by Anna Lowe
It was a beautiful space. Simplistic yet elegant in a purely masculine way — like the ground floor of a very fancy fraternity with a tropical theme.
Tessa followed the man’s gesture and sank into a deep couch — so deep, she’d never escape if they jumped her, but she barely cared any more. The second she touched the soft cushions, part of her sighed as if she’d come home. Which was stupid, plain stupid for a woman on the run.
“Get her a drink,” the man from the gate growled at one of the others.
One moved to obey, which left four big, hulking men crowded around her, making her tremble. Her eyes darted from one to another, wondering whom she could trust.
Shapeshifters, Ella had told her. Human, but not quite human.
Tessa would have laughed the woman off if she hadn’t had terrifying proof that such things were possible — like the sight of Damien Morgan morphing into a dragon.
“All right, guys,” one with sandy brown hair said in a decidedly more laid-back voice. “Give her some space, already.” He grinned. “Don’t worry. We don’t bite.”
Boone, the wolf shifter, Ella’s voice echoed in her mind. He’s the most outgoing one.
Tessa pursed her lips. Outgoing was a relative term, because she could picture Boone snarling down an enemy just as easily as she could imagine him wagging his tail. Then she caught herself because, whoa — she really could imagine him in wolf form. There was something about the way his tousled hair fell over his eyes that made it easy to picture. Not that she’d ever seen a werewolf before. Christ, she’d never seen any shapeshifter until the previous day. She’d never believed in them, either. But now…
She glanced around. Any of the five men clustered around her could have featured in a calendar of Hawaiian Hunks or Muscled Marines. But now that the world of shapeshifters had been revealed to her, she could see their second sides, too. She craned her neck, curious about the dark-haired man from the gate. But he was standing behind her — protecting her from the others, or cutting off any chance of escape?
“You going to introduce us, Kai?” Boone asked with a wolfish grin.
Kai. His name was Kai. Tessa’s heart beat faster, as if she’d stumbled across some great secret and not just a name.
Kai. Kai. Kai. She cemented the lyrical sound into her mind while trying desperately to remember what Ella had said about him. But the man had such an effect on her, her brain couldn’t quite kick into gear.
“Tessa Byrne,” his deep voice resonated from behind her.
Tessa always thought of herself as forgettable, but this man had remembered her name after one brief mention in the dark. He remembered, she told herself, feeling a tiny glimmer of hope despite her desperate situation.
Hope that shattered the moment a third man grunted and spoke.
“Where did you find her, Kai?” he barked, still looming above her.
She wished she could see Kai, but no. And this new man — the leader, for sure — was staring at her so fiercely, she held her breath. His eyes sparked, and when she looked more closely, she could make out individual flames. Red, yellow, and orange, licking this way and that.
Silas. The head of the group. He had to be. Which meant he was a dragon like the man who’d attacked her.
Watch out for him, Ella had said. He’s a good man, but he’s been through a lot, and he’s testy.
Testy? The guy was terrifying.
He doesn’t trust humans, Ella had added. Few dragons do.
Tessa shrank back in the cushions. Shouldn’t it be the other way around?
When a deep thrum sounded behind her, Silas tore his glare away from Tessa and aimed it at the man behind her.
That was Kai, she realized. Kai, growling in warning. Protecting her again.
“I didn’t find her. She found us. And I think she can speak for herself,” he rumbled.
If Tessa hadn’t been so tense, she might have hugged him right there. But who was Kai, really? He’d stared at her all the way over from the garage — she’d felt his eyes on her back the whole time — and his nostrils had flared when he took in her scent. What kind of shifter did that? Ella had mentioned a tiger…
Tessa decided the man hanging back in the shadows, pacing back and forth at the perimeter of the open-walled space was the tiger.
Cruz. Stay out of his way if he’s had a bad day, Ella had warned.
At the time, Tessa had wanted to say, I’m the one having a bad day. But now, she kept her lips sealed. Just in case.
So Kai wasn’t the tiger. Tessa peered around. The big, burly guy standing two steps behind Silas was all ears and didn’t say much. He could go from ferocious to friendly with the slightest twitch of his heavy eyebrows, and he tilted his head when the others spoke.
Hunter, the bear. All muscle. All loyalty. But a lot of pain.
Tessa let her gaze linger on Hunter just long enough to wonder where the pain came from. But then Kai stepped back into view, and all she could look at was him.
Kai wasn’t bigger, taller, or more handsome than the others, but he took her breath away. Her pulse skipped, and she found herself leaning forward. What kind of shifter was he?
A not-to-be-fucked-with one, for sure. He bounded right up to Silas and put a hand on the man’s broad chest in warning. Every man in the room tensed, and Tessa did, too. The two glared at each other with the force of two hurricanes about to collide.
Boone, the wolf shifter, murmured something too low for her to catch, trying to calm the two down. The bear lifted his boulder-sized shoulders and stepped closer, ready to break up a fight. The tiger’s whiskers — er, two-day beard — twitched, and Tessa swore the air crackled with sheer power.
“Uh, guys,” she said without thinking.
Every face whipped around in surprise, and the tension went back down a notch. But when she met Kai’s eyes, her own inner storm field whirled into high gear. Her face flushed. Her blood pounded in her veins, and visions of thunderclouds raced through her mind along with the sound of whipping wind. Why did she have such a reaction to him?
Then his eyes sparked the way Silas’s had, and Tessa froze.
Kai, another dragon, Ella’s voice sounded in her mind. Related to Silas. Every bit as dangerous but slightly more sane.
She stared. Dragons. Holy shit. She’d been attacked by a dragon less than twenty-four hours ago. Why on earth had Ella said she would be safe here? Maybe Ella was part of some conspiracy. Maybe Ella wasn’t to be trusted. Maybe—
“Who sent you here?” Silas demanded. “How did you find this place?”
“Ella sent me,” Tessa said, feeling sick.
The tiger stopped pacing abruptly, and every man fell silent. Silas’s eyebrows shot up. Kai nodded at her to go on.
They are good men, Ella had assured her. Honorable men, if a little rough around the edges. They’ve been through so much, survived terrible things. You can trust them.
Tessa blanched. How could she trust any of these men, least of all Kai? Dragons were the enemy, for goodness’ sake!
Chapter Two
The woman’s voice shook while she spoke, but her eyes were fierce, making Kai’s inner dragon hum with pride. His whole body hummed, and he burned with the urge to step closer. To protect her. To touch her. To show her he cared.
But he didn’t dare. Not with the other men around. Not with her shooting daggers at him.
She is strong. She is fierce, his inner dragon purred in approval.
She’s human, he told his inner beast.
She is our mate, his dragon rumbled.
She couldn’t be. She couldn’t!
But damn it, even before he’d seen Tessa, he’d felt her presence, the way he had sensed all the important moments in his life half a second before they actually hit. It was as if destiny had tapped on his thick skull and said, Watch out, mister. Here comes a moment you will never forget.
He’d felt it the day his mother died, and the morning before he’d first been introduced to the men who
would become brothers to him. The feeling didn’t strike often — only on the couple of really momentous occasions of his life. And the premonition had certainly never struck him around a woman.
Until now.
He stared at her. Well, continued to stare was more like it, because he’d been captivated by Tessa from the start. Even in the moonlight, he’d marveled at her thick red hair. He’d been entranced by her clear, bright voice, even when it was tinged with fear. Her green eyes cast a spell on him, but shit — they were darting around the room, searching for a way out instead of dancing over him as they had before.
His dragon groaned and lashed its tail. She trusted us at first. Now you’ve gone and frightened her.
It wasn’t his fault, damn it. Silas was the one looming over Tessa.
Then why is she staring at us like that? his dragon demanded.
“How do you know Ella?” Boone asked softly.
Kai tilted his head at the wolf, grateful for his calm, steady presence. Boone had been like that from the start — a lot like Hunter, the bear. They’d all joined separate branches of the military before chance — or destiny — threw the five of them together in an elite Special Forces unit. Their human commanders never suspected they were shifters, and they had been careful never to let on. Together, they had gone from ragtag group to hardened soldiers. Now, they were civilians again, trying to find their way in the world. Silas was the mastermind of their little gang. Kai had the sheer power, while Boone and Hunter were the glue that kept them together. Cruz was their heart, even if he liked to pretend he didn’t care.
Kai glanced at Silas, dipping his chin slightly to his older cousin. All they had was each other, even if that was hard to remember when their inner dragons clashed.
And damn, was his dragon edgy tonight. Usually, Silas was the unpredictable one. But ever since Kai had brought Tessa in, his inner dragon had raged and screamed, demanding the others stay away.
Tessa gulped and raised her chin, afraid yet defiant. “Ella lives in the apartment next to mine. She came just in time to rescue me—”
“Rescue? From whom?” Silas demanded.
Kai’s inner dragon roared at the thought of anyone threatening Tessa.
“Damien Morgan. A real estate tycoon from Phoenix, Arizona who…”
Silas’s eyes shot to Kai’s as Tessa trailed off at the sudden silence in the room.
Kai gave Silas a slight nod. Yep. Damien fucking Morgan. Kai itched to let his claws out.
“You know him?” Tessa asked. Then she frowned and murmured to herself. “Of course, you know him. He’s a dragon, too.”
Silas glared and barked without warning, making Tessa shrink back. “We are nothing like Damien. Nothing.”
A sentiment Kai wholly agreed with, though he shoved Silas back and shot a warning into his cousin’s mind. Quit scaring her.
You’re both scaring her, Boone pointed out. How about sitting down?
Kai looked at his shoes, then took a deep breath and sat down on the couch — not too far, not too near Tessa, spreading his arms so no one else would dare intrude on her space.
“How do you know Damien Morgan?”
Tessa looked so downcast, he wanted to cuddle up beside her and hug the feeling right out of her. But fat chance of that if she thought all dragons were like Damien.
“I’m a private chef,” she said, making Hunter’s ears flick. Typical bear, obsessed with food. “He contracted me to cook for him, and I went to his new estate yesterday.”
Kai huffed, picturing the place. He’d never been there, but he’d seen the pictures. They’d been on the cover of every architectural magazine because everything Damien did, he did big. That eagle’s nest of his — the latest in a series of exclusive properties Damien owned around the world — appeared to have been half carved into the cliffside of Camelback Mountain in Phoenix. All glass and stone, with a flowing infinity pool, it was the perfect dragon’s lair. According to the shifter grapevine, behind the mansion was a cave filled with unspeakable treasures. Treasures Damien had stolen from Kai’s family not too long ago.
Kai growled, and Silas did, too.
Tessa trailed off, so Kai prompted her gently. “You went to his estate, and…?”
“His housekeeper let me in, and I didn’t think I’d even meet him. But then he came in the kitchen, and he had this look on his face.” Tessa’s eyes grew wary and faraway. Her fingers fiddled with the pendant around her neck. “He came closer and closer, and then he sniffed me…” She trailed off, hunching her shoulders as if Damien were right there, trying to breathe her scent. “Then he backed me up and started saying all these crazy things. That I was his. That he had to have me. That—”
She stopped and shook her head, unwilling to share the rest. Kai didn’t want to hear more anyway. He wanted to leap into the air, fly all the way to the mainland, and burn that bastard to a crisp. His breath heated just at the thought of it.
Silas shot him a look, crumpling his nose at the slight whiff of sulfur that accompanied a dragon’s anger.
Sure, go ahead and breathe fire, Boone said. That will really help her relax.
Kai sucked in his lips and held his tongue.
Tessa took a deep breath and skipped something in her story. That much, Kai was sure of. “He started choking me, and I thought he was going to kill me…”
Not kill you, Kai almost said. Just bring you to the edge, and then bring you back. A sick form of foreplay some of his twisted brethren enjoyed before raping their victims. Some women were eventually released, so damaged they could scarcely recall what had happened. Others died before the “fun” ended, and their bodies were dumped somewhere far, far away.
He balled his fists, letting his nails dig into his palms. He and Silas never engaged in that cruel form of pleasure, but some individuals of their species did.
I’m killing Damien. I swear I will kill him, he told Silas.
Silas rolled his eyes. Get in line, man. Get in line.
“But then someone came to the door,” Tessa went on, hugging herself. “Damien locked me in a room while he went to meet whoever it was, and I couldn’t escape. But Ella came along and helped me out.”
Silas nodded, and Boone grinned. Good old Ella.
Kai made a mental note to thank Ella when he got the chance. But the shifter was a desert fox, which made her impossible to pin down. She’d served in the military beside Kai and the others in their secret, elite corps.
“How do you know Ella?” Silas asked. “And how do you know about shifters?”
Tessa made a face. “I didn’t until yesterday. But I was so freaked out after I saw Damien’s fangs, I made Ella explain.”
Cruz, the tiger, growled his thoughts into everyone’s mind. Coincidence that Ella was living next door to her? That Ella came along at exactly the right time to save this woman from Damien?
No coincidence, Silas agreed. Ella had to have been watching Tessa — or Damien. She hates him as much as we do.
But why would Morgan be after this woman? Why would he be interested in a human? Boone asked.
Kai bit back a growl. How could anyone not be interested in Tessa? Even before he saw her at the gate to the property, he’d felt her pull on him like a magnet. He’d rushed home early from town just to satisfy the instinct that something terribly important demanded his attention — immediately. And there she’d been, standing at the gate.
Told you, his dragon nodded. She’s ours. Destiny brought her here.
He didn’t want to believe it, but it sure as hell didn’t seem like the other guys were as entranced by her beauty, her scent, her…her everything.
“I wanted to go to the police, but Ella told me they’d never believe me. She said to come here. To ask you for help.” Tessa’s eyes shone, and she blinked back tears. Tears of sorrow? Fear?
Tears of pride, his dragon murmured. Our mate is strong.
“So I caught the first flight and—”
Silas threw his hands up.
“You booked a flight? Using a credit card?”
She shook her head. “I don’t think he can trace me.”
“Damien Morgan can trace anyone anywhere.” Silas frowned.
Tessa shook her head again, and Kai’s heart swelled. Few people dared contradict Silas, but Tessa didn’t seem cowed. Not even by a dragon.
“I don’t think so. My clients know me as Thérèse Brûler.” She shrugged. “When I just started out in the business, it was hard to find work, and a friend suggested a catchier name.”
“Did it work?” Boone asked, flashing his wolf’s grin.
Tessa managed a little smile, and Kai wished it was him who’d done that to her.
Someday, we will, his dragon vowed. We will make her so happy, she’ll smile at us every day.
“It did.” Tessa lit up for a second before her face fell. “But look where that got me.”
“You didn’t know about Damien,” Kai said.
She’d been avoiding his eyes, but now she met his gaze again, a little less frightened than before. Did she understand that there were good dragons and bad dragons just as there were good and bad humans?
“I guess I didn’t.” She looked around the room and sucked in a deep breath. “I didn’t know about any kind of shifters.”
“Well, don’t let dragons give all of us a bad name,” Boone wisecracked. “Like I said, we don’t bite.”
“Not even wolves?” Tessa shot back.
Boone grinned. “Wolves are very civilized. But don’t get me started on tigers.”
In the corner of the room, Cruz let out a low, feline growl.
Tessa laughed. She actually laughed.
Either she’s the world’s toughest human, or she’s so exhausted she can’t see straight, Hunter observed in his low, grizzly voice.
Kai nudged the glass of water closer. Hunter was right. Tessa’s green eyes had dark circles beneath them, and her face looked pinched. And after what she’d been through…
Tessa slumped. “I didn’t know what else to do. I didn’t know where to go.”
“We’ll help you,” Kai said immediately. “You can stay here.”
Boone coughed. Silas elbowed him in the gut, and Cruz snarled, pushing his protest into his fellow shifter’s minds.
