Heart of a Fighter (Rocky River Fighters 1)

Eyebrows high, he rushed to reassure her. “Adara, I’m not here for you or your kids. I mean none of you any harm. You’re a shifter, so you can hear the truth in my voice. I just have some questions, but like I said on the phone, they have nothing to do with you, your family, or your life here.”

“Yes, I can hear that’s the truth. Just know the threat still stands, in case you decide to change your mind. Okay, follow me.”

Turning, she walked toward a hallway to the left, and he followed behind her. She’d threatened him with a pleasant expression on her face, a smile affixed to her lips the whole time, but the look in her eyes said she was deadly serious. His respect for her, as well as her mate, kicked up a few notches.

They walked into a living room, and she gestured for him to sit. He did so, clasping his hands together and staring at them, suddenly unsure where to start. She waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts, and he finally looked up and met her light blue eyes.

“I guess I’ll start with how I knew where you were. I had some unfortunate dealings with a dragon, Ivan. No, to be honest, I was spying on him. He was the cause of my sister’s death, and I was looking for a weakness, something I could use to my advantage to exact vengeance. I heard him ranting one day about how he found a female dragon before my sister. He said she’d been taking something to suppress her dragon, and her uncle sold her whereabouts to him. But when he got there, to Louisiana where she lived, she was already gone.”

Adara held up a trembling hand, her eyes a silvery blue with sapphire diamonds, like a night sky, and full dragon. “Wait. This has to be me you’re talking about. When was this? When was he looking for me?”

“I overheard him about four months ago, but don’t worry. I think you’re safe.”

“You think?” she asked in disbelief, voice a few octaves higher than normal. “This is my children’s safety we’re talking about. I need more than ‘think’.”

“No, you misunderstand. I didn’t answer that well. I overheard him talking four months ago, but this happened years ago. I’ll be honest, he tracked you here, but when he found out you were already mated, he turned his sights elsewhere. He has another female dragon in mind.”

“Oh, thank God,” she said, slumping in her seat. “That sounded horrible. I’m not happy about him finding another female dragon, but you have to understand. I have twin girls,” she said, giving him a meaningful look.

It took him a second, but her meaning became clear. “Both dragons?” he asked in surprise.

She nodded her head in confirmation. “Both dragons. They’re young yet, only two, but it’s never too early to start worrying about things like that.”

“No, it’s definitely not,” he replied, thinking back to his parents’ instant fear when their daughter revealed dragon pupils only hours after birth.

“You’re different than the male dragons I was warned about my whole life. I knew my uncle lied about many things during my life, or overexaggerated at the very least, but I didn’t think he stretched the truth about the males of our species.”

“He didn’t,” he said earnestly. “I’m a rarity for our kind, not the norm. My parents raised me differently than most males are brought up. So don’t underestimate how brutal the men can be, and don’t relax your guard with your daughters. I’m not sure there are many as persistent as Ivan, who have the means of getting what they want, but you never know. My sister and I… our parents did everything they could to keep her safe, but even though we took precautions, she and I still relaxed our guards, and she was killed because of it. Don’t raise them to fear their own shadows, but make sure they understand how vitally important this is.”

Adara opened her mouth to reply, but she paused as two tiny shrieks, and the sound of running feet came from beyond the closed door.

“You two little imps get back here. Stop fighting over that toy, you both have plenty,” came Jared’s exasperated voice. A masculine shout sounded, and booted feet were the next to pound past the doorway. “Ava Chelsea Montgomery, what have I told you about using your fire in the house? You’re in big trouble, missy.”

A faint giggle reached their ears, and eyes dancing, Adara looked at him with a laugh. “Does that sound like children who are afraid of their own shadows? And trust me, we pound into them how important it is to tell no one what they are. I can’t see them ever losing the spark they have, and I pray they never do.” Sobering, she said softly, “I’m so sorry about your sister. And I hope this Ivan guy never finds who he’s looking for.”

“Thanks,” he replied, after clearing his tight throat. “Daria will always be missed. And though he’s looking for his newest find, he hasn’t found her yet. I was his tech guy and hacker, so I know that for sure. At least, he hadn’t found her when I left around five weeks ago. But who he’s looking for… well, it’s Cammie.”

She gasped, eyes wide. “Cammie? Cammie with the fighters?”

“Yes,” he confirmed grimly. “And she’s my mate. That’s why I need as much information as I can get, so I have a better chance at protecting her.”

“Of course. I’ll help in any way I can.”

“In order to get close to Ivan, I had to pretend to be human, and I took the same suppressants you did to make sure my eyes didn’t give me away. My last dose was about seven weeks ago, but I just started really becoming aware of my dragon not even two full days ago. How long was it until you had full use of your dragon after your last dose?”

“It took over three months before I felt her stirring in me again, longer than that until I could shift.” She saw the alarm on his face, and rushed to reassure him. “Don’t freak out. I was on them for around nineteen years, give or take. I was forced to take more and more of them because I was starting to develop immunity, so there was a ton in my system. It took a while for them to wear off. If you can feel your dragon already, you’re in much better shape than I was in.”

“I’m not so sure of that,” he replied with a heavy exhale. “I had amnesia. I haven’t ever heard of a shifter who had that. And I saw how I looked when I woke up after the wreck. My head had a huge lump on it, and that was a week after I wrecked. Hell, I didn’t even realize I was a shifter at all until two days ago. I knew about shifters instinctively somehow, but I had none of the traits. I worry I screwed my animal up by taking it.”

“The suppressants do that. When they suppress the animal, they suppress everything the animal gives to us. I had hardly any shifter traits. No enhanced vision, strength, speed. I couldn’t hear lies clearly, and my healing was much slower than that of a normal shifter. It was still accelerated to a degree, but it was just a notch or two above a human’s. The only thing I retained was my gift. I’m gonna guess you probably took more damage to your head in the wreck than you thought you did, or maybe you hit it the wrong way. It’s possible you might not even have survived if you hadn’t been a shifter.”

Frowning thoughtfully, he nodded slowly. “My gift has been present from almost the beginning, as well, though I didn’t realize what it was. And I guess that’s possible. I didn’t think I took much of the damage in the wreck, but I know Hannah almost died. I haven’t even seen the car since it happened.”

“From what I’ve been able to gather from other shifters, taking the suppressants after a lifetime of having the advantages your animal gives you can leave you even more vulnerable than a human. And head wounds can be tricky, so less vehicle damage doesn’t necessarily mean you walked away less unscathed than she did. But I can call Frank, the sheriff, and ask him where the car is so you can go check it out.”

“Really? That would be amazing,” he told her gratefully. “Wait, I can’t be found here. I created a fake identity to use with Ivan’s human lackey when I was hired, but my car is in my name, and you can never be too careful when it comes to him. I don’t want to be what leads him to Eagle Creek.”

“Don’t worry, Frank’s discreet. He’s human, but he knows about us, and understands the need for