Chapter 1

Tulia fought back the tears blurring her vision. She had to do this. Had to be strong. Her parents wouldn’t survive if the dragons on their tails caught up. Each day that passed, the enemy drew closer. Her clan, once proud and strong, was now ruled by a narcissistic dragon who cared for no one. His own sister, Charlotte, had been nothing more than a pawn in his power games, so what chance did she have at living a peaceful life in Eldurcrest? None. All that mattered to the nasty male was that his coffers overflow with riches.

“Come now, Marie, we must go if this plan is to work,” her father said, his choked voice cracking on the last word.

Try as she might to hold it back, a small sob slipped past Tulia’s lips. Convincing her father hadn’t been easy. He’d insisted he’d keep them all safe, but he wasn’t a young dragon anymore, and his priority had to be to his mate. She wasn’t a fool—there was no way she could outrun the dragons hunting her. She wasn’t trained in warfare. Speed and agility were great, but even she couldn’t outfly trained males intent on catching a lone female. But maybe, just maybe, she could find some place to hide long enough for her parents to get to safety.

“Dad’s right, Mom. You have to go now. I’ll meet you in Colorado as soon as I can.”

Her mother sniffled. “Fly hard, Tulia. Fly hard and fast. Don’t you let them catch you.”

Tulia hugged her mom tight one more time before stepping back. She had no intention of letting them do anything, but she’d given up putting hope on impossible situations a long time ago. “I will. I promise. Just go. I love you, Mom. You too, Dad. I’ll see you both soon.”

Unable to tear her gaze from them, she watched as her parents got into the beat-up Civic her father had secured for their escape and drove away. She hadn’t asked him how he’d managed buying a car without detection, and he hadn’t offered the information. To be honest, she didn’t care. As long as it got them to safety. To barter for favors, Reyn didn’t need the old married couple, he needed an unmated female closing in on her heat. A heat that would rise over the next few days and lure dragons from miles around with her scent alone. Tulia shuddered at the thought. She didn’t move until the brake lights disappeared around the bend and the dust settled back onto the lonely gravel road.

A prickle of unease washed over her, agitating her beast. The scent of dragons—familiar and cruel—clung to the air. She couldn’t see them, but they weren’t far—a few miles at most. If she took to the skies now, they would see her and she’d be back in Eldurcrest by week’s end.

She flung her backpack over her shoulders and dashed into the forest. The canopy of trees wouldn’t mask her scent, but it would make it harder for them to spot her. From there, she’d figure something out.

Branches whipped across her arms, scratching her skin as she tore through the dense forest. The valley stretched for miles before her. There had to be a place where she could hide in there. A roar, long and loud, cut through the peaceful silence, sending birds flying from their perches in a moving cloud of flapping wings and panicked chirps as they tried to get away.

A dark shadow passed overhead, then another, and a third. She couldn’t see them past the leaves in the trees above her, but she didn’t need to. Heart pounding, Tulia came to a grounding halt. This was it. Her Alpha’s henchmen had caught up. Reasoning with Reyn’s men would do her no good. They had no honor. She’d have to stand and fight. She wouldn’t win, but that didn’t mean she’d make it easy on them.

The shadow passed again, followed by another deafening roar. If she ran, they’d see her. If she didn’t, she was a sitting duck. With the trees growing so close together in the valley, they wouldn’t be able to get to her in dragon form. She’d wait until they shifted, and then she’d run. With her petite five-foot-two frame, she could go through denser brush than those goons could.

She dragged a water bottle from her pack and took a long swig, letting the cool water soothe her parched throat. Her skin itched as her scales slithered beneath the surface. With her heart pounding, careful to avoid the pointed end, she reached in again, and closed her fingers around one of the small wooden stakes her father had given her the night before after her mother had fallen asleep.

“The tips are dipped in a concentrated hemlock compound. Be careful not to prick your skin with them. It’s not strong enough to kill anyone, but it will paralyze your attacker if he’s not in his dragon form,” he’d told her. Where the hell her father had gotten a hold of the paralytic agent was beyond her. When she’d questioned him about it, there was a fierceness in his eyes she’d never seen before. “It doesn’t matter. Use it if you need to.”

The skies above her were silent. In fact, the entire forest was quiet. With the poisoned spike tight in her fist, she peered into the shadows. The scent of the enemy grew stronger. Her dragon fought against her restraint. It didn’t care that they were in the forest with no room to shift, it wanted out. It wanted blood.

Somewhere to her right, a twig snapped. She bolted left. Animals wouldn’t be out with so many predators nearby. She dashed around a thick tree, not bothering to step lightly. They had her scent. They were close. It wouldn’t matter if she was floating on air, they would track her.

A growled curse came from behind her as someone crashed to the forest floor. That had to hurt. Unless the dragons had taken the time to dress, they would be running through the forest naked. And without scales to protect them, that wouldn’t be pleasant. She was counting on it to slow them down.

Tulia propelled herself over a fallen tree and kept running. Looking back wouldn’t help her get away. A roar from above shook the leaves of the trees around her. Shit. They hadn’t all shifted. She should have anticipated that. They didn’t have to run through the forest to keep track of her, the dragon in the air would do it for them. Up ahead, the trees thinned, allowing more sunlight onto the forest floor.

The muscles in her legs burned, and her lungs labored for breath. As much as she’d like to think she might, she couldn’t keep running indefinitely. Maybe if she got to the clearing fast enough, she could shift and try to get away from the lone dragon in the sky before the other two caught up. Not likely, but what other option did she have?

The clearing, once she got there, wasn’t huge, but she could shift. She dropped her backpack to the ground and stripped out of her clothes as fast as she could. With a quick knot in the laces, she hung her boots on her pack. There was no time to gather her clothes. She’d have to figure out what to do about new ones later. She was just about to shift when the hulking form of a dragon blocked the sun directly above her.

The beast roared, then flames spewed from its mouth. Not close enough to touch her, but enough to let her know that he meant to keep her where she was. She clipped a longer strap to her pack, then around her neck. She’d rather chance the dragon’s flame than sit there and wait for capture. Debris picked up from the gust of flapping wings stung at her naked legs. Grabbing the stake she’d dropped at her feet, she pulled the side zipper of her pack open. It wasn’t much of a weapon, but it was better than nothing, and she might need it later.

She was about to stuff it inside when her dragon sniffed the air. Tulia whipped her head to the right just in time to see a huge male lunge from the forest toward her. A long gash on his chest dripped blood. His lips pulled back in a wicked snarl, making her heart pound and her hands tremble.

He slammed into her, knocking Tulia to the ground, his heavy body pinning her to the moss-covered forest floor. A jagged rock bit into her back, stealing what little air she had left.

Eyes wild, he straddled her waist and wrapped his big, meaty hands around her neck, preventing her from taking another breath. The edges of her vision darkened as she struggled to get out from under him, but he was too heavy.

With as much power as she could draw, she swung her arm, embedding the sharp point of her stake into his side.

The male threw his head back and roared, releasing her throat with one hand. She gasped and gurgled, renewing her fight to get him off her.

“Fucking bitch!” he spat at her as he cocked his arm back, fist clenched, but the poison worked fast. It was making his movements jerky. He swayed a little and growled, but his hold on her lessened. She bucked up against him, ignoring the pain in her already bruised back, sending him tumbling sideways.

She wiggled out from under him, leaving the wooden spike right where it was. Feeling around her left side, her fingers came back wet. The wound on her back wasn’t deep, but the blood would only intensify her scent, making her easier to find.

Up above, the dragon circled and roared again. Its fire came closer, engulfing the trees not ten feet from where she crouched.