Page 66 of Primal Dragon

“Do you think James knew?”

“What do you mean? Like James knew and didn’t tell you?”

“I mean…it seems reasonable. He’s always trying to protect me. He’s not so different from your dragon. If he thinks I can’t handle something, he keeps it from me. I think that’s why he was so vague about his last job. Maybe he thought he wasn’t coming back from it.”

“I don’t think he would keep something like that from you. James isn’t stupid enough to think that he has the right to keep something like that to himself. You have every right to know. Drake is your family.”

“He was…” she murmured. “I’m pretty sure he would choose anyone in that club over me. He doesn’t care about anything but himself. He wants power and wealth, not a family that loves him.”

“I don’t think that’s true. I think he’s lost sight of things,” Henrik said quietly. He put his hand on her thigh. “I’m sorry that he’s discarded you in such a poor fashion. I don’t know what I would if one of my siblings did that to me.”

“Tell me about this Rebecca chick,” she said. “You seem to know who she is.”

“Only by reputation. She’s been a dragon hunter for a few years. She’s damn good at what she does. She tends to lock in on a target and then attack. She’s killed a few of us.”

“Why?”

“No one is a hundred percent sure, but from what I understand, a dragon was responsible for her mother and sister’s deaths. She saw the dragon attack them and she went on a fact-finding mission so she could learn everything she needed to so she could destroy us one by one.”

“Wow. That sucks.”

“There’s a reason why we don’t want to the world to know about us.”

She nodded. “Yeah, James is always going on about how it’s only a matter of time before the world finds out and how it’s going to erupt into complete chaos.”

“I don’t think he’s wrong.”

“Do you really think it’s just a matter of time?”

“Yes, I do. I shifted into a dragon in the middle of a neighborhood and carried you over two states. One cell phone video and it’s over. Eventually, people are going to stop believing the videos are fake.”

“Yeah, I saw the one with the wolf shifter a few months ago. James showed it to me. I couldn’t stop watching it. I heard about it at the clinic. People were talking about it like it was special effects.”

“We have a few hacker friends who help us keep it secret.”

“Smart.”

They finally reached the town line for Thunder Bay. Henrik pulled into the parking lot of the small diner.

“What are we doing?”

“Eating. I’m starving.”

“Kidnapping a woman over state lines makes you hungry?”

Henrik was relieved her voice was teasing, but he still didn’t like that he had no memory of shifting and whisking her away to his own private island. Every dragon he knew had their own space. After they’d fled Brazil, he had to find a new one which hadn’t been easy. But never had he ever wanted to take someone there.

“It was my first kidnapping. I didn’t pack snacks.”

Quinn shot him a coy smile.

He couldn’t help but think how much he liked the woman. More than anything he appreciated her strength. He shifted into a dragon and carried her across state lines, and she was a little flustered over a few things, but she wasn’t throwing things at his head.

Inside the diner, it was quiet. There were a couple of regulars sitting at the counter drinking coffee.

“Seat yourselves, hon,” a woman behind the counter greeted them, “I’ll be there in a minute.”

Henrik followed Quinn as she took a table near the window in the back. He sent off a couple of texts to let everyone know what was going on while she stared out the window, lost in her own thoughts.

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