Reawakening the Dragon: Part One Read online

  Contents

  Title

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Dear Reader

  The Stonefire Dragons

  Other Works

  About the Author

  Copyright

  Reawakening the Dragon: Part One

  Jessie Donovan

  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.