Dragon Star (A Shifter Football League Novel) (15 page)

T
hey woke to a ring
. A loud, obnoxious ring. Nico rolled over, picked up the corded phone, and said, “Hello?” or what should suffice for a hello in his groggy state.

What time
was
it? It felt like he hadn’t slept long.

“Sir, there’s a situation. You need to come down-”

Followed by a crashing and a cry for help. The other end became a garbled mess of a roar.

Nico shook Cass at once. “Get up.”

“Ugh?”

This was going to be futile. He’d be shaking her for hours at this rate.

“Come on,” he growled, and he picked her up, thrusting her into his arms.

“Wee.” She was still half asleep.

“This isn’t supposed to be
fun.
”

No reply.

This wasn’t good.

Nico hurried with her to the sink. Turning the faucets on, he splashed cold water in her face. Not enough.

Cass was a heavy sleeper, but this was mostly because he Turned her. Her body, her brain, were overloaded.

They needed to hurry. The shower did the trick.

“Hey,” she screamed. By the time she opened her eyes, he already threw her panties into her arms.

“Get dressed. Quick.”

As she got dressed sloppily, Nico could begin to hear the chaos below them. His senses honed in on them, like a hundred angry chants that reminded him of being on the field.

He snapped out of it and Cass was at the door, opening it for him. He took her hand and keeping himself at the front, led their way through the corridor to the elevator, thought twice about that, and instead took the stairs down.

By the end, Cass was fully awake and aware that chaos awaited them as soon as they opened the stairwell door.

A crowd, or what could only be called an angry mob, were storming the concierge’s desk. They were only held up for a moment.

It was time to sneak out. Nico gripped her hand stronger, told her it would be okay, and then they pushed open the door and tried to sneak around them.

They didn’t seem violent. Then he saw the glass entrance smashed.

The crowd turned their attention away from the concierge, who had tossed himself against the wall. “There, he’s there!” he shouted, finger pointed right at Nico.

“Come on.” He pulled Cass toward the crowd.

“Nico, wait, go back.” He yanked her forward, still keeping him at the front.

Their ugly faces were upon them, upturned noses and snarls, insults hurled their way within the second of eye contact.

“You piece of shit.”

“Where were you?”

“Too busy to play the game?”

“Too important?”

“Whore!”

“It’s all her fault.”

It was mostly the women who started in on Cass. The men started in on her too. It all seemed to be dropped upon them too quickly for Nico to realize they had turned on him again, like he always thought they would. He realized it, though, within a second.

His dragon couldn’t be silenced.

“You lost us the Championship,” the one at the front, a big bruiser with a bald head screamed. He had Nico’s jersey in his hands with a big spray painted X over it.

They started to throw things–harmless really, since there wasn’t enough space to throw at full force–things like bottles of water, paper, and ripped up jerseys. Nico shielded his eyes, still keeping Cass right behind him while hoping she’d use him as a shield.

They hated him again. Turned on him again. This was different though.

This was off the field, and this was against Cass too.

Now they were coming after her?

His dragon was breathing fire inside of him. Once he heard another insult directed at Cass, he couldn’t control it. He just snapped.

“Back.” Nico pressed Cass against the wall. When she tried to jump, he pressed her against it.

Nico charged into the crowd.

The screaming around him all stopped once he let his dragon free.

Shifting into a monstrous dragon in the lobby of a hotel might’ve not been the smartest idea. As soon as he shifted, there was a pain in his back. He could hear now, the rumbling, screaming all around him, the crashing, the scattering of footsteps.

He’d been so big he took off some of the roof, mainly the front of the building. His head was sticking out the new hole in the entrance, and his tail had probably ripped through another wall behind him.

Cass, he could sense, was still fine.

The others, however, were running for their lives before him. Some fell, some were crawling, others were remaining still, looking up at him in shock.

They hated him? Fine, let them hate him.

But they would never harm his mate.

Nico shot fire into the air.

Most scattered. A few before him tried to hide under the debris.

He made sure not to step on them as he walked out into the parking lot, because he wasn’t that cruel. He wasn’t a murderer.

“You monster!” someone screamed at him, farther off.

It was the same bald man as before.

Standing next to his car, he hurled a rock at him, which merely bounced off his thick scales like a fly.

The man rushed inside of his car to get away.

Fine, I’m a monster. I’ll show you a monster.

His car was halfway to driving off when Nico sprang from where he was. Nico’s shadow spreading over the parking lot had him hitting the gas.

Nico was too quick. His claws pierced through the roof, and he wanted to pick the car up and toss it as far as he could.

Except he sensed that Cass was farther away, like someone tugging his tail.

Something was wrong…very wrong.

His claws detached from the roof.  

To the right, there was Cass, pleading with him at the edge of the parking lot. She was almost in the bushes that lined the hotel. Like
she
was afraid of him too.

They’ll all stab you in the back.

I bet she took your treasure. I bet they came here because of her!

He told his dragon to shut it.

When Cass noticed that he was looking at her, she fled, rushing past the bushes into the other parking lot and toward the highway.

She thought she was long ahead of him. And she was, for a moment, then he swooped down, transforming as he reached the ground, catching her in his arms.

“Look what we’ve done. Look what
I’ve
done.” A quick turn and he saw the destruction that lay behind him. The outside of the building crumbled in on itself, and there were people cowering near their cars, alarms still blaring.

It was a mess. It looked like one of those old paintings on his wall, what dragons used to do, except with much more fire.

What had gotten into him?

Looking into her teary eyes, he wanted to apologize.

But he couldn’t. His dragon was too prideful.

“Those people were after me,” he added, “after us.” He was sure he was right.

“This was wrong. I was wrong. I’m just not strong enough for this. Look what you turn into around me. And look how I handle it. I’ve only caused…” Her eyes were huge with terror at the sight behind him.

Nico knew it looked bad.

“But you can’t leave…”

He was about to tell her that he’d Turned her. That’s when she ran away from him.

“This is for the best, for both of us,” she told him before she ran.

He allowed her to run. If he came after her, it wouldn’t sit right with him.

Perhaps he was the monster everyone believed him to be. Even his one true mate.

He transformed again and went searching for some peace in the skies.

* * *

N
ico soared
, not particularly going anywhere. He didn’t know what to do. Surely, there would be disciplinary actions against what he’d done. Perhaps criminal charges too.

What bothered him more was what he’d done to Cass. This was where he belonged, though, like she said. Away from everyone else.

He’d always hurt her. Do her wrong. While they got closer, it always seemed one step forward, two steps back.

The skies were clear, and he was about as high as he could go before he would begin to run out of breath. He let his wings glide upon the drafts like drifting in a sea usually, now his breathing was sluggish. It was a struggle.

Because Nico was punishing himself, trying to get as far away as possible.

He had been pulled between being part of the human world, the shifter world, and the dragon world.

Like his ancestors before him, he now knew where he belonged.

Nico took a small dive. The wind raced up to meet him, the adrenaline coursing through his veins, giving him a euphoria that he would otherwise shrug off. He broke through the clouds.

He’d been surprised how far he’d gone. He expected to still be over city. Perhaps his mind had taken him astray.

Enough pity, his dragon roared, you are one of the last of your kind, and what of your treasure? Will you get that back?

Dismissing those thoughts for now, he looked upon all that was below–a desert landscape, adobe stretching like a red sea below him with waves of rock that were manipulated by Mother Nature over time, guided by her gentle hand. The desert called him.

Here, he could think.

His dragon had been furious over the loss of his treasure, the assaults against him and his mate. Now, it was calm.

There was a peak like a lighthouse in the middle of sun-burnt rock. Nico spiraled down, landing gracefully on top of it.

He spread his wings, lifted his head, and basked in the sun.

Now
he could truly think.

His scales were a dark navy from the amount of stress he’d been in. They slowly faded to an arctic shade of white. Even though he was technically a silver dragon, he still didn’t mind the warm weather, although the cold was more suitable. And no, they weren’t cold blooded as some humans thought, otherwise they’d fall asleep on the couch and not get anything done.

Thoughts drifted past him.

He was wrong.

It kept coming back to him…he was wrong.

Away from all the chaos, his dragon agreed. Now, they were together on this, bonded as once, peacefully. Why? All because of Cass. Finding his fated mate brought the two halves of himself together.

Both he and his dragon despaired.

How could he get her back?

She’d already given herself over to him. It was only a matter of time before she realized. Turning into a dragon without guidance was rare. If a person didn’t fully understand it, they might never Turn. They might just go through life confused and frustrated.

Nico would do anything. He’d give up the game. Give up his treasure. Whatever it took, he just needed to get Cass back. As one mind, he set sail for the skies.

A plan began to form in that relaxed brain of his. As soon as he began to think of what Cass would want, his mind went wild…this could be fun.

He enjoyed seeing his mate happy, and once he was through, he planned on her being happier than she ever imagined.

And this gave his dragon pause—they couldn’t hide anymore. They would need to be open about this…and even…

Yes! That was it.

Nico would give her a human marriage ceremony for all the world to see. He’d proclaim his love to her. They might not understand, but they
would
have to accept it.

Her family which she cared about so much would be invited. They’d be notified right away.

Taking off, he began to head toward Idaho. Once he was high enough, Nico dove, increasing to break-neck speed, then he leveled off before he really started to plummet. He made sure to visit one of the various shifter shelters that were in the area. They were often designated with a big S on their rooftop for flying shifters. The only reason he needed one was for a pair of pants and a shirt.

If only humans went nude, then his life would be so much better.

So much less complicated too.

He took off running for where she told him her parents lived. It was only two miles away. Her scent still lingered there.

Sweat poured down his brow more from ringing the doorbell than it did from his run.

Would they accept him? He got the nervous jitters while he waited.

“Oh my…”

Someone who could only be Cass’ mother opened the door.

“Rich, get to the door!” she screamed, her mouth agape.

His little hello barely made a dent in the commotion. Soon, the whole family stopped at the door. If he didn’t feel like a different species before, he did now.

Cass’ father, Rich, started shaking his hand aggressively.

“Where were you? Where was Cass? You weren’t at the game.”

“Is everything all right?” They all stopped.

“Yes, everything is fine.”

That prompted them going back to shouting and celebrating with her mother in the background running around the kitchen, opening up the refrigerator and cabinets for dinner.

“Please, I only came to talk.”

“Nonsense,” her mother said, dragging him inside. “You have to eat.”

It didn’t sound like he could refuse. Not even turning into his dragon would scare her away from cooking up a grand meal.

Nico took his seat with her two younger siblings across from him. They were staring at him in awe. He didn’t mind.