Filed to story: Reclaimed Book by Roxie Ray
“So, it really is you,” the man said. “The agent gave me your name, but I didn’t really think… Wow. It’s been a while, huh?”
Hawk looked like Stephan, except Stephan was bigger, taller, and had hazel eyes where Hawk’s were green. He looked just as shocked to see me as I felt. I had been preparing myself so intensely to see Stephan, I hadn’t allocated any energy to remembering that I’d also be seeing his entire clan.
Hawk approached me slowly, arms outstretched for a hug, and I accepted it before I even realized what was happening. He squeezed me tight, once, then stepped back. “It’s good to see you, Harley. Really. You look good.”
“You too,” I said, still shell-shocked.
“What brings you back to Lakeview?” Hawk asked. “It’s been… Hell, it’s been nearly a decade, hasn’t it?”
“Mom!” Dylan came tearing out of the ice cream shop with a cone stacked precariously high with scoops. “This place has corn flavor! It’s so weird, but it’s good, you’ve got to try it!” He stood at my side and licked a stripe up the ice cream.
Hawk stared at Dylan.
My heart began to race.
Hawk’s expression was completely blank. He didn’t look friendly and welcoming anymore. He looked cold-he looked terrifying.
His green eyes shifted to me.
“He doesn’t know,” I whispered.
Hawk closed his eyes briefly. “Harley, he’s going to lose his shit.”
“I know.”
“I’m not going to be the one to drop that bomb. That’s for sure,” Hawk said.
“Thanks,” I said, quietly.
“Whoa,” Dylan said, looking up like he’d just realized Hawk was there. “You’re tall.”
“This is Dylan,” I said.
Hawk laughed, and the warmth returned to his expression. “Yeah, I am. You might be this tall one day, too.”
Dylan rubbed his chest. “Weird.”
“What is it?” I asked.
“My dragon feels happy to see him,” Dylan said, then looked back at Hawk. “But I don’t know who you are.”
Hawk’s green eyes softened. “Your dragon recognizes its family.”
Dylan’s jaw dropped. He looked at me, then at Hawk. “Are… are you my dad?”
Hawk glanced at me with his eyebrows raised. I nodded minutely. Then Hawk laughed again and knelt, so he was on Dylan’s eye level. “No, I’m not. I’m Hawk. I’m your uncle.”
“My uncle.” Dylan’s eyes widened. “So, you know my dad?”
“A little better than I’d like to,” Hawk said.
“Wow.” Dylan rubbed his chest again. “That makes my dragon really happy.”
“Dyl, grab our bags out of the car, please,” I said. “And don’t spill any ice cream on them.”
“Okay, okay,” he said as I handed him the keys.
As Dylan fiddled with the trunk, Hawk turned back to me and ran a hand through his hair. “You’re coming to the compound. Tonight.”
“We just got in today,” I said. “And we’ve still got to figure out something about this car?-“
“We’ll handle the car,” Hawk said. “I’ll send another one of the guys from the garage to come get it. You and Dylan need to come with me.”
He glanced around, then lowered his voice. “Harley, your son is really close to his first shift. I can feel his dragon trying to break free. The longer you put this off, the harder it’s going to be for him.”
“How can you tell?” I asked.
“My dragon can feel it,” he said. “With as strong as this kid’s dragon is, I wonder if Ace is feeling something even from this distance. You really should come tonight.”
“Tonight?” Dylan asked as he plopped our bags onto the sidewalk at our feet. “Where are we going, Mom?”
I sighed. So much for the grocery run. So much for the remaining dregs of my sanity. “Looks like we’re going with Hawk, Dyl.”
ACE
Ileaned against the polished surface of the bar and shook my glass at Striker. Even though the clubhouse was packed to bursting, I was the clan alpha, and as such, Striker always had an eye on what I needed. And what I needed tonight was something strong. The booze never gave me a buzz, but that didn’t stop me from trying.
“Everything all right?” Striker asked. Although he was on bar duty tonight, he was also acting as one of our enforcers. He was tall and barrel-chested, wearing a beat-up leather jacket with our clan insignia on the back. He didn’t talk much, but he could shut down troublemakers with a single severe look-an excellent quality for an enforcer.
“Yeah, just tired.” It was more than that, but I couldn’t identify what it was. I felt… out of sorts.
Striker didn’t look convinced, but he didn’t push. He stepped to the other side of the bar to pour drinks for a few of our guests.
Around me, music and laughter rang through the dim clubhouse. It was a big, comfortable space, like a cross between a bar and a good friend’s living room. There were couches, pool tables, a large back porch, and a few stuffed deer heads mounted on the wall. It was a typical Friday night-a time for the pack to wind down, relax, enjoy a few drinks, and listen to the classic rock blasting over the speakers.
It wasn’t only our clan, though. On Fridays, the clubhouse was open to all, and the space filled with people from Lakeview and nearby towns. Most of the people who showed up were curious about shifters, or were hoping they’d get a chance to sleep with one. The booze didn’t work on shifters, but with the shifter-chasers around, it did us well to keep the bar stocked.
Yeah, it was mostly shifter-chasers tonight. Shifter-chasers were a real thing, and there weren’t a lot of dragons on the East Coast. That meant a lot of them came into our territory for a chance to see what we were about.
They weren’t all tourists, though.
My gaze slid over to the couch. One of our younger clan members was sprawled on the couch with a drink in one hand and the other on Blakely’s waist. Blakely was a tall, athletic woman with deep red hair which she wore short, like a boy’s, but in a stylish way. She called it something once when I’d teased her about it-pixie cut? Who knew. I wasn’t really interested in the nuances of her style choices. Tonight, she was wearing a plunging black tank-top and tight black jeans. She had both hands on the guy’s chest and was laughing at something he said.
She must’ve felt my eyes on her, because her gaze darted to me. She patted his chest, then slid off his lap. He looked disappointed for a second, but another girl quickly filled Blakely’s spot-definitely a benefit of a buzzing Friday night.
Blakely sauntered up to me and leaned one elbow on the bar. “Hi, Ace. You’re looking particularly pissy tonight.”
“Not pissy. Keeping an eye on things.”
“As per usual. I always say the clan alpha deserves a few more breaks. You need to blow off some steam?”
I rolled my eyes. “Cutting straight to the chase, huh?”
She hummed, then shrugged one shoulder. “Something like that.” Her fingertips danced up my torso from my belt buckle to my sternum.