She pushed herself up, her weight on her elbows, and looked him in the eye.
“Don’t,” he said. “This isn’t exciting or fun. I’m dangerous. I’m a risk to everyone around me.”
She raised a brow. Clearly, she didn’t believe him. A groan of frustration tightened his throat. He stepped toward her again. Ready to argue, he was caught off guard when she sat up and grabbed him. Bree yanked him onto the mattress and curled into his chest.
“Shut up,” she told him. “The green beast likes me. I can tell.”
He wrapped his arms around her. “That fucker made me bite you in the first place.”
He waited for her to jerk back and shove him away. The moment never came. Bree only snuggled closer. He thought he heard the soft sound of her snores, but she rolled those stormy sea eyes up to him.
They became distant, like her mind was somewhere else. “Setting the fire scared me. I won’t deny it. It made me think I wouldn’t be able to do anything without destroying the world around me. So, I guess I kind of understand where you’re coming from.”
A heartbeat passed.
“I won’t say this is easy, but I’m not mad. I’m glowing because I spent every hour after my shift trying to figure out how to fly. While I still can’t do it, it was honestly a lot of fun. I don’t hate what I’ve become.”
He’d witnessed her breakdown over the grassfire firsthand. That wouldn’t be her last hardship. No matter how she felt right now, things would only get harder. Especially now that they were in the middle of a war. He hadn’t meant to change her, let alone drag her into the mess that Zander had created.
He wished, frivolously, that Zander would give up on his plans. The thought remained frivolous because Zander’s pride would always outweigh any kind of rational thought. Old dragons ended up like that sometimes.
Erik wished he could do more for his clan and for Bree, but there was a reason Zander had cast him out. If this new clan were a table, Erik was the uneven leg that made it wobble. He feared the day that he would bring the whole thing crashing down. It should have taken longer, but changing Bree showed him that he couldn’t control himself as well as he would have liked.
“Don’t mess with my green dragon,” Erik said.
He waited for a response, but a minute later she snored. She’d fallen asleep in his arms after everything he’d done to her. If only he could have been a better man. Someone like Dillon or Casey would have waited for her. They would have stood on the sidelines and protected her. Erik had made the egregious mistake of thinking he needed a distraction.
His attention should have been on Bree the whole time. He didn’t deserve her, but now he knew neither beast in him would allow him near any other woman. The thought should have saddened him, after the past weeks, but he wouldn’t miss a damn night he’d ever spent with another woman.
42
Though they’d spent several days apart, Bree didn’t expect a midnight booty call. She didn’t think Erik would call her so late to hook-up, but when she answered the phone, his breath was ragged. Without explanation, she knew what was going on.
“That bastard again?” she asked.
“Nng,” was the best she got out of him.
She imagined him in the ravine again, doubled over while he fought back the beast he feared so much.
“I don’t have a car,” she said with a grimace. “It’s going to be a while before I can get there. Can you call Dillon in the meantime?”
“He and Isabella…deserve…a night without me bothering…them.” Strain twisted his words and seemed to steal his breath. “Fly to me?”
She let out a nervous laugh. “I told you, I can’t fly yet.”
Phone pressed to her ear, she shoved her feet into her boots and ran out the door. The summer night was still warm. The humidity clung to her skin like the memory of a sunny afternoon.
Erik didn’t respond. She heard a clunk and a distant groan on his end. He must have dropped the phone. She looked up into the sky and a nervous tingle jumped down her spine. She could have called someone else. Surely, she could have found a way to get ahold of one of the other shifters. Maybe even Evangeline or Isabella.
Instead, Bree marched to the edge of town. By the time she reached a secluded area, her skin had tightened so much that she felt like a balloon about to burst. Urgency hummed under her skin. She had to get to Erik as soon as possible. Though she hadn’t yet mastered flying, she would find a way. Her beast wanted to get to him.
No, it needed to get to him.
She shrugged off her jacket and paused when she heard a twig snap. Slowly, she scanned the small field. Though she saw no one, an unfamiliar scent floated on the air. The nervous energy around her spine sharpened almost painfully. She wanted to ask who was there but held her tongue.
What would Erik’s family say if a hunter caught her shifting and tried to sell photos to someone online? Would they banish her? Punish her physically? She realized she knew little about them or their ways. Though she felt a tie to Erik that she couldn’t ignore, the others were little more than acquaintances to her. She still stood on the sidelines of this world she’d been dragged into.
Another soft crack reached her ears. Either it was a bad hunter or a careless shifter. She sniffed the air and searched for the hint of smoke that gave away a dragon shifter. Whoever it was, they were still too far away.
Bree didn’t have the time to figure out how to fly. Not when someone was possibly watching her. She hated the way the back of her neck tingled. There had been that shifter she’d run into around town. She couldn’t recall his scent while her mind churned. Perhaps he wanted something from her.
She wasn’t too keen to stick around and find out. Instead of shifting, Bree hugged her jacket to her chest and made her way back to the road. She picked up pace, walking along the shoulder until the scent vanished from the air. Once she was sure she’d left the stalker behind, she asked her beast for a bit of energy.
The beast poured it into her. Exhilaration made her heart pump as she ran all the way to the cabin on the mountainside. She should have been winded by the time she reached the ravine, but her beast kept her body calm and stable. She didn’t have time to marvel at her body’s new capabilities.
Erik’s groan split the air like a saw-toothed knife. She cringed and jumped into the ditch with him. He glanced up when she reached him. Immediately, he opened his arms. She didn’t think twice about stepping into them and letting him lay his head against her chest. He released a breath, soft and untroubled.
Bree had a handful of questions burning inside her, from how often Erik had to fight the green dragon to who might have been watching her in the field. She didn’t bring any up. Not yet. She sank to the ground with Erik and held him while the tension in his body slowly drained away.
They should have discussed his green dragon and how it probably needed to be let out more, but her thoughts kept turning toward the feeling of being watched. She didn’t feel it here, at the cabin. The stalker likely hadn’t followed her. That didn’t offer as much comfort as it should have.
Her optimism about becoming a dragon shifter didn’t wane, but she could feel it being overshadowed by worry. She clung tighter to Erik, confident that he would protect her no matter what situation he was in. How she knew this, she couldn’t tell. It was an instinct deep in her core, perhaps from the new voice that occupied a corner of her mind.
Was it love? Was it a kind of attachment from being changed by him? Or was this the longing she’d felt before the change? She couldn’t sort out her feelings. Not when danger potentially loomed on the horizon.
“I don’t deserve you,” Erik said, disrupting her thoughts.
She peered down at the man she held tight.
“I betrayed you, and you still came to help me.”
“Sorry I was late,” she said softly. “I couldn’t figure out how to fly.”
Why she lied, she didn’t know. It didn’t seem like the right time to mention t
he stalker. With the dragon Erik feared trying to break free of him, she reasoned that the news might prompt the beast to make another attempt to escape.
“Tell me about your second beast,” she said. “Why do you favor the light blue dragon instead?”
He groaned. It wasn’t pained, but annoyed. “The green dragon is a monster.”
“That’s a bit extreme. Don’t you think? You aren’t a monster, so why would you think one of your dragons is one?” She ran a hand through his hair as she spoke.
“I can’t control it, Bree. I can only hold it back from what it wants. The green dragon has tried to destroy my new home. It hurt you. That should be enough evidence to prove to you that it’s a monster.”
She shrugged. “What if it’s just angry from being held back all the time? Maybe it’s trying to get back at you for being a controlling asshole.”
“You wound me,” he said.
“You did this to yourself. I’m just the messenger.”
Though Erik had changed her, he also helped her. He showed her how to control her strength, her fire. He showed up on her doorstep with a plethora of food and comforting items. She wanted to help him in return. She told herself that it was only because he had been kind, not because she loved him.
She couldn’t love him. No, she wouldn’t allow it.
He’d messed up in that department. She would be his friend and his confidante, but she wouldn’t be his lover.
“You know…” Her mind wandered and dug up something she’d set aside a while back. “You called Isabella a mate. What does that mean? Is that a dragon way of saying wife?”
His fingers dug into her lower back. He held her so tight she thought they would meld together. She realized that she wanted it, too. She wanted to become a part of his life. Not just as his friend, but as his lover. Not that Erik would ever give her that.
Before he changed her, he never noticed her. Now, he made up excuses to keep them apart. He seemed determined to put a barrier between them at all times. Well, almost all times. The barrier didn’t seem like much right now, not with his arms around her and only the night sky as their witness.
Bree hated how badly she still wanted Erik. She should have protected herself from her own feelings, but she kept leaping over every obstacle he put in her way like this was some sort of marathon. That wasn’t how relationships should work. Right?
She had so little experience with them. Her heart had never been broken. It’d never even been cherished. Sure, she’d had a few lovers here and there, but they grew tired of her before long. Either they wanted her to have more of a dream for herself or they wanted to uproot her from the simple life she’d made for herself.
If she managed to start something with Erik, would he tire of her as quickly? Would he ask her to follow him to some big city so she could watch him follow his dreams?
“Every dragon shifter has a fated mate. Even shifters who’ve been changed have mates waiting for them. We have to live with a bunch of rules, but at least we have one good thing to look forward to.” Erik breathed in like he was trying to drown in her scent.
She snorted, giving into a playful urge. “Does that mean you get two mates? Or do your beasts cancel each other out so you end up with no one?”
“I can’t believe you would kick a guy when he’s down.”
“This isn’t any lower than a normal day for you. Right?” She bit her lower lip and smirked.
“Listen here,” he said as he pushed himself up.
But he didn’t go on. He grabbed her wrists and pinned them over her head, making her heart thump and an inferno ignite in her core. Her lip slipped out from between her teeth as she let out a small sound of surprise. It turned into a moan when the inferno spiked and filled her lower region with sensation.
“Do I get to choose my mate?” she asked. “Or has the universe already decided for me? What if I don’t like the asshole the universe has chosen?”
“Then your mate will have to work hard to win you over.” He lowered his head to her throat.
She waited for the kiss that never came. Before his lips could reach her skin, someone shouted from the house. Erik was on his feet before she could recover. He passed a hand down to her and help her up so they could run toward the house together.
Anger burned beneath her skin. Whoever had screamed had stolen a perfect moment from her. She and Erik could have had something, but it had dissolved into nothing without warning. She couldn’t reach back for it, couldn’t ask Erik for a rain check.
As the anger simmered down and the heat of desire banked, she could think clearly. She should have warned someone about the stalker earlier. The scream could have been anything. Someone could have tripped and fell. But if the person she’d heard earlier had followed her…then this was all her fault.
She shouldn’t have been thinking with her libido. Being so close to Erik had muddled her mind and distracted her from what should have been a priority. The moment Erik had his beast under control, she should have said something. He had a family to protect. She might not be a part of that family, but that didn’t mean she shouldn’t have thought of the others.
They burst into the living room and both scanned the dark until a light flicked on. Bree had to blink as her eyes adjusted to the sudden glare. When her vision cleared, Gavin stood in the kitchen.
“Who screamed?” Erik asked, breathy.
Isabella lurched into the kitchen. She wore an oversized t-shirt, one that probably belonged to her mate. Dillon wasn’t far behind her, a sight that would have eased Bree’s panic had Isabella not looked so frightened. Alarm had been etched into every inch of her face.
Without thinking, Bree approached Isabella. She reached for the woman and was surprised when Isabella huddled into her arms. Dillon put a hand on Bree’s shoulder, like a silent thanks.
“Bel screamed. She says she saw someone in the window.” Dillon marched around the room and peered through every glass pane.
Cold fear doused the last of the heat in Bree. She gripped Isabella tighter.
Whoever had seen her outside of town had followed her. She opened her mouth to tell the others what she’d felt, but Gavin spoke before she could.
“If Nellie’s spell failed and one of those humans remembered their vendetta against us, then I’m going to burn the…” His nostrils flared before he growled. “I smell dragon. My father must have sent another wave of lackeys to drive us out.”
Stunned, she stared at him. She recalled Erik mentioning the fire, but there’d never been mention of any spells. Magic wasn’t even real. Not until now. Gavin’s change of direction scared her, though. She turned to Erik for answers, but the look he gave her said that he would explain later.
“Do you really think it was one of Zander’s dragons?” Erik asked. “I was making a racket outside. Someone could have headed over to check on us.”
Bree realized she’d somehow stepped from a romance story and into a thriller. She checked over both shoulders, as if the perpetrator might be right behind her. It sure felt like she’d led someone right to the cabin.
Guilt formed a knot in her chest. Isabella squeezed Bree’s arm and backed away, leaving Bree empty handed. Adrift, between knowledge that she should have done better and fear of what was coming, she didn’t know what to do until Erik took her hand. The contact grounded her, but it didn’t change anything.
“Can’t you call your father and ask why he would send someone to check on you like that?” Bree asked, feeling stupid.
Gavin snarled again.
“You should have told her,” Dillon said to Erik.
“She’s new to everything! Am I supposed to walk up to her and say sorry for fucking up your life but you’re now part of a war imposed on us by a crotchety old bastard?” Erik’s gaze flicked to her, like he belatedly realized that was exactly what he’d just done. He cringed and mouthed sorry.
As hard as she tried, Bree couldn’t process anything just then. Trouble. Danger. Her beast r
ose and wriggled, but she imagined grabbing it by the scruff as if it were a cat. The beast didn’t like it, but she couldn’t have the creature breaking out of her just because she was scared.
It fought her. It thrashed this way and that until her skull ached and her joints throbbed. She excused herself and stumbled out of the room. The beast tried to tell her that she wouldn’t be able to protect herself the way it could. If the stalker showed up, she needed to be prepared.
The beast’s words were beguiling, but she couldn’t let it out. Bree wanted to be in control. If she wasn’t in charge, then who was she? Hadn’t the beast promised to be more reasonable in the future? It’d betrayed her trust all too quickly.
“Bree? Bree!” Erik caught up to her on the patio. He grabbed her arm and spun her around.
A snarl escaped her. She clamped her hand over her mouth, alarmed that she would ever react in such a way. He didn’t seem bothered, though.
“I should have told you sooner,” he said, a note of sorrow in his voice.
The beast barraged her. It demanded to be let free. She would give in sooner or later. Her teeth hurt. She’d never realized how badly her teeth could hurt.
“Bree?” Erik hunched to look at her.
She tried to turn away and hide the struggle that she was losing. His breath hitched. She waited for him to run away and leave her on her own. No, that wasn’t right. She wasn’t alone. He would never abandon her.
“This…sucks…” she said between clenched teeth. “Is this how you feel all the time?”
He laughed. The sound eased a bit of the tension between her and her beast.
He smoothed her hair away from her face. “I’m sorry about all this. About your beast, about failing to tell you everything. Will you give me another chance?”
She held up two fingers. The ache in her head had begun to subside. “Strike number two.”
“What was strike number one? Changing you?”
Her nose wrinkled as she recalled the redhead. Bree and her beast agreed on one thing. She hated the redhead.
“I can’t take back anything I did, but…” Erik paused.
Rogue Dragons Series: Box Set Books 1-5 Page 35
