Chapter Two

Wes let the air beneath his wings carry him through the sky. Far below, the ground became a network of shapes, most of them wobbly rectangles made by years of farming and land disputes. He’d left the tree dotted landscape of his home. There was no reason for him to be beyond the lines of the Snowdonia territory, but he wasn’t far from it he reasoned.

The towns below weren’t afraid of his shape flying overhead. They had lived near the dragons for centuries and shared stories of their encounters with their children before bed. They didn’t look up and wonder if their wives were safe or if their livestock were compromised. They knew better.

And Wes liked them for it. He liked to fly overhead and watch the people below point and stare with awe. He liked the attention, his grandfather had said once before knocking him over the head with a meaty fist.

Wes didn’t mind. His grandfather was right, in a way. Mostly, Wesley had become tired of feeling alone. He was young when it came to the years of a dragon, only a couple of years over 100. He’d been considered a child when the Occurrence happened and effectively trapped him within the borders of the Snowdonia Territory. Since then, he’d lived in the wild territory, every once in a while seeing his kin, but it left him starved.

The younger dragons were given a chance, once a month, to leave the territory. They were allowed to venture out into the towns and cities around the territory as long as they ceded to allowing the head of the family bind them with silver. The silver kept them chained to their human forms while they raved and rutted through the night. Many of them willingly gave up their forms for the night for the chance to find a mate.

Wes had tried once or twice after the binding rule had been implemented, but the silver binding had been so uncomfortable that he could barely focus the entire night. Since then, he’d given up on the nights of freedom. It wasn’t truly freedom when part of him was forced to be locked away.

His dragon shook his body as if to remind him that he wasn’t completely alone. The beast lived beside him, ever a part of him. It had been there since he was a babe.

You don’t count. We’re one in the same.

The beast wasn’t pleased with his response, his tail whipped through the air.

So, he did the only thing he could do. He visited the towns surrounding the territory from a broad distance. No one could say that he was a threat as he never dipped low enough and never let smoke trail through the sky from his muzzle like his cousin Gareth was prone to do. That was one dragon who always had some kind of fire burning beneath his skin. It made him wonder what kind of monster lurked inside of his cousin.

Wesley swooped back towards the Snowdonia Territory, knowing that his jaunt for the day was nearly over. There was work that he should be getting back to, work to busy his always moving hands. He tucked in his wings and dove toward the ground. His wings snapped back out and caught the wind once more, his body suspended in the air.

That was when his keen hearing caught the sound of a gasp. He should have kept flying on home. The sound of a gasp such as he heard surely meant a tourist and those could rarely be trusted. Still, he found himself turning toward the source of the sound. He knew better.

He really did.

The beast had other ideas as his wings shifted direction and his body began to swoop towards the sound of the gasp like someone pulled the strings of a kite, Wesley being the kite.

A woman sat on a fallen log, her head tilted back and her lips parted as she watched his aerial acrobatics. A surge of pleasure zapped through him. He tucked in his wings and spun through the air, his tail guiding him. When his wings snapped back out and he shot upward, he could hear a faint squeak. A rumble of laughter reverberated through his body.

Gareth would have called him a show off. His father, Drystan, would have tanned his red hide if he knew that Wesley was entertaining a tourist on the edge of the territory. But, his family wasn’t there. They weren’t alone like he was. Gareth had his younger brother. His father had his mother, the human woman that was his mate.

***

Dakota watched the massive body of the red scaled dragon touch the earth in front of her. The sun rippled off the dragon’s scales, reflecting shades of yellow, orange, and intense red. Her eyes fell on the pale blue scales that ringed his taloned hands, like the blue seed of a flame. Her heart hammered in her ears, so loud she could barely hear his movement before her. His long body was lean and his wings blacked out the sun until he tucked them against his massive rib cage. His head cocked to the side before he pounced, planting his clawed feet apart and lowing his head to the ground.

Fear should have shot through her, but for a moment she thought that he looked much like a puppy trying to play. She had to swallow the smile that threatened to turn up the corners of her mouth as she looked at him. Keep a straight face, she reminded herself. The sooner he left, the happier she would be. If anyone were to figure out what was happening right then, she would lose everything she’d worked so hard to get.

What was a dragon even doing here? The Guardian and the Dean had promised that the Welsh dragons never left their territory. Did the deranged Makenna Llewellyn really take a field trip to the Snowdonia territory? Why would she do such a thing?

Dakota could think of one reason. The dragons hadn’t been seen in years because the professor was bringing students for the dragons to kidnap. That was all she could think of. Professor Llewellyn brought sacrifices to keep her campus safe.

And one had found her.

When the dragon the size of a bus didn’t get the response from her that he wanted, he began to inch back from her. She shook her head and tried to turn back to the journal on her lap. She prayed that he would go away if she ignored him. If he couldn’t fascinate her, maybe he would lose interest in her and move on.

Her pencil stopped moving. She gripped it tight in her hand and closed her eyes. There was not a dragon in front of her. There was no dragon at all.

As if lying to herself would make it true.

She heard a huff of air right before it blew back her dark tresses. Feeling her brow knit together, she cracked open an eye to peer ahead. She could have sworn the dragon smiled before wiggling its hind quarters much like a cat. Massive legs pushed off and the dragon left the ground. Its lean body formed an arc before coming back to the earth beside her. It did it over and over, pouncing in circles around her.

It made no move to grab her or otherwise threaten her. Instead, it felt like he was trying to make her laugh. She knew that she should ignore the beast, but she let her hair fall over her face and watched it pounce around her from the corner of her eye. It was beautiful in a frightening way. One misstep and the beast’s massive form would crush her frail, human body.

But, she wasn’t afraid as the beast’s tail swung from side to side. She hid her smile while pretending to ignore the dragon until panic touched the edges of her thought. If anyone caught this happening she was done for. She glanced up and looked around the clearing. There was no one else in sight.

Her shoulders relaxed and her pencil went back to work. Eventually, the dragon settled down nearby and laid his giant head on his taloned hands and watched her draw. After a long while, she checked her phone screen and realized that the bus would be leaving soon. She cast a glance at the nearby dragon. It was fast asleep, or at least pretending to be.

If she stood, would it jump and grab her? Or, would it let her leave of her own accord? Carefully, she tucked her journal under her arm and pushed herself up from her seat. When the dragon didn’t move, she forced herself to walk, not run, back to the bus.

***

Dakota closed the space between her and the professor.

“Did you take us into the dragon territory?” her voice growled as she raised a finger toward the older woman.

Her eyes widened ever so slightly. “I would never do something so stupid. If I were to do a thing like that, I could very well lose my job.”

Dakota narrowed her eyes. This professor’s lying could make Dakota lose everything she’d fought for. All the money she’d spent on the airline tickets, the work she’d put into getting the grant, would be wasted because this woman wanted to lie to her. Or, worse, the woman had no idea just how close she’d taken her students to the dragon territory.

“Why?” the professor asked. “Did you see a dragon, Miss Brennan?”

Dakota felt the blood rush from her face. “No. Not at all.”

Like that, her anger was gone. In its place was cold fear. She had almost ruined everything for herself with her angry words. Professor Llewellyn would be forced to report her to the Dean if she knew that Dakota had not only seen a dragon, but nearly interacted with one.

“Don’t be so afraid.” The professor laid a warm hand on Dakota’s arm.