Chapter Three
Lissa: The Road to Solitude
By the time I made it over the Arkansas border and up into the Ozark mountains, there were too many people around for me to shift comfortably.
“Damn, tourists,” I muttered, and my dragon agreed.
I overheard a couple talking in the bar last night about how beautiful this town called Eureka Springs was, as well as the view of the Ozark Mountains. They went on to talk about how long it had taken them to drive up the mountain due to stopping now and then to take in the scenery and snap pictures to share with their friends and family on social media.
I wanted to visit this mountain range due to the higher altitude in this area and maybe take in the scenery a little. I didn’t have a cell phone or whatever social media was called. I ditched my phone a year ago once I discovered it was being used to track me.
I couldn’t help but stop at one of the many viewpoints off the side of the road going up the mountain. I walked around and stretched my legs, taking in the scenery around me. It certainly was beautiful. Trees and hills as far as the eye could see. I only wished I was visiting during the autumn when the leaves were changing, but I had a few months left of summer to endure.
It was quite a drive up, and Eureka Springs was far out of my way, but the view was pretty. Though seeing the mountains here was interesting, it didn’t compare to the Rocky Mountains. No matter how beautiful that mountain range was, I couldn’t stay.
The main street in Eureka Springs was narrow. Cars were either parked on the left side or the right, making the flow of traffic snug for each side to comfortably drive through without the fear of running into one another, but we all seemed to manage reasonably well. The colorful shops mirrored the streets as they were compact, sitting next to one another without an alleyway for blocks. The sidewalks were heavily congested with people sightseeing, shopping, or eating.
I saw sign after sign advertising what food some of the businesses were selling, and my stomach growled, reminding me that I had skipped breakfast. Trying to locate adequate parking while attempting to drive and sightsee was disorienting. I didn’t want to hit a car or a pedestrian.
Finally, I found a parking spot on the side of the street and got out to locate one of the burger joints I saw a few blocks back. I would get it to go and make my way out of this place. My dragon groaned, and I wanted nothing more than to give her the freedom to stretch her wings, but this wasn’t the place to do that.
“I’m sorry, girl,” I said, trying to console her. “We’ll find us someplace somewhere further down the road.”
Once I returned to my car with a cheeseburger and fries in tow, I checked the map to get my bearings. I needed to get back on the main interstate heading east, but that was miles from here. After a few minutes of careful planning, I managed to get my car turned around and munched on my fries as I made my way back down the mountain. My burger was lukewarm when I finally bit into it halfway down, but it was delicious and seemed to appease not only myself but also my dragon.
After what felt like an eternity of driving, it seemed like we had left the heavily populated cities as the interstate seemed to open up to vast plains of crops for as far as the eye could see. It was beginning to become more confined in my car. I had to get out and shift.
Making my way off the interstate, I weaved from one street to the next until I found a reasonable place for some privacy. Curiously, it seemed to be a grove of trees that stood out on the edge of a wide-open field. Yet, it provided me with enough cover to take my clothes off and shift.
My dragon was red, which matched my flaming red hair. I had seen her reflection many times while flying over a body of water. She was beautiful in every way. I was proud of my dragon side and my dragon was every bit the reason why I enjoyed my freedom, why I enjoyed who I was. My dragon and I had bonded with one another in a way no other human could understand, and why I would never settle for a human. It took some time to get there, though.
I knew I never wanted to settle down. My mom was a wild spirit who enjoyed too much of her freedom and left me to my own devices when I was old enough to start taking care of myself so she could run off with some guy she just met. Some of them were humans who took an instant dislike to my mother when she disclosed who she was. Most of the men she brought home hated that she was a mom, as if that was the worst thing a woman could be.
My mom was a witch who belonged to a coven in Washington, where I was born. I didn’t know much about my father other than the fact that he was a dragon shifter, but I didn’t learn about that vital information until much later. However, I know he was the reason my mom moved us to Spain before I was two, leaving Kara behind.
After my mother’s return to the coven, I first learned of Kara, my older half-sister. My mother, driven by the coven’s traditions and pressures, had given birth to Kara long before she met my father.
When I first met Kara, the resemblance between us was undeniable. Though older, Kara shared the same fiery spirit I had, but she was also softer and more compassionate, and she was a witch, unlike me.
I had been taken by the warmth in Kara’s voice and her spirit. Despite the circumstances, there was an instant connection that felt like a thread binding us together, even though we had been raised in separate worlds.
My mother and I lived with a small group of people who eventually told her we were no longer welcome, though I never found out why. I always assumed it was because of my mom being a witch.
I didn’t get any of my mom’s witch traits, which I didn’t mind too much as I felt as if I had gotten the better of the two when I realized who I truly was when I reached puberty and started changing. By that time, we had moved back to the US after traveling around Europe for a few years, making our way to New York, where Kara lived. We stayed there briefly before returning to Washington with Kara in tow.
It didn’t take long for my mom to feel like she needed to leave again, but instead of taking me with her, she decided to leave me with her coven. They welcomed me at first, but the moment I started shifting, they told me to go, saying they couldn’t care for someone like me.
I felt disowned by my mother and by my family. However, Kara had tried to intervene, standing in front of me with defiance, her timid frame trembling with determination.
“Leave her alone!” Kara had pleaded. “She’s our blood!”
But the elders in the coven were resolute. “She doesn’t belong here,” they had said coldly, pulling Kara away despite her protests. The pain in Kara’s eyes as she was dragged back still lingered in my mind. It was the last time I had seen my sister as they pushed me out onto the street and sent Kara back to New York.
It had taken me a while to accept who I was and a long time to enjoy the freedom living on the street had brought me.
It was by accident that I ran into a werewolf. He taught me how to control my shifting urges. He also told me how rare my kind was and that I should try to find more shifters like me who could offer me protection and show me how to be who I was.
I took him up on his offer, and he helped me find a small hoard of dragons who took me in without any trouble. I then discovered how rare I truly was, as there aren’t that many dragon shifters left anymore.
Dragons had learned to shift into human form once they became hunted. They learned to adapt and be a part of society but eventually found themselves creating their own towns throughout Europe and Asia.
Humans began to notice how different they were and began to persecute them until their numbers dwindled. The remaining dragons fled to other parts of the globe, including the US. They tried to increase their numbers. Some blended with humans, while some tried blending with other two-natured kinds, with some success, but not every child was born to be a dragon shifter.
That group taught me how to hide my dragon form from humans when I shifted. An ability that dragon shifters quickly learned ages ago. I even learned how to tap into my dragon’s abilities while in human form. We have a keen sense of hearing and sight in human form if we bond well with our dragon.
It wasn’t long before I was comfortable being who I was and could bond with my dragon. I was thankful for the help and generosity shown to me, but I realized I wasn’t safe. When I was eighteen, I was presented to Seth, the alpha, to breed with him, to help grow their numbers and save their race. That was far from what I wanted to do. I didn’t want to be in an arranged marriage. I was still learning about myself and who I was. I certainly didn’t love the alpha.
It was as if he could sense what I was going to do. He and the others made every effort to keep me from leaving, keeping me locked in a room. Luckily for me, someone saw how much this would cost me mentally and helped me escape.
I hoped that someday I would be able to stop running and find someplace where my dragon and I would be safe. I just didn’t know where that was. I didn’t know where to start looking. For now, I would have to be content.