Chapter 5
Dagen tried not to feel like too much of a stalker as he followed Keva to her vehicle. A bone-deep compulsion ordered him to watch out for her, to make sure she was okay. Just because she had no idea they were mates didn’t mean he could stop acting against his nature. To do so would be like cutting off a limb. So even if it could be construed as creepy to be following her, he wasn’t a human. It wasn’t like he was going to peep in her windows later tonight.
As she headed down the sidewalk, he stuck to the shadows even though he could have easily cloaked himself. To do that, however, he’d have to get completely naked. That was a dragon gift. Whether in dragon or human form, dragons could cloak themselves in camouflage.
But he was adept at blending into his surroundings regardless. As he trailed after her, he scented fear. Just a hint of it, and it raged against his senses. She was afraid of something? He hoped to God it wasn’t him. But he couldn’t imagine that it was. He hadn’t scented anything like that when he’d last seen her. Just confusion, and yes, lust. That scent was forever seared into his brain.
She walked past the last row of shops on the street before turning left. He knew she parked in a well-lit parking lot two blocks away. So he kept his distance, maneuvering around the humans still out strolling, even as she rounded the corner.
By the time he made it to the parking lot, he knew something was wrong. First, he smelled wolf shifter. And not any wolves he recognized. If someone was in Petronilla territory, they should have announced it to his Alpha, and Conall would have let everybody know. Sometimes mistakes happened and supernaturals stumbled into one another’s territories. That was always no harm, no foul. But when he spotted Keva talking to a huge shifter male, her body language screamed that she was terrified.
Going straight into warrior mode, he caught some of the conversation as he used the vehicles to cover him. Moving quietly, he was in complete stealth mode.
“I don’t understand why you’re here bothering me,” Keva snapped out. “I already told you, I haven’t seen him in over three years. After he blew through my trust fund he had no need for me anymore.”
The male growled and it took all of Dagen’s restraint not to breathe fire at him. “If I find out you hurt my brother—”
Keva let out a sharp laugh of incredulity. “Are you kidding me! That’s not possible.”
He scented the truth in her words even as he approached from behind, ready to snap this male’s neck. He scented another wolf nearby but couldn’t pinpoint exactly where. Still, there was another predator close by and it didn’t take two wolves to come talk to a small human female.
Somehow he kept his dragon in check, kept him from shifting even though Keva’s fear was palpable.
Worse, the wolf liked it. Dagen could smell it on him. He wanted to remove the male’s head from his body quickly and cleanly. And then his dragon wanted to snack on him. With barbeque sauce.
“Do you or do you not know where my brother is? Don’t lie to me,” the man snapped.
Dagen took that moment to step out of the shadows, moving lightning fast as he gently pushed Keva behind him and got up in the wolf’s face.
The male jerked back in surprise, slamming into the car behind him. “What the fuck?”
“I should be asking you the same thing. You’re in Petronilla territory.” A statement of truth the male would scent. “Why haven’t you contacted my Alpha?”
“I don’t know who that is. This is no one’s territory.”
Dagen didn’t scent a lie coming off the male so it very well might be true that he didn’t realize this was dragon territory. Not everyone knew about dragons, after all. “You might want to do a little research,” he growled, letting his dragon show in his eyes. Whether the wolf knew what he was or not, Dagen didn’t care. “Then you better follow protocol and let my Alpha know you’re here and why you’re here. And you’re also going to want to apologize to Keva for threatening her when she’s protected by my people.” He said people instead of clan, wanting to keep it very vague. This wolf could do his own research—though something told Dagen he wouldn’t be reaching out to Conall.
“I’m simply looking for my missing brother, and this bitch—”
Dagen’s hand shot out before he consciously thought of moving, wrapping his fingers around the wolf’s neck as he slammed him into the car. Metal crunched under the force of the blow. “You’re going to want to watch your words. And you better tell your backup to get the fuck out of here too.” He released the wolf, and to give the guy credit, he didn’t fall to the ground, just straightened and glared at Dagen, his own eyes blazing with rage, his wolf peering back at Dagen.
“I didn’t mean anything personal by it. I simply want to find my baby brother. And she knows where he is.”
“That’s funny, I heard her say she hasn’t seen him in years. And I didn’t scent a lie coming off her. Not only that—I can’t scent a wolf on her. Which means you can’t either. So she hasn’t seen your brother. You’re barking up the wrong tree, wolf. Get the fuck out of here and leave her alone. If I see you, or even scent you in town, I’ll hunt you down and remove your head from your body.” A promise.
The most primal part of Dagen had the urge to kill both wolves now, to eliminate what was definitely a threat to Keva—but he didn’t want her to see him do it. It was the only thing stopping him from rampaging like his dragon wanted to.
The male nodded once and lifted his hand, motioning to someone else, who stepped out of the shadows. Another male who was just as big as the first. They’d been here to threaten Keva, to likely hurt her.
Dagen growled low in his throat, not taking his eyes off the two wolves as they left the parking lot on foot. Yep, they’d definitely been lying in wait for her.
“Dagen?” Keva whispered.
Only once he was sure they were gone did he turn to face her, forcing his dragon back in place. He looked her up and down from head to toe, scanning for any sign of injury. “Did he hurt you?” he growled, unable to completely keep his dragon out of his voice.
She reached for him then stopped, letting her hands fall by her side. “No. I’m sorry you had to see that.”
He blinked, not sure he’d heard right. What did she have to be sorry about? “Who are those wolves and why are they bothering you?”
“It’s nothing,” she muttered. “I had it under control.”
He wanted to deny that, but knew that wouldn’t win him any points and he didn’t want to insult her. Still, he said, “Those wolves are very strong and you’re human.”
His words seemed to anger her and he wasn’t sure why. Because they were true.
She let out this adorable little growling sound that made him want to lean forward and nibble her bottom lip. But he wasn’t insane so he remained where he was. “Did I say something to offend you?”
She let out a long sigh. “No. He just scared me.”
“He will not bother you again.” Of that Dagen was certain.
“I don’t need your help with this. I’ve got it handled. He scared me, yes, but I’ll deal with it.” She pressed the fob on her key ring. “I’m just going to head home now.”
“I’m going to follow you.” And he wasn’t asking.
She frowned as she opened her door—thankfully not the vehicle he’d dented with that wolf’s body. “That’s unnecessary.”
“Two unknown wolves are in my Alpha’s territory. It is necessary. I’m going to make sure they don’t bother you anymore.”
“You said that before, territory. It sounds pretty self-explanatory, but what exactly does that mean in…” She glanced around but there was no one in the parking lot—he would have scented them. “Shifter terms?” she finished.
“Conall is the Alpha of a specific area, including this region. That means if any supernatural crosses into his territory they have to let him know.”
Her eyes widened slightly but she simply nodded. “Okay…do your job, then. But I’m okay and I don’t need protection.”
He snorted though it came out as a scoff and he realized his mistake the moment he did it. She did need his protection, but maybe she didn’t want to admit it.
She simply narrowed her gaze at him and slid into the front seat.
He knew where she lived so he hurried back to where he’d parked his truck. He didn’t think those wolves were stupid enough to try and tail her now. Besides, if they knew where she worked, they definitely knew where she lived. They’d likely been hoping to catch her off guard and in a parking lot with crappy security cameras.
No matter what, he was going to make sure that Keva was okay. Protected. Because she was getting his protection whether she wanted it or not.