by Katie Reus
A Very Dragon Christmas
Darkness Series
Katie Reus
A Very Dragon Christmas
Copyright © 2018 Katie Reus
Cover Art by Sweet ‘N Spicy Designs
Edits: JRT Editing & Julia Ganis
Digital Formatting by Author E.M.S.
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This book is a work of fiction. The names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the writer’s imagination and are not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, actual events, locales or organizations is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. With the exception of quotes used in reviews, this book may not be reproduced or used in whole or in part by any means existing without written permission from the author.
Also, thank you for not sharing your copy of this book. This purchase allows you one legal copy for your own personal reading enjoyment on your personal computer or device. You do not have the right to resell, distribute, print or transfer this book, in whole or in part, to anyone, in any format, via methods either currently known or yet to be invented, or upload this book to a file sharing program. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person you share it with. Thank you for respecting the author’s work.
ISBN: 9781635560527
Table of Contents
A VERY DRAGON CHRISTMAS
Copyright
About the Book
Dedication
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Thank You for Reading!
Acknowledgments
About the Author
Complete Booklist
It will take a miracle to survive Christmas…
Victoria is about to have a baby. But not just any baby, a wolf-dragon hybrid, and her overprotective mother-in-law isn’t giving her any peace. She means well, but by the time Victoria finds herself climbing out a bathroom window to escape her overly-vigilant family, she realizes something’s got to give. And if they don’t back off, more than just the holiday will be ruined.
Join the crazy, fun Petronilla dragon clan for A Very Dragon Christmas and find out if their holiday season—and their unique family bond—can be saved!
Author note: This is a novella length story set in the Darkness series with characters from previous books revisited. It should NOT be read as a stand-alone. It’s for readers of the series who want more of their favorite characters!
Dedication
For every reader who has asked for more of my dragon shifters!
Chapter 1
Victoria laid her face on the center island countertop and groaned. “This is ridiculous,” she growled, feeling more frustrated than she ever had in her entire life.
“I know it’s frustrating,” said Greer, the healer for her clan and one of her dearest friends. Her voice was all soothing and gentle and it simply annoyed Victoria. Which wasn’t like her at all.
But she had reason to be cranky. “Frustrating? I’ve been pregnant longer than anyone on the planet ever before.”
“That’s a bit of an exaggeration.” Greer’s voice was dry.
“Is it? Because I had my baby shower back in April and it’s almost Christmas. Christmas! I’m a shifter. This baby should’ve been here over the summer. What happened to shifters having shorter pregnancies than humans? Huh? And now I’ve been pregnant even longer than humans. This is not normal.” Not only was she frustrated with being pregnant for an abnormally long time, she hadn’t been able to shift in ages because of her crazy pregnancy. Her wolf was actually pretty dormant and relaxed about the whole thing. It was her human side that was freaking the fuck out.
“I just got off the phone with a healer from Okinawa. She confirmed another case of a hybrid pregnancy going as long as fifteen months.” Greer winced at the last part as if she didn’t want to tell Victoria.
She groaned again. “So, fifteen months is the longest you’ve heard so far, right?” She was at the thirteen-month mark so she could hang on a little longer. She hoped.
“Yes. It’s definitely rare, but not unheard of.”
“It’s punishment for something I did in a former life.”
Now Greer laughed. “That’s ridiculous. Beyond, in fact. This is not a punishment. Your little guy is just happy where he is. You’ve created a nice home for him and he doesn’t want to come out.”
Victoria look down at her belly and growled. “You better be really awesome, kid.”
Greer snickered. “Oh, another thing I didn’t mention earlier…”
Victoria’s gaze snapped back up to her friend. Good God, there couldn’t be more. “What?”
“It’s not really a big deal but all the children whose mothers had abnormally long pregnancies…they’re all basically super Alphas.”
Victoria’s shoulders eased at that. “That’s not a big deal. And not really surprising considering the family I mated into.”
“Man, is that the truth.”
Greer and Victoria, though different species—dragon and wolf—were both healers so they were cut from the same cloth. They were more or less peacemakers and it was in their DNA to help people. Neither of them were betas, but they weren’t Alpha in nature either. And they were surrounded by a bunch of stubborn dragons and wolves.
“Where is Drake, anyway?” Greer asked, frowning as she glanced over at the digital clock on the stove.
“I don’t know. He was supposed to be here. He said he wanted to—” Victoria paused when she heard the front door opening.
A few seconds later, her huge, sexy mate jogged in, slightly out of breath. “Sorry I’m late, had some stuff to take care of.” Then he was standing behind her and massaging her shoulders as if he’d sensed her discomfort.
She really had mated the best dragon even if he’d been disappearing at random times over the last couple months.
“So what did I miss? Good news? Are we going to have a Christmas baby, after all?”
Ah, if only that were the case. “Well, about that…”
Chapter 2
Two weeks later
“Where have you been?” Victoria asked, hating the unfamiliar accusatory tone in her voice. She’d texted and called her mate, but he hadn’t responded. Something that normally wouldn’t have bothered her. But normally she wasn’t a billion months pregnant and about to pop. Drake was free to do whatever he wanted, but these pregnancy hormones were making her edgy and cranky tonight.
He stripped out of his jacket and set it on the chair near the window before approaching the bed, his expression concerned. “Out flying. Is everything okay?”
Okay, hormonal or not, he was lying. Or maybe not lying, but he was holding something back. And that wasn’t like Drake. They didn’t keep secrets from each other. Ever. She hadn’t thought her mate even knew how to lie. “Flying?”
His frown deepened as he swept his gaze over her, those silvery-gray eyes seeing far too much. “Yes. Are you hungry? Do you need something?”
She shifted uncomfortably against the bed. “I’m okay.” But she wanted to know what he was keeping from her. And she wasn’t sure how to ask without sounding crazy. Gah, whoever said pregnancy was awesome or that pregnant women glowed were full of crap.
Shaking her thoughts away, she trailed her fingers up his chest, enjoy
ing the sensation of all that strength underneath her fingertips. She knew what she needed and that was time with her mate. They’d barely seen each other the last week as the holiday insanity of the clan set in. That was all that was going on, she told herself.
“I know what might make me feel better,” she said, smiling as he let out a low rumble in his throat, his dragon peeking out in his gaze, telling her he wanted to play too.
Drake cupped the side of her face gently, stroking a thumb over her cheek. “Aren’t you supposed to meet my mom and aunts for dinner?”
She lifted a shoulder, the sheet rustling slightly under the movement. “I can be a little bit late.”
Laughing lightly, he leaned forward and pressed his lips over hers for a far too short kiss. “If we start something now, you won’t be just a little late. You won’t make it at all.” He kissed her forehead then pulled back and stood up, taking all that wonderful warmth with him.
Once again that rush of emotions welled up inside her as he turned his back on her. Moving quickly, he started stripping off his clothes and heading toward their bathroom.
He hadn’t rejected her, not really, but for some reason it felt like it. She wanted to ask him to stay. Hell, she wanted to blow off tonight’s dinner completely. But she knew if she did that, her relatives would descend on their house and pester her. She loved her family dearly, but all these dragons were driving her crazy. The truth was, if she’d been back in Biloxi, she knew that her former packmates would be doing the exact same thing.
Well, maybe they wouldn’t have been as intense as all these dragons. She wasn’t sure if it was because she was pregnant with a hybrid or if it was because she was a wolf and smaller than the majority of the Petronilla dragon clan. Either way they were all driving her crazy and treating her as if she wasn’t a shifter, the same as them.
And now her mate had rejected her.
No, he didn’t! that annoying little voice in her head snapped.
“You can shut the hell up,” she muttered to herself. As she stood and stretched, her back muscles twinged in pain. Ignoring it, she headed to their walk-in closet and looked for a thicker coat.
Shifter bodies were different than humans so she often didn’t need as much outerwear during colder months, but for some reason her body chemistry had changed during this pregnancy and she found herself with a temperature much closer to that of a human. It was disconcerting to be experiencing it, but not exactly rare. After dressing properly, she opened the bathroom door.
Steam billowed out in pale white waves. God, what she wouldn’t give to get in the shower with Drake. “I’m headed out,” she called out, inhaling his spicy, earthy scent that seemed to be magnified because of the steam.
“Okay, I love you,” he said, peeking his head around the corner of the glass and stone enclosure, a soft smile on his face. “Text me when you get to the restaurant?”
She was sorely tempted to just strip and get in with him but unfamiliar insecurities bubbled up. Her body was so different now and while she knew he hadn’t actually rejected her, she was feeling self-conscious for the first time in her entire life. “I love you too. And I will,” she said before stepping back out into their bedroom. She was seriously ready for this baby to be here.
And now it was time to face the music and deal with her overbearing relatives.
Chapter 3
One day later
Dragos let the shift overcome him as he landed on the icy, cold earth behind his house. He’d lived in many domains over the millennia and his current abode was nice and comfortable. But he’d found a cave in the mountains behind his clan’s settlement that he occasionally snuck away to—often with his mate.
And, of course, he hid treasure. It was simply part of his dragon nature and it didn’t matter how old he was. Hiding away his treasure—just jewels, gems, gold and other shiny things—was something he had a compulsion to do. And he didn’t trust human banks.
But his greatest treasure of all, he would never hide away. His mate and children.
Stretching his arms over his head, he inhaled the fresh, crisp night air. It was time to see his mate—
“I swear to God if I could breathe flames, I would set your mate on fire right now!” Victoria appeared out of nowhere and Dragos found himself staring down at his oldest son’s very pregnant mate, the normally serene wolf shifter. But her pregnancy had dragged on past what was normal for shifters—or humans for that matter—and lately she’d been on edge. He did not blame her.
“What’s she done now?” he asked, sighing.
Victoria opened her mouth, then seeming to suddenly realize he was naked, turned around. Then she let out a short, frustrated scream. “It doesn’t matter. Do you know where Drake is? I thought he was over here.”
“Tell me what happened,” he said, pulling on clothes from the bag he’d left by his landing spot hours ago.
“Nothing new. I just can’t breathe with Arya and your two sisters around. Every. Single. Second. At first it was kind of charming, a little amusing. But the closer I get to giving birth, honestly, the more it’s stressing me out. I literally climbed out a bathroom window at Ziti the Great when they appeared there out of nowhere, quizzing me on the type of food I was eating, making sure it was enough and safe for the baby.”
Dragos inwardly winced, but kept his expression neutral as he gently touched her shoulder. “I’m dressed. And I’m sorry. I’ll see what I can do.” Because while he loved his mate more than anything on this planet, he knew she would not want to stress Victoria out. Neither would his sisters. The truth was, Arya had been going a little crazy with the overprotective routine in the last few weeks. Maybe because Victoria’s pregnancy had dragged on so long? He didn’t know.
Over fifteen hundred years ago he and Arya had lost their son, Drake—and only recently got him back after he’d unjustly been locked in Hell—and he had a feeling this impending birth was bringing up emotions she had tried and failed to bury.
Victoria sniffed once and to his horror, tears pooled in her green eyes, making them brighter than normal.
He froze for a moment. He was not accustomed to dealing with crying females. He could count on one hand the number of times his own mate had cried. Usually she just burned things—or beat them to death.
“I swear I’m trying to be understanding of her feelings,” Victoria said, wiping at her cheeks. “But right now, I need things to be just about me. I’m exhausted worrying about other people. And I really don’t care if it’s selfish. I’m not sleeping and…” Victoria froze, and then jerked forward slightly, clutching her stomach.
That was when he scented it. Blood.
Fuck. “What is it?” he asked urgently.
“I need to lie down. Now.”
Without thinking, he scooped up his daughter-in-law and hurried through the back door of the massive house.
He headed for the closest room, a living room with couches and pillows and all sorts of stuff.
Gently he set her on the longest couch and let her stretch out.
Wincing, she said, “I’m bleeding. I can feel and scent it. I can sense the baby’s life force. It’s very strong. I think I’m okay but…I need Drake. And I need Greer.”
He already had his phone out and was calling Greer, the other healer of their clan. Victoria was a wolf, whereas Greer was a dragon like him. She’d been with the clan for a long time, had been around even before his last Hibernation, and she was a skilled healer.
“Greer, get to my house now. Victoria is bleeding,” he snapped into the phone before hanging up and calling Drake. He could have simply texted the healer, but since awakening a few years ago, he’d discovered that he hated texting. And much of technology.
The second his son answered, Dragos said, “Victoria is bleeding. She’s at my house—”
Drake hung up, and less than two minutes later, Greer, Drake, and Arya burst through the front door, with Drake ahead of everyone as he barreled into the living room.
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Dragos didn’t pause—he wrapped his arm around his mate and tossed her over his shoulder, heading for the front door as Drake and Greer settled in front of Victoria.
“What the fuck are you doing!” Arya snarled, smacking him on the butt once. Under other circumstances, he might consider this foreplay.
“We’re leaving them alone. Victoria is stressed and she started bleeding.”
Arya struggled and he simply clamped his arms around her as they strode out the front door. This might be their house, but for now it would be Drake and Victoria’s. For as long as they needed it.
“They need privacy, and to be blunt, Victoria does not need to be around you right now. She’s stressed out and her health comes first. Our grandchild’s health comes first.”
At his words, his mate stilled. “You can put me down,” she said quietly as they reached the sidewalk.
He’d been mated to her for thousands of years so he knew she wasn’t going to rush back inside. Setting her on her feet, he wasn’t surprised when she swiftly punched him once in the chest. But it was without heat. If she’d been truly mad, she’d have gone for his throat. Or his dick. His mate did not mess around when she was truly angry.
“She’s bleeding?” A flicker of fear crossed Arya’s features. Her pale blonde hair was pulled back into a bun, a tight, intricate braid that looped around half a dozen times, making her look exactly like the warrior queen she was.
