“Let’s eat, shall we?” he asked, grabbing the basket and beginning to unpack it.
Hungry as he was, that wasn’t why he wanted to occupy them with something else. He didn’t want her circling back around, and asking him to promise not to get between her and one of her people. He couldn’t give her that promise. He would always do whatever he could to protect her, even if meant getting seriously injured, or worse. He would just hope it never came to that.
He watched her as they ate, and he wondered what it was like for her. Growing up as a shifter with a hunted animal, in a culture where males took what they wanted without hesitation or permission.
“Did you join Ian’s crew when you were of age to have more protection?”
Freezing for a moment, she swallowed her bite of roast beef sandwich before answering. “Depends on what you mean by of age. I was sixteen when I met Ian and he took me under his wing. And there wasn’t really a crew then. Before me, it was just Ian and Jax. They’re both from Eagle Creek and were underground fighting in Savannah at the time. They moved a lot back then, and when they left a week later, I went with them. Seth joined us about a year later.”
“Sixteen?” he asked, eyebrows high. “And your parents let you leave with total strangers, just like that?”
“My parents passed away a few months before that,” she replied softly, eyes downcast.
“Shit, I’m sorry, Cammie.”
“It was a long time ago. I still miss them every day, that will never change, but the sting has faded a bit since then.”
“And you weren’t with family?”
“We didn’t have any. My parents were only children of dragons, and both sets of my grandparents had been taken out by hunters. It was only us three.”
“Are hunters how your parents died?”
Sighing, she pushed aside her mostly eaten dinner and stretched her legs out. “No. We hid well, out on fifty acres of land
in Georgia. We were careful, only shifting a few times a year, wearing sunglasses when we were in town just in case our dragons showed in our eyes. Dragons don’t have tells, no scents like fur, to give us away, so eyes were all we needed to take precautions with. They bought the land through someone else, so their names couldn’t be traced, and I was homeschooled. Every precaution was taken.” She peeked up at him through long lashes. “It wasn’t hunters who found us. It was another dragon.
“I told you how rare female dragons are, but I didn’t tell you how rare I am. I’m a full-blooded dragon. Most dragons have mixed blood, so I’m basically a unicorn to my people. And before you ask, no, there are no unicorn shifters. That we know of anyway.” Her mouth curled in a quick smirk and then fell. “The man whose name my parents bought the land in… he knew. I’m not sure how. I know my parents were friends with him, but I feel sure they wouldn’t have told him. Regardless of how he knew, when he felt like I was old enough to be taken away, he sold our info to another dragon he knew, and the dragon came for me.”
Heart clenching, Alex hastened to interrupt, but she held a hand up, shaking her head.
“Let me finish this. I’ve never told the whole story before. Ian doesn’t even know. But I want to tell you, if you want to hear it all.”
“Of course,” he said softly. “I want to know everything about you, but I don’t want you to delve into something that’s going to bring the hurt of that day back.”
“My parents would have loved you,” she said, a wistful smile dancing briefly over her lips before she took a deep breath. “I was inside, working on schoolwork, when I heard my dad scream. There’s no other word for it. It was this inhuman sound, full of heartbreak and anguish. I ran to the door and he was staring at my mom. She was lying on the ground, and even from where I was, I could see the blood underneath her. There was a man standing over her, and he told my dad if he didn’t give me to him, that would be his fate, too.
“My dad glanced at me then. It was fast, more like a flicker, but I knew he was telling me to run. I was frozen, though. He didn’t stop to make sure I did, immediately turning into his dragon. The other man did too, and they started fighting. My dad… he was many things, but he wasn’t a fighter. The fight didn’t last long at all, but even when it was over, and my dad was dead, I couldn’t make myself move,” she said, swallowing hard. “I was in shock. Just minutes before I’d been happy. We had a good life. I was a little lonely, but my parents loved me, and every day was full of laughter and happiness. And in the blink of an eye, all that was gone.
“The man changed back and caught sight of me. It was the cold, remorseless smile he gave me that finally got me moving, and I took off. I’m not sure if you remember this, or sensed it somehow, but all shifters have a special gift, something they’re good at. Mine is speed. I’m faster than anyone I’ve ever come across, human or shifter. Once I could move, I ran through the house and out the back door. He was never able to catch up.”
Wrapping his arms around her, he held her tightly, struggling to control his emotions as his heart bled for her. “Oh, sweetheart. God, I’m so sorry. Tell me you found Ian right after that.”
Laying her head on his shoulder, she shrugged. “About two months later. I’d done okay for myself up until then, but it had been a couple days since I’d eaten, and I got desperate. I was passing by some people eating outside, and not knowing Ian was a shifter, I snagged his lunch.” She laughed in remembrance. “I was so surprised when he caught up to me. I didn’t use my gift while I was in the city, and I was a little cocky as I darted away, using just a touch of shifter speed. He snagged me pretty quickly.”
“I’m glad he caught you,” he said, placing a kiss on the top of her head.
“I wasn’t. Not at first, anyway. I still don’t know what made him pause. I was dirty, smelly, and wearing nothing but rags. He was pissed when he first stopped me, but something made him hesitate for a moment, and then he snatched my sunglasses off my face. My dragon eyes were showing at that point. He was surprised, because despite how often we’re successfully hunted, a lot of shifters don’t know we exist anymore. Most think we’re extinct. He took me in and was kind to me. Despite only being a couple years older than me, he reminded me of my dad, and I was comfortable with him right from the start.”
“You said male dragons are assholes, but your dad sounds like he was a good man.”
“He absolutely was. He was the best. Male dragons are mostly entitled douchebags. They think they’re superior, and everyone around them is put on Earth to serve them. But my dad wasn’t like that. He was loving, kind, and gentle. He had a big heart. He insisted on helping others out, not wanting anyone to wait on him, like other dragons. He was an amazing man.”
A boom of thunder interrupted the conversation, and they both looked up. “Looks like we’re gonna get rained on. Let’s try to get back before it does. I don’t want you to get sick,” he said, getting up and holding a hand to her so he could pull her up. Unable to resist reeling her in for a kiss after she was standing, he turned to put stuff in the basket. She helped him, her lips quirking up as she shot him a glance.
“We don’t, you know. Get sick, I mean.”
His eyebrows rose. “I didn’t know that. You guys have a lot of advantages over us mere humans.”