The Rookie

by Abigail Owen

  She’d learned the hard way exactly how little it took to tumble into a deep well of pain and sadness. Nothing and no one could protect her.

  Not even Aidan.

  “Mom?” Blake called again from out in the hallway.

  Dang.

  “I’m up,” she croaked. “Let me get dressed.” Sera suited action to words and threw back her covers. Today was Friday, which meant crazy busy, especially in the evening. Maybe she wouldn’t have time to think. That would be nice.

  An hour later, dressed and fed, she gathered up her computer, intending to leave Blake in front of the TV while she headed across the lawn to her office in the tasting room building.

  Her home was situated on the property of Hestia Family Vineyards, her family’s—and now just her—winery located in the rolling foothills of the Sierra Nevada mountains in Northern California.

  She and Blake lived in the original stone farmhouse which her parents had refurbished after Sera’s husband died, converting it into two apartments, hers on the bottom and a now-empty living space on the top floor since Delaney had moved out. The house sat tucked into the hillside across from the tasting room, separated by a knoll covered in soft, green grass and dotted with picnic tables for patrons. A small stream gurgled around the side of the building and under a small bridge.

  “I’ll check on you in an hour,” she said, standing half in, half out of the door.

  No response. Blake was too involved in his show.

  Sera shrugged and left, closing the door behind her. Only she had to shut the thing six times, thanks to the latch not wanting to stay put.

  Item 151 on today’s glitch list.

  And one more thing to deal with on her own. A headache, always near the surface these days, took up residence behind her eyes. Her degree was in elementary education, not business or viniculture. Or carpentry for that matter. But soon these would be someone else’s problems.

  “Everything okay, Sera?”

  A yelp squawked from her and Sera spun in place, then focused on Titus who’d managed to sneak up on her without her even noticing he was around. “How do you do that?”

  Dark eyebrows scrunched over equally dark eyes. “What?”

  “Sneak up on me. I never hear you coming.”

  Titus gave his quiet smile. “It’s in the blood.”

  He meant that literally. The guy was a black dragon and stealthy by nature, yet another tidbit she’d managed to figure out.

  “Well…” She plunked her hand on her hip. “Make more noise around me.”

  “I’ll try,” he said doubtfully. Taking her seriously, like he always did.

  Sera chuckled, which drew another of those quiet smiles from him. “I don’t need anything. Thanks, Titus. Did you drop off Delaney?”

  She glanced toward the winery, but didn’t see her friend there, so shifted her gaze back to the man in front of her.

  Like all the shifters on his team, Titus fell in the category of stupid hot—tall and imposing with dark hair, black eyes, and surprisingly full lips. Not her type anymore, reminding her too much of her late husband, but that didn’t detract from him also being a nice guy, always willing to lend a helping hand.

  “Yeah. She’s here somewhere.”

  Sera gave him a sunny smile. “Great. I’ll go find her.”

  Before she could head off, he nodded to the house. “Is Blake in there?”

  “Yes.”

  Titus’s smile turned to almost childlike eagerness. “I’ll see if he wants to play Xbox.”

  Maybe I’m not completely alone. A year ago, she had no one to check on her child or help out around the place. The problem was, the source of help could also be a source of harm.

  Not that it mattered for much longer.

  “Have fun.”

  Just three more weeks. The sale of the winery would be finalized, and she could take Blake and move them both somewhere…normal.

  Something had to give, and Sera had realized about six months ago that something had to be her. She would take Blake, move far away, and live peacefully as a teacher and single mom. Protecting her son was the only thing she should be doing, not letting him near people who could possibly bring danger crashing down on his head. Not that Blake had any idea that he spent his days surrounded by dragon shifters. As far as he was concerned, their cover story was exactly what they were. Cool hotshot firefighters who lived in a kick-ass cave that was a secret. Plus, her kid adored Aidan and Titus—a minor form of hero worship developing over the course of the last months.

  That part would be hard. Separating him from the guys. Leaving Delaney, the only close friend she had, wouldn’t be easy, either.

  But this decision wasn’t one she’d made lightly. This was for the best.

  No more stress over the business, no more secrets, no more dragon shifters period. And, hopefully, those cloying, sinfully tempting dreams would stop once she moved away.

  Only three more weeks. What would Aidan say when he found out?

  Chapter Three

  Conflict nipped at Aidan’s heels as he made his way down to the war room. If anyone could help the kid in their cells, Aidan could. The team needed to debrief the mission and discuss how to handle the prisoner. Convincing Finn that execution—the usual punishment for a deliberately set fire and for attacking an enforcer—was not the right way to go would be a rough haul.

  Especially when he struggled to pull his mind out of the fantasy he’d just been plunged into. A realm where he’d breathed in Sera’s sweet scent, held her body against his, brought them both to screaming completion. A space he hadn’t wanted to leave.

  But he had a fucking job to do.

  Dragging ass, he continued down one of the tunnels. This one led to a level that included most of their tech. In particular, the war room, which was where Finn waited for them now. He entered a room with screens plastered over one entire wall. Some they used for teleconferences. Mostly with other enforcer teams, particularly the Alaz team headquartered in Colorado, who patrolled the central region of North America. They also conferenced with the Alliance who governed the North American colony. More rarely, they talked to their individual clan leaders, though rarely their kings. The six kings who led each clan preferred to govern the colonies through the Alliance.

  A soft, constant beeping accompanied the screens showing radar over the western third of the North American continent. Most of the screens were dedicated to the software which monitored their region for fires, allowing them to determine by the heat signature if it might be dragon caused, requiring their intervention and investigation. For now, the beeps remained soft, background noise he hardly noticed.

  However, one monitor Aidan used as his own personal gaming system. Unfortunately, he’d forgotten to turn it off earlier. He’d been on duty in here when the heat signature for the last fire had popped up. Old school Super Mario music twanged above the bleeps of the monitors while the paused gaming screen remained glowingly bright, casting the room in a bluish light.

  Finn aimed a stern glare his way. “I catch you gaming on duty again, and I’ll melt your system myself.”

  Before Aidan could get a “yes, sir” out, Rivin and Keighan jumped in. “Don’t do that, boss,” Rivin pleaded.

  “We use it, too—”

  “I know what you use it for,” Finn cut them off with a snarl. If anything, the stern line of his lips flattened even more.

  He did? How were they still standing, then? Because Aidan knew, too. The image was practically burned on his retinas.

  He’d caught the two hornballs in here using his private gaming system to do a little videoconference cybersex thing with their latest shared conquest just last week. She’d been on the other end, naked, moaning…and gazing at Rivin and Keighan with lust-glazed eyes.

  She didn’t even pause when Aidan had walked in. Rivin had just grinned, unabashed. “She likes it when we watch.”

  If the moans coming over the video were anything to go by, she definitely
liked it.

  “Want to join?” Rivin asked.

  Aidan had backed out of the room with a “no thanks,” but damned if he hadn’t also had to hurry back to his room and tug one out. A detailed image of Sera—that honeyed skin, those pert breasts, that Marilyn Monroe mole to the right of her pink lips—had been what he pictured, hating himself even as he imagined her, breaking his own rule to contain his fantasies to dreams only.

  His head understood off-limits. His body…hell.

  Not that he’d ever let himself take it further with her. He’d come too far and worked too fucking hard to get onto this team to do anything to sabotage his position.

  That didn’t mean he didn’t fantasize, though. The image of what he’d done to dream Sera this morning—feeding his cock to her pretty mouth as she moaned around him, driving him to a hard and fast climax—slammed through his mind like a wrecking ball.

  All because of the two hotshots in front of him now.

  He hadn’t told the boss, but given Finn’s glare, he’d found out somehow. Aidan was shocked their leader hadn’t ripped the two white dragons new assholes for that stunt.

  “Don’t do it again, right, boss?” Keighan asked, his grin cocky.

  Neither shifter looked remotely sorry.

  “Don’t do it when you’re on duty,” Finn corrected.

  That earned him twin grins of devilry.

  “You got it, boss.” Rivin pretended to pull out his phone and dial. “Shelly? We have a whole room of guys who want to watch this time. You interested?”

  “I know I am.” Keighan started unbuttoning his pants before they both paused, then burst out laughing as Rivin tucked his phone back in a pocket and Keighan tucked his dick back in his pants.

  Finn just shook his head. “And don’t let Delaney find out.”

  “Why?” Rivin grinned. “Afraid she’ll want to join us?”

  Levi smacked him in the back of the head. “You two are going to get in serious trouble one of these days,” Levi said, though he couldn’t hide his own grin, his golden eyes alight with amusement. “And I hope I’m around to see it.”

  “You just like to watch,” Rivin shot back, rubbing the back of his head.

  “Perv.” Keighan shook his head.

  Levi rolled his eyes and plopped down in one of the desk chairs, the thing creaking under his size. Aidan took the seat beside him.

  Finn ignored their antics and switched off Aidan’s game. “Let’s get down to it. First of all, Aidan, good job. I’d say you’ve proved yourself.”

  High praise coming from the boss.

  Levi clapped a hand on his shoulder a little too hard. “Officially, welcome to the team. You’re off probationary status, brother.”

  A rush of pure excitement smashed through Aidan’s usual reserve, overriding his caution.

  Fuck, yeah. About damn time. He barely held back from pumping a fist. All that hard work had paid off. His entire life he’d been told he’d never make it on the team. Only the best warriors, hand selected by their kings for the honor, became enforcers. Not colony-born, orphaned dragons without a hope of a future. But he’d proved them all wrong.

  Vindication felt…righteous.

  One small step, and all that shit.

  He wanted to call Lyndi, his main supporter other than Finn, and share the news with some of the guys at her home. He refused to acknowledge the even stronger urge to tell Sera, see her happy sparkle, maybe a bit of pride, in those turquoise eyes. Those conversations didn’t happen in real life.

  A glance around showed grins on several of his teammates’ faces. His new family. Except Kanta, who merely nodded. Did the dark green shifter not agree? Drake never smiled, so that was nothing new. But Titus, too, remained stoic. Why? Aidan had thought the black dragon supported him.

  Don’t let the doubt win. A mantra since the moment his parents died shored him back up. If any of these men had doubts, he’d just continue to prove himself, work twice as hard, and show them what he could do.

  Aidan shook off the moment and managed to keep his reaction buttoned up. “Does that mean you guys will stop calling me rookie?”

  “Hell, no.” Levi snorted.

  “What makes you think that?” Finn asked, eyebrows raised.

  “Course not,” Rivin and Keighan said in stereo.

  Aidan laughed. “Right. Dumb question.”

  “Let’s talk about the perpetrator.”

  Finn’s comment silenced the room.

  Aidan got to his feet, shoulders drawn back, and looked his Alpha dead in the eyes. “I don’t think you should kill him.”

  At Finn’s frown, Aidan pressed harder. “Hear me out, boss.”

  “That’s not necessary.” Finn turned away to the monitor, which could only mean one thing. He was calling the Alliance to report.

  Shit. There goes that position I just earned. Because no way was he letting this happen. “Sir—”

  Finn glanced over his shoulder, eyebrows raised. “I agree with you, rookie.”

  Aidan snapped his mouth shut with a clack of teeth. “You do?”

  “Yeah.” Finn punched a key combo and brought up the cameras in the cells.

  The white dragon shifter lay on a cot, eyes glinting in the camera feed, so awake, but otherwise passive.

  “We’ll give the kid time to cool his heels, then talk to him tomorrow. In the meantime, let’s get Lyndi on board. He’ll need a place to stay.” Finn looked to Drake, who nodded. “Any objections?” he asked the rest of the group. He must’ve liked what he saw on their faces, because he gave a sharp nod. “Right. Let’s report to the Alliance. No mentions of the kid. We’ll just say we took care of the perpetrator.”

  Finn was going to lie?

  “For now,” the boss tacked on.

  Damn.

  Finn punched a series of buttons. Two screens showed two separate locations coming into the conference call with them. First to show up was Deep, his familiar grin lighting the deeply taupe skin of his face.

  “I hear we have a new official member of the team,” he said with a heavily Indian accent, something he hadn’t lost in the decades living in the Americas, unlike many of Aidan’s team members.

  The original leader of the Huracáns, Deep and his mate, Calla, had come over from Europe and Asia with Finn, Levi, Rune, and Titus. The red dragon shifter “retired” from the team about fifty years prior, taking on the role of fire marshal in the state of California, allowing him to help cover their tracks from inside the human system.

  Aidan nodded an acknowledgment even as Levi clapped a hand on his shoulder.

  Deep chuckled. “We just couldn’t get rid of you, I guess.”

  “He’s like an STD that way,” Hall drawled in that sarcastic way of his.

  Drake rumbled an annoyed growl, like he always did when Hall tossed out one of his jibes.

  Deep just snorted.

  The other screen came online with six men peering at the screen from a room in the Alliance stronghold in the Rocky Mountains.

  “You made him official?” Mathai, another red dragon and the leader of the Council, didn’t hold back a sneer. They must’ve heard part of the conversation.

  Aidan stiffened at the obvious disdain in the man’s voice and manner. The asshole couldn’t even acknowledge Aidan by name. Behind Mathai, all the other Alliance members’ faces reflected a similar contempt.

  “I thought he was temporary until Fallon returned with his mate,” Mathai said, his gaze narrowing on Finn.

  Like I’m some fucking temp and not part of the team? Aidan had to clear his throat to hide the start of a growl.

  “Easy,” Levi murmured. “It wasn’t like that.”

  No? How was it then? But he couldn’t voice his doubts in front of the Alliance members. They didn’t need any reason to override Finn’s decision. That was for damn sure.

  “King Ladon has requested Fallon remain with the clan as their healer,” Finn explained.

  “How’d the fire go?”
Deep asked.

  An obvious distraction, one Aidan was grateful for, as it worked.

  Finn did a quick rundown, sticking to his earlier edict of not mentioning the kid in their dungeons. While Finn answered to these men, and mostly respected them, Aidan had noticed the Alpha chose when to reveal things. He’d asked about it once, and Finn had said the Alliance members were politicians, not warriors, and tended to get their panties in a wad easily. So he informed them when necessary, and often not until he’d already solved the problem.

  The Alliance appeared satisfied, and they ended the call.

  Finn immediately faced him. “Your place on this team has nothing to do with Fallon’s absence.”

  Aidan nodded and kept his thoughts to himself. Of course his place was influenced by Fallon’s absence. Ideally the team would have two dragons from each of the clans. An enforcer team should have twelve, though the red, black, and gold teams still needed to send replacements. With Fallon here, they would already have two blue dragons, leaving Aidan up shit creek.

  But doubt and situation only served to harden his resolve. He would damn well prove himself worthy.

  “Mind if I call Lyndi about the kid?” Aidan asked, needing the change in topic.

  Drake might be Lyndi’s brother, but this was personal. This was about paying forward what she’d done for him, taking him in when no one else would, giving him at least some legitimacy in the clans’ eyes.

  “She’ll be at the winery tonight,” Finn said. “You can tell her then.”

  The winery. Right. Friday nights during the summer, Sera brought in a live band and food trucks. She and Delaney both worked all night serving guests, so the team had started making it a tradition to go.

  Only this time, ignoring Sera was going to be a damn sight harder. This time, he wanted dream Sera to be real, so he could talk to her. Tell her about making the team. Tell her about saving the kid in their dungeon.