The Alpha’s Cursed Mate

5.

I stood and walked back to the window. Hawk hurried down the steel stairs and back to the unfinished concrete of the shop floor. His mate, Mia, leaned against the open garage door in a pair of overalls, her wavy hair tied up in a bun. Their two-year-old daughter, Bella, held her mom’s hand and jumped up and down excitedly when she saw her dad coming down the stairs. Hawk weaved through the garage, then scooped Bella up and swung her around. Though I couldn’t hear my niece’s voice in the soundproofed office, I could see her laughing loudly.

I wondered what Harley was doing.

My dragon whined as soon as her sweet face came into my memory. Harley. Her long auburn hair, her bright blue eyes, her round face and those perfect curves. She’d been the most beautiful woman I’d ever seen. Hell, she still was.

Maybe in a different world, we could’ve had a life like Hawk and Mia. Harley could’ve showed up to the garage like this, wearing a pair of my old shop coveralls with the top tied around her waist, and one of those thin tank tops she wore all summer. Maybe she’d drag me out of my office and take me out to the lake where we’d roll around in the grass in the late-spring afternoon.

I could still remember the sound of her laughter. Her perfect, soft lips. The smell of her skin when she was spread out on my sheets.

My dragon whined again, and I shoved the memory away before I got too wrapped up in it. The fact of the matter was that Harley was gone. I’d been dragged off to prison before I could tell her I loved her. I’d never had a chance to claim her, even though it was all my dragon had wanted.

It was for the best, though. That summer was a lifetime ago. Harley was a sweet girl, a soft girl, and she didn’t deserve to be wrapped up in this f****d-up life. Before I’d even touched her that summer, I’d known she was better off without me. Even so, neither I nor my dragon could resist her.

I hadn’t had to reject her, though. The feds made that decision for me when they locked me up. I had no way to contact her. By the time I got out seven years later, she was long gone, and to her, I was probably nothing more than a distant memory of a summer fling.

I watched Hawk take Mia’s hand in one hand and Bella’s in the other, then lead them out to his car. He’d upgraded from a motorcycle to an SUV with a car seat in the back. I honestly had never thought I’d see the day.

If this investment worked, we could finally pull out of the crime world completely.

Maybe then, my world would be safe for Harley.

It was a ridiculous idea. It’d been a decade. For all I knew, she was happily married with kids—though the thought of that made my dragon growl furiously.

Maybe it would be worth it.

Maybe I needed to track her down.

3

HARLEY

T

hree weeks later

“How long is the drive?” Dylan asked.

“Three hours, kiddo,” I said.

Dylan made a sound like a balloon deflating. As he leaned over his luggage, he kind of looked like one, too.

“Sorry about him,” I said to the agent at the car rental counter. “We’ve had a long day.”

That was an understatement. We’d rushed out of the house at five in the morning only for our flight to Syracuse to be delayed, and delayed, and delayed, then it was three hours of turbulence before we landed. Dylan was a trooper, but he was running out of steam.

“Mom, my skin feels tight all over.”

The agent raised her eyebrows.

“He’s fine,” I said to her. Then, “You’re fine, it’s normal.”

I had no idea if he was actually fine. But if he was feeling bad—or close to a shift—it would be best to get him out of the busy airport and into a car. At least we’d have some privacy there.

I filled out the paperwork, then the agent stepped away to get our car. “Dyl, why don’t you go get a soda from the vending machine while we wait?”

Usually, Dylan would’ve perked up at the idea of a soda in the middle of the afternoon, since I was a bit of a health nut. Today, he just morosely took the money and dragged himself away from the counter to the vending machine in the corner.

I pulled my phone out and dialed Suri.

“Hey, Harley, you land safely? Ready to enjoy your vacation?”

“I don’t know if ‘vacation’ is the word I’d use,” I admitted. “Can I ask you something about Dylan?”

“Shoot.”

“He’s been exhausted this whole trip, and now he’s complaining that his skin feels tight. Does that sound normal to you?”

“For dragons? Unfortunately, yeah. It can be really uncomfortable. Moreso than for other shifters.”

“Great. What’s it like? Do I need to get him away from the general public?”

“No, no, he should be okay for a while longer. But you should be aware that the first shift is always a b***h—doubly so for dragons.”

“Why? It didn’t seem like this for the wolf shifters at school.”

“Dragons have more… parts, so to speak. A wolf’s a mammal, right? The core basis of the shift is already there. There’s a bit of growing, but hands are like paws, and hair’s like fur, right? It’s not that different.”

Seemed pretty different to me, but I nodded, even though he couldn’t see me. “Right.”

“Dragons don’t have many parts in common with humans. Shifters have to develop wings, tails, and scales—all of which are extremely different from human anatomy. His dragon is working overtime to figure out how to grow. Sometimes that process goes a little haywire. When I was going through my puberty, I used to get so worked up that my tail would pop out of nowhere.”

“Just unexpectedly?”

“An involuntary reaction. It happened with my claws, and my fire.”

“Suri, please don’t tell me if Dylan gets worked up, he’ll accidentally start setting things on fire.”

That got a laugh out of Suri. “No, probably not. Maybe a few puffs of smoke here and there. But it’s good you’re taking him to his sire.”

“I wish you could help him. I still don’t know if this is a good idea.”

Suri sighed. “You know I would if I could. My uncle helped me through my first shift, but that only worked because my father had already passed away. Your dragon always seeks its sire for the first shift. It’s the only dragon it feels it can trust. And if Dylan’s an alpha, his sire will be the only one who can make him obey. Unfortunately, that obedience is very important during the first shift.”

“So, he doesn’t set things on fire?”

“In a way,” Suri admitted. “Young dragons are strong. I have a feeling Dylan will be extremely strong. It’s best he has someone with him who can help him tame his dragon. In the meantime, try to make sure he’s not too stressed and let him sleep as much as he wants.”

“Thanks. I know it’s the right choice for him, I just…”

“You don’t know if it’s the right choice for you,” Suri supplied.

I exhaled. “Yeah. It’ll be tough. But it’ll be worth it for Dylan.”

Across the hallway, Dylan was leaning his head against the cool side of the vending machine, apparently oblivious to the people waiting for him to leave so they could get their sodas.

“I hope so,” I said. “Thanks, Suri.”

The agent returned with the keys as I ended the call. I thanked her, then waved Dylan back over.

I nearly dropped my suitcase when we got to the car. “Seriously?”

“It’s the only standard rental we have left available,” the agent said. “If you’d like to upgrade, I have some two-door coupes…”

“That won’t be necessary,” I said before Dylan could even get a little gleam of excitement in his eye. I wasn’t going to take a sports car down these winding mountain roads, not with my son in the car. The rental they had for us was a white SUV that had to be at least ten years old. The paint was scratched, and the wheel wells were still muddy, like it hadn’t been washed properly. Sighing, I opened the trunk and heaved our suitcases into it. At least it didn’t smell like cigarettes or old fast food.