Chapter 4

Dallas couldn’t remember ever being so scared in her life. Not even when she’d defied her coven and left them decades ago. The only silver lining tonight was that for some inexplicable reason she intrinsically trusted the giant dragon, flying in front of her and Willow, to keep his word.

She was really good at judging people, and while she didn’t think she could trust him a hundred percent, he’d given his word and named his dragon clan. That was serious business where dragons were concerned. Especially since he’d made it a thing about “honor.”

So here she was, flying into the city with a trembling Willow and a glittering dragon escort who could breathe fire at any moment if he chose. As the wind rolled over her, she realized that the huge dragon was angling himself so that they were protected from the full force of the wind. If it was intentional, it was actually pretty sweet.

Willow was still nervous, her big body tense underneath Dallas as they swooped over the sprawling oak treetops throughout the city, but as they followed after the dragon some of Willow’s tension seemed to ease. Willow almost seemed to be…mirroring his movements. Anytime he dipped downward, so did she. Anytime he banked left, she did the same. Yep, she was definitely copying him.

The moonlight and city lights guided their way, making the flight easy enough. However, she was nervous how Willow would react to being around so many people. Maybe she should have left her with Hazel. Willow might be large, but she was only around three months old if Dallas had to guess. And Dallas wasn’t sure how dragons aged in relation to other animals. Unfortunately she didn’t have a way to look up the information either.

The big dragon—she really needed to learn that male’s name!—circled what appeared to be a huge walled-in compound and landed on a grassy patch in the back.

Dallas could see plenty of wolves trotting around inside the walls and outside as well, either patrolling or just out for a stroll. With the exception of her former coven and her current neighbors, she didn’t have much experience with other supernaturals. Well, not good experiences anyway. She knew the basics of how packs worked, but that was about it.

Willow circled in the air, making little crying sounds and refusing to touch down—probably because of all the wolves milling about. Crap. Dallas had no idea what to do now. She made little soothing sounds, trying to convince Willow to land, but it was no use.

Finally the male dragon lifted his head and let out some kind of call. Whatever it was, Willow dove straight down for him, forcing Dallas to hold on tight as Willow basically crash-landed next to him, sending dirt and patches of grass flying up everywhere. Dallas tossed out a small spell to cushion her landing as she was thrown off into the grass.

Willow made a happy chirping sound and flapped her wings out, definitely showing off for the other dragon.

The male shifted to his human form and Dallas looked away automatically, not wanting to stare at all that expanse of bare skin. Especially at what was between his legs, because after the little glimpses she’d had… Well, it was impressive. Something she was most definitely not thinking about. Nope. Not gonna think about it at all.

“I’m dressed,” he said a few moments later, clearly having understood why she’d turned away.

She turned back to face him to find that he was indeed dressed, though he didn’t have on socks or shoes. In faded jeans and a body-hugging T-shirt, he looked rugged and had a natural, earthy scent to him that appealed to all of her most feminine senses. His dark hair was cropped close, showing off a strong jaw and sharp cheekbones she was a teeny bit jealous of. She had a feeling the reason he kept his hair cut so short was more for efficiency than anything else. He seemed very no-nonsense. His shoulders were broad and that freaking T-shirt was leaving little to the imagination. Not that it mattered since she’d seen him without his shirt. Sure, she’d been scared on her farm, but she’d still seen all those muscles and hard striations. Kinda hard to miss. If she had to guess, she’d say he was about six feet four inches. She was five feet nine, and he still towered over her. Which was kind of hot.

Nope. Stop that train of thought right now, she ordered herself. “I still don’t know your name,” she said as she kept her hand on Willow’s head. It seemed to calm her dragon down.

“Rhys,” he said simply, pinning her with those dark blue eyes before he turned away and began scanning the yard, his body language alert, as if he was preparing for danger.

And that was when she realized a handful of wolves had trotted over toward them, some in human form, others in wolf form.

Next to her Willow was trembling, letting out little whimpering sounds at all the new animals. Dallas wanted to tell her that she was a dragon, that she could fly away from them or at least do some damage if someone attacked her. But Willow didn’t seem to have any idea what she was, except a pet.

“Back up!” Rhys snapped at the others, his voice commanding and oh so deep.

Dallas felt a shiver of awareness spiral through her at the sound of that voice.

He’d clearly surprised them because one of the wolves held up her hands. “Chill, dragon. We’re just curious.”

“Well, Willow here is clearly nervous, so I think it might be better if you guys give her some space.” His tone made it clear it wasn’t a suggestion.

The female nodded once then held up a hand, motioning for everyone else to move back. The wolves all obeyed instantly.

She turned to Dallas then and smiled. “My name’s Cat, and you must be Dallas.”

Dallas nodded, smiling back at the woman with dark brown skin and tight-braided hair. “I am, nice to meet you.”

The woman’s smile remained in place. “King told us you guys were on the way. It was honestly hard to believe that someone has a pet dragon. She’s so cute,” Cat added, her gaze straying back to Willow. “Is she hungry? What does she like to eat?”

“Grass mainly. And she’ll chew on bamboo, but she loves berries and bananas more than anything.”

“Seriously?”

She nodded. So far Willow hadn’t eaten any sort of meat, which had surprised Dallas because she’d thought Willow would try to eat her goats. Instead, she’d tried to mother them.

A female who she recognized as Delphine strode across the yard, her steps sure. “Dallas, good to see you. King is ready when you are. Cat, get out of here. You’re supposed to be working the other perimeter.”

Cat whined a little before waving at Willow, as if to say goodbye.

In that moment Dallas realized that she would have to go inside and leave Willow behind. Outside, with a bunch of wolves nearby. Oh, no.

She shifted from foot to foot, not sure what to do. King was Alpha; she couldn’t very well demand that he meet her outside. Sure, the guy was nice enough, but she understood how hierarchies worked.

“Do you think that King would mind coming out here?” Rhys asked Delphine.

Hell, maybe he really was a mind reader. Surprised and grateful, Dallas looked over at him.

Delphine glanced between the two of them. “Why?”

“Because I don’t want to leave Willow alone,” Dallas said. At that moment Willow covered her face with her wings and crouched down, as if trying to hide from everyone.

The female’s hard expression softened, basically turning to mush. “All right, just give me a second.” Turning away from them, she spoke quietly into her cell phone for a few moments before she tucked it away. “Come on. Let’s head to the pool area. It’s being cleared out so you can talk to King.”

She was surprised that Rhys was walking with her and she was also curious what his whole role in King’s pack was, because he’d made it clear that he wasn’t part of the actual pack. No, he was part of a dragon clan. One that seemed to matter to him, if the way he’d spoken about honor was any indication. But he was silent as he strode alongside her, a steady presence that smelled like the earth and made her a little light-headed.

Willow raced after him on all fours instead of flying, taking in everything with wide blue eyes, her wings dragging behind her. Though she didn’t stray more than a foot from Dallas’s side as they headed across the lawn and around the mansion. As they rounded the back of the house, an Olympic-size pool with lights strung up over it came into view.

Everything was all stone and brick and had clearly cost a fortune. There was a built-in bar area separate from the house, complete with an economy-sized refrigerator and a bar that would put some clubs to shame. Nearby was an oversized fire pit, and a bunch of seating surrounded the pool—lounge chairs, bar-top tables and chairs, two hammocks, and tanning chairs in the actual pool. And a volleyball net was strung tight across it. The thing must be heated—probably with the huge solar panels set up on top of the roof and in the yard—because there were balls and toys gently floating across the lit-up blue water, indicating someone had been in it recently.

Delphine simply nodded at Dallas once and left her and Rhys on the patio as King strode outside with a dark-haired female.

She blinked once when she realized that this female was definitely not a wolf. She was a phoenix, a rare creature Dallas hadn’t even realized existed anymore. She’d thought they had all died out thousands of years ago. But a news broadcast a while ago had shown the world that nope, phoenixes were real.

“Thank you for meeting me here,” King said, flicking a curious glance at Willow, who was tentatively dipping her nose into the pool, making a snuffling sound, probably unsure of the scent of the chlorine.

“Pretty sure I didn’t have a choice,” she murmured as he motioned for them to sit around a glass-topped table.

To her surprise, King’s mouth kicked up as he sat across from them. He was young for an Alpha, maybe a hundred or two hundred years old. Though to look at him, he appeared to be in his twenties, maybe early thirties. With brown skin, ice-blue eyes, a fit body and a fair, if deadly reputation, she could feel the subtle waves of power rolling off him.

“I’m Aurora,” the phoenix said, holding out a delicate hand splattered with flecks of paint and a big sunny smile on her face. Her eyes appeared almost brown, but under the hanging lights they glinted a dark violet.

Immediately she put Dallas at ease. “I’m Dallas. I saw that video feed of you a couple weeks ago with your sister.” One of the only silver linings of those dragons who’d tried to destroy the world—they’d made it a point not to take out satellites or cell phone towers. So communication around the world was fairly decent. “It was pretty incredible. I mean…you were incredible.” The female had battled midair over downtown New Orleans, bright blue wings of fire keeping her afloat as she shot bolts of fire at her enemies. Destroying them with a savage ease that was frankly a bit terrifying, if amazing.

Under the Edison-style lights, the female’s cheeks flushed pink as she brushed off the compliment with a wave of her hand.

“I asked you here because I wanted to talk about setting up gardens and greenhouses throughout the city,” King said, pulling the focus back to the purpose of this meeting.

“Of course. I have no problem with that.” Dallas would do everything she could to help people get back on their feet, to get everything running smoothly. Being able to grow their own food was a major step toward security. And because she was a witch, she’d created a sort of bubble around her farm and neighboring ones, allowing them to grow crops now, months earlier than they should have been able to under normal circumstances. She resisted the weird urge to look over at Rhys, who was a silent presence next to her. “What about the current ones in the city?” Because there were a few around New Orleans proper. Not like hers. They were all very small, regenerative farms in the city limits working together within their own communities. “I know Golden Root Farms is okay but I wondered if any others were destroyed.”

“Three were destroyed, but the majority are doing well. All human run and all thriving within each small neighborhood or community.” He paused slightly.

“But?”

King half-smiled and the tension that had been in his shoulders eased slightly. “I need you to take over planning new small food plots and farms around the city. I’d also like to work on planting mini-forests around the city as well, but the food plots take priority. What the humans are doing is great, but I need a witch right now. I need someone with your skills to handle new regenerative farms because I need them up and running much quicker than humans or shifters can handle. I don’t want to have a food shortage problem. So far we’re on track to be okay given our current population, but I want to be overprepared. We have a lot to talk about, but Aurora is going to basically be your liaison from this point forward. She’s been working with various communities around the city over the last few weeks and everyone likes dealing with her a hell of a lot better than me.”

Next to him, Aurora snickered slightly but didn’t deny it, and smiled at Dallas again. “I just have better people skills than the Big Bad Wolf here. And according to everyone I’ve spoken to, you grow some of the best crops. Though I completely admit I now want to know everything about that cute girl of yours.”

Dallas glanced over her shoulder to where Willow was now making a giant mess and tossing water everywhere as she attempted to get into the pool. Her wings flapped wildly and she kept sneezing out water as she tried to gain her balance on the steps. And…she popped one of the beach balls when she hit it too hard.

Wincing, Dallas looked at King. “I’m sorry about that.”

“My own pack sets things on fire at an alarming rate. Trust me, this is nothing. Though we do need to talk about how you came to own an actual dragon?”

“I found her two months ago. Simple as that. She was sleeping under some Virginia Willow bushes, which is why I named her Willow. I had no idea what to do with her and she decided to come home with me. She’s been living with me since The Fall. She’s sweet and kind and gentle with my goats. She treats them like her children even though she’s a baby herself. I don’t know if there’s any truth to the nature versus nurture thing, but she’s shown absolutely no aptitude for violence. She doesn’t even eat meat so I don’t know if she’s a carnivore. Not yet anyway, but that could change. I’ve still got a lot to learn about her, but what I know without a doubt is that she’s sweet and loyal.”

The words all came out in a rush, along with the fear she’d been bottling up inside. It didn’t matter what Rhys had said. King was Alpha and he made the rules. If he decided that Willow was a threat… She fought back a shudder, not wanting to go there. On instinct she flicked a glance at Rhys, who simply gave her a subtle nod. Maybe as a way to reassure her that he still had Willow’s back?

King looked over at Willow again, his mouth twitching ever so slightly before focusing back on Dallas. “No sign of her parents? Or a parent?”

“I found an egg that most definitely was hers. I…saved the shell in case we ever needed it for something.”

King looked at Rhys then. “What do you know about dragons?”

He shrugged. “She’s correct, real dragons hatch from an egg. Unlike most dragon shifters, which are born. Though some of the very, very old dragon shifters were hatched as well.”

“Hmm.”

“Maybe some of the dragons that destroyed the city laid an egg—or eggs—before they were unleashed on everyone,” Aurora said quietly.

That tension inside Dallas tightened until King simply let out a sigh.

“Okay. She’s fine for now,” he said. “But if you discover more about her, I’ll need to know. I’m going to need you to stay in the city for a couple weeks at least while we figure out the schematics for setting up gardens. It’s my understanding that your neighbors have no problem taking care of your land, right?”

She nodded once.

“Good. Then I’ve got a couple options for where you can stay while you’re here.”

Rhys cleared his throat next to her. “I suggested to Darius that she stay at our compound,” he said, looking at Aurora as he spoke.

Our? Was the big male next to her mated to Aurora? And why did that bother Dallas? She had no claim on him. He was sexy as hell—of course he wasn’t lacking for any sort of company.

“That’s a great idea,” Aurora said, her smile growing. “We have so much room there and the girls—and Axel—will be so excited with the addition of Willow,” she said laughingly.

“Aurora’s sister is mated to my brother,” Rhys said to Dallas. “They’re allowing me to live with them while I’m in the city.”

So that just added even more questions to Dallas’s growing list about this male. At least he didn’t seem to be mated to or taken with Aurora. Which…Dallas wasn’t even sure why she cared. She was being ridiculous, in fact. It wasn’t like she wanted a relationship or sex or anything with anyone. She was alone and she liked it that way.

“That will make my life a lot easier,” King added. “I know you guys will be safe there. And it’s even better because Rhys here is going to be your guard over the next couple weeks.”

“Guard?” Rhys demanded, straightening suddenly.

“She’s a witch,” King said bluntly. “I don’t want her getting hassled by anyone, so yes, you are going to keep an eye on her as she visits all the plots I’ve got lined up for her. I need to know she’s with someone trustworthy, and Lachlan assured me you’re the male for this job. Is he wrong?”

A beat of silence stretched between them, making Dallas shift uncomfortably in her seat. She was under the impression that she was missing something. It was clear that Rhys didn’t want to guard her. And that was…oddly disappointing.

“Of course not,” Rhys finally said through a tight jaw.

A weird, heavy sensation settled in her belly. So what if he didn’t want to babysit her? If she was in his shoes, she probably wouldn’t want to either.

Still…it bothered her that she was so fascinated by him and he couldn’t seem to get away from her fast enough.

“Good. It’s settled, then.” King turned back to Dallas. “Once you’ve visited all the plots and got a feel for the city, Aurora will take over and work with you in regards to the others.”

She simply nodded, feeling out of her depth and wishing desperately she was back at home on her farm, away from all these strangers.