Heart of a Fighter (Rocky River Fighters 1)

But dragons were born, not made. Unlike the wolves, bears, and so many other shifters out there, dragons couldn’t turn humans. She always thought it was a good thing, despite her kind being nearly extinct. They didn’t need more asshole, douche male dragons in this world. But there was a big part of her, growing bigger by the second, that longed to be able to turn him so she could mate him like she wanted.

Mated females were generally considered off limits to the males. But if her mate were human, she didn’t think it would stop a male from taking him out, and taking her with him. The males were more careful with female dragons who mated other shifters. There were very strict and clear rules about starting wars with other shifters, and killing one to take their mate was a surefire way of starting one. And dragons were too concerned with living to risk an enforcer putting them down. But one puny human wouldn’t be enough to make a dragon hesitate for even a moment. Female dragons were too rare.

An image of Alex, struggling in a massive dragon’s talon before being tossed inside the dragon’s open maw formed in her mind. Letting out a string of curses, she slammed her eyes shut and flopped onto her back in the grass, uncaring of the dew quickly seeping through her shirt and chilling her skin.

No. That couldn’t be Alex’s destiny, and it was more than likely to be if she claimed him. And as much as she longed to ignore her dragon’s certainty about him being her mate, as much as she wanted to tell herself her dragon was mistaken, she couldn’t. A shifter’s animal was never wrong about who their mate was. If her animal said Alex was hers, then he was.

But there was no rule saying she had to do anything about it. Resolve filled her as she ignored her dragon’s roar of disapproval. She could do that. She was strong enough. She’d trained herself to be as strong as she could be over the years, mentally and physically. She never imagined she’d need to use it for this scenario, but it would come in handy. More than handy, it would be a lifesaver. Alex’s lifesaver.

Alex rushed after Cammie, but by the time he got to the barn door, there was no sign of her. Cursing, he turned back and walked to the punching bag, hitting it in frustration, and dodging when it swung back at him. He didn’t know what went wrong. He’d been enjoying the best kiss of his life, and he was sure it had been, even without a memory to back it up. The feelings rushing through him as his lips caressed hers felt too new, too raw and potent, to have happened before.

He thought she was just as into it as he was. Hell, he knew she’d been. So he didn’t know what changed, what went through her mind to have her pull away and run from him like she had. And it was just a wild guess, but he didn’t think she’d be open to letting him in on what happened any time soon.

She thought their kiss was a mistake, and something inside him writhed in pain at the thought. He’d become so quickly attached to her. It felt right, down to his soul, so he didn’t question the how’s or why’s of it happening so fast. It just was. And he couldn’t imagine she didn’t feel it, too. Judging by how fast she ran, he was sure she did.

So there was something else in play here. She was a strong woman, mentally and physically. For something to make her run like she did, it had to be big. Something to do with the past she hid, and the way she freaked out when unknown shifters showed up. Someone was looking for her, and whatever they wanted her for, it couldn’t be good. It was nothing more than a guess, but it resonated within him, ringing true.

Swearing out a string of curses, he flung himself away from the bag and started pacing. He felt powerless and ineffectual, and he hated it. He wanted to be able to protect her, but he didn’t know where to start, not when he didn’t know what was going on.

“What the hell happened to make Cammie run out of here like the barn was on fire? I like you, Alex, but I’ll kick your ass if you bothered or hurt her in any way.”

Hooking his hands on his hips, he stopped pacing and looked at Seth, taking in the muscle ticking in his jaw and the glare in his brown eyes. The other man had a more serious expression on his face than Alex had seen before, and he knew Seth meant it.

“I don’t even know, man. Everything was fine one minute, and she was running the next.”

Seth watched him with narrowed eyes for a moment longer, and then the tension eased from his shoulders and the glare faded from his eyes. “She’s a complicated woman. She doesn’t let many get close to her, so don’t take offense if she pushes you away.”

“I’m not. I knew from the beginning she didn’t let anyone but you guys get close. It’s the push and pull that’s wearing on me, I guess. One minute I think we’re making progress and the next she’s running like she just did.”

Seth strolled into the room, his usual good-natured expression back in place. “I have no advice for you on that. Just keep trying and eventually, you’ll wear her down. The fact that you’re trying shows superb judgment. They don’t come any better than Cammie.”

“Yeah, I get that. I don’t know what, or who, was in my past, but I know in my gut she’s one of a kind. Do you think you’d have time to really train me some this week?”

Seth boomed out a laugh and clapped him hard on the shoulder. “Gonna win her over with fighting, huh? I guess you can’t go wrong with that. Yeah, sure, I’ve got free time this week. You ready to get started now?”

Alex nodded, turning to grab the hand wraps so Seth could help him with them. He didn’t bother correcting Seth about his reasons for wanting to learn how to fight for real now. Besides, they weren’t completely untrue. If learning to fight made him more attractive in her eyes, he’d take it. He had a feeling he was going to need all the help he could get.

Chapter Five

“What was that about?”

Cammie let out a curse, nearly cutting her fingers off instead of slicing the carrot. “Dammit, give me a little warning when I’m chopping stuff with a knife, would ya?”

Ian snorted, pushing off the doorframe and wandering into the kitchen. “Your instincts are slipping, Cam. None of us could ever get the drop on you, but you didn’t even hear me come in the house, did you?”

Frowning, she looked away from him and concentrated on what she was making for dinner. “I’ve had a lot on my mind. You know that.”

“And I have a sneaking suspicion the lot on your mind is a man named Alex, not the guys from last night,” he replied, coming to a stop beside her and casually resting his hip on the counter.

“Is there a point to this? I’m trying to get dinner in the oven,” she said, scowling at her hands as they chopped.

“Yeah, and we still have three hours until dinner time. Looks more like busy work to me. I told you last night I was going to come back to why you didn’t want to be near him. And the way you ran from the barn this morning has me even more curious. What’s going on?”

Blowing out a breath, she stopped chopping and locked her arms against the counter. She was unable to do more than shake her head as she bowed it. She didn’t want to talk to anyone about this. Didn’t want to say the words out loud. They’d make it even more real if she did.

“Cammie, talk to me,” Ian said in a voice softer than she’d ever heard it before, placing a gentle hand on her shoulder.

Putting down the knife, she picked up a rag and wiped her hands off as she turned around and leaned against the counter. She didn’t even know where to begin, but she supposed she did need to talk to someone, and she was closest to Ian.