I'm Not A Dragon's Mate!

by Sandra R Neeley

  “He’s a dangerous adversary, sir.”

  “Yes, Slatterly, he is. But that is your fucking problem, not mine. If you hadn't lost his Mate, I wouldn't have to be hunting the fucking Dragon himself now, would I?” Lurin threw at him.

  “No, sir. You wouldn't. I’m gonna get him for you tonight, sir. You’ll see.”

  Lurin just hmftd to himself as he sat back to wait for the Dragon to get comfortable, so Slatterly could drug his beer, and they could end him.

  Chapter 11

  Avaleigh grinned with anticipation as they pulled into the bar about 15 minutes down the road from their house. She was so excited she was giddy. The parking lot was packed, and they found a place near the back of the lot away from the one light pole that buzzed intermittently in and out of operation. They piled out of the Suburban and wove their way through the muddy lot filled with cars toward the bar.

  “Are there always this many people here?” she asked.

  “No, they only get this crowded on Thursdays and then again on Saturdays. The rest of the time this place is pretty laid back. Awesome freaking burgers and onion rings every day though,” Goldy answered her.

  “Really? And I haven't been here for burgers and onion rings why?” she asked.

  “’Cause Kaid didn't want you around the bar ‘til you’re mated fully,” Bam announced like it was a perfectly normal statement. She stopped for a second directly under the light to turn and look at him as though she couldn't believe what he’d just told her. But yes, she could believe it. For them, it was a perfectly normal statement. She ended up just shaking her head and turning around to start back toward the bar.

  That moment of pause was all it took. Lurin spit his wine across the back seat hitting Slatterly in the back of the head when he saw her. “My female, Slatterly!” he snarled with spittle flying, the words coming out so forcefully. Slatterly had seen her at the same moment and was already trying to leap from the sedan to retrieve her. “I see her, sir, I’m going for her now.” Lurin reached out a hand and snatched him back into the car. “You fucking idiot; she is with four shifters, and her Dragon is inside. Exactly which one of them did you think would help your stupid fucking ass abduct her? This is not the time or the place. If she sees you, she will recognize you immediately, and they will kill you in an instant. Even worse, she will know that I am close, and they will try to come after me. NO, you do not fucking go near her now. You stay here. I need to rethink this. We need a new plan.” Lurin sat back and watched as they entered the bar, laughing and talking amongst themselves. “We watch them from here tonight. We follow them and find out where she’s hiding. Then, we’ll take her in the night. They’ll never know. Make yourself comfortable, Slatterly, we’ll be here a while.”

  Daniel was sitting in his usual spot at the end of the bar where he could keep his eyes on the whole place and yet fade into the background. He’d heard Vince tell Valerie that he was here and to get his order started. So he sat and looked around himself. He didn't like being here tonight. Too many fucking people. The sooner he got his dinner, the sooner he’d be able to get the hell out of here. He’d planned on staying for a while, ‘cause he couldn't fucking seem to stay away from the damn place, but he’d had no idea this many people would be here. No, this wouldn't do at all. He had to go, he thought to himself, as he slowly turned the beer in his hands, wondering how much longer a burger could possibly take. Then Daniel’s head snapped up — he felt different suddenly. It was nothing he could put his finger on, but the air in the place had changed. It didn't feel so heavy all of a sudden. It felt… good. What the fuck?! He hated crowds — how the fuck could it feel good? He looked around trying to figure it out, but there were so damn many people it was almost impossible to focus on just what it was. He let his Dragon move a little closer to the surface, so he could sift the smells a little more efficiently. Almost immediately he pinpointed a female standing across the room from him. She had just entered with a group of males, and they were laughing and joking around as they moved to join the crowd at the opposite end of the bar waiting for a drink. She turned enough in his direction that he could see her face, and all the air left his lungs like he’d taken a punch to the gut. She was all sunlight and smiles and warmth. She was fucking perfection. And she was his. And one of the males had his fucking hand around her waist. His Dragon surged to the forefront trying to wrench complete control, but Daniel shoved him ruthlessly back into place. He couldn't incinerate this male just because he was with her, she didn't know she was his yet. His Dragon hissed and rumbled deep within his chest. “Calm,” he told him, “be calm. We will watch her and find out what the males are to her. We will not let her know we are here yet. We will not frighten her away by roasting her males.” “They are not her males,” his Dragon hissed at him, “We are!” “Calm, my friend, we will prevail,” Daniel thought to him. The Dragon quieted, but refused to be tucked completely away. He wanted to watch her, too. He was as enthralled with their female as Daniel was. It seems he’d found his reason for being drawn to this place. His female was near — the fates had led him here to find her.

  Avaleigh had initially been a little intimidated when they first entered the bar. There were a whole lot of people in here, a whole lot. She didn't like crowds very much and really didn't anticipate this many people in the place. It was Louisiana, a very small town, a hole-in-the-wall bar along a lonely two-lane highway — where had all these damned people come from? She voiced the question out loud, and Bane barked out a laugh at her as he laid a hand on the small of her back to guide her to the bar for a drink. “They come out of the woodwork for Karaoke and Ladies Night, and this just happens to be both.” He smiled down at her, “What are you going to have, Sugar?”

  “Um, I’ll take a Beefeaters and Seven with a twist of lime.” As he ordered it for her, she placed her hand on his upper arm and tugged a little. He looked down at her, and his brow wrinkled with the concern he saw in her gaze. “The last time I drank, I may have ended up stolen by the Dragon, Bane. I’m not sure how it happened, but if he drugged Kaid in a bar, the chances that he drugged me, too…” she started explaining, but he cut her off. “Ave, I’m not gonna take my eyes off you tonight. Nothing and no body is ever going to hurt you again. I won’t fucking allow it, Ave.”

  Goldy added from behind her, “You’re our family, Baby Girl. We’d die for you. No fucking body will ever hurt you. I ain’t drinking tonight. Bane ain't drinking tonight. We’re gonna watch over you and make sure you’re safe. You ain't got nothing to worry about.” She turned and reached up on tiptoe and kissed Goldy on the cheek.

  Then she did the same to Bane and hugged him for an extra second or two as she whispered, “Thanks, guys, for understanding.” She thought she heard a growl off in the distance, but when she looked that way, she couldn't really make out anything in particular through the crowd and the smoke, so she just dismissed it.

  She looked around for Bam and Mav, but only saw Bam coming at them through the crowd calling her name. “Ave, Ave! I signed you up for the Karaoke. We had so much fun singing in the car, I knew you’d have fun doing the Karaoke.” He grinned at her, proud of himself. She didn't have the heart to tell him that she didn't really want to now that she saw how many people were there, so she did her best to smile at him and reached her hand back for her drink. Over her shoulder she said, “Bane, keep ‘em coming if I’m gonna have to get up there with all these people in here.”

  “You got it, sugar. Drink up and have a party. We got cha,” he winked at her. She spent the next couple hours dancing with the guys, and Mav finally surfaced and danced with her, too. Seems he actually had no problem at all meeting damn near any woman he set his sights on, and she was more than sure that she didn't really want to know exactly where he’d been. At one point the door opened, and a pissed-off Kaid came stomping in. He walked right up to them and told the guy manning the bar he’d have a beer. “This your new woman I been hearing ‘bout, Kaid?”

  Kaid did
n’t spare him much of a glance as he introduced them, “Yup, Avaleigh, Vince - Vince, Avaleigh.”

  “Hi, Avaleigh, nice to meet you,” the big blonde guy said.

  “Hi, Vince,” she managed to get out to him before Kaid started in on her.

  “Couldn't wait for me, could you?” He directed his question to Avaleigh as his eyes followed a big bosomed woman with curly blonde hair as she passed by their group. She snickered to herself, well past tipsy at this point, “Mate, my ass,” she thought to herself. He couldn't keep his eyes off the women in here, so how the hell could he convince himself she was his Mate. “Nope, couldn't wait, you tried to ruin my night out by being late, so we just left without you.” She grinned at him about the same time his focus returned to her from following the blonde's ass as she purposely sashayed it around the room.

  “Damn it, Ave. I’m not trying to ruin anything. I just got a bad feeling about tonight, and I didn't want you here because of that.”

  “Sure, that’s the reason. It has nothing to do with the fact that you are a possessive, arrogant Bear who wants his cake and to eat it, too, does it?” she tried to glare at him, but honestly she was having too much fun to let him upset her.

  “That is the reason, Ave. And what the hell do you mean, eat my cake?” he did glare down at her with that.

  “What I mean is you have no problem preaching to me about, ‘Mine Female’ she lowered her voice to do her best caveman imitation of him, ‘Gotta sleep close, gotta stay where you safe, gonna finish my claim,’ but you have no problem salivating over a woman shaking her ass at you. Don’t get me wrong. I really don’t care, and I think part of your problem is that you absolutely need to get laid, so, dude, go get you some, but lay off the trying to lord it over me. You cannot have your cake and eat it, too. You must do one or,” She didn't get the chance to finish what she was saying. The lady on stage had just finished thanking the last contestant and was now calling her name, “Avaleigh Sanders, You’re up, babe!” She had taken to using Kaid's last name because she wasn't really sure what hers was, and it made her feel more like she belonged. The lady curved her hand over her eyes shielding them from the lights as she scanned the crowd looking for someone to identify themselves as Avaleigh. Kaid’s eyes just about bulged out of his head as he immediately started, “Avaleigh, what the hell is she talking about?” he shouted at her above the applause that followed her name being called. At his reaction she suddenly decided she really wanted to do “the Karaoke” as Bam called it. She smiled up at Kaid, “I’m on, dude! Move out of my way.” She ducked around his outstretched arm to where Bam and Mav waited for her. They helped her up on stage and then stood back to see what she was going to do. Bane and Goldy had made their way to the stage also, and she knew she was at the very least protected. They were all grinning at her and clapping, except for Kaid, who was now standing directly in front of her scowling at her with his arms crossed over his chest. The lady came up to her and asked her what she wanted to sing. She had no idea, and wasn't sure what to choose when she heard Bam answer for her. “She wants to sing ‘Somewhere On A Beach’,” he shouted to the lady. Avaleigh looked at Bam and raised an eyebrow at him. “Just do it like you do at home, with all those sexy moves, Ave. You’ll win!”

  “When did-?” she started.

  He answered as though he knew before she even asked him, “I see you dancing through your windows. It’s really hot. I like the part when you move your hips and rub your hands over your good parts to him singing ‘…got a body, and she’s naughty.’ It’s really hot, Ave, do that one,” he told her while rolling his hips in imitation of her dance moves. And so it was settled. She was doing that one.

  Mav started in on Bam, “When do you see her through the windows? Why the hell didn't you come get me? You know I want to see that!”

  “You’re gonna see it,” Bam said, “just hush and watch.”

  At the same time, Kaid was bitching at Bam for watching his female while she thought she was alone and bitching at Mav for wanting to watch his female when she thought she was alone. Bane and Goldy were just grinning at the whole damn group of them and true to their words, not ever completely taking their attention from Avaleigh. Then she heard the opening strains of the song, and Bam smiled at her and nodded his head in encouragement and mouthed at her, “Just like at home, Avaleigh.” So she did. She sang the opening lines, “… think I’m waiting at home, NO…” Then she closed her eyes and imagined she was in her living room, and she started singing and moving her hands over her body, undulating her hips as the song went on, and she knew she had it just right when the hoots and hollers reached high pitch level as she caressed herself. She had this, and it was freaking awesome! She heard a commotion that didn't belong with the appreciative whistles and catcalls she was receiving and opened her eyes to see Bam and Bane holding Kaid back while they still enjoyed the show and were both grinning at her. She wasn't sure if he was trying to get her off the stage or make the other men in the room stop hooting at her, but they were holding him back nonetheless. In truth, he couldn't have been fighting that hard, or it would have taken all of them to hold him back, so he must have just been trying to give a token effort to get her off the stage. But he still wasn't very happy, that much she could clearly see. She ended her song to astounding applause even if she did say so herself. She had a blast! As she stepped down off the stage, Kaid grabbed her by both arms and growled at her about self-respect and courting trouble. She went ballistic on him and his relentless attitude, and all the rest of her guys were also getting involved. They were all yelling, and there was an incessant growly, rumbling sound right behind Avaleigh. “Goddamnit, Kaid. You are not my Mate!!! You are my friend, my brother, my protector, my Goddamned family, but you are not my Mate! You need to back the hell off and concentrate on finding your real One.”

  “You are my real One, Avaleigh! I started the claim, and I’m gonna finish it tonight! Right fucking now!” with that he reached for her and yanked her into his arms, which resulted in a huge earsplitting roar coming from behind her. The next thing she knew, she was standing behind a really big man with long beautiful black hair and she couldn't tell what was happening in front of him, but from the sounds of snarling and cursing coming from the males up there, all hell was breaking loose, and all of her men were involved in it. She stepped around the gorgeous, awesome freaking smelling male in front of her and inserted herself right in the middle of the whirlwind of shit that was currently unfolding. “The fuck, guys?!” she bellowed at them.

  “Ave, get out of the damn way — you’re gonna get hurt!” Mav yelled at her.

  “No, I am not getting hurt, I’m stopping ya’ll from getting hurt and hurting each other!”

  The guy behind her placed his hands on her hips just below her waist, and she turned just enough to be sure he knew she addressed him at this point, “If you fucking move me behind you again, I will kick your ass where you stand, dude!” He grinned at her and rubbed his damn cheek on the top of her head. It was a beautiful cheek, but she didn't know him and was sure from the outraged variations of ‘Get your fucking hands/face off her!’ that were sounding off in front of them, that her guys didn't appreciate his affection very much. “Damn, he smells good,” she thought to herself, momentarily lost in his scent. “Woman, get your mind off of him and on calming down your men,” she thought. He was rumbling softly behind her now, and she was really getting turned on by it. “Focus,” she thought. “Focus, ignore the sticky panties you suddenly have.” His head was lowered to hers, she heard him inhale deeply, and the rumbling got louder. Her boys still yelling at him, each other and at Avaleigh, too, brought her back to the situation at hand.

  “What the hell is wrong with you people?” she shouted at them. They were all yelling at each other and at the huge man behind her, and said huge man behind her would start that damned snarling again each time one of her guys would turn his attention back to her and start yelling at her again. The guys were yelling at eac
h other about Avaleigh not doing anything wrong, about Kaid trying to yank her off stage, about Kaid chilling about the men in the place yelling their appreciation for Avaleigh’s Karaoke thing. Kaid yelling about the guys not understanding or respecting her properly, Bane and Goldy yelling about Kaid not trusting them to protect her, Mav just yelling to be yelling and at no one in particular about why it took him so fucking long to get to see her dance like that and why Bam kept it from him. And from time-to-time they’d each sporadically turn to her tall, dark and sexy scented god (wait, hers?) and yell for him to stop fucking touching her, which produced another chill-inducing snarl from him, and on and on it went. Bam, tuning out the yelling going on around him, smiled at the giant standing behind her with his hands currently boxing in her hips, and stuck his hand out to him, “Hi, I’m Bam. I’m her brother.” Apparently this was acceptable to the huge man behind her, ‘cause a hand was stuck out in front of her field of vision, and Bam grasped it and shook it with a huge grin. Then the sexiest, most velvety, deep, resonant voice she’d ever heard said, “I’m Daniel, I’m hers.” Hers? What-Mine? Wait a minute, she thought. But before she could ask, Kaid had his finger in the air pointing at Daniel over her head, “You. Are. Not. Hers!” he snarled. They all paused to take in this scene of Bam and Daniel shaking hands, and Kaid sticking his finger in Daniel’s face, then immediately went back to yelling at each other. Vince had made his way into the fray and was trying to tell them all they had to calm down, or he was going to make them leave ‘cause they were freaking out the humans with all their snarling and growling. Avaleigh chose that moment to step right up to Kaid and get in his face, “You have to calm the fuck down, Kaid! I am not your Mate. Am I your family? Yes, but I am not yours, I never will be. And regardless, if I want to do the Karaoke, I’ll do the Karaoke!”