by Alexa Locke
Copyright © Beta Publishing Ltd, 2016
Alexa Locke has asserted her right under the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 to be identified as the author of this work.
This book is a work of fiction. Names and characters are the product of the author’s imagination and any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.
In no way is it legal to reproduce, duplicate, or transmit any part of this document in either electronic means or in printed format. Recording of this publication is strictly prohibited and any storage of this document is not allowed unless with written permission from the publisher. All rights reserved.
Respective authors own all copyrights not held by the publisher.
Shifter, Dragon, Paranormal, Romance, Romantic Comedy, Romantic Suspense, Tiger, Bear, Alpha, Bad
Dragon Revenge
The Beginning
Alexa Locke
About the Author
About the book
Chapter One
Chapter Two
Chapter Three
Chapter Four
Chapter Five
Chapter Six
Chapter Seven
Chapter Eight
Chapter Nine
Chapter Ten
About the Author
Alexa Locke, born in Manchester. A housewife in Surrey now and an amatuerwriter with a diploma in language She worked as private English tutor sometimes. With all the unfulfilled young girls’ princess dreams, Alexa has always enjoyed reading erotica novels and wanted to write her own. After a day of tedious work, she would really enjoy a bit of creative writing with a cup of tea while dreaming of her white horse princes. Alexa is very happy that it does combine very well with her family commitment with her two young children when pursuing her dreams.
She sincerely hopes her work can provide entertainment for the ladies of her age.
About the book
Fawn’s family have hunted dragons for centuries. For years all she has dreamed about is becoming a hunter herself. It’s in her blood. When she meets Ash (a bad boy who turns out to be a dragon) everything she has ever known is put into question and she finds herself battling between her feelings for him and the pride of her family. She must decide between doing the right thing for herself or doing the right thing for her family. The wrong decision could wipe out an entire race.
Chapter One
Fire consumed everything. Flames bounced from one wooden home to the next, ripping through the settlement within seconds. Fawn watched her home burn from the small hill that had sheltered it for centuries. Her heart shattered into a thousand pieces as she heard the terrified screams of the livestock trapped within their holdings. There was nothing she could do for them; no way she could free them without perishing herself. Even if she could have attempted a rescue, she was paralyzed, frozen to the ground by utter fear. All she could do was stand and watch as everything she knew and loved was destroyed.
With a sudden jolt, Fawn sat bolt upright in bed. Her heart pounded so hard against her ribs that it was almost painful. Sweat trickled down her forehead as though she still stood inches from the flames in her dream. Her entire body shook as the after images of the dream surged through her mind.
When she glanced to her left, she saw that her sister was still curled up on her mattress, her covers wrapped tightly around her as though she was cold. Fawn was far from cold. In fact, she was roasting. Her skin felt as though it was about to be flayed from the bones and she itched to move. Pulling back her covers, she was quiet as she climbed off the small palette that was her bed and headed for the door. Her bare feet made no noise as she walked over the bare floorboards. When she reached the loose one close to the doorway, she was careful to step around it, knowing it would wake her younger sister if she happened to step on it.
Holding her breath, she placed her hand on the door knob and turned it, praying that it wouldn’t make any sound. She was relieved when it opened silently, and she was able to slip out undetected. The small wooden house was made up of only two rooms; the bedroom she had just left and the kitchen she had just entered. Her parents would still be out on duty, and so the house was utterly silent. The kitchen was completely empty save for their dog, Fang, who was fast asleep by the fire.
As she approached, Fang lifted his head, his ears pricking as though he was alert for any sign of danger. Fawn placed her hand on his forehead and gave it a quick rub to ease him back to sleep before grabbing the poker to bring some life back to the fire that was slowly burning down to embers.
It was early morning and her parents would soon arrive home, expecting breakfast to be on the table after their long night shift. Fawn longed to be out there with them, out on dragon watch with the other hunters who patrolled the streets of Fair Haven every night, yet she was stuck looking after her little sister along with Fang who kept an eye on them both.
With a sigh she prodded the wood in the fireplace one last time before slipping her feet into her boots and heading for the front door. The eggs weren’t just going to magically appear on the breakfast table. She would have to collect them from the chicken coop and prepare them before her parents returned home. She’d been clouted one too many times for not being ready in time. That was another reason she couldn’t wait to get her chance to shine. If she was a hunter, she could be the clouter instead of the cloutee. She’d be respected then, and nobody could stand against her and tell her what to do.
It didn’t matter that she was nineteen years old. Until she was married, she was her parents’ responsibility unless she found a way to show them that she didn’t need them to take care of her. She had tried so many times to join her parents on duty, but each time they had grown more angry that she was being pushy, and eventually she’d stopped trying all together. Now she was biding her time – just waiting for the right time to prove she could be a hunter and protect Fair Haven from the dragons that had plagued the area for hundreds of years.
She’d heard the stories over and over as a child – begged her parents to tell them over and over again – and now she couldn’t wait to be making stories of her own. One day, she would be the powerful dragon hunter everyone raved about.
She was daydreaming about her future, while collecting the eggs from the coop, when she heard the garden gate slam shut. Her heart stopped as she turned already imagining the beating she was going to get from her mother when she saw that she didn’t have their breakfast ready.
She breathed a sigh of relief when she saw that it wasn’t her parents. It was her uncle Alec with his bow and quiver strapped over his shoulder, a bounce in his step as though he was very happy with himself. “Good morning, Fawn,” he greeted her with a joyous wave and grabbed her by the waist, lifting her up into the air like he always did whenever he arrived. She couldn’t help but giggle like she always did. She always felt like a little girl around her uncle, even though he was only a few years older than her.
“To what do we owe the pleasure?” she asked as he set her back down on her feet, careful not to break the eggs that she had stuffed into the pockets of her dress.
“Didn’t your parents tell you?” Alec asked. “There’s been dragon sightings two days from here.” And there it was. The chance Fawn had been waiting for. Her chance to prove to her parents – and to herself – that she could capture and kill a dragon. Excitement boiled in her stomach like the acid fire of the dragon itself.
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sp; Chapter Two
Fawn had just placed five breakfast plates on the table when the front door opened to reveal her parents. Lily had just appeared from the bedroom when her mother dragged their father through the door. Fawn dropped the final plate and it clattered onto the table spilling egg everywhere.
Her father’s arm was wrapped around his wife’s shoulder as she helped him into the room. Alec jumped up from where he had been sitting at the head of the table to rush forward and help take a little of his weight.
“What happened?” Fawn asked, as they helped him to the chair Alec had been sitting in. She could see that her father’s shoulder had been wrapped with a makeshift bandage and blood was seeping through the brown cloth that had clearly come from the bottom of her mother’s shirt
“He was caught by a dragon,” her mother explained. She rushed toward the cabinet on the other side of the room and began rifling through the jars of herbs and elixirs they kept for just such injuries. “He was carried for about a mile before I managed to shoot the damn thing down
“Is it dead?” Alec asked as he began to unwrap the bandage from his brother’s arm and examine the wound that was still bleeding. Fawn looked at her father and couldn’t help but feel sick. He was white as a sheet and looked as though he was barely managing to remain conscious.
“Of course the damn thing is dead, Alec.” Her mother yelled as she pulled the cork from a vial and handed it to Fawn. “Give this to your father. It’ll help the pain.”
“Liv, what are you planning on doing?” Alec demanded. He pressed his hand against his brother’s wound to try and staunch the flow of blood. He looked at Fawn’s mother with a concerned look upon his face
“I need to stop the bleeding,” Liv replied as she grabbed the fire poker Fawn had used earlier that morning to get the fire going again. “Lilly, go into the bedroom for a minute.” She didn’t even look at her daughter as she pushed the poker into the flames and waited for it to turn red hot.
Fawn knew instantly what her mother was going to do. She grabbed hold of Lilly and shoved the bewildered child back through the bedroom door she had just barely managed to step through. She grabbed her sister by the shoulders and looked down at her with a stern look upon her face. “Stay here until I come and get you no matter what you hear, ok
Lilly simply nodded and Fawn quickly turned back to the kitchen, slamming the bedroom door shut behind her. Liv turned to look at her daughter and gestured toward her husband. “Help Alec hold him down,” she told her with a wave of her hand, still holding the poker in the flames.
Fawn’s stomach churned as she walked over to where her father was slumped in the wooden chair. Alec was already holding one arm, a hand on his shoulder and the other on his wrist, ready to hold him down if he tried to move. Fawn took up the same position on his other arm and watched as her mother walked toward them, holding the hot poker out in front of her. It glowed a fiery orange. “Hold back his shirt,” her mother ordered.
Alec grabbed hold of his brother’s shirt and ripped it away from the wound. There was a sucking sound as it was pulled away from the open bite mark. Her father began to scream as his wife pressed the burning hot end of the poker against the wound. The smell of burning flesh filled the air, and Fawn struggled not to vomit everywhere as the scent clotted in her nostrils. She was barely strong enough to hold on to her father, but found the strength as her eyes connected with her uncle’s, and he gave her a firm nod as though trying to offer her some encouragement.
Gritting her teeth she continued to hold on to her father. His struggling grew weaker, and he eventually stopped moving all together. “Is he alright?” Fawn asked, looking at her father’s ashen face with worry burning in her gut.
“He’ll be fine,” her mother assured her. “He’s just passed out from the pain.” Fawn was shocked by her mother’s words. She knew that she was a hard hearted woman, but she hadn’t expected her to speak in such a way about her father.
“What are we going to do now?” Alec asked as he removed his hands from his brother and turned to his sister-in-law. “We are one hunter down, and we can’t hold off on things
“I’m sure between the two of us we can go on as planned,” Liv insisted, though Fawn saw a flicker of concern in her mother’s eyes and knew she wasn’t as confident as she tried to sound. Her father stirred beside her then, and she realised that she was still holding on to his arm. She pulled away quickly and looked down at him, waiting to see if he would speak. She could never have been ready for the words that came from his mouth.
“Fawn will have to take my place,” he told his wife, looking at her as though he was willing her not to argue. Yet she did anyway.
“Fawn is too young and too untrained for this!” she protested, shaking her head so violently that Fawn thought she might injure herself.
“I’m ready,” Fawn said. She squared her shoulders and turned to look at her mother, trying not to give away any of the fear that was already churning in her stomach. This was the chance she had been waiting for ever since her eighteenth birthday. She couldn’t let it pass her by
“She can do this Liv,” Fawn’s father insisted as he saw the unsure look on his wife’s face. “She is your daughter, and she has our blood running through her veins. There is no way she could fail.”
“And if she is killed?” Liv protested, shaking her head again. “I can’t risk her safety.”
“You aren’t,” Fawn told her mother. “I am nineteen years old, and I am old enough to put my own safety at risk. I don’t need you to look after me anymore. Let me prove myself.”
“It’s settled then.” Her father reached up and took hold of her hand. She couldn’t help but notice how cold it was. “Fawn will go with you and Alec to the dragons’ den.”
Chapter Three
Fawn perched on the edge of the largest bed in the bedroom, beside her father who looked as though he was sleeping. He lay awkwardly from his shoulder that still pained him, and Fawn longed to take the pain away for him. Lilly had cried and cried when Alec had carried his brother into the bedroom. Evidently, she had heard his screams from the kitchen. Now she had left the bedroom with her mother and Alec so that Fawn could say a final farewell to her father before they left.
She reached for the wet cloth that sat in the bowl on the makeshift bedside table and wrung it out before dabbing her father’s forehead with it. The gentle touch woke him, and his eyes fluttered open. For a moment he seemed not to recognise her, but then the corners of his mouth slowly turned up into a smile
Fawn placed the cloth back in the water bowl and felt her father take hold of her hand. “Fawn, I want you to know that I could not be more proud of you.” He gave her hand a small squeeze as she looked down at him with a weak smile. “I have waited a long time for this moment. I wish I could be there to see you kill your first dragon.” Fawn felt a lump grow in her throat, not for the thought of killing her first dragon, but for the fact she had thought her father would be there when she did so, as well. It would not feel right without him there to guide her
“I wish you were coming too.” She struggled to speak and squeezed her father’s hand like he had hers.
“Fetch my bow and quiver,” her father told her. Fawn did so without questioning her father. She stood and walked over to the bedroom door where her father’s bow and quiver were hanging. The bow was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen. She had always admired it. Though it was made of wood, it seemed as though it was made of marble. Blue veined and beautiful, it was a graceful weapon of elven origin that had been passed down through the men in her family for generations.
When she picked it up, Fawn felt as though she was connected to all the people who had used the weapon before. It seemed that a part of each of their souls had settled into the wood.
She picked up both the bow and quiver and then returned back over to the bed. When she laid them on her father’s lap he ran his fingers over the smooth wood as though he was thinking something ove
r.
“You are going to need a good weapon on your journey,” Aaron explained, as he lifted the bow and held it out to his daughter. Fawn’s mouth dropped open as she stared at him unable to believe what he was saying.
“I have my own bow,” she protested, shaking her head, “I can’t take yours.” Aaron frowned at her and shook his head just as quickly as she had.
“You have your training bow,” he told her firmly. “That is not a weapon capable of taking down a real dragon. You need to take this one. It will protect you and keep you safe, and as long as you have it, I will be with you.” Fawn couldn’t argue with that. She took the bow from him again and when she touched it, she could almost feel the souls of its previous owners enveloping her, welcoming her into their fold. In that moment, she knew that she had been meant to hold it.
“I was never blessed with having a son, and so you will be the first woman ever to use this bow,” her father continued. “It will save your life, and those of your friends and family, more times than you will be able to count.”
“I will try to do it justice,” Fawn told her father and he smiled. When he reached up to touch her cheek, Fawn could see the tears glistening in the corners of his eyes
“Make me proud,” he told her gently. “You should go before your mother starts yelling the house down. She’ll be eager to get moving.”
Fawn picked herself up from the bed and strapped her father’s quiver and bow over her shoulder. “Wait one minute,” her father said to her just as she was about to turn and leave. She stopped and looked down at him. “Let me get a good look at you.” Fawn felt awkward as her father looked her up and down. “You go out of here a girl, but you’ll come back a woman.” Fawn could imagine how she looked to her father. She looked formidable wearing tight cow leather trousers and a tunic that were both wrapped with strap after strap holding blade after blade that she might need to use to save her life at some point in the next forty-eight hours.
