Page 4 of Red Fire

I remove the backpack, putting it over my shoulder, then I scoop the unconscious female into my arms, cradling her close to my chest. She stirs slightly, a soft moan escaping her lips. I must move quickly before the others get here, drawn by the scent of blood and precious female.

With swift strides, I navigate through the dense jungle, my senses on high alert for any sign of danger. The sounds of wingsflapping and enraged roars echo through the trees, urging me to hasten my pace. This is the densest part of the jungle and my home. None of these males know it like I do. The dragons above won’t be able to land within a mile and a half of here. The canopy is too thick.

Even in human form, it is tough to navigate. It’s why I chose it in the first place; so that I would be left alone. I didn’t move to the jungle to mingle with the others. I knew I would be tempted to shift and stay in my dragon form too long. Living in this part of the jungle forces me to stay in my human form for significant amounts of time. Despite living in the jungle for several years, it has kept me sane. I, unlike many of the others, have kept a hold on my humanity.

I run faster as I reach my cabin.

“Sorry,” I mutter as I hoist the female over my shoulder.

She moans as I start climbing up the footholds I made especially for times like this – when I’m carrying something. I pray she doesn’t wake up. If she fights me now, she could fall. Not to mention how much tougher it will be to keep her hidden. If they know I have her, I won’t be able to hold them off.

I keep climbing. For the first time, I grumble to myself as to why I had to build my house so high. It’s tough keeping the female in my grip whilst navigating up the wide trunk. This has to be one of the biggest Ceiba trees on the island. I made the footholds to help when carrying carcasses up. She’s smaller and will break easily. I wouldn’t care if I dropped a carcass. I would care very much if the human fell to her death.

A human.

A female.

I inhale her scent, and, despite the situation, my cock starts to go hard. I grit my teeth and ignore it. It’s my baser side. I refuse to be ruled by that side of myself.

When I reach my cabin, I pull the female from my shoulder, pushing her onto the open balcony. It takes me under a second to swing up onto the platform.

I look around, assessing the area. I don’t have long before the first males arrive. The deer carcass is hanging right where I left it.

Good! The blood will help mask her scent. I quickly go inside and place her in my fireplace, rolling her and her bag in last night’s ashes. Good thing I decided to go hunting before cleaning up. Once she is liberally covered in soot, I dust myself off. Then I rub myself in the blood still dripping from the fresh carcass, getting blood all over myself. It has a strong scent. It should mask the sweet, softer smell of the female nicely. Then I grab my blade and the piece of wood I have been whittling over the last day or two and sit on my porch with my feet up.

It doesn’t take long for the first male to arrive.

I know him. His muscles are bulging. He has a smattering of scales on his chest. He growls, sniffing the air, his eyes darting left and right.

“Everything okay, Spike?” I ask, continuing with my whittling. An owl has only just started to emerge from the piece. “Why are you on my land?” I add in a gruff voice.

“Where is she?” he barks, more scales erupting on his chest.

“Where is who?” I ask casually.

He frowns. “Don’t act dumb! Didn’t you hear the crash? See the smoke? You know something, don’t you?”

“Yes, I heard the crash and figured there were no survivors.” I keep working. I’m not even looking at the male.

Two more males crash through the undergrowth, rushing to the base of my tree. “Did you see a female run through here?” one of them growls.

“What the fuck? What are you doing here? This is my land! Mine!” I snarl. “I don’t like visitors.” I put the carving down and stand, glaring at them.

“Didn’t you hear her screaming?” Spike asks. “Surely you must know about the female.”

“No.” I shake my head. “I heard the crash.” I shrug. “There is no female here.” I look around and shrug.

Another male bashes through the undergrowth. This is getting too much.

I snarl, jumping from the tree and landing in a crouch on the ground below, just feet in front of them. “You werenotinvited.” My voice turns deep and rough as I partially shift, keeping my eyes on them.

“The female—” one of the males starts to say.

“Isn’t here,” I snarl. “Do you see a female?” I look around me.

All of them look up at my cabin. I’m tempted to roar at them, but I don’t. I need to keep myself under control. It’s fine to be testy, but if I go at them too hard, they will know I’m protecting something. There are too many of them to fight off, with more in the immediate area. I would be overrun, and the female would be taken.

“She could be up there.” Spike points.

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