Dragon's Fake Mate

by Abigail Raines

  There was a nanny or some kind of caretaker. She was an older woman and she smelled like a fox shifter of all things. Tyler was in a child-sized easy chair, curled in on himself, his eyes red and teary. The room had clearly been prepared for him, it looked like the room of any small child whose parents were incredibly wealthy; a massive teddy bear sat in one corner. The nanny was standing in front of him, looking panicked. She’d clearly heard all the commotion and must have smelled the fire. That she hadn’t come running out to find safety for Tyler told me all I needed to know. She knew what Mr. Perkins was. She was relying on him to get rid of the interloper and then everything would be fine.

  “Justin!” Tyler was jumping out of his chair and running toward me and I would’ve cried, I was so moved, if the situation hadn’t been dire.

  I must’ve looked like a mad man. I was sooty now, in the remnants of my designer tux, as I stood there, wielding a huge, iron sword. But Tyler knew me. He knew me and he trusted me and he ran to me now and clung to my leg. The nanny reared back and flattened up against the wall and I glared at her, holding the sword aloft.

  “What’s a back way out of here?” I said coldly. “Now.”

  “H-he’ll go after you,” she said breathlessly. “He’ll find you-”

  “Jesus, get the hell out of my way.” I dropped the sword and picked Tyler up in my arms and the nanny bolted past me, saving her own skin. I ran to the window and mercifully I could open it. There was a ledge and a thick lattice along the side of the house. If I was very careful I could climb down to the ground, even with Tyler in my arms.

  He was weeping now, clinging to me like a scared kitten and I held him tight, my heart clenched in my chest.

  “It’s okay, Tyler,” I said softly, even as I climbed out the window. The smoke was billowing now into the room. The entire place was aflame. “It’s okay, sweetheart. You’ve been such a brave boy. I just need you to be brave a little longer. But I got you. It’s gonna be okay.”

  “I’m scared,” he said, whimpering, crying into my jacket.

  “I know, Tyler.” I had him now. I was climbing now, as carefully as I could. I went as slow as I could manage even as the fear began pouring through me. I could hear Mr. Perkins in there as he was destroying his house looking for me. He would catch up with us quickly if he was even in his right mind. “I got you. I got you…”

  One rung of lattice at a time. I didn’t think we were going to make it. I saw the nose of Perkin’s dragon peeking through the window right above me and I looked down to see several feet to the ground.

  “Hold on tight, kid.” I held onto Tyler and then I jumped. The jolt of a landing sent a shock of pain through my feet as I landed with Tyler in my arms but I didn’t fall, at least.

  On the ground, it took me half a second to get my bearings but then Perkin’s head was whipping around, destroying the room he’d built for Tyler. I started running, straight ahead, an all out sprint into the woods beyond the mansion, and into the depths of the estate. It went on, seemingly, forever. I was running on blind faith that the shifter-resistant wards didn’t encompass the entire property. Tyler clung to me like a good little soldier, and I heard Perkins’ plaintive screeching behind us as I made for the tree line. Finally, I could feel it; the power to shift. Perkins was coming but I was out of his sight now as I ducked behind a tree and I set Tyler down.

  “Hold still one second, Ty, okay?”

  Tyler only nodded, his big brown eyes still red and teary. I patted his head and then all at once I shifted. I heard his gasp but there was no time to get him used to what I had to do next. It might be terrifying to him, yet it was the only option.

  I grabbed Tyler with the talons of my right front leg, holding him firmly in my grip, and set off, flying high into the sky.

  Chapter Sixteen: Nicole

  “Is this Nicole Perkins?” The voice on the other end of the phone was low but firm.

  The police had just left with promises to get back to me as soon as possible. They were going to send another detective within the next two hours, they said. I was at odds and ends, trying to merely hold myself together and not completely lose my mind. I hadn’t recognized the number that had just called me but I’d picked up automatically, desperate for some news about Tyler as I sat on the couch, half curled up on myself. I wanted to fight something. I hated to feel so helpless while my baby was out there somewhere, maybe getting hurt… I couldn’t think straight.

  “Yes, this is Nicole,” I said. My voice didn’t shake. I sat up straight and wiped my runny nose. “Who is this?” I braced myself. What if there were kidnappers who might make demands? I knew if there was a ransom, Justin would pay it in a second in exchange for Tyler’s safety, no questions asked. But what if I had to say the right thing? What if I said the wrong thing and they kept him longer? My mind was raising. “Who is this?”

  “My name is Jessie,” the man on the phone said. “You don’t know me but I’m a friend of Justin’s. I’m a shifter like you…”

  “Oh.” I relaxed a little, yet I felt a rush of disappointment. I wanted news. “That’s...good. Hi.”

  “Yes,” Jessie said. “He texted me about your son, Tyler. A few of us. I just tracked down your number-”

  “Okay.” I tapped my foot, impatient for whatever he was getting to.

  “Alright, well he texted us a 911,” Jessie said. “Us meaning me and a few of his other friends. Looks like the text wasn’t going through and then it did. But we don’t know where he is-”

  “I know where he is!” My heart leaped into my throat as I got to my feet. “I know where he is! He went to Long Island to see my father! I have to go!”

  “Do you need us?” Jessie said. “We can be there-”

  “There’s no time but thank you!” I hung up and pocketed my phone and keys, sprinting to the door and locking it behind me.

  I felt oddly calm as I raced up the stairs to the roof. So it was true. My father had wanted his dragon heir so badly, he’d kidnapped his own grandson. My father was a little out of his mind, I had to think. How did he think he wouldn’t be found out? Or had he gotten so rich and powerful and without anyone to call him out on his bullshit that he’d allowed himself to think he could get away with anything?

  Up on the roof, I wasted no time. I shifted immediately and flew off into the sky, high above the city, headed towards Long Island. I finally felt something other than helpless now as I soared in the direction of my father’s estate. As estranged from him as I had been, I had kept tabs on him. Sometimes I would get suddenly paranoid about him finding out about Tyler and trying something. It turned out all my fears had been for good reason all this time.

  I felt stronger than I had in years. That’s saying something. I do consider myself a strong person. But now with my wings outstretched and the fire of my dragon hot inside me, I felt like some kind of warrior, headed out to save my son from the clutches of danger. My father may have wanted an heir and so treated my son well, but if he was crazy enough to think he could get away with just kidnapping him, there was no telling what else he was capable of. Tyler’s life was hanging in the balance. Justin’s life was definitely in danger. My dragon’s heart felt too big as I flew. I felt as if it would break right out of my chest.

  It was when I saw Justin’s dragon breaking through the clouds, the sight of Tyler held tight in his talons, that I felt at once terrified at the sight of my son so close to falling through the sky and immensely relieved. Yet I trusted Justin implicitly now. He would never drop Tyler. It wouldn’t happen. He would die first.

  Justin and I looked into each other’s eyes, dragon to dragon. There was alarm in his eyes. Something was coming. I saw it soon enough; my father was flying through the sky. I had not seen his dragon in years but it was familiar now, the bright silver scales gleaming as he wove in and out of the cloud cover, headed straight towards Justin. I gave Justin a nod, hoping he would understand what I meant and then I flew upwards as we headed towards each other, s
wooping over his head and giving him room to go on and take Tyler back home while I dealt with my father.

  Justin blazed through the sky, straight ahead, just like I wanted him too. It meant something to me that we were on the same wavelength that way. Now my father was below me, the two of us over the water but nearing the bay and the city. Magical shifter-protecting ward or no, I hoped I wouldn’t need to take this fight into a populated area

  Now I dive-bombed my dad just as he veered away to dodge me but I breathed fire, scorching him, as the two of us swerved around each other. He spun around to face me just as I dove under him and I felt fire along my flank, but I was faster than him and soared up and around to blast him directly. I’d given him a good hit and he fell back. He was back on his heels, avoiding me, dodging and weaving as we neared Lower Manhattan.

  My father reared back and then abruptly flew straight up. He did it so rapidly that I was startled and I started to turn and come around, taking me by surprise blowing a billow of fire right at me that I was only narrowly able to dodge. All at once I was overcome with rage. This dragon, this man, was my father. He was supposed to love and protect. Now I was just an obstacle in his way, like I suppose I’d always been. He’d never wanted a daughter. He’d told me so several times. He’d wanted an heir but even a son would only have been an object to him, just as Tyler would have been. I gathered my strength and charged, straight at him, with no thought for my own wellbeing.

  We’d flown much closer to the city and I hadn’t realized it but we were right up by the bay. Now we clashed. I barrelled right into him and it was painful, my bones and teeth rattling. Yet, I had him now. I’d gone for his wings with my talons and drawn blood, tearing through his hide. He was falling now, unable to fly properly. It was disgusting to me yet now I threw my head back and opened my great mouth and clamped my jaws around his throat just as he twisted his head away, leaving himself vulnerable. I sank my teeth in my father’s neck and breathed fire at the same time and I heard him scream as we both went plummeting down, down, down into the water.

  The shock of hitting the water turned my brain upside down. But now we were plunging into the cold depths of the bay, my jaws still clamped around my father’s throat. I’d scorched him internally. I’d burned his insides. He was dying. The thought was too shocking for me to process in the moment but I felt life leave him there, deep in the water. I felt his heartbeat slow and stop.

  It was nearly impossible to think straight but now on reflex I finally let go, leaving him there, dead and still in the bay.

  “Tyler!”

  I’d hit the roof and shifted reflexively and now I ran to Tyler who stood with Justin on the roof of my building. I wrapped my arms around him and hugged him tight and I felt calm for the first time since I’d realized he was missing, as Justin wrapped his arms around the both of us.

  “Mommy,” Tyler said, his voice cracking as he cried on my shoulder. I lifted him up, carrying him in my arms. “That was so scary!”

  “I know, baby,” I whispered, stroking his hair. “I know, I’m sorry. It’s over now. That’s never going to happen again.”

  Someday, I figured I would explain to Tyler about his grandfather and why this had happened in the first place. But not now. Now it would be a terrifying aberration that I would try my best to explain in a way he could understand. Now we were together; the three of us. Nothing would ever tear us apart.

  “Let’s get inside, huh?” Justin said.

  We headed inside but just as quickly decided we’d head over to Justin’s tower. I wanted that safety. My place was cozy and homey. I loved my place. But I loved Justin’s place just as much. I could imagine raising Tyler there. It was close to Central Park and it had a pool. I had the sense too, that Justin wanted to fill that tower with a family. We were that family. I couldn’t wait to get started on the future I knew was ahead of us.

  “Oh my God…” I was in the kitchen, putting some salsa and chips on a big plate. We had no plans for the rest of the day and Justin had already called Koinage to let them know we’d be taking a couple of days to ourselves after all the excitement.

  I was staring at the calendar and trying to think back to my last period. “Oh my God…”

  I was late. I hadn’t even realized it. I also had a feeling. I don’t know if totally human women get this feeling too. I’ve only heard of shifter women having it. But I had that feeling like I was pregnant. I only realized it now, as I sucked a bit of salsa off of my thumb, and stared wide-eyed at the calendar. Yeah...I definitely had that feeling. I’d had it when I’d become pregnant with Tyler.

  “What’s the matter?” Justin was scrambling around the apartment, cleaning things up. We’d already come up with a story to tell the police but he had his lawyers on it just in case. He wasn’t worried, he told me. If he wasn’t going to worry, I wasn’t either.

  Tyler was on the couch with his books, and now Justin came up behind me and wrapped his arms around me . “Baby?” He whispered and kissed my neck and my cheek and I let my eyes slip shut, relaxing into his embrace. “What is it?”

  “I’m late,” I said, turning to face him. I raised my eyebrows and gave him a significant look.

  Justin looked nothing but pleased. “Holy shit. For real?”

  “I can feel it,” I said quietly. I wrapped my arms around his neck and looked at him steadily, searching his eyes for any sense of doubt at all. But all I could see was love, adoration, certainty. “How do you feel?”

  “I feel like I want to marry you,” he said, kissing me sweetly. “Because you’re my mate. And I’m yours. I feel like I want to have dragon babies with you and raise Tyler as my son. That’s how I feel.”

  “I love you,” I murmured. I was utterly overwhelmed if I was being honest, but in the best way, now I kissed him for a long time, until I finally broke away, remembering that Tyler was in the next room. “Hey, you want to make sure? If you go pick up a pregnancy test from the drug store down the street, I’ll make quesadillas.”

  “Well, I can’t turn down quesadillas,” Justin whispered, nibbling on my ear.

  “What are we waiting for?” Tyler blinked at us. We were eating chips and quesadillas on the couch and Justin and I were trying not to be obvious. But the pregnancy test was in the bathroom, the rest of us camped out on the couch with a cartoon on the TV, as we quietly waited.

  I guess Justin and I were seemingly more impatient than we thought and now I noticed that he was tapping his foot.

  “We’re waiting to find out about...something important,” I said smiling.

  It seemed like a formality however. I knew. I’d known when I was pregnant with Tyler and now I knew again.

  “Tyler,” I said quietly. “How would you feel about having a little sister or brother?”

  Tyler gasped. He was sitting in Justin’s lap and now his eyes grew big, his slice of quesadilla gripped in his little fingers. “Would they be a T-rex too?” He whispered.

  “A dragon,” I said firmly. “Yes.”

  “That would be cool!” Tyler said.

  “I want to marry you,” Justin blurted out.

  Tyler gasped. I wasn’t even sure he knew what that meant but now he was looking back and forth between us and seeming very excited about it.

  “Do it!” Tyler whispered.

  I opened and closed my mouth and burst into giggles, falling against Justin, who was holding onto Tyler and looking every bit the doting daddy.

  “What?” Justin said. “What’s funny?”

  “I thought I said yes already,” I said, throwing my arms around him. “I could swear I said yes!”

  “You saying yes now?” Justin King, CEO of Koinage, said. I looked him in the eye and saw that flash of fire, joined with his devotion and desire for me, and I felt myself nodding before I’d even intended to.

  “Yes,” I whispered, hugging my son and my mate tight. “Yes, yes, yes.”

  Also by Abigail Raines

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  Hope you truly enjoyed the book! If you didn’t like the book, please let me know why and what I can do to make it a better experience for you.

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  Check out Forbidden Shifter Protectors Boxset of the Quinton Shifters Series.

  I didn’t want to resist her. I had to.

  As a Tremblay brother, I’m loyal to my wolf clan.

  Which means that I have a set of rules to follow.

  Rules that wouldn’t let me quench my desire for Michelle.

  For one, she’s human.

  Absolutely forbidden.

  Secondly, I’m her boss.

  And third, making a move on her would mean betraying my pack.

  This is nothing but torture.

  Having to look the other way when she’s all I obsess over.

  I want to make her mine.

  Claim every inch of her delicious curves.

  But when my obsession gets the better of me...

  I have to pay for what I’ve done.

  Michelle is pregnant

  I’m about to gain a family… does that mean I lose everything else in the process?

  Read Now!

  About the Author

  Abigail is a very romantic and open minded lady. She writes mainly Paranormal Shifter Romance and Contemporary Romance. She loves spending time with her 2 finicky cats, her 2 shy dogs (they are twin sisters) and her husband. She lives in Lewisville, Texas and LOVES it there!