Chapter One
Jane Hartley plumped up her breasts in the low-cut dress and decided it was time to quit stalling. She had a job to do.
As she walked into the Fox and Stag pub, she gave a cursory glance around the crowded room. The bar was wooden and worn. The nicks spoke of more than one pub fight.
A billiards table was at the far back and the rest of the space was dotted with tables and patrons. Most of them were men, although there were a few other women here and there. All of them were dressed in more casual clothes than Jane’s tight dress, which was already attracting notice. One or two men gave her lewd glances, but she merely smiled and headed for an empty seat near the bar.
Despite the heavy make-up, tight dress, wig, and heels, Jane wasn’t there to pick up a man. According to one of her contacts in Manchester, some of the former Carlisle-based dragon hunters liked to have a few pints there on Fridays. Since the pub was full of somewhat shady-looking men, the hunters should fit right in.
She hoped to find out something useful or she’d have to reevaluate her strategy. She’d already wasted two days of her vacation tracking down the Fox and Stag in Newcastle. The former hunters’ hangout in Carlisle had been abandoned after their loss to the Stonefire dragons earlier in the year. Who knew how long they’d use Newcastle and its surroundings as their new base. If she couldn’t find the hunters, she couldn’t write the story that could change the course of her career. Jane wanted to be more than a pretty face on camera, interviewing passersby. She wanted to be a true journalist.
The thought of never reporting stories that could make a difference in the world made Jane clutch her purse strap tighter. Working with the Stonefire dragon-shifters had reignited her drive to find out the truth and she would find her story even if it killed her. After all, no human had ever revealed the inner workings of the dragon hunters.
If Jane could do it, not only would she have the story of the year, she could also help sway public opinion even more in favor of the dragon-shifters. She knew firsthand from her interactions with Clan Stonefire that they weren’t monsters. The trick was proving it with facts and a narrative that would tug at the public’s heartstrings and make a lasting impression.
Reaching the bar, Jane slid into an empty seat and smiled at the bartender. It was time to get to work.
After asking for a pint, Jane casually staked out the room from the corners of her eyes. The largest group of men was seated behind her and to the left. Inspecting her nails as she waited for her drink, she listened to the group.
One of the men said, “Check out that bird. She’s well fit. I’m going to chat her up.”
The man didn’t speak with a Geordie accent, but rather a Scouse one, which meant he was from Liverpool. Since Liverpool didn’t have a dragon hunter branch, the man could be from the Carlisle group. One of the trademarks of the Carlisle branch was that they recruited from all over Great Britain.
She needed to talk with the men behind her and find out if her hunch was correct.
Jane’s lager arrived. Taking a sip, she waited to see if any of the men would approach her. If not, she’d have to take matters into her own hands.
She didn’t have to wait long. Less than a minute later, a man of average height, wearing jeans and a button-up shirt with the tails hanging out appeared on her left. His voice matched the Scouser from before. “Hey, beautiful, did you fall from heaven?”
Resisting the urge to roll her eyes, Jane forced herself to smile and change her voice into a flat American accent. “I guess that line works on either side of the pond.”
The man smiled. “You’re American.”
“Yes, I’m here on a little vacation.” She leaned forward a fraction and the man’s eyes darted to her cleavage. “It’s been awesome so far. Everywhere I turn, the men have such sexy accents. I can never get enough.”
He met her eyes again and his smile grew wider. “Well, love, this is your lucky day. Me and my mates would love to have you over at our table. We’ll say whatever you like.”
The glint of desire in the man’s blue eyes made her stomach churn. But Jane was prepared. If anything went wrong, she had an illegal can of pepper spray in her purse. Not to mention that ever since the dragon hunter attack on Stonefire earlier in the year, she’d been taking advanced self-defense classes, which would come in handy if needed.
With a nod, she answered, “I’d love to meet your friends. Maybe you can teach me how to sound British.”
“Then come with me. My name’s Jason.”
Jane had long ago picked a fake name similar to her own. “I’m Jenn.”
As the man guided her toward a table with about eight blokes, Jane catalogued their faces. While she didn’t have an eidetic memory, she had always been good with faces. Even if she didn’t find out any information about the dragon hunters from these men, she could later cross-check them with known dragon hunter associates and see if she was on the right track.
Of course, Jane was getting ahead of herself. She had to survive chatting with the slimy men at the table first.
The stench of beer, cigarettes, and stale male sweat hit her as she stopped next to the long table with Jason. This was going to be a long ten or twenty minutes with these men.
Remember, these men can lead me to my next clue. Even as they leered at her breasts before looking back to her face, Jane never stopped smiling. She waved. “Hello.”
One of the men whistled. Since she’d spent the last decade focusing on her career, it’d been a long time since she had interacted with men in a pub. If whistling was the way to win a woman these days, Jane would remain single for the rest of her life.
Under normal circumstances, she would probably glare and give him the double finger salute.
However, these weren’t normal circumstances, so the mental image of kicking each of the men in the balls would have to do for the present.
Jason placed his hand on her lower back. His touch made her want to take a long, hot shower. “This here is Jenn. She’s an American looking for sexy accents. I told her we were it.”
A dark-skinned man with black hair and brown eyes spoke up first. “Is that so? Then mine is the best.”
A Birmingham accent.
A man with brown eyes and a pale, bald head spoke next. “Don’t listen to him. Yorkshire is better. After all, we’re the Texas of England.”
With three accents identified, Jane’s gut said this group of blokes might be the right one.
Keeping up her act as an American, she put her hands up and shrugged. “They all sound the same to me.”
“Oi,” the bald man said, “sit yourself down and we’ll teach you properly. Next thing you know, you’ll say we sound Australian.”
Putting a finger to her mouth, she tried to look coy. “Well, you kind of do.”
The man at her side motioned to some of his friends. “Move your arses and let the lady sit down. I think it’s time we teach her the difference between us and the criminals.”
Jane’s mother was Australian, so she was familiar with how some Brits called Australians criminals—after all, the British had sent a lot of their convicted criminals to Australia and America back in the day.
She couldn’t defend her mother, though, so she bit the inside of her cheek to prevent her from saying something out of turn. Playing the part of a clueless American was going to take more concentration than she’d thought.
Once Jane scooted into the booth and Jason slid in next to her, Jane was trapped between two possibly dangerous men. The reminder of exactly where she was and who these men could be calmed her mind. If she fucked up, more than her story would be on the line.
Her life could be, too.
Jane upped her charm and went to work.
~~~
Kai Sutherland tugged the sleeves of his new jumper and exposed his forearms. Unlike most dragon-shifters, Kai had tattoos on both arms. His jagged flame one in black ink helped him to better blend in with the humans and he needed all the blending in he could do given his height and tendency to growl.
Or, at least, that’s what the human females of his clan had told him—that he growled too much.
Eyeing the pub across the street, Kai pushed aside thoughts of his growling and focused on his task. Newcastle was a dangerous city for dragon-shifters. While no one remembered the reasons, the Geordies were the most afraid of his kind in the entire United Kingdom and they did everything in their power to keep their cities clean of dragon-shifters. He couldn’t fuck up or he could end up in the hands of the DDA, or worse.
However, their hatred was why Kai was here.
Because of it, the city welcomed dragon hunters without a second glance, believing the hunters could help protect them. According to his contacts, the pub across the street should be one of the usual hangouts for the hunters in the area.
Kai’s dragon grunted. Lure them out and we can eat them.
No eating humans. That’s one of the rules.
But rules are meant to be broken.
Not this time. Remember what they did to Charlie? Eating one or two isn’t enough; we need to bring the bastards down.
Charlie had been Stonefire’s first female Protector. Seven months ago, she’d been captured and drained of blood.
Clenching his fingers, Kai forced his anger to the back of his mind. Strong emotions would cloud his judgement and risk what might be the only chance he had to try to capture and interrogate one or two hunters at his leisure. To protect his clan, he needed to take down Simon Bourne, Carlisle’s leader. But he couldn’t do that without more information.
His dragon replied, The DDA will punish you if they find out what you’re doing.
Fuck the DDA. They always let us down.
Except Evie.
Evie Marshall was the human female mated to Kai’s clan leader. Of course, not Evie. That female proved herself.
Just hurry up. I hate being in the crowded streets of cities.
In this, Kai agreed. Then stay quiet and let me do my job.
Fine, but you owe me a hunt later.
With that, his dragon retreated to the back of his mind and Kai crossed the street to the pub.
Upon entering, he took in his surroundings as he made it to the bar. Most of the patrons were working class males celebrating the end of the work week. A few human females drank with them or watched as some men played billiards on the far side of the room.
Then he looked toward the left and saw the back of a dark blonde-haired female sitting with a group of males. Her hair was swept up, exposing the delicate skin of her neck.
His beast growled out, Ours.
Don’t be daft. No one is ours.
She is. Get her away from those humans.
Her biceps are bare, free of material and tattoos. She’s human too.
That doesn’t matter. Those human males aren’t worthy.
Kai wanted to sigh. His dragon had always been a little dramatic. You’re not being quiet, so I will make you quiet.
Wrestling his dragon into a mental prison before he could reply, Kai took the last few steps to the bar. While he waited for the bartender, he looked over his shoulder so he could see the woman’s face.
The second he saw the blue eyes, long face, and bright smile, he felt as if he’d been punched in the gut.
The woman might be wearing too much make-up and had blonde hair instead of black, but it was Jane Hartley, the BBC reporter who’d been working with Stonefire over the last few months.
He wondered why the hell she was in Newcastle. He highly doubted it was a coincidence.
His dragon banged against his mental cage. Since Kai had lots of experience dealing with his temperamental beast, the cage held. However, if he stayed in the same room as Jane for longer than five minutes, his dragon might find a way out.
After all, his bloody beast believed the human was their second chance.
Rather than allow his thoughts to go down that path, Kai clenched his jaw. He needed to get the human female out of the pub and send her on her way.
The bartender approached, but Kai merely waved him off and headed toward the table. He had an idea.
The sight of Jane smiling and flirting with the human bastards sent a flash of anger through his body. They shouldn’t be anywhere near her. All Kai wanted to do was toss the hunter bastards against a wall and whisk the human female away to safety.
The thought made him pause. He wasn’t here to protect the female. She could fend for herself.
Kai’s dragon broke free. No, we must protect her.
And risk the mission? I think not.
His beast growled. We’ll do both.
I don’t take orders from you.
In this, you will listen. She is ours.
Tired of arguing, Kai decided to placate his beast temporarily. Give me some credit. I can send her away and best the hunters. Have faith in me.
His dragon huffed. For now, but I’ll be watching.
Kai resisted shaking his head and approached the table. On closer inspection, he noticed that the man to Jane’s right was one of the Carlisle hunters. Kai had seen him while in dragon-form on a rescue mission earlier in the year.
His dragon spoke up again. Get Jane away from him, but don’t let him escape.
Ignoring his dragon, Kai stopped next the table where Jane was sitting with the men and kicked the outer table leg. All eyes were on him, and he caught the flash of surprise in Jane’s gaze. He growled, “There you are, Janey.”
To her credit, Jane quickly replaced her surprise with confusion. “Do I know you?”
“Of course you bloody well know me. I’m your man.”
The male he’d seen on his previous mission reached under the table, no doubt to retrieve a stolen gun. The bald man asked, “Who the hell do you think you are, mate? This lady right here is having a good time and doesn’t recognize you. So, sod off and leave her be.”
“No,” Kai stated.
The male on Jane’s other side raised his brows. “You’d best listen to my friend, arsehole, or we’ll take you outside and teach you a lesson.”
Since that was what Kai wanted he took one of the pints of lager on the table and tossed it to the side. The glass shattered and the two closest men stood up. The bald one spoke again, clutching something under his shirt. “Last chance. Leave or we’ll make you leave.”
The bartender and one of the bouncers headed toward them. Kai needed to move this outside where he could better control the situation and avoid too many human eyes. “How about a fight? If you win, you can keep the tart. If I win, you let me take her and I’ll allow you to escape alive.”
Everyone looked at the bald man, who appeared to be their leader. The urge to look at Jane was strong, but he kept his focus on the men. He’d deal with the human female after the fight.
The bald man gave a slight motion toward the door and his men started to file out. Two of them grabbed Jane’s biceps and Kai’s dragon roared inside his head and then added, They shouldn’t touch her. They aren’t worthy and might hurt her.
Kai quickly stated, She’ll be fine. No one is going to hurt her in front of me. If they try, they will regret it.
His beast grunted. I will trust you for now. But you know what will happen if you fail.
If Kai failed, there’d be hell to pay; his beast didn’t tolerate failure. Yes, yes. Now, leave me alone so I can concentrate.
With a huff, his dragon fell silent.
Only the bald man remained at the table and he motioned toward the door. “After you.”
“We walk out together. I don’t trust you at my back,” Kai answered.
“Clever man.”
Kai merely raised an eyebrow and the bald man started walking.
All he needed to do was knock the bald man out and toss him over his shoulder so he could question him later. Then Kai could take the reporter far away from there and persuade her to stay clear of the dragon hunters. A single human female didn’t stand a chance against them, especially one as pretty as Jane. There was no telling what the hunters would do to her if they found out she was a reporter.
His dragon whispered, Protect her at all costs.
I will, but only so I can finish my mission, nothing more.
One day you will stop lying.
Kai didn’t like the confidence of his dragon’s words.
However, Kai reached outside the pub and focused on the situation at hand.
The bald man went around the back to the alley. As soon as Kai turned the corner, he saw Jane being held between two men at the end of the street. He resisted the urge to shift into a dragon and take them all out in one fell swoop.
But doing so would land him in trouble with the DDA. Any dragon that shifted inside a major city would be charged and serve out a jail sentence. As hard as it was to resist, Newcastle wasn’t his land. Being thrown inside a DDA prison would prevent him from finishing his task.
And once Kai set his mind on something, he always followed through. Always.
The bald man motioned for Kai to approach. “Come on, mate. It’s time to put you in your place.”
~~~
Jane was seething on the inside. The bloody dragonman was going to ruin her investigation and get himself killed. The bald man, Joe, had a gun under his shirt. She’d seen the butt poking out several times over the last quarter of an hour.
Joe and his men had just started talking about how far away they lived from their favorite pub when Kai had shown up. How dare he call her his woman. No doubt, he thought she needed rescuing.
Bloody daft dragonman.
When this was finished, she would give Stonefire’s head Protector a piece of her mind. While she rarely interacted with him, the quiet dragonman always managed to get what he wanted. She had no fucking idea why he was here, but if he was also after the hunters, he would have a wakeup call. Jane Hartley didn’t give up a lead for anyone, not even a growly, hot muscled man who could shift into a giant gold dragon.
Kai’s voice echoed down the alley and answered Joe’s taunting. Since Jane was taller than most of the men, she turned her head to watch.
“No weapons. That’s my only rule,” Kai stated.
Joe answered, “Who says you get to the make the rules? I’m only agreeing to fight because you might actually be a challenge and it’s been a while since I’ve had one. If you weren’t, me and my men would’ve taken you out by now.”
Jason at her side murmured in agreement and Jane wondered if all of the dragon hunters had guns.
“No weapons,” Kai repeated.
Despite how angry she was with Kai Sutherland, the steel in his voice made her want to obey.
And if she were honest, every time she heard it, his voice made her shiver in a good way.
Not that she was going to waste time thinking about Kai’s deep, sexy voice. She was more concerned about the hunters figuring out he was a dragonman. Kai’s jumper and trousers did a good job of helping him blend in with the humans in the area, but very few humans could thread so much dominance into their voices.
Joe moved his hand away from under his shirt. “I like a challenge. You look ex-army, am I right?” Kai merely nodded and Joe continued, “Then let’s see if what they teach you nancy boys stands up to what we learn on the streets.”
In the blink of an eye, Joe moved to the side and swung a fist.
Jane held her breath, but then Kai stepped out of the way. Even in the half-darkness, Kai was graceful as he moved. It was almost as if he were dancing.
Blinking, Jane pushed the ridiculous thought out of her head. The dragonman had ruined everything. She would not think positive thoughts about him, and certainly not wonder if Kai was just as graceful out of his clothes as he was in them.
Stop it, Jane. She’d wondered too many times over the last few months what Kai would look like naked. But she couldn’t afford to see any man naked. At least, not until she’d finished her story and secured her reputation as a true investigative journalist.
The hunter at her side, Jason, murmured, “Tell me you want the bastard to lose.” He caressed her upper arm with a finger and she barely resisted punching him in the jaw. “We were getting along so well before. I’d like to take you back to my place and show you what a real man is like.”
Must. Not. Roll. Eyes. Jane flashed a coy smile and looked down at Jason, who was a few inches shorter than her. “That sounds nice. I’ve always wondered what a British man would be like.”
Desire flashed in the man’s eyes. He moved toward her as if he were going to kiss her, so she added, “But I want to watch the fight first, okay, sweetie? I want the stranger who claimed to be my man to be punished for his lie.”
“Don’t worry, Joe will take care of him.” He caressed her arm some more and her stomach rolled. “But we’ll stay. Watching a fight will only make me harder.”
Ew. Pushing aside thoughts of the man naked and hard, Jane bobbed her head. “I can hardly wait.”
“Then watch the fight, love. If you’re like me, and I think you are, it’ll make you wet.”
Only her stubbornness kept the smile on her face. Someone really needed to smack this man once in a while. That was definitely not the way to win a woman. “Maybe.”
Before he could spout out any more crude comments, Jane looked back to Kai. He and Joe were circling each other. Neither one appeared winded, nor did they have any visible injuries on their faces.
She wondered what Kai’s strategy was. He needed to hurry the hell up so she could ditch the pervert at her side.
Yet Kai took his time circling his partner and dodging one punch and then another. He acted as if he had all the time in the world.
Joe went for an uppercut, but Kai sidestepped and punched him in the kidney. In the next second, Kai turned around and clocked him on the jaw. Joe went down with a thud.
Everyone held their breath, Jane included, but Joe didn’t get up again.
Kai’s eyes sought out hers and she shivered at the mixture of heat and triumph in his eyes. That look made her want to strip naked and offer herself up as a sacrifice.
Blinking, Jane nearly frowned. That was twice now she’d fantasized about Kai being naked in the span of a few minutes. If she wanted to find her story and advance her career, she couldn’t afford to sleep with any dragon-shifter. The second she did, her opinion would be deemed biased.
She’d had to repeat that mantra over and over again the last few months. Being surrounded by a clan of hot dragonmen had been temptation itself. And who the bloody hell knew why, but she’d always had the strongest pull toward Kai, although she’d managed to stay clear.
Luckily, Mr. Tactless at her side spoke up. “Did you want me to get rid of him for you, love?” He reached down and took hold of what she assumed was a gun. “His fist can’t hurt us this far away.”
She was trying to think of how to respond when Kai bent over and took Joe’s gun. His supersensitive dragon-shifter hearing must’ve picked up Jason’s words.
Flicking off the safety, Kai pointed the gun at Jason. “The woman is mine. Let her go.”
The men stared at one another and Jane decided to fuck it. These men would never talk to her again anyway.
Turning, she kneed Jason in the balls and took his gun. Before the other men could draw theirs, she pressed the muzzle against Jason’s temple and flicked off the safety. Not wanting to completely break her cover, she kept up her American accent. “I don’t think so, guys. I’m not a prize to be fought after. Besides, I’m American and we love our guns. You won’t win against me. I suggest you run far, far away before I show you my skills.”
Jane was careful to keep her face stony. In truth, she was horrible with firearms. She only knew the basics because of her older brother, who had all but forced her to learn them a few years earlier. But the hunters didn’t need to know that.
Pressing the muzzle harder against Jason’s forehead, the man’s strangled voice ordered, “Do as she says.”
One of the men spoke up. “What about Joe?”
Kai’s voice drifted from behind her. “Leave him.”
Jane nearly turned her head and frowned at the dragonman. If he wanted to help her, he could surely muster more than two words.
As the men waited for Jason’s confirmation, Jane murmured, “Tell them to leave or I won’t be so gentle with your balls next time.”
Jason yelled to the others, “Go. Joe can take care of himself.”
Not waiting for another word, the group of men left, except for Jason, whom she still had under the gun. Before she could tell the man to flee, Kai was next to her. After hitting the man on the back of the head with his gun, Jason fell to the ground.
She hated the fact she had to look up to meet his eyes, but she did it. “Why the bloody hell did you do that?”
“Good to hear you’re British again.”
She frowned. “That is probably one of the least important things you could say right now. How about telling me why you’re here? You ruined everything.”
“All of that can wait.”
Kai kneeled, flipped Jason over, and tied his hands with plastic zip ties from his pocket. Putting the safety back on her gun, Jane asked, “Care to explain a bit more?” She lowered her voice. “I can’t read minds, dragonman. You sure as hell shouldn’t be here.”
Rather than answer her, Kai took out his mobile and sent a text. Jane was tempted to pluck the phone from his hands and toss it onto the roof of the pub.
Sadly, before she could execute her plan, Kai tucked his phone into his pocket as he stood up. His expression was as unreadable as always as he answered, “Stop demanding and just listen. Let’s go somewhere safe before the hunters come back with reinforcements.”
Jane’s curiosity won out over her irritation. “How do you know they’re hunters?” When Kai merely stared, she put a hand on her hip. “In the amount of time you’ve stared so far you could’ve explained half a dozen sentences about what’s going on. I get it, you’re the big, bad head Protector. But you can let that image slip with me. I won’t tell anyone.”
“Says the reporter.”
If she were on official business for work, she’d have to smile and say nothing. But she wasn’t, so she narrowed her eyes. “You know what? Fuck you. I don’t need to put up with this. I’m leaving.”
Jane walked two steps before Kai came up behind her and trapped her against his chest. For a split second, all she could think about were the hard muscles and broad chest at her back. It had been a long time since she last had a man’s arms around her in a non-slimy way. Being a female reporter wasn’t glamorous most of the time; too many men liked to cop a feel. Kai’s arms around her, on the other hand, actually made her skin hot and tight, which rarely happened.
His heat at her back was better than any dream she’d had of him over the last few months.
Realizing she was going off on a tangent, she forced her brain to focus. “A scream from me and the pub patrons will spill into the street.” She tilted her head up until she could see Kai’s blue eyes. “If I tell them a dragon-shifter is causing trouble on the streets of Newcastle, that would definitely be a big enough distraction to allow me to slip away.”
Kai remained silent. The second she opened her mouth to scream, Kai released her and she swore she saw a flash of irritation in the unshakeable dragonman’s eyes.
However, the look was gone in the next breath. Kai merely shrugged. “Do what you wish. But does your boss know you’re out here wielding a gun and rubbing elbows with the hunters? You should be behind a desk.”
“I’m a journalist.”
He shrugged. “If you say so.” He turned toward Joe. “I have a job to do. Go home and let me handle the hunters.”
Jane clenched her fingers. “I found them first. This is my story and I won’t let you brush me off.”
Kai met her eyes again. “Go home or I will send you home.”
A million ideas raced through her head. Given what little she knew of Kai Sutherland, he could be carrying chloroform or who the hell knew what that could knock her unconscious. And he would use it, too.
Before he had a chance to do any of that, Jane would play her only card. “You can send me home and waste your time interrogating the hunters for information, or you can work with me. The men were quite chatty before you rudely interrupted. Give me access to a computer with internet and I can point out the possible new living quarters of the former Carlisle gang.”
Kai studied her, but despite the butterflies banging around in her stomach, she didn’t so much as fidget as she waited for his response.