Chapter 2

CHAPTER 2

DRAKE

D rake flew through the crisp morning air, his powerful wings cutting effortlessly through the sky reveling in the freedom of flight. The sun blazed overhead, casting a shimmering light on his emerald-green scales. As he soared above the dense forests of the Alaska Peninsula, the world unfolded beneath him in a tapestry of greens and blues.

The acrid scent of burning wood reached his nostrils and then he saw a thick column of smoke. His heart raced as he recognized the ominous signs of a wildfire. Looking ahead, he saw the flames moving steadily toward the city of Kodiak, the inferno threatening to consume everything in its path.

Drake banked sharply, climbing higher to get a better view. As he ascended above the billowing smoke and dense clouds, he spotted a lone figure against the sky. A female drakaina, her scales a combination of ice blue and silver, was battling the fierce winds, her wings beating with determined force as she tried to shift the direction of the flames.

He could see her struggling, the strength of the fire and wind proving too much for her alone. Without hesitation, Drake angled his wings and flew to her side beating his wings with the same cadence as hers. She glanced over at him, their eyes meeting for a brief moment, a silent understanding passing between them. No words were needed.

The combined force of their efforts began to take effect. Slowly, the direction of the wind shifted, pushing the flames away from the vulnerable city. The wildfire, though still raging, was being diverted toward a less threatening path, away from homes and lives.

The heat from the fire was intense, even at their altitude. The smoke stung Drake's eyes, but he pressed on, driven by a deep sense of duty and the unspoken bond with the drakaina beside him. Together, they flew with precision, their combined might gradually steering the wildfire to safety.

As the fire finally shifted course, Drake felt a surge of relief. Since the immediate threat to Kodiak was over, Drake banked away, using the clouds and smoke to cover his departure. He didn't know the drakaina and was not in the mood to meet or deal with anyone outside of his clan. Making his way through the cloud cover and hot, steamy smoke, he descended rapidly and at great speed, leaving the scene and drakaina behind.

Drake stood before the grand entrance of the distillery, the place that had been the pride of his family for generations. The familiar scent of aging oak barrels and fermenting grains wafted through the air, a comforting reminder of his heritage. But today, he returned with a heavy heart, his mind clouded with the cryptic message he had found earlier.

As he entered his father's old office, now his own, it felt as though someone had been there who shouldn't have been. There was nothing out of place, but he felt there was. Drake tried to shake off the feeling but couldn't quite do it. Looking closer, he noticed a neatly folded note lying with just a corner showing from beneath the desk blotter—its presence subtle yet striking. Drake's heart quickened as he retrieved the paper and unfolded it. The note was typed with stark black letters standing out against the white background:

‘Your father's death may not have been accidental. Look deeper.'

His pulse pounded in his ears as he read the words over and over. The implications were chilling. He had accepted his father had died in a car accident, but now, he questioned whether it had actually been an accident. Determined to get to the bottom of this, he decided to speak with the authorities in their offices in Chignik.

"I understand in your grief that you may have some concerns," said the state trooper. In this part of Alaska, law enforcement, including investigations, falls to the Alaska State Troopers.

"My grief is not at issue here; the cause of my father's death is. I haven't even been able to get a cause of death on his death certificate."

"You have to understand that unless there is a reason to suspect foul play, we issue a provisional death certificate so the family can bury their dead. It is done as a courtesy to the family. If an investigation warrants it, we can always exhume the body…"

The state trooper droned on and on, and Drake tuned him out. At the time of his father's funeral procession, he hadn't even thought about the death certificate. Now, it sounded as though there wasn't anything he could do—at least not legally or officially.

"Do you have a reason to think your father's death was anything but accidental?" asked the trooper, catching Drake's attention.

"Nothing I can put my finger on, but I'm used to being in the military, and until they were convinced they had all the information they needed…" Drake had the note in his pocket but could not bring himself to show it to the state trooper.

"If you'd like us to exhume the body…"

"No," said Drake, knowing that by honoring his father's wishes for his funeral, there wasn't a body to exhume. He continued, "That won't be necessary. As you said, it's probably my own grief. Thank you."

Unwilling to be silenced, Drake returned to the distillery, the note clenched in his fist. He tried going through his contacts in the military but got nowhere. He didn't necessarily think the authorities were trying to cover something up; it was more that they didn't see any reason to investigate. Every attempt to push further was shut down, leaving Drake with more questions than answers.

He pored over the official report of his father's death, scrutinizing every detail. He was able to access some other official files, but most had either been restricted or redacted so heavily that he could get nothing out of them. There was something off, and the harder he pushed, the more convinced his dragon senses told him he was right. There were small gaps in the timeline, inconsistencies in witness statements, and the death certificate itself. The autopsy report looked like a child had gone over it with a permanent marker. Each discovery deepened his belief that there was more to know.

Drake knew he needed help and knew it couldn't be overt or official. He needed someone who could navigate the digital shadows and uncover hidden truths. Drake reached out to Jasmine Chen, a friend whose tech-savvy skills had been invaluable in the past. She was based in Anchorage and agreed to meet him at the distillery, her curiosity piqued by the mystery.

"Jasmine, I need your help in accessing some sealed records," Drake said once she'd arrived, his voice a mix of urgency and determination. "There are too many inconsistencies in the official report of my father's death."

"I'll see what I can find. Give me a moment." Jasmine nodded, her fingers already flying across the keyboard. "Drake, I can probably get into the official files, but some of the files on your father's laptop are encrypted. Do you have any idea what the password might be?"

"Not a clue."

"You don't mind me opening something he wanted to keep closed?"

"I want to know what happened to him. If his death was accidental, so be it, but if not…"

Jasmine nodded. "Got it. Can I take this back to my place in Anchorage? I have equipment there that will help me break the encryption."

"Do I want to follow up on what kind of equipment and why you have it?"

Jasmine grinned at him. "No, you do not. What you want to ask yourself is, do I want my friend Jasmine to get into these files my father had encrypted?"

She'd left with the laptop after copying the files in question over to Drake's system. Once she was gone, Drake's thoughts wandered back to the cryptic note and the authorities' lack of interest in helping him find the truth. His father's death was beginning to look less like an accident and more like a carefully orchestrated event.

Several hours later, his computer alerted him to a video call from Jasmine, whose face lit up, indicating she'd been able to crack through the layers of digital security his father had used.

"Drake, you need to see this," she said, sharing the screen of his father's laptop so he could see what she had found.

The screen displayed a series of documents detailing a sophisticated bourbon counterfeit and smuggling operation. The more he read, the more he realized his father had stumbled upon something dangerous, something that could explain his untimely death.

As the pieces fell into place, Drake felt a mix of anger and sorrow. His father's legacy was now tainted by the possibility of foul play. But he couldn't let it end there. He would uncover the truth, no matter the cost.

That night, as Drake lay in bed, his mind whirling with the revelations of the day, he fell into a restless sleep.

In his dreams, he found himself in a mist-shrouded forest, the air thick with the scent of pine and earth. A figure emerged from the haze, a naked woman with flowing auburn hair and piercing green eyes. She reached out to him, her touch sending a shiver down his spine.

She stood, looking at him like a deer staring into the headlights of an oncoming truck. Drake raced forward, catching her upper arm as she turned to flee. Spinning her around, he pulled her against the hard planes of his body.

"Hands behind your back," he growled.

As sometimes happens in dreams, Drake found he was not only naked and aroused, he also had a piece of leather strapping in his hands. The woman hesitated only briefly before complying. He wrapped it around her wrists and secured her to a gnarled branch of a fallen tree. She pulled at the restraints as concern kicked in. The scent of her fear combined with her arousal was an intoxicating aroma.

"I'm going to fuck you," he rumbled, not sure if he was issuing a warning or a promise.

"No," she said, pulling against the restraints securing her to the tree.

"If you didn't want my cock, you wouldn't have showed up here tonight."

"I don't want it," she pleaded as he rubbed his cock over her pussy.

"Liar," he chuckled, pushing her back so she was sitting on the fallen tree.

Drake rubbed her thighs with his hands, running them up and down as he pulled her legs further apart. As it was his dream, he wasn't all that interested in foreplay. Holding her legs apart, he shoved forward sinking his hard dick into her wet heat. He wasn't gentle, and he didn't care. He slammed into her, drawing back to ram himself deep again. He was fucking her hard because he wanted to and because she wanted him to.

, He'd been an officer in the Navy, and that brought with it a certain level of decorum, but he was no longer in the Navy. He was a dragon-shifter, a wealthy dragon-shifter who was the alpha of his clan, which meant in his territory, he could do whatever he wanted.

His thumb began to rub her clit. "Come for me."

She sucked in her breath, throwing her head back as she called his name as she orgasmed. Drake reached behind her to free her from the restraints. Her entire body convulsed as Drake continued to thrust in and out with an unrelenting rhythm. He needed to stop, to slow down, to let them both catch a breath, but he didn't. He continued rubbing her clit as he drove into her body again and again.

Her inner walls shook and quivered as she grasped his upper arms. Her breath sped up, and the noises she was making became little whimpers as her orgasm began to overtake her despite her wishes to hold out on him.

"Come. Now," he growled.

The woman's body stiffened in anticipation, and she began to pant. Suddenly, he could feel her pussy clamped down on his length as she called his name. He gave a last, ferocious thrust deep inside her, and she screamed in ecstasy, her pussy spasming all along his length, her legs trembling as she writhed in his hold. Her pussy greedily milked his cock. Drake shuddered, savoring every bit of pleasure he could as he held her in his arms.

Rolling away, she whispered, "Find me."

Her voice echoed in the depths of Drake's mind as he woke with a start, the image of the woman lingering in his thoughts. There was something about her, a connection between them he couldn't explain. Longing and foreboding intertwined within him, leaving him restless and more determined than ever. The truth, no matter how painful, would come to light.