Eternal (Dragon Wars, #2) (2 page)

What the hell business does a woman have speaking to us
?

If she had any doubts, the fact not one of them sat spoke volumes. They would all treat her like the dainty little flowers they remembered from when they used to have homes. The whole group of them would be surprised to see what the women they’d left behind had become. Packless, they’d fended for themselves.

“Gentlemen, if you would please be seated. I’m really not comfortable with all of you standing.”

No one moved. She looked at the commander and he didn’t help. He couldn’t deny her expertise, not when he needed her. Hearing her out in the first place suggested an unexpected open-mindedness on his part.

Perhaps expecting them to sit was too much to ask.

“Okay, my name is Caitlyn Knox.” She smiled. No one responded. “And I’m here to discuss with you information we’ve recently uncovered—the second front of this war which we’ve been fighting at home.”

“Excuse me, ma’am.”

And there went the ma’ams. She was thirty-six. They’d assume she was a mated woman. Years ago, the presumption would have likely been correct. However, with such a large portion of the population—all the males over eighteen who could still fight—not home to mate, the females left behind weren’t necessarily mating, which suited her fine.

She looked at the man who spoke and, for a second, she forgot to breathe. There he was. Sweat broke out on the back of her neck. Dougal Owens, the boy next door. Well, the man. She hadn’t seen him in sixteen years. Not since he’d ran to war without looking once in her direction.

His disinterest hadn’t surprised her. In their pack, boys and girls were separated from each other until their eighteenth birthdays. If they did meet, it was always in the presence of family. Men older than eighteen were discouraged from making eye contact with younger females, even then.

That hadn’t stopped her from knowing, as apparently her sister had with his brother, if ever she were to mate it would be with Dougal Owens. Yet, he stood before her in this hellish camp on the edge of the world, staring at her without discernible reaction. She gritted her teeth. He was not hearing mating bells in his head as she did whenever she looked at him. Sixteen years passed, yet nothing changed.

Caitlyn would always be the unmatable Knox sister. Oh well. Time to pull it together, the war wouldn’t win itself.

“Yes?” She cleared her throat. “Did you have a question, Dougal?”

He nodded. “You’re one of the Knox girls who grew up across the street from me.” He paused. “I assume you know who I am, since you knew my name?”

“Right.” Did her voice really squeak? His was so low and gravely. “Yes, I’m a Knox girl. These days, we’re family too.”

Fifteen heads turned toward him, waiting for an explanation. She guessed he hadn’t shared the news. Instead of agreeing, he raised a dark eyebrow. “How do you mean?”

She opened and closed her mouth. They were supposed to be talking about dragon eggs and drug abuse not discovering family connections publicly.

Finally, she found her voice. “Your brother mated my sister earlier this year. Almost a year ago, actually.”

Some of his stiffness melted away. “For real?”

“Yes. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize you hadn’t heard.”

“I’ve not been in touch for a long time.” He shook his head. “As I know a lot of the people here can understand.”

“Right. Okay.” She waved her hand in the air. “Let’s move on. I’m sure everyone else would rather not hear about the mating of two Werewolves they don’t know.”

“By contrast,” the blond male standing next to Dougal finally spoke, “I actually know his brother. I’m sure you don’t remember me. I’m not as exciting as Dougal here, but I lived nearby, too. It’s great to hear two members of my pack are mated. Why else are we all doing this if not to save the world for the homeland?”

Excited affirmations followed his short speech. She’d lost control of the room. Any minute, she was going to have to start describing her sister’s dress.

“Let’s talk about dragon eggs.” The room fell silent at her words.

Her experience with soldiers told her they detested anything to do with the egg nests. The necessity of eliminating them warred with the Werewolf’s natural love of children. They hated destroying them and detested their existence at the same time.

“What about them?” Dougal spoke again. Every time he did, it seemed to suck all the oxygen from the room. Her wolf stirred, and she hated to disappoint the poor girl. They weren’t going to get to know this male the way they both wanted. If he’d been moved by her presence, he wouldn’t be standing so nonchalantly on the other side of the room.

Male Werewolves had a horrible time resisting their mates. Male disinterest had been the story of her life.

“It seems the Dragons have, for some time, used their eggs to destroy our population from the inside out. I’m sure you’re all familiar with what happens when you destroy the eggs, yes?” She had their attention. If only she could keep hers where it needed to stay.

The blond man, her former pack although she couldn’t recall his name, spoke again. “They scream.”

It took her a second to register what he’d said. “You’re referring to the noise when you break the egg?”

“What were you referring to?” Dougal interrupted. “How do you have this information anyway?”

“I know what the eggs do because I am part of a lab who has been, for some time, trying to figure out where the sudden influx of a drug called GSX122 or, as it is called on the street, Dragon’s Doom came from. As I’m sure you all know, a large portion of our population, including a huge number of veterans, are completely addicted to the stuff.”

“It’s a shame.” The commander shook his head. “What’s more of a shame, gentleman, is what it turns out the dragons have been doing.”

She interrupted, “When I asked you before about the eggs, you mentioned the screaming. I’m sorry for the confusion. I meant their shells. The shell dissolves immediately into the ground. It liquefies. It seems the dragons have been addicting us to their liquid.” She took a deep breath. The next part was where she usually lost her audience. “It’s all very technical, and I know the science is not what you do. We need you to fight this second war, here on the front lines because we’re losing it at home. The only way to save them is to change how you destroy the eggs.”

“Are you telling us that every time we smash an egg by going through hell into the nests and the fields and we...do what we do, it’s actually helping the dragons to attack the people we’ve left behind?” She hated the touch of sorrow in Dougal’s voice.

“The way you’ve been managing the egg kills has got to change. Instead of breaking them, you’re going to have to burn them.”

“Sorry.” Another male toward the back of the room shouted out, “Sweetheart, it’d be a great idea, and I think it’s adorable you and the other females at home think it’d work, but I’m afraid eggs don’t burn. We’ve all given lighting them to smithereens a real good go, trust me. We’d rather not have to rush in and smash things. It’s not pleasant and, like Brett said earlier, they scream. Be good, baby girl. Go home.”

Several of the males laughed, and she steeled herself. The rejection and dismissal were very familiar. What she didn’t expect was the way Dougal growled at the ass shouting to her.

“A member of my pack is talking, Andrews. You’re going to give her the respect of listening or I’m going to arrange for you never to speak again.”

“Ah.” She put her hands out in front of her. “Look, I get your reluctance. I know, the eggs don’t burn. Yet. Once I’m on site, I can figure out how to make it happen. I need real eggs to test. It’ll eliminate a whole bunch of problems all at once. Burning the eggs stops them getting the liquid to put in the drug. It eliminates more of them at once. Fewer eggs hatch, fewer Dragon soldiers come after you. So unfair they hatch fully grown, isn’t it?” she rambled.
Get to the point Caitlyn, quickly
. “And who knows? Maybe the chemical burning the eggs will scorch the living dragons too. We plan to experiment on all fronts.”

“What do you need us for then?” The same douche, Andrews, yelled from the back. “Seems you have all the answers, sweetheart. Go home to your mate. Ramble on to him, unless you don’t have one.” He pointed to her face. “Or did the mess on your cheek happen recently?”

She touched the burn scars, although she didn’t need a reminder. “I wish this had happened in service to the cause. Unfortunately, it seems my preoccupation with fire started young. The point is gentleman, I need you to take me to the field, the big one on Dragon Island.” She let her gaze stray out the window to the small island miles off of shore. “We’ve almost got it. I need to see how they’re laid. Then this can all come to an end.”

“Caitlyn.” Dougal drew her attention back to him. “If you think any of us are going to take you to what is arguably the most dangerous place on the planet, you’re hugely mistaken.”

“You will.” She held his gaze, fully in control of herself. “Because your commander here is about to order you to do it.”

D
ougal poked the fire with a stick. He should be eating, sleeping...something instead of aimlessly nudging a rock around at the bottom of a flame pit.

“Should I be insulted because she didn’t remember me?” Brett sat next to him.

Dougal snorted. Caitlyn’s lack of recollection struck Brett right in the ego. “I’m sure her three older sisters remember you well. Jane Knox knew you quite personally, actually.”

“Yeah.” Brett laughed, spreading out his legs. “She did. Those were fun times.”

“If you say so. Manwhore.”

Brett punched him in the shoulder before snickering again.

“Don’t act like you didn’t love your reputation.”

“I did. I did.” His friend nodded. “While you lived like you wanted to go off into moon service. No women, not ever.”

“It wasn’t that bad.”

His parents had a really amazing mating. Dougal had always admired the purity of their love, the truth they saw in each other. He hadn’t wanted his future mate to run into a female he slept with every time she went to the grocery store. He’d decided to be more selective.

Damn, it had been a long time since he’d thought about women, families, mating—any of it. Sixteen years earlier, life mattered without dragons, death, and doom.

“I think I need to shift.” He shook his leg. “I’m out of sorts.”

“You smell tense.” Brett shrugged. “We all are. Bringing a woman into dragon territory. They held your brother there for five years.”

“I’m acutely aware.” Dougal jumped to his feet. “Maybe another dragon will come tonight. A big one.”

“You’re hoping for one? By the gods, you are in a bad way. Do you want to, you know, talk or something?”

“No. We’re not women. We don’t talk feelings.” He paced around the fire. “And, fuck, if I shift it’s not like I have anywhere to go. There are no woods left to run in around here. The beach is mud. The flying beasts destroyed all of it.”

Brett shook his head but didn’t look at him. He stared out at the ocean.

“There was a time when my family used to take vacations to the coastline. We loved the trips. I found the sound of the ocean calming. These days, if I notice it at all, it irks the shit out of me. I’d like quiet again. Bees buzzing. Someone coughing in the distance. Children’s laughter.”

Dougal sat. Reminiscing about the old days wasn’t like them. They didn’t sit around at night and remember what wasn’t anymore. Werewolves planned, they plotted. They executed battles to save the pack. Not that there were such things anymore. He’d momentarily forgotten. When Andrews had been condescending Caitlyn, he’d called her pack.

“What are Werewolves without pack?”

“Fuck if I know.” Brett threw a stick in the fire. “Do you remember when Caitlyn was almost burned to death? It was a big deal. An injured pup got everyone worked to a frenzy.”

That night...
Dougal remembered the noise. The sirens. Some things left over from the humans were still useful. Ambulances had been one of them. He hadn’t gone outside to see the fuss. His mother had wanted the boys to be respectful. Boys weren’t to gawk at underage females.

He remembered he couldn’t settle, couldn’t sleep. Much like his current situation.

“There are females running labs.”

Dougal stared at Brett. “Of all the things she said today, women in the work place bothers you? My mom worked sometimes when I was young. My father would sometimes be between ventures. She’d go to work at the school.”

“Teaching, fine. Nursing, ok. Scientists? What the hell?” His friend wasn’t so easily mollified.

He snickered. “In all the years I’ve known you, Brett, I don’t think I’ve ever realized you were such a chauvinist.”

“I’m an Alpha Werewolf. We’re a male dominated world. Look at the dragons. This war happened because they have a woman running things. The sick dragons.”

“Um, Brett. They’re winning, brother.” And if the fire thing Caitlyn wanted to try worked, then it would be her female run lab turning the tide of the war. Things changed. They had to. Nothing could be counted on in life except time pressing forward. Maybe all the Werewolf soldiers would find there was nowhere left for them when they got back.

“So you didn’t know Devon got mated.” Brett didn’t seem interested in keeping his head on his neck.

“I don’t talk to the home front. I don’t call. I don’t write. I don’t want to. Neither do you.” And it wasn’t because he didn’t care. He could do nothing for them. What would he tell them about his life?

He smelled her before he saw her. Caitlyn approached them slowly, as if she expected them to tell her to go away. She carried home on her, and he wondered if she had any idea how appealing he found her scent. Lilacs. Roses. Sugar. Gods, he wasn’t going to survive the melancholy on its way.

“Okay if I join you?”

Brett stood. “Ma’am.”

“It’s miss, obviously. I’m not mated.”

His friend nodded. “Alright, miss, then. I think the reason the commander put you in his tent was for your own protection. It’s been a very long time since any of us have seen a female. I’m sure of my own good behavior and Dougal’s. Beyond us, I worry for your honor.”