Citrine (Date-A-Dragon Book 4) Read online

  Citrine

  Terry Bolryder

  Copyright © 2017 by Terry Bolryder

  All rights reserved.

  No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic or mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Epilogue

  Sample of Lions of Pride Island Boxed Set

  Terry Bolryder Reading Guide

  Chapter 1

  Citrine considered himself the most practical of dragons. He’d never needed a collar. He’d never fallen out of line. He’d done everything the oracle asked of him, helped many dragons find their way, and fought alongside his friends in epic battles with perfect precision.

  He’d never been one to lose control. Considered gentle by some, terrifying by others, he’d always prided himself on being above petty, overwhelming emotions.

  That was before he found his mate.

  He adjusted the radio in the car he’d gotten sick and tired of driving during his searches through the mountainous regions of Washington. When he found nothing but static, he turned the radio off to be alone with his thoughts.

  He was getting close now. So close. And the closer he got, the more his heart pounded in painful memory of the day he’d realized he did have normal emotions.

  That under the right circumstances, even a rational, logical male could be whipped into a storm of rage and frustration that could cause him to act stupidly.

  Thus, he now had a collar around his neck.

  Luckily for him, it was the collar made for the original awakened dragons and would allow partial shifting and use of powers if someone were in danger. If it were the more restrictive collar used for the metal dragons (brute Vikings that they were), then he would be in a lot more trouble.

  Because he was headed into wolf country and an almost sure confrontation with one of their powerful alphas, and he couldn’t afford to lose.

  Not if it meant losing Robbie.

  He ran a hand through his dark, collar-length hair that had become slightly disheveled the past few weeks on the road. Robbie had lied to Kelsie about living only an hour from Seattle. But it made sense that she couldn’t tell a human who had no idea about shifters that there were isolated wolf packs hiding in the deepest pockets of forest nested all around the mountains.

  He hadn’t known about it himself, and he prided himself on knowing a great deal of shifter culture. Then again, there was general knowledge and there was regional knowledge, and—

  He let out a huff and decided that babbling, even in his own head, was unnecessary.

  What would it be like to see her again? What would he say? Was he presentable? He looked in the mirror as he followed the winding road up into the mountains and saw slight dark circles under his eyes.

  It made sense. His mate was out there, possibly being claimed by someone. Possibly alone or hurt or being forced into something she didn’t want.

  She shouldn’t have just left like that. He supposed he hadn’t faced his feelings because he always kept himself tightly locked up and because he’d had a job to do with the other dragons before he could think about his own situation.

  But he’d thought he had time…

  It was getting shadier overhead as the towering trees surrounded the road, which was narrow and bumpy. A few minutes later, light burst through as he pulled into a clearing and saw a small sign pointing right, a road curving up in a circle. He turned onto it, and as he curved around, a tiny town came into view, nestled a little lower amongst trees.

  He pulled an address out of his pocket. The most recent lead he’d gotten from the oracle. If this was the right town… if this was the right place, he would soon be seeing Robbie.

  He continued to drive into the town, looking at the numbers on the quaint, quiet houses, observing the few people walking outside who looked back at him with wary eyes. He didn’t know that he’d ever seen such a small town before.

  Minutes seemed to pass in seconds, and his chest felt tighter as he got closer to his destination. Despite his dragon being restrained inside him, Citrine could feel it roaring. His mate was here, in these woods.

  He kept driving until he got to a private driveway with a gate. He wasn’t sure if he wanted to ring the button, so he parked in the shade, got out of the car, and looked through the bars. A nice, older, largish house stood back from a large garden, set back from the town a little bit.

  He could ring the button by the gate, but he decided he wanted the element of surprise, so he walked to the wall by the side of the gate and scaled it easily, planting one hand at the top and leaping over. He didn’t have dragon strength for nothing.

  He strode up the front drive, staying in the shade of the trees, and when he saw the steps leading up to the front door, slightly chipped by age but so welcoming, he wanted to let out a sigh of relief.

  This was her home. This was where his mate had grown up.

  He took a deep breath, stepped up to the door, and knocked.

  He waited, knowing his knock had come off a little harder than he’d meant, but that was what weeks of waiting and sheer worry did to a male.

  When the door began to open, he prepared himself for the fact that he could see anyone. Her mother. Her father. Her fiancé. He wanted to spit at that word.

  But no, as the door opened, he saw Robbie, and his heart felt as if it breathed a sigh of relief for the first time in so long.

  “Robbie,” he said, relieved. He took a step forward, wanting to pull her into his arms, but she stepped back slightly.

  His eyes narrowed as a man stepped up beside her. He was tall with brown hair and very light-blue eyes, a stocky, tall build characteristic to shifters, and a glint in his eye that said he very much sensed a threat on his territory.

  If this guy thought Robbie was his territory, he had another thing coming.

  “What are you doing here?” she asked, and there was quiet censure in her voice.

  Looking her over, Citrine realized he’d been so overjoyed to see her face that he hadn’t noticed this wasn’t the Robbie he knew so well.

  Instead of bold red lipstick, she wore something soft and pink and translucent. Instead of a bold hairstyle, her dark, curly hair was in a low ponytail. Instead of sky-high heels and a business suit, she was wearing jeans and a soft, oversized flannel shirt that hid her curves.

  But all of that together wouldn’t have bothered him if it didn’t look as though the light had gone out of her eyes.

  “I need to talk to you,” he said.

  She sent him a pleading look. “Citrine… I’m kind of in the middle of something, and—”

  The douchebag at the doorway stepped in front of her and faced Citrine, pushing his chest out. “Yeah. I don’t know who you are, but you can leave.”

  “Bryson, stop it,” Robbie said, showing a little of her old spark as she shoved at the tall bully beside her, pushing him out of the way so she could open the door more fully. She gestured at the room behind her, and Citrine saw two pairs of adults, probably her parents and his parents, sitting on opposite couches in the living room.

  He also noted that her house had pin
k carpet.

  He looked at her again, wondering what she was trying to tell him.

  “I just… I left you a note,” she said. “Your club is fine without me, and if it’s about the damages to the doors, then—”

  “It’s not about the doors,” he snapped, wondering how she could be so obtuse. Of course, she didn’t know anything about what he’d been doing since she’d left. How hard he’d struggled, how much he’d fought to realize his own feelings. How much he missed her and how determined he was to win her back.

  She only knew what was going on in her home. And that appeared to be some kind of in-law meeting ceremony.

  The brute glared at him from beside Robbie. “You’re on the wrong doorstep.”

  “No,” Citrine said with a hard glare of his own. He took another step forward. He wasn’t afraid of this wolf. This dog. “I’m exactly where I belong.”

  “But I—”

  “Are you Robbie’s fiancé?”

  The brute nodded.

  “Then I’m here to extend an alpha challenge.”

  Bryson’s eyes widened, and he stuttered. “You’re joking.”

  Robbie, like the others in the house, was staring, agape.

  “I’m not.” Citrine closed the space until he was nose to nose with the other man. “Robbie is going to be my mate.”

  Chapter 2

  Robbie stared, heart aching, at the man on the doorstep. He was standing face to face with her fiancé, both men practically snarling, and had said words she’d never expected to come out of his mouth.

  Citrine was always—well, usually—calm. Rational. Non-confrontational. A peacemaker. Right now he looked ready to go to war, and for her.

  It just confused her, because although there had always been attraction to him when they’d worked together, neither had ever acted on it. They’d flirted, yes, and been good friends, but she’d never thought he felt something deeper.

  Sure, maybe he’d starred in a few of her more intense fantasies, but that was a Robbie from another day, another time, another world.

  That was a Robbie who wasn’t weighed down by responsibilities to protect the pack and her family, to do right by those who counted on her.

  They had given her some time in the world to experience life in a big city, to have freedom, and then when she’d seen Bryson and members of his pack in Seattle, she’d known her time was limited. As much as her parents wanted her to see the world, Bryson wouldn’t want to wait too long to mate her.

  As an alpha female, it was already risky to stay unmated. She had to wear constant masking pheromones when out in the world so no shifters discovered her. The scent of an alpha female could drive any nearby wolf into a frenzy of lust. That was part of why her family wanted to see her mated.

  The other part was because Bryson, with his powerful family and their much larger pack and town a little ways away, could provide protection for her and her town. And also, if she had turned him down, his pack would probably keep harassing theirs.

  Wolf packs didn’t naturally get along, but mating an alpha from each tended to bond them.

  And if it wasn’t him, it would need to be another alpha male. Considering how rare alpha females were, she wouldn’t be allowed to go unmated.

  As it were, no one dared to challenge Bryson, so she’d been off-limits. He was one of the most powerful wolves in the state, if not the country.

  So what was Citrine, presumed to be human, doing here in wolf country, proposing a fight that could end in death, over a woman he’d never even been on a date with?

  “I intend to remedy that,” Citrine said.

  She snapped her gaze to him, breaking the tension. “What?”

  “I was talking to myself,” he said. His eyes were so beautiful, almond shaped, and turned up at the corners. Lushly lashed. A deep, warm color like a yellow and orange sunrise. His face was masculine and handsome with a hard, angular jaw and high cheekbones. Straight, prominent nose. Full, pouting lips. Dark, thick hair that shone in the sun, layered from jaw to collar.

  He was wearing a tunic, as usual, with linen pants, and despite his extreme height and impressive musculature, he didn’t look anything like the other males around here.

  She wondered what the villagers were going to think of him.

  Her dad came to the door and nudged Bryson aside. He’d been a powerful alpha in his day, and she knew he held no particular love for her fiancé.

  He extended a hand to Citrine. “Nice to meet you. My name is Robert. Why don’t you come in?”

  Citrine nodded sharply and walked in as Robbie and Bryson stepped back, clearing the way.

  She wondered what he thought of the homey furnishings. The faded pink carpet, the hand-painted white furniture. The dark-green drapes. But Citrine was far more focused on her. His gaze only darted around as Robert made introductions and then went back to her as if he were hungry in a way that only seeing her could sate.

  It was a look she’d never seen from him, and it made her shiver down to her toes.

  But there was still the subject of this stupid alpha challenge to address. No one was going to let him do this, were they?

  Citrine took a chair in the living room, and they all sat back down, Bryson with his parents and Robbie with hers. Citrine hadn’t come a moment too soon, because they’d been discussing final arrangements for a full moon ceremony.

  Bryson’s parents looked at one another agitatedly. They didn’t have their son’s bullying, abrasive nature, but they clearly felt entitled to this partnership and didn’t like the idea of anyone coming in the middle of it.

  Bryson’s father, Ernest, sat back. “This is highly irregular.”

  Bryson’s mother, Edna, agreed. “He isn’t from any pack I recognize. Look at his eyes.” She shook her head, blond curls bouncing. “No. He can’t challenge. Who knows what he is?”

  “How do you know about us?” Robbie asked quietly. She couldn’t wait for them both to just be alone and talk without everyone there. She’d missed all of her friends, maybe him the most, and longed for news of them.

  Even though his attempt to come here and save her from what he probably thought was an unwanted marriage was going to fail, she could at least enjoy seeing him.

  “I just do,” he said. “But I’ve looked into your bylaws and there is no rule about who can challenge.”

  “You aren’t a human, are you?” Robert asked, glaring over at him.

  Citrine shook his head. “No. But I reserve the right to not say more about what I am in order to not give any unfair advantage to my opponent. After all, I’m told alpha wolves don’t tell anyone their powers, so why should I?”

  Bryson scoffed. “As if I care. I could beat you in a second. But I want my mate this full moon, not the next.”

  “Too bad,” Robbie’s mom, Livvy, said with a shrug. “An alpha challenge can only take place at a full moon, so the wedding would have to happen beyond that. And I assume this young man has studied our rules enough to know that.”

  Citrine nodded.

  Robbie let out a stifled sigh. Was this really happening? If it was, she should stop it.

  But like a train running off a broken bridge, that didn’t seem possible.

  “I assure you I know what I’m doing,” Citrine said. “And if you won’t allow me to participate, I will get higher levels involved.”

  “This is outrageous,” Ernest said, standing, his cheeks flushing angrily. “This is just another excuse to delay after you’ve already kept Bryson waiting.”

  “You want to defy shifter law?” Robert asked.

  That shut Ernest up, and he sat, fuming. “So what now?”

  “I suppose we figure out the details of how we’re going to do this,” Livvy said, sounding resigned. But Robbie could swear she heard just a hint of relief in her mother’s voice.

  Maybe she wasn’t that into her mating with Bryson after all?

  Bryson stood, face going the color of a cherry tomato. He glared at his parents,
balling his hands into fists. “You’re going to let them do this? They’ve already let this get way out of hand. They’ve let her run around like a—”

  Her dad let out a hiss and he and Citrine stood angrily at the same time, then looked at each other in surprise. Her father was the first to step forward.

  He motioned to Bryson.

  “I think tempers are running high, and you need to go. We’ll talk with our new visitor and contact you about terms.”

  Bryson’s expression got angrier, if possible, and he tried to get around Robert to jab a finger at Citrine. “If you think I’m going to leave while he’s here, you’ve got another thing coming.”

  Robert backed him up toward the door. He was a smaller wolf, but right now that didn’t matter. Bryson looked mildly terrified as the older alpha backed him toward the door.

  “This is still my house,” Robert snarled. “I still decide what happens here, who stays here, and who gets to even be considered by my daughter. There are laws, and then there’s my right as a father to stomp anyone who dares disrespect my family or my pack.” He looked over at Bryson’s parents. “All of you out, now.”

  The three of them hustled out, looking various levels of offended, and Robbie put a hand over her mouth, trying not to laugh.

  A part of her was shocked because she’d never seen her normally mild-mannered dad stand up for her like that. She was a little proud of him.

  She felt a heat on her like mild sunshine and looked over to see Citrine was still staring at her. With those intensely hungry eyes.

  Had that hunger been there all along and she just hadn’t seen it?

  She looked at her mother and father apologetically. “Can I talk to both of you later? I need some time with him alone.”