Mate's Call

by Lola Gabriel

  The base of the mountain was heavily wooded with pine and cedar trees. The vegetation was littered with snow, and from the base of the mountain, she couldn’t see its peak.

  Well, I’ll take my car up as far as I can, she thought as she tried to come up with a solid plan of attack.

  Lilith applied chains to her already off-road tires and started up the mountain. The trees were far enough apart at the bottom that she could slip up through. Her car didn’t like it though. There was barely enough traction, but Lilith was going to avoid trekking up the mountain for as long as she could. It didn’t take long.

  The snow covered a small ravine, and without warning, the front of her car plummeted forward. Even though she had only dropped a few feet, there was no way her car could continue the journey. She opened her car door, stepped out, and kicked her door wildly in frustration.

  Hold it together, Lil, she thought, giving herself a mini pep talk.

  She attempted to cover her car with branches to hide her tracks, but her attempts were futile. She needed to move before Storm’s guards found her. Lilith reached inside her car and grabbed her gun.

  It was cold outside for a late afternoon in the middle of winter, but she felt almost comfortable in her suit and hood. The sun was out, and there was hardly any wind, which made it more tolerable.

  Soon, she was hundreds of meters from her car. The climb became more intense as she moved higher. She almost fell several times, which would’ve been disastrous. She’d smash into a tree if she was lucky. If she wasn’t, she’d fall down farther and hit one of the jutting boulders.

  Out of nowhere, she saw something move. It was Storm.

  Did he see me? Lilith thought. She realized he didn’t or she’d be dead.

  Storm wore a copper-colored coat with big boots and was simply walking and looking at the ground. He had a strange look on his face. Pensive, almost lonely.

  She followed him, trying to be quiet while waiting for the perfect moment to take out her target. He walked slowly through the snowy trees, and the Slayer could hardly believe her luck.

  Storm had unwittingly exposed himself. They were on the top of a snowy cliff that rose hundreds of feet into the air, about they were only seventy meters apart. She thought about pegging him from afar, which had been her plan all along. But, something intrigued her and she wanted to get up and close, to really see the fear in his eyes when she extinguished him.

  Raven would have liked that, and after all, part of the reason she wanted to kill Storm so badly was to avenge her friend. She crept closer and closer until she was fifteen feet behind him. He was so lost in thought that he couldn’t hear her moving over his own footsteps. She took out her rifle and prepared to call his name.

  He stopped before she spoke and held out a hand to something in the trees. She hesitated. Were there guards? She ducked back. She didn’t want to kill him without knowing if he was alone.

  A majestic, white elk with blue horns shouldered its way through the trees and looked down at the dragon shifter with expressive eyes. The elk nuzzled up against Storm’s shoulder before placing its soft muzzle against his fingers.

  “Hello, sweet beast,” Storm said.

  It was the first time that Lilith had heard him speak. His voice was soft and gentle, without a hint of malice. “I wish I had something for you.”

  Fuck.

  She wasn’t going to kill a man who was treating a beautiful animal with such love and kindness.

  You know what? No. It didn’t matter. He’d killed Raven. She raised her rifle to her shoulder, avoiding the scope. She didn’t need it at that close of a proximity. The elk saw her movement and dashed away.

  Storm turned to face her. His copper-colored eyes watched her.

  “Red Shadow,” he said. “You don’t give up easy.”

  “Nope.” She slid her finger over the trigger.

  She had him. He had no time to transform before she could shoot. Trees swayed in the distance as she inhaled deeply. She could do this. “Any last words?”

  He laughed. “You’ve got me, Slayer. Congratulations. I hope the money is worth it.”

  “It’s not only for the money,” she snapped. “You killed Raven in cold blood! He did nothing to you!”

  He scowled. “Raven tried to kill my brother. You expect me to let him go? That man was evil.”

  Did this dragon actually have feelings? He was ruthless and dangerous, yet he was so kind to the elk. And he seemed to truly care about his family.

  She faltered.

  He saw her hesitation. “Leave, Red Shadow. I will not send my men after you. Leave in peace. You and I have no quarrel.”

  She tried to pull the trigger.

  Do it! Lilith screamed in her mind.

  She could use her lifetime of training and walk away avenged with a healthy chunk of change.

  Lilith’s heart didn’t listen to her mind. Her finger wouldn’t pull the trigger. She tightened her entire forearm in a vain attempt to make her finger squeeze the steel trigger. She wouldn’t miss. She’d shoot him in the head with a bullet of that caliber, and he’d be down.

  But was she that kind of person? Her family thought so. The world thought so. She met his eyes, which was a bad decision. She could see that there was more to this dragon’s soul than she originally thought, a person with hopes, dreams, and passions.

  She tried once more the pull the trigger. She just wouldn’t do it, not with him sitting there, unarmed. It was dishonorable, especially since he had killed Raven to protect his family. She lowered her weapon.

  With the amount of time it took her to contemplate killing him, he could have killed her.

  He didn’t.

  But why?

  He walked forward, towards her. “Leave,” he ordered in a harsher tone. “I will only offer an easy escape for you once, Slayer. Your kind are nothing but a thorn in my family’s side. Next time, I will kill you.” He pushed his chest up against the end of her rifle. “Kill me or be gone,” he ordered, meeting her gaze firmly.

  The shifter wasn’t scared of her.

  “Son of a—” she started, taking one step back.

  After a lifetime of training, she failed. She wasn’t a ruthless killer, and apparently, neither was the Keeper of the Wind.

  The ground beneath her feet shifted. Her courage dropped through the floor as the earth started to shake and move. In a moment, she was slipping along with an avalanche of snow down the side of a mountain.

  She saw a shape transform and fly away.

  Well, he won’t kill me himself, but he sure as hell doesn’t care if the snow kills me, she thought while scrambling to grab hold of a tree or anything solid to stop her from falling to her imminent death.

  The snow washed her along the ground, stealing her rifle and dunking her under the snow. She couldn’t see, breathe, or move. All she could think about was the cliff that wasn’t too far off in the distance as the snow continued to carry her. She was completely helpless.

  The snow shifted, and she emerged from the wave of white and saw where the earth dropped off into open air. The Slayer snatched her whip from her hip and slashed at a nearby tree. The whip wrapped around the trunk and snapped tight, stopping her progress immediately just a few feet from the cliff edge. She managed to hold on, despite being so close to death.

  Snow continued to batter her, ripping her hood from her head, exposing her face to the elements. This gave her an excellent view of a boulder crashing down through the mountain towards her and her tree.

  “Uh-oh,” she said, panicking and grabbing hold of her whip as tightly as she could. The boulder bounced after hitting a ledge and came down straight near the base of her tree. “Fuck!”

  The boulder smashed into the roots of the tree before bouncing past Lilith and into open air. The roots shattered, and the trunk snapped almost in half, tossing her over the edge of the cliff. The tree was still holding on, but not for long. Snow still washed through, pushing the tree further out of the gr
ound and straining its integrity more and more.

  Lilith was dangling, both hands wrapped firmly around her whip. What could she do? She couldn’t pull herself up. The moment she did that, the snow would catch her in the face and push her off. She certainly couldn’t let go. The ground was dizzyingly far below.

  She spotted a truck-sized grey shape moving through the air. At first, she thought it was just more snow falling. Upon closer inspection, she realized it was a dragon.

  Storm.

  He was flying towards her, his scaled body getting closer and closer.

  The tree above her finally gave. The top half of the tree, with her whip still attached, zipped off the cliff and started to plummet with Lilith.

  The feeling of freefalling was exhilarating and terrifying. Would it be painful when she hit the ground or would the life leave he body without any pain? She would know the answer soon enough.

  Abruptly, Lilith was no longer falling. She was flying. Her body was in the claws of Storm in his dragon form. His talons were wrapped around her, one clawed foot around her chest and the other around her knees and lower thighs. She let out a stream of expletives, hugging onto his claws for dear life.

  Heights were bad. Heights paired with an avalanche was worse. Heights while in the hands of a dragon who could snap your spine without even trying while snow was still trying to drag you to your doom was about as bad as it got.

  Maybe another person would have enjoyed flying. It was certainly breathtaking, but the Slayer was painfully aware that any moment could be her last.

  They flew off away from the avalanche onto the top of another mountain peak where they could safely view the avalanche.

  “Let me go!” Lilith snapped once they were over solid ground again.

  She wriggled free of his claws and then dropped like a stone, falling flat in the snow. She rolled to her feet. Her whip was in her hand before she was back standing.

  Storm settled down a few feet away awkwardly. His massive wings brought up clouds of snow into the Slayer’s face. He was majestic and primal, yet oddly recognizable. He had the same copper eyes, despite being far larger and covered in slick grey scales. A wealth of spikes lined his neck like a frill. His paws alone were the size of her chest, and his talons were the size of steak knives.

  Lilith circled him. “Stay away from me!”

  That’s when she noticed Storm’s right wing. The bones were all intact, but there was a large gaping hole in his skin. Storm in dragon form stumbled, letting out a low moan of pain. He couldn’t fly in that condition. It looked like something, maybe a boulder or a tree, had smashed into his wing when he had swept under the avalanche to grab her. His form shifted like water into his human form.

  He started towards her.

  She stepped back with a scowl. “Stay back, beast. I will kill you!”

  4

  Storm stalked towards her with the slightest limp. “Put your whip down,” he ordered.

  Lilith watched him carefully. She couldn’t read his intentions.

  “Guess what, dragon boy? You saved my life, so I’m feeling merciful. Take another step, and I’ll cut you up like confetti.”

  He bared his fangs at her. “You’re awfully spunky. I saved your life. Put down your weapon.”

  “Don’t take another step!”

  He shifted his foot forward and kept walking towards her, slowly and surely. He met her eyes the entire time, almost as though he was daring her to attack him.

  “Stay back!” The Slayer tightened her grip on her whip.

  He took another step. He was close, entirely too close for her comfort. He was big, strong, and looked very, very dangerous. What were his intentions?

  She reared back the whip to strike him. He caught her hand and stopped her cold. Their faces were inches apart. She could feel the hotness of his breath on her cheek. His scent reminded her of a mix of sandalwood and pine, with a hint of a cold winter breeze.

  “I saved you. I could have let you die,” he said while narrowing his eyes. “Besides, do you really think your whip will do anything to me?”

  She looked at him intensely. He was stunning. Powerful.

  She pulled away from him. “Don’t touch me.”

  He released her and let her step away. He wasn’t going to try to stop her.

  Lilith let her whip down to her hip.

  Storm doubled over and spat on the snow. He was obviously in pain.

  “Are you okay?” she asked.

  “There’s a hole the size of a horse in my wing,” he replied, still bent over. “Not exactly the sort of thing you walk off. Why do you care?”

  “Just curious about the bounty, if nature will do my job for me.”

  “Somehow, I doubt that’s all you’re worried about. You’re a better person than that.”

  She cocked an eyebrow. “Oh? Am I? You don’t know me. I might be a despicable person.”

  He straightened and met her gaze firmly. “Sure.”

  “I don’t see the hole anymore now that you’re in your human form. Did it just go away?”

  “No. Now the injury is internal,” he said. After rolling his eyes, he continued, “Don’t get too excited. I’ll heal. It will just take some time.”

  Lilith didn’t respond. She didn’t know what to say.

  He started to walk off into the snow.

  “Hey!” Lilith protested. “You can’t just leave me here!”

  “I’m just a beast,” he snapped back. “Beasts do whatever they want, without thought or reason.”

  She groaned. “Okay, you’re not a beast.” She grabbed his shoulder and turned him around. “Thank you. Thank you for saving me. I owe you my life,” she said, and she meant it.

  He thought about it before slowly nodding his head. “You’re welcome.”

  The moment was oddly intimate.

  Without warning, Storm grabbed her into his arms and crushed his lips against hers.

  Immediately she pulled back, wriggling out of his grasp, and slapped him.

  “What do you think you’re doing?” Lilith barked.

  “Misread that one.” He flexed his jaw.

  Lilith bit down her lower lip that now tingled with the taste of Storm. She wanted more.

  Maybe it was the adrenaline pumping through her veins from her near-death experience, or maybe she really wanted him. She didn’t care. Lilith lunged forward and kissed him again.

  His hand wrapped around her back; his fingers dug into her hips and roughly pulled her towards him. Storm effortlessly lifted her from the ground as she wrapped her legs around his hips. The thin material of her green Slayer suit allowed her to feel his erection growing between her legs as she grinded up against him.

  He walked backwards, still holding her in his arms and lowered himself to the ground. Lilith pushed him backwards so he was lying on top of a fresh coat of snow as she straddled his massive body.

  With their lips still locked, Lilith rocked her hips back and forth over his large member. He let out a loud moan as he grabbed her hips, pushing her against him as they rocked together in unison.

  Lilith sat up and slid her tight, green suit down from her shoulders, exposing the black lace bra she wore beneath.

  A wicked smile crossed Storm’s lips as he sat up to unhook her bra, exposing her supple breasts to him and the cold wind.

  That’s when the ground caved in from under them.

  Both the Slayer and the dragon dropped like rocks through the earth. For one second, Lilith was in full free fall, then she slammed into an icy wall and slid down until she hit solid ground.

  Storm fell beside her.

  They came to a rest at the bottom of an expansive cave that stretched deep into the mountain. The hole in the earth was at least three stories high, with icy walls lining it. The landing had knocked every bit of air out of Lilith’s lungs. She hugged her stomach, coughing.

  Storm stumbled up, groaning. Lilith sat up on the icy rocks with her hands crisscrossed across her brea
sts, twisting to look around. They were in an enormous air pocket with no feasible exit. The only way out was up.

  They were trapped.

  Together.

  5

  Lilith stood up and pulled up her green body suit so her top half was once again covered. Sadly, she couldn’t find her bra. She felt cold air drift into her suit and penetrate her skin and found a whole along the seam on her right side.

  “Are you okay?” she asked Storm.

  Whether she liked him or not—and she still hadn’t decided—he was their only chance of escape. The walls were entirely too icy for her to climb up. She didn’t even want to embarrass herself trying.

  She might be able to make it five, maybe six feet up before she lost her grip and returned to the earth.

  Storm gritted his teeth together in pain. “I’m fine,” he muttered. “Fuck! We’re stuck!”

  “Just fly us out of here,” she suggested. “Easy.”

  “I can’t,” Storm replied, walking stiffly away from the opening and deeper into the cave. “Remember the hole in my wing?”

  “Wait,” she protested. “You’re supposed to heal quickly.”

  He whirled on her. “How about this, Slayer. I’ll cut a hole in your foot and then ask you to go for a run? Sure, your foot will heal in time, but you really can’t do much in the moment.”

  She scowled. “I didn’t know.”

  Actually, she was starting to learn that she didn’t know a lot about dragons. Storm was teaching her so much. It turned out that dragons had a conscience, and they could be really good kissers.

  That last thought made her chuckle.

  “What, you think this is funny?” he growled.

  “What? No! I was just thinking—” She didn’t want to tell him what she was thinking.

  He exhaled deeply. “Sorry,” he growled. “I need to sit down. Climb yourself out of here if you want to,” he scoffed.

  With that, he went about fifteen feet away and sat down on a ledge jutting out from the wall. Lilith couldn’t believe what she was seeing. They were stuck in an icy cave with no feasible way out. All she had was her whip. No food or warmth. She was already shivering. It had been plenty cold when it was just her walking around outside. Then, she’d gotten several tons of snow dumped on her, some of which had snuck into her clothes and soaked her to the skin. As if that wasn’t enough, she now had a hole in her suit that was totally exposing her to the cold.