Filed to story: Reclaimed Book by Roxie Ray
“Can you swim in your dragon form?”
“Of course, I can. Look at that big lake.”
We both laughed. I leaned over her and kissed her. She still smelled of sweat and sex, and my dragon rumbled with a renewed desire to claim. Our gazes met, and I knew mine was burning gold again.
“But until all this is over…” she whispered. “If you can’t claim me, I think maybe we should hold off. It seemed like it was hard for you to not do it, tonight.” She flipped the pillow over and poked at the rip in the fabric.
I cleared my throat. As much as I hated to admit it, she was right.
“I don’t want you to suffer,” she said. “I want our sex to be good.”
“It is good,” I insisted, “It’s just?-“
“It’s your dragon,” she said, smiling. “I know. And I just… I don’t want you to have to fight it.”
“I’m sorry. I know… I know it probably wasn’t fun to see me like that.”
“Hey.” She sat up and sat on the edge of the bed next to me, suddenly wide awake. She took my hand, then squeezed. I met her eyes and saw nothing but warmth there. “You didn’t scare me, if that’s what you’re thinking.”
It was as if she could read my mind.
“I want you, Steph. All of you. And that includes your dragon. But I know if you did claim me before you meant to, you wouldn’t forgive yourself. I think dealing with Sean is going to be hard enough as it is. You don’t need to worry about me and the bond on top of that.”
“I’m already worrying about you,” I said.
“You know what I mean.”
“I do.” I tucked her hair behind her ear. “Thank you. Really.”
“You’re welcome.” She kissed my shoulder. “You should shower before this meeting.”
“Hawk said the same thing.”
I showered quickly, dressed, then kissed Harley goodbye as I tucked her back into bed. Downstairs, Rome was inside to keep watch on the house, and Hawk was waiting by the door.
“You ready for this?” Hawk asked.
I clapped Rome on the shoulder in thanks, then nodded. “Ready as ever. Let’s get going.”
It was nearly dawn by the time we reached Lola’s. Levi, the lone wolf shifter who used to work for Sean, was already seated at a booth. He was drumming his fingertips anxiously on the tabletop as we approached.
Hawk and I slid into the booth across from Levi. The waitress brought us each a cup of coffee, as per usual, and gave us a severe look that made it very clear she wouldn’t be tolerating any funny business. Made sense-soon the gas-station-slash-diner would be busy with the morning rush of exhausted truckers passing through.
“Levi,” I said.
“Ace.”
“What’s this about?” I took a sip of my coffee. I needed it, especially since I barely got any sleep. “You made it clear you were leaving town for good.”
Levi sighed. He looked haggard, exhausted, with dark circles under his eyes and grease at the roots of his dark, messy hair. “I intended to, trust me. But I still kept in contact with some of my… Well, I can’t say, friends. Colleagues, I guess. People who also worked with him. I had some business to wrap up, too.”
“As long as you stay out of mine,” I said in a low growl.
“I don’t want anything to do with your business,” Levi said. He wasn’t intimidated by my growl at all, which made me believe he really was trying to keep his nose out of all of this. “I’m only here because I’ve heard stuff that I think you should know.”
“What is it?” Hawk asked. “What are you hearing?”
“It sounds like Sean is showing signs of going feral.”
Hawk stiffened.
I’d always known it was a threat, but if it was reaching Levi, Sean was closer than ever. A feral dragon shifter was a real danger-and a rare one, too. A feral shifter was one who had completely lost control of his instincts. He wouldn’t be able to turn human again. He’d be trapped in his dragon form. A feral shifter was impulsive, violent, and unpredictable. If Sean reached that stage, there wouldn’t be a challenge. He would come into Lakeview filled with a murderous rage, and who knew how much damage he could do before we took him down.
“My guy said he’s always got his fangs out,” Levi continued. “That he’s not always coherent. He seems like he’s checking in and out of conversations. Sometimes present, sometimes not.”
“Jesus,” Hawk muttered.
“And there’s confusion there, too,” Levi said. “Hostility. All the tell-tale signs of the dragon starting to take control.”
“When did you hear this?” I asked.
“Recently,” Levi said. “I thought you should know this sooner rather than later. I’m not a part of this mess anymore, but I don’t want to see Lakeview destroyed, you know.”
“This is bad,” Hawk said. “If he loses control, he’ll do something crazy. He’s an alpha, Ace. His need for territory will outweigh everything. If he can’t take the clan from you, he’ll try to destroy it.”
“Vengeance,” I murmured, staring down at the table.
“Sean’s not the man I knew,” Levi said. “He was never a great guy, sure, but he was never like this. He’s been ranting about you, too, Ace.”
“He’s always doing that,” Hawk said.
“It’s different this time,” Levi said.
“Levi-” I interjected.
“You need to hear this,” Levi said. “He’s been saying he should’ve killed you when he had the chance. When you were kids.”
“What?” Hawk asked, wide-eyed.
Fuck. I hadn’t wanted Hawk to know this. I wasn’t going to keep it from him forever, but I’d planned to tell him about this over a few beers out by the lake when it was all over. I knew it would hurt him, probably even more than it hurt me. I rubbed my forehead.
“Ace?” Hawk asked. “Why don’t you seem surprised by this?”
“He told me,” I said. “I’m the one who pushed him over the edge. I taunted him, egged him on to try to get him to issue the challenge. In his anger, he told me he’s always wanted to kill me.”
“Always?” Hawk asked.
“You remember that boat trip on the lake? When I fell in?”
“Yeah, of course I do. You almost drowned.” Hawk paused. “You don’t mean…”
“He pushed me in,” I said. “God knows how many other instances there were like that. Or how many times he imagined doing it.”
“Fuck.” Hawk pushed the heels of his hands into his eyes. “That’s our brother, Ace. Our brother!”
