I brush off my jeans, which are wet from the grass and stained by dirt, and start walking down the road, stopping only when I hear the sound of something moving up ahead.
It sounds like wheels, and I break into a jog on my sore legs, trying to catch up.
“Hello?” I call out, surprised when there is no echo. It’s so empty here I almost expected one. “Is anyone out there?”
The rolling sound stops. Did I scare them?
My heart pounds as I stare into the fog, wondering if they are considering leaving me, but then the rolling starts again, crunching over the gravel as they come toward me.
Yes.
“I’m over here!” I shout, waving my arms. “If you could give me some directions or a ride, I’d be very grateful.”
I don’t care who it is. I just don’t want to be stranded and alone in this gray place anymore.
But as the cart appears out of the fog, my heart drops and I wonder if I should have been more judicious.
It’s huge and covered in cages.
Cages that aren’t for holding chickens.
Old, rickety cages with ominous-looking locks. It’s the height of a semitruck but just a simple wooden cart at the base, with the cages making up most of the height.
There are at least a dozen of them, and all are empty.
The cart almost seems to be driving itself until I see a man walking beside it, holding lightly onto a rope attached to the front.
How it’s moving, I don’t know.
The man stops, staring at me, and the cart pulls to a halt.
He’s pale like I am, but his hair is pitch black and overly long. He’s stocky, and his beard obscures most of his face.
His eyes widen, bloodshot and wild, and his whole bearing betrays his shock as he drops the rope in his hand. “A human.”
I smile at him and give a shy wave, wondering why I don’t run away screaming. Perhaps because I have nowhere to run to. My only hope is to move forward. To find Griffin.
“What are you doing here?” He steps forward, making a gesture to the cart as he walks past it. He’s wearing an old, knee-length wool coat over old-fashioned trousers and boots that have seen better days. “How could you possibly be sent here?”
I stare at him blankly. “Um… I just was?”
“You shouldn’t be here.” His eyes narrow as he continues to walk over to me. I take a few steps back, almost stumbling, but he reaches out and grabs me by the shoulder of my hoodie, yanking me forward.
His eyes glare into mine, and his breath is rank. “You aren’t a murderer. You aren’t a rapist. You aren’t…” He takes a deep breath. “You aren’t even a shifter.”
“What’s a shifter?” I ask quickly.
He cocks his head. “Do you even know anything?”
I shake my head. “Not about this place.”
He releases me and scoffs, walking around me in a slow circle. “Well, if you’re here, then you belong here, so I suppose you deserve anything I’m going to do to you.”
My eyes flick to the cages, and my stomach drops like an amusement park ride. “Do to me?”
His hand slides to my waist, and he grins as he pulls me in closer. “It’s not often we have a female, let alone a human.”
My eyes narrow as I realize what he’s doing, and I push at his chest, struggling. “Stop it.”
“No,” he says, pulling me closer, nuzzling his gross beard into my neck.
“I’m telling you,” I say, trying to pull away from his fetid breath. “You need to stop this right now.”
“No,” he says, hand moving up my waist, aimed threateningly higher.
I let out a sigh of pure exasperation. “I tried to warn you.” Then I raise my hand sharply and make a firm open palm, which I chop as hard and fast as I can into the side of his throat.
He makes a gurgling noise and pulls back, holding his neck and gasping.
As he doubles up to protect himself, I bring my foot up in a vicious snap kick aimed at his groin.
It sinks in with a satisfying howl from my attacker as he slowly slides down to the floor, moaning in agony and holding his jewels.
I brush my hands off, taking a few steps back. “That’ll teach you.”
A clap rings out, cutting through the gasps of my attacker.
A much taller man emerges from behind the cart, and I wonder why I didn’t see him.
He’s stocky like his friend but much broader and bigger overall. He’s wearing a similar coat, but it has little bits of metal pinned on it.
And there are men appearing behind him, with other carts that are coming out of the fog.
The one at the front, the big one, is still slowly clapping.
“I didn’t see that coming, little one,” he says darkly, a smile on his bearded face.
“Where am I?” I ask. “How do I find Griffin?”
“Griffin?” The man scratches his beard grossly. “I’m afraid I don’t know him.” He turns to the men around him, who are walking forward with intense interest that makes me uneasy.
“Well, sorry to waste your time,” I say, taking a step back, hoping I can make a quick enough escape around the hill. “I’ll just be going, then.”
“You’re a fighter,” the man says. “You’re amazing.”
“Nah,” I say. I just did a lot of martial arts and was pretty good at it. But then the accident happened and there wasn’t time or money for things like that.
Now I’m just a girl who does whatever it takes to survive, and right now that means finding Griffin and any other friends of Lee’s so I can get back to my sister and my brand-new life.
“Now that you mention it, I think I do know this Griffin character,” the man says, tapping his chin. “If you come with us, I can take you to him.”
That was a quick turnaround. But I don’t trust anyone who is friends with a rapist.
“Thanks, but I think I’m just gonna go.”
But before I can turn and run, something is thrown in front of me and it flashes, blinding me and creating smoke.
I hear shouting and flail as arms close around me. I’m punching, kicking, trying to get all of them off me, when I feel something come down hard on my head, and everything goes totally black.
Chapter 5
It’s night when I wake up, and the musky smell of men mixed with the smoky scent of campfire wafts around me as I struggle to get my bearings.
It doesn’t look too different from any other camp in the mountains, except the tents are crudely fashioned from leather, hung on carved wooden poles.
I’m fine, I think. My arms are tied behind my back, but I can’t feel any bruises or injuries.
My head is aching from where they hit me, but it doesn’t feel serious.
I push myself up onto my knees and look around, peering through the opening of the tent. Torches every few yards light up the clearing, showing other tents and campfires nearby. There’s a tall, looming shape in the darkness that must be the cart with the cages.
It gives me a shudder just looking at it.
Someone crouching around the campfire in ragged robes looks over at me, the light catching in their eyes making them look almost feral, and I fall back into the tent, scrambling backward.
Footsteps pound toward me, and firelight streams in as the tent opening is pushed out of the way.
The figure crouches in front of me, ignoring my whimper as I move back. The ragged, simply stitched clothing is trimmed in fur. My nose wrinkles at the scent of it.
The person reaches out to touch my face, and I let out a hiss of displeasure as they greasily move along my skin.
“Stop that,” I say quickly. “What are you doing?”
The face slowly rises, and between thick, matted bangs, I can make out the face of a woman.
She lifts a finger to her lips and motions for me to shush, looking around her. “There isn’t time.”
She moves around me and begins to loosen the knots keeping my hands tied.
&n
bsp; “Why are you helping me?”
“I want you to go,” she says when my bonds fall away. Her expression is hard as she takes a few scuttling, crouched steps back. “You are a fighter and a human female, and you have caught Roan’s notice. He is mine.”
“Yup, all yours.” I agree emphatically, trying to keep my voice down. “Just point me in the direction of Griffin, and I’ll be out of your hair.”
Her eyebrows draw down. “What could you want with that… that monster?”
My stomach tightens. “Uh… Some friends of his are looking for him. Why, is he hard to find?”
She shakes her head ominously. “No, he is easy to find. He is hard to escape.” She peeks out of the tent. “You must give up on your purpose. If you don’t, you will regret it.”
“What’s going on in here?” A loud, masculine voice booming into the tent makes us both jump back.
The taller man from before, the one who must have kidnapped me, is grabbing the woman by the arm and jerking her out of the tent.
He drags her out into the clearing and then continues to yell at her.
I hate it.
It makes me think of so many arguments at home. About who would take care of Gayle. About why this had to happen.
Regardless, I just hate fights.
“Stop it!” I push my way out of the tent, ignoring the slight shakiness in my legs, the weakness I feel from lack of food. “She didn’t do anything wrong. I made her do it.”
“Do what?” The man glares at me.
I look down at my hands, guiltily realizing he didn’t even know about that part.
He drops the woman’s arm, cursing, and strides over to me. When he goes to grab both of my hands, I step back, arms in a fighting position.
“Ah yes, the little fighter,” he says. “One of my most interesting finds in a long time. I will make good money on you.”
The woman with him looks intrigued by that and comes over, gluing herself to his side. “You do not mean to keep her?”
“I haven’t decided,” he says. “But do not fret, little one, you are my beta.”
She smiles up at him, right until he raises a club above her head and slams it down over her, knocking her out.
I scream as I drop to a knee, ready to help her, but he steps between us.
“She is wolf. She will heal. She must learn that I cannot be betrayed as her alpha.”
My eyes slowly rise to meet his. Behind him, a full moon is shining, but it’s the color of wine, unlike anything I’ve seen on Earth.
What does he mean, her alpha? Why did he call her a wolf?
Behind him, other men are rising to come over and check on the commotion, and the clearing is getting lighter as those carrying torches come close.
I can feel the warmth of their fires on my face as they clumsily push closer to their leader, grunting and sniffing as they inspect me.
“This is the human?” one asks.
“Yes,” the leader responds. “With this, we will have plenty to pay the dragon.”
“Dragon?” I ask excitedly, hoping this whole nightmare can just end as soon as I find Griffin. “That’s exactly what I’m here for.”
They turn to me, glaring. But before anyone can answer me, a loud screech sounds overhead. It is both low-pitched and terrifying and seems to vibrate my ears unlike anything I’ve heard.
It feels like wind is picking up, and as a shadow blocks the moon for a moment, it gets darker in the clearing.
Then the torches go out as a huge gust of wind hits us, followed by another.
Then everyone is running, kicking up dust as they scatter toward their tents, which are even dingier-looking in the dark.
A few tents away, I can even hear what sounds like whimpers from young kids.
I put up a hand and look up in the direction the wind is coming from but see nothing. Just movement in the air like it’s vibrating quickly.
Then something lands just outside the campground with a thud that shakes the whole ground.
“The dragon!” A scream breaks out, then another, and several of the men bend forward, holding their heads like they are in pain.
I stare at them, concerned, until I see the leader running over to them, saying something that sounds like it’s supposed to be encouraging.
Then he looks at the moon, stretches his massive shoulders, and… lets out a howl?
It’s so unearthly as I watch him slowly transform in front of me. He’s growing rough, silver fur, nails extending, legs changing shape with horrible popping noises.
I gasp, and he glares at me, his eyes gleaming yellow in the light.
Oh my God, he’s a werewolf. I was only warned about dragons.
I jump when the woman at my feet regains consciousness and begins screaming, slowly starting a transformation as well.
When it’s over, she pushes herself up onto four legs, and I realize she’s huge. All of them are bigger than any wolf should ever be.
She’s a brown wolf, and she snarls at me until her leader walks over, the biggest wolf of all and most visible with his silver fur.
His lip curls as he calls to the men transforming and falling in line behind him. “Get ready to face the dragon! Tonight, we stand and fight!”
* * *
Griffin
“Shit, full moon,” Griffin muttered as he landed and shifted back into human form, waiting for his bears to catch up. “They’re going to be stupid and fight, aren’t they?”
“Yes,” Bray, his second-in-command, answered in a low growl as he lumbered into the clearing. “It’s already mass hysteria.”
Griffin cracked his knuckles, readying himself for a fight. Honestly, at this point, he was a bit tired of fighting, though it was necessary to maintain control.
To keep hold of something in this world he’d been thrust into.
And perhaps to convince himself that while he was definitely bad, there were worse beings out there than him and his bears.
Griffin stomped into the clearing, making his way past the first row of tents. Even compared to other wolves, these ones were poor and barbaric and slovenly.
Easy to take advantage of and easy to hunt.
“You’re late!” Griffin yelled tersely, hoping to draw the leader to him fast. “If you fail to pay my fee, I’m not sure how I can protect you if…”
He trailed off as his eyes wandered over the clearing, past the wolves who were getting ready to fight him, to something he’d never expected to see in this world.
A woman. A human woman.
Her long hair hung in a ponytail, and her face was white with fear. Her small form was wrapped in human clothing, a gray hooded sweatshirt and jeans that hugged tight to her curves, marking her unmistakably a woman.
Fuck, was there a worse thing to be in this world?
The dragon inside him roared to life, angry at being suppressed and hungry for a mate, and Griffin felt his yearning for her like an addict dying for a fix.
But he had other things to deal with currently.
He stormed over to Roan, the alpha, and simply folded his arms when the huge wolf snarled at him, hackles up.
“You can’t be serious,” Griffin said, shaking his head. “You can’t be fucking serious about fighting me right now.” He gestured to the tents. “You want me to hurt your females? Your young?” He glanced at the sky. “I know it’s a full moon, but there has to be a limit to your stupidity, Roan.”
The wolf merely snarled, taking another step forward as he bared his teeth. Griffin could make out another dozen behind him.
Shit.
“Who’s the human?” Griffin asked, sparing a quick glance at her.
Her eyes were wide, glossy, a color he couldn’t make out in the low light of the camp. His wings must have put out the torches, which he regretted now that he couldn’t see her face clearly.
One wolf’s snarl became a growl as he lunged into the air, attacking Griffin, but he simply punched him in the head, knocking him out
of the air and sending him rolling across the ground.
The rest of the wolves stepped back a bit.
“That’s right,” Griffin said, folding his arms. “Now I suggest you all shift back and come up with your payment.” He crouched, facing the alpha at eye level, and scowled into yellow, wolfish eyes. “You’ve already pissed me off once tonight.”
Then Griffin drew a fist back and slammed it into the wolf’s head, sending him flying into the pile of ashes where the fire had been.
The wolf let out a howl and rolled itself off the pile, sizzling.
“Stop it! What are you doing?” an unfamiliar voice called out angrily.
A feminine voice.
A smile curved Griff’s lips as he turned around slowly to face the angry human who was standing there with her hands clenched into fists.
“They’re wolves. I have to teach them—”
“Is that what you’re doing? It looks like you’re being a bully,” she said, fairly brave for someone whose hands were shaking.
He gestured to the wolves behind him. “You think they transformed because they want to talk?”
“That one hadn’t attacked you yet,” she retorted. “You sucker punched him.”
Griffin scowled. “What do you know about fighting?”
She folded her tiny arms, looking awkward. God, the thought of her fighting was almost humorous. “Enough to know when someone is being cheap.”
“Listen, sweetheart,” Griff said, taking a step toward her while keeping one hand up in warning to the wolves behind him. “It would be cheap no matter how I fought them. I’m just stronger than them, and that’s how it goes. They pay me, and I keep the worse things away from them.”
“What’s worse than you?” She frowned. “What do you protect them from?”
His lips cracked and then broke into a full smile. “All right, you got me. Maybe I’m just protecting them from me. Either way, we all benefit, right?”
If possible, her scowl got even deeper. “You’re not a good person.”
“And you’re not a smart person,” he said tersely. “Because you got yourself caught by a wolf caravan, and you’re probably going to get sold and raped. So good luck with that.” He turned back to the wolves, rolling up his sleeves, ignoring her offended gasp.
Kiss of the Dragons (Bad Dragons Reverse Harem Book 1) Page 4
