The Alpha Dragon's Secret (Dragon Shifters of Kahului Book 1) Read online

  He and his loyal companions tried to stop him, but the cost was great. Many humans—friends and lovers—perished. While they did eventually prevail over Ludovic and the other evil dragons, the aftermath was devastating. None of them escaped punishment. Daegal and his companions were sentenced to exile over the mass casualties and sent to an uninhabited island halfway across the world from their other home.

  Devastated over their losses, they all sank into deep hibernation, never to stir until today.

  He couldn't help but think those events were somehow related. If they weren't, it was still a fortuitous occasion. He was face to face with his mate, and he would have her. Soon.

  But first, he had to make sure his companions were safe. He was responsible for their well-being, especially since he was the one responsible for their exile. He knew his friends could take care of themselves, but he also couldn't shake the feeling that something was afoot. Something deadly. Daegal planned to keep them close at hand.

  If there was danger here, it would strike soon.

  Less than an hour later, Sara announced it was time for the men to leave. Daegal had been dreading this from the moment he'd stepped into her dwelling.

  None of them got up. He watched as Sara's face grew red.

  "Our agreement was food and some rest." She held up her wrist and checked some kind of device on it. "It's been three hours," she proclaimed. "Time to boogie on down the road."

  Gregor's brow wrinkled. Ah. Perhaps he had no idea what boogie meant either.

  "We will pay you, human. If you allow us to stay here," Daegal said.

  "See, when you say things like 'human', it's creepy," she said. "It makes me a lot less inclined to agree."

  Daegal blinked at her. "Is that not what you are?" he asked. "Human?"

  She rolled her eyes. It was a very human expression. Or so he thought. The women back home were less inclined to back talk their superiors.

  "Of course we are. Isn't that what everyone is?" She stared at him, her nostrils flared with annoyance. Daegal could feel her blood heat up. She was angry at him. It was surprisingly attractive to him.

  "No," he said. Gregor laid a warning hand on his arm, but he shook it off.

  "No?" she questioned, one reddish eyebrow lifting up in the air.

  "We are dragons," Daegal exclaimed proudly.

  The woman, Jillian, let out a snort of laughter. "And I'm Santa Claus," she said.

  "I do not know who this Santa is," Daegal said, "but you must be this person. Because I am a dragon. And so are my compatriots."

  Silence fell in the room. All three of the women stared at him. Sara's expression was aggrieved, as if she knew he was lying and couldn't prove it. He was not lying, and he couldn't see what the problem was. Jillian's brow was wrinkled.

  Carrie, who appeared to be the most free-spirited, didn't look like she cared. She only had eyes for Edvard. The woman was sitting so close to him, it appeared as though she was a growing appendage from his side.

  These women were all quite strange.

  He suspected his companions agreed. Though, he couldn't help but wonder if there was a reason all of them were drawn here. To these four women.

  His gaze trailed over Sara's lithe form. His mate. All these years, he searched for her. It was never a quest or an overwhelming urge, but everywhere he went, he searched for the golden lights. It was the only way you knew the person was the one. He had relationships before, sure, but none of them were saints. He always went into these relationships with his eyes wide open. Of the women he'd spent the night with so far, none of them had shown themselves to be the woman he was destined to have children with. Usually, the women knew it too.

  Today, though, staring at this unique woman, he could imagine his children with golden hair and her intriguing eyes taking their first flight.

  Overcome with emotion, Daegal swallowed hard. It wouldn't do to give away the game before he even started to play it.

  He could feel Gregor's heated stare upon him. "Do not rush this," his friend said quietly under his breath. "These women must be wooed."

  Daegal offered a short nod. No more. He was terrible at wooing, but he was also handsome and quite adept in the bedchamber. Perhaps that would make up for his less than desirable way with words sometimes.

  Sara caught his eye. "You ask for too much," she said.

  "We ask merely for shelter." Daegal sighed. He would not beg a woman. "Give it to us, and you shall be handsomely rewarded."

  "Uh," Jillian spoke up. "We haven't finished addressing the whole dragon thing. Is anyone going to explain that?"

  Daegal stood up, unbuckled his weapons belt, and stilled himself for a moment. It had been a while since he'd done this and needed a few seconds of intense concentration. He shut his eyes.

  A moment later, gasps rang out through the room. Just a second after that, the sound of a loud crash startled them all. He spun, only to see the beautiful shy girl, standing at the entrance to the living room. A plate lay shattered at her feet.

  Of course, it would be shocking to see him in all of his glory. He was a water dragon. And royalty on top of it.

  "Ella?" Gregor asked, concern evident in his voice.

  The coppery tang of blood reached Daegal's nose.

  "You're bleeding," Gregor said. He took a few steps over to her, but she spun away and rushed back into her room. Blood trailed behind her.

  His expression grim, Gregor trailed after her.

  "Your⁠—" Jillian said. "You're blue!"

  He wasn't interested in Jillian's opinion. He was interested in Sara's. His gaze rested upon her. Two spots of bright pink color appeared on her cheeks. Her mouth was slightly agape as she stared.

  Blue-green scales on his chest, neck, and arms, rippled iridescent in the light. He knew his face had become more angular and sharp. It was a form only a prince could take—still human, and yet part dragon. It was the easiest way he knew to show her what he truly was.

  "Beautiful," Sara whispered. She was too far away to touch him, but her fingertips reached out anyway.

  This was good. She should desire to touch him. Sara was his mate. It wouldn't do for her to find him hideous. Though, of course, he knew he wasn't. He was a glorious specimen of dragonhood and a prince to boot. Those who didn't find him glorious did not know what they were talking about.

  He preened for a moment, his hands placed proudly on his hips. Jillian's awe wore off faster than Sara's did. He saw her roll her eyes heavenward. This show wasn't for her.

  Look away, woman.

  Sara finally snapped out of it. Instead of smiling at him and telling him how glorious he was, she glared at him. "You couldn't tell me that before I let you into my house?"

  Daegal blinked a few times in surprise. This infernal woman. "I did tell you!" he almost roared. "But you insulted me and inferred I was crazy!"

  Sara was still glaring at him. "That's not the point!" she said.

  He dragged a hand through his hair and then ran it down the back of his neck so he wouldn't destroy something. "That is exactly the point!"

  "Children." Edvard's calm and amused voice intruded into their argument. Daegal and Sara stood there, both chests heaving, glaring at each other with the force of a thousand suns. If he could have turned her into a pile of ash, mate or no, he might have.

  "What?" they both roared at him.

  Edvard held both his hands up in a gesture of placation. "Perhaps we can speak of this like rational adults?"

  Sara looked like she wanted to set him on fire and eat him. Daegal drew in a deep breath. Was this how mating was all the time? Feeling like you were crazy?

  He wasn't so sure he liked it. However, when she looked at him like she wanted to murder him, it did funny things to his insides. He still liked her.

  Too much, in fact.

  Daegal sat back down and gathered his thoughts. "I apologize," he said. He was lying. They both knew it. Someone needed to be the bigger person here, and he decided it woul
d be him. He liked to win.

  Sara's glare grew even fiercer. "You don't have to apologize."

  "Apparently, I do. I must not have spoken clearly before. I'm the future king of all dragonkind."

  The glare fell off her face. She pressed her lips together. Perhaps she was trying not to yell anymore. "The king?" She sounded exhausted.

  "Aye. King Daegal of the Water Dragon Clan."

  A harsh breath escaped her, and she sank back down to her seat. "Right. Of course, you are." She fell silent, but one finger worried the space between her brows.

  "Do you have a headache?" Daegal asked. He would soothe it with his magic.

  "No," Sara said. "It's inappropriate for you to stay here," she added as an afterthought.

  Jillian hooted with amusement. "Excuse me, did we just time warp to 1955? Shall I call my mother to chaperone us?"

  Sara gave her friend a quelling look. Jillian shrugged. "I mean, if it's inappropriate, we should rectify it, right?"

  "I hate you all," Sara muttered.

  Daegal sat there, quiet, mulling over the ways he could convince Sara to let them stay. "We can pay you in gold."

  Jillian sat up a little straighter. Even Sara seemed to take his words seriously. Gold must carry a lot more weight in this world than other currency. No surprise. No matter when or where, it seemed, money was the way to get what you needed or wanted.

  "Will sixteen ounces do it?" he asked. They all carried sacks of gold wherever they went, and all of them came out of the water carrying one.

  He noticed Sara swallow hard. "Sixteen?" she asked hoarsely. She pulled something out of her back pocket. Some kind of strange device. She poked it a few times and gave her friend a strange look. Carrie, silently admiring Edvard, stilled and stared at Daegal like he was crazy.

  Sixteen ounces of gold wasn't so much, was it? Perhaps enough to purchase a good mount, or perhaps a week's worth of lodging at a nicer hotel?

  Carrie was about to speak, but Sara interrupted. "Done. You can stay here. I'll give you three days."

  Jillian and Carrie sat back in their seats like they'd been slapped. Three days was not a very generous offer, but he would still let her have the gold. He tossed her a cloth bundle, and she caught it deftly.

  His mate had good reflexes.

  She rose and padded to the back of her dwelling, possibly to stash the gold somewhere safe. No matter. He had plenty more where that came from. Dragons hoarded. They might have risen from the sea, but he knew exactly where his stash was.

  He rose and followed her. Sara turned into a small doorway. He hesitated, not wanting to intrude in a private area. But she was his mate. Where she went, he would follow.

  He knocked once and prowled inside.

  She startled as soon as he walked in. Sara was crouched on the ground, digging at something in the bottom of the closet. He leaned against the door frame and watched.

  "What do you want?" she asked. Her eyes were wary, but there was a spark of interest.

  He took a moment to peruse her private space. The walls were painted a deep purple and held paintings of the sea and the universe. So this woman was as drawn to the water as he was. Interesting.

  His gaze roamed to the enormous bed in the center of the room. It was similar to something he once slept in before he'd been banished. Four-poster and a large sleeping pad on top of it. The coverlet was white, speckled with purple stars. It was made perfectly as if she hadn't slept in it at all.

  His gaze lingered there as he imagined all the things he could do with Sara in it. A wide grin broke out on his face. Yes. She would be a wild lover, he assumed. There was something not yet unleashed within her. He would find that spark within her and nourish it.

  "Daegal?"

  He snapped out of it. Sara stood in front of him, not too close, but not so far away. He could smell her interest in him. Perhaps it was more curiosity now, but he knew it would bloom into something else. It had to. She belonged to him. By all the ancient and celestial laws, she was his mate. Being human, it might take her longer to accept, but he would take as much time as he could.

  He took a hesitant step toward her. "Thank you," he said. The words felt foreign on his tongue. He wasn't used to expressing gratitude to another person. It was often the other way around. Peasants often bowed and scraped to him. He did, after all, keep the kingdom safe.

  But that was before Ludovic. Before this most pressing feeling of danger.

  "You're welcome," she said.

  Her eyes were most unusual. At times brown, sometimes green, sometimes a mix of the two. He felt like he could drown in them. He took another step closer. "Our people do not appear to exist here any longer. It is nice to have kindness right now. And shelter." He stopped. Daegal was babbling, and that was not common. "Your food," he said, "it was wonderful."

  Gods. He needed to stop while he was ahead.

  Sara smiled at him, and Daegal felt like the sun had come out in the dim room. He stepped so close to her that there was barely an inch of space between them. He lifted a red-gold curl and rubbed his fingers together. "Your hair is incredible. Like the sun coming out after a long storm."

  Sara trembled before him. Daegal could no longer restrain himself. He cupped the back of her neck and brought his lips to hers. It was a soft brush of skin to skin, at first, though his instincts were screaming at him to claim her. Gregor's words came back to him. He had to be careful with her. None of them were used to the habits of dragons.

  Her lips were petal soft, and she smelled of the sea. He inhaled her essence and hauled her against his chest. Sara's feet lifted off the floor, and her arms went around his back.

  The press of her against him was maddening. She moaned as his lips continued to claim hers. With a soft sweep of his tongue against her mouth, she opened to him, like a flower greeting the morning light.

  He deepened the kiss, but Sara pushed him away. Her eyes were wild; her face flushed with pleasure. She held two fingers up to her lips and seemed about to say something. Instead, she gave him a final indecipherable look and fled from her bedroom.

  Daegal smiled to himself. Never had a kiss felt more right. He was filled with certainty.

  Sara was his mate. He would go slow. For now. But there would be a claiming. And soon.

  5

  Sara

  * * *

  Sara knew her face was fire engine red. She could feel herself on fire. Not just from the kiss, though it was a big part of how she was feeling. She'd just let a man—no, a dragon. She'd let a dragon into her freaking house! And he'd just kissed the ever-loving bejeezus out of her. She drew in a ragged breath. She'd never been kissed like that. Not once. She was no weeping violet, but every encounter she'd ever had was quick, a rapid gathering of bodies, and in the dark. Never had it been like that. Like he knew her. Really knew her.

  She stopped right before the entrance to the living room.

  Get your shit together, she admonished herself. Sara fanned herself rapidly in an effort to cool down a little. She would be fooling no one if she walked out with crazy eyes and a beet red face. About thirty seconds later, she stepped into the living room. Jillian and Carrie were across the room digging around in the hall closet for blankets.

  Gregor had returned from his encounter with Ella. She would be sure to ask her friend all about that the next time she got her alone. Sebastian and Edvard lounged on her furniture like they lived there. All the bare man chest in this place was enough to drive a woman mad. She'd have to run down to the surf shop around the corner to get them some decent clothing. If she kept seeing Daegal walk around half naked, she was prone to assault him. In a good way, of course, but embarrassing on her part.

  She checked her watch again and frowned. Sara was one of the few people she knew who ever wore a watch, but it kept her from carrying her phone around all the time. It was a good trade-off, but she'd lost more watches than she cared to count because she kept leaving them at the beach after surfing practice.

&nbs
p; It was too late to go down to the shop. She sighed. At least they would have blankets. All three of the men stood up and began unbuckling their pants.

  "No!" Sara shouted. "Oh my God, no!"

  Sebastian leered at her. "What, my lady? Are you not keen to view my manly prowess?" He hip thrusted and waggled his eyebrows at her. Gregor punched him in the ribs.

  "Ow!" he exclaimed. "What was that for?"

  Gregor said nothing but gave him a strange look.

  Sebastian paled. "My apologies, lady."

  That was awfully humble. It didn't really seem like Sebastian. Whatever. She waved a hand at them. "Please don't put your naked danglies on my couch. Do you have underwear?" she asked.

  All of them gave her a confused look.

  "Underwear?" Gregor asked. "Like a shift?"

  Sara tilted her head. "I have no idea what a shift is. Underwear." She motioned around her crotch area. "To secure your...bits?"

  Edvard's eyes sparkled with unspent laughter. "My bits are just fine how they are, lady."

  "I mean, please don't put your naked rear-end on my couch."

  Sebastian looked like he was dying to say something, but he turned away. Whatever Gregor had communicated with that look had chastened him.

  "So you would like us to keep our pants on?" Edvard asked.

  Sara got the sense he was toying with her. "Yes, please," she said, exasperated. "I'll pick you up some sleep shorts tomorrow."

  "Humans are quite prudish," Gregor said. "You do realize we can morph to our dragon forms and sleep?"

  Sara looked properly horrified. "Please don't do that. You'll break my couch!"

  But Gregor was smiling at her. Sara let out a surprised laugh. "Funny."

  Jillian tossed a blanket at him. He caught it and blinked in surprise. "The softness of this fabric is astounding."

  "It's microfiber."

  Gregor shook his head. "Whatever that is, I like it." He sat down on the couch for a moment before sliding his boots off and lying down.