Chapter 2

2

Alluresh

M y beast tore through the double insulated wall without thought, his claws like flashing swords, his spiked tail thrashing in the wake.

The sliver of rationality I still had left sat deep inside me. It looked on and said, This isn't right. You're out of control.

The words made no sense to my beast. My mind-voice sounded like the errant whispers of a wind that murmured nonsense to my dragon as he scuttled through the rubble and spread his wings.

Currents flowed under his webbing, lifting us up. He turned his head to look down at my castle and estate below. It gleamed silver and gold in the glaring sunlight. Beautiful with every amenity. But it meant nothing to me right now. All I could feel was the heat building up inside him.

He opened his mouth. The ball of flame roared from his throat, a satisfying burn.

The fire burst upon the air, dissipating slowly into ash that floated like black snow down to the earth.

He flew up, circled, then pumped his wings hard and headed toward the sea. His thoughts were chaos, but I could make out a few. If he flew far enough over the water, he might tire and drop into the depths never to be seen again. The idea was briefly soothing to us both. To feel those cool salt waves washing over us. To close our eyes to the darkness and let it embrace us. But I didn't want to die. Self-preservation always won with my dragon. Even when we felt the wild call to leave everything behind and just go go go, we always came back. We always took control, repaired the damage, ran our businesses with emotionless efficiency. Me and my dragon.

His name was Allure. I was Alluresh.

With my name, my reputation and my funds, I should have been able to attain everything I wanted, including friends, companions, lovers. Instead, I lived alone. The reason? I was different from other alpha dragon shifters. While they controlled their dragons and lived fairly peaceful lives under the rigid rules of the flight, I did not. Allure controlled me. I had little say as to when or where he would shift, fearsome and angry and wanting to burn. I was the animal in our relationship. Merely the human who could make things happen financially for our comfort. But everything else was under the control of Allure. At least, it seemed that way.

No one wanted to be around me. Even my employees in my many companies quivered and quavered if they had to talk to me in person. Good thing technology allowed for Facetime and messaging. I could work from home and keep things running much more smoothly.

For two hours, Allure flew until I felt the steam and frustration subside. He dipped his claws in the sea's white froth. He let out his cries to the silent clouds. He cast my fireballs harmlessly about.

Finally, we returned home.

Allure shifted mid-landing and my legs collapsed beneath me. I caught my breath, feeling for any broken bones. Not today.

Slowly, I stood before the side of my house assessing the damage.

"This is going to cost us a fortune," I mumbled.

Good thing we have many fortunes, human.

With a sigh, I walked around the front and let myself in through the tall, double doors.

I secluded myself in my home office when the construction crew came to do the repairs. They were used to working on my house, used to me and my eccentricities, but still much more comfortable if I wasn't around.

What kinds of dragons fear dragons ? Allure asked.

"Civilized ones," I replied.

He gave an inner snort of disgust. They are weak. They are all still probably sucking at the tits of their omega fathers.

I'd been abandoned at birth, raised in foster care, bottle fed. Never knew our omega father. I didn't think having an omega father made others weak, but Allure did. His feelings flashed through me all the time. Anger. Jealousy. Rage.

I'd told Allure he was scary. Over and over. That was why we were alone. His response was to roar in my mind, which was his way of laughing at all the insipid creatures on earth who were far less worthy and intelligent than he and didn't deserve to be around him. He was strong and fearless. Just fine. Why should he change?

I had to be careful in my thoughts not to rile him up. Then he might crash through the walls of my office, and I'd have even more repairs to contend with. Plus, I liked my office. I'd worked hard to get it the way I wanted it. Bright watercolor art on the walls. West-facing floor to ceiling windows with amazing views of the sunsets over the sea. A private porch. A connecting bathroom complete with a waterfall shower. It was very like my master bedroom, although that room was bigger.

I leaned back in my leather chair and answered an incoming call. It said Noah .

We'd been in foster care together for all of two years, but he insisted on fantasizing he was my brother and called me mostly for favors, for money, or to get me to participate in his seedy dealings.

We rarely saw each other in person. We weren't close. But he liked to pretend.

I poked the screen to answer the call and his face appeared before me.

"Hey there, Al."

"Hey, Noah. What is it this time?"

"Heads up. Got a set-omega auction going on tomorrow. Cuties from all over ready to breed. I know you never come to them, but you're not getting any younger and you need an heir."

"Are you calling me old? I'm thirty-six."

He laughed.

In truth, dragons lived longer lives than most shifters. The oldest I'd ever heard of was 250. Dragon average was 200. Most shifters had an average lifespan of 140.

"You don't have to marry him. Just buy him, keep him for a while until you breed him when he goes into heat, then claim the child. Then you can put him back on the auction block."

My stomach twisted at the thought of leaving the omega father behind to never see his own child. Plus, breeding farms were not great lives for set-omegas, but they existed because of backward dragon thinking that heirs needed to be genetic. That was why adoption rates were low and why Noah and I had experienced such rough childhoods.

"I just don't like the idea of it."

I like it.

"You'll never meet any omega the way you stay at home all the time. Your best bet is to buy a set-omega. Come on. It won't hurt you to just drop by and take a look. For your wily dragon's sake, if nothing else."

Let's go look at the omegas. I insist. He's right. We need an heir.

"No thanks, Noah. Not this time."

"If you change your mind, the event's at Daraja's by the Sea at three tomorrow. You know your dragon will love it, so you won't have to worry about controlling him. He'll be happy and distracted by the young beauties on the block waiting to be snatched."

"Thanks for the invite. Have a good time."

I ended the call before he could say another word.

We're going, right?

"No."

Hmm. You do love this office, don't you? It would be too bad if I shifted right now to go fly off my frustration.

My fingers tingled. The first sign of shifting against my will was the emergence of claws.

"Don't you do it."

You'll give me what I want?

"You never even talk about omegas or mating."

Neither do you. It doesn't mean we both don't think about it. You, late at night. Thinking I'm asleep. That's my paw on your cock, too.

"So? We're the same person. We don't have any secrets. You don't think things through. I do. We'd have to bring the omega home to live with us. Keep him on an ankle alarm so he doesn't run away. Make sure he's fed. Has what he needs. All that takes work. Effort. And then when he goes into heat, we have to make sure he's healthy and all that. And consenting."

Consent? With a set-omega breeder you paid for and are keeping against his will?

"Yes, you untamed heathen!"

Mate. Breed. It's natural order. He goes into heat and you take what's yours.

"Which is exactly why I don't want a set-omega."

Why? The thought sounded like a tiny squeak.

"Because I'm afraid that's what you'll do. Take what you think is yours without asking first."

Well, he would be ours. We'd own him. I'm not wrong.

I put my hand to my forehead and rubbed at my temples. "We're not talking about this anymore."

I got up, flopped on my office couch and turned on the TV.

Ohh, cartoons? Let's watch those.

"Sorry. I'm in the mood for anything else but that."