Page 10 of Ancient Promises

Eivross stopped suddenly as they passed through a stretch of woods and reached another road. He could see the bar across the street, a gazebo partially blocking the view.

“You okay?” Novak asked.

He opened his mouth to respond, but nothing came out but a call from his dragon.

He spun with a snarl and strode away from the male, who called after him.

Something was calling to his dragon, and he felt compelled to follow the feeling. His heart pounded, his vision tunneling as he followed the source of the feeling to a white two-story building with black shutters, window boxes of flowers, and a porch. A sign hung over the door that readCider Falls Bookstore.

He leaped up the stairs, entirely baffled as to why he needed to go to the bookstore but unable to stop himself from following the pull of whatever—or whoever—was calling to him.

As he reached for the door, his dragon burst from him so fast that he nearly passed out. His shift exploded, shredding his clothes and sending his bag flying. The door ripped off the hinges as he ducked away from the building so he didn’t destroy it, thrashing with the power of the shift. He heard things crashing behind him, but he was overcome with his dragon and couldn’t do anything but lift his head to the sky and let out a sharp call.

Shit.

He’d just let out a mating call, declaring that his dragon had found his other half, the sound loud and echoing in the sky.

Lowering his head, he let out an exhausted groan and slumped to the street, the crunch of something metal under his belly.

A car, maybe.

His vision faded as exhaustion took over.

The very last thing he saw was a beautiful female in the ruined doorway of the bookstore, looking bewildered.

“My door!”

ChapterFive

Diem was placing the order for the book club’s May selection, a historical romance about a pirate and a princess, which looked to be good fun. The females who came to the book club each month got several weeks to read the book and then they’d meet once a month to chat about it. Jynx had suggested dressing up and having a party, and Diem had been all for it. She had a perfect frock coat to wear to dress up as a pirate, and she’d find a drink recipe that would harken to scoundrels and swashbucklers.

Her heart clenched suddenly, her wolf letting out a curious sound in her head, the mix of wolf and lion coming out like a barking growl. She gasped and clutched her chest, wondering if she was suddenly having a panic attack for no reason.

She gasped again as the pain abruptly sharpened, driving the breath from her lungs.

Taking a few steps away from the desk, she made her way to the front door to go see Shelley, the pack medic, for help. Surely she could figure out why Diem’s heart was racing and felt like it was going to pound out of her chest.

A male appeared at the glass front door. He was tall and broad-shouldered, with dark hair and bright blue eyes. He grasped the handle and then ripped it off as he shifted.

Into a freaking dragon!

She stood immobile, watching his clothes shred and giving her a tantalizing view of his ripped body, which then morphed into an enormous dragon. She’d never seen anything like it.

One moment she had a door, and then there was a dragon.

He let out a call that echoed in her heart. Even though she didn’t speak dragon—hell, she’d never even met one—she knew exactly what the call meant: mate.

Her wolf let out an answering growling howl and she nearly dropped to her knees as the realization that she was in the presence of her truemate became clear.

But the only thing she could think to say in such a profound moment was, “My door!”

The dragon slumped to the street, crushing something with a metallic creak, and sighed, eyes closing and wings lowering.

Her heart went out to the dragon, especially since they were mates. She hurried from the store, stepping around the broken door.

“Careful, Diem, he’s a stranger,” Weston called to her. People flooded the street at the sound of the destruction, including Rehlik and Trace, who’d been in the bar.

She rested her hand gently on the dragon’s snout. “Who is he?”

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