The Next Morning

Markus told the others he was going into town to get some supplies and for them to be on the lookout for any answering calls from their people. He hadn’t lied about where he was going, only didn’t tell them that he was making a little stop on the way to town.

Pulling onto the little dirt road, he drove up to the small lodging that he saw the female, Val, sitting next to last night. He shouldn’t have tracked her, but his dragon refused to turn back. He found her sitting alone outside, his dragon called out to her—which was ridiculous, she couldn’t answer him back. When she walked down the road, he followed, wanting nothing more than to go to her. His dragon almost did, dipping low intending to snatch her up in its claws.

“No, leave her!”

“Want her, mate her,” his dragon had insisted.

“Not yet, she doesn’t understand what we are.”

“I want her!”

“I do too, we’ll scare her!”

“I would not, she would like me.” His dragon did raise up his head, shifting away from the female.

“We’ll come back in the morning and talk to her,” he promised his dragon.

That had been the only thing that got his dragon to agree to leave the female. He had no idea what he would even say to her. Markus had been warned by the researchers on board the Zyon that humans didn’t truly believe in other species and thought any shapeshifters were just fictional characters in their books or movies.

What he couldn’t figure out was, how did they even come up with the idea of shifters to begin with? The researchers had theorized that humans encountered his people, the Drakonians, years ago and couldn’t believe what they encountered so they explained it as fiction or fantasy. If there was fact behind the fiction, then his people had to be here, and it was possible that they could still be alive.

Markus hoped that if his people didn’t answer that he could find a human or two that would be open to the idea of shifters and help them search. Having a member of the indigenous species guide them through the world they were in would be the best option and help keep them from issues that might arise.

He parked the car and got out. There was a male bent under the hood of a vehicle across from Val’s domicile. He wondered if this male was someone she would bond with. His attention was pulled away when the female, Val, came out. She halted on the steps, looking at him in surprise.

Smiling, he hoped that put her at ease. “Hello again, Valorie.” He liked the sound of her whole name.

She smoothed her hair with her hands and smiled back. “Uh, hi. What are you doing here?”

“I wanted to thank you for advising us on the ranch. We have a cabin and it’s exactly what we needed.”

“Well, you’re welcome. I was going for a run.”

“Shall I go with you?”

Valorie looked at him kind of funny but shrugged her shoulders. “If you can keep up.” Then she took off running down the road. Perhaps this was an alternate means of transportation. He didn’t see a car in her driveway, so this must be how she got around. He easily kept pace with her.

“Are you going to town? I could drive you in my vehicle.”

She didn’t look at him but kept running. “No, I work this afternoon at the diner but I can take my bike.”

“If you have a vehicle, why do you run?” This activity fascinated him because he only ran while he was in training, but normally he flew in his dragon form so running was not as necessary.

Valorie glanced over at him with an expression that seemed confused. “I run to keep in shape.”

“I see, you’re in training.”

“I’m not training for a marathon or anything, I just like to run to keep fit. You look to be…in shape. What do you do to keep fit?”

“Back on my ship, I would practice fighting with my fellow warriors. Since coming here, my companions and I lift bounders.”

She stopped suddenly, breathing erratically, hands on her hips. The female looked delicious and he couldn’t help but lick his lips. His dragon made a rumbling sound in his chest, wanting to get closer to her.

“I should have known you were in the military but it can’t be with the United States. We say soldiers, not warriors. Where did you come from?”

“A far distant place called Drakonia. Are you tired? I could carry you back.”

Blinking, she glanced behind them in the direction that they had come. “It’s about two miles. You couldn’t possibly carry me that far.”

He bent and picked her up, walking back down the road that led to her dwelling. His dragon wanted to prove his strength and prowess so that she would agree to mate with them. Where in the stars had that thought come from? He couldn’t mate with her, she was human.

“You can put me down, Markus.”

Smiling down at her, he inhaled her scent. There was no trace of fear but her arousal was growing stronger. “I love how you say my name, Valorie.”

Her face turned a little red and he worried about what caused that.

“Are you okay? Your face is turning red. Do you need water?”

Valorie struggled to get him to put her down but he refused. “I need to get you to a healer.”

“I don’t need a damn doctor! I’m just not used to men carrying me around. Put me down, I’m too heavy.”

“You are light as a feather.”

Markus stopped just outside her domicile and let her slide down his body to stand on her own feet, but he kept his hands on her waist. He didn’t want her to fall and injure herself. Her shirt had ridden up and his fingers skimmed her skin. She was so soft, he wanted to explore all of her. His dragon rumbled in agreement.

“What…are you growling at me?” Valorie pushed against his chest to get him to let her go.

Sighing, he reluctantly released her. “I must go for now. I have to get supplies from town. Will you be working at the sa…loon?”

“Yeah, my shift starts at nine tonight.”

“I will see you then, Valorie.” He bent at the waist before turning to go to his vehicle.

It had been a mistake coming to see her. Now that he had her scent—his dragon had her scent—he would not be able to leave her. It was clear to him now that Valorie Castle was his mate. This wasn’t what he’d planned and it complicated things greatly, especially since she was human and had no idea that dragon shifters existed. A mate, one he and his dragon could bond with, was a precious gift to be protected and treasured.

It was going to be difficult to explain to his companions that they would have to keep searching for their people without him, because he wouldn’t leave his mate now that he had found her. They would protest, he expected that. The hardest thing was not their resistance. He had to somehow tell Valorie what and who he was and convince her to bond with him and his dragon.