Twin Dragons: Dragon Lords of Valdier Book 7 (6 page)

“I heard Creon tell Gramps that you were
going to be going to live with a woman named Ariel and her husband…
mate… or whatever they are called on their mountain home,” Melina
murmured in a soothing voice as she dipped the cloth into the
bucket again and ran it over Hobbler’s short trunk. “He said they
have all kinds of animals and that you’d have room to roam and
grow. I wish I could take you with me back to our farm, but I
can’t.”

Hobbler snorted and rubbed her head against
the rough cloth. Melina smiled. Home. It was hard to believe that
she and Gramps might be going home. She wondered how much
everything had changed.

Their farm was set off a ways from the main
road. Clayton, Georgia was a small town and she knew it was going
to be difficult explaining their sudden disappearance. She and her
grandfather had discussed different things that they could tell
people, but hadn’t decided on the best way to handle it yet. Until
they could decide, they thought it best not to say anything. As her
grandfather had pointed out, it wasn’t anybody’s damn business
anyway.

Melina dropped the cloth into the bucket and
grabbed the handle so she could move it away from the curious
Pactor. She would pour the water out once Gramps was out of the
shower. She grabbed the shovel as she walked by so Hobbler wouldn’t
use it as a play toy.

The baby Pactor released a series of grunts
as Melina reset the barrier that kept her from freely roaming
around their living area. There was nothing worse than waking up
and accidently stepping in a pile of poop when you were half
asleep. Both she and Gramps had gotten to enjoyed that unpleasant
experience more than once back in the mine.

“I have other chores than just taking care
of you,” Melina laughed as she set the bucket down near the door to
the office. “I can’t just play all day long.”

Melina turned when the door to the repair
bay suddenly opened and two large warriors walked in. Fear gripped
her as she grabbed her hat that was lying on a chair and slammed it
on her head. Gripping the shovel between her hands, she held it out
in front of her like a bat.

The men, who had been talking, stopped in
surprise. One of them grinned at her and nudged the other. The fear
turned to terror when she saw the puzzled look in both their eyes
turn to speculation. She didn’t stop to think, she just swung the
shovel.

“We just need parts,” one of the warriors
yelled out as they both jumped back. “Stop, boy. We mean you no
harm.”

Melina didn’t care what they wanted or
needed. She needed them out of the repair bay. This was their
section. Ha’ven had said they would not be disturbed.

“Get the hell out of here,” Cal yelled from
behind Melina. “Get out!”

“We meant no harm,” the other warrior
protested as they stepped backwards with their hands up, palms out.
“We were just looking for parts that we needed.”

“Look somewhere else,” Cal growled in his
gravelly voice. “Now, get out.”

Melina kept her head bowed, but her eyes
glued on the men. She didn’t lower the shovel until the repair bay
doors had closed again. By the time they did, her whole body was
shaking.

“Mel,” Cal said quietly, reaching out and
taking the shovel from her trembling hands. “Honey, did they hurt
you?”

Melina turned into her grandfather’s
reassuring arms. Tears burned her eyes and she tightly closed them
to hold them back. Instead, she relaxed against her grandfather and
waited until the adrenaline stopped flowing.

“I was afraid they would know I was a girl,”
she whispered. “I was afraid they would…”

“Shush,” Cal murmured, rubbing her back as
he held her close. “They’ll think twice about coming in here again.
I think you scared them too.”

Melina gave a self-conscience laugh as she
pulled back. Pushing her floppy hat back, she gave her grandfather
a wobbly grin. He always knew what to say to make her feel
better.

“It was all those Little League games when I
was younger,” she replied, before turning away. “Are you hungry? A
portable replicator was delivered earlier by our old guard. He
yelled out then left.”

“A working one?” Cal laughed. “I’d love
something to eat.”

“One replicated meal coming right up,” she
said, feeling better as she bent to pick up the shovel that had
fallen on the floor when granddad dropped it to give her a hug.
“Thanks, Gramps.”

Cal scowled. “What for?”

Melina gave him a warm look filled with
love. “For being you,” she replied before turning back to the
office.

Cal’s throat tightened and he rubbed his
chest. His eyes glittered as he watched the slim figure of his only
grandchild walk away. For a split second, he saw his beautiful wife
when she was younger.

“Anytime, child,” he whispered. “And
anything for you.”

*.*.*

Cree grimaced as he walked beside Carmen. He
pushed down on his dragon which was pacing inside him. He was
frustrated as hell. It was becoming more and more difficult to
pretend that he was alright when he felt like he was losing his
sanity.

Settle down,
he ordered his dragon in
frustration.
We cannot let them see that we are vulnerable right
now.

Mate. I feel mate. Close. Mate is
close,
his dragon snarled, clawing and stretching.

Carmen is not ours,
he snapped.
Now, down.

Mate close,
his dragon rumbled as it
crouched.

Goddess, help me,
Cree thought as he
felt the barely suppressed violence hovering inside him.

Earlier, he had tried to trick Carmen into
thinking he was Calo in an effort to distract both him and his
dragon. Even his symbiot was becoming more erratic in its behavior.
He knew his brother was having just as much difficulty in dealing
with the loneliness and need burning a hole through their carefully
constructed defenses.

He wondered if this is what Barrack and
Brogan had felt before they lost control. The dragon’s desire and
need for a mate balanced a warrior; without one, that delicate
balance shifted until the dragon eventually became so tormented,
insanity overcame it. Barrack’s words haunted him as he remembered
the warrior saying that there had never been a true mate for a set
of Twin Dragons. No female could handle two alpha warriors in their
prime at the same time, much less their dragons.

He had hoped that if he got into a sparring
match with Carmen he could at least enjoy a brief reprieve, but she
had known immediately that he wasn’t Calo. Both he and his brother
were still trying to figure out how Carmen could tell them apart.
Only their mother could do that and there were times when they were
younger they could trick her, not often, but every once in a
while.

Dragon’s Balls, not even Father can tell
us apart!
Cree thought in frustration.

He had been less than thrilled when Creon
informed him that he was to escort Carmen down to the two humans
that had been found on the abandon Antrox mine. He was not in the
mood to deal with them and Carmen’s sarcastic wit right now. What
he needed was a new war to break out. That would be better than
dealing with more humans.

He had heard stories of them. The fact that
Mel had attacked two warriors this morning for simply walking into
the repair bay just showed how unstable he was. With his dragon on
the verge of violence anyway, he would be lucky he didn’t kill the
child. It wasn’t helping that Carmen was arguing about insisting
she go into the repair bay first.

“You are under my protection,” he said
firmly. “Creon said as much.”

“Whatever,” Carmen replied, as she slapped
her hand over the control panel. “If it makes your big-boy britches
feel better, be my guest. I can always drag your ass out if you get
hurt.”

Cree gritted his teeth. “I would like to
show you my…” he started to say, flexing his fingers as the words
started to tumble out. “What I mean is…”

“Go on. I know exactly what you were going
to say,” she chuckled.

Cree could feel the heat rise in his cheeks.
He wasn’t sure if it was from his temper or from embarrassment. His
dragon, sensing he was weakening, tried to push up against his
control again. He could feel the scales ripple across his back
under his shirt. Afraid to open his mouth and respond, he just
shook his head at Carmen before he stepped cautiously into the
small repair bay.

“Old man,” he called out in a loud voice.
“Old man, I’ve brought Lady Carmen to see you and the boy.” He
breathed a sigh of relief when he saw the old man step out of the
office area and nod to him. His eyes suspiciously swept the area
when Mel didn’t follow him. “I don’t see the boy. Keep your eyes
out. They say he isn’t right in the head.”

“I’ll make sure I squeal like a girl if I
see him,” Carmen commented dryly as she walked by him. “I’m sure
that will make him feel better too.”

“Smart ass,” Cree muttered under his
breath.

Cree’s eyes darkened to a stormy gold when
the old man moved toward them, grabbing the shovel as he did. Topaz
scales rippled over his neck and cheeks at the threatening stance.
He reached out to grab Carmen’s arm and pull her behind him, but
she ducked and twisted before he could. Frustrated, he wanted to
roar out in rage at her for putting herself in danger.

“He’s really a gentle pansy,” Carmen
commented as she stretched her hand out in greeting. “My name is
Carmen Walker. I’m originally from Wyoming.”

Cree watched through narrowed eyes as the
man stopped a few feet in front of Carmen. The male kept a firm
hold on the shovel, but had at least lowered it so it rested
against his right side. A soft rumble of warning escaped him when
the old man wiped his left hand down along his tattered pant leg
before he slowly reached out and grasped Carmen’s hand.

“Cal Turner,” the man replied. “Me and the
boy are from outside Clayton, Georgia.”

“Would you mind if we sat for a spell?”
Carmen asked quietly. “Cree will be a good boy and stay by the door
if it makes you more comfortable.”

“I’d like to show you—” Cree snarled, before
clamping his lips tightly together.

His dragon was going nuts! It was taking
everything in him not to roar out in agony as it clawed at him to
get out. Something in here was driving it crazy. What surprised him
the most was it was trying to pull his attention away from
Carmen.

“He’s huffing and puffing, isn’t he?” Carmen
asked as she started walking toward where a couple of chairs were
set up outside the office. “They do that a lot, but they really are
like overgrown puppy dogs.”

A rumble escaped Cree and he folded his arms
across his massive chest as he glared at Carmen. He turned sharply
when the door opened beside him. He was only slightly surprised
when Creon’s symbiot came through the door.

This time it was in the shape of an
overgrown basset hound. He had learned the name of the creature
after Carmen explained it to him one day. The only difference was
this time its ears were exaggerated to the point they actually
dragged on the ground and it tripped over one of them.

A soft giggle broke the silence of the
repair bay as the symbiot tumbled over face first. Cree felt like
he had been shot through the chest with a hot spear. The sound
ricocheted through him all the way to his dragon which roared out
in triumph.

Mate,
his dragon snarled, straining
to break free.
Our mate. I call to twin. We found our
mate.

Cree was only vaguely aware as Harvey,
Carmen’s name for the symbiot, shook violently causing his big ears
to fly up into the air around him before he bounded over to the
slender shape of the boy half hidden behind the body of a small
Pactor.

His body began to shake as he continued to
stare in disbelief at the slender figure that was only partially
visible. A rumble, low at first, began to grow as he responded to
the figure trying to escape him. He wanted to hunt, to capture, to
claim.

In the back of his mind, he knew his eyes
were burning with the fire of his dragon. Topaz and black scales
were rippling uncontrollably over his body. He clenched his fists
by his side as he calculated how fast he could get to the
half-hidden figure.

“Cree,” Carmen said sharply. “Could you
please wait for me outside? I promise if I need you, I’ll call. I
have Harvey with me so I feel perfectly safe.”

Cree couldn’t rip his eyes away from where
Mel remained partially concealed by the Pactor. He was breathing
heavily and sweat broke out on his brow as he fought for control.
It was as if he was in a narrow tunnel with only one way to go.

He shook his head as he heard Carmen calling
to him sharply as if from a long distance. Shock and disbelief
flowed through him as he reluctantly turned to look at her. He
couldn’t speak at the moment. His dragon was too close to the
surface and his throat felt thick and frozen. He gave Carmen a
quick, sharp nod to let her know he heard her. He had to get out of
the repair bay before he totally lost control.

“Well, I guess his dragon likes Pactors,”
Carmen’s voice echoed behind him as he pivoted and strode
desperately out of the room.

Cree closed his eyes as he leaned back
against the wall in the empty corridor and breathed deeply. He
bowed his head and drew in several more deep breaths as he forced
his body and dragon to come to terms with what had just happened.
His eyes popped open as the realization that he had just found his
true mate washed through him at the same time as a wave of dismay
flooded him.

My true mate is a human boy?
He
thought in disbelief.

*.*.*

Melina watched as the huge warrior walked
out the door. She didn’t realize she was holding her breath until
the doors shut behind him. She had known the moment he entered. It
felt just like the time she had grabbed the electric fence back
home when she didn’t realize it was still turned on.