Chapter 8
Jaceon
I couldn’t be in that cave another minute. If I had stayed, I was going to pin her down and mate. She hadn’t accepted the contract or the terms, and there was no way I was going to take anything.
My dragon flew through the night. He was on edge. Body tight. We were scanning the ground, making sure no other males were lurking around because if they were, I was going to burn them to the ground.
What shifter male was stupid enough to step to me? The thought of another male even looking at her set me off. I tossed my head back and let out a cloud of flames. Any shifter alive would smell the pheromones and the smoke.
Kendra was claimed.
When I was satisfied that no one else was sniffing around what was mine, I started thinking.
The heat was making her produce so much slick, and it smelled so sweet I wanted to cover my face in it.
Roll around in it. But I knew she was human.
She wasn’t used to it. I needed to help keep her comfortable.
I could ask Gladys, but I didn’t want her to know. This was none of her business, how my mate was feeling. So, I figured the shifters would have what I needed. I flew into town.
I shifted into my man as soon as I hit the ground. I felt the wave of irritation. The heaviness in my body. The erection pressing against my pants.
Shake it off. Our mate needs things.
I shook out my hands, and a bit of the tension left.
I looked up at the glowing sign of Howling Meats
I walked inside. I hadn’t been in a grocery store in a long time.
I smelled the shifters immediately, but nobody looked up.
I felt like their nonchalance was suspicious. My eyes darted around, trying to make sure no one was trying to sneak up on me.
There were signs everywhere
A young woman in a green uniform walked over to me. She smiled.
“Hello, sir, welcome to Howling Meats. Can I help you?”
“Yes. I am looking for things for my mate.” My teeth were clenched. I didn’t want to explain what I was looking for, but this store was huge, and I didn’t want to be gone too long.
“Is your mate a shifter? Is she female?”
“Yes.” It sounded like a hiss.
“Ah, I think I know what you need. Our seasonal hygiene aisle is right over here. Follow me.”
She was in front of me as we walked down the aisle. I looked around, hands clenched at my sides. I needed to be ready in case something wasn’t what it seemed. I was a dragon. But I could still be vulnerable if the shifters decided to make a move on me.
She pulled something off a shelf and pushed it into my arms. “This is a nesting bra. It’s soft and has light compression. If she’s in heat, she needs this.”
I thought about her breasts and how swollen they were today.
“Speaking of breasts, she’s going to need this,” she said as she handed me a small jar. “It’s Arnica salve for sore nipples. A lot of our lady shoppers swear by this.”
We kept walking down the aisle. She handed me a big blue box.
“What is this?” I asked.
“Pumpkin seed and dark chocolate bark with sea salt and tart cherry. All the ingredients are sourced locally from the Friendship Farm.” She tapped the label like she was proud of it. “And on Christmas, Santa and Klavion make this peppermint chocolate tea that is superb.”
I had never celebrated Christmas in my life, and now this woman was telling me about a tea made by Santa. It was like this whole town was throwing a life I never had in my face.
“This is electrolyte powder. She’s going to need this to replace the fluids.”
I sighed. Being in heat was hard on her body, and a part of me felt bad about that. She hadn’t even agreed to the contract, but because she was close to me, she was hurting, and I hated that. But it sounded about right. I had a history of hurting the people close to me.
She is our mate, she is not hurt, my dragon said.
I tuned him out and tried to focus on what the woman was showing me.
“Finally, this is something we sell a lot of. It’s a weighted nest blanket. The fabric is made to absorb the mate’s scent. A lot of our ladies find it comforting.”
My dragon stretched underneath my skin. Yes. She could wrap herself in our scent.
“Yes. Give it to me,” I said.
She smiled and handed it to me.
“Anything else?”
“She needs clothes.”
“Ahhh, of course. Follow me.” She was already moving. “So, is she curvy? Apple? What are we working with?”
I thought about it. The way her body had looked when she was running. She was curvy with the little soft belly that I wanted to rub my face in. The thought of touching her made the rut kick in.
I shook my head.
“She’s tall. Curvy.”
“Got it,” she said as she pulled several leggings off the rack. “That reminds me, we already got the bra. She is probably going to need specialty panties.”
As soon as she said the word panties, I started sweating.
She handed a bag to me. “These have built-in moisture-wicking properties. And here are a few shirts that can catch that leakage, and we have ones that have catching properties. I know some couples are into that sort of thing.” My mouth started watering.
The thought of drinking from her made me dizzy.
“Oh, and speaking of leaking, some of our couples come in for these. They are flavor tabs. Makes the slick taste sweet. Brown sugar is our best seller.”
My entire face flushed, and my heart hammered in my chest. If I did taste her slick, I didn’t want it to be some type of fake candy. I wanted to taste her natural essence. I almost lost my balance.
I had to get out of this store.
“No.”
She didn’t blink. “Got it.”
She moved on. “And these. Nesting cushions. Our customers who live in rougher exteriors find these very comforting. Some of them just prefer the natural surface—”
I thought about Kendra on the cave floor.
She pointed to a black bundle on a low shelf. “These Boneless Nesters went viral on Shifter Tok. They roll right out into a full lounger; you just unwrap it, and it’s ready.”
She said it like she was selling a couch.
I was an enforcer. I had never imagined I would have a mate at all, much less one in heat.
And here in this place, it was nothing more than a cheeky advertisement.
“Yes.”
“Alright, I’ll carry it to the front of the store for you.”
I followed her to the register. She was humming as she rang me up.
I gripped the edge of the register and tried to get myself together. I needed to be on my Ps and Qs. Standing here, being flustered, thinking about my mate in heat, made me weak.
“Alrighty, sir, your total is eight hundred dollars. That lounger was such a steal.”
I reached into my pocket and pulled out my wallet. She swiped it as she chatted away to me. I pinched the bridge of my nose.
“Thank you very much, sir, for shopping at Howling Meats. Oh, and one second, sir.” She pulled a folded bag from under the counter and shook it out.
It had thick leather straps and buckles.
“It’s a carry-sling. The buckles transition when you shift, so the bag rides under you in flight. You don’t have to hold anything.”
She started loading my things into it.
“How did you know I was going to be flying?”
She smiled. “Oh, sorry to assume. But we’ve noticed an influx of new dragon residents to Shadow Wolf Creek, and we are just so glad to have more dragons in town. I love the diversity. The bakery added a fire-roasted scone last month because of you all. It’s been wonderful.”
The excitement in her voice irritated me.
She didn’t know me. She had no clue what I had done in the city I left. But here she was, glad I was in her town because the bakery made dragon things.
“Thank you for the bag.”
She nodded her head, and I walked towards the door. This town frustrated me.
I was a dragon. What the hell was there to be excited about? Like I was some type of curiosity. Who else had been watching me? The enforcer inside of me riled up. I had been sloppy. Moving in silence had been my work since I was a kid, and this town had been watching me move in.
I grabbed the sling, shifted, and took to the sky.
Before I even got to the cave, her scent hit me, and I immediately got tense again. It was going to take everything in me to be on my best behavior.
I walked into the cave. The sweater was pulled up around her. Her chest was rising and falling. She was asleep.
I set the sling down and started going through the things. I needed to get everything ready so she could have it the moment she woke up.
I pulled out the bag of underwear and unpacked the pads and pressed one into the seat of the panties.
This was going to sit against her body. This was going to catch her slick.
My pants got tight, and the tips of my fingers burned. I had to force myself not to come.
I closed my eyes and took a deep breath. I felt a tendril of smoke come out of my nose.
I blew out a breath, and the feeling passed.
I opened and unfolded the rest of her clothes and set out the salve and the rest of the things.
I walked over to the bag and pulled out the lounger. It was wrapped in plastic. I started to peel it slowly.
The plastic crunched.
I tried again. It crunched louder.
Fuck it. I ripped it.
The lounger popped.
I almost shifted.
It started unrolling on its own. It was rolling toward her. I grabbed it and wrestled it back. It crinkled and snapped and kept expanding under my hands.
She opened her eyes.
“What are you doing?”
“I am setting up a place for you to rest.”
“How are you feeling?”
“I’m sore. What is all of that?” she asked as she looked at the bags.
“I went into town, and I got you some things to help you get some relief.”
“I know you said no bathing, but can we please? Even if it’s quick.”
“Fine. But we can’t be out long.”
I picked her up. Her scent slammed into me. She wrapped her arms around me. Her touch was setting me off.
We flew to the stream. I landed and set her down.
I pulled the folded stack of her clothes out of the sling and laid them down.
I turned away as she undressed behind me.
The water splashed as she stepped in. It was taking everything inside of me not to turn around and look, so instead I scanned the trees.
Her slick was washing off into the water.
Any male with a nose was going to pick it up, and that pissed me off.
I wondered if the store sold something to mask it, but I wasn’t leaving her again.
She yelped.
I whipped around, ready to kill something.
She was on her hands and knees at the edge of the water.
I rushed over to her and gently lifted her up.
“Are you ok? Tell me what hurts.”
She sighed. “I’m fine. I’m just clumsy. I tripped getting out.”
“You aren’t clumsy. It’s slippery, and your body is in overdrive.”
She was so soft in my hands, and even though she was clean, her scent was still loud. It would be so easy to just lie her down and spread her open and push myself inside of her.
Not now. She hasn’t accepted us.
I grabbed the towel and wrapped it around her. Her breasts were swollen. Her nipples beaded. She was breathing heavily, as the effort of just standing had drained her. I shouldn’t have let her walk. Her feet were probably still healing.
I took the towel and dried her off. She moaned a bit and tilted her head back. I leaned in and inhaled the crook of her neck.
Then I took a step back.
I picked up the clothes.
“Lift your arms up.”
She groaned a little as she lifted her arms. I slid the bra over her head. When she adjusted her breasts, I had to turn my head.
I picked up the panties and kneeled down. I had to hold my breath as she stepped inside of them. My mouth watered, and my hands shook as I pulled them up her legs.
The shirt was easier. I was biting the inside of my cheek as I finally wrapped her robe around her.
I had no idea how I was supposed to fly like this.
“Give me a second.”
I took a few steps away and leaned against a tree. My dick was rock hard against me. I kneeled.
My entire life, I had been around women. Seen women. Even had a few in and out of my bed. But never in my life had I felt anything like this. I knew I had to focus. My jaw was clenched, and I was out here smoking.
Our mate is alone, my dragon growled.
Ok. I know. I’m going.
I took a breath and walked back to where she was standing.
“Are you ok?”
“I’m fine. Let’s go,” I said.
She walked over and wrapped her arms around me. I shifted, and we flew back to the cave.
I set her down on the lounger.
“How does that feel?”
“So much better than the rocks.”
I brought the blanket over to her and tucked it around her. Then I sat down across from her.
“Thank you. For doing all of this.”
I just tipped my head at her.
I could breathe again because she wasn’t touching me.
But we want her touching us, my dragon said.
He was telling the truth. But it was hard enough fighting the rut, and her touching me made it harder to breathe while I tried to keep my distance. The way she was looking at me was making me hard again.
I stood up and walked over to the pile of snacks. I reached down and handed her one. Our fingers brushed. I had to take a step back.
I walked away from her, back toward the hoard.
I needed to look at something that could break the tension, and what better than a pile of grief staring back at me?
I was trying to help families through grief, but I was really a man who caused families grief.
I had no business trying to heal when I was made to kill.