pulled up out front and walked in. It was the moment we’d lived for. It was the end of our quest and the beginning of our lives.”

  Angus walked over and took a seat on the large coffee table positioned in front of the sofa Juan was seated upon. Juan moved forward towards him but also kept a distance. His eyes studied and dissected every look, word, and movement.

  “Where one is found all others will present. That meant that all of our mates were here in this area. We bought the old Lodge and settled down after notifying our King of our success.” Angus looked at Juan begging him to believe and open his mind.

  "Alrick was next, he found his mate Dane while helping to rescue Calum's mate Chance. The two men were friends. Then, Kyle, his mate was more difficult considering he was from another culture out of Jackson. All the men of the quest were finding their mates. James found his, then Bryn, Donnell, and Ewan. Two days ago, I found mine, I found you." Angus fell silent letting Juan take it in.

  “You’re telling me a story but leaving out the most important part of the story, the part that ties it all together. What are you not saying?” Juan leaned forward and placed his hand over Angus’s. “Tell me.” He said and squeezed Angus’s hand.

  Angus paused and considered his way forward and decided seeing was believing. He pushed his dragon forward and let its essence ripple across his face. The iridescent black scales chased each other from chin to brow and his eyes flashed and burned. It was just a second of introduction before his countenance returned to tan skin and chiseled features.

  Juan was stunned and then mesmerized by what Angus was revealing to him. The belief he’d held that there was more to this man proved to be true, miraculously true. Juan held tight to Angus’s hand and felt no fear of what was before him. The story was remarkable, and the implication was a little shocking. “What is this Angus?” He asked while lean closer.

  “I and my Clan are dragons of the Shetland Island Dragon Circle ruled by King Duncan Adair. I am ancient, as are we all. Our numbers were dying out because children can only be born to true mates and a true mate had not been discovered in over two hundred years. Calum’s mate Chance is pregnant with the Clan’s first child.” Angus registered Juan’s sudden surprise and flipped his hand to take a grip on Juan’s before he pulled away.

  “How does a man have a child?” Juan stated cautiously but did not try to pull away.

  “Dragons have the ability to impregnate their mate regardless of their gender or species.”

  “Species?”

  “Dragons usually mate with humans but they have also found their mates in other paranormal communities.” Angus moved to sit beside Juan on the sofa. It seemed as if Juan was processing everything and handling it all amazingly well. Angus thanked all the powers that be.

  “Let’s put male pregnancies and other paranormal groups discussion on hold for now. I need to focus on you and me and the dragon, we can discuss everything else after I have a handle on us.” He told him.

  Juan was unexpectedly calm, and Angus wasn’t sure if it was genuine. He could feel his confusion but there was no fear or revulsion, no negative emotions were present. Angus’s hopes were high. “So, Sasha is Ewan’s mate. That’s why they seemed so perfect together and hated to be apart?”

  “Yes, and you are my mate, Juan. I have been looking for you for centuries and I will do everything in my power to protect you, provide for you, and keep you happy. You are my soul, my life, and my love and I don’t talk like that to just anybody.” Angus joked as a sudden anxiety began to crawl up his spine. It was risky to bare so much of oneself.

  Juan was flabbergasted but needed to make sure Angus understood there was no judgment attached to any of his questions or concerns. He leaned in when he felt Angus begin to tense and kissed him softly on the lips, lingering and gently pulling Angus’s lower lip into his mouth. Juan sucked lightly and then released. The tension was draining away and Angus looked expectant rather than uneasy.

  “You laid a whole lot of strange and amazing things at my doorstep so it’s going to take me a moment or two to catch up and adjust.” Juan took several deep breaths and then responded. “I believe you, the story was too good, too natural, and too concise not to be real. Besides, why make it up. What you did with your face, I’m assuming that you have the capability to shift completely?” Juan was trying to figure it out without offending.

  “Yes, I shift into a large dragon. I’m larger than some of my Clan and smaller than others. Calum is the largest and most fierce. He is our Chieftain and Alrick is his Second and the rest are warriors. I am a warrior.” Angus moved closer and slipped his arm around Juan and Juan realized that nothing else mattered.

  Juan trusted this man with his life and he believed everything he said regardless of how fanciful or outrageous it sounded. He watched the dragon presence move across Angus’s face and witnessed the strange colorful depth of his eyes. What was there not to believe. He wanted Angus and there was nothing about the man that he did not love.

  "I don't care if you're a fairy prince from a mystical mound at the bottom of the sea. I love you, Angus. It's sudden and you don't have to say it back, I just needed to be clear with you. There is no doubt in my heart and you don’t have to convince me to stay. You’re it for me and I hope someday I’ll be it for you.” Juan said exactly what he felt.

  The time for games and ambiguity was over. Angus was a dragon shifter from a Scottish Dragon Circle and Juan had no issue with it. Actually, he found it very romantic, how many people can say they are a dragon’s mate.

  "I claimed you last night, we are bound together you and me." Angus kissed him again.

  “Was it the bite?”

  “Yes, and the sex.” Angus laughed as Juan gave a shy smile. “No getting shy on me now mate.” He pulled him close and claimed his mouth in a sensuous kiss plunging deep and savoring the taste. “You make me so hot.” He mumbled. “Sex is always amazing between mates.” He added offhandedly.

  “Good to know.” Juan panted the words between savage kisses. Angus began to slide his hand inside Juan’s low-slung jeans when the phone began to ring. He cursed the timing and the person with the audacity to call

  "Is that a landline?" Juan asked.

  “Yes, the cells don’t always have service so Calum had landlines installed in all the cabins up here.” It rang again, and Angus grunted his disapproval before getting up and heading for the kitchen. He turned back and pointed at Juan. “Don’t move, I won’t be but a minute.” Juan nodded eagerly.

  He hurried to the phone aware that the call was probably important because disturbing a newly mated couple was frowned upon. “Hello.”

  “Jeff is headed in your direction. We found David Lord in a hotel room beaten and barely alive. He said it was Jeff Frazer that did it. He said the man is out of his mind.” Calum’s words brought Angus to immediate attention. “Bryn and Forbes are following his trail and it appears he is headed up the mountain. They aren’t too far out from his location and should overtake before he reaches you but take no risks with your mate. Keep him close.” Calum was all business.

  "Yes, sir." Angus closed the call and felt a sudden anxiety, rushed back into the living room to Juan. As he rounded the island his fear was made real. Standing there with a large bladed knife pressed to his mate's throat was Jeff. He held Juan flush against his chest as a shield against anything he thought Angus might try.

  His demeanor was cocky and confident standing there like he’d won the prize and gloating over his success. “You’re not in Kansas anymore Haus, you need to learn to lock the front door.”

  “I’m sorry Angus.” Juan had tears in his eyes and it near tore the heart right out
of Angus.

  "Isn't that just precious." Jeff mocked and started to walk backward with Juan still pinned against him. Angus noticed the knife had pricked the skin and a trickle of blood began to appear. His dragon was frantic and pushing for the freedom to destroy the attacker. But Angus had to be careful, the knife was pressed hard to Juan's throat and any misstep could mean further injury.

  He pushed his dragon forward to influence Juan’s mood and soothe his fear. Their bond was strong and their communication flawless. He could see the calm as it began to wash over him.

  Angus followed watching every movement as Jeff continued backward and out the front door. Juan stumbled a couple of times, but his composure kept him from injury by keeping his head and moving with his attacker and not against him at this time.

  The porch was a vast and weighty architectural marvel of log and stone. Jeff kept stepping backward but was not off the porch when Angus cleared the front door. “I’m not letting you leave here," Angus stated with such righteous authority that Jeff actually stopped and stared at him for a moment.

  “You’re not stopping me. This is my property until I say it isn’t.” He pressed the knife a little closer to Juan’s neck for effect. “He doesn’t get to leave, and you don’t get to take him. This is my story, my life, and you are all just players. I rule, and all decisions are mine.” Jeff just broadcasted his diminished mental health for all to hear. “I own Juan Navarro and until I say he can go, he stays.”

  Narcissism was a common affliction in nearly all species but most understood that although they’d like to, they did not rule the world. Jeff, for whatever reason, had taken a step away from that reality.

  The scene was becoming tiresome and Angus decided action needed to be taken now before Jeff tried to walk Juan down the steep stairs backward. "Let him go and I won't kill you," Angus stated and again it brought Jeff up short, but he recovered quick enough.

  “I’d slice his throat before . . .” Jeff’s voice suddenly broke off when a terrifying roar echoed through the trees from behind him. It was unlike any noise in creation, it was prehistoric. He jerked and glance behind him and it was just enough that Juan was able to elbow his midsection and drop to the deck leaving Jeff wide open to Angus’s wrath.

  The shift was instant one second Angus stood before him and in the next, it was a massive beast of unimaginable proportions that stood taller than the structure. The dragon threw its head back and roared to the sky. The translucent wings that shimmered in the moonlight reached beyond the length of the porch and knocked out a good portion of the front of the cabin as they flexed and moved.

  It was the green eyes that captured Juan and held him in their enchantment. This was Angus, his mate and his warrior and his forever love. Finding forever with his special one had been Juan's dream since he was a young boy. Now he lay there looking up at what should be a terrifying sight and all he felt was warmth and love and a sense of belonging that had always eluded him until now. This was his forever, Angus was his.

  Juan glanced over his shoulder when he heard Jeff screaming and trying to run but rather was stumbling violently down the stairs. He'd made it halfway to his jeep when another creature similar to Angus but much less magnificent in Juan's eyes, broke through the trees and crushed the vehicle flat. That was followed by Angus breathing a ring of fire around the front porch preventing Jeff from returning.

  Jeff dropped to the ground and curled in on himself as he mumbled incoherently to himself. The man was completely broken. A putrid smell filled the air indicating that the man who claimed he controlled all had just soiled his pants. Juan tried to find it in his heart to feel sorry for the man but there was nothing left in his heart for Jeff except disgust. He hated him, it was a word he used rarely but it was true today, he hated Jeff Frazer absolutely hated him.

  Before he knew it, Angus was kneeling beside him and gathering him up into his arms. Gone was the marvelous beast. He held him close and carried him back inside and laid him on the sofa. He quickly checked every inch of Juan’s body for any injuries and kissed the small wound on his neck until it stopped bleeding. Juan was in heaven.

  “You are a magnificent dragon. I will never tire of seeing you shift in all your glory and beauty. It was like a fairy-tale, thank you for including me in your magical life.” Juan was thrilled beyond description. “What an adventure, what a delightful and astonishing life lay ahead for this humble bookseller.” He said and laughed while Angus gathered him back into his arms cradling him.

  "I love you, Juan."

  “I love you too Angus. I found my forever in you.”

  EPILOGUE

  Jeff was delivered to the hospital in a catatonic state after Bryn picked him up in his talons and carried back down the mountain. The reality of dragons was too much for his superior mind to handle apparently. Juan urged Angus not to kill him and Angus couldn’t deny his mate anything. Although his dragon felt that loose ends were dangerous, Angus allowed Jeff to live.

  “He may never regain his mental capacity and even if he did, screaming of dragons and fire and flying through the air would just prove his insanity. Besides I’m sure David Lord reported his attack. Jeff will stay locked up.” Juan explained, and Angus could see the logic but also gave credence to his dragon. He would keep an eye on Jeff if he ever recovered enough of his mind to leave the hospital.

  Juan moved in with Angus at the Lodge as soon as they returned from the mountain and Juan was thrilled when Sasha moved in with Ewan. Sasha and Ewan planned a wedding because Sasha would not be denied her day, but they were already bonded and starting their lives together at the Lodge.

  Their week at the Gatehouse proved to be crazy and exciting according to them both. Sasha had not taken to the dragon reveal quite as amiably as Juan had, but she came around quick enough and pledged herself to Ewan and he did the same.

  Juan settled in and found the Clan welcoming and open to both he and Sasha. The dragons were a close-knit bunch, but they were not exclusive, which was evident by the many species of mate that they have opened their doors to.

  Juan was freshly amazed on nearly a daily basis, although it was Chance’s pregnancy that shocked him the most. He wasn’t sure how he felt about the possibility of becoming pregnant but decided he’d take life as it came. If the universe wanted him pregnant, who was he to say no?

  It was a warm evening several days after the attack that they all sat on the large back deck of the Lodge and discussed the matters at hand and the issue was Tony.

  “Jeff was using Tony as a pawn and also to keep an eye on you. He convinced the kid that they were in love and you were in the way. It was messed up, but the kid fell for it.” Calum explained as he held Chance on his lap and kept a possessive arm around Chances middle. Their child was due to be born very soon.

  “He got Tony to trash the bookstore in hopes of you running scared. He also had Tony set the fire at Sasha’s place.” He added.

  “What’s going to happen to Tony?” Sasha said she felt bad because she hired Tony and never had a clue he was troubled. “I can’t believe that he would want to hurt us.”

  "He didn't," Juan stated from his seat next to Angus. He found that he loved reclining in his mate's arms and did it often. "He burned the bush out front giving us plenty of time to get out of the house. He wanted to scare me, but he wasn't trying to actually hurt us. Jeff is a sick man and I'm sorry to say that I too fell for his lies once, so I can't very well condemn Tony."

  “You never would have burned someone’s house down or trashed their business so don’t equate yourself with the likes of Tony.” Angus chastised and pulled his mate up for a quick kiss. “He needs to be held accountable.” He added.

  “Bryn told me that Tony doesn’t have any family. He has no one who cares about him and that is why he was such easy pickings for someone like Jeff. I’m going to get him a good lawyer and I’m not going to press charges for the damage at the shop.” Juan stated, and he felt all suddenly eyes trained on him
.

  "Your insurance won't pay for the losses if you don't press charges," Sasha spoke up.

  “I can handle the cost of repairs, I don’t need the insurance, but Tony needs someone in his corner right now. He’s not a bad kid and I want to help him.” Juan was adamant.

  "My landlord is pressing charges," Sasha informed.

  “We’ll deal with that. A good lawyer could argue that it was accidental or due to limited capacity or something. I just need to help him.” Juan turned his head to look up at Angus who was looking at him like he was the most precious object in the world.

  “I’ll help too. I love your soft heart, my love.” He said and kissed Juan’s tempting upturned lips. Angus understood that Juan was seeing himself in Tony and couldn’t bear to see him destroyed simply because he loved the wrong person.

  “Thank you, Angus. I knew I could count on you.” Juan snuggled into his mate and breathed in the familiar woodsy scent that signaled home.

  “Always, sweetheart, always.” Angus cuddled his mate close.

  THE END

  Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this story. Please rate and review, I welcome all feedback. –B.A. Stretke

  About the Author

  B.A. Stretke is a Gay Romance and fiction author who publishes through Dreamspinner Press, LLC, and Amazon.com.

  B.A Stretke began writing as a hobby. He read his first Jane Austen novel as a teen and was instantly hooked. The age-old dream of being a novelist took hold. Now long into adulthood, and a few years as an editor under his belt, B.A. is a full-time writer.