The Shifter’s Secret Baby

by T. S. Ryder

  "You can talk to us together," she said, squeezing her hands together. She spent all of high school being bullied and had learned how to deal with guys like this.

  "I'll be able to learn more if—"

  "Together. Or we just walk right out of here."

  "Fine," the Dragon snapped. He turned on the camera, adjusting it some more, and sat on the desk. "Tell me what happened last night."

  Lydia and Amber glanced at each other. When Amber didn't speak, Lydia started. She recounted every detail that she could remember. Afterward, Ian questioned her about small details that strained her memory. It was hours before the dragon stood and stretched.

  "Let's go back to when the demons first came into the kitchen. You said that you thought 'they' were coming again," Ian said. "Who are they?"

  "I did?" She didn't remember sharing that detail, but everything she had said was a blur. "It was just a panicked response…" She took a deep breath. "My parents were murdered when I was a little girl. I ended up in the ICU for three months… in a coma. I guess that when I saw their guns, I just…"

  Ian turned to Amber. "You can go."

  The chef jumped. She hadn't spoken a single word in the entire interview, and now she gave Lydia a wild-eyed look. For the first time, Lydia didn't feel comfortable with the idea of being alone with Ian, but not because she was worried about him doing something to her. Rather, it had to do with context. She didn't want to talk about what she now knew he was going to ask her to talk about…

  Still, she nodded at Amber. Her friend was already freaked out by this situation. Amber wasn't exactly the best with people. She was much better suited for the kitchen than anywhere else in the world.

  After Amber was gone, Ian captured Lydia in his gaze. "Tell me what happened when your parents were killed."

  A sick feeling swirled through her. She did her best not to remember that night. "None of your business."

  "Excuse me?"

  "I said it's none of your business. I didn't come in here and demand that you tell me about the worst day of your life. You have no right to go poking at old wounds, tearing them open again. Besides, I was only five years old and I was shot. I don't remember anything."

  "You'd better start remembering. There has to be a reason you thought they were the same attackers."

  "Panic. They came in with guns. My parents were shot to death. That's all the connection there needs to be."

  Ian shook his head. "Not good enough."

  "Yes, it is. Trauma doesn't always make sense."

  "If I am going to find out what those demons wanted with you—"

  "I'm not talking about that. Do you have any idea what it's like to lose the people you love?"

  Ian closed his eyes. He sucked in a deep breath and pressed his fingers to his temples. "I'm the last Dragon, Lydia. Think about what that means for a minute."

  Oh.

  Oh. Lydia pressed her hands to her mouth, ashamed of how she had been acting. The last Dragon – that meant he knew exactly what it was like. She wanted to ask him about his past, but after her little tirade, it seemed in terrible taste. She rubbed her arms. So that was the reason he was in this huge house all by himself. He had nobody left. Just like her. She chewed her lip.

  "I was very young. I remember… it was late at night. I was up past my bedtime. I don't remember why. Dad was making me a sandwich because I said I was hungry. Mom came in. She told me I should be sleeping. And then the men came." Her stomach churned, a familiar feeling clawing her throat. "I don't really remember anything after that. The next thing I remember, I was waking up and my chest hurt. I'd been shot. Here."

  She touched her left breast, her hand over the scar that was still visible all these years later. She shuddered. It was why she never wore anything that showed the slightest hint of cleavage.

  "My aunt took me in after that," she finished.

  "What did the men look like?"

  "I don't remember." An image flashed through her mind and she flinched. "Their eyes. I remember their eyes. They were… cold. Dead – like a shark's. The same as the eyes from last night."

  Ian leaned back. A heavy frown was on his face. "Their eyes?"

  Lydia nodded.

  "There is something different about you. What it is, I'm not sure… But people who can see demons, even when they disguise themselves, always talk about their eyes." Ian hummed a moment. "There are a few possibilities… I'll have to do some research. Do you know your ancestry?"

  "Just Mom and Dad. My aunt, Mom's sister, said Dad never talked about his family. But I have grandparents in Kansas from my mom's side."

  "I'll look into them first, then." Ian stood. "It could be that you are a Paladin: defenders of humanity descended from the Twelve Guards of Charlemagne. I… You can look them up on Wikipedia if you want to know more. That may explain why…"

  He trailed off, staring at her intensely. Lydia felt blood seeping into her face under his focus. What was he thinking?

  "Um." She coughed, not liking the silence. "I never thanked you… for saving our lives. And, I guess, for letting us stay in your palace here. I'd have hated to die for a reason I didn't know."

  He opened his mouth, then closed it and shrugged. "Just… don't leave."

  He walked away without another word. Lydia sighed, returning to the rooms down below where Amber waited for her. She was watching the TV, tuned to the news channel, her brow furrowed. Lydia climbed onto the bed beside her, wrapping her arms around her own waist as she waited for something about the restaurant to come on.

  Half an hour later, it changed to a cooking show and Amber turned off the TV. "They didn’t say anything about the restaurant. It's like nothing happened."

  Lydia remembered the previous night – Ian making a call. "Maybe he had it cleaned up somehow? I mean, if he can turn into a dragon and he's a billionaire… I don't know. I just wish we could call Maria."

  Amber snorted. "We need to do more than that. We need to get out of here."

  "With demons out there?"

  "There are no such thing as demons." Amber balled her fists. "He is playing with our heads somehow… we have to leave.

  "I don't know. I just… I think we need to take this slow."

  "Slow? That's the kind of thinking that gets you in the hospital. I'm leaving. And if you're not going to help me, I'll find a way out on my own."

  Lydia put an arm around her friend and sighed. "There's more happening than we know, Amber. But I'll talk to Ian about letting us use his phone. If he says no, then we leave. No questions asked."

  Amber didn't look happy with the arrangement, but she nodded. "Okay. I can wait until you talk to him."

  "Thank you."

  Chapter Four – Ian

  Well, Lydia was a Paladin all right.

  Ian rubbed his eyes as he stared at yet another police report detailing a recent murder. Eleven of them had occurred all over the world and the details were clearly demon-related. Ian had kept tabs on a few of the Paladins, though he hadn't bothered to watch them as closely as his father would have if he were alive.

  Lydia was a Paladin – the last Paladin. The rest were dead. Eleven more would be picked to fill their spots, but they'd be babies. Babies could hardly fight demons.

  This couldn't be a coincidence. Demons were planning something big and wanted the Paladins dead before they did it. There were other defenders, of course, but it seemed like they were being targeted, too. This meant they were either planning on killing the last Dragon as well or counting on his misanthropy to keep him out of the fight.

  Ian stood abruptly and slammed his computer shut. He heard a crack but was in too foul a mood to care. He'd let his bitterness stew and fester long enough to make it seem as though he wasn't an enemy to hell. What sort of being did that make him? Not to mention he was alone, and there was something he could do about that.

  As the last Dragon, if he died, there would be nobody left to do his job. Furthermore, it was a job he hadn't really bee
n doing lately. As difficult as it was, he needed to move past the murder of his family and find a reason to care about humans again. Much easier said than done.

  And he needed to produce offspring, so he would no longer be the last dragon.

  He left the study, keeping his hands stuffed in his pockets as he roamed the upper hallway. Both Lydia and Amber knew about his secret – the secret he had kept from everybody for hundreds of years. He was reasonably certain they wouldn't do anything about it… Even if they did, nobody would believe them. They'd just be two women spouting nonsense. It still made him uneasy. He should have stuck with the original plan and not let them know he was a dragon at all. Maybe it was just that he was so lonely that his judgment had been clouded.

  What he really needed was a mate. Somebody to have children with so that he wasn't alone in this burden, and that if he died there would be others to take on the responsibility. The problem with that was that he couldn’t just pick out a woman from the crowd and bring her home. She had to know his secret…

  And there were two women in his mansion right now that did.

  Ian paused, his heart doing a strange flipping thing. Could he take Lydia or Amber as a mate? They knew his secret. There didn't have to be any real affection between them, and he was rich. Didn't women want to be rich? As his mate, either one of them could have all the money in the world.

  Mind made up, he headed downstairs. He found Amber first. She was quiet, withdrawn. Didn't demand things from him. With her as his mate, it would no doubt be peaceful. They could do their own thing, only coming together to create babies. Lydia would probably insist on doing things like dating and going to Disneyworld. Ugh.

  "Amber."

  She jumped and backed away warily. In time that would change, wouldn't it?

  "I need a mate," he told her.

  Her eyes widened and her face paled. "Excuse me?"

  "I'm the last Dragon, and I need a mate to give me children so that my species and mission don't die with me. You're not objectionable, and I'm rich. You could have everything that you wanted. I would want six children, but other than that, we wouldn't even need to live together." Ian tried to keep his voice even and factual. With every word he spoke, Amber got paler. Clearly, he was doing something wrong.

  "You want me to be your… mate?"

  "I'm rich," he repeated. "You would have free access to all of my money. And if we mated, you would become immortal. Well, at least as immortal as I am. But only if we mate."

  Amber's gaze shifted past his shoulder. He turned to find Lydia standing in a doorway. Her eyes were like saucers, jaw hanging open. When their eyes met, her jaw snapped closed and her hands curled into fists. Fury was written all over her face and he mentally cursed. Great. Now she was mad that he had asked Amber instead of her.

  "What the crap?" Lydia seethed. "Just going up to a girl and saying that you want to mate with her? What is wrong with you?"

  Amber scooted past him and stood next to Lydia. "See? I told you, we need to get out of here. What's he going to do next?"

  Ian looked at them, bewildered. "I was only asking. I need a mate. I don't want a girlfriend or anything."

  "No, of course not. You want the sex and not the commitment." Lydia rolled her eyes. "What's next, a threesome?"

  "Three—" Ian shook his head, grinding his teeth. "You are completely misunderstanding what I am saying. I'm not asking for some sort of contract that demands we have sex five times a week. I don't even care about the sex. We could use artificial insemination to have children. I just… I need my species to live on. You wouldn't understand. You have billions of other humans on this planet. I am alone."

  Lydia marched forward and poked him in the chest. "I don't care what your sob story is. You don't just go around acting like this. Saying you're rich as though that's reason enough that Amber should be all over you. You don't know her life. If you want a mate, maybe you should stop being an entitled asshole and actually, you know, try to be nice… without thinking that being nice entitles you to women's bodies."

  "Why? I'm not looking for—"

  "You are looking for a mother to your children. Don't you think they deserve parents that love each other?"

  "I could never love a human!"

  "Then why bother with us, huh?" Lydia's petite frame trembled with fury. "Why not just let the demons wipe us all out? And why should Amber bind herself to someone who could never love her?"

  Ian snarled and turned away. "Forget about it. The offer wasn't for you, anyway. If the answer's no, the answer's no. I'll deal."

  He started to walk away, wanting to get away from the whole embarrassing situation. I should have known better than to think that the humans would consider this logically.

  "I'm not done talking to you." Of course Lydia had to follow.

  "Talking?" He snorted. "More like yelling about things you don't understand."

  Lydia grabbed his arm. "Then tell about it. Make me understand. Because right now it looks to me that you went up to a girl who has been terribly abused by boyfriends in the past and demanded that she be your baby mama."

  He shook her off but stopped and glared down at her. They could have both been doing something else entirely right now, but she had to make a big deal out of it. The dragon sucked in a deep breath, trying to keep his raging fire under control. "Look, I didn't know she was abused. I was just asking. I didn't demand anything from her."

  "But why? You've been coming to the restaurant for months –have you had your eye on her all this time?"

  "No. The demons are up to something, and I don't have any children to carry on my work if I die. My whole family is dead. Humans killed them. My parents, my brother, my sister. I watched your people kill everybody I loved, and I hate that I have to protect humans. I hate it. But I have to, and I have to have somebody to leave behind."

  Lydia stepped back, though from his revelation or the venom in his voice he didn't know. She opened her mouth, then closed it. So she wasn't going to start yelling again? That was an improvement.

  She pinched the bridge of her nose. "Look, I know what it's like to lose people. My parents were murdered right in front of me, too, remember? It doesn't give you license to act like an asshole."

  "I am not an asshole."

  "Yes, you are! You're a rich, entitled asshole who thinks that everything should be done exactly your way. I pity any woman who ends up mating with you. Heaven forbid she part her hair the wrong way or you'll send her back."

  "Why would I care how she does her hair?"

  Lydia threw her hands into the air. "Why should you care which way sauce was drizzled? Do you not remember anything when you're in the restaurant? I dread seeing you walk through the doors. I know that means I'm going to have at least one server in tears because you're picking on some aspect of her personal grooming or saying that the spinach in your lasagna is too wilted or not wilted enough or some other stupid thing."

  "Just because I—"

  "And you don't even tip! My workers are on their feet for eight or more hours a day, smiling, being peppy and polite to people who don't even see them as human. The least you could do is give them a proper tip for bending over backward to give you great service."

  Ian's brow furrowed. He never understood the tipping policy. Why should he pay more when he already paid for his food? "I'm not an asshole."

  "Prove it."

  "If I was, I'd kiss you right now to get you to shut up."

  Her eyes narrowed. "You wouldn't dare."

  Something about how she said it rankled him. Or maybe he was just tired of listening to her rant about what kind of person he was, and needed her to shut up. Maybe he thought it would make him leave her alone. In any case, he took the challenge. His arms wrapped around her waist and he crushed her against him, pressing his lips to hers.

  Sparks and fireworks exploded in his brain. Lydia squeaked, stiffening – and then threw her arms around his neck. She kissed him back, teasing his mouth open, rubbi
ng her body against his. He tightened at the contact and moaned, drilling his tongue into her mouth. She responded by trying to subdue him. Their sounds became louder. Ian cupped Lydia's ass, picking her up. She ground herself against him, clinging to his hips with her knees.

  "Stop it!" Amber shouted. "Put her down!"

  Ian broke away from Lydia, startled. He had forgotten about the other woman entirely. Lydia still clung to his neck as they stared at each other.

  "See?" she panted. "I was right. Asshole."

  Ian set her down. An apology was on the tip of his tongue, but he didn't know how to say it. His gaze flickered between Lydia and Amber. Lydia's flushed cheeks and heaving breasts were a sharp contrast to Amber's pallor.

  What had he been thinking? This was not what he wanted. And now he'd lost his chance to get himself a mate. No matter which way he looked at it, what had just happened ruined everything.

  He turned on his heel and walked away. Lydia did not follow.

  Chapter Five – Lydia

  Lydia's arm ached as she whisked the whipping cream to stiff peaks. She'd lost track of how long she had been going at it, but even the blasting music and the spread of ingredients ready on the table for her cake did nothing to cool the raging fires in her blood and the steady stream of dialogue in her head as she replayed the events leading up to the kiss over and over again. And, of course, every time she thought of the kiss, it left her breathless. She had never been kissed like that before.

  "Why did I have to be like that?" she moaned. "Couldn’t I have left it alone? That horse was dead but I still had to beat it, didn't I? It's not like he could have known about Amber's past. But there I was, jumping to conclusions."

  And then jumping all over him.

  "It wasn't even that good of a kiss!"

  Wow, now she was lying to herself. Yeah, it wasn't that good of a kiss…

  Which was why her body was still craving his and the taste of his lips was burned onto her own. Lydia groaned. Just her luck. He wasn't interested in her, and if he was going to switch his attentions to her five seconds after propositioning Amber, then she didn't want anything to do with him, anyway.