Page 4 of Mates for the Rejected Wolf

Watching this mysterious Fern from a distance isn’t supposed to feel like this. I should be nervous about what I’m about to do, concerned with how she’s going to react to what I’m about to tell her. But it’s hard to focus on the task at hand when she is so beautiful. And not just beautiful in the way that all women are. There is something much more captivating about her than I expected. I’m starting to understand why Roddrur has been willing to throw everything away just to be able to watch her from the sky. She is special.

The longer I watch Fern, the more my pulse pounds and the less I can breathe. I feel like my legs aren’t really holding me up any longer. What the hell am I going to do? I really don’t think I’m supposed to be attracted to a wolf shifter. I don’t know how it works in the rest of the world, but I’m pretty sure dragons and wolves aren’t supposed to mix. More than that, my best friend likes her. That’s a bond I don’t ever want to break.

So, I guess what I really need to do is swallow my feelings so I can get the ball rolling. We need to act fast because I don’t know how much time Roddrur has before the Nightshade Hunters decide to reveal where he is hiding to the people seeking him out. Ireallydon’t want to think about that, because we willneverbe able to hold off all the dragons who will attack.

It’s safe to say the Andredes royal family are not very popular. Dragons don’t want a royal family anymore, and they certainly don’t want the family who hasalwaysbeen in charge, so they will do whatever it takes to kill off anyone with Andredes blood running through their veins. That is something I need to avoid. Especially because Roddrur is a good guy. He doesn’t deserve death simply because of his name. But I don’t know if rational thought like that will ever get through to the anarchists if they don’t want to hear it.

“Come on, Griffin,” I mutter to myself, trying to psych myself up as much as I can. “Let’s do this. You can’t just stand around here like an idiot forever.”

I’m usually a confident guy. Speaking to people doesn’t bother me, but there is something about Fern that has me tongue tied. But she’s about to head in to work, and if I let her set foot inside that office, she’ll go out on the boat. I don’t want her to do another tour until Roddrur and I put our plan in action. Maybe not even after that because it’s just too dangerous. With all these drugs in town and the death toll getting higher, we need to keep her safe as much as we can.

“Fern,” I call out, maybe a little too loudly for a first introduction.

She spins around quickly, her eyes widening in shock as she takes me in. Sometimes I forget how big and imposing I am. All dragons are the same, but since I’m mostly around Roddrur, I hardly see it. “Sorry, hello, Fern. My name is Griffin. I was hoping you could give me a moment of your time.”

She shakes my hand as soon as I’m close enough for her to be able to do so, but she still looks shocked as she looks me over. Is she impressed? I kind of feel like she might be, which makes me chuckle lightly to myself.

“Griffin?” she eventually asks, cocking her head to one side. “That’s your name?”

I nod.

“You aren’t from Iron Mountain, are you? I don’t think I have ever seen you before, and this isn’t the sort of place where a local can go unnoticed.”

“Actually, I am that, exactly.” I purse my lips, wondering how much I should tell her. Roddrur was hesitant about telling her anything, but I feel like I should. She needs to know what we’re getting involved in. “I spend most of my time in the cave on the other side of Lake Antoine.”

“No way.” She claps her hands to her mouth in shock. “Are you for real? Are youhim?” I stare at her dumbly for a moment, not saying anything until she tells me what she means. “You know, the royal dragon who’s tied to the cave and can never leave?”

“No, I’m not him.” Her face falls with disappointment. “But I do know him.”

“So, he’s real?” Her eyes shine with delight, and I feel jealousy surge within me. She’s going to be so thrilled to meet Roddrur that I might just vanish to the back of her brain. She might not even remember I exist. “Oh my God, that’s amazing. I mean, I have always believed he was real, but to hear it confirmed is incredible, especially when everything else is so shitty at the moment.” She glances at the door to the office behind her.

I can sense her hesitation. She doesn’t want to work today, which is very understandable after the trauma of seeing a body in the lake. I want to comfort her, but I don’t think that would be appropriate.

“So, uh, I don’t know how busy you are right now,” I begin. “But the dragon from the cave wants to talk to you about—”

“He does?” she interjects excitedly. “Can we go now? Because I don’t think Brian is coming to the office today, and I don’t see much point in sitting around and doing absolutely nothing.”

I’m actually a little surprised that she’s so eager. I thought it was going to take a lot more persuading that this. I didn’t think she would want anything to do with dragons.

“So, you’re okay with this?” I check, although I’m not sure why. I don’t need to give her any doubts. “With going to the lair of the dragon?”

“Should I be scared? I know dragons have a reputation for being nasty, and that we don’t find many of them in our country because they prefer warmer climates.” She knows more than I gave her credit for. “But I also know that wolves have reputations as well. Some of the wolves might be aggressive and rude, unable to follow the laws of the world—”

“I can think of a few,” I say, the Nightshade Hunters in mind.

“Right, but not all of us are like that. So I’m sure I know this is what I want to do.”

“The best way for us to get across the lake quickly is for me to fly us,” I explain, again giving her a reason to back out even though I don’t want to. “Is that okay with you?”

She nods. “You just let me know what you need me to do, and that’s what I will do. I’m game for whatever.”

I can’t help but admire her bravery. She’s fearless, which only makes her that much more attractive to me. It’s almost like there is a magnetic pull drawing me to her.

“So?” She cocks her head to one side in a playful manner. “Are you going to shift, or what? I’m assuming revealing yourself isn’t something you do often, so you might want to snap in to action before it gets crowded here. The tourists with a morbid fascination for death might want to see if there is another body today.”

I nod sharply. I need to get my head right or I’ll wreck everything before it even gets started. I shift, bringing my dragon out. There is a little glimmer of fear in Fern’s eyes as I do this, but I can also see excitement there as well.

I bend as low as I can so Fern can hoist herself up onto my back. It takes her a couple of moments since she doesn’t really know how to go about it, but she manages it in the end. I rise up off the ground slowly, so as not to freak her out, but once I get the sense that she’s comfortable and possibly even enjoying herself, I rise higher and fly faster, getting her to Roddrur as fast as I can. The sooner we establish what happens next, the better. Right now, I’m not quite sure how I’m feeling about Fern and any of this.

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