Chapter 5

“Aurora isn’t coming with us?” Dallas asked as they headed down the street, her sweet lavender and spring scent teasing him.

Rhys had opted to walk back to the mansion in human form and Willow was flying above them, making pleased little sounds every time she ducked underneath a tree branch. He’d only ever battled full-grown dragons millennia ago. He’d never seen a dragonling before, had never imagined they could be so innocent and peaceful.

He noticed that Dallas looked up every now and then at her dragon, making sure that Willow was okay. And yeah, he liked that she was so concerned about her pet. She was nothing like he assumed she would be. He was…annoyed that he liked her so much.

“She’ll be back later. She helps King out with a lot of stuff.” Rhys wasn’t exactly sure of the relationship between Aurora and King, but he knew it was a recent one. Not sexual or anything, though he was pretty sure they also wanted it to be that. But according to his brother, Aurora had recently taken over liaising with vampire covens, witch covens and shifter packs or prides who lived in the territory. There were no dragon clans in the territory, just a few random dragons who had given their loyalty to King.

“I’m surprised he doesn’t have a wolf doing that. I thought wolf packs were fairly insular about things,” Dallas said with no judgment in her voice, just curiosity.

“They can be. But I think King is trying to take a different approach to running New Orleans.” Rhys also figured that since Aurora was new to the city and had no preconceived opinions about anyone here, it might make it easier for people to talk to her. Plus she was unique, which made her a curiosity to supernaturals. And long-lived supernaturals tended to be drawn to all things rare.

He wasn’t sure of the politics on her new position and they didn’t really concern him. He only had one goal, which unfortunately now was going to be detoured yet again. But he’d agreed to live and work in King’s city on the understanding that he would help out when needed. Which was why he’d gone with King’s wolves today to talk to a bunch of random farmers about their crops.

And met Dallas.

“I’m sorry you’re stuck babysitting me,” Dallas said as she shoved her hands into the pockets of faded jeans that molded to her curves. She’d changed from her dress earlier into jeans and a zip-up hoodie that made her appear young. Even though she had some height on her, she looked small and nervous as they headed down the street. Her long braid hung down her back, and under the streetlights the glints of red and gold peeked through. Not for the first time he wondered if her hair was as soft as it looked.

He didn’t like the sharp, nervous scent that rolled off her. “It’s fine.”

She snorted softly. “Trust me, I don’t want a babysitter, so if you want to say you came with me, that’s fine. But you don’t really have to.”

He made a scoffing sound. “King gave me an order, and while he’s not technically my Alpha, I am living in his territory.” Which meant he would respect the Alpha’s rules.

“Maybe they can get someone else to come with me.”

“Seriously, it’s fine. Unless…you don’t want me going with you?” For some reason that thought bothered him a whole lot more than it should. He had one goal. One focus. And she was trying to let him off the hook. He should take it and run. But…he found that he wanted to be around her and her pet dragon, which made no sense. His annoyance at himself rose up again. He’d never thought with his dick and he didn’t plan to start now. Except…

“Your reaction to King’s order was pretty clear. I get it, I’m a witch,” she muttered, and there was a note of sadness in her voice.

He didn’t like that at all either. His dragon snarled at him, swiping angrily and telling him to fix this. Rhys resisted the urge to reach out and comfort her. He didn’t have that right. And he shouldn’t want it. Witches had been his sworn enemy for thousands of years. “It’s not that, I swear. I just…I’m working on something right now. And I want to give it all my attention.” That was vague enough without giving any pertinent details.

She didn’t respond, simply followed him when they made a left at the next street. “How long have you been in New Orleans?” she asked as they continued walking.

Even though it was late, there were a few people out jogging, and others who were clearly headed to a local bar or watering hole. Even with The Fall, some things hadn’t changed.

Willow got a few surprised looks but mostly people went about their business and simply gave the swooping and chirping dragon plenty of space. “A few weeks.”

She shot him a surprised look. “Oh, I guess I assumed you’d lived here a while.”

“Nope. I’m just here until I take care of my business.”

“Then you’re heading home?”

He didn’t have a home anymore. At least it didn’t feel like it. “Hopefully.” That was vague enough as well. And somewhere deep inside him, he acknowledged that he wasn’t going to come out of this alive. A witch powerful enough to bring down a dragon—and who now had dragon blood in her—was a foe he wouldn’t underestimate. He would eventually kill her, but that didn’t mean he would come out of the battle alive. And if he had to die too, then so be it. It was why he never let himself imagine going home. Never allowed himself to imagine a life, a family. Those things weren’t for him.

“Where is home, exactly?”

“Ah…Scotland.”

She shot him another surprised look and nearly tripped on a jutting tree root that had upended the sidewalk.

He steadied her, grasping onto her forearm, though he wasn’t sure she needed the help at all. Still, he liked touching her, liked the feel of her soft skin under his fingertips. And just this bare touch sent a rush of heat to…a place that he wasn’t going to focus on. “Why the surprise?”

“You don’t sound Scottish.”

His lips kicked up. “My homeland has many names, and if I’d woken from my Hibernation there, perhaps I would sound like…” He’d been about to say his brothers, but held off. The more he talked about his family, about his people, the more he would open himself up to her. He couldn’t be foolish. “I woke up in the wilds of what is now called Wyoming, and when I started hun—” He cleared his throat. He wasn’t very well going to tell her that he was hunting down one of her kind. “It was easier to pick up a local accent while living here.” There, that was simple enough.

“Hmm.” She sidestepped another protruding root and ran her fingers along a bunch of multicolored beads strung up on a wrought iron fence. They made a little rustling sound as they fell back into place. “So…what are you taking care of while you’re in town?” she asked.

He lifted a shoulder, not wanting to talk about it. And strangely, he also didn’t want to lie to her.

“Oh, sorry for prying. I’m just sort of nosy by nature.”

“It’s not worth talking about.”

She simply nodded before looking up at Willow again.

“This is us,” he said in relief as they reached a wrought iron gate that was open.

“Wow, no wonder Aurora said I can stay here. This place is massive.”

A purple and yellow three-story mansion that looked whimsical and inviting loomed in front of them. There were a few stained glass windows in the third story and she imagined they looked pretty during the day. As they stepped through the gates, he immediately spotted Harlow and Brielle patrolling the outer perimeter in human form. They’d recently installed cameras and sensors so it wasn’t strictly necessary for the tiger twins to even be patrolling.

Brielle waved from her perch on the wall and he nodded back at her.

Harlow, however, jumped off her perch farther down the wall and jogged toward them, her gaze on Willow still above them. “I thought Aurora was joking when she sent me a text about a dragon,” Harlow said animatedly, which was out of character for the normally quiet tiger. “Hey, I’m Harlow,” she said to Dallas.

“Dallas. And this is Willow.” Her full lips curved upward as she talked about her pet.

Rhys wondered how she’d taste, if she’d be playful if he kissed her, or if things would be intense and—

“She’s just the cutest thing!” Harlow’s voice broke through his thoughts.

Brielle jogged up a few moments later. “This is what it takes to get you to start talking?” she asked her sister, laughing. Then she introduced herself to Dallas, continuing, “Everyone’s in the back if you guys want to head that way.”

Dallas looked up at him and he nodded. So instead of heading through the front door, they looped around the back of the mansion where the others were indeed talking and laughing around the big patio table. Edison-style lights hung throughout the pergola and over the patio and wove through the trees. The place was full of lush greenery, including a greenhouse. A bunch of chickens normally roamed around the yard but they must be hiding from Willow.

“Everyone, this is Dallas,” he announced, then pointed to Willow, who had landed on wobbly legs on a nearby patch of grass. “And that’s Willow.” The dragon covered her face again with her wings but slowly slid them down and peeked out at everyone with wide blue eyes. At first glance he’d thought Willow’s scales were pure gray, but under the manufactured lights he saw little streaks of the faintest red shooting through her scales.

Everyone stared, smiles on their faces. In that moment, he could sense the tension leave Dallas as the others looked on in curiosity more than anything.

“It’s really nice to meet you,” Bella said as she stood, her long, jet-black hair pulled back in a ponytail. “Aurora said that you’d be staying with us for a little while. I hear you run a huge farm outside town.”

Dallas nodded, still looking a little nervous. “I do. And full disclosure, I’m a witch,” she blurted, watching them as if she expected their rejection.

In that moment Rhys felt like the biggest asshole on the planet. Because he had judged all witches based on a horrific experience with one. But it was so damn clear that Dallas wasn’t like that, yet was used to being rejected for who she was. And he hated that he fell into that category.

“I’m a snow leopard,” Bella said without missing a beat. “And it’s pretty cool that you’re a witch. I don’t want to make assumptions, but do you happen to have any types of remedies for upset stomachs? Poor Axel must have eaten something earlier and our lion has been struggling.”

Rhys had wondered where the lion was and had assumed the male was sleeping.

Dallas seemed surprised, but nodded, her expression softening a bit. “Yeah, I can whip something up, depending upon what you have in stock. But I can add a little extra to it,” she said, wiggling her fingers lightly. “As long as he doesn’t mind drinking something that’s spelled. I don’t ever give anyone anything without their knowledge, so I’ll need his consent.”

Rhys heard the truth in her words and felt even smaller.

“Great, I’ll show you what we’ve got in the pantry.”

Dallas glanced over at Willow, who was lying on her back on the grass with her wings spread out, eyes half closed in bliss as she got her tummy rubbed by Harlow.

The others were laughing lightly at their antics. And Brielle was just staring in surprise at her twin sister, who was normally beyond quiet.

Instead of heading inside, Dallas shifted on her feet almost nervously. “Generally I don’t leave her for very long. Also, by chance do you guys happen to have an unused bedroom on the first floor? She normally sticks her head through my window at night because she doesn’t like to be separated. I’m worried about how she’s going to handle sleeping apart from me.”

Bella’s expression melted. “That’s the cutest thing I’ve heard. There aren’t any bedrooms on the first floor but there is an office with French doors. We can set up a cot or something in there and leave the doors open if that works?”

She nodded, looking relieved. “Thank you for being so accommodating. And thank you for letting me stay here.”

The petite snow leopard shot a knowing look at Rhys. “I heard you didn’t have much of a choice.”

Rhys simply snorted in agreement and Dallas laughed lightly. The action completely changed her countenance, the sight of the pleasure in her expression like a punch to all of his senses.

Everything about her was stunning—beautiful. And he hated that he was thinking about running his hands through her dark hair, hated that he even noticed the bright red and gold strands woven throughout. Something told him they weren’t dyed either.

“I have to go out for a bit,” he said abruptly, needing to put distance between himself and the sensual Dallas. She was a witch, here to help King. He was in the city for revenge. Something he’d never had to remind himself of before.

Bella simply nodded and Dallas gave him a half-smile.

Without another word he stalked off. The farther he got away from Dallas, the easier he found it to breathe. As he made it to the edge of the house, Willow let out a sharp cry.

Surprised at the sound, he turned and saw her flying toward him. What the heck was she doing? The little dragon barely stopped herself from crashing into him.

Oh, hell. She hovered in midair, watching him closely, getting up in his personal space, and chirped animatedly at him as if demanding to know where he was going.

“What’s wrong?” he murmured.

As if she understood, she chirped even louder, nearly headbutting him. Oooohh. She needed reassurance from an Alpha. Sighing, he held out a hand, smoothed it over her face and pressed his forehead to hers. The action seemed to soothe her because she stopped making the distressed sounds and basically started purring.

“I’ll be back, I promise,” he murmured. She really was the sweetest little thing. “You need to stay put.”

He wasn’t sure that she understood his words, but she must have understood his meaning, because she let out a loud chirping sound and flew back to the others.

He caught Dallas’s gaze from across the yard, and when he saw her soft, open expression he forced himself to turn away again. This female was threatening to undo him.

Yep, he needed distance from her. Fast.