Dragon's Claim

Chapter 9-1

Chapter 9

The convertible took the side streets at breakneck speeds. Drake couldn’t help himself. All he wanted was for Layla to be back in the center of his vast Territory, surrounded by the dragons he could trust to protect her. There was also a fierce need to make sure young Miri was alright, as if he might sweep in like a foul wind and finish the job he started.

Those were the dreams that haunted Drake during his early years. They’d faded over time, other, more pressing issues taking precedent while he ran the largest group of dragons in the States.

Beside him, his mate was furious. Drake feared he might have taken several steps backward with her. Their day had been going fantastic, almost like a date. She was becoming less and less a creature and more of a person every day.

Yet, when they returned to the Territory, she slipped out of the car, slammed the door so hard the window pane rattled, and stormed inside. He trailed behind her. Drake was forced to watch as the young girl ran up to Layla with her arms wide open and crashed into her with joyous tears.

Miri had missed them, both of them. She cried and blabbered into Layla’s shirt, but his mate didn’t care about her clothing. She only stroked the girl’s hair and reminded her they had returned. He listened to her tell the girl that she and Drake couldn’t be taken from her because they were the strongest dragons in the States.

Drake wished that was true. He was a force to be reckoned with and Layla was a deadly blur in a fight, but a new predator was in town. Drake had to rally his best fighters, but he didn’t know how to tell them what he knew without giving his past away.

Miri’s parents were dead. There was no getting around that. He wouldn’t have left them alive. The thought was a sliver through his heart, a pain that felt so real he slapped his hand over his chest. The girl his mate held so fiercely no longer had the home she’d once known.

Drake crashed into an armchair while Layla glared at him. What could he tell her? That he was terrified? She wouldn’t understand, not now, not until her walls came down and she felt rational fear again.

“Use my checking account and order some things for a child’s room,” Drake told Layla. “It looks like we’ll be needing it.”

Beneath Miri’s grip, Layla froze. She knew what he meant by his statement, what he insinuated, but would never say in front of the child. He watched them, his chest aching. Before him was something he’d never thought he’d have and now, for so many reasons, he could not have it at all.

Miri was not his child. She was an orphan of a vigilante, told to run as her parents died. The girl most likely knew that her parents were dead, making her cling to Drake and Layla. She might not be able to give what she knew a voice, but it showed in her actions.

Layla no longer trusted him. She would not love him if he told her the truth, either. She valued strength and, when it came to this, Drake had none. He was well and truly scared. Alone he could have taken this head on, but now there was so much more he had to worry about. His family could not find out about who he truly was, the man he’d been.

Every time he passed through one of the small towns nearby, there were reminders. He saw the effects of the raiding dragons all around him and the truth sat like a heavy weight in his chest. No one around him knew. They couldn’t.

Miri pulled Layla to her feet and dragged the older dragon over to Drake’s side, breaking him from the torment of thoughts happening inside his head. He looked between them, confusion knitting his brows together.

“Why is he unhappy?” Miri asked Layla.

Layla snorted. “Because he’s an idiot.”

Miri c****d her head to the side, looking between them. Her dark eyes settled on Drake and he couldn’t help but wonder if there was a Quetzalcoatl inside her waiting to be released. Her heritage looked to be about right. Drake didn’t want to tell Marc and Luc that there had been more like them, that the others had been raiders, too afraid or too proud to come to him for help. He didn’t want to tell them he hadn’t found the others in time or asked them to come into the Territory.

“He looks scared,” Miri noticed.

Layla turned her gaze back to Drake, truly looking at him this time. After a long while, she saw the truth and he could no longer hide it from her. He turned away, unable to accept whatever might roll through her eyes. She would no longer respect him. His chances with his mate might be shot.

It was just another pain he could barely keep from his face. Another thing he couldn’t hide from her.

After a while, Layla urged Miri to get up and together they searched the house for paper and crayons. He wasn’t surprised, considering the nature of his neighbors, that there were in fact crayons to find in his home. His mate and the girl sat down at the coffee table and began to draw, as if that would slowly bring what Miri had been through, what she was to the surface.

His heart swelled. He would protect them both, no matter what each of them thought of him. Drake would gladly lay down his life for his mate and the child the universe thrust into their arms.

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