Dragon Desire (Tooth & Claw Book 1)

by Emilia Hartley

  Chapter Ten

  Devin woke in a cold sweat. He lurched upright, heart thundering.

  The beast lashed its tail and sent shudders up Devin’s spine. A growl lingered in his throat. The beast warned him that they would come for her again. No one would leave him alone so long as Moira was with him.

  Sun peeked through the closed blinds. He scanned the dimly lit room and saw that Moira’s clothes were still scattered across the floor. Twisting, he found her beside him, wrapped in his black satin sheets. She snored softly, her auburn hair curling around her face.

  His heart settled. No one had taken her in the night. She hadn’t slipped off, terrified of what might happen in the morning. Moira had stayed the whole night.

  He brushed her hair back from her face, but she didn’t wake. He decided to leave her be and padded downstairs to find something to eat. The beast settled, slightly. It remained vigilant, as if someone might break through another window at any moment.

  Devin didn’t know what to make for breakfast. His kitchen was so clean because he hardly ever used it. When standing in front of his open fridge didn’t give him any ideas, he slammed it shut and went to grab a mop from a nearby closet. If he couldn’t make breakfast, the least he could do was clean up the mess he and the hunter had made.

  Dried blood crusted on the living room floor, a trail of rusty red leading away from where Devin had stood. He pressed his hand to his chest. There were still a couple little balls of iron under his skin. In a couple of days, they would work their way out, but they would hurt the entire time.

  That was a small price to pay for Moira’s safety. He hadn’t realized anyone had seen them eight years ago. Devin regretted everything he’d done back then, and the five years preceding that day. He couldn’t go back in time and change the person he’d been, but he’d done his best to become someone new.

  Not that anyone around him had cared. Frankie had noticed, but he doubted she knew the full extent of the kind of monster he’d been. The pack knew, and the pack waited for him to go back to his old ways.

  Frankly, he was surprised no one from the pack busted down his doors the night before. They wouldn’t want Moira in his possession, either. Much of their relationship would have to include Moira convincing everyone that he wasn’t the monster they thought he was.

  He wasn’t a monster around her. At least, he tried not to be. If only she’d stayed in the bedroom the night before, then she wouldn’t have discovered his beast. He could have kept that from her a little while longer.

  He wondered how she might look at him when she woke. Would Moira keep her distance from him? Would she still wonder if he was the asshole he’d been eight years ago? Devin didn’t trust his beast. If she left, he would have to lock himself in the basement cavern again. The beast would hunt her down. It had so little, and now that the beast had found her, it would try to keep her.

  A mate, he thought. Not once in his life had he thought he would stumble into the arms of a mate. Fated lovers were meant for the likes of Atticus, good men. Not men like Devin.

  Devin stood, the floor at his feet wet and shiny. The mop, on the other hand, was a red mess. He turned to dump the disposable mop-head into the trash when a buzz interrupted the silence. He paused, head cocked. Another buzz drew him toward the dining room.

  The sound came from inside Moira’s purse. To be nice, he found the phone and began to set it to silent. The message preview on the phone caused him to pause.

  Morning Moira, you asked last Friday if there was a way to prove video footage was unedited. Are you still interested?...

  There was more to the message, but Devin couldn’t read it without opening it. Last Friday, Moira had attended the quarry party. His beast growled at him, warning him that he should put the phone away. Devin disregarded the dragon’s advice and swiped up to open the phone.

  The screen revealed itself to him, no passkey necessary. His stomach churned with the wrongness of what he was doing, but he pushed forward. While they’d been together at the party, she’d kept her phone in her pocket. Maybe she recorded her short interview with Atticus, but Devin couldn’t see why that needed to be verified for authenticity.

  He could only think of one possibility. Devin had found Moira’s scent in the woods, shortly after he’d landed. The signs had been there, right in his face, but he’d willfully ignored them. All he’d wanted was one day of happiness. Was that too much to ask?

  Feeling like a criminal, he opened her video files. There, at the forefront, was a dark thumbnail. The beast snarled, recognizing itself. For a moment, Devin’s thumb hovered over the screen. He could still close the phone and shove it back into Moira’s purse. He didn’t have to open the video, didn’t have to know.

  Nothing good ever came Devin’s way. He should have known Moira would hurt him. He tapped the thumbnail and the image filled the screen. His dragon marched into a grove, snow turning to steam around him. The video shook, like she’d been terrified.

  Devin slammed the phone down. His mate had known what he was. While that didn’t bother him, the email from her associate filled him with dread. Moira had wanted to verify the footage. That could only mean she’d meant to share it. The story she’d wanted to write had nothing to do with Devin’s love life.

  Moira had planned on exposing him to the town. As if his life wasn’t already bad enough. Everyone already feared him. He didn’t worry about the town hating him any more than they already did. Devin worried about what would happen to his cousin, to Frankie and Crystal. News like that wouldn’t end with Devin, it would infect his life and spread into those he loved.

  Those he shared blood with.

  A soft yawn came from behind him. Devin jerked upright. He hadn’t even heard her approach. He’d been distracted by his own thoughts. Slowly, he turned to face her. His heart was bound to this woman, this traitor.

  This was what he deserved.

  But Devin would risk no one else in his life. Not even for his own happiness.

  “Good morning,” Moira mumbled sleepily. “Is there any coffee?”

  Devin held out her phone, the video paused on the screen. Moira blinked at it, like she couldn’t process what she was looking at. Then, Devin watched as the blood drained from her face.

  “That’s not what it looks like,” she began.

  Before she could say more, his beast growled. The sound cut her off and made her take a step back. Devin hated frightening her. Regret and dread filled him like concrete. He couldn’t move, forward or away from her. Moira had to take the phone from his hands.

  “I was going to delete that this morning,” she said. “I thought…I thought it was something big, but now I know it was only ever meant to be between us.”

  “So, that’s why you asked someone to look it over? You wanted to put a stamp of authenticity on it for what? If you and I both know the truth, then why does it need to be authenticated? Who were you going to share it with?”

  Her face crumpled and her eyes became glassy. Moira clutched her phone to her chest. “Like I said, I thought I could write a story. I never even started writing it. This looks bad, but it isn’t! I promise.”

  His lips curled. “Did you stop and think of Crystal? Of Frankie and her unborn child? You couldn’t even begin to imagine what would happen to them if news of this got out. You can ruin my life all you want. It’s already a pile of shit. Don’t you dare threaten my family.”

  With shaking hands, Moira opened her phone. Where he could see her, she deleted the video and shoved the phone into his hands so he could make sure. He didn’t want anything to do with it and let the phone fall to the floor. She didn’t cry out or try to catch it.

  The sound of glass hitting the floor resounded through the room. Moira’s lips worked, like she was trying to come up with something else, but she said nothing. When she turned away from him, Devin nearly reached for her.

  Instead, he curled his fingers into a fist and kept it at his side. It served him right f
or thinking he could have a future with her. His mate, his fated love, had threatened everything. She could have ruined not only his life, but the lives of others.

  While Moira gathered her things, he made for the basement. He couldn’t stay here. If he did, he might stop her and keep her. The beast snarled and thrashed. It might not care about the others in his life, but Devin had to keep them in mind.

  He slammed the basement door behind him and let out a roar of frustration. Not that it helped. The knot in his chest didn’t go away. He couldn’t shake free of the pain now needling his heart.

  Chapter Eleven

  Moira stared down at the shattered screen of her phone, precariously held together by a thin protective film. Fat tears plopped onto the webbed glass. She sat in her car, wearing nothing more than leggings and Devin’s shirt.

  Her house was only a few steps away, but that wasn’t where she wanted to be. She wished she could turn around and head back to Devin. As much as she wished there was something she could do to fix the situation, Moira couldn’t undo what she’d done. She couldn’t turn back time and delete the video before Devin could find it.

  He’d disappeared while she had gathered her things. The howl of pain she heard coming through the floor broke her heart. It shattered into pieces. She found the door that led to the basement, but her trembling fingers had betrayed her fear.

  She hadn’t wanted to face Devin, dragon or human, while afraid. She’d turned away from the basement door so she could run and hide. Not because she thought he would hurt her, but because she didn’t want to make things worse. If he saw the fear in her eyes, he would hate himself even more.

  As much as she wanted to comfort him and bring him out of the darkness below, she hadn’t followed him.

  For a brief night, she’d had something great. It crumbled to ashes because of her own desire to get ahead at work. Now, her drive to become an editor felt pointless. What was the point in achieving the promotion if it meant walking on the backs of others?

  Of those she could have loved?

  Moira let out a scream. Her neighbor’s door opened a crack. Confused eyes peered at her. She gave an apologetic smile as she waved. Slowly, the door closed. She imagined her neighbor shaking his head at her.

  Could she even make this right? She doubted Devin could forgive her for this. He had no great love for himself, but he would do anything to protect his family. She’d seen firsthand just how much he cherished Frankie and Crystal.

  Moira had known what she was doing the whole time. Guilt tried to make her stop, but she’d recorded his change and reached out to the video editor all the same. She couldn’t undo the things she’d done. She couldn’t change the horrible person she’d been.

  The first time she and Devin had slept together, she’d done the walk of shame from the motel room back to her old apartment. This walk of shame hurt much more. The first time, Moira had a pep in her step. Now, she dragged her heels and wiped away tears. Another scream pinched her chest tight, but she didn’t let it out. She let it choke her, believing she deserved the pain.

  She’d wanted to make Devin feel less alone. Too many people in his life had treated him like a monster, and she’d wanted to show him he could be a good man. Instead, she’d done the same thing everyone else did. Devin wasn’t a monster, but she’d treated him like one, like bigfoot or the Loch Ness monster.

  She didn’t deserve Devin, but he still deserved to know he wasn’t a horrible person. He’d done the right thing, no matter how hard it hurt them both. Coming to terms with that fact wasn’t easy, and Moira wanted to push the thought away as soon as it rose to the top of her mind, but she had to hold onto it.

  Devin put his family first. No monster would do such a thing.

  ***

  “Applegate! Where’s that eligible bachelor article?” the editor shouted from his office doorway.

  Moira cringed. She had nothing to show. A week’s worth of interviews and work, but she was empty handed. The editor looked at her expectantly. She wasn’t going to write the dating profile. A selfish part of her refused to give him up to anyone else. That part of her knew they belonged together, but she’d ruined it.

  She didn’t deserve Devin. He, on the other hand, deserved love and respect. There had to be a way to show him that.

  “I’ll have the article on your desk by the end of the day,” she said.

  The editor narrowed his eyes at her. Her heart thumped nervously against her ribs, but he finally nodded and disappeared back into his office. She let out a breath and shrunk in her chair. A promise had been made, but she had no idea what she was going to write.

  An apology seemed wrong. Devin was certainly owed an apology, but there were no magic words that would get him back. Nothing she wrote would ever fill the chasm she’d created. No bridge could be made, so she should stop thinking about that. She couldn’t have him back.

  The best she could do right now finish the dating profile so he could have someone trustworthy in his life. Maybe then he would understand just how amazing he was. If Devin could see himself through the eyes of others, then he might believe he was worthy of being loved.

  Maybe not her love. But he deserved to feel like any other person. Not a monster, locked in the basement where he could howl his pain.

  Moira could help him from a distance. As much as she wanted back into his life, she knew her place now. She couldn’t come crawling back. Not now. Maybe not ever. She pressed her eyes shut and thought of Frankie, of Crystal. The two vibrant souls deserved better than what Moira had done.

  Moping wouldn’t get any work done. She shook her mouse to bring her computer back to life and opened a new word document. An article might not cut it. People didn’t always read all the way through the articles in the paper. Moira tapped her mouse while thinking.

  Whatever she did would have to be larger than that. She wanted to make something people couldn’t look away from. Her options felt limited. Her editor expected an article. If she didn’t deliver, then she might not have a job next week. While the promotion didn’t entice her the way it used to, she still needed a job.

  An idea sparked in the back of her mind. Moira dragged it out and began tapping away at the keys of her keyboard. Words spilled across the page, but indecision tangled her fingertips. The words stopped coming. Moira bit her lip and kept from slamming her forehead into the keyboard.

  Then she noticed the shattered screen of her phone nearby. She still had Frankie’s number in her phone. While Moira’s words alone might not mean much to Devin, Moira still had access to the people he loved.

  The people who loved him the way she did.

  Nerves tried to shake her, but Moira dialed Frankie’s number and held the phone to her ear.

  ***

  Frankie leaned back in her chair and wiggled her eyebrows. “So, how did the rest of the date go?”

  Devin gave a noncommittal grunt, but Frankie was undeterred.

  “Oh, come on! It’s obvious I’m not some innocent virgin. You can talk about sex in front of me. Stop putting me on a pedestal and start treating me like a friend,” she snapped.

  “Only if you start accepting help from others,” Devin countered.

  He pulled a can of tuna from the cabinet and regarded it. He’d never made a tuna sandwich before, but it couldn’t be all that difficult. Frankie went quiet as he rummaged through the nearby drawer for a can opener.

  He sighed and set both the can and the opener down. “Moira isn’t who we thought she was.”

  “Are you saying she’s not your mate? Because the two of you hit it off really quickly. That usually only happens when mates are involved.”

  He said nothing, the pain in his chest too great to speak around. It kept him from drawing a breath, from forming words.

  “Your silence is confusing. Try talking,” Frankie said. “You’re making me wonder if she’s your mate after all. I don’t get why you’re so bent out of shape over it, though. Devin, talk to me. What happe
ned?”

  Where should he begin? Devin didn’t know how to sort through all the things he felt. The stares that the other pack members still gave him made his skin crawl even though he was miles away from the pack. Atticus’s distance still bothered Devin. His cousin was here, awake when he should have been slumbering, but Devin couldn’t make the man trust him.

  Before Devin could figure out what to say, a phone rang. An obnoxious song belted out of the tiny contraption, and Frankie dove for it. Devin turned just in time to see her face light up with devious intent. Caution gripped his heart.

  “Who’s that?” he asked slowly.

  Frankie grinned like the wolf she was and pranced out of the kitchen as she lifted the phone to her ear. From the other room, Devin could hear, “Darling!”

  He had a sinking feeling, one that told him the darling on the other end wasn’t Atticus.

  “Francine VanTassel! Put that phone down. Don’t talk to her!” Devin ran after Frankie.

  She saw him before he could pluck the phone from her hands and twisted out of the way. He’d taken her previous exhaustion for granted. Frankie was much faster than he’d thought she would be. She ducked and dodged his hands, dancing around furniture and forgotten toys on the floor, until she reached Crystal.

  Frankie tapped her daughter’s head of white hair and pointed to Devin. Some unspoken message passed between them and Crystal turned her fiery eyes on Devin.

  “Uncle Devo!” Crystal shouted before leaping to her feet. “Can we go outside and build a fort? Oh, can we make a blanket fort instead? Mom is too tired to build one with me, which means you have to.”

  She grabbed his hand and tugged him along. Too weak to say no to a child, Devin let Crystal drag him away while Frankie grinned triumphantly. Once more, he’d been outwitted by a woman. The same woman.

  Two hours later, when Atticus returned home, he found Devin sitting cross-legged under a tulle fort. Devin ripped the clip-on earrings from his ears and tossed them to the floor. Crystal stomped her foot and a thin tendril of fire left her lips.