Dragon Born 1: The Shifter's Hoard

by Dante King

  It was. By the time we got to the living room, even the fear of being discovered had come second to my hunger. I felt ravenous, like I hadn’t eaten in weeks, even though it had been barely twelve hours since my last meal.

  Was this another side effect of my powers? I’d have to keep an eye on it.

  Soojin stood in the kitchen, her back to both of us as she stirred a pan full of scrambled eggs. “There you are,” the apothecary said, glancing over her shoulder. “I was wondering when you two were finally going to get up. Have a seat at the table—breakfast will be ready in a minute.”

  I felt a hot flush covering my cheeks. Yet neither Soojin or Carli seemed the least bit put out by the situation.

  “Geez, you didn’t need to do all this!” Carli said, taking a seat at the table. “Where’d you get all this food, anyway? I know I didn’t have this in the mini fridge!”

  “Placed a pick up order a few blocks away,” Soojin confessed, working the oven. “Don’t worry, I didn’t let anyone trace it back to the hideout. I just wanted to fix something nice for you two—and I needed supplies for Raya.”

  “How is she, by the way?” I asked, grateful for the change in topic.

  As I sat down, I caught my reflection in a nearby mirror—and realized that not only did I have scratch marks on my back, there was a bite next to my shoulder that Carli had left during her first orgasm. Anyone who looked at me knew exactly what I’d been doing with Carli last night—and that I’d been doing it rough.

  “A lot better,” Soojin said, carrying the bacon and eggs to the table. She set the delicious meal down, the smell of it making my mouth water. “She’ll actually be joining us in just a few minutes. I told her she should stay in bed, but she insisted.”

  Mom!? My cheeks felt as hot as an open oven. “Shit, maybe I should get dressed…”

  Both Soojin and Carli shared a look. “Uh, why?” Carli asked. “She’s your Mom, dude. I’m sure she’s seen you without a shirt before.”

  How the hell could I explain this?

  “I just don’t think she should see me lounging around half naked with two women,” I said, trying to put things daintily. “Plus there’s the… the…”

  I gestured at the bite mark, and both women laughed.

  “Fair enough,” Soojin said, rolling her eyes. “Raya’s no prude, though. From the way she talks about grandkids, she’ll probably be thrilled to find out you two hit it off. Let me grab your shirt from the wash—I’ll be right back.”

  “The wash?” Soojin had found the evidence of me fucking Carli, and then decided to launder my clothes. Clearly, supernatural women were nothing like the girls I knew back in the mundane world.

  Once Soojin was gone, Carli turned to me. “You look like you’re about to piss yourself,” she joked, piling a bunch of eggs and several pieces of bacon onto her plate. There was a goblet of orange juice, too. “Either that, or you think we’re going to kill you.”

  I couldn’t control my blush, but I could take control of the situation.

  “This is all just a lot to take in,” I said, serving myself a hearty portion of breakfast. “Last night, I told you that I’d been intimate with your friend, and it just made you want to have sex with me more. Then Soojin woke up to find us in bed together, and she decided to fix us breakfast and clean my clothes.”

  “Yeah? And?”

  I struggled to find the right words. “Let’s just say that if a normie girl gave me a blowjob, then found me in bed with a different girl the next morning, fixing breakfast would be the last thing on her mind.”

  Carli snorted. “Well, that’s why normie girls suck. Are you going to eat, or not?”

  As if on cue, my stomach gave an embarrassing rumble. I couldn’t wait any longer—I needed to chow down.

  The eggs and bacon tasted delicious, seasoned to perfection and made with love. I’d finished almost the entire plate before I knew it.

  I’d been so concentrated on the food, I barely noticed when Soojin came back in. A wadded up T-shirt lay in her hand, and she placed it next to my plate before seating herself across from me. “There you go,” she said.

  It smelled vaguely of lavender. A fabric softener, maybe? The shirt was still warm from the dryer and felt great on my chest.

  “That should help you cover up a bit,” Carli said, the corner of her mouth curled in a smirk. “Sooj, did you hear this stuff Derek was telling me about normie girls?”

  Soojin probably hadn’t heard our conversation, but she understood completely. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to guess what the two of us had been discussing.

  “I know it seems strange to you, Derek,” Soojin explained, spreading her hands in a gesture for patience. “After all, you know very little of shifter dynamics and what clans are like. But an arrangement like what you’ve begun with the two of us is actually very common.”

  Both women shared a look, a little spark passing between them. Carli nodded, and I felt even more confused than before.

  “Arrangement?” I took a sip of orange juice to cover my unease. “What kind of arrangement?”

  “It’s often expected in some clans for an older shifter, one either past her childbearing years or near the end of them, to live with a younger shifter couple,” Soojin explained. “She acts in a teaching role, and provides help with room and board for the young shifters so they can focus on their primary duty to the clan.”

  “Making kittens,” Carli said, cocking an eyebrow.

  I nearly spit out my drink. “So all that talk about getting pregnant while we were in bed together,” I whispered, the realization dawning. “That wasn’t just you being kinky, was it?”

  Carli shook her head. “As a female shifter, I desperately want to breed. But having a bunch of children running around would also severely impact my ability to contribute to the clan. Which is why this arrangement is so frequent among shifters in groups.”

  I struggled to understand. “As a caretaking arrangement, right? Like a live-in nanny or something like that.”

  Soojin stared at me blankly for a long moment, then tossed back her head and laughed. “Of course not, young man!” she said, tittering over her bacon. “What a silly notion. We would both be your partner, of course. In bed and out of it. It’s just that you’d be focusing on breeding Carli, while your relationship with me would merely be about pleasure.”

  “Like random blowjobs in the shower,” I said, the realization slapping me in the face. Holy shit. How had I set this up with these two women without even realizing it?

  “Look at him,” Soojin purred, sharing a knowing smile with Carli. “What’s that you always say about blowing normie minds, Carli?”

  Carli leaned over and put a hand on top of mine. “Derek, relax. No one’s saying you have to start a family or anything like that right now. I’m just saying this is the way shifters do things, the way they set things up, and if you want that, well… it’s here for you.” The two women shared another look. “Frankly, you’d be a little silly to say no.”

  I chewed my food silently, working through my emotions.

  “I thought I was having no strings attached sex with you,” I told Carli, washing down my last bite of food with the final bit of the orange juice. “And I didn’t know what I was doing with Soojin, other than that I liked it. The fact that this was all setup for some kind of… I don’t know, polygamist relationship, feels a little strange…”

  Soojin looked as if she might have said too much. “Well, I’ll tell you what,” the apothecary said, smiling sympathetically. “Why don’t we just take things as they come for now? You’ve bonded with us now, Derek, and if shifters are one thing, they’re faithful. We’ll be yours for as long as you’ll have us.”

  I thought about that look Carli had in her eyes last night while I was plunging into her from behind. It hadn’t been love, exactly—not in the ordinary, human sense of the term. It was more like ownership. Like Carli was saying I was her mate, her man. Like something out of the
fucking animal kingdom.

  Well shit. I was part animal, right? The Dragon lived inside me, guiding my actions when the rage in my chest took hold. I could understand that.

  “Am I interrupting something?” a voice asked.

  All three of us rose from our seats as the kitchen door opened. Mom stood in the doorway, looking much improved from the last time I’d seen her. She wore a big puffy bathrobe and looked like she’d just gotten out of the shower.

  She took in the sight of all three of us with a chuckle, gesturing for us to sit down. “All of you calm down,” she said, laughing. “I’m perfectly capable of handling myself. Please, finish your breakfast.”

  Soojin guided Mom into the empty chair at the table, while I filled her plate with food. Knowing Mom, she’d pick at it and only eat a little, but she needed her strength.

  “We were just discussing our relationship,” Soojin explained, gesturing at me. “Carli and I told your son about the… unconventional nature of shifter bonds, and he’s a little skittish about entering into a formal relationship with two women so quickly.”

  “I wouldn’t say I’m being skittish…”

  Mom gave me a no-nonsense look. “Pish tosh,” she said, waving away my concerns with a gesture. “It’s about time you started giving me some grandkids, Derek. I might not have that much time left, you know!”

  “You have plenty of time,” Soojin assured Mom, pouring her a glass of orange juice.

  “Well, there’s no time like the present,” Mom insisted, giving me a hard glare. “Don’t you dare waste this opportunity, son. Soojin is a good woman—I’ve known her ever since both of us were Carli’s age. She’s exactly who you need to guide you through the world of mages and shifters. Carli, I don’t know you as well as I like, but you seem like a very nice girl. I’m glad you and my son make each other happy.”

  “Thanks, ma’am!” Carli beamed.

  Wait, what the fuck? It almost felt like my mom had set me up in some kind of arranged marriage. Except instead of some homely girl, it was with a catgirl who looked like a supermodel and the hottest MILF I’d ever met.

  “This is… crazy,” I said, shaking my head. “I can’t believe I’m talking about this kind of thing with my own mother present,” I muttered under my breath.

  “What, do you think I was born yesterday?” Mom chuckled and shook her head. “Every mother wants to secure a better future for her son, Derek. I don’t want you out there still single and looking for love when you’re thirty. It’s time you started making a home, a family—and some grandkids.” Mom grinned like a fucking shark. “They’re so cute, don’t you know?”

  I sighed, staring down at my now-empty breakfast plate. “I’m really glad I put a shirt on before you came out here.”

  All three women laughed at that. They sounded like they’d been in on this from the beginning, like it was some brilliant plan they’d hatched over drinks some night. Planning my future.

  Sure, it was weird, but Soojin and Carli seemed to get me, at a deeper level than any women I’d been with before. Maybe there was something to this whole shifter bond thing?

  “Not to change the subject,” Mom said, tucking into her eggs, “but I’ve been busy this morning. I hope none of you have plans for this afternoon—because we’ve got a very important meeting to go to.”

  Soojin’s head gave a little jerk, her interest piqued. “Raya. What have you been up to?”

  Mom grinned, and suddenly she and Soojin looked like they were each about twenty-five. “Oh, the usual trouble. Those wolf shifters who broke into my condo were Crescent Clan—who are already on thin ice with the other shifter packs. They’re claiming ‘rogue elements’ within the clan decided to move against me without proper authorization, but everyone knows that’s bunk. The important thing is, they want to formally apologize to me for the inconvenience.” Mom paused, savoring the moment. “At a Council of Wand & Claw.”

  Jaws dropped around the table. Mine wasn’t one of them.

  “Oh, the supernatural UN,” I said, repeating what Carli had told me last night over drinks.

  Mom gave me a look like I’d suddenly grown a second head. “Where on Earth did you hear that!?” she asked.

  A glance at Carli confirmed it. The shifter’s lips disappeared, a blush rising to her cheeks.

  “I may have oversimplified things,” she whispered, nodding in my direction. “He was curious!”

  Mom cleared her throat. “A Council of Wand & Claw is the most hallowed meeting of shifters and mages. They only happen on very specific occasions—the fact that they’re calling one now for an incident of this magnitude tells me I’m not really the main event. More like I’m an appetizer for whatever’s really going on.”

  “I agree,” Soojin said, looking troubled. “Not that you’re not important, Raya. But a full Council meeting to have the Crescent Clan deliver an apology? Something’s going on.”

  “Either way, it’s today,” Mom said, nibbling with satisfaction at her bacon. “Soojin, one of these days you’re going to have to share the recipe for this breakfast with me. Is that brown sugar I taste in this bacon?”

  Soojin ignored that. “They’re calling it that soon?”

  Mom nodded.

  At my blank, uncomprehending look, Soojin realized she had some explaining to do. “The last Council of Wand & Claw happened over twenty years ago,” the apothecary explained.

  I vaguely remembered Carli telling me it had happened right before she was born. A little over twenty years old sounded like a good enough guess for her age, though I never would have been fool enough to ask her directly. I nodded.

  “Ever since that meeting, there’s been an amnesty between mages and shifters,” Soojin said. “There’ve been minor instances of fights between them, of course, although some people’s talk of a Cold War between the mages and shifters these last two decades is somewhat overblown. The last Council established peace between our peoples, ended the war ripping through the supernatural world.” Soojin stared down at the floor. “There’s a lot of risk involved in a new Council. If it goes bad, those old tensions could flare right back up again.”

  “Which is probably why they want to have the apology,” Carli surmised. “You don’t think the Council is about the increased sightings of supernatural creatures, do you?” She nudged me. “Like the sewer troll. Shit like that’s been happening a lot for the last few years—and someone has to be causing it. Either a powerful mage or a band of shifters, hiding out of sight.”

  “It’s possible,” Mom said with a shrug, but I could tell she didn’t believe that. “Regardless, I am not about to miss the first Council to happen in my son’s lifetime. And neither is he.”

  I glanced around the table, the implication settling in. “We’re all going?”

  “You bet,” Mom said with a nod. “You’re going to be there, to witness the Crescent Clan apologizing for the attempt on my life. We’re all going to have very good seats—and the whole supernatural world will get to see you sitting right between my best friend and this pillar of the hunter community.”

  Her goal couldn’t have been more obvious. “My new relationship,” I grunted, peeved to have been outflanked so easily.

  “I know you want to keep it casual,” Mom said breezily. “That’s how your generation does everything. But do an old woman a favor, son, please. Put on something nice and go out with your girls. Make me proud—and let all those old mage bats who told me I’d never have grandkids eat crow.”

  I looked around the table. “I… sure,” I said, nodding. It was an easy enough request to grant, after all.

  Then I remembered there was another group who were trying to kill us last night.

  “What about the mages?” I asked. “It wasn’t just wolf shifters who were looking for you.”

  “Oh, them,” Mom said. “They were simply opportunists from a very different group, although I wouldn’t have put it past them to have been working with the wolf shifters. You don’
t need to worry about them. In fact, I’d say whoever sent them is being dealt with as we speak.” Mom gave me a sweet smile that was totally at odds with her words. I couldn’t help but wonder exactly how little I knew about my own mother. “You should focus on having a good time at the Council. They can be such a blast.”

  Mom clapped her hands together, looking pleased as punch. “Wonderful! It’s settled. Soojin, dear, would you make sure all of us have something nice to wear—

  Mom froze.

  Carli and I looked at her, then each other.

  “Mom?” I said, approaching her. “Are you feeling al—”

  Mom shook her head. “Yes… yes,” she said. “Sorry. Sometimes I just… It’s calling me again. I have to go.”

  “Calling you?” I asked. “What do you mean? Who’s calling you?”

  Mom shook her head and sighed. “Those mages you dealt with last night?”

  “It’s about them?” I asked.

  “That’s right.”

  “I’ll tell you everything all in good time, Derek, I promise.” She pursed her lips. “But for now, I have to go. You’ll need to accept the apology on my behalf.” She shot a glance at Carli and Soojin. “Take care of him, alright?”

  Carli nodded.

  Mom flicked her wrist at the wall. A portal sputtered into life. It was the only way I could describe it. The magical gateway was like something out of Stargate, except it glowed a deep purple and thrummed with energy that made skin on my arm tingle.

  After one last, loving look at me, Mom turned sharply.

  I reached for her. “Mom, wait—”

  But I was too late. She was gone, leaving only the gentle sizzle of the portal as it snapped shut.

  Soojin sighed. “Don’t worry about it. That’s the fifth time she’s done that to me, y’know?”

  I’d only just found out I was a shifter and a mage, and now my mother had disappeared to who-knew-where.

  I swallowed the lump in my throat. Like it or not, I was going to have to forge ahead on my own.

  Next step: The Council of Wand & Claw.