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CHAPTERELEVEN
“What can you tell us about the scientist?”
Amira sat on Zev and Karma’s front porch in a wooden glider, moving back and forth slowly as she rocked it with her feet. She and Rylan had spent the day with Rylan’s parents and the children. They ate pancakes for breakfast, grilled hamburgers for lunch, and steak for dinner. They played board games and cards with the kids, took them to the small park the pride had with swing sets, slides, and teetertotters, and got to know each other. Now Walker and Willow were with their grandparents at their house while Amira and Rylan met with the alpha at his request.
“Not much,” Rylan said from beside her. “Her name is Vanessa Lake. She’s a doctor, at least that’s what one of the men called her. I think she was in charge, but I honestly don’t know for sure. Although, she sure as hell acted like it.”
“How?” Amira asked, tilting her head to the side as she stared at her mate.
His baby-blue eyes were hard, a muscle ticking in his jaw as he growled, “She ordered everyone there around. They all answered to her. She said jump, they said how high. Even Gunther, although he didn’t seem like he wanted to.”
“Gunther?”
“The dragon you went up against and injured.”
“Oh, she didn’t just injure him,” Karma cut in. “First your woman kicked his ass in the air, and then again on the ground. Severed his head from his shoulders. That is one dragon we will never have to worry about anymore.”
Rylan looked over at Amira, a slow grin kicking up the corners of his mouth. “Yeah, my mate is pretty impressive, isn’t she?”
“Impressive is an understatement,” Evalena said. “She’s a freaking badass. You should have seen the way she took on that dragon here. All the while annihilating over twenty of the men he brought with him, and then saving Zev’s ass too.”
“I did see it,” Rylan replied, reaching over and capturing Amira’s hand in his, raising it to kiss her knuckles softly.
“You did?” Amira breathed. “How?”
“Danica. She did something, and it was like I was watching you in a movie through her eyes. I saw and heard it all.”
“What?” Zev interjected. “What the hell did she do?”
“I have no idea, man. It was the craziest thing. We were talking, with that mind speak thing she has going on, and then Gunther showed up. She said Amira was battling him, and I wanted to see. Somehow, she made it happen. You would have to ask her how.”
“Oh, I will,” Zev growled, his eyes narrowed in concern. “This doesn’t leave this circle, got it? I don’t need anyone else finding out what my little sister can do.”
“He’s right.” Amira glanced around at the people who were there for the meeting. Zev and Karma, Evalena and Kace, Alayla and Callen, and herself and Rylan. “Working for Colton, I’ve seen things, things I don’t want anyone else to see. There is so much hatred for our kind. Fanatics who want to remove all shifters from the world. And then there are the people who want to study us. Do numerous experiments to see how we work. Tear us apart and try to put us back together. It’s horrible. If someone were to find out about Danica’s abilities, she would definitely be put on a list. One to study, or one to exterminate.”
“We’ve seen it too,” Alayla said, her hand going to rest over her stomach. Amira remembered Colton telling her that Alayla was three months pregnant with her first child. She wondered if the woman was terrified to bring a baby into this world. She knew she would be.
But maybe it was worth it. To hold a piece of both you and your mate in your arms.
Amira looked over at Rylan, wondering what it would be like to be pregnant with his baby. They already had two children to raise, but someday, maybe there would be more. Little cubs with her eyes and Rylan’s dark blond hair. She found she quite liked the thought.
“So have we,” Evalena said quietly. “Too many times to count.”
“Queen Bitch, that’s what I call her, was definitely into the experimentation side of things,” Rylan told them. “I don’t fully know what her game plan was, all I know is she was taking blood samples from both Ella and the black leopard. I don’t know what else she did. You would have to ask Ella. But she talked about me being a part of her experiments, whatever that meant. Thank fuck I didn’t stick around to find out.”
Amira felt her lips pulling back from her fangs, a deep growl of anger reverberating through her. That bitch wanted to experiment on her mate? When she found her, she’d show her what a real experiment was.
“Did she take your blood?” Zev asked.
“Not that I know of. There is some time I can’t account for after she shot me with the tranq gun, so she could have then, but I don’t think so.”
“Anything else you can remember?”
“Well, she’s going to be down for a little bit, and sporting a pretty nasty scar on her face when we see her again,” Rylan replied, with a shit-eating grin.
“Good,” Amira snapped. “Bitch deserved it, and it will be easier to spot her.”
“I will give this information to Skylar,” Karma told them. “See what he can come up with.”
“Skylar?”
“He’s Colton’s tech guy,” Amira told her mate. “Great with electronics, and with the cock jokes.” When Rylan raised an eyebrow, she just grinned. “He’s a rooster, and has some of the best cock jokes ever. He’s always making me laugh.”
“Sounds good.” Zev rose, holding out a hand to his mate. “Karma can give him a quick call before we go to bed. Let’s all get some rest. It’s been a long past few days, and they aren’t over yet.”
Amira stood, Rylan right beside her, his hand taking hold of hers and twining their fingers together as like he did it all the time. He pulled her against his side as if she belonged there, which she did.
After saying their goodbyes, they headed through the trees following a trail that led directly to Rylan’s house.
“How did you come to work for Colton?” Rylan asked, swinging their joined hands gently back and forth as they walked.
A small smiled appeared as Amira remembered her first meeting with her boss. “As crazy as it sounds, we literally ran smack into each other one day. I was late for my shift at this hole in the wall diner that paid me cash under the table. I’d learned never to stay in one place too long.”
“Why?”
“A female dragon on her own, it isn’t safe. There are male dragons out there who would do anything to acquire one of us.”
“I don’t understand,” Rylan said, looking down at her in confusion.
“Karma’s never told you?”
He slowly shook his head, his brow furrowing. “I don’t think so.”
Amira took a deep breath, raising her eyes to the full moon above, before bringing her gaze back to the trail in front of them. “Well, the thing is, a male dragon can only have dragon babies with a female dragon. So, if they want their offspring to be a dragon, which the majority of the males do, they have to mate with a dragoness.”
“So, you and I can’t have children?” Rylan asked in confusion.
“No, we can.” She shrugged, giving him a shy smile. “And they could be dragons or cubs, but it is more likely they will be cubs. A female dragon can have dragon babies no matter what, it’s just more likely with a male dragon.”
“Does that bother you? That we will probably have cubs?”
Amira’s smile widened, and she shook her head. “Not at all. Any children I have with my mate will be a blessing, just as the two we have already been given are. I don’t care what animal they have inside them, or even if they have one at all. I will love them all just the same.” She gave a short laugh. “Which seems funny to say, since just a few days ago I didn’t think I would have children at all.”
“Why’s that? Did you not want any?”
Amira’s grip on his hand tightened, and she bit her lip before saying, “I’ve never really been around kids. I like them, but I was afraid with my job as a Rogue Enforcer…” she paused, unsure how to go on.
“Did you think it would be too dangerous for them?” Rylan asked quietly.
Amira stopped on the path and turned to Rylan, resting a hand on his arm. “I guess that I just didn’t think I would be decent enough for them. I mean, I like to think I’m a good person, but I can cuss like a sailor, I don’t have a place to call home, and I kill, Rylan. I have so much blood on my hands, sometimes I feel like it will never wash off.”
