Page 2 of Protector Dragon's Shattered Mate

She’d invited a few others to come with her, but they’d mocked her. Most of the cubs had grown to crave the excitement of stealing. So, she was alone. Until now, until the compound, which wasn’t any better.

“You idiot,” a female voice said from above, knocking Sofia out of her memories.

Sofia could hear the wolves above fighting upstairs. There was a loud smacking sound.

“Why did you hit me?” a male voice yelled.

“Because the bear is our ticket to success. You do not shock her, or beat her, or throw her in the basement! If Koryak finds out what you’ve done, he’ll rip your throat out! Without her, we have nothing!”

The bear? Was thather? What did they mean?

There was more shouting and more hitting, and then someone came clattering down the stairs to Sofia.

A woman reached down and pulled Sofia to her feet. “Come on. Let’s get you a warm bath. I’m sorry about those idiots.”

“I heard you say I was useful. Why?”

The female studied Sofia. “You really don’t know?”

“No. I don’t know anything.”

“You’re half witch. You may shift like a bear, but you have as much innate magical ability as any witch I’ve ever met.”

“What?” Surely Sofia had heard wrong. She was disoriented from being tossed in the basement; it would be easy to get confused.

The female wolf repeated what she’d just said.

Her blood froze. Her parents had always said she had a pure bloodline, because no one in their family had ever mated with anyone but bear shifters. “But that’s not possible.”

The wolf shrugged. “I suppose it has to be. Your talent doesn’t lie. It cannot be faked.”

“But I didn’t know what I was doing.”

“Doesn’t matter. You said the words, and you are full of magic.” The female waved her arms around Sofia’s head. “You are positively brimming with untrained magic.”

Untrained magic? What did that mean? She wanted to ask, but she wasn’t sure she’d get the truth. Sofia thought back over the clues she’d missed over the last few weeks. Despite the earlier incident, now that she’d eaten and slept, she was able to think more clearly.

“Come on. Come eat. I’m sorry about the basement. It won’t happen again.”

She took a few deep breaths. Now was not the time to panic. She would eat and try to figure out what was going on.

The place where they were staying was a ramshackle structure, neither home nor barn. It looked like it might havebeen a tavern, years before. There were long wooden tables, plenty of chairs, and a well-equipped kitchen. There were gaps in between the wooden planks, stuffed with hay.

Outside, the area was surrounded with smaller huts, and beyond that, a high fence wrapped in razor wire.

There were wolf shifters everywhere, doing normal things like carrying boxes, chopping wood, and cooking on open fires. It looked like an ordinary camp, except for the razor wire fence. “Why is there a fence?”

The female fidgeted. “To keep predators out.”

“Who is a predator to a wolf shifter?” If they were like bear shifters, and she was pretty sure they were, then they were very hard to injure or kill.

“Anyone who wants us dead,” the woman said.

Anyone who wants us dead? What did that mean? “Who wants you dead?” Sofia asked.

“Shhh. Stop asking questions. You don’t want to be like that. You don’t want Koryak to watch you too closely.”

Her brain still felt a little sluggish. It was hard to parse through what the female was saying and what she really meant. “What’s your name?” Maybe that was a safe enough question.

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