SEAFIRE DRAGON
By
Natalie Kristen
For more books set in Shadow Point
GRAY BEARS
Marrying the Bear (Book 1)
Loving the Bear (Book 2)
Mating the Bear (Book 3)
Tempting the Bear (Book 4)
Taming the Lion (Book 5)
Embracing the Lion (Book 6)
BRIDES fur BEARS
Bad Bear (Book 1)
Brave Bear (Book 2)
Brash Bear (Book 3)
Big Bear (Book 4)
Mail-Order Bear (Book 5)
Dating Agency Bear (Book 6)
Guardian Bear (Book 7)
DRAGONS IN SHADOW POINT
Skyfire Dragon (Book 1)
Stormfire Dragon (Book 2)
Seafire Dragon (Book 3)
Copyright © 2018 by Natalie Kristen
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without the author's written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author's written permission.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are used fictitiously or are the products of the author's imagination. Any resemblance to actual locales, events, establishments or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
About this Book
Piper Wylde promised her best friend that she would always look after her little boy, Zander. She is determined to give Zander a safe, stable family life, something she has never experienced but has always yearned for.
As a graduate from the school of hard knocks, Piper has given up hope of ever meeting her prince charming. She just wants to be the best mom to her adopted son.
Seath Fireblood is proud of the success that he and his two elder brothers have achieved in Shadow Point. Their landscaping business is booming, and their lives are happy and settled.
When Seath shows up at the doorstep of the newest resident of Shadow Point, his dragon stirs for the first time in his life. His dragon knows that this beautiful human is his.
But someone wants Piper and Zander as well.
Someone who wants Seath completely and utterly destroyed…
* * * * *
CHAPTER ONE
“Are we all ready to go? It’s getting late,” Sky called out, glancing at his watch.
“Yeah, we’ll continue tomorrow. I can’t wait to get home!” Storm said with a broad grin.
Seath Fireblood put down his landscaping tools and turned around. It was late afternoon and the sun wasn’t even setting yet. But his two elder brothers were evidently in a great hurry to call it a day and head on home.
Seath saw the radiant smiles on his brothers’ faces and chuckled softly to himself. Sky and Storm sure had plenty to smile about. They had found their mates, and they were now the proud fathers of adorable little dragon daughters.
Seath’s sisters-in-law, Leia and Emilia, had given birth to beautiful baby girls, so Seath had two lovely nieces to dote on and play with every weekend. He loved his two little nieces to pieces, and he had lost count of the number of cute, frilly pink dresses and rompers that he’d picked out for his precious princesses. Yup, their Uncle Seath was a shopaholic when it came to buying gifts for his girls. Seath couldn’t help himself. He simply melted into a puddle of mush when his sweet little nieces clambered onto his knee and gazed up at him with their large, adoring eyes.
Seath might be big and burly with rough, calloused hands, but he had mastered the art of pretending to pour tea out of a tiny toy teapot and clinking those delicate toy cups with his nieces.
His three-year-old nieces simply loved inviting their Uncle Seath to their elaborate tea parties. He was usually their guest of honor, and he would be seated between their two oldest and most beloved toys, Teddy and Dolly.
Seath took a deep breath and straightened up. He cracked his neck and rolled his broad shoulders to loosen his muscles. He had been digging trenches and planting rose bushes along the perimeter of Mr Hamilton’s sprawling garden all day. Mr Hamilton had just bought the old, spacious house and he wanted all the renovation works completed and the garden done up before he moved his family into the house.
Once the renovation crew was done with the house, Mr Hamilton had contacted Fireblood Landscapers and asked them to landscape the whole garden. “My wife loves roses, so make sure she can see all the rose bushes from our bedroom window,” Mr Hamilton had instructed.
Mopping the sweat from his brow, Seath gave a satisfied smile when he saw how much they had done. In just one morning, they had cleared the tall grasses and weeds from the yard, and the small flowering shrubs they had planted added a lovely pop of color to the garden. Seath had no doubt that Mr Hamilton’s garden would look spectacular once the job was finished.
Seath and his brothers were proud of the landscaping business they had worked so hard to build up. The list of satisfied customers of Fireblood Landscapers was growing rapidly. The three brothers worked well together, and they were able to complete projects very quickly and efficiently. No job was too big or too small for them, and they always did their best by their customers. Seath and his brothers were making a good living here in Shadow Point. It was pretty amazing to see how far they had come.
When the Fireblood brothers first came to Shadow Point, they hadn’t planned on staying in this remote little town for long. They thought they would have to keep moving to prevent people from finding out what they were. But the good people of Shadow Point proved to them that even though Shadow Point was a small town, it had a big heart.
Indeed, Shadow Point wasn’t like any other town they had known before.
Shadow Point was a secluded, quaint little town, surrounded by hills and forests. It looked picturesque and peaceful on the outside, but step inside and one would see that the population of Shadow Point was confusingly and wonderfully diverse and varied.
Shifters, vampires, witches, fae folk, hybrids and humans all lived together in the little town of Shadow Point, and by and large, they all got along pretty well. Everyone was different, yet no one was made to feel different.
Seath and his brothers were amazed to see that everyone was welcome in Shadow Point—even dragons. The Fireblood brothers were dragon shifters, and they had been run out of the previous town they had lived in because their neighbors were afraid and suspicious of them. But the residents of Shadow Point never saw Seath and his brothers as threats or freaks. They treated the brothers with kindness and respect, and Seath and his brothers had grown to love this warm, quirky little town that they now called home.
Seath was about to make a comment to his brothers but he saw that both Sky and Storm were talking in low voices on their phones. From their soft, loving tones, Seath could tell that his elder brothers were talking to their mates.
Sky was telling Leia that he would grab a loaf of bread and some ice cream on his way home. Storm was speaking gibberish on his phone and making strange cooing and clucking noises. Seath marveled at how much Storm had changed. Storm used to wear a permanent scowl on his face, but now the guy was smiling and laughing all the time.
Life was good. And family life was, well, simply beautiful.
Sky and Storm used to work long and hard and they would sometimes continue working even after the sun went down. But now they’d found a healthier work-life balance. They still worked hard but they knew that there was more to life than just work. At the end of the day, they had loving mates and beautiful babies to go home
to.
Seath on the other hand, simply went home to an empty house. He lived just next door to Storm, and Storm and Emilia frequently invited him over for dinner. But lately Seath found himself making up excuses to decline their invitation. He didn’t want to intrude on their family time and privacy, so on most nights, he would gobble down a quick dinner and head down to the pub for drinks with some of his single friends.
Seath waited patiently for his brothers to finish talking to their mates and kids. When Sky and Storm finally put away their phones, Seath cleared his throat and spoke up, “It’s still pretty early for me, so I think I’ll stay and plant a few more rose bushes. Give my love and hugs to my princesses. I’ll see you guys tomorrow.”
As he turned back to his work, Storm blinked in surprise and said, “Don’t you want to go home? We’ve been working since daybreak. We’ve done quite a lot today. At this pace, we’ll finish ahead of schedule!”
Seath shrugged. He wasn’t quite as eager as his brothers to go home.
He didn’t have anybody to go home to.
Seath shared a close, loving bond with his brothers, and he hung out often at their homes, but it just wasn’t the same.
He loved his brothers dearly and he was genuinely happy for them, but there were times when he couldn’t help the twinge of envy he felt when he saw them with their families.
Every shifter yearned to find his true mate, his one fated mate who was undeniably and forever his. Seath knew how to have fun and have a good time as a single guy, but deep inside, he longed to find his fated female.
With a quiet sigh, Seath turned back to the garden. “I’ll just finish up with the rose bushes,” Seath said, keeping his tone upbeat and cheerful. “It won’t take me more than an hour.”
Out of the corner of his eye, Seath saw his eldest brother open his mouth to say something but Sky was interrupted by his ringing phone before he could get a word out.
CHAPTER TWO
“Fireblood Landscapers,” Sky said automatically as he answered the call.
Sky nodded and said, “Yes we do. No problem, Ma'am. We can come out and take a look at what needs to be done. Just let us have your address.” His polite, professional tone told Seath that he was answering inquiries from a new customer. Even though there was no shortage of work, they never turned away any potential clients. Fireblood Landscapers prided themselves on their reliability and quick turnaround time. They would never let a customer down.
Sky pulled out a pen from his pocket and scribbled on his palm as he spoke on the phone. “Okay, I’ll be there in about half an hour, Ma'am. Thank you for your call.”
“Where are you going?” Storm asked.
“The lady...” Sky squinted at what he had scrawled on his palm. “Ms Wylde asked if we could give her a quote. She said her front and back yards are growing out of hand, and she would like to get the mess cleaned up as soon as possible. She’s afraid there might be dangerous snakes hiding in the tall grasses around her house, and she has a young son, so...”
“Snakes!” Seath exclaimed. “Just where is her house located?”
Sky glanced at his palm. “From her address, it looks like she’s at the very edge of the town, near the forest.”
Storm whistled. “That’s quite a distance from the town center and from everyone else. There are not many houses out there.”
“I’ll just give Leia a call and tell her that I’ll be late,” Sky said as he walked to his truck.
“No,” Seath said at once. “I’ll go. You go home to your family.”
Both Sky and Storm turned around
Seath pulled off his muddy gloves and shrugged. “The rose bushes can wait. I’ll drive out and take a look at this lady’s yard.”
“But...”
“Go home,” Seath shooed his brothers off. “I’m free tonight anyway.” I’m free every night.
Sky hesitated for a beat. “Okay,” Sky said at last. “I’ll text you the address and I’ll call you later. Thanks, buddy.”
“You want me to come with you?” Storm asked. “I can call Emilia and let her know...”
Seath shook his head. “No, I can do this. Go home, guys.”
When neither of his brothers moved, Seath rolled his eyes and huffed. “I don’t need you to accompany me. I can do this on my own. We give quotes all the time. I won’t take long. I’ve done this before. I can do this.”
“I know you can,” Storm said, clapping him on the shoulder.
“Go home,” Seath said, shoving his brother towards his car. “See you guys tomorrow!” he called out cheerfully.
Seath waved as he watched his brothers drive off. Blowing out a long breath, he trudged back to his car.
With a smirk, Seath thumped the roof of his little car and said aloud, “It’s just you and me now.” His phone beeped and he saw that Sky had texted him the client’s address. “Let’s take a drive to Ms Wylde’s place, shall we?”
Seath stepped back to look at his shiny car with a measure of pride. He used to borrow Storm’s car but now that Storm had a family to ferry around, Seath decided that it was time he got his own set of wheels.
He worked hard, cut back on his expenses and finally saved enough to buy this sturdy third-hand car. He gave the car a brand new coat of paint and waxed and polished it until it gleamed.
Seath was proud of himself and he knew that his brothers were proud of him too. Sky and Storm practically raised him after their mother died.
His two elder brothers protected him but they never mollycoddled him. They taught him how to survive and defend himself, and they made sure he had the skills to be independent even though Seath knew that his brothers would always be there for him.
There was always a good deal of ribbing and joshing between the siblings, and they loved pulling a good prank on one another. But the deep love and respect was always there.
His elder brothers, Sky and Storm, could shift into dragon form, but Seath’s dragon had yet to emerge. It was highly frustrating and infuriating at first. Seath so badly wanted to be able to shift into dragon form, like his brothers. He had tried everything he could think of to connect with his beast and awaken his dragon. But his stupid, stubborn, slumbering beast just refused to get up and get moving.
Sky had assured him that his dragon would emerge when the time was right. “There’s no hurry,” Sky had told him. “You have all the time in the world.”
Seath didn’t want his brothers to worry for him, so to set their minds at ease, he just pretended that he didn’t care whether his dragon emerged or not.
He assumed a happy-go-lucky attitude and went about his life, declaring that his dragon was the one missing out on all the fun. He wasn’t going to just sit around and mope while he waited for his lazy dragon to awaken.
He never voiced his fear aloud, but on nights when he couldn’t sleep, he would wonder and worry. What if...his dragon never emerged?
His brothers’ dragons had emerged when they found their mates. Was this what he needed to do? Find his mate?
But Seath didn’t even know who his mate was. So how was he to go about looking for a female who was even now unknown to him? Did she even exist? Was he destined to have a mate at all?
Seath knew that there were some shifters who lived their long lives alone, never having found their fated mates.
He didn’t want to be one of those sad, lonely shifters. But what could he do?
Seath shook his head hard. There was really nothing he could do about it, so he was just worrying for nothing. And as Sky said, he had time. He was only twenty-five.
His elder brothers had absolute confidence that his dragon would emerge soon. But they also made it clear to him that even if his dragon remained dormant for the rest of his life, it was perfectly all right.
Sky and Storm were wonderful brothers, and they were now great husbands and fathers.
“One day...” Seath muttered to himself as he opened his car door.
One day, he would be a gre
at husband and father too.
He just had to find...her.
CHAPTER THREE
Piper Wylde winced when she heard the distant rumble of thunder. Zander stopped rolling his toy truck across the floor and rushed to the window.
“Do you see any lightning, sweetheart?” Piper asked her three-year-old son.
Zander peered at the darkening sky and shook his head. “Nope,” he said, looking disappointed. “Is it going to rain, Mommy?”
Piper sighed as she glanced at the large stain on the ceiling. “I’m afraid so,” she said. “And it’s going to rain indoors too,” she added under her breath.
When Zander went back to his cars and trucks in the living room, Piper went to the back of the house to grab some pails. She put one pail in her bedroom and one in the living room.
Going to the window, she wrapped her arms around herself and looked out. It was late afternoon, yet the heavy, gray clouds that had just rolled in made it look gloomy and shadowy outside.
Piper looked down the long, quiet road in front of her house. She was settling into her life in Shadow Point and slowly getting to know this remote little town and her neighbors.
Her thoughts drifted back to her late Aunt Jenna. This was Aunt Jenna’s house.
It had come as a complete shock to Piper to learn that she had inherited a small house in Shadow Point from her estranged Aunt Jenna. Piper had met her Aunt Jenna once when she was a little girl, and over the years Piper had only heard vague and unsubstantiated stories about her supposedly temperamental and reclusive Aunt Jenna from her mom.
But that was when her mother was still speaking to her. She hadn’t heard from her mom in more than five years now. Piper, like her late Aunt Jenna, had been disinherited from her family.
“Maybe that’s why Aunt Jenna left me the house,” Piper mumbled. “She felt that outcasts should stick together. And maybe it’s her way of giving her family the finger—by leaving her house to her niece who has also been kicked out of the family.”
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