6. Edward

Running into her at the minimarket had been a stroke of luck. Seeing her needing help even more so.

Up close she was far more beautiful than how she appeared at night and through my dragon eyes. Her eyes were the most brilliant aquamarine and so deep, I could have stared into them for hours without tiring.

She was also much smaller than I had expected her to be after seeing her last night. Small and delicate, with a fine bone structure that made her seem even more fragile. In a way, she reminded me of the swans she hung out with. The white in her hair was the same color, just a tad more silver. She moved with the grace of those birds as well. For a moment I even thought she would take flight to reach the canister on the upper shelf. That was nonsense of course, but considering, stranger things had happened.

Never before had I wanted to get to know somebody as badly as I wanted to get to know her. And it wasn’t all lasciviousness that drove me, there was a strange vulnerability about her that made me want to pull her into my arms and assure her that everything would be alright, that I would protect her.

Watching her walk away from me was hard no matter how much I admired the way she moved, and yes, her luscious curves and inviting ass. Those curves! Despite her seeming frailty, she was generously curved where it mattered the most.

Judging by how the other men in the market stared at her, I wasn’t the only one who had noticed. Which awakened another emotion in me that I had never before experienced before, and it wasn’t born from protectiveness. This one came from deeper inside me, a sense of proprietary. She was mine!

Along with it, more urges rose to the surface, violent urges. My hands balled into fists, ready to slam into these men for staring at her. That realization stunned me enough not to run after her. Instead, I rushed out of the store without buying any of the things I came in for, worried some deep-buried inner demon would crawl out from the depths of my soul and take over, allowing my fists to fly like they wanted to, beating every single man to a pulp for just looking at her. Worse yet, my skin was itching as if my dragon was ready to take over, despite the fact that it was daytime.

The possibility of that happening had me running for my truck and jumping into the seat, slamming the door as if the hounds of hell were after me.

My heart was racing so fast, I feared I might succumb to a heart attack. What in the name of hell was happening to me?

When my breathing and heart rate finally slowed down enough that I regained some semblance of self-control, I turned the motor on, ready to return to the jobsite.

At least until my eyes caught sight of black and silvery hair coming out of the store, carrying bags that seemed way too heavy for her.

I pulled the truck around and next to her. “Hey again.”

Surprised, she looked up.

“I can give you a ride, that looks heavy,” I offered.

Her eyes darted in the direction of the graveyard and I sensed she would decline even before she shook her head. She didn’t want me to know her destination.

“Let me at least help you carry all that stuff,” I couldn’t stop from offering next.

She lifted the bags playfully, as if they weighed nothing, which was a lie, because I glimpsed at least six bottles of water. She did make it seem effortless though, and I wondered if she was stronger than she appeared. She had to be.

Her fingers wiggled in a futile wave between the shopping bag handles and she walked off. Without acting like a stalker I would have to let her go, I decided reluctantly. Unable to let her just be though, I put the truck in neutral and watched her lone figure cross the road toward the woods. I kept an eye on her until she vanished between the trees and I was sure nobody else was following her. At least I knew her destination. I would see her again tonight and I would make a point to visit the minimarket more often in hopes of catching her there again.

The day wore on and started wreaking havoc on my nerves. I was unable to concentrate on anything and worried about the decision I made. Even Jack looked at me funny and asked me a few times if I was alright.

Against my nature, I pulled out from the construction side earlier than anybody else to head home, even though there was nothing to distract me from my desire to see her again either.

Instead of reading my emails, I found myself on a website that taught sign language. I doubted she knew it, she hadn’t made any attempts to articulate with her hands, besides the obvious gestures. Still, it gave me something to do, something that connected me to her.

Who was she?

That question burned foremost on my mind. She had appeared from seemingly out of nowhere, straight into my life, turning it upside down with little to no effort on her part.

She was beautiful and mysterious, and had already enchanted me more than should be possible.

I considered the possibility of her having come from Screaming Woods or Fable Forest, but dismissed it. Few left those towns, knowing that not many of us on the Outside—as they called it—accepted them. Oh, the outsiders might go there on a vacation or weekend trip to stare and brag to their friends about how they had seen a monster or two, but nobody wanted to live right next door to an orc. Or listen to the howling of a werewolf at night.

Or see the shadow of a dragon shifter, ran through my head. If that was what I was now.

With that thought, a knot formed in my stomach. How could I even consider pursuing a woman in my condition? Condition? Is that what you call it now? my mind challenged, chuckling mockingly. I told it to shut up, I needed to think.

No, there was no way I could ask any woman, especially her, to spend her life with a dragon shifter, a cursed dragon shifter.

Yet, as soon as the sun lowered, I drove out to the woods where I parked my truck in a secluded spot, took off my clothes, and waited for the familiar itch on my skin that announced my shifting into a dragon.

It wasn’t as painful anymore as the first time had been, or maybe my pain threshold had changed. The moment my body was fully turned, I spread my wings and lifted off into the sky.

I landed in a tall pine, aware that it swayed precariously under my weight, and worried the movement might give me away, but the moment my eyes fell on her, all worries left me.

She was like a fresh breeze, like a beautiful rose amid a field filled with… nettles.

Just like last night, she moved gracefully through the rows of gravestones, picking nettles and filling her bag with them. I shuddered at the pain she had to be experiencing and the question why, replayed in my head on repeat.

One of the swans flew up to her, landed elegantly next to her, and nudged her with its beak. She turned and moved her hand through the feathers, leaving streaks of blood that made a fire roar in me.

The next morning I left a pair of heavy construction gloves by the entrance to the church.

When I returned at night, I was pleased to see her wearing them. The picking appeared to be more laborious with the gloves, but at least they protected her.

Wondering what I could leave for her next, I watched her all night long and noticed how now and then a swan came by to give her company. I couldn’t be sure, but I would have sworn on a stack of Bibles that each one of the eleven made an appearance.

My mysterious stranger was becoming more mysterious by the day.