Highland Dragons

Chapter 10

CHAPTER TEN

Belle instantly bristled, her snort indignant, after hearing Lachlan’s harshly issued instruction.

Bloody arrogant dragon shifter.

Oh God, Lachlan and his brothers were all men who could shift into dragons!

That was going to take a lot of getting used to. If she ever did.

In the meantime, she certainly wasn’t prepared to remain obediently sitting on the bed once Lachlan had opened the door and spoken softly to whoever was outside before then stepping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him.

No doubt as a centuries old dragon shifter, being an alpha male as well as an apex predator, he was used to issuing instructions and having them obeyed.

But Belle was a twenty-first-century woman, one who had determined her own actions and decisions since she was eighteen years old. As such, she had no intention of meekly sitting there waiting for her lord and master to return.

Even so, she was also a twenty-first century woman who made sure her ripped panties were safely stowed in the back pocket of her jeans before she wrenched open the bedroom door to look questioningly at two of the Drake brothers, Ranulf and Lachlan, standing in the hallway.

Finding herself the focus of the sheer intensity of two such powerful males made Belle want to step back into the bedroom and close the door.

Instead, she forced her fingers to tightly grip the side of the open door and remained standing exactly where she was. “Does what the two of you are talking about concern me? Because if it does, I think I should also be present, don’t you?”

“Strong-willed,” the gruff Ranulf admired.

“I prefer to think I’m in control of my own life and actions,” Belle corrected before turning to Lachlan. “Well?”

His smile was rueful. “I’m sorry I ever thought of excluding you.” He sobered. “Ben McGregor has disappeared.”

She stilled. “What do you mean by ‘disappeared’?”

“Gone. Left. No longer visible to the human eye.” Ranulf snorted. “Or the dragon one either, for that matter.”

Belle decided to ignore that reference. She was still having trouble coming to terms with what she’d seen and been told on that subject. For now she needed to concentrate on what was happening now and not what could be. “How do you know Ben has disappeared?”

“Hunter paid a visit to Ben’s family home.” Lachlan once again took up the narration. “He didn’t knock on the door or make them aware of his presence in any other way, but with his heightened hearing, he was able to?—”

“You all have heightened hearing too?” Belle prompted eagerly.

“I’m pretty sure it’s normal hearing for dragons,” Ranulf explained.

“You’re being pedantic?—”

“Yes, we all have heightened hearing compared to a human’s.” Lachlan cut in to what was looking to become an argument between the fiery Belle and his introspective brother.

“Do the three of you also have some sort of…mental connection so that you can read each other’s thoughts?”

“Yes.”

“But our connection will be separate to the one between the two of you once you’re mated,” Ranulf assured.

“If we’re mated,” Belle insisted.

Ranulf gave a derisive snort. “I seriously doubt that a strong-willed and intelligent woman like yourself would be able to pass up the opportunity to learn more about dragon shifters by refusing to mate with one.”

“You choose now to find your voice and become chatty?” Lachlan glared at Ranulf.

His brother shrugged. “I meant it as a compliment.”

Lachlan scowled. “Well, it sounded as if you were saying the only reason Belle would consider mating with me is because it will aid in her research into the existence of dragons.”

“How can you possibly think that after the way we just— Never mind,” Belle snapped, warmth coloring her cheeks. “Could we return to the subject of what Hunter overheard at the McGregors?”

Ranulf nodded. “Hamish and Morag were discussing Ben having gone out shortly after he and his father returned from looking for you this morning. He hasn’t been seen since.”

Belle considered this information. “Do you think he can have gone back to London?”

Lachlan shook his head. “The trains aren’t running,” he reminded. “The roads haven’t been cleared yet either.”

“Then where is he?”

“A helicopter was heard in the vicinity around midday,” Ranulf put in. “It landed just before Ben went out and then took off again shortly afterward. Ben hasn’t been seen since.”

Belle gave a baffled frown. “Ben’s a student, so I’m pretty sure he doesn’t own a helicopter. I doubt he knows any millionaires who do, either,” she scorned.

Lachlan grimaced. “That might change if he’s managed to find a buyer for Sister Agnes’s diary.”

She shook her head. “I don’t understand.”

Lachlan could see that she didn’t.

Probably because she hadn’t spent the last twelve centuries keeping herself hidden from the greed of treasure hunters and the savagery of dragon hunters.

It had been difficult enough to do during those earlier centuries, when superstition had been rife across the land. Even more so during the Victorian era when, for some reason, the idea of dragon and vampire hunting had become fashionable.

But during the late twentieth and twenty-first centuries, when technology and the internet had become so intrusive and instant, keeping their identity as dragon shifters had become increasingly difficult. It would be a relief, in some ways, to disappear for the half a century or so necessary to hide their existence.

“Think, Belle,” he encouraged gently when she continued to look confused. “What is a dragon supposed to have and value above everything else?”

“I don’t— Are you referring to the fable of a dragon’s treasure?” She chuckled at the idea, then sobered when she saw that neither Ranulf nor Lachlan were joining in her humor. “You can’t be serious.”

“When we came through the mountain earlier, I diverted our route around the center,” Lachlan said softly.

She frowned. “I assumed that was because it was solid rock.”

He shrugged. “It isn’t. I made that decision because I didn’t want to overwhelm you by showing you too much too soon.”

She snorted. “The partial shift you did earlier wasn’t too much too soon?”

Lachlan grimaced. “It was,” he conceded heavily. “And I apologize. But our dragon treasure is very real too, Belle. Not just the physical treasure we’ve accumulated during our lifetimes but also the vast hoard left to all of us by our parents.”

“Define vast hoard,” she said slowly.

“Billions of pounds in jewels and gold.”

Once again, Belle found herself reaching out for help to steady herself as she staggered slightly, one of her palms now planted flat against the wall to help keep her on her feet. “Billions…?”

Lachlan nodded. “We also own land and real estate in England, Europe, Asia, and America. Plus, shares in businesses around the world.”

“But it’s the tangible wealth that treasure hunters tend to focus on.” Ranulf scowled his displeasure.

“The jewels and gold worth billions of pounds,” Belle said hollowly.

“Exactly.”

“There are really people in the world who think dragons and their treasure exist?”

“People besides you, you mean?” Lachlan teased.

“I only hoped dragons had once existed. I didn’t think the three men Sister Agnes described as dragon shifters would still be alive. Nor did I give the fabled dragon treasure a second thought.”

“That’s because your heart is pure and you’re my one true mate.” Lachlan’s chest expanded with pride as he looked at her.

Belle’s cheeks warmed. “You think I am.”

“I know you are.” The way his gaze held hers was enough to remind her of their shared intimacies just a short time ago.

She narrowed her eyes. “There’s a lot more you need to tell me before I can make a considered decision as to whether I should agree to mate with you.”

“Such as?” He was willing to tell Belle anything and everything if it meant she agreed to become his mate.

“Besides this heightened hearing you say you and your brothers have, can you also make an opening appear in a cave wall that I’m pretty sure hadn’t been there the previous night?”

“Ah.” A nerve pulsed in his clenched jaw. “Yes.”

“And light and then put out torches with a sweep of your hand?”

“It’s with a thought,” he corrected. “But yes, we can all control the four elements of earth, wind, fire, and water.”

“Does this…telepathic connection you admit the three of you have allow you all to converse or perhaps guess each other’s thoughts and emotions, no matter how far apart you are?”

“We’re from the same clutch, so yes,” Lachlan confirmed. “But as Ranulf said, if we were mated our own mental link would have priority over my connection to my brothers,” he assured. “Nor would they have access to any mental exchanges we might have.”

“Believe me, brother, I have no wish to be a party to any of your future intimacies with Belle,” Ranulf scoffed.

Belle ignored him. “So, the three of you are billionaire dragon shifters with heightened senses, you share a mental telepathy, and you also all have the ability to bend earth, wind, fire, and water to your will?”

Lachlan winced. “Yes.”

“I need to sit down before you tell me any more.” She crossed the room to once again sit on the side of the bed. Lachlan and Ranulf followed her, but didn’t sit down. It was like having two giants looming over her. “Where is Hunter now?”

Lachlan shrugged. “Doing what he does best.”

“Which is?”

“Hunting.”

She frowned. “Hunting for what?”

“The whereabouts of Ben McGregor.”

She huffed. “If a helicopter really did land and take off again, and Ben hasn’t been seen since, I doubt your brother will find him anywhere in the vicinity.”

“One thing we’ve learned about treasure hunters over the years,” Ranulf put in softly, “is that once the treasure is within their grasp, they don’t like to share.”

“What do you…” Belle stilled, her eyes going wide. “Do you think something’s happened to Ben?”

She might think he was a bastard for breaking into her room in London, stealing Sister Agnes’s journal from her since their arrival in Scotland, and then leaving her to possibly freeze to death on a mountain during a blizzard.

But that didn’t mean she felt that same callousness toward any harm befalling him as he had to her.

Lachlan shrugged. “I think we should stop hypothesizing and wait for Hunter to come back.” Although he didn’t hold out much hope for a positive result even after his brother had returned.

Ben had obviously been trying to steal the journal from Belle for some time. At least since several weeks before Christmas, when he had broken into her locked bedroom.

A room Belle would not be returning to, whether she decided to accept their mating or not. As far as Lachlan was concerned, Belle was his true mate, and he would provide for her for the rest of her life, no matter what she decided regarding the two of them.

He also, if he was being bluntly honest with himself, couldn’t stand the thought of Belle living in a house with other males. God knows what he would do if she refused their mating and then, sometime in the future, fell in love with and married a human male who could give her a normal life.

He would have to ask his brothers to put him down if that should happen. Because Lachlan had no doubt he would want to rip the world apart, and a dragon his size would be able to do a lot of damage before anyone was able to stop him. It would also reveal the existence of dragons, which he could never allow.

“Hunter has returned,” Ranulf announced evenly.

Lachlan immediately centered his attention on their familial connection.

He sensed Hunter landing behind the house as dragon before shifting into a man and then entering the kitchen.

It was only too easy to read the grimness of Hunter’s emotions through all those actions.

And to guess the reason why.