Chapter 13
Kendra
"Will you stop that? I'm not in heat anymore, you can stop sniffing me," I said to the dragon as I pushed him away from me.
He had his big head on the side of the bed, sniffing my hip. He huffed a little, a tinge of warm air singeing my arm.
"Ah!" I yelped as I pulled my arm back.
Then he shifted into Jaceon.
"Damn it. He wouldn't let me out again," Jaceon said as he rushed over and grabbed my arm. He rolled it over.
"Jaceon, I'm fine. It was an accident. It didn't actually hurt me, it just startled me."
"Kendra, you have to be careful with him. He's not a pet, no matter how sweet he tries to be."
I rolled my eyes. "Actually, I bet Shadow Wolf Creek has something. Some type of flame repellant."
He turned his head to the side and looked at me like I was crazy.
I shrugged. "Jaceon, I hate to say it, but you live outside a shifter town. You're not some big anomaly. You're a dragon. I'm sure they have exactly what we need."
He smiled and then pulled me into him. "I don't care about the town, but I know that you have exactly what I need," he said as he leaned down and kissed me.
His lips were soft against mine, and seeing him smile lit something up inside of me. I thought about how sad the dragon must feel. There was no telling what Jay had said to him.
"Hey. Do me a favor. Bring the dragon back."
He made a face. "Why?" he asked. He looked a little offended.
"I just want him to know he didn't hurt me," I said.
He sighed. "Kendra, the dragon doesn't have feelings the way you think he does. You don't have to coddle him."
"Jay, you said that sometimes he won't let you out because he wants to spend time with me. That means he cares about me. He feels things. And I don't want him to just walk around with that because you think he should be fine. That's how people keep all the pain inside."
He looked at me for a minute. But then he shifted.
The dragon stood there with his head down, not looking at me. It was the same way Jaceon avoided eye contact when he was dealing with something.
I took a step toward him, and he stepped back. He was trying to keep his distance.
I put my hand up. "Hey. You didn't hurt me. Look, I'm good as new," I said, holding my hand up.
He looked at my arm and then my face. He lowered his head.
I walked over and rubbed the side of his head. He purred gently.
"It's okay. You know Jay does too much sometimes."
He immediately shifted into Jaceon.
"So, you just talk shit about me," he said as he grabbed me and pinned me to the bed.
I was laughing when my phone rang.
I reached out and grabbed my phone. Jay was still on top of me, his eyes glowing. He leaned in and kissed my neck. I didn't even look at the phone to see who it was. I figured it was my mom and Zoe calling to tell me about whatever adventure they were on out in Shadow Wolf Creek.
But it was my lawyer.
"Kendra." I froze when I heard my lawyer's voice. Jaceon stopped moving. He sat straight up. I did the same.
"Hi. Yes, it's me. Is everything okay?"
"Yes. I just wanted to call and give you an update. The team is making beautiful progress, but I need to tell you they've come across some things that are sickening, and I need to prepare you."
"Oh god. What is it?"
"It looks like David has been tracking you. We found evidence that there's a tracker on your car. But it's not just that. We found evidence he's been posting pictures of you on those revenge porn sites."
I put my hand over my mouth to swallow the scream.
"But the thing about it, Kendra — the pictures aren't actually you. Our experts think he's been using AI. Deepfakes. I know that doesn't make it any better, but we're still piecing it together. By the time the team is done, he's going to have at least two felonies."
Knowing the pictures weren't actually me wasn't much of a relief. The fact that he had gone this far was insane to me. He was willing to do stuff that would land him in prison just to get back at me.
The lawyer was still talking, but I had stopped listening. I pulled the phone away from my ear, my hand tightening around it.
How could you ask someone to spend their life with you, and then spend the whole marriage doing your own thing? Not treating them well. Even going so far as to put your hands on them. And then the moment they leave, you take it to hell.
There was no way in hell David was all there. But he got up. He went to work. He spent time with his family and friends. So, it's not like he was crazy.
Or was he? What had I missed? There's no way in hell a man I thought was well adjusted had done this.
The evidence was right in front of me.
She cleared her throat. "Okay, Kendra, this is the thing. We have him with the information we've got, but the tab is running, so let me know if you want to keep digging."
I felt relieved. This was all going to be over soon. David was going to be in prison, and Zoe and I could just live our lives. And we weren't celebrities or anything. It's not like my business was going to hit the news. Maybe if I were lucky, I could pull this off without having to tell anyone.
Except that wasn't true. Not telling anyone is how I ended up in this situation. David had thought I had no one to protect me. But I did.
But what if I didn't?
It was my mother who had given me the money to escape. She'd handed me a card back when I was still in high school, told me to use it for emergencies. I gassed my car up, grabbed my baby, and drove to a hotel.
When she busted into that room, she wrapped her arms around me. The memory of it made my heart swell.
Then it turned ugly. I pushed myself up until my back hit the wall.
What if I hadn't had her? I wasn't working at the time. I knew for a fact that women stayed in tragic situations because of money, and that hurt. David had been bold. Had there been others? Women suffering in silence because they couldn't say anything?
"Hey, Tavailia. Actually — I want the team to keep digging. I bet this wasn't the first time he did this kind of thing."
"You bet it isn't. And we're going to find it. I'll keep you posted."
We hung up. Jaceon was staring straight at me.
"What happened?"
"It's nothing. I just had to handle something for the divorce," I said.
"Don't do that. I felt your heart rate speed up. Your energy completely dropped. And you almost screamed."
He had trusted me with his truth. He had told me about his two fathers, and I knew for a fact Jay wasn't the type to just talk about his soft parts to anyone. So, I wasn't going to lie to him. Especially since this had turned into something that clearly wasn’t just an arrangement.
I sighed. "Jaceon, there are some things I never told you. My ex-husband — he was abusive. And when I left, he went off the deep end. He put my picture and address on one of those consensual rape fantasy sites. A man saw the profile, and he broke into my house, and he almost—"
Before I could finish the sentence, Jay turned around.
I could tell he was about to shift. I scrambled off the bed and jumped in front of him, hands up. "No."
He was shaking with rage. His hands were balled into fists.
"Kendra. Move."
"No. Jaceon, that money you sent me — that already handled this situation. I used it to pay a forensic IT team. They're going through all his devices. The lawyer was updating me. I want to handle this legally."
He rolled his neck. "You are my mate, and you expect me to let this man breathe?"
"Because, Jay, I don't need you to be a weapon for me.
I need you to be here. You don't get to just make me fall in love with you and then fly off the handle when you bring someone into your life like this.
You don't get to just take risks," I said, taking a step back. Tears were running down my face.
He closed the space and grabbed me by the waist, pulling me to him.
"No. Don't do that. Not if you are going to treat me like something you protect. Because loving me means being here with me."
He stroked my cheek. I looked up. His eyes were glowing.
"It is my nature to protect what is mine. And that means you. Your daughter. Your family. I will destroy anything that tries to hurt you."
I shook my head. "No, Jay. That's not what I need. You have to be here. That's the only way it works."
He knitted his brow. Then he nodded his head.
"You have to say it."
"I promise."
I wrapped my arms around him.
And then he grabbed me by the waist and moved me. He turned away from me.
"No!" I screamed, thinking he had just lied to me. If he just flew into town and burned David down, what if the police saw him? We would lose this thing before it even really started.
But he didn't leave. He just put himself in front of me.
A dragon flew into the entrance of the cave. It was smaller than Jay's, but it had the same black coloring. Jaceon shifted into his dragon, and the two of them stood there looking at each other.
I looked around. If this went bad, there was nowhere for me to go.
And then Jaceon shifted back, and the other dragon did too.
He was a handsome young man.
He was quiet, but I could tell he was taking everything in. His eyes moved over the cave again, slower this time.
"Damn, big bro. It's looking real domestic."
Jay laughed and walked over, wrapped his arms around him, and pulled him into a hug. This wasn't a fight at all. I remembered he had told me he had a brother, so this was Blaze.
Jaceon let go first. Stepped back.
“Last time I saw you in here, you were bleeding out, half dead.”
"And your ass left me," Jay said, but he was smiling.
He scoffed. "I saved you. Gave you a tonic. I knew you'd be better." He walked deeper into the cave. "Besides. I wasn't trying to have Daddy Dearest send someone to follow me back here. You know I don't trust that man like that."
"I never got a chance to ask you how you found Shadow Wolf Creek anyway," Jaceon said.
"You know I ordered some social media shit from this online marketer, right?"
"No."
“Well, I did. And when she sent the final files back, she had this location tagged. Shadow Wolf Creek.” He said it slowly, like he was still amused by it. “So, I hit up Ash.”
"Ash knows a dragon named Draco. Draco be on some real freak shit — makes his money in this sort of freaky circus.
They were in town during the Moon Festival.
" He ran a hand along the strung lights.
"So anyway, Draco said this place was real Hallmark, so I just tucked it in my memory. And then boom — what do you know? My big bro needs a place to go where nobody knows all this gangsta shit he’s been on. "
Jaceon shook his head. "Blaze, I swear you know everybody."
"My intel saved your ass, didn't it?"
"Yeah. I guess it did. Blaze, I want you to meet somebody. This is my mate, Kendra."
Blaze smiled. "Mate?" he said, surprised.
"Blaze, don't start your bullshit. Yes, she is my mate."
He walked over to me. "Nice to meet you," he said as he extended his hand.
"Same," I said as I shook it.
He stepped back.
"You guys are brothers. But, Jay, you got tense when you smelled him. What happened?" I asked.
Blaze smiled. "We don't smell each other the same way mammals do. He just sensed another male coming. He didn't get the intel it was his little brother."
"That makes sense," I said.
“Anyway, bro. I came because I had something to tell you. Treasure’s ass ran off with the opps, so Valentino did a bit of research. He finally figured out you didn’t do that shit.”
I watched Jaceon go stiff.
Now, who was this Treasure? Jay had never mentioned her.
"Your name is clear, J. You can come home."
Jaceon looked at the ground. His hands were at his sides. His jaw was tight, and his eyes had gone flat, and for a second, I was scared of what he might say.
He looked at me.
"I'm not coming back. Valentino was out of line on how he handled that."
Blaze scoffed. "You damn right he was. That was bullshit. But, Jay, I won't lie. I thought you was knocking Treasure down too. I mean, I know you got this integrity, man of honor shit going on, but Treasure was trying to throw that pussy at all the guys. I figured you hit."
Jay tensed. "Damn. You act like you don't know me."
"That's the thing, Jay. I didn't look at you any differently.
You are my brother. I didn't need you to be anything else.
You going against Valentino wouldn't have meant a damn thing to me.
He is going to get his. And if I had been there when he was taking your wing, I would have set that bitch off. "
Jaceon scoffed. "Blaze, you are feeling yourself."
Blaze smiled. "Look, bro. I'm talking real shit. Anyway."
"What about Pop?" Jaceon said.
Blaze sucked his teeth. "Man. I see his drunk ass all the time. The house is paid for. It's food in there. That's all I got for him." He shook his head. "Still out here gambling. I had to keep some dudes off his head last month behind some shit he owed."
"How's Club Inferno holding up?"
He smiled. "You know how I do it. It's a lot of get-money shit. I'm almost out of debt, and the second I pay they old miserable asses off, I'm out."
"How's Diego?"
Blaze shot him a look. "Fuck Diego. He's the reason I'm in this bullshit now."
It was the first time in the whole conversation I had seen Blaze lose his cool. But he shook it off.
"Anyway. Big bro, I'll let you get back to your romance thing."
Jay nodded his head. "Tell Valentino you couldn't find me."
“He might call bullshit. You know that, right? You were his favorite. He’s not going to let that go.”
"Let him come," Jaceon said. His voice was flat.
Blaze smiled and then shook his head. "That gangsta shit is still in there."
He walked over and stood in front of Jaceon. "I know that shit is still in you, bro." Blaze looked around and then back at Jay. "But this. Being in love. Not having to do somebody else's business. You aren't carrying around that tenseness. This fits you better."
The two men hugged.
Blaze tipped his head at me before he shifted and flew out.