Dragon 3 Chapter 19 (Patreon)

It was the next day, and I was feeling much better. Knowing what was bothering me took an enormous weight off of me, and I felt more in control of myself.

While I loaded up dishes from breakfast, I pitched my idea for the day. “I’d like to drive around the city and see if I can’t use this instinct to find the other dragon.”

“What do you need?” Jadelyn was quick to ask.

“A car. Actually, I could use someone to drive me around that knows the area. I might get distracted as I try to reach out and sense the dragon.”

“I can drive around. You’ll be here to protect Jadelyn?” Scarlett asked Morgana and Kelly. When they nodded, Scarlett turned, smiling at me.

We didn’t have much else we could do for Yev. While the trap may be closing, nothing in her schedule for the day should give them an opportunity.

So, it was a day at home for Morgana and Kelly, too.

“Great.” Scarlett snagged a pair of keys from a hook. “I’d like to get out of the house.”

“Be safe, you two.” Jadelyn waved to the two of us.

I was eager to get going, snatching Scarlett’s hand and pulling her along to the garage and into one of the black SUVs.

“Where to?” She asked, turning the keys, the engine roaring to life.

“I’m not sure. I was thinking we circle the city and just see if I can pick anything up? And then we go from there?” I didn’t have a concrete plan for this one. Beyond the fact that the dragon was likely still in the city. We had little to go on.

“One drive around the city coming up.” She rolled out of the garage, and I tried to focus on my irritation, but nothing was coming as I tried to pick at the feeling.

“How are you Scarlett?” I asked, taking a break from trying to force it. “I know you agreed to open up our relationship, but this has all moved quickly. From Jadelyn, to Morgana, and now Kelly, are you still okay?”

She was silent for a long moment. “Thanks for asking. If I’m honest, I’m still getting used to the idea.” Scarlett let out a long sigh, and her tails wiggled between her back and the seat.

Reaching a hand over, I grabbed one and pulled it into my lap, petting it. The action visibly calmed her down. “You are still my first mate.”

“But you haven’t marked me.”

“Is that the problem?” My jaw crackled with a shift as my teeth sharpened. I leaned over her shoulder.

“No.”

I started to pull away, but she grabbed my head and stayed looking at the road.

“Don’t stop. Do it.”

I trusted her to know what she wanted, so I leaned down.

My teeth clamped down on her shoulder, and I pushed the beast forward. Magic channeled through my jaw as I felt myself imprint my mark on her.

I let my face shift back and sat back in my seat, still petting her tail. “Better?”

Scarlett stopped at a stop sign and pulled down the visor mirror to look at her shoulder. “It healed.”

“It does that. It will leave a faint scar and a magical imprint.” I told her, using a finger to trace it. Even if the scar was nearly invisible, I could feel exactly where it was.

She put the mirror back up as she started driving again. “Thank you.”

“If that wasn’t the issue, what is?” I pressed my lovely kitsune. With everything going on, we hadn’t had a chance to reconnect since Jadelyn had joined the harem.

She looked straight ahead and let out a soft sigh, resigning herself to speaking her mind. “It’s just a lot. I told you to go after Jadelyn, and she’s like a sister to me. Then Morgana seemed like an obvious next step, and I get the thing you have with Kelly.”

She paused. “It’s just, it keeps growing. And I need to know that we will keep getting time together.”

Petting her tail, I did my best to just listen. When she seemed like she was finally done, I spoke. “There’s only one Scarlett. And my relationship with her is more important than any new women circling me. I have all the love I need right now.”

“That’s what you said when it was just you and me.” She reminded me.

“It still stands true. But, if I’m honest, my nature is changing. You met mostly human me. I’m slowly becoming more like my dragon, and it seems to be greedy for a horde of women.” The beast slammed itself into my chest in response.

“Can you slow down?” She asked.

I wanted to say ‘yes’, but I wasn’t sure I could promise that. “Once my secret is out, I’m likely going to have to meet the Bronze King. If I survive that, I suspect more than one female dragon is going to come knocking.”

Scarlett let out a noise of pure frustration. “I’m not going to be left behind?”

“Never. Don’t even let that thought enter your mind. You are my kitsune, my first mate. Though there will be others, you will always be first.” I needed to make her status as first mate more of a thing, for her own sake.

“In fact, there’s a request I have of you. When my secret comes out, I need your help in screening the dragon females that come.” I knew putting her in charge of something like that would give her the control she sought.

Scarlett’s training and life as a guard had made her used to planning. She always had contingencies in place, ready for all the possible outcomes.

“Really? What if they are stupid sexy?” Scarlett probed.

“Doesn’t matter if they don’t pass first mate muster.” I confirmed, smiling as she seemed to relax slightly.

“Good.” Scarlett finally declared after a moment of thought. “I’ll take that up as your first mate. We can never be too careful. Once your secret is out, there will be plenty of gold diggers.”

“My gold!” I shouted in play, but also to hide the part of my dragon that clenched tight at the idea of some woman taking gold from my hoard.

Mostly, I was elated that she took to the idea so well.

Scarlett shook her head, and her playful little fox ears wobbled in such a way that I just had to reach out and caress one. Once I’d finished feeling it, I let my fingers trail down the back of her head and along her neck.

“I love you Scarlett. If anything is bothering you, please find the time to tell me.” I leaned over and kissed her shoulder.

As I sat back, I cupped her cheek, and she turned her face into my hand, nuzzling it affectionately. “I will, my mate. I will. This is just taking some getting used to.”

I kissed the tail in my lap and continued to hold it against my chest as I stroked it. The tail softly wiggled against me.

We sat there in silence for a while as Scarlett drove around the city.

My sense for this other dragon was a low thrum in the back of my mind, but as we rounded the southern end of the city and followed one of the main roads towards the eastern side, I felt it pick up.

“Scar, it’s growing stronger. We must be getting closer.”

“Really? Shit.” She made a turn. “Is it getting stronger still?”

Closing my eyes, I focused on the sensation that had been nagging me for the last few days, feeling it subtly growing stronger. “Yeah, it’s still growing.”

“We are going north now. Let’s try to triangulate this thing. I’ll find three spots and we can see which of them feels strongest.”

Scarlett pulled off into a parking lot. “How about now? Give it a rating.”

“Maybe a four?” I hazarded, thinking it was going to get much stronger.

“Okay, off to the next spot.” She tapped on her phone and put it down. I could see she’d dropped a pin on the map.

Pulling out and driving several miles east, she stopped again. “Stronger, or weaker?”

Closing my eyes, I really tried to get a sense of it. “Maybe a smidge stronger. Let’s call it a four point five.”

“Got it.” She tapped another pin and note on the map and I checked it, seeing where she was going to drive next.

Sure enough, she took a street headed north for the final of the three points. “Six, maybe even a seven.” I said, getting a sense for the variation.

“Alright.” Scarlett tapped it into the phone and then did a little math. “We are going to guess it is mostly north of here, a little east at a four to one ratio.” She drew a line on the map that went through several streets. “There, we’ll go up that direction and see if we can’t pinpoint it.”

I nodded, on board with the idea and letting her drive.

We ended up driving until the sensation started to fade again and then used another three points to try to guess the direction.

The resulting line went back southeast, and we drove to where the two lines intersected.

“Stop here.” I grabbed the dashboard as a shift nearly overcame me. “He’s here, somewhere close.” My breathing came out heavy, and I was practically salivating for a fight.

“Where?” Scarlett asked.

I looked around, trying to keep it together as I scanned everything nearby. There was a small outdoor shopping center just on the corner. A residential neighborhood wrapping around the back of the shopping area.

“The shopping center. Drive through it.” I could feel it from that direction. Now that we were close, the pull was much more distinct.

Scarlett had her phone up against her ear as she made the turn. “Hey Jade, can you get Morgana and Kelly packed up? Zach thinks he found the dragon.” There was some chatter on the other end before Scarlett spoke again. “Yeah, just check my GPS. It’s the Goblingrove Shopping Mall.”

There were a few more words exchanged, and then they hung up. Scarlett put the phone down as she rolled into a parking spot.

“You holding yourself together?” She asked with a knowing quirk of her brow.

“Well enough.” I growled.

“They’ll be here in twenty. I’m not going to let you identify which building it is before they are here. You look like you are practically frothing at the mouth.”

It wasn’t that bad, but I felt like I felt like I was going to burst out of my clothes at any second.

Scarlett’s seatbelt came off, and she slid over the center console into my lap. “Kelly said she found a good way to distract you that I wanted to try.”

She kissed my chest and up the side of my neck as she pressed her chest into me and grabbed the back of my head.

I let her distract me, kissing her and using my tongue to pry open her pearly white teeth and tangle my tongue with hers.

It was working. My restless energy found an outlet as I grabbed her hips and pressed her to my erection.

I knew it wasn’t the time or place for sex, but some heavy petting would serve as a great distraction.

“Down boy.” Scarlett teased, but she was completely soaking up all the attention I was giving her. Her lips were spread in a big smile as she twerked her hips over my erection.

“You are going to find yourself in trouble if you aren’t careful.” I growled, pressing her back into the dash and burying my face between her bountiful chest.

Scarlett continued to tease me until I was rock hard, and I was sure more than a few shoppers had given us dirty looks.

Someone knocked on the window.

Jadelyn stood outside the car waving with a smile.

Scarlett threw herself off of me and jumped out of the car. “Jade, what are you doing alone?”

“I have backup.” She pointed to Morgana behind her and Kelly on watch further back.

“That’s not the point.” Scarlett tilted her head down, glaring at the siren, who continued to smile, completely unaffected by her bodyguard’s glower.

“It’s fine. We are just looking for the place.” I replied, knowing that Jadelyn wouldn’t allow herself to be bubble wrapped at all times, but not liking the idea of her near danger either.

Standing in the parking lot, I had a very uncomfortable bulge in my pants. And now that Scarlett had stopped teasing me, the irritation was also making itself known.

I adjusted myself as I scanned the shops.

It was a cluster of strip malls, all centered around two roundabouts.

My senses were pulling me further north, towards the second roundabout. “Come on. He’s this way.”

Like a hound dog with a scent, I let it pull me forward, crossing two streets before I found myself in front of an unnamed shop.

The front, like the rest, was all glass windows, but they were filled with for sale posters and then a big ‘SOLD’ across them. No mention of who was moving into this spot, but my sense of the other dragon was telling me a dragon had moved in.

“Here?” Morgana confirmed, stepping forward with a hand over one of her swords. The other was ready to try the front door.

I looked around, trying to figure out how to approach it. It was a public space and just blowing the front of the store out was more likely to cause us problems.

But before Morgana could get to the door, it opened, and a woman stepped out.

But as she stepped out, I realized it wasn’t a woman. It was an angel. Two downy white wings were folded on her back.

Wearing a tight fitting white blouse over a dark pencil skirt, she was all business in how she dressed. But the way she moved and the cut of her hair, falling just below her jaw and jutting back at an angle, reminded me of a spartan warrior’s helmet.

She had a terse expression as her head turned slowly, taking in Morgana. She clearly recognized her. The angel turned to the door, knocking twice on it.

“Morgana. What brings you to Sentarshaden? I didn’t think you were welcome in these parts.” The angel spoke, the haughty expression staying on her face.

“Devin Nashner.” Morgana replied, her hands on her blades. “It’s funny you say that. I could say the same for you.”

“I’m a paranormal, aren’t I?” Devin replied.

Morgana snorted. “Questionable, at best. We both know nephilim have a reputation of siding with other groups.”

I realized Morgana was dropping hints to help me piece everything together. She’d only mentioned one Nephilim to me, Jared’s sister. And she’d said his sister would be far stronger than the angels we’d fought before.

As much as I was curious to see how I would do against her, my instincts alerted me that the dragon was moving further away. He was heading out the back.

Those two knocks of hers had been a signal, and she was the distraction.

I made a plan quickly. “Morgana, have fun with her. Scar, get Jadelyn back to the car. Kelly, with me.”

Morgana’s two blades slid free of their sheathes with a lethal hiss. At the same time, beads of white coalesced into a massive silver spear in Devin’s hands.

“Okay, we’re out, Jade.” Scarlett wasn’t playing games. She grabbed Jadelyn and dragged her, not holding back any of her strength. And as they moved, they branched into three pairs, all moving in different directions.

“Go. I’ve got you.” Kelly called as she ran towards me. I turned, moving into a full sprint as we rounded two shops to get to the back of the shop.

Concrete cracked and chunks of sidewalk sprayed to my side as Morgana and Devin clashed.

I looked over my shoulder, catching the briefest of moments in the chaos. I tried not to be stunned. Devin was at a completely different level than the angels I’d handled before. Many of them had been skilled, but the raw power I’d just felt behind me was something else.

I would have had trouble leaving anybody but a fully healed Morgana to face her.

Kelly’s legs were shifting as she moved, tearing through her jeans as she kept up with me. We rounded the corner, coming face to face with a group of cherubs pulling three trucks up to the back of the building.

There was another group of several cherubs and angels escorting a figure in hooded robes.

But what caught my eye were the forearms of the robes. They bulged oddly. And as it moved, I saw glimpses of a silver chain, glowing brightly with magic.

As soon as I rounded the corner, the robed figure stopped, despite the angel pushing on him, and turned towards me.

I couldn’t see past the shadows of the cowl at this distance, but something about its stare unsettled me.

My dragon instincts were going off like a blazing alarm. They were screaming that the robed figure was the dragon.

“Get moving!” The angel screamed, slamming a hand into the dragon. But it was like he punched a mountain. The dragon didn’t so much as twitch.

Instead, the cowl fell down, and I felt sick when I saw his face.

It was weathered and worn, his head shaved bald, and his eyes gouged out. Every inch of his exposed skin was covered with rune-shaped scars.

Despite having no eyes, it still felt like he was staring right at me.

“Move.” The angel pushed the dragon, Several runes lit up, and the dragon took one step of its own volition, as if doing the minimum to comply with the command.

“We have company.” One of the cherubs had spotted us and pulled out a handgun from the front of his pants.

“That’s the gold dragon.” The angel scowled before looking back at the scared dragon. “Get it out of here.”

I paused, all of a sudden not sure what I should do. The dragon wasn’t my enemy; he was a prisoner and tool for my enemy. Any anger I had rushed out of me, replaced with pity.

I hadn’t been expecting this, and I hesitated.

One of the trucks pulled up to the dragon, and a cherub screamed for him to get in.

The scarred dragon continued to stare at me with his empty eye sockets, even as runes lit up on its neck and head. With the runes, I could see his muscles tense as if he was resisting, but more and more runes lit up as his tendons and muscles in his neck strained.

After just a few more moments, the runes won out, and the dragon threw himself sideways into the back of the truck. All three vehicles floored it, burning rubber as they peeled out.

“Are we just going to let him get away?” Kelly asked in confusion.

“I’m not sure.” I had mixed feelings, and I wasn’t sure what I should do about what I’d just seen. “But we have company, and I can’t wait for you to show me what an alpha wolf can do.”

The trucks left behind a small contingent of cherubs and two angels, and they were moving towards us.

“Happily, alpha.” Kelly’s clothes ripped as she shifted, and I got to see her transformation for the first time since she’d become an alpha.