AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chapter 1
Mazie
The moon was a big old cheese pizza in the sky, and a light breeze played with my long auburn hair I’d freed from the sedate bun I’d scrunched it up in while at work.
Gravel on the edge of the road crunched beneath my sneakers as I strode along the country road in northwestern Maine. I’d just returned home from a twelve-hour shift at the hospital where I worked as a nurse, and I was too wound up to sleep. Since my son always stayed overnight at Mom’s when I worked, that meant tonight was mine. A walk would settle me nicely, and I could sleep in tomorrow morning.
“Are you sure you and Kuunik shouldn’t be in bed?” I asked my friend, Zara, on the phone. She and her new husband, Kuunik, were in Barcelona for their honeymoon. Kuunik was a dragon shifter. A real, flying, fire-breathing dragon, though I had to take their word on the last bit since he’d refused—nicely—to give me a demonstration of his fire.
“It’s, like, five a.m. there, isn’t it?” I asked Zara.
“Something like that,” she said with a laugh. “My awake-sleep cycle is wonky, so I decided to call you. I knew you were just getting out of work after a long shift, and you’re always available to chat.”
Because I didn’t do anything but sleep, keep my house tidy, and care for my four-year-old son, I always had time to talk.
“You’re right,” I said. “I have no life.”
“Sure you do! But I also know you love to take a walk after work, and you know I love to gossip with you.”
“That you do.”
“My life is boring,” I said. “Though I’ll only admit that to you and the cheese pizza moon overhead.” I was lonely, especially after seeing how happy she and her new husband, Kuunik, were together. “Maybe I should go out on a date or two.”
“Or three.” Her laugh went from friendly to silky.
“Kuunik’s awake, isn’t he?” I asked softly, though I wasn’t worried about him hearing. He was a great guy, and a solid friend already.
“Yes,” she sighed. I pictured him kissing the nape of her neck. Stroking her back.
“Go.” The last thing she wanted to do on her honeymoon was hang out with me. “Have fun.”
“I will.” Her voice went muffled for a moment; she must’ve put her hand over the phone. “As for dating, I think that’s a wonderful idea. Do it.”
“Maybe.”
Just because I was burned five years ago, didn’t mean the next guy would do the same thing. This time, I wouldn’t fall into bed with him within hours of meeting him. And I’d make sure I took the pill when I finally did.
My son would love to have a father in his life. I was enough, no one would ever tell me I wasn’t, but sometimes, it might be nice to share my son with someone who was kind, sweet, and who loved us both.
“Have a wonderful day. A wonderful honeymoon,” I said. “Don’t worry about me.”
“Love you, Mazie,” she said. “Take care.”
“You too!” My cheer came out a tad false, but oh well. I wasn’t exactly jealous. Kuunik was made for Zara, not me.
But every now and then, it would be nice to snuggle against a broad chest. To kiss someone. To have a happy face to come home to after a tiring shift at the hospital. He could take a walk with me to work the kinks out of my body or sweep me off my feet and carry me to our bedroom where he’d make me forget about everything but him.
I crested a hill and started down the other side. Soon, I’d have to head back to the small house I’d bought with my own hard-earned money on the edge of Trickster Falls, Maine. I grew up in this town that was so tiny, we barely had our own zip code.
“Maybe I need to find my own dragon mate,” I said with a low laugh. “Sadly, Kuunik’s the last of his kind.”
Still. Trickster Falls was . . . tricky. I swore there were other shifters living in town. While I’d always known there was something odd about this place, I’d never suspected we harbored shifters. But when two guys attacked Kuunik’s castle, determined to “kill the dragon,” all our friends, family, and even a bunch of shifters had shown up to protect him. The bad guys were in jail and things had settled down in town after that.
Except now that I knew shifters existed, I couldn’t stop thinking about them.
I should put up a post at the grocery store.
Shifter wanted, be it badger, mouse, or wolf.
