CHAPTER 1 of FOR THE LOVE OF HER DRAGON
The sound of boots hitting the wet ground drew Royce to the mouth of the cave he had called home for the last thirteen days.
In the distance, he could see his brother Rian, Head Elder of the Blue Thunder Clan of the Dragon Shifters, and winner of Most Arrogant Brother of the Year for one hundred and fifty years running, making his way towards him.
His daily visits had grown old on day one and did little more than exponentially add to Royce’s nasty attitude.
Deciding to prepare for the inevitable lecture, he moved back to his camp chair by the fire and stirred the logs in an effort to calm his turbulent mood.
All was wasted when Rian called to him before he had even crossed the threshold, “So tell me, little brother, how long are you going to hide in these caves?”
“Hide? What the hell are you talking about, Rian? I am not hiding,” Royce answered through gritted teeth, ignoring the ‘little brother’ dig.
So what if the asshole was an inch taller and a year older?
He had grown soft over the years, and Royce had no doubt he could take him in a fight.
The thought of using his pompous ass of an older brother’s face to work out some of his frustration almost brought a smile to his face.
“Aye, brother, you are. You’re hiding from the wee lass with platinum curls and violet eyes,” Rian answered with a cocky grin that made Royce grit his teeth and the brogue of their ancestors.
“Damn you! Stay the hell outta my head!” Royce barely contained the roar he felt building.
“Tsk, Tsk, Tsk… did I hit a nerve?” Rian held up his hand to keep Royce from lashing out again.
“If you don’t want the entire clan to see what you’re truly feeling towards the little witch, I suggest you learn to shield your thoughts while you sleep.
It’s obvious that no matter how hard you fight it, the mating call has its hooks in you.
” His brother raised one eyebrow and smirked, “At least I have the decency to block you out before your ‘hormones’ take over. I’m not sure the younger of the clan will be so courteous… should your thoughts reach them.”
Rian chuckled, and Royce worked hard to control his temper.
He was well aware of where his thoughts regarding Kyra went when he let his guard down.
How could he not think of her in all the ways a dragon shifter was supposed to think of his mate?
She was, after all, the One promised to him by the Universe.
She was absolutely gorgeous. Yes, she was short, only five foot two, but she was a force unto herself.
Her long platinum hair reached her waist and was both straight and curly and seemed to just be shy of being tamed all the time.
Her violet eyes were vibrant and expressive and held a wisdom that went beyond her age or her experience.
She seemed to glow with energy and exuberance, and her heart seemed to lead her no matter the magical power she wielded.
But that didn’t change the fact that she was a witch, and no matter what he felt for the beautiful woman, he wouldn’t mate with her. She was a witch! A fucking witch!
At first, he tried to justify it with the fact that Kyra’s father was human, which worked for about five seconds - just long enough for him to remember the other half of her lineage.
The half that came from one of the most powerful and highly regarded white witches in all the world, mommy dearest, the Grand Priestess Calysta St. Croix.
That alone gave her immense power. Power that crackled and sparked all around her.
Power that he knew could twist and corrupt even the purest of hearts.
Although he had to admit that he felt nothing but goodness and light in Kyra, and for a few brief hours every day when he was so tired he just dropped onto his pallet, his treacherous mind and heart imagined a life with her, but he knew there was no way he could trust it.
Everything could change in the blink of an eye, and he was not going to be caught unaware, not again.
He would fight Fate with his last breath.
A lonely, loveless life was better than living every day waiting for his mate to turn into a power-hungry piece of trash that would slay all he held dear to gain the power she thought she deserved.
He shook himself from his thoughts. One glance at his brother and he knew Rian was just gearing up to spout more BS, and true to form, big brother did not disappoint.
“Even if I hadn’t been able to see the turmoil in your head, I’ve had visits from Stefan.
Not only is he the clan’s Spiritual Elder…
you do remember that he’s also our uncle and the man who helped raise us after Mother’s death, do you not? ”
“You know I really hate when you get the high and mighty ‘I’m the Head Elder’ tone in your voice, Ri.
And you know damn good and well that I remember who he is and all that he’s done for us.
That’s precisely the reason I wanted to talk to him.
Stefan was there when mother and Rhianna were killed.
He tried everything in his considerable power to keep our mother and sister with us.
It was he who identified the spell Ilsa had been trying to work and sanctioned her execution when father was unable to do little more than breathe and grieve.
Who better to know how I feel about witches than he? ”
“That was a long time ago, Roy, and the Universe does not make mistakes…”
“SHUT THE HELL UP!” Royce roared, letting all the frustration, anger, and helplessness he felt at the cards Fate had dealt him, freely flow.
For the first time that he could ever remember, Rian just stood, staring…
not speaking, not spouting pious recriminations, just waiting to see what would come next.
It was something Royce had never experienced in his very long life; his brother was actually listening.
Royce took a deep breath and began again, “I understand what a wondrous gift a mate is, but Kyra is a witch and I cannot and will not live my life with a witch…white or not.”
He let his head fall forward into his hands and sighed, the weight of all that had happened in the last six weeks bearing down on him like a boulder.
How could the Universe, in Her infinite wisdom, pair him with a magic practitioner?
Yes, Kyra was beautiful and intelligent and had a heart ten times bigger than her tiny five-foot-two-inch frame should be capable of containing, but she was a witch!
He spoke his thoughts out loud, “I have seen her capacity for goodness. Hell, I could actually feel her agony and regret as she apologized to Grace and Lance for unknowingly helping Andrew.” He turned and watched as Rian took the seat across the fire, still not speaking.
“I damn near cried myself when she knelt before Sydney and apologized, promising with complete sincerity that she would do everything in her power to stop the man who had almost taken her new daddy from her.
I can feel that her intentions are pure, but what scares me is the power I feel within her; it is immense.
“I know Rory and I were much closer to Ilsa than you. Father always took you with him, making sure you learned everything you needed to know to become the next leader of our clan, but you have to remember how much we trusted her. She was like a second mother to us all. She took care of us, kept us out of trouble, made us all believe she was family and then…”
Tears filled his eyes and the lump in his throat grew so large that he could barely breathe. A memory so strong it felt as though he had been transported back in time began to unfurl in his mind, and he was helpless to do anything but let it play out.
There in front of him was the home where he and his brothers had spent their youth, looking the same as it had all those years ago.
He could see the beautiful stained glass windows that decorated every turret, each depicting a famous dragon in the throes of battle.
His fingers itched with the need to touch the ivy that lovingly grew in every nook and cranny of the brick structure, and he almost laughed out loud remembering all the toys that he and his brothers had hidden from one another in those tangled vines, only to be found and used for ransom in one of their many games of war.
He watched as a much younger version of himself made his way around the house, a large buck slung over his shoulder and a huge smile on his face.
His father had dispatched him that very morning to rid the lair of the deer that continued to raid almost every garden.
It was with great satisfaction that he remembered hanging the carcass from the tree while others of their clan began to gather and congratulate him on his hunt.
The hair at the nape of his neck stood on end, just as it had so many years ago, when his mother’s blood-curdling screams cut through that beautiful fall day.
The earth shook from the responding roar of his father’s dragon, miles away.
Unable to stop the flood of memories that had irreparably changed his life, his heart raced and sweat rolled down his back as he watched a younger version of himself race through the house and up the steep wooden staircase that led to the bedrooms. Just as he reached the door of his parents’ room, his point of view changed.
No longer was he an innocent bystander, but an active participant.
He had slipped into his much younger body, doomed to relive one of the most horrific events of his life.
The actions that had rushed by and fought for his attention only seconds before now moved in slow motion.