Azlo

by Maia Starr

  It was strange and beautiful being with a shifter. His scales made me feel like some kind of sex goddess. His tale seemed like some other tool of his that he could use to wrap me up in his being, and his wings seemed so strong and secure… or so I thought.

  He had yet to share this dragon side with me. In fact, he seemed more interested in human nature than showing me what he could do with that shifting pull.

  Sex was great, I told myself. But there was no… throw down.

  He desired me and was eager to please me, but everything was gentle and slow. Not that I didn’t appreciate it, but there were some nights when all I wanted to do was be taken and used. I knew that sounded horrible and so I never said it out loud.

  All I’d heard in years of gossip was how amazing Weredragons were as lovers. How all women craved was to be claimed by one.

  We arrived by glass elevator to a grand party being thrown in our honor. Here I would meet and dine with his parents. After I’d been chosen, Zaphira had laughed at my ignorance about shifter culture and politics. She said if I knew anything about Galsthenn’s family that I would be scared. But I wasn’t.

  I was polite and knew how to handle myself socially… well, for the most part, anyway. Why should I fear his parents? To me, this was like dating someone who happened to have a governor for a dad. Sure, he made big decisions, but he was human like the rest of us.

  Okay, so, maybe not the human part in this case but… he was a family man like my father had been. What was so different that I should be shaking?

  “Welcome, my dear,” came the warm and genuine greeting from Galsthenn’s mother. Grayna. She had pale, freckled skin and long, fiery red hair. She looked about 50 or so and held the hand of her mate as they approached.

  “How do you like Udora so far?” his mother asked as he wrapped her regal arm around me. She wore a long silk dress that was ivory and shimmering, much like her son’s colors.

  “I like it very much. Cold,” I laughed, “but beautiful.”

  “The world is about more than scenery. You’ll learn that soon enough,” came the strong and dismissive tones of his father. He looked to Galsthenn with an approving nod, and my mate smiled back at him.

  “She’s allowed to enjoy the scenery, dear,” his wife cooed, batting him away with her hand.

  The man gave a gruff smile, and it was then I knew only Grayna could speak to him in such a way. When the apples of his cheeks formed, I could see highlights of scars and scales that flooded his dark skin. I averted my gaze but knew a shifter with his much power and influence probably had some great tales to tell. Looking over at Galsthenn, I couldn’t help but wonder if he would undergo the same trials. Jealousy, strife, battle…

  “Are you a party girl?” Grayna asked, raising a curious brow as she began leading me through the grand party.

  Galsthenn peeked through our shoulders and laughed awkwardly as he corrected, “She doesn’t mean that as it sounds… I think?”

  Grayna frowned and reached her hand up to fix her carefully braided hair from Galsthenn’s touch. “Yes, of course. I mean are you the type to dance and socialize? Galsthenn tells me you’re much more of an introvert.”

  “In the best way possible!” my mate interrupted.

  “Yes,” I laughed. “Dancing is wonderful. Slow dancing,” I corrected. “I don’t have much rhythm for the faster stuff. Um… But yeah, I enjoy reading and sort of, staying home.”

  “She’s perfect,” Bromis said with a laugh; his wings shaking with the effort. He patted his son on the shoulder, and the two of them grew enveloped in some serious conversation.

  When I caught wind of their hushed tones, Grayna put her arm around me once more and drew me further into the celebration.

  “Don’t mind them,” she breathed.

  “Is everything alright?”

  “There’s always something,” she said while grabbing a champagne glass off a moving serving plate. “But yes. You’ll learn that, in time. Has Galsthenn told you much about our politics?”

  I shook my head, and she let out a hardy laugh. “Of course he hasn’t!”

  “It’s not for her to worry about,” came Bromis’ input from behind us. “Now don’t go giving her ideas, dear. Just let the kids enjoy themselves.”

  “She’s his mate now,” she laughed. “She’ll learn sooner or later when he takes his position in the Koth.”

  “Then let her wait,” he said with only a hint of playfulness. “Let her grow to like the boy before she’s bogged down with his problems.”

  “Oh, she likes him already!” she teased and waved her hands at her mate.

  It was then I understood the words of Zaphira. There was something intense about being around Bromis, even when he was trying to be nice. He had a powerful countenance that made me feel nervous. I even began questioning the way I held my champagne glass, awkwardly fumbling with it between my fingers and wondering if I was looking enough like a lady for the crowd.

  The night wore on beautifully. I danced with Galsthenn and met some of the Koth. I didn’t know much about Udorian politics, which I secretly thought was to his family’s preference. There had been too many women who’d come to Udora to try and sway the ideals of the Koth, or so his father said.

  I got the distinct impression that something was amiss, however, when Grayna abruptly took me aside and up to a balcony away from the main ballroom. “Did our son say anything to you about security?”

  “Like…?” I gave paused. “Sorry, no.”

  She gave a single nod and set her glass in the palm of her hands, her eyes scanning the room carefully, as though she were looking for someone. “He’s supposed to be here already.” She laughed at the statement but sounded put on.

  I smiled politely and scanned the room, suddenly feeling uneasy.

  “Why will we be needing security?”

  “Not we, dear. You. And Galsthenn, of course. But you’re going to need someone to escort you throughout the kingdom. There’s a lot going on right now, and you’re soon to be a woman of power.”

  “Oh,” I stammered. “Well, I have no desire to be a woman of power, so…”

  Her eyes watched me carefully before she offered a gentle touch to my arm. “None of us do. But, here we are! It’s inevitable. Especially with Galsthenn. He’s just like his father.” She seemed to silence herself with the comment before she scoffed, “Can’t keep things to himself. And they don’t. Leading the Koth is a difficult position that riddles them with information the rest of us would sooner ignore, but he has to deal with it. Do you know much about the rebellion?”

  I twitched. I’d heard a few rumblings back at Riddell, but Zaphira and Amelia assured us everything was being taken care of. Apparently, there had been some tension between the Koth and some of the Weredragons. Many shifters had taken to the old world: ancient ruins beyond the mossy valleys of Udora. There they were said to be planning an attack on the Koth.

  Still, I shook my head. “No, not really.”

  “Well,” she began but seemed to think better of it as her husband approached.

  “What are you filling her mind with now?” Bromis griped. “Wild stories of Galsthenn?”

  “Oh, I hope not,” Galsthenn said with a flush. “Don’t believe a word.”

  “No, dear.” Grayna smiled but said nothing else. Nothing of the rebellion or of the alleged security guard I would be getting. Instead, she turned to her husband and he gingerly slipped his hand along the curve of her back.

  “We need to get going,” he whispered to her, his eyes furtively watching the room as he did so.

  I followed his gaze and began to notice where all the security guards were. They stood in plain sight, dressed in chic suits and looking like any other guest at the party, but their hands draped dangerously close to the laser rifles at their side, and they watched the partygoers with more than the usual interest.

  “Now?” she asked.

  “Now,’ he nodded.

  “We should be of
f then, too,” Galsthenn said quickly and escorted me to the exit.

  “Is everything okay?” I whispered, now sounding some concern.

  “They suspect there is a rebel present,” he whispered back to me, making sure we were out of earshot of his father.

  I nodded. “Oh.”

  Chapter Four

  Rilark

  “There’s been an attack,” Grayna said to me in hushed tones. “We want you to take guard of the new chosen. Her name is Rosalyn.”

  “I know,” I said tersely, fighting off a roll of my eyes as I stared at the screen to gaze at the redhead on the other line. “Everybody knows by now. She’s practically royalty.”

  “Soon she will be,” she snarked. “Don’t be jealous.”

  “Of all that fame and glory and power?” I chuckled. “Who would be jealous of that?”

  “Stop now,” she hushed and craned her neck; to look at what, I couldn’t see. Her attention focused back on me and continued, “Galsthenn has asked for you personally.”

  I raised a brow at the request, and Grayna burst into giggles at the reaction, causing me to smile despite myself.

  “Galsthenn wants me on security?”

  “There was an attack last night,” she repeated.

  “You said that, but that’s not what I asked.” I stared at the monitor, and she gave me a lecturing look. I sighed and rolled my fingers, signaling her for more information. “Where did the attack happen?”

  “Out by the mines,” she breathed. “Dozens of Weres were hurt. Thank goodness it wasn’t at the welcoming ball.”

  “That was weeks ago,” I said, bored. “Bomb?”

  “Fire,” she said simply.

  Fire? I frowned deeply. Research from a decade ago showed promise in restoring red dragons’ ability to breathe fire, but it had yet to be completely successful. I should know: I was, after all, a red dragon.

  “Curious,” was all I said. “Soldiers?”

  She nodded.

  During the choosing ceremonies, Riddell would line up more women than there were Weredragons attending the choosing. The women who weren’t chosen would then be brought back to Udora to study our planet and take what they wanted. Sometimes they would even take shifters back to Earth to cultivate for them. A practice I found disgusting.

  The scientists were usually provided shifter foot soldiers to accompany them to the mossy fields. The fields housed a collection of stone spires with deep mines underneath. They were dangerous to enter but housed many plants and stones that humans found valuable.

  Just another unfair trade-off between the humans and the shifters.

  “There was about a dozen hurt. Five shifters, the rest humans. All in critical condition.” She scratched her arm absent-mindedly and then rested her chin on her fist. “At Forlag,” she spoke of a high-end hospital in the rich end of the city.

  I furrowed my brows, my voice thick with sarcasm as I asked, “Am I supposed to go and visit?”

  She sighed as though I hadn’t been listening. “I said you’re acting as personal security to Rosalyn.”

  I blinked. “And?”

  “And she’s at the hospital!”

  “Mother,” I snapped. “Please, give me the whole story so I don’t have to keep asking you a million questions. Was she hurt? Is she there as a publicity thing? What?”

  “She is there,” she enunciated in the way that always proves to irritate me, “because she is a nurse. She is nursing the patients. Understand? And yes,” she relented, “Bromis thought it would look good to the public to have her acting in a crisis. Happy?”

  “Ecstatic,” I said with a forced grin. “And does your husband know I’ll be acting as chief of security?”

  “It doesn’t really matter, does it? It’s what Galsthenn ordered.”

  “That’s a no!” I laughed. “Why does Galsthenn want it?”

  Her face went somber then and her full eyes closed. She sighed in frustration. We’d had the conversation too many times to count. “Because he’s your brother.”

  “Not really,” I teased.

  “By the fact that you are my sons, he is your brother.”

  “Trust me, the lifestyles aren’t exactly par.”

  “He wants you because he knows you’re the best.” She gave me a warning look, and I showed her my yield. “And because he loves you.”

  “Right,” I scoffed. “And I’m sure you had no hand in this.”

  She stared at me strangely, but I could see a smile curve up the corners of her lips and settle there. “Are you eating? You look thin.”

  “I’m eating,” I said tiredly. “I’m always thin.”

  “I’m sending food to your apartment.”

  “Mother,” I protested, pinching the bridge of my cracked nose. “I’m fine. Please, just make sure there’s clearance for me when I get to the hospital.”

  “You are the most talented soldier under Koth rule,” she assured me. “Everybody knows that.”

  “Well, I know that,” came my cocky response. “I just don’t know if your son does.”

  I clicked the phone off and blinked. So, Galsthenn wants a security for his new little missus? I walked to the mirror by the door and holstered my gun to my side, strapping on any little extras I might need. I wasn’t exactly moved by the rebel hit; I didn’t know anyone working in the fields that day, but I was more than a little curious to meet this Rosalyn.

  Even more curious as to why Galsthenn had chosen me. My mother was taken captive by rebels 30 years ago, or so she claimed. She was impregnated by the rebel leader there. And that’s the happy story of my conception.

  Bromis, leader of the Koth and Galsthenn’s father, was furious and swore revenge. I was kept a secret from the public, as was my mother during her pregnancy. Bromis had the good sense to leave me alive since our species depended on it. But I was immediately placed into housing and was trained as a soldier ever since I was a teenager.

  The next time my mother emerged in public, she was already pregnant with Galsthenn.

  To Bromis’ chagrin and my mother’s behest, I was taken in as part of the royal Koth security. It was her way of keeping me close. Galsthenn and I were raised by her knowing we were brothers. As children we played, but the older we got, the farther apart we grew. His father’s influence meant a great deal to him, and so I was to be kept at a distance.

  And now he wanted to put me in charge of his little Earthling?

  I scoffed at the thought as I walked into the immaculate and intricately decorated hospital. Things were not this opulent in my district, to say the least. I made my way from building to building until I found where Rosalyn was serving. Of course, there were newscasters in front of the barriers set up by security, reporting on what a good girl their soon-to-be Koth’s little wife was. How she immediately ran to the aid of those hurt in the attack.

  With a roll of my eyes, I made it up to the top floor of the green building, the clearance ready to welcome me into the high-class world of the Koth.

  Nurses scattered around the heavily guarded floor in what seemed to be utter chaos. Humans lay on stretchers, bleeding without attention and brutally burned.

  The patients were silent for the most part, though a few still managed to hum or make other sounds, though they probably didn’t know they were making noise. It was a little weird at first, but I quickly grew accustomed to the noise. I reached up to the cracked and broken bridge of my nose that was never able to reset and sighed inwardly. It wasn't exactly my first run-in with the rebels.

  The room I now inhabited was filled with beds, every one of them occupied by a variety of disheveled individuals. The occupants seemed handicapped, or in some sort of psychosis, mumbling to themselves and staring with scary, dead gazes. After a quick glance around the room, I noticed a severe lack of help. No guards, no doctors. No one. Just a handful of human nurses who were clearly overwhelmed.

  I pressed my feet into the marble floor below. Even through my boots, I could feel it w
as freezing. I approached a young girl laying in one of the beds, maybe fourteen or fifteen. She had large curls of blonde hair and wore a hospital gown. She repeated an ‘H’ sound over and over, almost as if she were calmly hyperventilating. She stared straight ahead and gave no regard to me, even though I was just steps away.

  I raised a curious brow and reached my fingers to her freezing cheek. She didn’t react at first, moments passing before her eyes glanced to mine.

  Then I spotted her: Galsthenn’s woman.

  She stood hunched over a shifter who was hissing violently, his dragon features fully retracted so that only a few scales were showing and his swarthy skin burned and oozing. I cringed at the sight and looked up at the girl. Her eyes flicked toward me, and she had a noticeable reaction.

  My colors were striking, I’d been told, especially to humans who weren’t familiar with shifters. I was a red shifter with black wings, red scales, and a red mask of discolored skin that ran from temple to temple and across my eyes. Growing up, I hated that, but now I knew how to use it.

  My enemies feared my unique appearance, and women were drawn to it. I wasn’t the biggest fan of humans, but their women were good for something, at least. I’d bedded dozens and never had an encounter I didn’t enjoy. It was the aspect of actually talking to them that bored me to tears. Their ideals were strange, and there was little I cared for after the sex was over.

  I scraped my sharp teeth against my bottom lip as I inspected this Rosalyn. She was short, with long, mousy-brown hair that fell just above her backside. The length of it made her look that much shorter. Her face was square, brows curved in a high arch, and she had full lips. My eyes fell to her ample breasts, and I smirked to myself.

  Could be worse.

  “You scared the hell out of me!” she cried out, shuffling backward after catching sight of me. Can I help you?” she snapped rudely, squeezing a handmade salve all over the yellow shifter beneath her.

  “I’m your security,” I said tersely, crossing my arms with a smug arrogance as I leaned against the wall behind me.