“No. Good luck.” Leo ended the call.
I placed the phone back in my pack and sat astride my bike for a moment. “Well, Drago, the only way to keep everyone else safe is to get to this guy before the ritual meeting.” With the meeting planned for the following night, I didn’t have much time to create a plan and execute it. “This is going to get messy.”
“Protect Natalie.”
“Yes, it’s to protect Natalie.” At the mention of her name, I felt our bond zing. With the threat still strong, I couldn’t go to her yet. Even though it’s all I wanted to do—find her and finish what we started in our dream—I couldn’t with Valmyre’s threat hanging over her and the town. I hoped Leo was right about the rest of his minions. I needed help though, and the only one close whom I trusted was Stephen.
My bike roared to life, and I made my way down the mountain toward town, a plan coming together in my head. It was rough and depended on the people following Valmyre being at the warehouse on time. I drove through the sleepy town hours before sunrise and parked behind the one and only hotel at the edge of town. The Super 8 was something out of the 1970s, down to the orange shag carpet and coin-fed massage bed in the room. The flat-screen television sitting atop the dresser was out of place with the rest of the décor. The smell of stale smoke and layers of paint hung heavy in the air, accosting my sensitive nasal passages. I opened a window and tried to ignore them. I didn’t plan to stay long. I simply needed a base to work from today before acting.
Drago’s need to be close to our mate was appeased by being in the same town, for now. I sent a message to Stephen, hoping he woke soon. Then I sent a message to Sterling, asking him to see if Jerome had a way to access the blueprints of homes built in the area. I needed the plans for Valmyre’s mansion. I planned to simply infiltrate his home and take him out before his goons realized I had passed the perimeter. It was a plan full of holes, but time wasn’t on my side. My phone chimed with an incoming text.
Hey, I can meet you after breakfast. If I leave now, Nat will get suspicious. I should have known Stephen would be the first to respond. He had a sixth sense when it came to shifters who needed him. I quickly typed a response.
After breakfast is fine. Don’t let her follow. She needs to stay home until this is finished. Make something up and then meet me here. I put in the motel room number and tossed the phone on the bed. I paced the room until the sun rose above the treetops. I hadn’t heard back from Sterling, and I was beginning to get a bit nervous. I needed those house plans. It was the only way I could think of to get to Valmyre without taking anyone else out.
The sun continued to rise, and my phone stayed silent. I glanced at the clock to see it read eight o’clock, still too early for Stephen to show up and possibly still too early for Sterling to reply. Patience was normally ingrained in me, having trained to be still and wait on many a stakeout, but today I had absolutely none. My stomach was protesting our lack of food, so to keep my mind off the wait, I decided to venture farther into town and grab breakfast. I could also check their historical society and see if they had the plans I was looking for.
The air was cool and crisp as I rode down Main Street. I parked halfway between the diner Stephen and I had eaten at and the building whose door advertised it as the historical society library. Not wanting to be around people long, I grabbed my breakfast order to go and made my way to the library. An older gentleman was unlocking the doors when I got there.
“Good morning,” he greeted, holding the door open for me. His scent hit me, and I stopped in my tracks. He smelled like another dragon. “I have been waiting for you.” His eyes met mine. “Come on in.”
“Who are you?” I growled low enough so anyone walking by wouldn’t hear me. His scent confused me. As far as I knew, I was the last dragon shifter on earth, the last of the line. Yet here stood another with the same scent.
“I mean no harm, please come in and I can explain. I also believe I have some items you are wanting to see.” He sniffed. “And your breakfast is getting cold. You want to eat that while it’s hot.”
I searched inside for Drago’s feelings. He was curious but not aggressive. I stepped inside and to the left, keeping this man in my peripheral the whole time. He locked the door behind us and put up the closed sign. I tensed at his actions.
“This way we won’t be disturbed.” He turned toward me and saw how rigid I held myself. “Truly, I mean you no harm. I only want to help.” He held his hands up. “I can’t shift, have never been able to. My mother was human and not my father’s mate, so I have a few gifts, but not that of a dragon half.”
“But you smell like us.” I quirked an eyebrow, waiting for an explanation.
“Yes.” He walked away as he continued to speak. “I can see in the dark. My core body temperature is higher than humans. My sense of smell is super sensitive. My life is three times longer than the average human, and I have been told by many shifters I have the scent of a dragon.” He stopped at what looked like a tall dresser with a multitude of thin drawers. He counted down from the top till he reached the eighth drawer and opened it. “What you need is in here.”
“How do you know what I need?” I walked up to him,
“Another gift I received as the procreation of a shifter and human was visions—not full stories just bits and pieces. I envisioned when you would arrive. I also saw Natalie as your mate and that you would be the one to destroy Valmyre and his warlocks. In the last visions, I saw myself give you these.” He turned with two rolled-up document-type papers. “I don’t know why, but I know you need them.” He breathed deeply before continuing. “I’ll put them in the first room so you can eat and have room to spread them out. The door will remain locked until you are ready to leave.”
This man confused me. I had never met anyone like him. “What’s your name? Are there more like you?” I asked.
“Eric Crawford, and I don’t know. I have never searched for anyone else. Probably because my father warned me that if any other dragon shifter found out about me, they would kill me. I have lived a good life, don’t you worry.”
“Mr. Crawford, how do you know I won’t kill you too?” I couldn’t figure this man out.
“I don’t, but I know I have to help you or all hope of dragonkind continuing on is gone.” He exited the study room and motioned for me to enter. “If you need anything else, I will be in the back through that door.” He pointed at a door at the very end of the hall before turning and making his way to it and through.
I really wanted to know more about him, but there was no time for it. I set down my coffee and tore into my now-cold breakfast sandwich. I agreed with Eric. This would have tasted better warm. I unrolled the documents before me to find two house plans for the Valmyre mansion, one more transparent than the other. I realized they were meant to be placed atop each other. When I did, I saw the one had been created for the county zoning and the other was the actual plans with secret exits, hidden rooms, and magical protection. I studied the diagrams, trying to save it to memory, when my phone chimed with a text from Stephen. He was on his way to meet me. I rolled the blueprints up, threw my breakfast trash in the can by the door, and went to knock on the door Crawford had indicated.
“Thank you for letting me see these.” I handed the rolled papers to him, but he wouldn’t take them.
“No, you keep them, I have another set in the drawer.” He smiled.
I nodded as I pulled my hand back still wrapped around the blueprints. “Thanks.”
“Anytime. If you could flip the sign to open on your way out, it would be a great help.” He smiled as he left his door open and turned away from me. “Good luck on your mission and with your mate.”
I had been dismissed. I didn’t know how I felt about it, but I didn’t have time to ponder. I turned on my heel and left the building, flipping his closed sign as I went. After securing the blueprints in my saddlebag, I headed back to the motel arriving at the same time Stephen did, with Natalie in tow.
“What the hell? I told you she needed to stay home!” My eyes locked on Natalie’s, and the rest of the world fell away.
“Don’t yell at him. I would have come on my own if Stephen didn’t bring me. I can help you.” She stood there with her arms crossed and fire in her eyes. “I know the inside of Sandy’s house better than my own. I can get you where you need to go without you needing to sneak around.” She huffed. “But you need to tell me one thing.”
“What’s that?” I fought the urge to wrap her in my arms and take her right there.
“Why do you need to hurt Sandy’s father? Isn’t there another way, like capture and interrogate or something?”
I turned my eyes back toward Stephen, her words bringing the world back into focus. “What did you tell her?” I narrowed my eyes. This was a complication I didn’t need. If Natalie came with me, I wouldn’t be able to focus on the task at hand. I didn’t see her move until I felt her finger in my chest.
“He didn’t tell me. You did.” She jabbed her finger to punctuate her words. “And let me tell you, having words spoken in my head like that is a freaky way to wake up.”
I couldn’t move. Her scent had wrapped around me and held me in place. I watched the fire in her eyes dance as she spoke. I wrapped my arms around her waist before I realized what I had done, and she placed both palms on my chest. I pulled her close.
“What the hell?” Her nostrils flared, but her hands traveled up and over my shoulders and grabbed the hairs at the back of my head in complete contrast to the tone of her words. She was just as needy as I was.
I dipped my head to capture her lips as her words sank in. He didn’t tell me. You did. I also realized through our first physical meeting, Drago had been suspiciously silent.
“What did you say?” I whispered against her lips.
“Huh?” she asked, her voice deep with lust. “When?”
“About who told you.”
“You did.” She shook her head a bit. “You spoke to me, in my head.”
I pulled back releasing her and ran my hands through my hair. I tried to pull Drago forward, but he was ignoring me.
I threw the door to my room open as I roared, “Fuck!”
21
Natalie
I watched as Wyatt stormed away from me. I wanted to slap him and jump his bones at the same time. I looked at Stephen for help, but all he did was shrug his shoulders and smile, then gesture for me to enter the room before him. I ignored the tingling in my girlie bits and tried to hang onto the frustration I had felt earlier at having my brain invaded by him.
“Why did you tell me about getting rid of Sandy’s dad and that you needed me if you didn’t want me here?” I asked as I crossed over the threshold. “And why did you end the dream, jolt me out of it?”
Wyatt turned to face me, his body rigid and his hands clenched at his sides. “I didn’t.” His voice emphasized the “I” part.
“Then who did?”
“From what I can figure, it was Drago who spoke to you. How he did it without me knowing, I can’t quite figure out. As for the dream, I was pulled out just like you. The only thing I can figure is that according to legend we must consummate our relationship on the physical plain first.” Wyatt paced the room, dragging his fingers through his hair, which made him look even more delicious than before.
I licked my parched lips as desire ran through my body and pooled in my belly. “How can either of you talk in my mind?” It was disturbing to have someone else in my head. As for the dream and lack of completion I trusted Wyatt’s instincts and let it go.
Stephen chose that moment to chime in. “It’s part of the bond that develops between mates. Once you finish the mating ritual, you will be able to talk through the bond no matter where you are.” He made himself comfortable on one of the two beds in the room. “It will also allow you access to any pack Wyatt is committed to.”
I stared at him. “You mean more people will be able to pop into my head?” My voice came out higher than I intended. I could barely handle my own inner voice. Having multiple voices might drive me insane.
“No,” Stephen said. “Well, maybe, but Wyatt can teach you how to keep those out you don’t want—except for him. You’ll never be able to keep him out completely.” He acted like it was no big deal, but this was not part of what I signed up for.
“What exactly does being someone’s mate mean?” I realized I probably should have asked that before I dove into the ritual I had performed the night before. I was quickly learning it wasn’t all sunshine and roses like the books and movies had made it out to be.
“It’s not as scary as you are thinking.” Stephen sat forward.
“Shut up, Stephen. You’re scaring her.” Wyatt huffed. He walked toward me and took my hands in his. “Come sit, I’ll do my best to explain.” He pulled me to the other bed in the room and sat with me. He released one of my hands to wrap his arm around me.
Being this close to him felt right. I felt safe beneath his arm, and when he kissed the top of my head, I knew everything would be all right.
“This mate thing is new to both of us. I listened to my gran’s stories about dragons and their mates as I grew up, and I wanted nothing more than to find mine for years.” He squeezed me tight. “To find the one person who completed me, the woman who would carry my children, who could calm the beast within. It was every dragon male’s dream.” He took a deep breath. “After years of searching, I began to give up hope I was one of the three blessed by the goddess, and finally, after so many years on my own with no mate in sight, I did give up. I focused on protecting those close to me—” He paused a moment. “That’s a story for another day, and I am getting way off track.” He took his arm back and scooted away from me so he could turn to face me. “To be a dragon’s mate, to be my mate, it means we are connected for life. I will protect you with everything I have in me. It also bonds us so I know your feelings and you will know mine. It allows us to communicate telepathically. From what you have told me, that thread of the bond is already cementing itself.” He cocked a half smile as he gazed at me.
“Yeah, seems like it.” I laughed. “Will I be able to speak to you too? What do you mean babies? Will I have regular babies or will I suddenly lay eggs? Oh, and will I be a shifter now too?” Questions rolled off my tongue, and I couldn’t stop them. “Will you bite me, or is that something they made up in the books?”
Wyatt laughed a deep belly laugh. “First, yes you will be able to speak to me telepathically too. You will not lay eggs; our children will be born just as a human child would. The ability to shift doesn’t show up until a year of age at the earliest. Yes, I will have to bite you to finish the mating ritual which will leave a scar, called the mate’s mark. You won’t become a dragon shifter unless you want to. That’s something we can discuss later as the transition isn’t easy, and I want the decision to be one we make together.”
I glanced down to see he had taken my hands in his again and was rubbing his thumb against the back of my knuckles. The simple touch sent a fire through my body and lit up my girlie bits. My heartbeat hitched up a notch, and my breathing became shallow. My desire for him was overpowering the logical side of my brain. “Okay.” I nodded and leaned toward him. I needed his mouth on mine, now.
He met me halfway, taking my face within his large hands, and angled my head to deepen the gentle kiss into something hotter. When he wrapped my hair around his hand and tugged, the tingling in my nether regions exploded, and my inner walls pulsed with a need to be filled. Wyatt purred deep in his chest, and it vibrated through mine. My nipples were hard and strained against the confines of the lace bra I had put on this morning.
Stephen cleared his throat behind us. “Uh hmm.”
Wyatt tore his mouth from mine, still holding the back of my head, hand wrapped in my hair. “We should stop,” he whispered as he rested his forehead against mine.
I found myself in his lap wrapped around him, with no knowledge
of how I had gotten there, but I didn’t care. He rocked his hips against my core, his need for me straining against the zipper of his jeans and his heartbeat racing in time with mine. He pushed my head to his shoulder, cradling it there as he spoke to Stephen. I took the chance to take a deep breath of the man I would call mine for the rest of my life. He smelled so good, I couldn’t help but flick my tongue along his neck for a taste. His cock jerked in his jeans, rubbing perfectly against my clit, making my hips involuntarily move searching for more. He hissed in a breath as he tried to speak to Stephen.
“The blueprints of the house are in my saddlebags. Would you grab them?” Wyatt grunted.
“Sure thing.” I heard Stephen’s feet hit the floor and walk out the door.
Wyatt placed light kisses along my brow bone as I raised my head from his shoulder. “Babe, that wasn’t nice.” He kissed my nose. “We need to stop. If I follow through with what I want to do to you, we won’t get out of this bed for the next three days.” He paused, breathing deeply and slowly, trying to calm down. “We can’t do that until I know you are safe.”
“I am safe. I’m with you, aren’t I?” I knew what he was saying made sense, but my body didn’t care.
“Yes, for now, but if we don’t take out this cell of The Resistance, others like you and Stephen won’t be.” He kissed me again quickly before lifting me off his lap and placing me back on the bed, leaving a gap between us. He adjusted himself and stood as Stephen came back in. “We need to take Valmyre out and lock up his followers until Leo’s man gets here.”
“Who’s Leo? And what is The Resistance? Why will killing Valmyre help?” I asked, curious to who else Wyatt worked with.
“One of the few people I would trust with my life. I’ll introduce you sometime.” He took a deep breath. “To put it simply, The Resistance is an organization hell-bent on removing every shifter from the face of the earth. It’s made up mostly of humans and witches who think they are superior to us or fear us. Valmyre is the head of the local chapter. We have found that if you take out the leader, the followers have surrendered. Some have been rehabilitated after interacting with shifters. Others, unfortunately, end up like their leaders.”
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