Royal Dragon

The Bride Hunt.

Royal Dragon.

By Charlene Hartnady.

Chapter 1.

They were d.a.m.ned either way. Whether the lesser kings accepted the proposal or not.

d.a.m.ned.

The word rolled around in his mind. It made his gut churn and left a bad taste in his mouth. Coal looked at each of the four males, from one to the next. All of them were powerful specimens. Pure royal blood ran through their veins. Their golden chest markings were testament to that. As was his own. He felt such pride at being a royal prince, at being a fire dragon.

Granite, the earth king had dark hair and even darker eyes, like polished onyxes, much like his own. There were also flecks of black within his chest marking, to show that he was an earth dragon. Of his personality, it was known far and wide that he was both strong and a hothead.

Then there was Torrent, the water king. His hair was so light it was almost white. His eyes as blue as the ocean itself. Flecks of green could be found in his golden chest markings to represent their element familiarity. The male was excessively arrogant but likeable, an odd combination.

Thunder had eyes the color of amethyst jewels. As the air king the blue flecks within his golden markings were definitely prominent. Though normally calm, the male looked agitated at the moment. This meeting needed to run smoothly. Coal only hoped that the males would accept the proposal put forward by his brother, the fire king. Blaze was the strongest of the dragons. He had eyes the color of emeralds. He, like Coal and the rest of the fire dragons, could breathe fire, which gave them a superior advantage over the others. Their golden markings were pure.

The air king held the platinum goblet with such a grip that Coal was sure it would crush at any moment. His face was red. Scales were visible through the golden tattoo on his chest, making more blue bleed through. A sure sign that he was moments away from changing.

"No," Thunder growled. The word was accompanied by a billow of smoke. It left his mouth in a lazy, curling tendril, at complete odds with the male who expelled it. The air king was fire breathing mad. Such a pity for him that a bit of useless smoke was all he could produce. Thunder had better watch his step. Blaze looked relaxed as he leaned back in his chair, but Coal knew better. His brother was not as calm as he seemed. The slight tic in his jaw was evidence of that.

The air king clenched his teeth together for a few long moments, clearly trying to get himself back under control. Best he do that, and quickly. Blaze would not tolerate such outbursts, even from another king. "You can forget about having one of the air females. The agreement was, your sister for one of my tribe. A fair trade."

The earth and water kings moved restlessly in their chairs, as did the princes at their sides. They were not privy to the arrangement that had been made between the fire and the air kingdoms. Had the agreement worked out, it would have put both fire and air at the top of the food chain, with their own tribe, fire, as the solid leaders over the four kingdoms. As it stood though, they were still at the head of the game despite the deal falling apart at the last minute.

Blaze twisted the ring on his finger. "I will agree to the three of you taking human mates on the condition that I get to have one of the fertile dragon females." His green eyes blazed. He dropped his hands back at his sides. There was not a single sign of tension in his body. Not true. There it was again, that tic. Only, you had to know where to look and if you blinked once too often you might miss it.

Thunder laughed. There was no humor to the sound. "You are an arrogant b.a.s.t.a.r.d." The male turned serious in an instant. "We are going to take humans whether you like it or not."

"Do that, and I will destroy you." Blaze"s voice was even. "That goes for all of you." He let his gaze go from one king to the next before returning to Thunder.

The other two kings didn"t say a word. Although Coal wasn"t sure if it was because they knew their places. Something was brewing and it was clear that these three had discussed this amongst their selves at length.

Thunder leaned forward in his chair. "You are going to single handedly destroy our species. Just because some human female broke your heart doesn"t-"

"Say one more word and I"ll kill you, so help me..." Blaze stood, tension radiated off of him. On the upside, that pesky tic was gone. He and Thunder stared at each other for what felt like a long time. Coal had to work to remain outwardly calm. To refrain from fidgeting like the others. He was the fire prince and heir to the throne, should anything happen to Blaze.

"This is how it"s going to go down," Blaze said, his voice still calm and even. "I"m going to take one of your sisters. The rest of you can take humans, if it works out, we"ll allow more of our males to take them as well." He sat back down.

Thunder shook his head. He ran a hand through his hair. His blue eyes were bright and filled with a mult.i.tude of emotions including anger, frustration and longing.

"Deny the males human females and it"s a sure fire way to an uprising. Do you want to be overthrown by your own dragons?" Granite"s deep voice reverberated around the large room.

"It wouldn"t happen. One example and the coup attempt would be at an end." Blaze narrowed his eyes. "We need to make it clear that their turn will come. Patience."

"Their patience is waning." Granite"s brother, the earth prince, piped up. "Our males get two opportunities per year to be with a female. They are driven to mate and to reproduce. The testosterone in the air is nauseating. I haven"t been with a female for months so I can relate." His neck muscles bulged. He was a second prince, as was the case with the water prince. It was puzzling that he was here. It was protocol for the first princes to be present at such occasions.

"I thought I could scent something odd." The earth king choked out a laugh and some of the tension in the room eased. Even Blaze managed a half smile.

"It"s enough to drive even the most level headed male completely insane." Granite took a sip of wine from his goblet. "They will not wait."

"What do you propose?" Blaze c.o.c.ked his head and raised his brows.

"We need to stick with tradition. All of our males need to be afforded the same opportunity despite their standing within the tribe," the earth king said.

"The hunt," Coal muttered.

Blaze nodded. He looked like he was deep in thought. Coal couldn"t believe that his brother was actually considering this. Human mates. It was absurd. Humans were far lesser beings. So far below the dragon shifter species. They were small and weak. Coal had never once contemplated going on a stag run. Why, when there were two perfectly good females in their tribe and several more scattered across the kingdoms? He was lucky to have been born a prince. Human females for the lessers maybe, but for the royals, it was a travesty.

Lately, he and Scarlet had been spending more and more time together. The female had hinted about wanting to become his mate. They were discussing the possibility. The only downside was that she was infertile. The female had never gone into heat and probably never would. Granite was right when he said that they had a built-in need to reproduce. Coal wasn"t immune to this drive but neither did he want a human. Scarlet would make a good mate. She would keep his bed warm, his hearth lit. He enjoyed rutting her and... making conversation. She was adequately attractive. No sparks flew when they were together but that wasn"t important. What more did a male need?

His mind immediately moved to thoughts of emotions. His sister had often spoken of love. Of long lingering looks. Of one"s heart beating faster when in the presence of another. Of l.u.s.t so all consuming that it was impossible to keep one"s hands to themselves. She spoke of wanting to know everything about another person. What nonsense. He didn"t believe that love truly existed. He certainly didn"t need it.

No. Once they got out of this meeting, he would discuss mating Scarlet with Blaze. Surely his brother wouldn"t refuse him. It wasn"t like he planned on taking her for himself. As the fire king, Blaze was destined for a fertile female. There was no other way.

"Yes," Granite paused for a beat. "The hunt. Tradition and lores cannot be refuted."

Blazed laughed. He shook his head. "You speak of taking humans which is completely against our lores to begin with. Diluting the blood of our species is wrong. Diluting our royal blood is a sacrilege."

"It cannot be helped!" Thunder boomed. "Offer another alternative if you have one. We have no choice." He looked down at his lap, refusing to meet Blaze"s gaze for a few beats.

"I agree." The water king leaned forward. "We need to follow this path. Our warriors deserve mates, as do the rest of us."

"Agreed," Granite added. "We are becoming desperate." He gave a humorless chuckle. Sweat dripped from his brow. There was a nervous tension in the air.

"Taking human mates is the only solution. We cannot take too many at once though, a handful of females. Males who take part in the hunt can win themselves a female. The usual rules will apply including the no fire rule." Thunder looked pointedly at Coal before turning his gaze back on Blaze. "Equal opportunity for all." The fire dragons were the only dragons capable of producing fire.

The idiot actually thought that he, prince of fire, would lower himself and take part in such a hunt? For a human? Hardly a prize. It was absurd.

"Where will we find these females?" Blaze asked. "The vampires advertised in the local newspapers, and females came flocking in droves. We, however, do not possess such luxuries. We need to remain hidden. Humans are not permitted to find out about our existence. We were all but wiped out by the humans two centuries ago and our numbers were strong back then. Humans have always feared us, and rightly so." He looked thoughtful for a moment.

"We may be much stronger but they outnumber us by at least a hundred thousand to one. In today"s age, they have weapons of far greater power. We would be doomed. Back to my original question, where will we find these females?"

Granite smiled. "We"ll simply take them."

"No." Blaze shook his head. "We"re not animals. We"re not in the business of kidnapping females."

"Granite is right," Thunder said. "We have no other option but to take some of these human females. I"ve had scouts on the lookout for the right ones. Young, strong, fertile and-"

"No." Blaze hit his fist against the table. "How will it look when human females suddenly start to go missing? Aside from the implications, it wouldn"t be right. We are an honor bound species, we don"t steal females."

"What if the females were in need of rescuing? What if they were lonely, hungry, dest.i.tute? We can save the females, offer them a better life and in the process, we can save ourselves as well."

"It"s walking a fine line. Just because someone is desperate and lonely, may not mean that they want to become the mate of a dragon shifter. I don"t like it."

The water king shifted in his chair. "It"s not ideal," Torrent conceded. "Though dragon shifters have everything a female could want. We offer them good lives. Females beg me to take them with me when I return from a stag run. It is the same every time without fail."

Granite shrugged. "Maybe we should forget about the hunt and bring females back with us who express an interest in becoming a shifter mate." He raised his brows.

"We"ve discussed this at length," Thunder growled.

Coal felt irritated at this statement. Proof that the three kings had met privately to discuss this. Why the need for all the secrecy?

The air king narrowed his eyes. "It would not work. Males would fight over females. How would we decide who is eligible to take a human mate? It would be difficult to regulate. A good number of human females would go missing and this would draw attention. What if a female was deceptive and left a mate and children behind? It could be disastrous."

"Your last two points are probably the biggest concerns." Blaze looked thoughtful for a second. "It"s a worry regardless of how we proceed."

"Not if we only take females who are dest.i.tute," Thunder said. "My tribe has already earmarked numerous females. None of them have family or even many friends. They would be perfect candidates."

"Perfect candidates to abduct?" Blaze sounded exasperated. "Listen to yourself," he growled.

"To be rescued!" Thunder"s booming voice filled the room.

"Let"s just say that I agree to this hair-brained scheme. I"m not agreeing, I"m just giving the whole thing some thought." He sucked in a breath. "Females would need to be in a bad way and in need of saving. They would need to have everything explained to them and would need to be treated with respect and kindness at all times. Even if a male wins one of these females fair and square, he may not force himself on her. Any male found to be forcing a female will pay with his life. The human would need to agree to being mated and later impregnated. She would need to be a willing partic.i.p.ant at all times."

"Females will be afraid initially. It"s a given." Granite took another glug of wine.

"If a female doesn"t want to be with a male, no matter how hard he tries to win her..." Blaze narrowed his eyes. "Then she will be allowed to leave, to return to her old life."

"No," the air king growled. "She would be able to reveal our existence."

"Let"s hope that our males are capable of winning the hearts of these females." Blaze smiled. "To be honest though, I don"t like the idea in general, whether they can make them fall for them or not. The bloodlines have to be considered. I"m not ready to commit to a yes to such a widespread mating of human females."

"It"s not their hearts that we"re interested in." Thunder smiled even wider.

"Females are emotional, humans are so much worse. That"s why I"m infinitely glad I"m not taking a human mate. Thunder..." He looked the male head on. "Bring your sisters when you return tomorrow. I would like to meet with them. I hope that one of them will agree to becoming my mate."

Thunder"s face clouded. He looked both angry and nervous. By the sheen of sweat on his brow and his suddenly pale complexion, Coal would definitely say that he was nervous. "I was very angry when I found out about your sister"s pregnancy."

"As was I." Blaze didn"t take his eyes off the male for a second. Their sister, Ruby had been promised to the air king. The deal was that Thunder would take Ruby and in return, Blaze could choose a fertile air princess to mate with. Unfortunately, Ruby had other plans and had become pregnant with a vampire male"s child. They were mated and happy but things were clearly still heated between the fire and air kingdoms. Thunder had not been happy about the news.

The male in question leaned forward. "I may have made some rash decisions, but you can"t blame me." Thunder"s eyes were wide and he spoke too quickly.

Oh no.

Coal could sense that whatever Thunder was about to say was not going to be good.

Blaze nodded, urging the other king to continue.

"I gave my sisters to the earth and the water princes, it..." No wonder the second princes were in attendance. No d.a.m.ned wonder. Coal clenched his hands into fists.

Blaze slowly stood up. The tic was back and with a vengeance. Blaze banged his hands on the table. "You did what?" His voice was low and deep.

If what Thunder was saying was true, then there were no more available fertile dragon females left in all four kingdoms. The fire dragons were at risk. Huge risk. Thunder sucked in a deep breath. "I did what I felt was right. There will be humans and they-"

Blaze threw his head back and roared. At once, the room was engulfed in scorching flames. Chairs crashed and furniture smashed. By the time Blaze was finished, they all had first degree burns. Thunder was missing limbs and only barely alive.

The laundry room was cramped. Clean linen lined the shelved walls. The low hum of washing machines and dryers could be heard in the background. "Room 211 is demanding a clean." Her supervisor looked at her watch. "You"ve got twenty minutes to get over there and to get it done."

Julie had to refrain from rolling her eyes. She pursed her lips together, holding back a choice response. "I was just there. He had a DND sign up," she finally pushed out. "That"s why I called and asked to be given another room to clean." As a temp, she only got paid for the rooms she cleaned and then only after one of the managers checked them once they had been returned back into the system. If there were any errors in any of the suites, a percentage was deducted from her pay. Julie needed to clean a minimum of sixteen rooms per shift. That gave her an average of twenty-five minutes a room. She couldn"t afford any errors. Literally.

Callie huffed out a breath, looking irritated. "Well, he"s changed his mind." She raised her brows. "Now, do you want to keep arguing or should I give this unit to one of the ladies on the next shift?"

Callie was the best of the bunch. Most of the supervisors treated the temps like slave labor. They got the worst rooms. They had to work like dogs to earn something of an income. It wasn"t fun and it certainly wasn"t fair but Julie had never had it any other way. This was her life. "I"m on it." She pushed the brake on her trolley and made her way back up the hall.

"Oh and, Julie," Callie called after her.

She turned. "Yeah?"

"Pack up and clock out when you"re done. I need to fetch Harry from school today so I can"t hang around to wait on you."

"No problem."

"You sure?"

"No sweat." Julie gave a rea.s.suring nod of the head.

"Okay then." Callie nodded back.

Julie continued down the hall. Callie was a single mom. She wasn"t really allowed to leave until everyone had checked out but her life was one big juggling act. Rules sometimes had to be broken. Julie understood that more than most.

It was a bit of a haul to the staff elevator. Julie walked as fast as the outdated housekeeping trolley would allow. It had one squeaky wheel and if she wasn"t careful the door would open and the amenity drawers would fall out. Every minute she had to work over time to get this room done would be for free. The hotel only paid for time spent on rooms cleaned within the allotted shift and then only if they were perfect. She sighed.

By the end of this month, she"d be up to date with her rent and then she could start saving. Julie had moved plenty as a kid. They were all small towns just like Walton Springs. There had to be more. There was a whole world out there to explore. Big cities. Beautiful views. Breathtaking sunsets. So much adventure just waiting. She was done with small time. Done with small towns.

She"d never flown in an airplane, much less been to another country. Once she saved up enough though, she was leaving. Suddenly the trolley didn"t feel as heavy or the lift so slow. One day... one day soon. She just needed to get out of this hole and ahead enough to be able to save. It was going to happen.

Julie gave a double knock on the door. Room 211. "Housekeeping," she announced. There was no answer so she tried again. Maybe the guest had gone out.

She cracked the door open. "Housekeeping." She said again before entering with her spray bottle and cloth in hand. The c.u.mbersome trolley stayed in the hallway. It would be a simple matter of returning to it for new supplies such as bedding and amenities when needed.

"Oh G.o.d." She covered her eyes and backtracked. "I"m so sorry," she mumbled.

The guy was middle aged and not bad looking. He had an athletic build and salt and pepper hair. He was also completely naked as the day he was born. Her cheeks heated. Floor please open up and swallow me whole.

Why call for housekeeping if you plan on changing just then? Also, when someone announces themselves at the door, respond and ask them to wait.

"Don"t be silly," the guy said. "Ignore me, do your thing, I"ll be dressed in a moment. We"re both adults."