The Dragon's Secret Baby

by Jasmine Wylder

  A second later, Samuel struck Lady Dauphine over the back of the head with the butt of his pistol, dropping her with one blow.

  Somewhere in the distance, Savannah heard the alarm on her phone begin to chime. But she couldn’t leave and return to her body. The only person who could release her now lay on the floor, out cold.

  Chapter Fifteen

  The timer went off. Reaching out, Justin picked up Savannah’s phone and silenced the alarm. “So, are we good to go?” he asked.

  Savannah didn’t reply. She didn’t even stir. Justin frowned. He lifted their joined hands. Her arm felt limp and heavy. His concern mounted. “Savannah?” he called to her, a little louder and sharper. He twisted in the driver’s seat and placed his free hand on her shoulder, giving her a light shake. Her head rolled to one side and stayed there, her hair hanging across her closed eyes.

  “Oh, god,” Justin said. He released her hand and cupped her face in both hands. “Savannah. Come on, baby, you’re scaring me. Wake up.” He waited but she continued to remain still and silent. “Savannah!” he shouted at her. He began to feel a crawling sensation at the back of his neck. Something’s not right, he thought. Something’s keeping her from coming back. His heart began to beat faster. He looked out the window at the ivy-covered brick wall surrounding the compound. Without Savannah to tell him what awaited him on the other side of that fence, he knew he could be walking to his death.

  He closed his eyes and tried to focus on that sensation inside him, the one that felt like a tether, something he never felt before he met Savannah. It was the Familiar Bond, as she had called it, and while he still didn’t really understand how it worked, he could feel it…and through it, he could feel her. Savannah was alive, but she was in trouble. She needed his help.

  “Fuck this,” Justin muttered. He stripped off his jacket and covered Savannah to give her extra warmth. He hated having to leave her physical body out here like this, alone and vulnerable in the woods, but he had no choice. I have to go in. Leaning over, he kissed Savannah’s cheek. “Hang on, baby,” he told her softly but with determination. “I’m coming.”

  He managed to get to the main house without incident. At this hour, Clan members would be in their houses, finishing up their evening meals, watching television, and preparing for bed. He knew the location of every security camera and alarm which made it easy to dodge them. Another reason I know I didn’t kill Dad, he thought with a snort. There’s no way I’d just waltz in past the full view of the cameras. I’ve been sneaking in and out of this place for years without ever getting caught – even drunk.

  He knew the chinks in every brick, the position of every drainpipe. Using them now, Justin climbed up to one of the gables and slipped in through a window to the attic. Quietly, he made his way down the stairs to the main floor. He could hear voices coming from the study, identifying them as his cousin Warren and one of the Betas, Samuel. His nose picked up their scents, and a third – the soft, sweet aroma of Scottish bluebells. Lady Dauphine? He frowned. What’s she doing, here?

  “She knows,” he heard Samuel say. “Just give the word. I can kill her right now.”

  “There’s been enough bloodshed within our gates,” Warren said. For the first time in Justin’s memory, he didn’t sound meek – he sounded cold-blooded. “As much as I’d love our first broadcast to the Humans to include an execution of one of their own as a show of Werewolf power and dominance as a species, it should be someone a little more important, like a public official. Not some old witch.”

  “What about the Council?” Samuel asked.

  “You don’t worry about the Council. That bloated old hound Thompson thinks he can use me as his poster boy for preserving the race… I’m looking forward to seeing his face when I announce the complete reformation of the Council at the end of this week, replacing him and all his cronies with a new breed of Werewolf – one meant to rule.” He sighed. “You know what? I think I’ll just kill the hag, myself. Years of watching my uncle hang on her every pseudo-mystic word…you have no idea how many times I wanted to just crush her skull with my bare hands. But not here. Go bring the car around. I don’t want her stinking up my home any longer than necessary.”

  Justin ducked back as Samuel emerged from the study and headed off in the other direction. Justin set his jaw and moved in. He stalked into the room and saw Lady Dauphine lying on the floor, unconscious, with his cousin standing over her. “I always knew you were a rotten piece of shit,” Justin muttered.

  Warren looked up, startled at first, but then a cold smile stretched his mouth into a thin line. “Well, well,” he said. “I guess it’s true what they say about Prodigal Sons. You know, when they told me you managed to elude them, we figured you were well on your way out of Chicago.” Warren looked Justin up and down. “But here you are. So, where have you been hiding yourself? How did you manage to throw the best trackers in the Clan off your scent? And how did you ever get back in here without anyone knowing?” He shook his head and chuckled. “Such amazing stealth and cunning…you would have made a great Alpha.”

  “Cut the shit,” Justin snapped. He could feel Savannah nearby, her energy so strong in this room. Where are you, baby? “I knew I was set up. I just never thought you would be the one to do it. Now you’re making plans to, what? Take over the world? I guess you had everyone fooled.”

  “Oh, not everyone,” Warren said, stepping away from Lady Dauphine. He strolled over to the desk, running his fingertips along the edge. “When your father told me he was demoting you to Omega, I thought he was going to name me Alpha Successor – but then he said he was just going to test your humility before handing over the title…to you. He went on to explain how he was going to move forward with your plan to integrate with Human society, breaking with our long-held traditions. Because of you.” Warren smiled. “You poisoned his mind. So I did what I had to do, for the good of the Clan, for the Pack.”

  “Jesus,” Justin breathed, numb with shock as he listened to his cousin’s confession. “You murdered him. It was you on the cameras, wearing my clothes.”

  “You made it easy,” Warren admitted with a grin. “Funny how two people can be the same size, but if one has a weaker personality everyone automatically sees him as smaller. All I had to do was make sure to get plenty of blood on your hands to go with the blood on your clothes.” He spread his arms outward. “Instant suspect.”

  Grief welled up inside Justin. He gulped to choke back the rage that threatened to erupt from his throat in a roar and blinked back the tears burning in his eyes. “After all he did for you,” he whispered. “Taking you in after your parents died – giving you everything you could ever want.”

  “Not everything,” Warren corrected. “Not the one thing he should have given me, the one thing I deserved.” He glared at Justin, his own anger becoming more visible. “I worked my ass off to learn everything about being an Alpha. While you were out getting stoned, I was here, by your father’s side, listening, studying. I was a faithful Beta. He had the power to name me as Alpha Successor, overriding the whole ‘First-Born Son’ law. I thought for sure that’s what he’d do, seeing what a complete fuck up you are, and all your stupid ideas. ‘Integrating with Humans?’” He snorted. “Please. Werewolves are superior to Humans. With our physical strength alone, we could easily conquer them.” He gave Justin another icy smile. “Which is how I plan to introduce our race to Humans – as their masters.”

  “Over my dead body,” Justin growled.

  “That’s what I was going for,” Warren replied – and without warning, he launched himself over the desk at Justin. In mid-leap, he transformed into a gray wolf, his yellow eyes glowing.

  Justin jumped back. He landed in a crouch, his own features changing to match his cousin’s. Teeth bared and ears flattened back, they snarled at each other before charging at each other in another attack. Claws tore through clothes as they swiped at each other. Justin got up under Warren and lifted him up high before slamming h
im down again. Dropping on top of him, Justin pinned him to the floor and began slugging him in the jaw with powerful, furred fists. “This is for my dad!” he snarled.

  Samuel burst into the room, causing Justin to look up. In that split second, Warren took advantage of the distraction and surged up, closing his mouth on Justin’s throat. Justin’s eyes widened as he felt teeth sink puncture into his neck, the pop of flesh followed by the heat of blood welling up inside his mouth. He blinked, stunned, as Warren released his hold and shoved him back. Justin’s features returned to their human shape as he landed on his back in the middle of the floor. He lay there, gasping, one shaky hand rising to clutch at his throat. He could feel the holes, and the warm fluid gushing out. He choked, his vision blurred…and just before the world began to gray out, he saw Savannah hovering over him.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Savannah’s astral body hovered over Justin where he lay on the floor, blood soaking into the Persian rug beneath him. No, she thought, horrified. She had watched the whole exchange between Justin and his cousin, unable to intervene in any way. Now, she could feel his life force waning, his heartbeat growing weaker by the second. Oh, god – this can’t be happening! He can’t die!

  She knew of only one way to save him. Hang on, Wolf-Man, she told him, it’s about to get a little crowded… Using their spiritual link of the Familiar Bond, Savannah’s astral energy pushed through and entered Justin’s damaged body. I’m here, Justin! I’m with you!

  Savannah? Justin answered weakly. While she could feel his spirit occupying the same space, he sounded far away. What are you doing? You should get back to your own body, before it’s too late!

  I can’t, she told him. Lady Dauphine put some kind of hex on me to hold me in this room.

  Justin’s remorse was palpable. Aw, baby…I’m so sorry for getting you mixed up in this…

  Shut up, she chided him. We’re going to get through this together. Just hold on, baby. Stay with me, please. Pooling her strength, Savannah willed Justin’s body to respond to her command. His eyes opened and she could see through them. She looked around. Warren stood a few feet away, wiping blood from his mouth with the back of one wrist. As she watched, he reverted to human form while Samuel pulled out his phone and called for backup.

  Within moments, two other men came running. Warren moved toward them, pretending to be shaken. “Gerard! Phil! Thank god you’re here.” He pointed a trembling finger. “Justin came back – h-he attacked me. I did what I could to defend myself before Samuel got here.”

  “Good job,” Gerard said. He looked at Warren. “You just saved the Council the trouble of having to execute this piece of shit.”

  The hell he did, Savannah thought, enraged. Come on, Justin – we can’t let this asshole win!

  With Savannah controlling him from within, Justin stirred and opened his eyes. He rose from the floor, pulling himself up to his full height, and turned to face Warren. A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. “Sorry, cousin,” he rasped, shaking his head, “but it’s gonna take a lot more to kill me.” He lifted his chin, and the wound in his neck began to seal up, healed by Savannah’s magic. Justin’s eyes glowed as he leveled his gaze on Warren again. “You may have killed my dad, but like me he didn’t go down without a fight. I’m gonna guess he knocked your glasses off and one of the lenses broke. You were able to get a temporary replacement but it didn’t fit quite right. You figured it would do until you could come back here and find the original, knowing that if anyone else came across it, they’d know what you did.”

  Warren snorted. “You’ve been watching too many Human police dramas,” he said.

  “Maybe.” Justin rubbed his chin thoughtfully for a moment and then shrugged. “Of course, you can always prove me wrong and let someone check your pockets.” He looked over at Gerard. “Care to do the honors?”

  Gerard eyed Justin for a moment. Finally, he turned to face Warren. “With all due respect to the Alpha,” he said, “I’m going to ask you to empty your pockets. Sir.”

  Samuel was the one to speak out first. “You’re going to question the word of the Alpha?” he demanded, stepping up beside Warren.

  “Yes.” Gerard looked at his fellow Beta. “Part of our oath to serve the Alpha is to assist in upholding his honor. If he’s innocent,” his gaze shifted back to Warren, “he’ll empty his pockets.”

  A tense moment ticked past, no one moving. Suddenly, Warren let out a snarl and reached for the hip holster under Samuel’s coat. Pulling the pistol, he shoved Samuel aside, raised his arm, and took aim – at Justin. Gerard and Phil dove at him even as he pulled the trigger. Justin ducked. The shot went wild and the bullet lodged in the crown molding near the ceiling. Gerard wrested the gun from Warren and turned it on him. Phil drew his own weapon and trained it on Samuel. The scuffle ended as quickly as it began.

  Justin straightened again. “Where were we? Oh, yeah.” Walking right up to Warren, Justin stared into his yellow eyes as he reached inside his jacket and retrieved a handkerchief from the breast pocket. “There’s a reason Dad didn’t name you as his successor,” he said. He opened the cloth to reveal a tinted eyeglass lens bearing a deep scratch and speckled with dried blood – and going by the scent, Justin could tell it was his father’s. He glared at Warren. “You don’t have what it takes to be a true Alpha.”

  As he watched Gerard and Phil drag Samuel and Warren from the room, Justin felt a tug within his body, like his insides tearing apart. He dropped to his knees with a grunt. “Oh, god,” he choked out. “What’s happening?” He grabbed the edge of the desk with one hand for support while clutching at his chest. “Savannah – what’s going on?”

  At some point, Savannah’s life force had receded and allowed Justin to move back into control of his own body. She had healed him, and given him the strength he needed to finish what he started. For a brief time, their spirits had occupied the same space, and all her thoughts and memories had become his – which was how he knew about the lens in Warren’s pocket. Somewhere in the midst of the chaos that had just played out in this room, Savannah had pulled back. Now, Justin realized he couldn’t feel her presence anymore. He couldn’t feel her in his mind and heart, the threads of her essence woven with his own. He couldn’t feel her, at all. He remembered what she had said about astral projection and people who stayed out of their bodies for too long.

  No, he thought. You can’t be gone. I can’t lose you, now. He looked around, overcome with panic.

  “Savannah!”

  Chapter Seventeen

  Healing Justin had used up nearly all of Savannah’s life energy. Once she knew he would be all right, she dislodged herself from him, her spirit once more discorporate as she surrendered his body back to him. She floated beside him and watched as he began to realize she had withdrawn. It broke her heart to see him so fearful and desperate, to hear him calling for her. Oh, baby, she thought. I’m so sorry. Neither of us knew it was going to go down like this. She smiled sadly and reached out, yearning to touch his face one more time. At least you’re alive. That’s all that matters.

  A groan from the corner drew Savannah and Justin’s mutual attention. Lady Dauphine was trying to sit up. Justin rushed over to her side. Savannah followed and watched him help the older woman to stand before guiding her over to a sofa.

  “Are you all right?” Justin asked.

  Lady Dauphine nodded slowly and touched her head. “Yes,” she sighed. She looked around. “What happened?”

  “Warren’s been taken into custody,” Justin said. “He’ll be facing Clan Justice for killing my dad. Samuel will be put on trial, too, for acting as his accomplice.” He shook his head. “All because Dad wanted to take the Pack in a new direction, the same direction I wanted to take it in.”

  “Some people cannot cope with change,” Lady Dauphine said. “One can honor tradition while embracing the future. But there are those, like your cousin, who equate such changes with the loss of power. They close their minds and
their eyes to the vision of something greater simply because it is different – or they try to twist it into something darker.” She offered a gentle smile. “Your father understood this. He knew the time had come for his race to make itself known to the world. While it is sad that he will not be here to see it, it now falls to you to make it happen.”

  “I don’t care about that anymore.” Pushing up from the sofa, Justin paced away, covering his face with his hands. “For the first time in my life, I found someone who understood me. I stopped thinking about myself and started thinking about her.”

  Savannah could see the waves of anguish rolling off of him to form a fast-rising pool of negative emotional energy, and she knew it wouldn’t be long before he began to drown in it.

  Justin raked his fingers through his hair. “But now she’s gone,” he muttered. “She saved my life twice in the last three days…I didn’t even get a chance to thank her. She just…left.”

  “Did she?” Lady Dauphine closed her eyes. Tilting her head, she smiled again. “But I can see her.”

  “She’s still here?” Justin asked, sounding frantic and hopeful at once. He rushed back to Lady Dauphine. “Where is she? Can you talk to her?”

  “She’s right beside you,” Lady Dauphine said, her eyes still closed. She turned her face in Savannah’s direction, ‘looking’ right at her. Hello, my dear, she ‘said.’ It appears you have lost your way.

  Yes, Savannah admitted. She could have added that it was Lady Dauphine’s fault for locking her spirit to this place, but she refrained. I stayed away too long. I just wanted to help Justin. He would have died.

  So you were willing to sacrifice your life for his? Lady Dauphine chuckled softly. Well. A noble gesture deserves to be rewarded. If you will allow me, I will guide you back from the astral plane.