"Dammit," Percy muttered, lifting up his shirt and sticking his dark hand through the torn seam in the arm, where it had caught on a branch during their journey.
Orion chuckled and stuck another chuck of bread into his waiting mouth. His stomach had been growling angrily since dusk, and it was well towards midnight at this point. He chewed and swallowed before responding to his Beta. "Maybe you should learn to control that beast." He nodded over at the chestnut mare that was nibbling on the undergrowth near his own silver mount.
Percy sneered at his friend and pulled the torn shirt over his head. The white fabric stood out easily in the dark, especially with their enhanced eyesight. He ran a hand through the course, curly black hair that covered his head and lifted his plate of cold beans into his lap. "Not my fault the horse is nervous."
"Really? You don't think your pissy dragon had anything to do with it?" Orion tossed Percy a loaf of bread from the saddlebag next to him which Percy snatched easily from the air.
Percy shook his head. "He's just on edge because he saw Laura talking to that other male before we left and we've been gone for so long. Plus, the full moon is so close. He wants me to just fly straight home and claim her already. Be done with it and announce to world that she's mine, and kill any other male who would dare look at her." Orion was surprised at Percy's dragon's bad mood; the beast was normally calm and easygoing, at least compared to Orion's. But another male sniffing around his future mate was enough to send any dragon toward the edge. Orion chewed his meal thoughtfully while he waited to see if his best friend and second in command would elaborate. His patience was rewarded.
"I just want it to be special, you know? When I ask her to be my mate. I don't want to just jump her and mark her like some primitive beast. He doesn't get that and sees every moment she's not claimed by me is a moment another male is going to snap her up. It's strange, we're usually so in tune. But these human customs are lost on him." Percy turned to loaf of bread over in his hands a few times before he took a bite. Orion couldn't empathize with his friend, though he wanted to. He'd never been at odds with his dragon, but mating did that to a person. He and his dragon were one soul, one body, one mind, and he couldn't imagine it any other way. Even with the full moon coming up, his beast waited patiently for his turn to be in complete control. Sure, he was more on edge than usual, but he wasn't at war with his human side.
"I'm sorry, man, but are you going to do it soon? Ask her, I mean?" Orion wondered as he reached up to push a chunk of his shaggy brown hair out of his face. He absently reminded himself to buy some twine or something tomorrow so he could tie it back. Percy finally looked up at Orion his silver eyes, the color of his dragon's scales, and nodded. A wide grin spread across his face which left his straight, white teeth to stand out against the dark brown of his skin.
"Yeah, soon," Percy grinned wider, "but that's all you're going to get out of me, Alpha."
"Fine, fine," Orion raised his large hands in surrender. He'd let Percy have his plans, Laura would say yes no matter what. He lifted a spoonful of cold beans up to his mouth. They couldn't risk a fire, for fear of being detected. He was tired of eating cold beans and bread, he was tired of sleeping in the middle of the wilderness with no fire, and he was tired of traveling. Percy and Orion had been sent on a mission by Orion's father, the Alpha of the Western Clan. A mission that could have been accomplished by lower ranking members of the clan, in Orion's opinion. He had better things to do than run around chasing ghosts. A couple of dragons had disappeared from the clan and Leo wanted to know where they went. Orion and Percy had somehow been recruited to figure it out. Orion figured they'd just given themselves over to the dragon, that happened sometimes. Some people's dragons were just too powerful for the human half and they took over. They couldn't live in tandem. Leo was convinced that something happened to them, but he hadn't seen them in the weeks before they'd disappeared. They'd been slowly going crazy, and clan members had been telling Leo that, but he wasn't convinced. So, Orion and Percy were traipsing all across the kingdoms to see if they had decided to join the humans. Leo and the other Alphas of the clans forebode interaction with the humans unless strictly necessary, such as for trading purposes. There was too much of a chance that the humans would discover what they really were, and they could risk that.
He and Percy had been at it for nearly a month and they'd found squat. The worst part was that they couldn't even shift and travel as dragons. There were too many humans around who would likely notice two large dragons flying through the sky. The pests would mistake them for Wildlings and they'd be avidly hunted. He looked over at his silver stallion in contempt. He was tired of riding around on horseback. Horses were too slow.
He tossed his finished plate on the ground and took a swig from his canteen before laying back on the hard surface. Damn, he couldn't even see the stars. The upper foliage was too thick. How long did his father expect them to ride around searching for dragons who had so obviously gone to live among the Wildings?
He just wanted to get home and resume his duties. He wasn't technically Alpha yet, but he might as well have been. Leo had been giving him more and more responsibilities and backing off. The Alpha wasn't getting any younger, and Orion felt ready to take on the role of the leader. He'd been ready to be Alpha since he was just a hatchling. He'd trained hard and had listened to (almost) every piece of advice his father had given him over the years while he'd groomed him to become Alpha. He and his dragon were born to lead, there was nothing else that they wanted. Percy would be his Beta, he would mate with the daughter of the Alpha of the Eastern Clan, and everything would fall into place.
Sure, he would never get the love that Percy had with Laura, but his father had made an agreement to mate his oldest son with the oldest daughter of the fellow Alpha to form a stronger alliance than friendship. Cassie was a nice enough girl, even though she was only seventeen, which was seven years younger than Orion himself. She would make a good Alpha female for his clan, and that was all Orion looked for in a mate. She had Alpha blood and she followed Orion's lead. She'd give him heirs and companionship. He didn't feel he could ever love Cassie, but love was something his Nana told him and his little brother about in her stories, not something that Orion saw in his future.
He was just on the edge of sleep when Percy pulled him back from the much wanted unconsciousness. "You hear that?"
Orion groaned softly before he pried open a golden eye to look at the horses. Completely at ease. Alright, so it was something only dragons could hear. "No. Hear what?"
Percy rolled his eyes. "Listen."
"Alright, alright," Orion sat up slowly and closed his eyes. His ears reached out into the night, picking up the smallest rustles from nocturnal creatures hunting for bugs, to the footsteps of deer and the coyotes tracking them. And there, behind all the natural noise, the step of hooves on soft dirt and the creak of carriage wheels. He opened his eyes again and looked over at his friend. "The carriage?"
Orion would forever be amazed at the extent of Percy's hearing; he'd had to be listening for something specifically out of place, but his friend had picked up on it without trying. "What about it."
"Well it's headed this way, and I don't feel like worrying about answering questions if someone finds us," Percy pointed out. "You know how nosy humans are."
Orion lifted a broad shoulder and let it drop again. "Point taken. But it's easy enough to lie; we do look like travelers. And a carriage that's travelling this late probably doesn't want any trouble either. I think we're good, so I'm going to go back to sleep."
Percy sighed and rose to his impressive height. "Well, I can't sleep so I'm going to go check it out anyway."
Orion groaned and glared up at his friend. "Why can't you just leave it alone?" He gathered himself and stood up. Percy might have impressive height, but Orion was still an inch taller than him. Standing well over six feet, both men were imposing in their human forms.
"Hey, I didn't ask you to come with me."
"You think I'm going to let you go alone?"
Percy smirked and took off into the woods with Orion close on his heels. They left the horses as they could move faster and quieter without them. The pair dashed through the trees without making a sound, a skill they'd both worked incredibly hard to perfect. Their dragons were on high alert, ready to surface in a moment's notice. Orion knew it wouldn't come to that, but they were ready anyway. It didn't take long to reach the carriage, which looked innocent enough. What gave it away was the lack of lights and the anxiety radiating from the four men accompanying it.
Orion and Percy crept forward and crouched behind one of the many bushes and brambles that lined the crude trail. Their presence was immediately noticed by the horses, who sensed the predators and cowered. They pranced and shook, rocking the carriage back a forth. The mounted horses were no more relaxed, but their riders treated them with a firm hand. The horses only became more panicked when the driver snapped the reins and growled at them.
A mounted rider smacked the side of the carriage. "Get back, or I'll give you something to look at." Interesting that he would speak to the passenger in such a way. Perhaps that's why they were travelling in the middle of the night; they were moving someone who they shouldn't have been. The mounted rider trotted forward and tried to help coax the frightened horses forward.
And then the breeze shifted.
Orion smelt it before Percy. A dragon. There was a dragon nearby. Not in the woods, but in the carriage. Orion shifted his gaze from the men to the dark window in the door, where his gaze collided with a pair of sky blue eyes peering at him through the opening. They widened in fear and ducked below the edge. Orion elbowed Percy, possibly harder than he had intended for his friend growled softly, and pointed at the carriage.
"There's a dragon in there!"
"What?" Percy's eyebrows shot to his hairline. He sniffed as well and obviously caught the female's scent by the way the look on his face changed. "She's not one of ours."
They both knew the two dragons they were searching for and would have immediately recognized their scents; this dragon was not one of them. But she needed their help. She was not there of her own free will, and likely wasn't going to be released anytime soon. Percy kept his gaze focused on the carriage, which was beginning to move forward again. "What should we do?"
"Help her, obviously."
"Kill them?"
"No, we don't need the suspicion of four dead bodies. Knock them out, grab her, and go."
Percy nodded once and without another word, the pair exploded from their cover and were on the guards in less than a second. They'd been fighting together for as long as Orion could remember, it was second nature to them now.
The mounted horses screamed in terror as their riders were dragged off their back. Orion wrapped a strong arm around a man's throat and squeezed until he felt the man go slack. He began to chase down the man who was running down the road away from the fight when the carriage door flew open. A woman burst out and took off into the woods. Her blue skirts flew behind her, but she managed to flee despite that. Orion didn't hesitate in his chase, simply switched his target.
"Percy, one's getting away!" he called over his shoulder as he took off after the woman into the dense forest. She was surprisingly fast for wearing a skirt and having her wrists bound behind her back.
"Hey, wait!" he called after her. "We're not going to hurt you!" She apparently didn't believe him, because she didn't falter, slow down, or even look over her shoulder. If anything, she ran harder. His dragon growled at the disobedient female, and Orion wasn't too happy either. He should be happily curled up on the ground sleeping, while instead he was chasing some strange woman through the forest in the middle of the night and she didn't even appear to appreciate their help. Damn, why couldn't he catch her? She was in a skirt and had her hands tied for crying out loud.
"Stop!" he shouted. Once again, no response. Maybe she was deaf. That would be unfortunate for a dragon, but it was a distinct possibility at this point. How dare she ignore him so blatantly, him an Alpha. He growled and put on an extra burst of speed. He could tell himself he caught her, but in reality she was taken down by a fallen branch. As she moved to leap over it, her silk skirts caught and she went down, flat on her chest.
"Umph," she groaned, but wasted no time in flipping over to snarl at him when he came to a stop before her. He lifted his lip in response, neither he nor his dragon appreciated the hostile greeting.
He bent down and wrapped a rough hand around her upper arm to drag her to her feet. She was slight, rising up to just his chest, but she was stronger than she looked. She struggled against him but his grip was iron around her. Her face up to glare at him and he was surprised at the beauty beneath the layer of grime that accumulated during her fall. She was disheveled and obviously frightened, but he had to admire her tenacity. Every instinct she had would be screaming at her to submit to him, the Alpha, but she was doing no such thing. If her hands had been free, she likely would have clawed at his face with no remorse. Speaking of, why hadn't she broken the binds herself? She had the strength for it, or even maneuvering a claw around would have been enough.
"Let me go, monster," she spat and tugged at his grip once again.
He stared at her, not comprehending her anger. What was her problem? He was there to save her, and this was the thanks he got? And monster? She thought he was the monster when she had only moments ago been on her way to God knows where, bound and abused? He sure as hell didn't feel like the monster in this situation. His dragon paced back and forth, studying this female intently. The way she dared challenge his authority was a new concept to him and he was immediately intrigued by the peculiar female.
"I'm here to help you," Orion insisted, loosening his grip slightly. "I'm not going to hurt you. I promise."
She narrowed those dazzling blue eyes. "And why should I trust you, dragon?"
The way she said dragon, as though it were an insult. Who was this female? "I believe you are a dragon yourself, my lady." He addressed her as such because no commoner had access to a dress like that, nor the sapphire that rested against soft, pale skin of her chest. He thought perhaps if he addressed her in a way she was used to, she would settle down. Perhaps.
"Not by choice, of that I can assure you." She tugged her arm again and this time he let it go. If she ran, he would be on her again faster than she could turn away. He and his dragon had had enough of her already and he wasn't about to play chase again.
He decided to disregard the comment for the moment. "Why were you in that carriage, and why are your wrists bound?"
"Maybe I'd be more inclined to tell you if they were no longer tied together?" A dark eyebrow rose in challenge and Orion hesitated before allowing his forefinger nail to elongate into an dark gold claw. Her eyes widened in what he thought was fear as he reached around and snapped the bindings with a simple flick of the finger. She immediately brought them in front of her and rubbed the chaffed wrists. He quickly noticed the perfect, soft skin of her hands. A lady's hands, hands that had never seen a day of work in their life.
He shouldn't have been surprised when she bolted.
Luckily he'd been on alert and caught up to her in two long strides. He grabbed her arm once again and spun her back into him. The little female bumped back into his wall of a chest and he held her there, allowing her to realize their differences in size. He could snap her like a twig if he were so inclined, dragon or not.
She was not like the dragon females he knew. Those females had spent years working and training and were hardened with muscle and raw power. This female had never had to lift more than a finger to get what she wanted, and her body had never done more work than walk up the stairs in her pretty gowns. She was soft, her skin gave a little where his hands pressed against her arm and her hip, and for some reason, he couldn't help but lean in to inhale her scent. She smelled like lavender, honey, and roses, and the scent was immediately committed to memory, and it drove his dragon insane. He was intoxicated by the smell of this female.
An angry foot slammed against his shin.
He gasped in surprise and was taken off guard when she tore her arm away from him and shoved him back. He stumbled a few feet away from her, but she advanced toward him threateningly. A huntress ready to strike. "How dare you, you animal!" she shouted. "You stay away from me!" Her finger pointed at him accusingly and her eyes glowed blue in the dark. So her dragon had been offended by his actions as well, which was strange because dragons usually enjoyed the more instinctual aspects of life. Alright, perhaps the sniffing had been out of line, but he hadn't been able to help himself. He'd never done something so instinctual, so primitive. Males didn't just go around sniffing strange female because they could. That was rude, dragon or not. And he had been raised right.
He bowed his head slightly, though his dragon balked at this show of submission. He ignored the beast. "My apologies, my lady. That was out of line. It will not happen again."
"It better not," she snarled, her eyes still glowing. "Or I'll tear your throat out."
I'd like to see you try, he thought, but he didn't voice his thoughts. He was still amazed at the confidence she possessed. It didn't matter one bit to her that he was an Alpha, almost as if she didn't realize it. Either way, her dragon should have been warning her as to who his standing within his clan was. His aura was a powerful one, it radiated from him to alert everyone as to who he was. And he did not like his power being challenged. How dare this female not only strike, whether it had been deserved or not, and threaten him? Who was she?
He didn't respond, and his silence seemed to placate her. Her eyes ceased their glowing and she relaxed slightly. "I'd like to go now. I just want to go home."
He lifted his chin once again and shook his head. "I believe you owe me an answer. I untied you, so you need to tell me why you were in that carriage."
She looked over his shoulder, as if checking back at the carriage, which was far out of sight, and then wrapped her arms around herself. "I was being help captive."
"Obviously," he refrained from rolling his eyes, but it was close. "Obviously. Why were you a captive?"
"They knew what I am. They were taking me as a prisoner," she told him, looking down as though ashamed at her situation. Which she should be. No dragon would have let themselves get into that situation.
Orion growled angrily. How could she be so careless, allowing humans to discover her? The one rule, the only rule: don't let the humans discover you. And she broke it. "What clan are you from?" he demanded. He'd take her back to her Alpha and let him sort it out.
Her brow creased in confusion. "I'm not from a clan."
It wasn't often dragons didn't belong to a clan. The humans that turned into dragons such as themselves were social creatures. They craved companionship. Wildlings, the wild dragons who had no human in them whatsoever, were loners. Sometimes dragons preferred the lifestyle of the Wildlings and took off on their own. "A nomad then? And you let yourself be discovered?"
"I didn't let them do anything! He figured it out himself and threatened my family!" she snapped. "And I'm not a nomad. I live with the humans. I'm one of them." She winced and touched her temple after the words left her mouth, but quickly straightened and met his eye evenly.
Her family? Lived with humans? She was one of them? These words made no sense to Orion. Dragons couldn't live among the humans. They were always discovered, much as this female had been. How long had she been pulling off this charade that she didn't have a clan? "How long have you been with them?"
"Since I was a baby."
Since she was an infant? How was that possible... unless someone had been helping her. Harboring her. Hiding her. Someone who knew what she was.
"There are humans who know what you are?" he stepped toward her slowly. "Besides the one who captured you?"
She swallowed slowly as she sensed the depth of his anger. Humans couldn't keep secrets. Humans told their friends. And it didn't take long for everyone's friend to find something out. The only way the dragons survived was if their secret remained just that: a secret. And this female was a threat to their entire existence.
She lifted her chin defiantly. "I'm very careful. I don't shift if I don't have to. I'd never let it hurt anyone."
He paused. It? She didn't shift if she didn't have to? That would explain her wince earlier. Her dragon had been fighting for freedom. She locked the animal in a cage. It was amazing they both hadn't gone mad. And there was no telling if her dragon really wasn't insane from being locked up her entire life. If the animal ever escaped it confines in a less than controlled situation, she would likely kill everyone in sight. Animals kept in captivity were never quite right in the head. And dragons that weren't allowed to roam were angry, sad creatures. The poor thing had likely never seen the sky, not if this female had any say in it. She probably chained herself up during the full moon.
Orion's own dragon snarled at the female's words. He saw it as his duty to protect his fellow dragons, he was an Alpha after all, and this dragon had been abused. Orion and his dragon would not stand for that. And he couldn't exactly let the female leave. She was a threat to his entire kind.
"You're coming with me." He grabbed her arm for the third time and hauled her up into his arms. He knew she wasn't going to come willingly, so he saved time by simply carrying her. She weighed practically nothing in his strong grasp. After her initial surprise, she was quite offended at his actions. Not as much as when he had sniffed her, but a close second.
"Put me down! I'm not going anywhere with you!" she snarled.
"It would appear that you are. And I suggest you stop struggling or things are going to get much worse for you," Orion threatened.
"Worse how, exactly?" Her voice held a challenge Orion was all too ready to respond to. But she wasn't done. "So far tonight I've been fighting with a monster in my head, I was told I would be killed along with my family if I didn't leave my home, I've been tied up and locked in a carriage, and now I'm being manhandled by a stranger who thinks he's the boss of me."
She made a feeble attempt to push out of his arms but he just held her tighter. He was done with this female, and so was his dragon. "You don't deserve to be a dragon, you-"
"I don't want to be a dragon!" she interrupted. "Don't you get that? I'd give anything to be normal, to not have to hide the monster I've been cursed with."
He felt so sorry for her. Sorry that she'd never experienced the wonders of being a dragon. That she'd been forced to suppress her nature and lock away her beautiful other half. But he was angrier that she'd let it happen at all. That she had never questions what she was doing, had never been curious about who she was.
"Well, lucky for you, you won't have to hide anymore," he told her casually. He didn't know what he was doing, but it felt like the only option. He couldn't exactly set her free and let her go on her merry way. Whoever wanted to capture her had caught her once, he could do it again. And once that had happened, there would be no stopping the consequences. No, for the sake of his kind, Orion could not let the female go.
She looked up at him in confusion. "What? What does that mean?"
"It means," he said slowly, "that you're now under my protection and supervision. If you think I'm going to let you out of my sight any time soon, you've got another thing coming."
Her small fist beat against his chest once in anger. "No! I refuse! You can't stop me from leaving!"
He chuckled deeply. "Watch me."