Ajax's Harpy Holiday: Dragofin Mated: Book 1 (A Dragon-Gyphon Shifter Curvy Paranormal-Fantasy-Scifi Romance Series) (Dragonfin Clan Mated)

by Mychal Daniels

  Boom, and there it was. The subject of Julia—his one misjudgment that wouldn’t die.

  “For the last time, she’s not. I’d know. Please, trust me on this. I know what I know. Luc, you’ve spent all this time raising me to know myself and my dragon. I know that she’s my destiny and future like I know my name and calling.”

  Both Greg and Lucien stared at him for a long time without talking. There was no outward evidence, but Ajax knew they were having a detailed discussion through their mental link. Figured. Having these two around felt more like having two fathers than older brothers. Even though Greg was a gryphon, he was as much his brother as any of the seven blood ones he had.

  Lucien spoke. “You need to thank Greg. He believes this may have something to do with the prophecy.” Lucien leaned in, capturing Ajax in a death stare. “I’m not so sure. But, on the off chance it is, we’re going to err on the side of faith in the Goddess and allow you to bring her here—if you run into her.”

  Greg took over. “If she’s your mate and the prophecy has been activated, nothing should keep you two from meeting again. A mating, coupled with the boost of the Dragofin Clan prophecy should produce a manifestation of your Hildy. It that’s what it is, the universe will conspire to bring it to past—fast.”

  Ajax hoped so. “So you think this is about the prophecy then?” Greg bringing up the prophecy meant it might have some credibility.

  Lucien wrinkled up his nose the way he did when he wasn’t quite sold on an idea. Greg, on the other hand, was quick to answer.

  “Yes, there’s a better than average chance this could be it. The increase in activity at the portal, our diminishing ability to retain Goddess-blessed strength after a ritual cleansing, your encounter with the young witch, Julia, and now this—you, able to touch your Hildy. All these things can’t be coincidences.”

  Ajax liked Greg identifying her as his Hildy. Now he had to find her.

  “I don’t know all the intricacies about the prophecy, but I’ll do what I need to, in order to learn and do my part.” Ajax had new purpose and direction.

  He was more than the youngest of the clan now. If everything went his way, he’d be the first to claim his mate. And if the prophecy were real, it would trigger events that would bring all the clan their mates as well.

  The two other men smiled at him.

  Lucien said, “Don’t worry about learning the details of the prophecy. Something tells me that if it is true and you’ve activated it, we’re all in for a ride. Now go. Like Greg said, we’re hungry.”

  “I’m out, but not going to be picking up any food until I make a loop around the city. Got to make an effort to see if I can find her. It’s Christmas. Wouldn’t it be cool if I did find her? Imagine it, being able to spend Christmas with her—and you guys—of course.”

  “ I feel so loved by your words of holiday warmth and cheer. Get on out of here. The longer you take, the higher the risk I won’t be able to protect you from the beat down your brothers will give you for making them wait to eat,” Lucien said.

  Ajax didn’t care. He had a new mission. One that finally directly benefitted him. He was going to find his Hildy.

  9

  The diner might as well have been a star in her best fantasy. The place had a healthy crowd. It had that smell, the one that let you know a lot of food was served. Even better, that it was good food. And that wasn’t the best part; not by a long shot. Hildy had to blink to make sure the vision was real. Lined up along the counter and in a rotating glass display were various kinds of cakes and yes—pies!

  It took everything in her not to kiss the ground when she got inside. It was warm with a cozy feel to it, but more importantly, it was her food fantasy manifested. She’d be on her best behavior as to be allowed to stay until they closed. This was going to be late lunch, snack and dinner today.

  “Merry Christmas. I’ll be right with you, hun. You want some coffee?” a waitress who looked like she could run the world asked.

  Coffee? She didn’t touch the stuff, but hot cocoa was a different matter. “No coffee, but do you have hot cocoa, made with milk?”

  “Sure do and there’s no other way to make it but with milk. You want marshmallows and cinnamon on top with that, sweetie?” the angel, masquerading as a waitress asked.

  Shocked and sure she’d fallen into a back doorway into Utopia, Hildy could only manage to get out, “Yes, that would be great. Thank you.”

  “It’s Christmas, hun, and I got the best cup of hot cocoa you’ve ever had coming right up. Find a seat and I’ll be over in a minute with it and to take your order. Today’s specials are up here on the board. And yes, we’re keeping normal hours. We’re going to be open until our usual eleven o’clock tonight. So, if you want to hang out that’s fine. Or you can take some dinner with you to go.”

  Was this woman a mind reader too?

  “That would also be great. Thanks again,” Hildy said, already thanking the heavens for getting her here.

  The waitress-angel winked at her and returned to taking an order from a group of older men who sat at the counter. Hildy did as she was directed, taking a seat as far away from the door as possible and with her back against the wall, of course. Looking at the menu made her eyes want to bug out. There were too many selections to choose from. The waitress had pointed to specials too. Hildy would stick with those to help keep her overwhelm down. She drowned out the sounds of the kitchen and chatter from the other patrons to focus on the board above the order window, behind the counter.

  She’d finally decided on getting the holiday meal, with turkey and dressing, when the waitress-angel came to take her order.

  “What’ll you have, hun?”

  Hildy liked the woman. She was strong and knew what was going on around her at all times. This woman might take food orders for a living, but she was a fighter—like Hildy.

  “Yes, ma’am, I’ll have the special.”

  “What are your three sides?” Hildy gave them as asked. “And your dessert? What you see up front in that case is what we got today.”

  Hildy had to know on the off chance that miracles did happen. “I didn’t get a chance to look too closely at them. Do you have sweet potato pie today by chance?”

  The waitress smiled with a knowing glint in her watery light green eyes. “You too, huh? It seems like everybody wants that pie. Well, had an order come in for the last full pies, but I can see if there’s a piece left from the holiday order pickups. You look like you could use some good warm sweet potato pie today.” Then the woman gave her the warmest smile. It made her insides giddy. People didn’t usually treat her this way—first the clerk at the supercenter and now this woman. What was up with this? Did Hildy have something more wrong with her than her normal secret?

  Regaining her sense of manners, she said, “Thank you so much. Yes, I would love to get a piece of that pie. You don’t know what I had to go through to get one.”

  “Will do, hun. Take a load off and enjoy the holiday music. I’ll be back with your order in a sec. Just got to check to see if we’re out of the sweet potato pies, okay?” The bell to the door jangled, snatching the waitress’ attention over to the newcomer. “Let me see after him and I’ll be right back with your food, okay, love?”

  Hildy nodded, following the woman with her eyes. She’d never be caught off guard if she could help it. The man coming through the door, wore a pea coat and skull cap. And he was huge. She watched as the waitress went over to him. The man bent down to give her a warm hug and the waitress gave him a motherly hug in return. Hildy’s entire body relaxed at that. Good, the man must be a regular.

  That huge menu was still on the table in front of her. Might as well continue to check it out, now that she might have found a new eating hangout. Hildy had flipped the page to find lunch specials when she heard the waitress-angel say, “Jax, did you want plates and utensils with this order?”

  That didn’t bother her, what did was the reply.

  “Yep
, we’re over there and don’t have the normal stuff. Would you also throw in another pie, whatever you can spare? Might have another one coming over,” he said. It was him. It was Ajax.

  That voice was imprinted on her memory like a haunting song. Ajax Drake was here. She looked up to lock her focus on his profile. The man was large and more gorgeous in daylight. With the advantage of a little distance and anonymity, Hildy took her time looking at him. She took in his dress—it was casual. She liked the way the muscles of his legs still teased through the just right fitting jeans he wore. Then she thought her heart would stop when she spotted the steel-toed black galoshes boots that poked out beneath the hem of his jeans.

  How in the hell did he manage to find steel-toed galoshes?

  Caught up in her perusal of Ajax, Hildy didn’t hear the older couple asking her a question.

  “Young lady? Young lady, are you here alone?” the older woman asked louder.

  “Huh—what?” It took Hildy a moment to come back to the present. Caught off guard and irritated at being bothered she said, “What do you want?” It was harsh and she knew it. The couple braced, confusion clouding their wizened features. “Oh, pardon me, sorry about that. You just startled me is all.”

  This time the man spoke up. “No worry, dear. We wanted to know if you’d like to join us over there. We noticed you were here alone and wanted to share a table with you for company if you were interested.”

  She wasn’t, but she also knew there was a way to say it politely. Now to find that way and not be her usually craggy self. Taking a moment to find the right words, she looked up to see Ajax getting boxes from the counter. He turned and left the diner. Hildy tracked him like she would prey, as he went to a waiting new model Range Rover. Nice car. Her heart sank as he put the boxes in the back and shut the hatch. He’d be gone, to wherever he lived, and she’d be stuck here in this diner—alone.

  A trembling hand landed on her shoulder. Too weak to be an enemy, but she had to disengage from the touch. She remained quiet as she tore her gaze away from him outside. Bringing her attention back to the table she noticed it was the older woman who had her hand on Hildy’s shoulder. The look in her eyes was that of concern, softness and dare she hope it, motherly curiosity.

  “Are you all right, dear? We just wanted to invite you to have a Christmas meal with us. You looked so… distracted, we wanted to share your company.”

  Tears hid behind Hildy’s eyes, knowing the drill. They weren’t welcome.

  What could she say to these people? They were so kind and yet the last thing she wanted to do was pretend she was a normal, polite person for however long it was they expected her to chat with them. The bell chimed again. This time she looked to see Ajax come back in. Yes! He was back and she wanted to continue watching him in peace.

  Getting her thoughts together as quickly as she could, Hildy said, “That’s so kind of you, but no, thank you. I just wanted to stop in for a quick bite before getting back home. Got a lot of eating to do for lunch and dinner. Don’t want to be out in the dark tonight.” There, hopefully that was a plausible explanation for them to go away.

  They both smiled. The lady of the pair said, “Fair enough. We just wanted to make sure you weren’t alone for the holiday. Have a happy holiday dear.” And they were off, going back to another part of the diner she hadn’t spied before.

  Wasting no time, Hildy turned her focus back to the counter where Ajax waited for what must be more food. It looked like he was indeed going to have a lot of family and friends to eat with. That tell-tale feeling blanketed her with self-pity. She wanted to have friends and family too. What could she do to become that wanted and lovable? Never mind, no one in their right mind would have her around with what she was. And, it took too much effort not to go off on people when they did or said stupid stuff, which was all the time. No, she’d continue to watch people from afar.

  “Here’s the other box. Just waiting on those sweet potato pies to cool down enough to box up and you’re ready to go,” the waitress-angel said to him.

  Wait, did she say sweet potato pies to him? Oh, hell no! There was no way Ajax would have pie if she couldn’t. Before she could stop the huge menu book from falling to the floor, Hildy was out of her booth and walking—no, almost running—back up to the counter.

  “No way. You mean to tell me he’s the one hogging all the sweet potato pie here? He’s the reason why I’m waiting to see if you can scrounge up one measly piece of that pie? I’m waiting for him to take all the pie? That’s grand. I see how it is.” Her anger was at that point where if she didn’t stop it, she’d do something she’d regret. Then it hit, “Forget it. Cancel my order. I’m out of here!”

  Hildy wasn’t a step away from the counter when a huge, solid grip encased her wrist. The voice she’d memorized followed as she tensed up.

  “You! … Of all the places. I been looking all over for—. No, stop it,” he said, holding up a hand in her face. He had some nerve. “Hildy, you’re being a little brat. There’s no need for you to be so mean. You’re not going anywhere until you apologize to Miss Connie here. There’s no reason for you to be spiteful and hateful on Christmas Day. Show some respect. You’re in her establishment, enjoying her good grace to be open. Now apologize,” he said, squeezing her wrist way harder than was necessary.

  Hildy winced at the force of his grip as pain and pleasure mixed to raise her heartbeat. This was sick. She got excited at his touch, although he clearly despised her. She knew he spoke true. There wasn’t any reason she should have spoken to the waitress-angel like that. The woman was an angel, for heaven’s sake. Plus, Hildy was beyond starving. Maybe it was due to low blood sugar that she was acting like this? Nah—she was just being her usual bitchy self.

  Taking a breath and then a huge swallow of pride, she yanked her wrist free, turned back around and said, “Miss Connie… I apologize for my outburst. It was uncalled for and I’m truly sorry. Please accept my apology. I’ll leave if you’d like me to.”

  “Oh, honey, no apology necessary,” Miss Connie said, looking between her and a visibly fuming Ajax. “If I know Jax here, he’s probably the one you need to get on. This one right here could make a Saint want to cut him. Now, both of you, go over there where she was sitting and make nice. Still got some time before the rest of that order is ready.” She looked over to Hildy and added, “I can have your order packed up to go if you still want to leave. I would much rather you stayed or better, made up with my handsome Jax here. I can tell you two have some unfinished business to get to.”

  Ajax grunted, while Hildy sought a way to hedge. When she took too long to respond, he caught her elbow and started pushing her back to her booth as he said to both of them, “Thanks Miss Connie, pack her stuff up. She’s coming with me. We’ll be over here waiting until everything is ready. And if you can spare it, pack her a sweet potato pie as well.”

  “Will do, handsome,” Miss Connie said, giving them a wide smile.

  Back at the booth, he shoved her into the seat, following to sit next to her.

  “Hey, sit over there!” The whine in her voice made her want to roll her eyes at her own lameness. This guy had some nerve, plus, they were too big to sit on this one little booth.

  “And run the risk of you taking off again? No, thank you.”

  “You can’t keep me here against my will.”

  “And I won’t have to. Once you taste Miss Connie’s food, you’ll be begging for more.”

  Hildy wasn’t sure if that last part was still about food, but she’d roll with it. “Okay, what gives? You want to tell me off or something? I told you the other night, I can’t tell you what went down. It’s classified.”

  “I’m over that. You helped the neighborhood out. For that I’m grateful. If you keep doing that, I don’t care how hateful you are, if it’s not toward the people who least deserve it,” he said, looking back over to Miss Connie as she took filled orders over to waiting customers. “You got me on that?”
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br />   “Yes, got it,” Hildy said, feeling like a jerk for her behavior.

  “Now that we have that understanding, I want to have you join me for Christmas.”

  The glint of correction that had darted about in his eyes shifted into warmth. It threw her off. What was up with him?

  “What, with your family and friends?” Hildy coughed at the unexpected request.

  “Yeah, we’re meeting up over there,” Ajax said, pointing to what looked like a patch of sparse trees. “I want you to be nice and allow me to invite you to spend Christmas with us.”

  “But I don’t know you. Plus, I need to get back home before it gets dark.”

  With the shorter days, the sun was hanging lower in the sky now and would be setting in a little over an hour. There was no way she’d chance finding another ride share after dark to get home. Nor did she want to have to fly back and run the risk of being seen by anyone. This was a hard request to handle. Having dinner with him would be awesome, until it wasn’t. No telling who would be there and it would be too hard for her to dodge all the questions about who she was and her relationship with him. She didn’t relish the notion of explaining that she was his holiday charity case, taking in the stray for dinner. Yes, she wanted to spend more time with him, but no, she didn’t want to endure a night of uncomfortable social interrogation with strangers.

  “I won’t take no for an answer. I can see those wheels of refusal churning in your head. Plus, I know what you are. You’re safe with my family and friends. No one is going to grill you on details. If I bring you in, that’s enough for them. Nothing to worry about, right?”

  “Hey, you two! Your orders are up!” Miss Connie called from the counter.

  “Good, wrap them up, she’s coming with me,” Ajax said, once again pulling Hildy by her wrist to get out of the booth.

  As they walked to the counter to get the remaining food, Ajax sent a text to someone. Not wanting to appear nosey, she turned in time to see the older couple from earlier smiling as if they knew something she didn’t.