The Panther's Rival

by Emilia Hartley

  The fight between a red dragon and white dragon played out across the screen. The camera shook and swayed as though it was filmed by a phone in the crowd of bystanders. For a moment, Cameron’s heart surged. Then he realized that the dragon he was seeing on the screen was Wesley. It was the fight after GOE kidnapped his mate. Cameron’s brows sloped together in confusion.

  He called out to the barista behind the counter to turn on the sound. She frowned, but did as he asked, raising a small remote and pointing it at the TV mounted in the corner. A reporter’s baritone voice filled the space and Cameron’s stomach turned as the scene shifted. A portly man wearing a GOE badge on his chest stood beside a figure Cameron recognized as another dragon shifter. The man was tall and his chest was wide and flat. A charismatic smile full of white teeth was plastered across his face, but didn’t quite meet his eyes as he looked out over the crowd at the press conference. His nearly white hair was combed back into a respectable style, the whole package looking like it belonged in a movie. Not on the news.

  “The Guardians of Existence are proud to announce the head of our newest department, the Dragon Shifter Embassy. Please welcome Malcom Whittaker to GOE!”

  A round of hesitant applause rang out through the crowd, the microphone capturing the murmur of whispers that circled around the podium. The white dragon stepped forward, his charismatic smile nearly glowing. Cameron already didn’t like him. The façade that this dragon held was blinding those around him.

  “I am happy to become a part of the Guardians of Existence and to help protect this city from the threat of dragon shifters. My family and I will do whatever it takes to keep you safe from the reckless red dragon family as well as any other dragons that dare set foot on our streets. All that we ask from you in return is a slice of home for ourselves. We will not take space from you, but, instead, carve out a small holding for my family in the territory already set aside for dragons.”

  There was another moment of stone still silence before the crowd erupted into cheers. It seemed the white dragon had presence. Enough to win over the hearts of a city absolutely terrified of dragons. Then again, he wasn’t a red dragon. They didn’t see a need to fear him.

  Not yet.

  Present at the press conference were his brother and Rhiannon. Gareth’s grip on Rhiannon’s shoulders were tight. He guessed that his brother was ready to run at a moment’s notice. His mate was determined to rescue the image of the red dragons, but she was also pregnant. Gareth had to be going crazy. It was a wonder that he kept control over himself while the crowd threw words of hatred at them.

  Cameron’s fist tightened atop the table. His home was threatened and he was not there to protect it. He cut a sideways glance out the window. Gwen’s apartment was still. He wanted nothing more than to break down the wards she’d placed around the apartment and carry her back to the territory so that he could protect his home and his mate all at once. He knew that would not win her heart. It would terrify her more than anything. He couldn’t risk that. Not with his mate.

  He looked back at the television, hoping that he had not given himself away as one of the red dragons vilified on the screen.

  ***

  Gwen sat on the floor of her bedroom for a long time. She stared at the floor, trying to sort through the mess that tumbled through her mind. Once again, she’d made the mistake of letting a dragon into her life. She could barely believe that she’d done more than let him into her apartment. She’d let him into her body and… she loved it.

  She half expected Cameron to stand outside her door, stubbornly pushing through the wards that she’d woven. Given time and persistence, a dragon’s magic could do exactly that. Instead, she heard silence. His clothing lay on the floor beside her in shreds. She’d kicked him out in his underwear and nothing else. It brought a snicker to her lips.

  Packing should have been the first thing on her mind. Her bag was already half packed and her cards were back in her possession, returned by the odd dragon man. Gwen found herself rising from where she sat. Calmly, much calmer than she thought she would be, Gwen prepared herself a mug of lavender and honey tea before sitting in front of her cards.

  One more draw. They would reveal the path she would follow. She needed to understand this tether that she felt connecting her to Cameron, a dragon she’d only known for a night. It was impossible that she was his mate, but perhaps she was meant to help them in their time of need.

  Feeling a compulsion, she reached for the remote on the table beside her card deck. The television flared to life, the faint sound of static ringing in her ears. A local news station greeted her. A portly man stood alone on a podium, his booming voice promising the crowd that measures would be taken to eradicate the red dragons from Snowdonia. She felt her chest tighten. From Cameron’s red hair, she could easily assume that he was one of the red dragons in question.

  News traveled fast these days. She heard of the turmoil the red dragons were causing in Bangor, but had waved it off. The first red dragon to cause trouble had been protecting his mate, a sacred bond that bound him to a human woman. The second dragon to stir the pot claimed to have been stolen as a child and implanted with silver. She claimed to have been framed by GOE. Terrible things were happening, but Gwen felt the need to believe the red dragons in their claims.

  “Snowdonia no longer belongs to our red dragon neighbors,” the portly man announced, his fist in the air. “They are no longer neighbors of Bangor!”

  Gwen pulled her gaze from the television to draw a card. Her long fingers flipped over The Lovers once again. She felt a hand grip her heart. With trembling fingers, she pulled the next. Death. She sucked her lower lip between her teeth as she regarded the card. If she hadn’t drawn The Tower, it most likely meant that she’d moved past that stage in her life already. Change came and went already.

  There was one more card to draw. She looked at the deck out of the corner of her eye, wondering what other news it held for her. She feared what it might try to tell her for what could possibly come after death?

  The card Gwen drew made her breath catch in her throat. It was one that she’d never drawn before. Not for herself, at least. She’d been half expecting to draw a blank card, the image erased by the magic flowing around her. Instead, she stared down at the Ace of Pentacles.

  Prosperity.

  Happiness.

  Her heart raced inside her chest. Her eyes moved back to The Lovers, still lying face up on the table. Did it mean…? Could it be?

  She had no way of knowing. Not unless she wanted to hunt down the dragon man she let into her apartment, because she was sure that he didn’t bother hanging around from the lack of noise outside her door.

  Her hand fisted, tiny nails biting into her palm. No, it couldn’t be. She swiped her hands over the cards and turned her attention back to the news station. The portly man was going on about the measures they would take to push the red dragons from Snowdonia.

  The dragons needed her help. That was clear. She let her head fall back against the couch. Was she really going to do this? She cracked an eye open and glared at the Death card.

  Yes. She was going to do this. The red dragons needed help and they thought she would be enough to turn the tables in their favor. The least she could do was help. She could fight on their behalf. Her life had been long enough as it was. She was done running. She was done hiding.

  With a new resolve, Gwen packed her meager belongings into a canvas duffle bag. She didn’t want to say good-bye to the garden she’d cultivated in her bedroom, but she couldn’t take it with her. Not where she was going.

  Preparing for travel, perhaps in the way that a dragon was best known for, Gwen chose a pair of slim jeans and a long sleeved, sage colored top. Her brown leather boots slapped the stairs as she left her home of the past fifteen years without looking back.

  Where could she find a red dragon hiding in her town? That was the real question. She could look for a half-naked man, but she was sure that he’d f
ound new clothing by now.

  ***

  Cameron’s breath caught in his throat before he launched himself up from his seat. The witch had left her apartment after all. She stood on the sidewalk, looking up and down the street as though in search of someone. He wasted no time in rushing toward her, forgetting to leave a tip for his server.

  Nearly breathless, he darted across the busy street and was welcomed by several blaring horns. Gwen’s eyes fell on him and he expected her to dart like a rabbit. Instead, her face opened up. She smiled at him. Cameron could have sworn his heart stopped at the sight of it.

  He halted a few feet away from her. She looked up at him expectantly.

  “So,” she began, one hand on the strap of her canvas duffle bag. “Where are we going?”

  His heart fluttered with joy. It made him feel light and effervescent, the opposite of what he knew meant to be a dragon. What happened? Last time he saw her she’d thrown him out of her home. Yet, here she stood with wary determination in her eyes.

  He couldn’t stop himself as his arm snaked around her lower back and he pulled her to his body before his lips fell upon hers. He devoured her mouth, tongue teasing and exploring until they had to come up for air. Gwen was surprised and breathless when he pulled back, staring wide eyed up at him, lips slightly parted.

  “I’m only doing this to help your people,” Gwen reminded him, her brows a hard line over her narrowed eyes, despite how soft her mouth had been under his moments ago. “After that… I don’t know. I’ll go my own way, I guess.”

  He laid another soft kiss on her lips before releasing her. His beast roared at him, louder than it had ever been before, to hold her, to keep her near before she could escape. One step at a time, he said to the beast before he shook his head to drown out the beast’s roaring.

  “Then we go back to Snowdonia,” Cameron said softly before turning to lead her away.

  Gwen’s brows knit together in confusion. She didn’t follow. “I thought the red dragons were pushed from Snowdonia. There are none left in the Territory.”

  Cameron paused, a few feet away. His eyes scanned the crowds around them for ears that might be listening before responding. “They are still there, in hiding.”

  “And you think that I can help them?”

  His main goal was getting his new mate somewhere that she could be safe and happy. Unfortunately, that also meant ridding Snowdonia and Bangor of the white dragons that were terrorizing them. Afterwards, they had to heal their relationship with Bangor. Maggie and Rhiannon could handle relations, but protection…

  “You have a power they won’t see coming. Your wards could buy us time. Our leader also heard you’re much stronger than your average witch. You could turn the tide for us in this fight.”

  He watched his mate pull in a ragged breath and try to steady herself as she gazed out at the town they would leave. Should he tell her the truth? Could he tell her that she was his mate? Or, would she turn away from the truth as though it were a lie?

  Finally, she nodded. “Take me to Snowdonia.”

  Chapter Ten

  Cameron took them to a place outside of town that was reasonably empty. There was a forest on one side and a farm on the other. Farmers usually saw the red dragons, the symbol of Wales long before their exposure, as good luck. He didn’t have to worry about their presence if one found them.

  “Can your magic make me invisible to the eye?”

  She seemed to think about it before shaking her head. “It is impossible to make things invisible, but I can ward us with a kind of See Me Not spell. It would cause people to look away if they happen upon us. Are you…?”

  Cameron paused, hands poised to remove his shirt. There was a sliver of skin visible at his waistband that made Gwen’s eyes lower. He felt a surge of joy as her eyes raked over him, but then she returned to the hesitation he heard in her voice.

  “Am I what?”

  She swallowed before her eyes rose to meet his. “Are you going to shift?”

  He nodded. “It will make our return much quicker and easier than if we used a car. For one thing, a car cannot reach the mountain that my family is using for shelter. Eventually, we would have to fly there.”

  “I knew this would happen, but I still can’t seem to make my knees stop shaking,” Gwen said as a queasy laugh escaped her.

  Cameron stepped toward her, his hands at her hips while he looked down at her.

  “I will not drop you if that is what worries you. I will ensure that you are safe the entire time for you are my first priority.”

  “Right, weapon and all.” She looked away from him and he yearned to tell her the truth. But, she confessed something before he could speak. “It’s isn’t the flying that bothers me. If I had to, I’m sure that I could wrap my magic around myself enough to soften my fall. It… it’s your shape that bothers me. I’m ashamed of this, but I know your dragon form will terrify me.”

  “I’m actually quite small for a red dragon. My brother called me a runt for most of our adolescent lives. He is the biggest of us all, so it was easy to seem like a runt in comparison to him, but even compared to our cousin or our leader, I am small. I hope that helps you.”

  “You are not small,” Gwen muttered, thinking he could not hear her words.

  “Is that so?” He couldn’t help the smirk of self-satisfaction that spread over his face while he pulled his shirt over his head.

  He let go of the magic that was confining him to the small, human form. His dragon burst free from wherever it went when he was human. Scales unfolded into the shape of a dragon the size of a trailer, instead of a house. His body was awash with buttery yellow and gold that glimmered in the late afternoon sun.

  He shook out his form and his beast surged forward. He lunged for control of the dragon form, but the beast shoved him to the back with a smug grin.

  ***

  Gwen looked up at the most beautiful dragon she’d ever seen. He looked like sunshine and gold wrought into the shape of a lithe beast, tail snaking across the field like a snake. Molten gold eyes fell upon her. Fear should have surged at any moment, but she looked up at the dragon before her and felt a sense of peace and safety that confused her.

  The beast lowered its head to the ground in a show of respect. She could see the hint of mirth in its gold eyes.

  “Let’s get this over with,” Gwen grumbled in an effort to not look too closely at the feelings that were roiling inside of her. She stepped forward into the grasp of the dragon’s clawed hands.

  His long talons carefully closed around her abdomen and thighs. Giant wings unfurled from his back and dwarfed the sunlight. They beat at the air until his dragon form lifted inexplicably from the ground. Should a monster of this size be able to fly? Or, was it magic that lifted them from the ground to soar over humanity?

  The ground below her fell away. She gripped his talons as her stomach flipped. Flying wasn’t that bad, she tried to remind herself. It would be over before she knew it. The whisper of her spell was lost in the air, but the universe seemed to accept it as the See Me Not spell wrapped around them.

  ***

  Her eyes shot open as she was engulfed by panic. It was followed by a wave of anxiety. Trees filled the world below. She’d fallen asleep. She hadn’t meant to, but it meant that she failed to hold the spell that kept them concealed. Her eyes surveyed the world around them, but there was no way of knowing where they were.

  How long had she been asleep? Could they be in safe territory?

  A rustle of the trees below caught her eye. The feeling of dread and anxiety rolled inside of her, an omen if she ever felt one.

  A white dart shot through the air toward them. Gwen opened her mouth to scream, but the sound was swallowed by the air that rushed past her. The white dart slammed into the side of Cameron’s dragon form. They spun through the air, dropping quickly.

  No, she thought. No. No. No.

  Not white dragons.

  Cameron’s wings fl
ared out to catch the wind. Shakily, he leveled off. Gwen gripped his talons, anxiety pulsing through her. Her blonde tresses obscured her vision. She turned a dark glare toward the white dragon even as her heart thundered in her ears.

  The white dragon banked. It swung around to dive again. At the last second, it drew its claws upward. Cameron tucked his wings in and surged downward. The ground was quickly approaching them, but the white dragon had other ideas. It followed in pursuit, tucking its wings tight to its body and stretching its long legs outward.

  Cameron might have been nimble, but the white dragon had reach on its side. Its claws raked against Cameron’s wings from above. The sound of tearing flesh was drowned out by Cameron’s howls of pain. His speed faltered. Gwen saw red. Cameron’s form tilted, his wings trembling in pain as they spread to keep from crashing into the ground. His claws tightened around her, almost crushingly. She knew that he was afraid to drop her, even as she fought to suck in a full breath.

  As soon as the white dragon entered her vision, she threw her hand out. The power that she left alone for decades came boiling through it. It lashed out through her outstretched hand and toward the white dragon that gloated a ways away from her.

  There was nothing to show Gwen had done anything. No rainbow force streaked through the air. There was no sound. There was only the impact as it sent the white dragon rolling through the air. It cried out in pain as the magic moved through its now convulsing body. It plummeted toward the ground and crashed into the trees below.

  She let out the breath that she’d kept within her. Her hands began to tremble, whether from adrenaline or the usage of the power she tried to ignore, Gwen didn’t know. All she could do was urge Cameron forward by tapping her hands urgently against his claws.

  He got the message, his great wings beating the air even though he dripped a trail of blood through the air. She would have to explain later that she’d fallen asleep, that her See Me Not spell had faltered and it was her fault that he was hurt. Her first thought was that he’d be furious, but that wasn’t like the dragon she’d come to know. Cameron was more patient than that. She would have to patch him up if they were going to make it.