The Dragon's Mate (Book Seven) Read online

  “What if he doesn’t wake up?” Tyler said. “What if he -”

  “Oh, he’ll wake up, don’t you worry. Fox shifters got heads like rocks,” Gram said. “Now, let me take a look at your knuckles while we wait for your boyfriend to come to.”

  He blinked at her and she chuckled. “I might be old, but I still know a thing or two about love.” She took his hand and surprised him by leaning in and inhaling deeply. “Plus, you got his scent all over you.”

  They must be bear shifters, Tyler decided. If she could smell Corey’s scent on him, she had to be a paranormal. He flinched when Gram probed at his bruised knuckles and she made a sound of sympathy.

  “Ayuh, I imagine that hurts. Well, don’t you fret – old Gram has a poultice that will ease the pain and help with the swelling.” She pinched his cheek and returned to the stove.

  Using his left hand, Tyler fumbled his cell phone out of his pocket and groaned to himself. He had two missed calls and three texts from his brother.

  “I need to call my brother and tell him I’m okay,” he said to Kaida. “I was supposed to meet him over an hour ago and he’s freaking out. I’ll, um, ask him to come by and get me, all right?”

  He stared anxiously at the dark-haired woman. Truthfully, he wasn’t going anywhere until Corey woke up, but the thought of being alone with a bunch of bear shifters as darkness fell was making him nervous.

  Kaida glanced at Gram and a silent communication seemed to pass between them. Gram stirred the liquid in the pot. “That’s fine, dearie. Call your brother. Tell him the road is off highway fifteen. If he gets lost, he can -”

  “He won’t get lost,” Tyler said. “We grew up around this area.”

  Chapter Two

  He drove up to the front of her cabin with a recklessness that raised her eyebrows. She was standing on the porch and he slid out of the SUV, slamming the door and bounding up the stairs with an easy grace. The man in front of her was tall with wide shoulders and a narrow waist. His dark hair was a little on the long side and his lower jaw was covered in dark stubble. She inhaled deeply. God, he smelled delicious for a human. She studied his light blue eyes that were dark with anxiety.

  “Tyler! Where is he?” His tone was worried and impatient.

  She opened the front door and he pushed past her. As he hurried to the table, she watched the large muscles in his back before dropping her gaze downward. He was wearing faded jeans that clung to his ass and she could feel the warmth starting in her stomach almost immediately. She snorted to herself and forced her gaze away. She needed a human like she needed another hole in her head.

  “Tyler? Are you all right?” The man knelt next to Tyler who was sitting at the table. He touched his head.

  “I’m fine. I hurt my hand when I punched Jeff in the face,” Tyler replied.

  “Is it broken?” He examined the wet cloth that was draped over Tyler’s knuckles. “What is that?”

  “It’s a poultice,” Tyler said.

  “It smells like a dead dog.” The man grimaced and Kaida hid her smile. The poultice really did smell like death and it would take forever for the smell to dissipate. She’d have to sleep with every window open tonight.

  While she and everyone else in their clan had no need for Gram’s poultices, it hadn’t stopped the old woman from learning the art of healing. Call it a side hobby.

  “Yeah, but it’s making my hand feel better,” Tyler said.

  The man glanced at Gram who was sitting next to Tyler.

  “Hi, I’m Gram. What’s your name?”

  “Bren Matthews.” He held out his hand and she shook it, a smile creeping onto her face.

  “Bren?” Gram glanced at Kaida. “German descent, is that right?”

  Bren nodded and Gram’s smile widened. “Meaning flame?”

  “I guess. I don’t really know,” he said absently.

  “Pretty sure that’s what it means,” Gram replied cheerily. “You’re a good-lookin’ devil then, aren’t you?”

  Bren blinked at her. “Uh, thanks.”

  “You’re welcome.”

  “Tyler, are you sure you’re okay?” Bren looked his brother over anxiously.

  “Yeah, I told you on the phone I was okay.”

  Bren touched the top of Tyler’s hand, frowning when the teenager hissed out a breath and pulled his hand away. “This might be broken.”

  “His hand isn’t broken, just bruised,” Gram said.

  “Are you a doctor?” Bren asked.

  “Nope. But I’ve seen my fair share of injuries over the years.” Gram smiled at him again.

  “You’re going to the hospital for an X-ray,” Bren said to Tyler.

  “I don’t need one,” Tyler protested. “It’s already feeling better. I swear, Bren.”

  “Tell me exactly what happened,” Bren said.

  “Corey and I rode our bikes out to the edge of the woods after school. We were going to go hang out by the river for a while. I guess Jeff and the others followed us. They caught us kissing and -”

  Tyler’s voice clogged in his throat and his face turned pale. Kaida watched as Bren squeezed his shoulder gently. “It’s okay, Tyler.”

  “Jeff called us faggots and said that we were going to find out what happened to faggots like us,” Tyler whispered. “I punched Jeff in the face and yelled at Corey to run but the other boys started hurting him. They were kicking and punching him and -”

  He stopped, blinking back tears as Bren squeezed his shoulder again. “They wouldn’t stop hitting him, Bren, and Jeff had me in a chokehold and I – I couldn’t get free. I tried to stop them. I swear.”

  “I know,” Bren said reassuringly. “It wasn’t a fair fight, Tyler. Where’s Corey?”

  “On the couch.”

  Bren stood and glanced over the top of the couch. His mouth dropped open and he turned to stare at Tyler again.

  “I didn’t know he was a shifter,” Tyler whispered. “He never told me. One of them kicked him in the face and he shifted before he lost consciousness.”

  “How did you get away?” Bren asked.

  “She saved us.” Tyler looked over Bren’s shoulder at her. Bren followed his gaze and a shiver went down her back when he studied her eyes. Her dragon made an odd sound – something between a growl and a mating call - and she twitched in surprise.

  “Thank you,” Bren said.

  She focused on a spot on the wall just over his left shoulder. Staring directly at the human was making her dragon weird. “You’re welcome.”

  “It was amazing, Bren,” Tyler said. “Kaida kicked the shit out of all four of them. They didn’t stand a chance.”

  Bren took another look at her, his gaze lingering on her eyes. This time her dragon made what was definitely a mating call and she briefly considered running from the cabin and hiding in the woods for a few hours. What the hell was going on with her dragon?

  “Corey needs to go to the hospital.” Bren was still looking at her and her dragon practically rolled over and showed her goddamn belly to the human.

  Stop it, you idiot!

  Her dragon hissed grumpily at her and she tasted smoke in the back of her throat. Jesus, the last thing she needed to do was start spewing smoke out of her mouth and nose in front of two humans. She inhaled the smoke that lingered in her mouth and throat.

  She moved to the couch – she needed to do something to distract her dragon - and knelt next to the fox shifter. “Not when he’s in his shifter form.” She stroked the fox’s fur. “Until he wakes up and shifts to his human form, there’s no point in taking him to the hospital.”

  “He could have a concussion or internal injuries,” Bren argued. “We can’t -”

  The fox made a soft whining noise and twitched under Kaida’s hand. Tyler dropped the poultice on the table and hurried over to join them.

  “Corey?” he said anxiously. “Can you hear me?”

  The fox twitched again before his eyes opened. He stared unblinkingly at Tyler before ab
ruptly shifting. Kaida grabbed the blanket draped over the back of the couch and covered Corey’s naked body.

  “Corey!” Tyler sat beside him and touched the boy’s forehead. “How do you feel?”

  “My head hurts,” Corey rasped as Gram pushed past Tyler and laid her worn hand on his shoulder.

  “Stay still, boy. Let me have a look at you, all right?”

  She patted Tyler’s shoulder. “Why don’t you wait outside with your brother and Kaida?”

  “I want to stay here with him,” Tyler said.

  “I know, dearie, but it’ll only be a few minutes. Go on now. Be a sweet boy and listen to Gram.” Her grandmother’s voice was firm.

  Tyler hesitated and then squeezed Corey’s hand. “I’ll be outside, Corey.”

  Bren took Tyler’s arm and guided him outside. Kaida shut the door behind them and sat down on one of the wicker chairs as Bren paced back and forth.

  “I’m going to the school first thing on Monday and talking to the principal.” He raked his hand through his hair. “This is going beyond bullying. You and Corey could have been killed.”

  “No, Bren. Don’t do that,” Tyler pleaded. “It’ll make it worse.”

  Bren stared at him in disbelief. “Tyler, do you understand what I said? You could have died. This asshole kid needs to be expelled and his parents need to know what he’s done.”

  “If he’s expelled, he’ll go after Corey and me again,” Tyler argued. “You know that, Bren.”

  “I can’t sweep this under the rug, Tyler. Hell, I should arrest this kid for assault.”

  “Bren, no!” Tyler nearly shouted. His entire body was trembling lightly, and Kaida could smell the tangy scent of his fear. “That will make it worse. Don’t you get it? He knows I’m gay now. The best thing we can do is lay low, hope that he doesn’t -”

  “Doesn’t what? That homophobic asshole won’t leave you alone. What would you have me do? You need to be protected, and I can’t follow you around. I have to work and -”

  “You could teach him to fight.” She mentally berated herself for interrupting. This wasn’t any of her business.

  “Stay out of this,” Bren said.

  Anger rippled through her even though the human was right. Still, just because it wasn’t her business, didn’t mean she wasn’t making a good point. “If he knew how to fight, he could protect himself.”

  “Listen, I appreciate what you did to save my brother, but -”

  “She’s right, Bren,” Tyler said. “If I could fight like Kaida, this wouldn’t have happened.”

  Bren blew his breath out. “Tyler, fighting isn’t going to solve the problem.”

  “Nothing will solve the problem,” Tyler said, his voice tinged with anger. “Don’t you get that, Bren? You think that going to the principal, that meeting with Jeff’s parents will solve the problem, but it won’t! He might back off for a few weeks or even a few months, but sooner or later he’ll come after us again. You have no idea what it’s like to go to school every day and pray that you aren’t noticed. To hope that Jeff and his stupid football buddies don’t pay any attention to you. I can’t go on like this! I can’t! And now that they know about Corey and me and that Corey is a shifter, it’ll get worse. I need to learn to fight! I’m not a child!”

  The tears that Kaida sensed had been threatening for hours finally erupted. Tyler sat down with a heavy thud on the top step, burying his face in his arm.

  Bren crouched beside him and rubbed his back. “I’m sorry, Ty.”

  “Don’t.” Tyler shifted away from him.

  Bren scooted closer and rubbed his back again. “Ty, look at me.”

  “Leave me alone!” Tyler shouted and shoved him hard. Not expecting it, Bren fell back onto his ass with a hard thump.

  Tyler flinched and cradled his hand against his chest. “Please leave me alone.”

  The genuine fear and sorrow in his voice made Kaida’s chest ache. She stood and joined Tyler on the front step, sitting next to him and putting her arm around his thin body. To her surprise, Tyler threw one arm around her waist and buried his face in her neck. She rocked him back and forth as she rubbed his back.

  “There, there, mostoirín,” she murmured. “It’ll be all right.”

  She continued to rock him back and forth and pressed a kiss against the top of his head. Tyler’s shuddering slowed and he sat up, wiping at his nose and knuckling away the tears that still sat on his cheeks. He stared at the step between his feet, his cheeks a dull red, before muttering, “Sorry.”

  “You have nothing to be sorry about, mostoirín,” she said.

  “What does that mean?” Tyler asked.

  “Mostoirín is an Irish word,” she replied. A hint of red was climbing into her own cheeks.

  “What does it mean?” Tyler repeated.

  “My little darling.” Her cheeks were very red now and she gave Tyler an embarrassed look. “Sorry, I picked that up from Gram.”

  “I don’t mind.” Tyler smiled faintly and she squeezed the back of his neck.

  Bren sat down beside them, and Tyler said, “Sorry. I shouldn’t have shoved you.”

  “I get it, kid. You’ve had a rough day,” Bren said.

  “Yeah,” Tyler said. “I need to learn to fight, Bren.”

  “I know.” Bren stared moodily at his vehicle. “I’ll teach you some self-defence moves, and we’ll get you into some classes at the -”

  “Kaida could teach me to fight,” Tyler said.

  Bren shook his head. “No, buddy. That’s not a good idea.”

  “It is,” Tyler insisted. He stared pleadingly at Kaida. “You can teach both Corey and me. If we can do what you can do, then we’ll be able to protect ourselves the next time Jeff tries something. Please, Kaida.”

  Spending time with the humans was the absolute worst idea in the world. She opened her mouth to say no and almost choked in surprise when her dragon pushed forward and said, “Yes.”

  Bren stiffened, the slightest hint of unease flickering across his face. She got it. Unlike other shifters, dragons could speak the human language but the sound of it wasn’t exactly music to the ears. Her voice had sounded much deeper and thicker than her normal speaking voice – like she was gargling with sand.

  Tyler hadn’t appeared to notice her not quite human sounding response. Happiness was washing over him in waves and his body was humming with excitement. “Yeah?”

  Afraid her dragon would make another push for control if she didn’t agree with it, she nodded. “Yes. I’ll teach you to fight.”

  “Thank you, Kaida,” Tyler said.

  The door opened and Gram stuck her head out. “You can come back in, Tyler.”

  He stood and followed Gram eagerly into the cabin as Bren sat down on the step next to her. He wasn’t sitting that close, but she immediately shifted away. Unbelievably, her dragon purred to the human and her eyes widened. Shit. Had she purred out loud?

  The human wasn’t staring at her like he’d heard the purr, but unease crowded into her chest. What the fuck was wrong with her dragon?

  * * *

  Kaida was undeniably gorgeous, Bren decided. Her pale skin and long dark hair were a striking combination and he stared at the streaks of blue in her hair for a moment before he shifted his gaze downward. The odd cloak she was wearing hid the curves of her body but a woman as tall as Kaida would have full breasts and hips.

  He felt an unexpected bite of lust and didn’t look away when she turned to face him. Her eyes were stunning – an odd golden colour that fascinated him. There were small flecks of blue in the gold and he leaned a little closer. Contacts, he decided, she must be wearing contacts. No one – shifter or human – had eyes that colour.

  “You’re staring.”

  He twitched when he felt her hand on his broad chest. She pushed him back, not that lightly, and frowned. “It’s rude to stare at a person like that.”

  “Sorry.” He stared at the other cabins scattered throughout the trees bef
ore raking his hand through his hair. Anger was bubbling up inside of him again and he wanted to jump in his car, drive to that asshole teenager’s house, and arrest the little shithead for battery.

  “Thank you for helping him,” he said.

  “You’re welcome.” She studied her hands for a moment. “I’ll teach him and the fox to fight, but it won’t do them much good if the other boys go after them again right away.”

  He sighed. “I know. I’ll have to talk to the school, at least let them know the bullying is out of control and ask them to keep a close eye on the boys.”

  “Do you think that will work?”

  “Honestly? No. But I don’t know what else to do. I guess I could talk to Dad about pulling him from school, maybe transfer him somewhere else to finish the year, but then he’ll want to know why and Tyler… he won’t want him knowing any details.”

  He swallowed down his bitter laugh. If his father knew Tyler was gay, he’d lose his shit. The man didn’t just have a problem with shifters. He was also a homophobe, a misogynist, a racist, and a shitty father. If asked, Bren would be hard-pressed to say one good thing about the man who shared his DNA. Excellent at bullshitting the general public, maybe.

  He stared at his hands. He needed to be figuring out how to keep Tyler safe, not worrying about his asshole of a father. “It’s before and after school that I’m really worried about. Even if he comes straight home after classes, there’s still the opportunity for them to go after him when he’s biking home.”

  He paused. “I could try and be there to drive him and Corey home every day, but my job isn’t exactly a nine to five. I work weird hours and if I’m on a case, I might not be able to get away to drive him home.”

  “A case?” Kaida said.

  “I’m a detective with the fifty-third precinct,” Bren replied.

  “Tyler doesn’t strike me as the type who likes to be babysat anyway,” Kaida said.

  He snorted. “Yeah, he isn’t. He’s scared but he’ll also be pissed about being watched like a child. I don’t blame him. Those pricks are the ones who deserve to be punished, yet he’ll be the one being punished. He deserves to live a normal life, and to not have to worry about being beat up because of who he loves.”