by Juniper Hart
“You will recant on our deal?” she hissed, pointing a long, gnarled finger in his face.
“You may have anything you wish,” he said, “but never my children!”
“That was not a condition of the deal,” the witch snarled. “I will give you one last chance to make good on your word.”
Abel folded his arms across his chest, shaking his head vehemently.
“No! Leave this place. You cannot penetrate our family with your witchcraft.”
The old woman leered, cold and terrifying. She disappeared before his eyes, leaving Abel with his heart pounding.
She will not retaliate, he thought to himself.
As he stood, he watched the crops turn to ash. The animals dropped dead in the field, and dread instantly overcame him.
He turned to seek out his family, rushing to their sides and exhaling in relief to find them safe and accounted for.
The next morning, Abel woke, his mind unclear and foggy after a strange dream, and he stared about the cottage.
The walls were splattered with blood, and the mangled corpses of his family were sprawled about the floor in tatters.
Uncomprehendingly, Abel ran to them, opening his mouth to scream. Nothing emerged but a guttural howl as he dropped to his knees.
He extended his palm to touch Mariska’s face, and suddenly he saw hair sprouting from his knuckles.
Wheeling backward, Abel touched his face, feeling a snout where his nose once was, and he rushed to find his reflection in a cracked mirror. He saw the blood of his family upon his furry face, his elongated teeth and the yellow in his eyes.
The primal animal cries reverberated throughout the Northern Hungarian Mountains as Abel ran from the horrific scene.
It was not long before Abel had retreated into the low woods of Hungary, where he could easily prey upon human flesh to satiate his insurmountable cravings, unknowingly turning dozens of others into the creature he had become with a mere scratch of his claw.
When colonization began in the New World, Abel’s descendants, the Birch Mountain Alphas, were able to shift from their wolf forms to human, and some even managed to dance in between.
They never outgrew their sensitivities to silver, wolfbane, or religious artifacts, but their numbers forged and they found packs in the most unlikely places.
Deeply ingrained in their genetics was a deep distrust for others, the witch’s betrayal imprinted in their minds and passed through the generations. This made it very difficult for the Birch Mountain Alphas to find their fated mates.
Have you read the other books in the Birch Mountain Alphas series?
Shifter Scandal
Captured by the Shifter
Unleashed by the Shifter
Caught Between Shifters
Deceived by the Shifter
Thank you for reading my book. Readers like you make an author’s world shine. If you’ve enjoyed this book, or any other books by Juniper Hart or another author, please don’t hesitate to review them on Amazon or Goodreads.
Every single review makes an incredible difference. The reason for this is simple: other readers trust reviews more than professional endorsements. For this reason, indie authors rely on our readers to spread the good word.
Thank you very much! I am giving you a virtual high-five!
- Juniper Hart
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About the Author
Juniper Hart is a romance writer from the Midwest, who loves telling the insta-love tales of werewolves, dragons, and other paranormal heroes. She specializes in sweet and short alpha romances that always promise a happily ever after.
Juniper resides in Miami, Florida with her husband and rambunctious blue-eyed son.
Find out more about Juniper Hart at SecretWoodsBooks.com
Earth Dragon - Element Dragons
Text Copyright © 2017 by Alexis Davie
All rights reserved. This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.
This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictionally. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or to actual events or locales is entirely coincidental.
First printing, 2017
Publisher
Secret Woods Books
[email protected]
www.SecretWoodsBooks.com
Earth Dragon
By: Alexis Davie
Earth Dragon
Chapter One
Cassia loved the beach.
She loved everything about it, from the salty breeze to the warm air that warmed her basking body. With nobody in sight, she wished there was at least some eye candy to check out…or to check her out.
Sure, she had a boyfriend, but she doubted that Hale would care. The sorcerer wasn’t a terribly jealous man, which was good for her. She had been with Hale for so long that sometimes she just wanted some reassurance that other men found her attractive. After all, she was more than eight-hundred years old, even though she didn’t look a day over twenty-three—the age when she became immortal.
Cassia lounged on her private beach at her home in a shimmery, turquoise two-piece swimsuit. Her blonde hair blew freely in the wind like a lion’s proud mane. She brought her stiff drink to her lips and drank. The cool liquid slid down her throat pleasingly.
The sun was high in the sky, and she heard the ocean lapping the shore. Situated directly in the middle of a large, marble deck with exotic plants surrounding her, Cassia moved her head left to allow her sunhat to shield the glaring light from her eyes.
A shape moved over on top of her, blocking her precious sun. After lazily opening her eyes, she choked on her vodka soda when she recognized the tall man. He was handsome—like in a Greek God sort of way. The man was broad-shouldered and powerful looking, like he might drop to the ground at any time and do a hundred pushups without breaking a sweat.
He embodied a sort of strange eloquent brutality to him, which was obvious in his dark suit and rock-hard muscles below. A long scar ran across his square jaw, but his eyes were startlingly tender for such a dangerous individual. He looked at her with unspeakable adoration and a sort of pained understanding.
“Cassia,” he breathed. His voice was so deep that it almost sounded unreal, but she knew him. That was his baseline. His voice could go deep enough to make her teeth reverberate. “You look beautiful.”
She coughed, trying to get the last of her drink out of her lungs. “What in the hell are you doing here? I’m supposed to have guards!”
The big man took a seat next to her, adjusting his suit jacket. She felt almost dwarfed by her ex-husband.
“They’re incompetent.” He glanced over his shoulder, like someone might be watching them. “You need to listen to me.”
“Don’t touch me, Terran,” she said, half-pleading. “You know Hale is going to be really upset if he knows you’re here.”
“I’ll let you know when I give a damn what Hale thinks,” he replied.
She almost laughed. The rift between the two men had gone on for centuries.
Terran thought Hale was a backstabbing magician. He’d never liked the sorcerer to start with, but it all took a turn for the worst when Hale was there to catch Cassia after Cassia and Terran parted ways.
Just another example of how combustible a relationship can be between a sorcerer and a dragon shifter.
Terran leaned in close. “You’re in danger.”
“I’m safe.”
“You’re not.”
“Terran, please get
out of here! You’re just going to create a lot of issues for me if Hale finds out you’ve been here.”
She didn’t mean what she said. Seeing Terran stirred up feelings that had laid dormant for centuries and seeing him made her feel the happiest she’d been in a long time. After all, she had been married to the man for hundreds of years. But that was in the past. After what they’d been through, she could never go back to him—not after the tragedies they’d experienced.
Hale had been there to pick up the pieces when she felt alone and broken. As much as she wanted Terran to stay, she didn’t want to see the two men in her life fight to the death.
It would be an interesting fight—Hale’s modern intelligence versus Terran’s pure power. She’d watched Terran rip up mountains, create islands, and destroy people that got in his way. He was a dragon prince after all, one that controlled the earth.
She hadn’t seen Terran in two hundred years. Even though she couldn’t admit it to herself, she thought about him every single day.
Wow, has it really been that long? She felt a little faint thinking about it.
Terran looked imploringly at her with a faint glimmer of sadness in his eyes. “I need to talk to you.”
She hesitated. He’d probably spent hours, or days, trying to get her, and he wasn’t the kind of guy to chat.
“Fine,” she said. “Fine, fine, fine. What’s so important?”
“You deserve better than Hale.”
She raised an eyebrow. “Please tell me this isn’t going to be as awkward as we’re headed right now.”
“It’s going to be.”
“It doesn’t have to be. Just stop talking,” she urged.
It looked like he was about to profess his love for her again, but she wasn’t ready to deal with that. She didn’t want to open up that hurt.
“Let’s talk about the weather. Nice, no?” Cassia said as she looked away from Terran and up toward the sky.
Terran’s focus didn’t falter. “Hale isn’t the man you think he is.”
“I’ve spent centuries with him. I’m pretty sure I know the guy. How many times have you guys met? Two? Three times?”
“I don’t have to know him well,” he replied. “Cassia, my intelligence agents came back to me last week. They showed me this.”
He fished out his phone and maneuvered to his pictures.
She noticed his password.
“One, two, three, four?” she asked, somewhat amazed. “That’s your password? You know you need to change that, right?”
“Why would I?” he huffed.
Terran, great guy that he was, was not a technology connoisseur. He was the kind of guy that was happy with what he had.
“Nobody’s ever broken into it.”
“I could literally break in right now,” she protested.
“And I would let you,” he replied. “Only my close ones know my passcode. Look, does it matter? Check this out.”
He held up the phone to her. She frowned, not entirely sure what she was supposed to be looking at. It was a picture of a dead guy in a morgue. His body was covered in a white sheet. His skin was pale and his eyes were closed. He was distinct looking—obviously had a bit of elf in him. His ears were just a touch too long, and he had the high cheekbones, but she couldn’t quite recognize him. She knew she should, but for some reason she couldn’t quite place his face.
“So,” she said, taking a closer look, “Is this what you do now? Show up at people’s doors and show them pictures of dead people?”
“Do you recognize him?”
“No, not really.”
He sighed. “It’s the Chancellor.”
“Oh.” She saw it. “Oh. What happened to him?”
“Your boy-toy killed him,” the powerful man said, which was about as ridiculous in-person as it sounded. “Poisoned him.”
“You’re not seriously suggesting Hale killed the Chancellor.”
“I am. They found traces of his magic on the body.”
“You can’t be serious,” she said with just a hint of warning to her voice. “I know you don’t like him, but Hale isn’t a killer. The Chancellor was a good man. Neither Hale nor I had anything to do with his death. I’m sad to hear he’s gone, but I’m not going to listen to you talk about murder theories.”
He narrowed his eyes, like he was trying to decide what to do. “I didn’t think you’d listen.”
“Well, at least you’re right about that. I don’t want to hear another word about this, Terran.”
“Where’s Hale been over the last couple weeks?”
“On business,” she replied automatically. “You probably know that.”
“Where is he?”
“London,” she said. Why was he drilling her about this?
He swiped to another picture. This one was a street camera view of Hale in a trench coat as he boarded a subway with a dozen other people.
“I’m amazed,” she said sarcastically. Why was she being such a jerk? He didn’t really deserve it, but it was instinct.
“Know where this is?”
“Oh, wait. Let me look at the common subway and tell you exactly where in the world it is.”
“It’s in New York.”
“But he didn’t go to New York.”
“My point exactly. This picture was taken two hours ago.”
She frowned. Hale hadn’t gone to New York. He’d flown straight to London. She’d had a big falling out with Terran, but the dragon shifter didn’t lie—it was one of his greatest strengths.
She looked closer at the picture and saw the names of the stops listed on the subway platform. Terran was right; it was New York.
She faltered. “So? Maybe he stopped by on his way to London.”
“You’re an intelligent woman, Cassia. See the pictures in front of you. Read the writing on the wall.”
She scowled. “Look, I’ve had about enough of you calling my boyfriend a liar and a murderer. I think you should move along, or I’ll call my guards.”
“You realize they can’t do anything to me, right? But, since you’re so adamant about me leaving, I’ll go. But know that I’ll be watching,” he said. “Just keep your eyes open.”
“Don’t watch me,” she replied.
What had gotten into him? Sure, it had been a while, but Terran wasn’t the kind of guy that bought into theories. She’d been with Hale for about two hundred years. The sorcerer wasn’t a saint, but she didn’t think he’d be capable of actually killing the Chancellor, of all people.
Terran stood up, reached into his suit pocket, and produced a small ankle bracelet with a glimmering emerald stone in the middle. It looked perfectly ordinary, but she figured that there had to be something special about it.
“Oh, it fits you,” she said. “Matches your eyes.”
“Take this,” he said, rolling right over her comment. “This is a soulstone. You’ll communicate with me immediately if you need anything.”
Cassia knew exactly what he was trying to give her. Soulstones only worked when two people had them. Someone enchanted them so that these two special stones were connected and the two owners could track each other. The stone progressively brightened until the stones were touched together, then they were shut off and reset.
She pulled her hand back, although her instincts told her to take it. That was some impressive gear. She had never seen such a well-disguised soulstone.
“I don’t want it. I know what it is. I don’t need it. If I need you, I’ll call you on a cellphone like a normal person.”
“You are not a normal person. Besides, this is more reliable,” he said. “Can’t be blocked. Nobody will know it’s a communication device.”
“When did you get so suspicious?”
“Please,” he urged. “Something’s wrong here. I’m worried about you.”
She hesitated before finally opening her hand. He slid the small anklet into her palm before wrapping her slender, feminine fingers over it. He looked once int
o her eyes. For one startling moment, it looked like he was going to go in for a kiss.
His hand lingered on hers, and she felt a warm, tingling sensation travel from her hand down to her core, where the muscles of her feminine essence instinctively contracted. His touch had always had a sensual effect on her.
She had no idea how to react, but luckily the kiss never came.
He pulled away, walking towards the ocean. He wasn’t a graceful creature when he walked because he lacked elegance. He had something better—he had power. She could see his muscles bulging under his custom Italian suit with each step.
The dragon shifter was incredibly tough. She’d seen dragon slayers put bullets in him, and he’d walked it off. He was one of the most valuable targets in the enchanted underworld, but he was too powerful. Nobody ever got close to killing him.
She had met his mother—who was literally Mother Earth, or Gaia—on several occasions. She was magnificent in all respects. Terran had inherited tremendous power from her and his father, the Dragon King. They were the true definition of a power couple. More than a few rivals wanted Terran’s position as Keeper of the Mountain, but it didn’t work like that. Terran’s genetics gave him the title and power to move and manipulate the earth and mountains.
“Watch out,” he warned in his deep, brooding voice. “Something’s not right about Hale.” He stopped and turned to face her with his broad frame outlined by the sun behind him. “You’ve been warned.”
“Consider me warned,” she said, still trying to make sense of what had just happened.
One of the four dragon-shifter brothers, her ex-husband, had suddenly showed up at her home to tell Cassia that her current boyfriend had killed one of the most respected beings in the enchanted underground.
“I guess… see you around?” Although he needed to leave, she was sad to see him go.
