Dragon Scorned

Prologue

River

Iflew through the air faster than I ever have. My wings beating hard as I pounded the chilly air into submission. Sending me upward at a speed so fast if you blinked, you would miss me. This was my favorite part of the day, being able to let my beast out and stretch my wings after staying hidden among the humans.

My self-control was unbreakable. I’ve never shifted in front of a human, and I didn’t plan to start now. These nightly flights were necessary to control the beast inside me. She pounded at her cage day after day, demanding to be set free.

This was the most I could give her, this nightly flight, in the warded forest, thanks to my witchy best friend. We lived together in a small cottage, surrounded by five hundred acres of beautiful, wooded land. The perfect place for a witch and a dragon to hide in plain sight.

I looked up at the moon, and it was taunting me from its perch so high up in the sky, free from the shitty world we live in. What I wouldn’t give to be completely free, to not have to hide who I really am. But humans didn’t take kindly to the supernatural. They hated everything about us. They are always hunting us down for simply existing in their world.

My beast roared at the thought, sending out a dazzling deep blue and purple blaze of fire into the sky. I banked hard to the right, flapping my wings faster, pushing myself to the point of exhaustion. It was the only way I could sleep anymore. I pushed myself to the breaking point so the beast inside would rest and I could get some sleep.

I knew we were safe here, Natalia had made sure of it, constantly keeping up on the wards surrounding our sanctuary. If anyone spotted me from the road far down the mountain path, they would simply see a giant bird. I laughed at Natalia when she told me I would be disguised as a bird to any human onlooker.

As if a bird would be caught dead in Washington in the middle of winter. It was better than them catching sight of me and crying dragon to anyone who would listen. I would be hunted till the end of my days if I was spotted by the humans. But was a bird really the best thing she could come up with? My beast growled in displeasure at the thought. We were already being hunted by the Moonbeam Hunters, no need to add humans to the mix.

They had killed my parents when I was five. The last memory I had of my mother was telling me to be good for my grandparents, and to trust my dragon. To believe my dragon would protect me and keep me safe. My dragon despised humans, but she hated the hunters even more.

My grandma told me they were a dangerous group of supernaturals that hunted us down. They didn’t kill us, though, and I feared for my sanity if I ever found out what they did to us. So, I decided I would keep my distance from them at all costs. In the beginning, it was tough. No matter where we went, they always ended up finding us eventually.

Then I met Natalia, we became fast friends, and she placed an anti-tracking protection over me. That was a year ago, and even though I haven’t had a run in with the hunters, I still kept my guard up.

We decided to stick together through school, and when the little cottage popped up for sale only fifteen minutes away from Willow Hollow University, we jumped into action. We bought the house and as much property around it as we could. Her parents and my grandparents helped us, buying different sections of the property so it looked less suspicious. Questions would have been asked as to why two eighteen-year-old girls were buying up so much land, but with their help, it was split between us.

I tucked my wings tight against my sides and dove like a missile toward the ground. Once I broke through the dense clouds I opened my wings, the air whipped against them, slowing my descent. Fresh snow was falling in big flakes around me. I beat my wings against the sky, causing the snow to fly around me like a miniature tornado, interrupting its path to the ground.

The cold never bothered me. My blood ran like an inferno through my veins, keeping my body constantly warm. I took off toward home, tucking my giant legs into me as much as I could to make my dragon form more aerodynamic. The cottage came into view through the break in the trees, and I snorted at the sight. Natalia was sitting on the swing that hung from the roof covering the back porch. She was covered in so many blankets that she almost disappeared underneath them. I told her time and time again that she didn’t have to wait for me when I went flying, but night after night, she still sat on the porch, waiting for me to return.

I landed with a thud behind the cottage, the freshly fallen snow flying up around me from the disturbance. Before I shifted back, I blew out the tiniest flame I could manage, increasing the flame on the small glass fire pit in front of Natalia.

“You know it’s fucking freezing out tonight, right? I still don’t understand how you”re not cold. Aren’t lizards supposed to be cold-blooded animals?” She scoffed at me, clearly displeased by the extended fight I took today.

I huffed at her, steam flying from my nostrils, encasing her body in a blanket of warmth. My scales rippled as I started transforming back into my human body, my beast was protesting the entire time. She didn’t want our flight to end. My dragon didn’t want to hide any longer.

My wings retracted into my back as I shrunk down, blueish-purple scales disappeared, talons turned into fingernails, and four legs turned into two legs and two arms. My eyes turned from vibrant violet to a bright blue. If you looked closely, you could still see flakes of violet in the blue pools, my distinguishing dragon mark. No dragons could hide themselves completely. If you looked close enough, you would see our beast in our eyes. Humans were oblivious, though, thinking we just had beautiful irises.

I walked barefoot and naked up onto the porch, reaching for my pile of clothes as Natalia side-eyed me. “I’m a dragon, not a fucking lizard, and I don’t get cold,” I told her for the hundredth time, pulling my shirt over my head and shimmying into my jeans.

A laugh bubbled out of her chest, “Well, you sure do look like a lizard with wings; a very overgrown, purple-blue lizard, but a lizard nonetheless.”

I just laughed at my best friend. She had been calling me an overgrown lizard with wings ever since she found out I was a dragon shifter. If anyone else had called me that it would have infuriated me, but it felt like a form of affection coming from her. Natalia was the only one I would have allowed to call me that, though, and she knew it. So, she took advantage of it every chance she got.

“Come on, marshmallow, let”s go inside before you get frostbite.” I laughed as she shot me a look of disgust and confusion. “What?” I asked, shrugging my shoulders. “You look like a giant marshmallow under all those layers of clothes and blankets.”

We both burst into laughter as we made our way into our home. The sweet scent of vanilla and cinnamon hit my nose, and I turned to Natalia. “Did you make cinnamon rolls?”

“You know I always have to make you something to eat after your flight, or you’ll eat your way through the entire house.”

I mean, she wasn’t wrong, flying always left me starving. I ate a lot to begin with, constantly having to keep up with my high dragon metabolism, but flying left me ravished. People constantly wondered how I stayed so small with how much food I consumed on a daily basis. Perks of being a dragon, I guess. I was five foot even and one hundred and fifteen pounds soaking wet. Definitely one of the smaller dragons, but females were normally smaller than the gigantic males.

I smiled wide at my witchy bestie, making my way over to the tray on the island piled high with fresh cinnamon rolls. I bit into one and moaned as the flavors burst over my taste buds. “Natalia, have I told you lately that I fucking love you?” I told her as I shoved the rest of the roll into my mouth, immediately reaching for another.

“Every time I cook for you,” she said, rolling her eyes as she sat down on the couch. She grabbed the remote and flicked on the television, it was on the news channel with a giant warning flashing at the bottom of the screen.

I grabbed another roll and hopped over the couch, landing beside her. “Turn that up, what’s she saying?” I told her, ignoring her scowling look she was boring into the side of my head for jumping over the couch instead of walking around it.

She finally complied, turning the volume up. The shrill voice of the newscaster filled my ears. All the blood drained from my face as I listened.

“The explosion that happened mere hours ago left multiple people wounded and many dead. We still have no information as to what caused the explosion inside the Nevada Private Hospital owned by Moonbeam Enterprises, but investigators say they are busy looking into it. We have been informed multiple patients have escaped and are on the loose. While they are not armed, they are considered mentally unstable, and extremely dangerous. Should you run into any of the escaped patients please do not engage, just call the number below. We will show you pictures of the eight confirmed missing patients in just a moment. Please, remember to not engage if you spot any of the patients. Call us with any sightings and let the law officers take care of the rest.”

The newswoman disappeared and eight images of men and women filled the screen. I studied their faces, committing them to memory. My gaze stopped on one picture in particular. A handsome man with sandy brown hair and eyes so green the forest should be jealous. There was a huge scar across his left eye, from the top of his eyebrow down to his cheekbone.

Natalia turned to look at me, her eyes wide with fear. “River, that was a Moonbeam Enterprise hospital. Rumors say the hunters work for them and deliver supernaturals to different Moonbeam run operations all over the world when they catch them.”

“What do you think they are doing to them in there?” I asked her, my back iron rod straight as I looked at the destroyed hospital now on the screen.

The sight was eerie, rubble still smoldering from the destroyed place. I don”t know how anyone survived. I hated the fact that it was so close to us, but we couldn”t pass up the opportunity to attend Willow Hollow University.

We didn’t choose to attend on a whim. We chose it because it had the highest population of supernaturals within the school. We thought we would fit in better among others like us, but now I’m beginning to think we”re walking straight into trouble.

No turning back now, though. Our first day of freshman year was in a couple of days. My beast roared within me at the thought of what dangers we would face.