Dragon's True Mate (Dragons of Mount Atrox Book 1)

by Riley Storm

  Another blast of Trent’s lightning snaked just wide of his foe. The energy sank into a small boulder and blew it apart, showering the entire area with red hot shards of stone. Trent bulled his way through it, reaching close quarters with his foe—Jacen, he vaguely recalled the man’s name—and throwing a balled up fist into his face.

  Blood spurted from his nose, and Trent grinned savagely.

  Until Jacen’s other hand came whipping up and around, and he clubbed Trent in the temple with a melon-sized rock. Stars exploded in his vision, and Trent stumbled, his legs abruptly failing him. He crumpled to the ground, blinking rapidly.

  Jacen came to stand over him, grinning victoriously through the blood and broken nose. “You’re such a self-absorbed bastard,” he muttered. “If you would just stop–”

  Trent’s blast of lightning hit Jacen in the face and hurled him backward, down the steep ramp away from the cave entrance. The dragon shifter bounced and rolled another fifty feet before he came to a stop.

  “That’s enough,” Kladd said, appearing with a ball of flame in his fist, cocked and ready to let it fly at Trent. “Get a hold of yourself, Trent.”

  “He started it,” Trent said, his senses slowly returning after the blow to his head.

  “Oh, shut up. He was just trying to get under your skin, and it worked. You need to get over yourself already.”

  Trent almost unleashed another blast of electricity, but he held it in. Unlike Jacen, Kladd was ready for a fight and wouldn’t be caught off guard. That was a fight Trent did not want, at least not in his current state.

  “Piss off,” he said instead. “Give your leadership shit a break, will you? You’re not in command.”

  Kladd glared at him. “Someone has to be, otherwise idiots like you will be allowed to run rampant and act like children. Someone has to stop that from happening. It may as well be me, since it certainly isn’t going to be you acting mature and responsible.”

  Trent’s glared intensified. “It was my fault what happened,” he snarled.

  Kladd closed his eyes as they rolled back into his head. “Trent, seriously, give it a break. It wasn’t anything you did.”

  “Sure it was,” Trent spat. “I was his bodyguard, Kladd. You know that. Everyone knows that. It was my job to protect him, and I didn’t. I let him die.”

  Kladd opened his mouth to speak, but Trent wasn’t done.

  “Not only did I let him die,” he said, venom in his every word, “but when that shapeshifter took his place, I didn’t notice. I was too blind to see.”

  Kladd pinched his nose in frustration.

  Everyone knew what had happened. Trent was right on that account at least. A year earlier, the Gate had opened for the first time in seventy years. An unexpected coup attempt from treacherous dragons in their midst had allowed for a creature to come through. A shapeshifter. The creature had killed the last Atrox clan head, Victor, and impersonated him. Then, it had attempted attempt to foster hatred and open warfare between the clans, ostensibly to weaken them, so that the Gate would be left unguarded. Open.

  The creature had failed, but not because of anything Trent had done. As Victor’s bodyguard and shadow, it had been his responsibility to keep the Atrox leader safe.

  He’d failed, and constant infighting since had prevented the clan from having a leader. Things were not well within Atrox and, in Trent’s eyes, it was all his fault.

  “Trent. Listen to me. The only one hating yourself here is you. Grow up, or you’ll never be mated,” Kladd growled then headed down the slope to check in on Jacen, but the angry shifter just batted the helping hand away, his eyes glaring back up the slope.

  But the look went unseen. Trent was too busy staring off into space, his entire world rocked by what Kladd had said.

  Grow up. Or you’ll never be mated.

  Never be mated…

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  Lilly

  Lilly wasn’t too proud to deny it.

  When the rock came crashing through her window, she screamed. Loudly.

  “Death to the dragons! Don’t let them send us to the end! The Apocalypse is nigh!”

  The shouts came in rapid succession one after another and were followed by the screeching of tires as a car pulled away quickly. Lilly was still hiding behind the counter, but the sound carried to her anyway, thanks to the gaping hole where her front display window had been.

  She cowered for another minute or two, wanting to ensure that everyone was gone before she got up and came out of hiding, her body trembling.

  Glass lay everywhere, but somehow, the rock had missed everything on the display itself. It now lay on the middle of the floor, a dull gray object perhaps six or eight inches around. Absolutely nothing special about it.

  Lilly sighed. The Church of the Anti-Wyrm was stepping up its efforts, it seemed, trying to discourage her from opening.

  She wanted to be strong. To spit an oath at them and act tough. To say something like ‘if they think a broken window is going to stop Lilly Vickers, they’ve got another thing coming!’ That was what she wanted to say.

  The truth was, though, that the unprovoked attack had rattled her badly. For the first time in her entire journey, Lilly was starting to have second thoughts. For a moment, the ghost of a thought crossed her mind that perhaps she shouldn’t be doing this. That she was drawing too much attention upon herself.

  Both dragons and their haters seem to have picked me out of a crowd. That can’t be a good sign, can it?

  Feeling lost and unsure of everything, Lilly did what anyone would do. She grabbed her cellphone and called up her best friend to rant about life, to vent her emotions, frustrations, feelings, doubts and more, to someone who would listen and understand without criticizing.

  “Lilly?” came the drowsy response. Claire was on vacation; she had no need to get up early.

  “Claire, I need to talk to you.”

  The sleepiness vanished from her friend. “What’s wrong?” Claire asked, sounding alert and attentive.

  “Someone just threw a rock at my store,” she said, fighting back tears. “Broke the big display window.”

  “What the hell? Who would do such a thing?” Claire said, immediately angry.

  That was the good thing about a best friend. They were on your side. No matter what.

  “That stupid Church. The dragon hating one. They shouted some of their slogans at me,” she said.

  “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah, I’m fine. I wasn’t up front. Just scared me a lot and…” She trailed off, having a hard time admitting her feelings on the issue.

  “You’re having some doubts,” Claire said, instantly understanding.

  That was the good thing about a best friend. They could read your thoughts most of the time.

  “Yeah. I was hoping to maybe open next week. Now, it’s likely going to take me that long to get the window replaced. I can’t open with a board over the front window. It’ll look ridiculous!”

  Claire made an angry, frustrated sound. “I understand.” She paused. “What do you need from me?”

  Sighing, Lilly leaned back against the display case that served as the front counter. “I don’t know, Claire. I’m just…am I picking a bad fight here? Should I back off? Is this topic going to be too much of a hot button for me to handle being involved?”

  “Screw that. Those guys are bad news all around. Don’t let them intimidate you. You’re stronger than that.”

  “Sometimes I wish I could get revenge, strike back at them,” Lilly muttered. “But that ain’t me.”

  “No, that’s not us,” Claire agreed. “Though I’d be right there next to you.”

  That was the good thing about a best friend. They would walk right into shit with you to protect your back.

  “Thanks.”

  “Anytime,” Claire said. “Hey, what about Trent? Maybe he could get some revenge for you. Or maybe he knows some people and could get that window replaced faster? Have
you asked him?”

  Lilly bit her lip. “No,” she said quietly. “I sort of, um, sent him away.”

  Claire was quiet for a long moment. “You what? Why?”

  So Lilly explained what Trent had told her, about her being his mate, them being together forever, etc. When she was done, she waited for Claire to tell her how she was right to send Trent away, that he’d come on too strong. That’s what a best friend would do after all.

  “Okay, let me get this clear,” Claire said slowly. “This guy appears in your life. Treats you well, is gorgeous, ripped, polite, kind, good in bed—”

  “Great in bed. Amazing, really. Best I’ve ever had,” Lilly corrected.

  “Right. So he’s a god in bed. Is a smoking hot dragon shifter. Rich. Says he wants to sweep you off your feet and love you forever. Am I missing anything?” Claire said.

  “No,” Lilly answered, starting to wonder about the response Claire was going to give her.

  “And you sent him away? What on earth for?” her best friend all but shouted into the phone.

  “Of course I sent him away, Claire!” she said back immediately.

  “Uh, why?”

  “Because. It’s too good to be true,” Lilly said, staunchly defending her actions. “There is absolutely no way I am that lucky. It just doesn’t happen. Besides, after two days he was trying to tell me that we were going to be together forever? That is creepy.”

  Claire was silent for a moment. “Normally, Lil, I would agree with you. Completely and totally. But…there’s something different about Trent. Maybe it’s because he’s a dragon, I don’t know. No creepy human would talk the way he was talking about you. You being his mate, that sort of thing. That’s…just stating fact.”

  Lilly shook her head. “I dunno, Claire.”

  “I saw the way he looked at you. I mean, he gave you the choice too. Said that in the end it would be up to you what happened. He’s not forcing anything. Sure, maybe he should have waited a while longer to tell you, but that would not have changed the fact of it all, now would it?”

  That was the bad thing about a best friend. They would call you out on your bullshit if they felt you were being dumb.

  “I dunno, Claire…”

  “Do you think maybe you acted a bit too harshly?” That wasn’t a criticism but a question.

  “No,” she said. “I just told him that I need a bit of time. That was only yesterday.”

  “Well, you’ve had it now,” Claire said. “Maybe call him up, see if he can help. You can tell him that you aren’t ready to commit your life to him or anything like that, but you can spend some more time together. See if there’s anything there on your end.”

  Lilly frowned. “Aren’t you supposed to be on my side for these things? Tell me that yeah, screw that weirdo, let’s go get drinks!”

  Claire snorted. “The last time we went and got drinks, you did screw that weirdo.”

  Lilly couldn’t help but laugh. “Yeah, then we got held up at gunpoint.”

  The two sobered immediately.

  “How are you doing with that?” Lilly asked softly.

  “Better than I thought,” Claire said honestly. “Having Trent come along after, knowing that he was around, that he would protect us, it really helped me get over it. Helped me accept that it was not a normal thing and would be highly unlikely to happen again. What about you?”

  “Um.”

  The truth was, she’d felt similar at first. Now though, after the rock…

  “Just call him,” Claire urged. “Tell him about the rock, that you aren’t feeling safe. See how he responds. If he’s pushy about anything, then you tell him that it’s a no go. But I suspect he’s a good guy. There was something different about him, Lil. I can feel it.”

  “Maybe,” Lilly said, sighing. “Maybe. We’ll see. But what about my window?”

  Claire made a thoughtful noise. “You’ll probably have to delay opening, you’re right. It sucks, but that’s the way it is.”

  “Gah.” Lilly rubbed at her eyes. “This is too much. Too many decisions to make.”

  “Let me add to your plate then,” Claire said.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Trent. Tell me. What do you want to do?”

  Lilly didn’t respond.

  Claire laughed. “Yeah, that’s what I thought. Give it a try, Claire. I’ll get you drunk and buy you all the pizza you want if it goes south. But I saw the way you two looked at one another. That was…next level.”

  “Okay, maybe,” she said quietly. “Maybe. We’ll see. Thanks for listening. Sorry for waking you.”

  “Don’t apologize. That’s what best friends are for. Wake-up calls. G’night.”

  The line went dead.

  “Yeah,” Lilly said, looking at her phone. “But which one of us got the wake-up call, I wonder?”

  Putting the phone in her pocket, she wandered up to the front of the store, surveying the damage from outside.

  “What a mess,” a deep male voice sounded from behind her. “If only you knew someone with experience cleaning up broken things in your store.”

  Chapter Twenty-Three

  Trent

  “Thanks again for your help today,” Lilly said as she backed out of the front door, pulling it closed behind her. “I really don’t know what I would have done without you.”

  “It was honestly not a big deal,” he said, brushing off the mammoth effort he’d put in. “Your thanks are unnecessary but always appreciated.”

  “Well, it would have taken me ages to clean up all the glass myself, and I couldn’t have managed getting the window all boarded up,” she said, pointing to where a giant plywood board had been fastened to the storefront to cover up the giant hole.

  “It’s a shame they couldn’t have hit the door or the small window like I did,” Trent muttered. “I could have had it all fixed up today for you.”

  “You did plenty working on the wires as well,” she said. “As long as we can get the glass in, I might still be able to open next week, which would be the dream.”

  Trent smiled at her. “I’ll do my best to get it done,” he told her and meant every word of it.

  Even if he had to bribe the glass company an exorbitant amount to make her shop their top priority. It would be done in time, he vowed, even if he had to drive hours away to get the window himself. Whatever it took, he would do it.

  “I appreciate that,” Lilly said, twisting her key and pulling it from the door.

  Not wanting to make things awkward, Trent gave her a short bob of his head. “I’ll see you tomorrow morning then, if that’s okay? I’ll try to get some more of those wires replaced so that I can get the walls repaired and painted. Get you some full blown lighting again.”

  “Yeah, that would be more than okay,” she said, the corners of her lips turning upward.

  It wasn’t a full blown smile, but it was better than nothing at all and, at that moment, Trent would take whatever he could get. He just wanted to see Lilly happy.

  “Take care,” he added, then started to head down the road to where his truck was parked half a block away.

  He’d gotten maybe a dozen steps or so when he heard Lilly.

  “Trent!” she called, using his name.

  He turned, coming to a stop and looking behind him. Had he forgotten something? What was it?

  Lilly hurried toward him, and he headed back toward her, meeting in the middle.

  “What’s up?” he asked, noting the terse look to her face.

  He almost asked what was wrong but instead fell silent, leaving the conversation to Lilly. Just because she’d called him didn’t automatically mean something was wrong.

  “Listen, um…”

  Trent saw her chest rise and fall as she took a deep breath.

  “I’m not ready to go home yet,” she blurted out quickly. “Do you maybe want to, um, get some dinner or something?”

  He froze.

  This was most unexpected. An invita
tion to dinner? Trent had figured that for the next few days, if not a week or more, they would simply see each other at the store. That was a somewhat Lilly-positive location compared to somewhere more neutral, like a restaurant.

  “I would like that,” he said with only a few seconds hesitation. “I would like that a lot.”

  Lilly smiled, and his heart skipped a beat. “Okay. I know a place we can go then and get some good food for cheap.”

  He was about to tell her that cost wasn’t an issue, but he stopped himself. Lilly did not want him to take care of everything for her. She was a strong woman, an independent businesswoman even, and if she wanted to take him somewhere, then he was darn well going to let her.

  “Okay,” he said. “My truck’s right there, if you want. Or I can meet you there?”

  Lilly smiled and shook her head. “Driving would take too long. Come on.”

  Frowning in confusion, Trent followed her up the street two blocks and then down a side street.

  “I am way too underdressed for this place,” he said as he realized where Lilly was taking him. “And this food is not cheap.”

  Lilly laughed, walking up to the front door of Climbers, the only ‘fancy’ restaurant in Five Peaks, and held the door open for him. “Trust me, okay? I’ve got this.”

  Trent shrugged, but he knew that they were not in any shape to be dining somewhere as nice as Climbers. He was wearing a gray t-shirt that he’d been sweating in during the day and black shorts more suited to playing sports than eating dinner.

  Lilly looked better. She had capris paired with a black off-the shoulder shirt that was thin and billowy and could at least pass as ‘somewhat classy’.

  “Hey, Patrick,” she called out, waving at a well-attired man lounging around near the front door with little to do. “Got space for us?”

  “Lilly!” the man said, rushing forward to embrace her. “So good to see you.”

  Trent fought back a violent surge of jealousy, beating his dragon into submission, reminding it that he had no claim on Lilly, and that even if he did, she was allowed to hug other men. It was a form of polite greeting among friends.