“You sound like a nosy old lady, grandma.” Sybil pouted.
It’s not like she didn’t like guys or wanted to be single the rest of her life. She didn’t even think she was bad looking; she was on the petite side, which meant every guy she met was taller than her; she’d been told she was pretty, with her heart-shaped face, dark lashes, and gray eyes; plus she was sure guys stared at her double-D boobs and her shapely butt all the time.
No, the problem wasn’t with this body; it was the other body. Her dragon was just too strong and powerful for most of the shifter men in town. Growing up, all the boys in her high school had been terrified of her dragon. She felt their animals cower in fear, even though she’d learned to control it since she was a child. Plus, it didn’t help that she was the only daughter of the richest man in town, who practically owned Blackstone. While all the girls her age were experiencing their firsts—first dates, first kisses, first boyfriends, first, ahem, times—she had been left in the corner like the veggie dish at a potluck. And by the time she went off to college, she simply had lost hope and interest in boyfriends.
Still, it didn’t mean she wasn’t open to the possibility. And, if she were honest with herself, she was envious of her family and friends. Everyone had already paired off, finding their mates, while she was left alone again. Even Kate—who swore off relationships—found her mate in Petros. What she wouldn’t give to even have a decent date with a nice guy. Just something normal.
Georgina sensed the growing tension and cleared her throat. “So, it’s still about an hour to the lake. Why don’t we play a game. Grayson?”
“Oooh! How about I Spy?”
Sybil put all thoughts of boys, boyfriends, and mates aside. “Why don’t I go first?” She grinned at Grayson. “I spy with my my little eye …”
After their huge barbecue lunch, the whole Lennox-Walker clan decided it was time for a dip in the lake. Sybil was sitting on the shore, content to watch everyone have fun. Jason, Christina, Petros, and Kate were all playing chicken fight, the girls on their respective mates’ shoulders as they tried to push each other over. Matthew and Catherine were lazing on their inflatable tubes, while Luke was teaching Grayson how to swim. Meanwhile, Cassie Grimes was riding on the back of her great-uncle Tim, who was in polar bear form. Cassie’s dad, Mason and his mate, Amelia Walker, were sitting on the dock that stretched out from the shore. Laura, Amelia’s mom, came over and spoke with them, and when she left, the couple stood up and walked toward the woods.
Sybil sighed contentedly. She was glad Amelia was back, and also, back with her mate. They had broken up a couple of years ago, but when Mason moved to town, they had reunited. Sybil knew part of the story, and she had been there when Amelia had been inconsolable in the wake of the breakup. She was also the social worker who had checked up on Cassie when she came to Blackstone after an emergency removal from her mother’s custody. Sybil knew she could have been vindictive, since Mason broke one of her best friends’ heart, but she was a professional. Besides, she’d read Cassie’s case file; not only was the young girl abandoned by her mom, but Mason wasn’t even her biological father, yet he stepped up. Sybil had to give him props for that.
“Everything okay, Princess?” Her father plopped down on the sand next to Sybil and put an arm around her.
“Hey Dad.” She leaned her head on his shoulder. “Yeah, I’m good. You?”
“Doing great, now that I’m here with all of you.” He flashed her a smile, the corners of his eyes crinkling. “Are you sure you’re okay?”
She laughed. “I’m fine.”
“Work’s good?”
“Yeah, same old, same old.” Her work was never boring, that was for sure, and some days, it was heartbreaking and exhausting. But, seeing her kids smile made it all worth it, especially with what they went through. “I just—Dad?”
Hank’s body stiffened and his eyes began to glow. Sybil could feel his inner dragon stand at attention, and her own animal mirrored its sire. The hairs on the back of her stood up, and her skin crawled. Danger.
Her father stood up, grabbed her elbow, and pulled her up. The tension in the air was palpable. She looked around her. Matthew, Jason, and everyone else who had been swimming were walking up to the shore. When Hank’s head whipped around, she saw what had sent all their senses on alert.
There were five men standing there, right in front of Uncle James’ cabin. Now, Sybil was a hundred percent sure they had not been there, nor had she sensed their approach. In fact, it was like they had just appeared out of thin air.
Hank’s jaw set. “The kids. And the women ….”
“Christina’s taking them inside,” Jason said as he came closer.
“Sybil, go with them,” Matthew ordered.
“What?” She glanced back at the men, who had not moved an inch. “No way.” She looked around her. Luke, Uncle James, Tim, Petros, Kate, and Ben were coming towards them. “I’m one of you, remember?” Her dragon uncoiled inside her, ready to protect her loved ones.
“If they need protection—”
“Then I’ll fly them off in a sec,” Sybil said. “But I’m staying here.”
“They’re coming,” Hank said. Matthew and Jason stood behind him, while the rest spread out behind the trio, flanking all sides.
The five men walked toward them with deliberate steps. As they came closer, Sybil’s shifter instincts went into overdrive.
Dragons.
Five dragons had landed in Blackstone. But why? Sybil knew of the existence of other dragons in the world, but, like the Lennoxes, most kept a low profile. Her father and brothers never gave out interviews or allowed outsiders into their lives. As Riva had explained when they were teenagers, the Lennox Corp. Public Relations Department’s main function was to keep them out of the public eye.
Of course, she couldn’t help herself: out of curiosity, she’d done a Google search for them, and found very little information. There was a mention of a dragon in Chicago who lived in the tallest building in the world, but there was not much else; it was like the existence of dragons had been scrubbed from the World Wide Web and the greater world in general.
“You will not take another step,” Hank said. His tone was calm, but the presence of his dominant dragon was unmistakeable.
The five men stopped in their tracks. Sybil’s eyes narrowed at them. Each one of them wore different clothing, but they were definitely all dragons, though she sensed something was different about each of them. But what?
“Greetings, Henry Lennox, Blackstone Dragon.” The man in the middle, a tall, thin man wearing silver robes said.
“Who are you and what do you want?” came Hank’s reply.
Another man—this one short and stocky and wore an immaculate white suit—spoke next. “We are the Dragon Council.”
“Dragon Council?” Hank echoed. “I’ve never heard of you.”
“Of course not,” White Suit said, his voice almost a sneer. “Your ancestor, Anastasia Lennox got your clan banished from the Dragon Alliance when she defied dragon law and mated,” the disdain in his voice was evident, “with a common shifter.”
Sybil bit her lip to stop her gasp, but beside her, she could feel Uncle James and Ben tense. She didn’t blame them, of course. He was talking about their ancestor, Silas Walker, a bear shifter who had married Anastasia Lennox.
“Caesar, please,” Silver Robe interrupted. “That’s all in the past, right? Does it matter?”
“What matters is why you’re here. On my mountain,” Hank said, his arms crossing over his chest. “How the hell did you sneak up on us and what do you want?”
“We Cloaked, of course,” Silver Robe replied matter-of-factly. “Have you never Cloaked before?”
Caesar clucked his tongue and turned to Silver Robe. “See, Janus? I told you, we don’t even know how they’ve regressed, being away from other dragons.”
Janus’ eyes flashed silver. “Please, Caesar.” He turned back to Hank. “Kindly excuse
us. As Dragon Council, we put everything to a vote and unfortunately, my compatriot lost this one.”
Hank looked at the men impatiently. “Will one of you just please tell me what’s going on?”
“Since you are apparently unaware of the events of the past century or two, let me start from the beginning.” Janus cleared his throat. “A few thousand years ago, dragon shifters lived peacefully with humans and all other shifters; however, through the centuries, humans began to hunt us down and thus, those of us that remained formed the Dragon Alliance. Each clan sends one representative to the Dragon Council, who then creates and enforces Dragon Laws. These laws are meant to keep us safe and ensure the survival of our species.” He paused. “When, uh, your ancestor, Anastasia Lennox broke dragon law, the Lennoxes were banished from the Dragon Alliance as punishment.”
“Their lands and titles were taken, as were their treasure hoards, and they were left to fend for themselves without the protection of the Alliance,” Caesar added. “That is what happens when you break dragon law.”
“I think we’ve been doing well for ourselves,” Hank said with a raised brow. Behind him, Jason and Matthew nodded in agreement. “So, you kicked us out of your little club. What the hell are you doing here then?”
Janus’ face turned grave. “There are people—humans—out there who want to destroy us.” He looked at the other shifters. “All of us. I know you’ve already encountered them and that they tried to destroy your town.”
“The Organization,” Jason said, his hands curling into fists into his sides. The group had tried to blow up the entire town of Blackstone a few months ago.
Janus nodded. “They call themselves The Knights of Aristaeum. Few know who they are. They were named after a wizard who sought to destroy all shifters.”
“Wizards?” Matthew asked.
“Yes. Humans used to know how to wield magic, but they lost them over the years. It’s a long story … but basically, this secret society has existed for the past three centuries, and their main goal is to destroy all shifters.”
“Then what do you want with us?” Hank asked.
Janus looked around uneasily at the other men behind him. Caesar frowned, but nodded. “We seek an alliance with you. And invite you to once again join The Dragon Council.”
“And why would we do that?” Matthew said.
“Because The Knights of Aristaeum will destroy us all,” Caesar said. “All shifters of all kinds. And they already have the means to do it. A magical weapon.”
“What?” Hank’s voice raised. “What are you talking about?”
Janus looked around apprehensively. “Blackstone Dragon, before we go any further, we must ask that you meet with the Dragon Alphas.”
“All right, I’ll bite,” Hank sighed. “Dragon Alphas?”
“They are the leaders of the various dragon clans around the world, and the protectors of their territory and people under them,” Janus explained. “Much like you are the protector of Blackstone. If you grant them permission to land in your territory, then we can sit down and talk about how we will stop The Knights.”
“I think the idea has merit,” Jason said.
“But, can we trust them?” Matthew interjected.
Hank seemed to consider his sons’ words. “How do we know this isn’t some trap?”
“What?” Caesar scoffed. “What would we have to gain from trapping or betraying you? We are dragons, just like you.”
“We don’t exactly know you,” Hank pointed out. “You show up here and then spout all this bullshit and we’re just supposed to believe you?”
Caesar looked offended, but Janus spoke up. “We swear to you, on the grave of our ancestors, that we only speak the truth. Besides, you know how territorial dragons can be. The moment you tell us to leave, we will be compelled to do so. It is our nature.”
Hank huffed. “All right. Tell them they can come. But none of this Cloaking bullshit. They wanna come here? They better show themselves to me.”
“Of course.” Janus bowed. “Thank you.” He looked back at the other members of the council. “Please, call your Alphas.”
Sybil wasn’t sure what she was expecting when Janus told the other dragons to “call” their alphas—maybe take out their phones and text message?—but certainly, she didn’t think they would all just close their eyes and go perfectly still. What the heck—
A strange sensation passed over her, and there was a force in the air she couldn’t describe—like electricity crackling. It filled the atmosphere around them, threatening to spark and explode at any moment. Then, they all looked up.
The sounds of the beating of wings filled the air. The brightness of the sun prevented Sybil from getting a better look, but she could four large shadows overhead. Each one looked different—one of them had two legs instead of four limbs, another had scales like uneven rock—but from the way her own animal reacted, she knew they were all dragons.
One by one, they swooped down, transforming smoothly into they human forms. Sybil was taken aback when she realized that they were all wearing clothes. When shifters changed into their animals, their clothes didn’t shift with them. She herself tended to remove her clothes and leave them somewhere safe or take them with her, clutched in her claws. But these dragons didn’t need to do that. Huh.
All four stood behind the dragon council, their stances confident. It was obvious why they were the Alphas. Power radiated from each of them like a beacon. And, much to her chagrin, all of their eyes zeroed in on her.
Sybil gulped. But she had to admit, she was curious, too. She had never met a dragon she wasn’t related to. And attractive ones.
Like most shifters, they were all tall, with muscular bodies, and good-looking in their own individual ways. The one with icy blue eyes and white blond hair stared at her with such intensity she thought his gaze would burn a hole right through her. The other three looked at her curiously, as if trying to catch her eye. Her own inner dragon, on the other hand, scoffed and swished its tail in disdain, not caring for their attention.
“Ahem.” Caesar cleared his throat and all the Alphas snapped back their attention to the Council.
“What’s going on? Who are those men? Where did they come from?” Amelia asked.
Sybil startled, not realizing that she and Mason had come back from their walk. “Apparently, they’re the Dragon Council.”
“Dragon Council? I didn’t know you guys had a council.”
“Neither did I.”
“What do they want?”
That was the million dollar question. “Some sort of alliance. I don’t know. They—the five guys with Dad—just kind of … appeared out of nowhere. They had some sort of cloaking tech,” Sybil explained.
Amelia pointed her chin at the Alphas. “And the other four?”
“The Dragon Council called them the Alphas of the the different clans or something. They asked permission to come in our territory, and Dad said yes. They flew in and landed. And—get this—when they shifted back, they had their clothes on.” Sybil turned her attention back to the council.
“….And so, Hank Lennox, Blackstone Dragon, we thank you for granting our five Dragon Alphas permission to land into our territory.” Janus bowed his head. “And now—”
“Four,” Hank interrupted.
“Excuse me?”
“You have four Dragon Alphas.”
Hmmm. Sybil looked around. Yes, there were definitely only four Alphas.
Janus seemed to do a double-take. “Where is His Highness?”
The other Dragon Alphas spoke, and Sybil couldn’t hear them, it looked like they didn’t know or care, judging from their body language.
Janus turned to another man from the council. “Dmitri, where is your prince?”
“I-I-I don’t … I mean ….” Dmitri wiped his balding, sweaty head with a handkerchief. “Maybe he—”
The sound of water rushing made everyone freeze. The din was almost deafening and whatever was ma
king it sounded very big. A humungous wave cut through the waters of the lake and Sybil let out a gasp as something burst out from the water.
Oh.
Sybil’s inner dragon perked up when the winged creature flew up in the air. It was large, about fifty feet long and covered in beautiful, shimmering blue-green scales. Its bat-like wings were long and delicate, but allowed it to propel through the air. It didn’t have any other limbs, but its back was spiked with dorsal fins, and its tail looked like the fluke of a dolphin, but more delicate. As quickly as it rose up, it dove back into the water.
“What the hell is that?” Mason said. “A snake?”
“A dragon.” Sybil’s throat went dry.
The air felt thick, and for a moment, Sybil couldn’t breathe. A figure rose from the water and as soon as her eyes landed on it, she felt the air rush back into her lungs.
A man began to walk out of the water, shaking droplets out of his long, light brown hair . A very large man, even by shifter standards. He was tall, probably six-and-a-half feet, with broad shoulders that seemed as wide. His muscled arms were covered with tattoos that resembled scales, made obvious because he only wore leather pants and no shirt, which also showed off a sculpted chest, a cut set of eight-pack abs, and the deep V cut on his hips. He looked like he spent hours at the gym, but not in a gross way like those pro bodybuilders.
As he strode out of the lake, Sybil felt the beating of wings inside her as her inner dragon flittered excitedly. Flittered? That was strange. It had never done that before.
“Finally,” Ceasar said dryly.
Dmitri took a step forward. “Ahem. May I present, His Royal Highness, Prince Aleksei of the Northern Isles, Jarl of Svalterheim, Dragon Protector of the—Eeek!” He nearly tumbled over when he was pushed aside.
Prince Aleksei didn’t acknowledge the presence of the other Alphas, the Council, or even Hank Lennox. Instead, he moved forward with purpose. Sybil glanced around, wondering where he was going. And then she realized where he was headed.
Oh. Her inner dragon began to get even more excited, fluttering around inside her, its wings beating a mile a minute. Or was that her heartbeat?
The Blackstone She-Bear: Blackstone Mountain Book 7 Page 16
