Treasure Lane Dragons: Complete Series (BBW Paranormal Dragon Shapeshifter Romance) (53 page)

Putting his drink down, Alexander made his way to her. Without a word, he slipped his arms around her waist from behind and pulled her against his wide chest, breathing in her scent. She was dressed in a crème gown that stopped right above her knees, making her look classy and yet incredibly sexy at the same time. And that was how he saw her – the perfect middle ground between Apollo’s wildness and his own reserved nature.

Holding her, he could feel the power surging through him. He’d been right when he’d said that they’d started regaining their power since Jade showed up. Every moment with her saw both Alexander and Apollo becoming more comfortable with the strength and light within them. Now that they were wed, Alexander could only imagine how strong he and Apollo could grow. With Jade by their side, they were both better men and better dragons.

“How are you, my love?” he asked, his breath on her neck.

“Happy,” she said, leaning against him.

“That’s what I like to hear,” he growled, kissing a trail down her neck and loving the way she giggled as he did so.

“I can’t believe we’re here,” she said wistfully.

Alexander had to agree with that. Everything had taken so much time, yet happened so suddenly. Just weeks ago, he’d been in a constant battle with his lecherous, alcohol-guzzling, wild younger brother, and finding a mate had been but a distant hope. And now? He was standing at his own wedding, with his bride in his arms, and his brother joined with him in a dragon triad. How easily things could change…

Not that there hadn’t been troubles along the way. No one had heard a peep from Death Wing. The whole band had all but disappeared, and Alexander had a dark feeling that if they returned, it would not be a happy event.

And the fact that they had been betrayed by their own extended family, by a band mate, had cut deep as well. It was a wound inflicted upon Apollo more so than on Alexander, but it was vicious nonetheless. Michelle had said that Shelly must have been jealous, but neither Apollo nor Alexander felt that it was a good enough excuse to set the life of their mate in danger. In the future, they would have to be more careful with their trust.

“Me neither,” he admitted, brushing the dark thoughts away and focusing on the joyous ones.

“What are we discussing?” Apollo asked, strolling in with his expression lit with that smug happiness he got when he was at a good party, amped up tenfold when he laid his eyes on his bride.

Apollo stole a kiss from Jade, and Alexander smirked. Getting to know the true power of the triad felt good. He too had worried that there would be jealousy, rifts or awkwardness between him and Apollo, but it was the exact opposite. The process of meeting, loving, saving and marrying Jade had brought them closer than all the years they spent growing up together, and now Alexander could say with the utmost certainty that he trusted and respected his brother and he could think of no better dragon to share his life with.

“Life takes odd twists,” Alexander said.

“Can’t argue with that. As long as those twists keep bringing us together, I think we’ll manage.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Jade concluded with a laugh, Apollo grabbing her by the hand and twirling her around.

He dipped her low before pulling her up again, that devilish look in his eyes that said that he was up to no good again.

“A dance, dragon bride?” he teased, wiggling his eyebrows suggestively.

“Go ahead,” Alexander said, leaning against one of the bookcases and casting a look at the roaring party. “The floor isn’t complete without you two.”

“Only if you come with us!” Jade called, grabbing his hand and dragging Alexander on the floor as well.

He tried to look like he wasn’t enjoying it, but who was he kidding. Surrounded by all of his friends, dancing with his bride and his brother, the dragon, who completed the Alpha triad with him? Yeah, he was fucking over the moon with joy!

And I’ll do anything I have to keep this safe.

EPILOGUE

Jade

Jade had been a tiny bit nervous to return to the stage. It had been a while since she’d picked up the guitar for anybody other than her two golden dragons… Well… five golden dragons. She hadn’t exactly been warned, but apparently, sometimes it happened that the firstborn children of twin dragons were not just twins, but triplets. Triple trouble!

Her nervousness disappeared into thin air as she was met by the adoring howls of the Gold Dragons’ fans as soon as she hit the first chords. They were well into their set, and it was the best one Jade had ever played. She’d been off the road for a while because of the pregnancy and the newly found motherhood, but she felt that being a mother, a wife and a bassist all went hand in hand – she just had to want it enough.

If there was one thing she had learned from living with her dragons, it was that if one wanted something enough, and was willing to work for it, anything was possible.

Smiling widely, she looked around at the huge crowd cheering them on, and then at the men by her side. Apollo was belting out hit after hit like never before, his voice smooth and clear as a bell. Alexander seemed to have found another gear somewhere within himself, and his guitar solos were nothing less than godly. The crowd was nearly in tears from how
good
it all was, and so was Jade.

She knew that her babies were safe, Gemma having gladly agreed to babysit for the night so Jade could play a concert in Colorado that they’d been planning for ages. She had her men with her, both casting her loving looks whenever they could sneak them, and her playing was on point. Everything was exactly as it was supposed to be.

Jade could see Michelle standing in the wings, wearing a warm smile as she watched the performance. Despite thinking that Michelle was just about the scariest woman alive when she first met the competent redhead, Jade had come to think of her as a friend – someone to confide in and someone to laugh with. And there was never enough laughter in life, though Jade was learning that with two dragons, there was luckily plenty of it to go around!

I don’t think this could possibly get any better,
she thought to herself.

And then, of course, it did.

Launching into the chorus of
I’ll Be There,
Alexander and Apollo’s voices joined, booming over the huge stadium. Just then, the Gold Dragons’ trademark golden wave spread out, as if flowing out of them and across the fans. It rippled and twined, pushing forth like a vast tide and taking everything under its protective wing.

It passed through her, and she was left gasping from the sheer magnitude of it. It felt like the softest, safest hug, or a dose of pure love burst into her and joining with the energy of everyone present, so much stronger and more intense than it had ever been.

Her face lit up, and she walked across the stage to Alexander and Apollo, standing between them as she played.

“Is this what I think it is?” she asked, beaming.

“All you, green eyes,” Apollo said, covering the microphone.

Alexander nodded, grinning, and Jade bit her lower lip slightly. With their family already grown, she hadn’t had any reason to doubt that she’d given her men, her dragons, as much as they’d given her. But so far she’d only heard tales of how their shows were out of this world, and the difference was staggering now that she was part of one again. Everything was bigger, better, happier.

In her heart of hearts, Jade knew that life, or ancient dragon forces, or fate, or whatever it was had brought them together for a reason. And that reason was to bring more light into a world that was falling quickly into darkness. Finally, she’d been given a chance to give back in the exact way she’d always hoped, and not only that, but she was doing it with two men by her side who she loved more than life itself, and who loved her back just as intensely.

Jade Goldplains hadn’t dared ask much from life, but now that she had been offered it, she knew she could never let it go. No matter what she did in the future, she knew she would have one goal – to make things
better
. And she would never have to feel lost or alone again.

L
IGHT
H
IS
F
IRE

S
HIFTER
G
ROVE
B
RIDES

B
OOK 3

BY

A
NYA
N
OWLAN
 

CHAPTER ONE

Ares

“Holy shit. Is that what I think it is?” Deacon asked, cocking his head to the side and arching a brow in surprise.

“What else could it be?” Warren noted with an incredulous tone, though it was obvious the man wasn’t entirely his usual calm and collected self.

“I thought they didn’t make ‘em so big anymore. Global warming and what not. But this one… Man. Um… Shit. What are we going to do with it?” Deacon asked, throwing glances at the rest of the dumbfounded crowd.

“Probably ask it if it wants a more comfortable place to sleep,” Diesel offered blandly, his arms crossed over his chest.

Deacon, Warren, Rush and Diesel had been on their way to do some chores at Deacon’s ranch but were now standing at the edge of a clearing with their trucks parked right behind them, looking at what appeared to be a sleeping golden dragon. What they didn’t quite grasp yet was that they were not the only ones doing the watching and the judging.

“Everyone’s a comedian,” Rush said dryly, flicking his head back.

“Oh, sure thing, Mister Billionaire. I’m sorry if we don’t mingle with a bunch of dragons on a daily basis. I just didn’t think they were quite so…”

“Imposing?” Warren offered.

“Large?” Rush commented.

“Lazy?” Diesel shot in, presenting a surprising amount of humor for the usually reserved werepanther.

“In the way,” Deacon finished, eyeing the gigantic golden dragon that was sleeping on the only road leading to his ranch like it was some particularly unruly dog, making a mess and getting in everybody’s way.

I can hear you, you know,
Ares interjected, making every single shifter that had been eyeing him jump back a little.

It wasn’t fear so much as simple self-preservation – a fly does not go and try to fight a freight truck, and the analogy was as apt as it was correct in this case. There was a dragon in the way and not a single shifter present, even all combined, could make him move unless he wanted to, and Ares wasn’t sure if he did.

“Well, would you mind getting up then? I’ve got horses to feed,” Deacon shouted. “And get out of my head.”

Apologies,
Ares added, yawning toothily.

He couldn’t hide the note of sarcasm in his tone, even if it was transmitted right into the heads of Warren, Deacon, Rush and Diesel.

Ares hauled himself up, stretching with mild satisfaction as the sunlight glistened off his wide, yellow scales, and the small crowd of Shifter Grove natives stepped back another few feet. Ares couldn’t blame them. He was rather… large. And it wasn’t all that common to have to deal with the rarest and biggest of shifters these days – dragons. At least none of them looked outright hostile. If anything, they seemed to be curious, and curiosity he could handle.

Not that he wanted to. With a resounding plop, he sat back down to eye the small gathering of men. His head arched over most of the treetops and the triple crown of horns that went down both sides of his head glinted as he moved. His wings were tucked by his sides neatly enough, though he could feel them brushing against the foliage whenever he moved a little.

The clearing he had landed on – one of the few that was big enough to accommodate his rather hefty size – had been a welcome sight late last night when he arrived in the area. Had he been any less of a… well, a dragon, then he might have felt bad about imposing on someone else’s property and blocking their path. Luckily, Ares Goldplains didn’t really suffer from such simple emotions as guilt or embarrassment – much to the chagrin of everyone around him, of course.