Guards to the Dragon Read online

  Guards to the Dragon

  A Paranormal Reverse Harem Romance

  Kayla Wolf

  Copyright © 2019 by The Wolf Sisters Books.

  All rights reserved. This copy is intended for the original purchaser of the book only. No part of this book may be reproduced, scanned, or distributed in any printed or electronic form, including recording, without prior written permission from the publisher, except for brief quotations in a book review.

  This book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents either are products of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

  Contents

  Chapter 1 — Amara

  Chapter 2 — Tobiah

  Chapter 3 — Amara

  Chapter 4 — Cole

  Chapter 5 — Amara

  Chapter 6 — Luke

  Chapter 7 — Amara

  Chapter 8 — Beckett

  Chapter 9 — Amara

  Chapter 10 — Tobiah

  Chapter 11 — Amara

  Chapter 12 — Luke

  Chapter 13 — Amara

  Chapter 14 — Cole

  Chapter 15 — Amara

  Chapter 16 — Beckett

  Chapter 17 — Amara

  Chapter 18 — Tobiah

  Chapter 19 — Amara

  About the Author

  Books by The Wolf Sisters

  Chapter 1 — Amara

  Amara stirred honey into her tea, gazing meditatively into the depths of the liquid. For all that she appreciated her solitude, she was beginning to miss having tea with her friends from back in the Valley. The first few weeks away had been incredibly liberating, but now, a month into her stay, she was starting to miss having company.

  Maybe David is around, she thought to herself, lifting the warm mug of tea in her hands and padding out to the little balcony that was attached to her cottage. There was an old rocking chair out there, and a beautiful view of the little town in the valley below. Though ‘town’ was a strong word—it wasn’t much more than a slightly more built-up section of a long road that ran right through the middle of Colorado. But it had a name, and that made it a town. And it was the perfect place for a dragon like her to get some alone time. Just populous enough that she could head down to buy what she needed, but not so busy that anyone was going to notice that she wasn’t exactly a normal person.

  And neither was her neighbor. She’d been surprised to find out that he even existed, nearly two months ago now when she’d first gone to her aunt to suggest that she move out for a little while. She’d been apprehensive, worried about what the domineering woman would say—but to her surprise, her aunt had not only agreed that it was a good idea, she’d had a place in mind for Amara to go and stay.

  “We own a couple of cabins down south,” Mary had explained. “They’re a little close to a human settlement, but you’ll be smart, I’m sure.”

  Amara had nodded, not having the heart to tell her aunt that she’d hardly spent five minutes in her dragon form—her ‘true’ form, or so the older dragons referred to it—in more than a year. She was more than happy to masquerade as a human. After all, it wasn’t like being a dragon had done her any favors.

  “You’ll have a neighbor, of course,” Mary had said, and Amara had blinked.

  “A human?”

  “No, a dragon. William’s son.”

  “William has a son?” Amara had been legitimately shocked by this news. The stuffy old patriarch had two daughters, but this was the first she’d heard about a son. “Why doesn’t he live up here?”

  “Oh, who knows about that family?” Mary had said dismissively. But Amara had been curious about the neighbor—and rather excited to meet him. A rather romantic part of her hoped—probably against all reason—that this mysterious stranger was her soulmate. After all, their King had found his soulmate in the last place he’d expected … a human woman, no less. They’d recently even welcomed a baby into their lives—it was the talk of the settlement. And usually, Amara would have been all over gossip like that. She was good friends with the royal family, after all (despite some lingering awkwardness with Samuel, the King’s brother) and was in an excellent position to snoop for details. But lately, her attentions had been elsewhere. The settlement was a lovely place to call home… but she’d been feeling trapped there for years. She’d wanted some time to herself, some time to think and figure out what she wanted to do with her life. And a cabin a few hundred miles south of the settlement—well, it wasn’t exactly the other side of the world, but it was a good start.

  As she slid open the screen door that separated her little cabin from the outside world, she smiled to see a familiar face on the balcony. There were three cabins in total up here, set on the side of a rather steep hill that sloped down towards the river below and the tiny town with the highway running through it. Though they were self-contained little houses, they did share one common balcony, and it was here that David was standing, his bright green eyes on the horizon.

  “Good morning,” she said brightly, not wanting to startle him. The first time they’d met, he’d been standing right there, and when she’d spoken he’d jumped so sharply that he’d almost gone over the railing of the balcony and plunged into the valley below. Not the best first impression she’d ever made, she had to admit.

  “Amara. You’re up early.”

  “Mm, don’t get used to it,” she smiled, stretching. “What do you think? Snow?”

  “Not today,” David said thoughtfully, his eyes on the clouds. “Not the right kinds of clouds.”

  Meeting David had been a bit of a relief if she was honest. For as long as she could remember, Amara had been fascinated by the idea of soulmates. It was understood, in most shifter societies that she knew of, that everyone had a soulmate out there, ready and waiting to be found. Her aunt had found hers—in her uncle, Frederick, a quiet man with a surprisingly sharp sense of humor. It seemed like everyone in the valley had found theirs, one way or another… King Alexander had found Lisa when he’d gone to visit the human world in his human shape, his brother Samuel had found his wife Jessica (a wolf, of all things!) when she’d run away from her home village. Every shifter had a story like that… about finding their soulmate, or about how someone else had found theirs. For Amara, the idea of someone who was destined to be with her… well, it was intoxicating. The idea of looking into someone’s eyes and just knowing that you belonged with them?

  She’d never felt much of a sense of belonging. So it was no surprise that she’d fixated on the idea of a soulmate. She’d tried it with Alexander, years ago—a flush of embarrassment still rose to her cheeks when she thought about that. Deep down, she’d known that he wasn’t her soulmate… but she’d tried anyway. It wasn’t something that could be forced.

  And it had been that experience that had shown her, once and for all, that David wasn’t destined for her. When she’d met him, looked into those deep green eyes, she’d felt… nothing at all. He was a handsome man, of course, with a striking mane of blonde hair that he tied up behind his head in a loose knot, a fine-featured face and those sharp, inquisitive green eyes… but he wasn’t for her, and she wasn’t for him. They’d looked at each other for a long moment, and she’d realized with some amusement that his father must have written to him to alert him that she was coming. Maybe he’d thought something similar about her… that she could be his soulmate, that maybe this was the first day of their lives together. Well, it wasn’t. And though she was a little disappointed, a part of her couldn’t help but feel relieved. If he’d been her soulmate, the rest of her life would have been all but planned out. They’d have moved back to the va
lley, chosen a part of the intricate cave system to call their own, and spent the rest of their lives there together. Not a bad life, she supposed… but some part of her wanted more than that. That was why she was here. Not to meet some handsome dragon and fall in love.

  Still, he was good company, and it was nice to have someone to talk to. He’d been alone down here for a long time, and she sensed that he appreciated her presence too, if only because it meant that he could tell her about the sky. His cabin was full of books about clouds and weather patterns, about the sun and stars and outer space, about rain cycles and wind patterns and every imaginable meteorological event. It was interesting enough, she supposed, but she couldn’t help but wonder if he was compensating for something with this particular obsession—some lack in the rest of his life. It wasn’t uncommon for dragons to get fixated on particular areas of knowledge, though, and she didn’t feel she knew him well enough to ask if there was anything else going on with him other than the weather.

  “Rain clouds, then?” she tried, realizing she was losing him to the sky. He looked around, seeming surprised that she was there, and she laughed, curling up in the old rocking chair.

  “Sorry,” he said grinning. “I’ve been out here all night.”

  “Again?”

  “It was a clear night. I wanted to see the stars.”

  “You ought to get a telescope,” she pointed out. But David just wrinkled his nose.

  “It’s not the same.”

  “No, it’s not, it’s better. Don’t you want a closer look at the stars? They’re not like clouds, you can’t just… fly up and visit.”

  He kept staring into the sky, and she settled into the chair on the balcony, feeling aggrieved. He always went quiet when she brought up flying. His father must have told him about her—she hadn’t mentioned it herself. It wasn’t something she brought up unless she absolutely had to. But she liked David. And she was tired of the conversation dying every time she mentioned something dragons were all meant to have in common.

  “It’s okay, you know,” she said abruptly. “You don’t have to… avoid the subject.”

  “I wasn’t sure.” He tore those bright green eyes away from the sky for a moment, flicking them over to her. “Whether it was a sore subject or not.”

  Amara shrugged. It was a sore subject, actually, but telling him that wasn’t going to make it any better, so why bother? “It’s fine. I mean, it sucks, but it’s fine. I don’t… resent dragons who can fly or anything.”

  “I would,” David said softly. “What—can I ask if you know what caused it? An injury?”

  “No. My other form’s very much—complete. My wings are the same size and shape as my aunt’s, she can fly, I can’t. It’s whatever.” She sipped some of her tea. It was difficult to talk about, her particular… well, she supposed it was a disability. No matter how much she tried, no matter who she talked to or what old records she consulted, there didn’t seem to be an answer for exactly why it was that her draconic form couldn’t get airborne. Her wings felt fine—they were broad and strong and sent up thick clouds of dust when she beat them, but every time she tried to lift off the ground… well, she may as well try flapping her arms in her human form for all the good it did.

  “You know,” David said thoughtfully, “dragons shouldn’t be able to fly.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I got hold of a physics textbook a while ago. High school level. It was among a box of weather books I picked up from the second-hand store in town, and you know what I’m like with books.”

  Amara nodded, smiling a little. David would read anything that wasn’t nailed shut.

  “Anyway, there was a whole chapter on… velocity, momentum, all that kind of stuff. A lot of details on birds and how they fly. They’re very light, the book explained. Hollow bones, very little muscle beyond what’s needed… it’s fascinating, actually—”

  “I’m sure it is,” Amara cut in, a little sharply. She’d learned by now that it was best to head David off when he got on rants like this. Give him an inch, and he’d spend two hours talking about birds and completely forget what he’d been trying to tell her. He seemed to recognize that, shot her a rueful little grin as he refocused.

  “Anyway. The book said that a dragon shouldn’t be able to fly. It was very whimsical,” he added, eyes twinkling. “There were little drawings of medieval knights surrounding a pretty inaccurate red dragon. Their theory is that dragons were invented by humans who dug up dinosaur bones and came to the wrong conclusion.”

  “Oh, that explains it,” Amara said drily. “Our whole existence solved like a puzzle. Good job, humankind.”

  “Indeed. Well, anyway, we’re meant to be too heavy for our wings to carry us into the air. Maybe that’s got something to do with why you can’t fly?”

  “Well, if it’s against the laws of physics, why can you fly? And my aunt and uncle, and every single dragon I’ve ever met—”

  “Could your mother and father fly?” David interrupted, quirking an eyebrow. He’d been thoroughly distracted from the sky—even moved over to the railing that divided their balconies to give her his full attention. She would have felt flattered that he’d chosen her over the sky if she hadn’t just awoken all her dormant frustrations about the inadequacies of her draconic body.

  “I don’t know,” she admitted, gritting her teeth. “Never met them.”

  “Oh. I’m sorry.” David tilted his head. “Why? You don’t have to tell me,” he added. “I understand if it’s—”

  “Well, there’s not much I can tell you, honestly,” Amara sighed. “My aunt knows more than she’s letting on, I’m sure, but according to her my mom and dad weren’t able to care for me, so they sent me to her when I was a baby.”

  “And you’ve never heard from them?”

  “Nope. Not a letter, not anything. They didn’t even leave any message with my aunt. Not even a ‘hope you have a good life,’ nothing. All I got from them was my name. And my eyes,” she added, gesturing at her face. “I’d have preferred to be able to fly, but..”

  “Your aunt can fly, though.”

  “Yep. So it’s probably not a genetic condition.” She shrugged, trying not to sound as maudlin as she felt about the whole situation. “Sorry for the life story.”

  “Don’t be sorry. It’s interesting. I’m sorry I can’t be of more help.” He looked thoughtful. “I’ve been thinking about flight, though. Perhaps it does have more to do with magic than with wings and muscles.”

  “So I’m magic-deficient?”

  “You can shift, right?”

  “Of course, I can shift. Not that I do it very often,” she added, shrugging. “What’s the point, you know? I can’t fly, why else take up more space than I have to?”

  “I’ll keep reading,” David promised her. “Who knows? Maybe we can figure it out together.”

  “A friend of mine back home was doing a lot of reading about magic,” Amara said thoughtfully. Angela was a wolf—she’d moved in with them some years back, she and her sister, unable to keep living under the rule of the wolf pack they’d been born into. She was a bright girl, fascinated by shifter magic, and by all accounts was making great progress in her research. Amara missed her most of all, living down here—but she had her own life to be getting on with. Including finding a mate, she thought with a sigh. And hadn’t that been a dramatic story—albeit one with a happy ending. It seemed everyone was getting a happy ending except her. Here she was, stuck in limbo, with only a weather-obsessed dragon for company.

  “Let me know if you ever—you know, need a pair of wings,” David said finally, looking at her sideways. “I’m more than happy to help.”

  “That’s good of you.” She smiled at him, meaning it. He was a good guy, this dragon. It was a shame there wasn’t more of a connection between them. Still, it never hurt to have friends.

  “Do you know where your mother and father could be, now?” David asked thoughtfully, clearly still inve
sted in this line of enquiry. “They might know more about everything.”

  “No idea,” Amara sighed. “My aunt doesn’t know, either. I don’t know, I always felt weird about asking her about them. My mother was her sister, and I always got the vibe that she was… angry with her, for some reason. I don’t know why my aunt moved away from home in the first place. She won’t talk about it, and every time I press it, she walks out of the room.”

  “My dad’s the same,” David said softly. “Stubborn old dragons. I feel you.”

  That was an understatement, Amara thought with some amusement. William was as close to a tyrant as the valley had. He was constantly complaining about something, on some warpath or another… he was still furious that other species of shifters had been allowed to move into the settlement in the valley, and if it wasn’t for the royal family’s careful diplomacy, the political situation could have turned ugly years ago. It was good to be away from the stress. Amara wasn’t surprised that David had chosen to bail on the whole situation himself.

  “Ah, well.” She raised her tea to David in a mock toast, smiling. “Here’s to not belonging.”

  “There are worse places to be,” David acknowledged with a smile, raising his empty hand as though to toast her.

  He was right, of course, she thought to herself, gazing out over the horizon once he’d pottered away inside. But for once in her life, she wouldn’t mind knowing what it felt like to belong somewhere.

  Anywhere at all.

  Chapter 2 — Tobiah

  Tobiah didn’t believe in Oracles. Didn’t believe in much, in fact, but especially not in mystical rituals, in men and women in foolish outfits wafting incense and speaking in accents that didn’t belong to them or their kind about what the future held, what the past held, what truths there were in the drug-addled reaches of the psyche. Tobiah, privately, of course, didn’t believe there were any truths at all there—save for the fact that a long time ago, these people figured they could make money from the gullibility and superstition of rich idiots like his bosses. So they figured out a knack for saying a bunch of vague nonsense that could apply to basically any outcome under the sun, then charged a fortune for doing so, and had the audacity to behave as though they were doing the world some kind of service. If Tobiah had had more interest in money, he’d almost have been jealous of the cushy little niche they’d hollowed out for themselves in a world that was otherwise pretty brutal.