It had been a normal day, as normal as it would get at my mother’s house, that is, and I was answering some emails that couldn’t wait any longer when I smelled that scent again. Then I felt a sudden surge of energy like I had before. I got off my bed and looked around.

I don’t know what I was looking for, but I could feel life flooding back into me as the scent lingered in the air. That had to mean something, right? That I was bonkers, more than likely, I thought to myself as I went out onto the porch. What if I wasn’t crazy, though? I squinted into the darkness, but I couldn’t see anything.

The scent was stronger out here in the open, and it smelled so good. It was like chocolate, hot buttered popcorn, love, desire, warm brownies, and apple pie, all mixed together, with the scent of pine thrown in for good measure. Beneath all of this was the scent of a man—that unique smell that could be a cologne but is really a natural scent.

I walked towards the woods, towards the smell that was so incredibly provocative.

Why do we try to mask that? I started to wonder, when something launched itself at me out of the darkness and I tumbled to the ground. I didn’t have time to do anything more than scream when it stamped down onto my back and I felt the hot breath of some beast, teeth bared and poised to pierce into my neck if I moved.

I wanted to scream for my mother’s help, I wanted to turn over and fight the animal off, but its teeth were right on the delicate skin at the back of my neck. The animal growled at me when I tried to move and pressed one paw deeper into my right shoulder, pinning me to the ground.

I felt the exhaustion slipping away, and power surging back into me. Far more power than I’d ever felt I had before. The beast yelped and the weight disappeared. I rolled over quickly, taking a natural defensive stance, albeit from the ground, and watched the unthinkable happen.

A tiny little dragon grew bigger, until the wolf cowered before it. I considered if straight-jackets came in a variety of colors or just white. Then more stepped out of the darkness and all I could do was stare. That was where the scent was coming from: the dragon. I could smell it stronger now, so much more powerful. So much more distracting.

I felt the world tilt when the dragon became the most handsome man I’ve ever seen and started to speak to the wolf as if the animal would understand. When the wolf turned into a man, I stopped paying attention and began to go through the list of medicines I’d recently been offered for mental illnesses. I was going to need one for hallucinations, I knew that much, because this had to be pure hallucination.

It was my mother’s doing, that’s it! She’d planted the suggestion in my brain and now it had manifested before me as some warped reality. Or was this some game of hers? I cast a furtive glance but saw nothing at the house. Had she missed my initial scream somehow? How?

It was all playing out in a surreal play before me. Dragons and wolves turning into men, and just as I was fading into something I had to assume was a faint, my attacker turned back into a wolf and his snarling face was coming right at me, a paw extended to swipe at my legs. I kicked at the wolf, just as the dragon man landed on me in human form, and I screamed with fear and rage. Why was this one attacking me now?

I fought, I kicked, I punched, I scratched at him, but all I accomplished was giving him my wrists as he straddled my waist. I was panting, angry, my teeth bared, and I stared up into his beautiful face. Damn, how did one man end up so gorgeous? I thought in a split second before anger returned. That didn’t stop my body from reacting to him in a most embarrassing way. I felt a moan bubbling in my throat as he leaned over me, his nose coming close to my face as he inhaled my scent.

“A huntress, are you? Fuck me!” He’d whispered the words, his eyes hot and burning into mine. “Mary, get rid of those three. I’ll be back later to give my report to father.” Mary grunted behind him, and the others shifted, taking the wolves with them as they flew away.

“Huntress? I take it my mother put you up to this?” I struggled against the iron vice that was his one fist holding my hands above my head. I felt vulnerable, but still safe. Safe enough that I felt my nipples respond to the way my breasts were pushed up against his chest as he inhaled my scent once more.

“Hush woman, I don’t want the others to hear. I don’t know who your mother is but I do know you are a dragon hunter, mate.”

I had to assume that mate part was a leftover from the English accent he spoke with. The dragon hunter part? That was all my mother. I was so angry I could kick him right in the wobbly bits!

“Get off me, you idiot. Dragon hunter, my ass. Get the fuck off me!” I pushed at his chest and he flew away from me, his face a mask of shock as power surged through my arm and out to him.

“Mate, indeed.” He didn’t look happy as he said it. “You don’t know what you are, who you are?”

“If you’re talking about that crazy shit my mom keeps yammering on about then yeah, I do. If you think I believe it then no, I don’t.” I was swearing, not my normal pattern, but he seemed to bring it out in me.

I glared at him while I sat up and brushed my pajamas off. “Who are you, anyway? Some acolyte of my mother’s? Has she got some kind of cult going on up here in hillbilly-land?”

He looked at me strangely, as if very confused about everything I’d just said, but he didn’t look offended. Of course, he wasn’t from the mountains, so maybe that last bit hadn’t offended him.

“Your mother must be a dragon hunter too. You’re part of the enclave, that’s why you can see me. It’s not just because you’re my… Dammit!” He looked frustrated as he ran a hand through his hair, just long enough to give you something to grab on to when he was… well, that wasn’t something I needed to think about right now, was it?

“Huh?” I couldn’t think of anything else to say. He wasn’t making any sense and it wasn’t just because of that sweet accent he had.

I looked into gray eyes that shone like silver mirrors, wondering how even the moonlight didn’t hurt those pale eyes. He really was something to behold, very tall, well over six feet tall, with not an ounce of fat on him. He was pure muscle dressed in black leather. I felt a quiver between my thighs and took a deep breath. Who was this man, and why did it feel like he’d cast a spell on me? One that made me forget the last few minutes and want nothing more than to pull him down to me in the pine needles and do naked things with him?

I heard a low growl from him as images flashed in my mind, and knew he was thinking the same. Alright, maybe we’re both crazy. Maybe we’re both going to end up in an asylum somewhere, but we could have some really fantastic sex first, right?

Down girl, I told myself, you don’t even know… Oh hell, I don’t care what his name is, I just want those full lips on my body, right now!

“My name is Malcolm,” he whispered as he crawled over to me as though I’d pulled him with my eyes and my thoughts. Slowly, he eased his way up my body until our mouths were so close… only a breath apart. “And I am your mate.”

“I…” I didn’t finish because his lips were on mine and he tasted as delicious as I knew he would. I touched his face just as our lips met, and I felt desire burn through me so hot my nails dug into his cheek.

I moaned and opened my mouth and his tongue came inside, swiping at mine, as lost as I was in an instant. I felt energy coursing between us, into me, healing me, and my hips moved of their own will against him. He’d risen up between my thighs so intimately, and how he was pressed into me, there, so hot and so fucking hard.

“Malcolm,” I whispered as he broke away to plant a wet kiss across my cheek before he slid down to my throat to inhale deeply. His teeth nipped at my neck, at that spot, oh God, that fucking spot, and I was his. I wanted to push my clothes away, I wanted to be his, I wanted him to be mine, I just wanted.

“What is this madness?” he whispered as he kissed a soothing path over the spot. “You are a dragon hunter and I am a dragon. This can’t be. You can’t be my mate.”

“But… I’m just a human…” I forgot to finish because his hand cupped my breast through the soft cotton of my top, and his face moved down as if drawn to my flesh. His teeth nipped at the tight button beneath the soft fabric and my legs clasped around his waist.

“Please…” I begged him. Oh, I needed this, this life that he was surging into me, this wonderful ache that he’d aroused that seemed to have no end. “Touch me, please, make it stop.”

I wanted the kind of rough and dirty sex I’ve only ever seen in movies, that kind with hot kisses, sweeping touches that made you squirm on your couch, and made you dream of knights that didn’t exist anymore, if they ever did. I wanted to beg him to fuck me until I turned inside out and couldn’t remember my name, and when he pulled his teeth away from my nipple and looked at me, I knew that was what he wanted too.

“Arista?” I heard my mother call and stilled.

He was gone in an instant, and for all I knew, he might not have ever existed.

“Mom? Who is Malcolm? You wouldn’t happen to have his phone number, would you?” He was gone, shifted and flew away. I looked up at the stars, but saw no shapes in the sky, not like the last time I’d smelled that scent and seen a shape. It had been him then, if he was real.

I sat up and buried my head in my hands. This was just too much.

I heard her stepping through the twigs and waited for her on the ground.

“Malcolm? I have no idea who that is, honey. What are you doing out here anyway? Honey! Why are you on the ground, are you alright? Come inside, it’s cold out here!” She gathered me up off the ground and we went back into the house.

She brushed at my chilled arms as she studied my face, taking me in with quizzical eyes. “What’s happened?”

“I met a dragon and his wolf pals. Although he kept calling me his mate, so maybe they weren’t all pals? Do you have any anti-psychotics lying around, Mom? I think I need one.” I sat in a chair at the table in the corner of her kitchen and pulled the blanket she’d given me closer around my shoulders.

“I don’t mess with that stuff baby, it clouds your brain too much. Now, did you say dragon?” Her dark eyebrow crooked as she sat down in the chair across from me, the kettle on to make a hot cup of herbal tea.

“Yep. A big ole black, dragon, Mom. A huge fu… uh, thing.” I’d nearly sworn again. My mom wasn’t a prude, but she didn’t swear so I’d tried not to around her.

“And wolves? I’d heard there were werewolves too, and vampires, but thought those were just myths.” She tapped a long fingernail on the table, her gaze inward as she thought. “I’ll have to find your grandmother’s book. Wait here.”

She ran off then, her face lit with excitement. Maybe it was a mistake telling her. I leaned back in the chair, letting out a deep sigh. It wasn’t my normal sigh of exhaustion though, it was only a sigh of weariness. What the hell was going on now?

I’d been attacked, twice, and just found out imaginary creatures were real. He’d felt real anyway. I could still taste his tongue on mine, the softness of his cheek under my palm, and the way his lips had given in to mine. I could still feel the heat he’d stirred between my thighs.

“Have you seen any rowan trees around lately, Arista?” My mother asked as she walked into the kitchen, her head in a very old looking book. It didn’t even have a title on the cover, it was just some scraps of leather tied over a sheaf of very old looking paper.

It was a very humble looking book, but it also looked very old. “What’s that, Mom?”

“Your grandmother’s book. So, that’s a no on the rowan? What about you? Or hemlock?”

I wanted to reach for the book as she sat back down, listing off more plants, but she still had her face buried in it, reading. I made the tea and set a cup on each side of the table. She didn’t notice.

“I don’t think we have any of these plants, my darling. How are we going to fight the dragons if we can’t protect ourselves from them?” She looked as though she was on the verge of panicking, so I took her hand from the book and clutched it between mine.

“Mom, the dragons left. Without killing us. I don’t think they’re that concerned.” I had to reassure her somehow. I knew I shouldn’t have opened my mouth.

“But, neither of us has been properly prepared for them, Arista! Your grandmother was the last that went to England to train…” She had tears in her eyes, and I squeezed her hand.

“Grams went to England? I didn’t know that.” I didn’t know a lot about the woman, really.

“She did, during the war. She ran off to join the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots program, she was amongst the first women to fly for the Army, you know?” Mom looked at me over glasses she’d forgot to put on her face. She pushed them back down off her head in exasperation when she realized and grinned. “Yes, your grandmother wasn’t just the toothless old woman you might remember from your younger days.”

She had a gleam in her eye as she went on, remembering her mother. “She was taken to England to fly over there, just service missions, not the battles the men were going through, and while she was there she was given her dragon hunter training.”

A thought niggled at the back of my brain. “Didn’t they have to be pilots first?”

“Oh yes, but things were different in those days. Your grandmother used to do crop dusting with her father, so she’d been flying for ages by the time the WASPs came along. She was a stunner in her uniform too. Here, this is a picture of her in it.” She dug through the book until she found a page with pictures sandwiched between the pages.

A smiling woman with both mine and my mother’s face stared back at me, her lips black from the red lipstick in the black and white photo. She was lovely, smiling, and carefree. She looked far more confident than either my mother or I ever had. What a life she must have lived. A pilot during the war!

Mom was calm again, and her eyes had lost that haunted look, so I pushed her to go to bed. “Look, Mom, maybe that guy was just teasing me. Maybe he wasn’t really a dragon.”

“I suppose he could have heard some stories from someone in town. Still, somebody attacked you baby, and I won’t have that. I’ll call Anne tomorrow. We’ll figure something out.”

“Lord, just don’t call Dad, alright? He’ll flip his lid.” I sat back in my chair again and sipped at the now cooling tea.

“No, you’re right, he’ll go insane if he hears about it. I guess maybe you’re right. I need to go to bed. I’ll do some reading before I sleep and see if there’s anything we can do at all to protect us from those nasty things. They might have left but I bet they’ll be coming back. They hate us, you know.”

I walked out of the kitchen with her and paused at her door. “We’ll figure something out tomorrow, alright Mom? Don’t worry about it tonight.”

“Honey, for most of my life, people have looked at me with pity in their eyes. Even you have since you’ve been back. I know something good has happened because your health has improved. You have color in your cheeks again and your eyes aren’t so hollowed out.”

She stopped, her finger tracing my cheek as she looked at me sadly. “You aren’t looking at me like that now. Something’s changed. So either we’re both crazy now, or I’ve always been right. If I’m right, then we could be in danger. I won’t sleep until I know I can keep you safe. You’re my baby and I just got you back. I don’t want to lose you again.”

“You won’t, Mom. I don’t think you have to worry.” I cupped her hand against my face and kissed her palm. “I’m sorry, Mom. I love you.”

“It’s okay, baby. Go get some sleep. I love you.”

I left her with her book and her memories, but I didn’t go to sleep. I couldn’t, not with the memory of the way he’d groaned when he’d pressed his hips into me playing over and over in my mind.