Dragon Scrolls ~ Finding the Shifter Book 1

The Prophecy

Somewhere on the other side of the world from Esther, the prince sighed in frustration as he read the reports from the Southern Kingdom. Years ago, it was under the rule of his father's best friend and his mate, but tragedy struck, leaving the Southern Kingdom to be ruled by a steward. Based on the reports he got from his spies, the steward was corrupt and potentially participating in treason. The problem with coming out with the accusations was the lack of real witnesses and evidence. He was extremely skilled at laying the blame everywhere but on himself. The prince sighed again. He couldn't figure out what to do about this problem, but he knew it couldn't be ignored forever. The Oracle had already started making some predictions and the tell-tale signs of war were brewing in the South. What the end goal was he was sure he could guess. There was a light knock at the door,

"Come in," he said.

As he looked up, a smile adorned his face as he looked at the young girl in front of him. Looks like the Oracle came to pay him a visit. Before he could speak, her eyes went opaque and began to glow. Her voice tripled as the voices of her ancestors read the future with her:

A young hybrid, raised by cruelty, no stranger to pain, waits to be awoken. Her power like no other, a soul times three longs to be set free. A curse begins on the Dragonlands, his mate he must find, or to suffer he will bind. Each soul bound to a protector-Air, Fire, Water, Earth. All subjected to the same fate-to the Imperial Dragon.

She sagged into her seat as the vision ended. After a brief pause, she opened her eyes. Without moving her head, she stared off in to space and said,

"You need to find this woman and her protectors. You need to find your mate. Maybe your mate is the Imperial Dragon. Who knows, but you need to focus on this, or something really bad happens."

With that cryptic message, she gets out of her seat and exits the room. The prince stared after her, dread filling his stomach as he thought about how out of hand things just got. He thinks really hard for a moment and comes to a decision, he mind-links his parents to come to his office. A few minutes later, they knock on the door and he tells them to enter. They look at him expectantly. He looks first at his dad, and then his mom, and says,

"In one years time, at the start of the new century, I would like to host a Centurion Ball and find my mate."

After working out the details with his parents, Prince Adrian got out his maps of the surrounding kingdoms and resumed his search for his mate. He referenced the towns he had already searched, ruefully admitting to himself that enouge time had passed since he was physically searching that he would have to check those same towns again. He cursed himself for letting Alice distract him.

Alice was a low level warrior for many years, he had met her a handful of times in those years. Their conversations were always short, but she had seemed to think they meant something more. When he realized this, he distanced himself from her and pretended like the disappointment she couldn't hide...wasn't there. It was a dangerous sort of denial, but at the same time, he knew that even if he reciprocated, it couldn't ever be-they were too far apart in rank. Content in this knowledge he put Alice in the back of his mind and forgot about her, but she didn't forget him.

A month later, he was shocked to see that she was being promoted to head warrior. Her eyes glimmered with ferocity as she raised her head and stared at him. She puffed out her chest, letting the power of her new position bathe her skin and radiate out around her. He returned her gaze for a second before dismissing her and walking away. Dumbfounded, her eyes narrowed to slits as she hissed her fury. How dare he? she fumed. When the ceremony was over, she went to her room and flung herself on the bed and cried.

After crying for an hour she realized who she was, and remembered what her mother always told her: if you want something, go and take it. She sat herself down at the mirror and put her face back together; she knew what she had to do. With a sly grin, she went into her closet and took out what she needed to work the spell. First she sprayed her neck with the specially made perfume; not only did it smell fantastic, but it was a catalyst for the second part of the spell. She then made the potion that would make Adrian so aroused that it overrides his desire for his mate. She slipped it into a bottle of very nice whiskey, and had the maids present it to the Prince as an anonymous gift for his upcoming mate ball. She knew the second he received the bottle through a slight nudge in her magic. Spraying more of the perfume on, she waited with nervous energy for him to take a drink.

A few minutes later, she felt her panties get wet as he took his first drink from the bottle-it was time. Sticking to the shadows, she crept to his room, her lips curved into a satisfied smile as she heard his heavy breathing. She entered his room and the last thing she remembered coherently thinking was that she was going to have the best night ever. The things he did to her body should be illegal. He made her feel pleasure like she had never known before, the way he attended to her every need was animalistic. He took her in whatever position he felt like at any moment. She gave herself to him fully, eyes rolling into the back of her head when he slammed deep. When he finally finished, she made him finish inside her-she would trap him with a baby she decided.

She did this to him every night before he finally figured out that the bottle was laced. Once he figured out it was laced, he used his aura to find the culprit. When Alice stood up, she saw the shock and rage on his face as he recognized her as the female who had been coming to his room in the night to seduce him and steal his semen. She was severely punished, but still retained her position, and avoided him as much as she could. However, her heart still yearned for him. Her body ached for his domination. He belonged to her...he only needed time to see it.