Prologue
Four years ago
Keva’s heart raced out of control as she sprinted through the woods, her hair flying behind her, a tangled mess of knots. Faster, faster. Her leg muscles ached as she jumped over a fallen log. Her lungs burned, the icy winter air harsh and unforgiving.
She had no idea where she was going. Just that she had to get away from him. Her ex-boyfriend. Wolf shifter. An asshole who wanted her dead. Because he was obsessed with her, refused to let her go.
He’d beaten her the first time she’d tried to leave. Raped her the second. This time, he’d kill her.
She knew it in her bones. Just as she knew she was likely going to die today and no one would ever know. Her bones would be scattered or buried in these woods in the middle of Montana. She could run fast, but she was just a human. Something he liked to remind her of. A silly, weak human who was no match for his strength. His speed.
But screw him. She was going to keep running until she ran out of energy. Or before—a branch snapped behind her.
Adrenaline surged through her as she broke free from the trees into a clearing. Snow covered a wide swath of land. Even if she could outrun him, he’d see her tracks.
She bit back a sob as she continued running, tears tracking down her face as she heard his growl somewhere behind her.
Run, run, run.
Glancing over her shoulder she saw a blur of fur and fangs burst through the tree line.
She sobbed this time, unable to hold back the sound. Keva didn’t want to die. Didn’t want to end up ripped to shreds and left for the wild animals to pick apart because she’d been young and stupid and picked the wrong man.
So very wrong.
She cried out when she tripped, sprawling into the fluffy white powder. This was it. His growl grew louder, harsher. Heart racing, she shoved up, kicking snow everywhere as she tried to run.
But then he was on her. All the air left her lungs as he pinned her to the snow. He roared, the sound reverberating through the trees as a shadow fell over them.
And that was when she realized he wasn’t roaring.
Suddenly the weight was off her. Rolling over, she had her fists raised even though she knew it wouldn’t do much good.
But he was gone. Running away from her, making the most pathetic whining sound she’d ever heard.
The roar split the air again. Then there was fire everywhere. Orange flames burning, destroying, melting… She stared as a dragon—a fucking dragon—swooped down from the sky.
And let out another stream of fire at Randall’s retreating figure. She couldn’t move as her ex disintegrated before her eyes, his body disappearing even as the snow and earth below melted away.
Another sob escaped as relief punched her in the face. He was gone. Dead. She was free.
The dragon stopped breathing fire and turned to look at her. Though it was impossible, she swore the giant beast with the diamond scales and jade-colored wings glittering under the midday sunlight looked concerned. His big head turned slightly to the side and he let out a puff of smoke.
Instinct slammed into her, and without thinking she ran at the dragon, only too late realizing how insane she was. She knew shifters existed, had heard rumors that dragons were real, but this… What the fuck was wrong with her? She couldn’t hug a dragon to thank it. That was insane. Yep, he was going to kill her too. Burn her right to a crisp. He hadn’t saved her—he’d probably just saved her for last.
She collided with the big snout, letting out an oomph as she fell back. “I wasn’t attacking you,” she whispered. “I just wanted to give you a hug.”
Swear to God, the dragon let out a sound that sounded a little like a laugh. A sort of huffing chuckle as only smoke came out of its nostrils.
“Thank you for saving my life,” she whispered, apparently unable to talk any louder than that. And she really hoped that he had been saving her. “He was an asshole and he would have killed me.”
The dragon nodded, clearly understanding every word. A dragon. Her brain was now catching up with reality as the huge beast started shrinking, sparks of what she assumed where magic flying up everywhere, and then a giant, naked man with gray eyes stood before her.
“Are you okay?” the man asked quietly, gently.
Looking away, she nodded. “Fine.”
He didn’t make a move toward her, just crouched down, then made an uncomfortable sound. “Ah…sorry about the lack of clothes. And also that…you saw me in dragon form. I did not intend to scare you and I won’t hurt you.”
“No problem,” she squeaked out. No big deal that she’d just seen a dragon kill her ex. Then shift into a huge, hulking human.
“Who was the male chasing you?”
“My ex-boyfriend. He was a wolf shifter. Which, of course, you must know.” She kept her gaze averted still. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw him nod once.
“So you know about our kind.” Not a question.
“Well, I know about wolf shifters and that there are other animals like bears, jaguars and stuff. But dragons? My ex told me you guys were just a myth.”
“As you can see that’s not true.”
“I won’t tell anyone what you did.”
He made a small scoffing sound. “No one would believe you if you did.”
For some reason, that made her laugh, the sound more manic than amused. God, she could imagine how that conversation would go. Yes, detective, I saw my ex-boyfriend, who’d been chasing me through the woods in wolf form, about to kill me, get incinerated by a mythical creature. No sir, I am not on any sort of drugs and no I’m not intoxicated. They’d lock her up and throw away the key.
He let out a sigh and stood. She remained where she was, very aware of her own mortality in that moment. Finally, he spoke. “You’re going to come with me now. And I’m going to put on some clothes. Then we’re going to talk about this ex-boyfriend of yours and what the hell he was doing in my territory. Above all, I can promise that you will be safe and you may remain in my territory if you so choose.”
Keva wasn’t sure what he meant by his territory exactly, but she could guess. And she wasn’t sure she believed him when he said she’d be safe. But if he wanted to kill her, he certainly could have. So she was going to trust this dragon. For the moment.
Still looking away, she pushed to her feet and nodded. “Okay. My name’s Keva.”
“I am Conall.”