The DRAGON Gene: A Sensational Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance (WereGenes Book 1) Read online

  I took a sip of my wine, thinking how I’d never willingly enter the Bloodborn Federated States for any amount of money. Not after how many people they’d hurt and killed waging their war.

  Setting my wineglass down and picking up my fork, I asked Matt if Ronnie had just simply entered the BFS under the guise of being a gene-positive woman, then.

  Matt said yes, that it had been just that easy. “One of the fake documents we had made for her was one stating that she’s gene-positive, which isn’t incorrect. She is gene-positive, but for the bear-shifter gene, so we just changed that little fact and gave her one of the documents that women get when they’re found to be dragon gene-positive. The document was completely authentic, and the Bloodborns didn’t question anything. Ronnie basically waltzed right in, was paired with one of the higher-ranking Bloodborns, and spent the next few months pretending to be a dutiful wife, desperately trying to get pregnant to send a big financial bonus to her family back in the States. That pregnancy never happened, though, because Ronnie had to get a hysterectomy in her early twenties to combat a rare, aggressive form of cancer. So, once she felt like she’d gotten all the information she needed about the Bloodborns and their plans to attack us here in Greenwood and claim more territory, she simply stole a boat in the dead of night, sped across Lake Superior, and rejoined her family in the U.P. And it was really just that easy. Thinking that Ronnie’s eye was on money, and that she’d have to reason to try to leave BFS territory until she got it, the Bloodborns weren’t guarding her, or suspecting her of anything at the time. The beauty of the whole thing is that I’m sure they have no idea where she went, either. Her faked documents listed her residence as a tiny town in Montana that’s now a ghost town.”

  I was just about to ask Matt if Ronnie was able to provide any information about precisely when the Bloodborns might attack Greenwood, but just then, his phone dinged with a text alert, and he pulled it from his pocket, apologizing.

  “I’m afraid I’m probably late for a meeting with my lieutenants to fill them in on what I learned today, and I bet this is one of them, wanting to know where I am. Just one second.”

  After saying that yes, the text was indeed from one of his lieutenants, Matt quickly sent a return text, pocketed his phone, and hurriedly ate the last few bites of his chicken before washing it all down with the last of his whiskey.

  He then rose from the table, knelt down beside my chair, and took my hands in his own. “All this Bloodborn stuff, Kylie…I don’t want you to worry about a thing. I don’t know when they’re going to attack, but no matter when they do…whether that’s days from now or a month or even longer…no matter when it is, I will always protect you. I won’t let any of them hurt you. I promise.”

  I nodded. “I know you’ll protect me…and now that I know about this impending attack, I think I understand a little better why you didn’t want to start a ‘love thing’ with me. You’re worried about losing me in a Bloodborn attack, aren’t you?”

  Frowning a little, Matt didn’t respond right away. “I guess that’s part of it…but I’m confident that my men and I can defend this village and everyone in it. I’m confident that we can keep the fighting to the skies, so that nobody ‘down here’ gets hurt. That isn’t to stay that I’m not still extremely concerned about your safety during an attack because I am…but I guess when I think about us getting further into a ‘love thing’ and then losing you, I’m more afraid of some unknown. Something completely unanticipated that will tear us apart or turn you against me or something. I don’t know. It’s hard to explain. It’s just that sometimes when I look into your eyes, I get this strangely familiar feeling…just like some sort of indefinable heaviness in my heart, and I don’t know why, but it’s not you.”

  “Well, do my eyes remind you of anyone else’s that you’ve ever known? Maybe someone you once fought with or something.”

  Matt gazed into my eyes right then, frowning hard. “I don’t know. They are somehow kind of familiar to me.”

  I wanted to pick his brain about this all and see if I could jog his memory about some confrontation he might have had with a person with blue eyes similar to my own. However, before I could, Matt’s phone dinged with one text alert, immediately followed by another, and he said he had to go.

  “I know my men are anxiously waiting to hear if they might have to do battle sometime soon or not.”

  I said I understood, and Matt gave me a quick kiss, rose to his feet, and began striding out of the dining room, but then, he suddenly stopped and turned toward me, wincing.

  “I forgot about Uncle Dan.”

  “Who?”

  “A man in the village…everyone calls him Uncle Dan because he’s just kind of a benevolent, uncle-like presence to everyone. To make a very long story short, he was leader of a community of ‘closeted’ dragon shifters here in Michigan before the war, before the public even knew about shifters. During the war, that community was destroyed, so he came here as an advisor of sorts to me when I became leader of Greenwood. Anyway, he and I are pretty close, and when I ran into him in the square this afternoon, he said he wanted to meet you, but he didn’t want to come over during dinner because he thought that as a newly-paired couple, we might want to eat alone to get to know each other better. So, instead, he suggested that he bring over dessert to share with us tonight around seven-thirty, and I said that sounded great, completely forgetting that I was going to schedule a meeting with my lieutenants. I’m really sorry, Kylie. I don’t want you to have to entertain a stranger alone, so I can certainly give him a quick call to cancel if you’d like.”

  I told him not to even think about that. “I’d love to meet Uncle Dan, and this way, we can talk one-on-one and really get to know each other.”

  Clearly relieved, Matt strode over to me, saying thanks, and then pressed a final kiss against my lips before striding out of the dining room and out of the house.

  Having been sitting patiently by the table the entire meal, Shadow and Charlie now took Matt’s absence as their cue to start up with some begging, which they both did while looking irresistibly cute. Since they had been very patient, I gave them each a snow pea and a bite of chicken, with a few carrot coins as a bonus. And judging by the way they both furiously gobbled each item up, they thought Matt’s homemade teriyaki sauce was just as delicious as I did.

  A while later, I’d just started the dishwasher when my phone dinged with a text alert. After pulling my phone out of my jeans pocket, I saw that the text was from Amy and began reading it.

  Hey…I CANNOT BELIEVE we didn’t discuss this today. Did you ask Matt if he knows your bio dad, and if so, does he live in the village?

  I’d never gasped reading a text in my life before, but now I did. I gasped so loudly that if anyone had been present with me, they probably would have come flying over to see what was wrong. As it was, I’d made Charlie leap up from where he’d been snoozing on a plush dog bed in one corner of the kitchen.

  With my phone-holding hand beginning to tremble slightly, I told him everything was okay. “I’m just an utter and total ass is all. But it’s all okay, buddy. Just lie back down.”

  Seemingly with a little reluctance, he did, not looking entirely convinced that all was really okay.

  After leaning over the island for support, because my knees had begun to feel shaky and weak, I went back to my phone and quickly typed out a return text to Amy. You are not going to believe this, but Seth literally hasn’t crossed my mind ONCE since we’ve gotten here to Greenwood, until you just sent me that text. I’ve just had my mind on too many other things. So, no…I haven’t asked Matt about him yet. And all this wouldn’t be so bad, but…Amy, please don’t judge me…Matt and I just slept together this afternoon.

  I might have slept with my own HALF-BROTHER, or a COUSIN or something. Omg. Omg. Omg. Help. And by the way, this means that since I’m not on birth control, I could be pregnant with a BLOOD RELATIVE’S BABY. What do I do?

  Hitting send on
the text, I felt like I might soon be sick.

  After a minute or two, which I’d spent leaning over the island with my head in my hands, I received a return text from Amy. First of all, don’t panic. You and Matt look far too dissimilar to be half-siblings or even cousins. Trust me on this, Ky. The two of you just look FAR TOO DISSIMILAR. So, relax. Also, keep in mind that the chances of Matt somehow being related to your bio dad are realistically probably somewhere in the neighborhood of one-in-a-million, if not greater. Second of all…is Matt home right now?

  I responded back saying no, he wasn’t, and soon received another text from Amy.

  Never mind that—I just realized he’s at the lieutenant’s meeting, because that’s where Mack is. Matt’s phone is possibly off because of the meeting, but just call or text him anyway, and just describe Seth, and just come right out and ask Matt if he knows him. And then get back to me when you can.

  I answered back saying that I would, and then typed out a text to Matt.

  Hey…emergency question. I’ll tell you what this is all about later, but please text me an answer as soon as you possibly can. Do you know a dragon shifter named Seth? He’d be in his mid-forties or thereabouts, and he has a crescent-shaped scar above one eyebrow. I don’t know if it would have faded by now. Sandy blond hair. Tall and well-built. Used to go by the nickname of “Puff.” Please text me back right away when you get this. Thanks.

  Having been calmed, at least somewhat, by Amy’s assurances that Matt and I looked far too dissimilar to be related, I waited patiently for a few minutes, with my heart rate returning to somewhere near normal, before assuming that Matt probably did have his phone off. By this time, Charlie was nuzzling my ankles, still not seeming convinced that all was okay, and I knelt down and began rubbing his head, telling him that I was just fine.

  “I hope I will be, anyway. I hope Matt and I will be.”

  Just then, a knock sounded at the front door, and I realized that I’d completely forgotten about Uncle Dan coming over with dessert. Not really wanting to visit in my state of anxiety, but knowing that I’d feel incredibly rude begging off now that he’d already arrived, I got to my feet and took a few deep, steadying breaths on my way to the front door, not knowing that I’d have all the information I needed about Seth within just a few minutes.

  *

  When I opened the door, I found that Uncle Dan was somehow exactly as I’d pictured him, not that I’d had much to go on. Kind of on the shorter side, maybe somewhere around five-foot-six or seven, he had snow-white hair and matching mustache and beard, which made him look a bit like Santa Claus, especially considering that he was a bit portly, with a well-rounded stomach. If I’d had to guess his age, I would have said somewhere around seventy.

  Displaying a warm personality to go along with his Santa Claus looks, he immediately gave me a warm smile, and said hello. “You must be Kylie.”

  Smiling, I said that I was. “And you must be Uncle Dan.”

  The dogs had been fighting to get past me to see our visitor from the moment I’d opened the door, and now exuberant little Charlie wriggled past my legs to greet Uncle Dan, barking joyfully.

  A short while later, with the dogs now fairly calm, Uncle Dan and I sat up to the island to enjoy mugs of tea and large squares of the dessert he’d made, which was something he called “pumpkin pie cake,” which consisted of a pumpkin spice sheet cake “iced” with whipped cream and topped with graham cracker crumbs. It looked and smelled heavenly.

  Picking up my fork to eat, I told Uncle Dan that I’d never had pumpkin pie cake before, and I asked him where he’d gotten the recipe.

  Picking up his own fork, he gave me a small, somehow sad-looking sort of smile. “It was one of my late wife June’s holiday specialties. She was always the baker of the family, and when she passed away from a brain tumor about two years ago, I missed her so much that I started trying to learn how to make some of her recipes just to keep her ‘near,’ in a way. Had never baked so much as a single muffin before, but little by little, I got the hang of things.”

  Extremely touched, I told Uncle Dan that I thought that making June’s recipes was a lovely way to keep her “near.” He smiled and thanked me, and then told me to go ahead and try a bite of cake, so I did, finding it just as heavenly as it looked and smelled. I told Dan it was absolutely delicious, making him beam.

  “Thank you very much. I know June would be pleased as punch to hear you say that.”

  I was starting to like Uncle Dan more and more every minute. I’d never met a person who used the phrase “pleased as punch” who wasn’t a kindhearted person, not that I needed proof that Dan was. An unmistakable twinkle in his bright blue eyes practically radiated kindness.

  Having told him when taking his coat that Matt was unfortunately at a meeting, we soon went on to discuss the situation with the Bloodborns, which he seemed to know all about, saying that they’d probably attack Greenwood on Thanksgiving or Christmas, “just to add insult to injury.”

  “Although, then again, maybe I’m wrong about that. Maybe attacking on a holiday is too obvious. Probably, more than likely, they’ll attack on a random Tuesday, trying to take us off guard. At any rate, though, I have faith that no matter when the Bloodborns attack, Matt and all the other fighters will keep everyone safe.”

  I agreed, saying that I had faith, too. “Any group of dragons strong enough to defeat the Bloodborns once is strong enough to do it again.”

  “That’s right.”

  We both ate our cake in comfortable silence briefly, until Uncle Dan spoke again, holding a bite of cake aloft, as if he’d suddenly decided to say something before taking even one more bite.

  “You don’t have to tell me all your personal business, but I hope everything is going all right between you and Matt. Whether he realizes it or not, I’ve come to see him as a son or nephew of sorts over the years, and my greatest wish is to see him truly happy in his life…and I hope his past losses aren’t currently getting in the way of that.”

  Knowing exactly what Dan was getting at, I said that things with Matt were going well, and that after “a slightly bumpy beginning” when first meeting each other, we were both now committed to creating a life together, but that he was still a bit afraid of something happening to ruin it all.

  “And he doesn’t even really know what that something could be. He just keeps saying that he has a funny sort of hunch that something unforeseen is going to happen to make him lose me. I think it’s just something that will get better eventually…once a little time goes by, and he sees that I’m not going to just disappear.”

  Uncle Dan agreed, then paused, studying my face for a moment before asking a question. “You certainly don’t have to answer this, but is your and Matt’s pairing heading toward one based on love, do you think, or are you both looking at things from maybe more a ‘business and hopefully friendship’ sort of angle?”

  Before I could respond, Dan spoke again, reddening just slightly. “I’m sorry. You don’t have to answer that because it’s none of my business. I’m being the ‘nosey uncle’ right now. June would always say that if I’d just zip my lips once in a while and have a look around me, most of my nosey questions would be answered anyway.”

  Setting my mug of tea on the island after taking a sip, I smiled. “I’m not offended by your question in the least, and if I was, I’d just say it. If I were Matt’s uncle, I’d probably want to know what kind of a union my nephew was entering into, too. And to answer your question…well, I guess I can say that I think Matt and I are heading into a ‘love thing’ sort of relationship. I’m starting to fall in love with him, anyway…but I think he might be falling in love with me, too.”

  Uncle Dan grinned, picking up his mug of tea. “You’ve set my mind at ease. That is just the answer I wanted to hear.”

  I grinned back at him, feeling suddenly very happy and hopeful about Matt’s and my relationship and about my whole life in general. But then, within an instant, the reco
llection of what Amy and I had been texting about earlier came flooding back to me. Uncle Dan had proven to be such a warm and engaging guest that rather than having to force myself to sit politely while in a state of high anxiety during a visit with him, as I’d thought I might have to do, I’d ended up forgetting all about the source of my anxiety. Now that I’d remembered, though, I couldn’t just push things to the back of my mind again.

  Uncle Dan must have noticed tension evident in my expression because after a few moments of me picking at the remaining bite of my cake, he asked if something was wrong. “You look like you just went from ‘happy as a clam’ directly to ‘lost my best friend.’”

  Setting my fork down, I looked up and saw him frowning, sure I was doing the same. “Well…it’s complicated. I haven’t lost my best friend, but I just remembered something that might prove Matt’s paranoia about losing me true, because the ‘something’ that I just remembered is something that could definitely break us apart.”

  Uncle Dan frowned even harder. “Well…well, what is it? Can I help with anything?”

  I thought for a moment, deciding that maybe he could help, and also deciding that there was no reason that I should have to ask Matt about Seth before asking Dan.

  So, after taking a deep breath, I told Dan that he might be able to help, then just came right out with it. “Do you know of any dragon shifter named Seth? He’d be somewhere around his mid-forties, sandy blond hair, tall and well-built, and with a crescent-shaped scar above one eye. Oh, and his nickname used to be “Puff.” I really want to find him, and I pretty desperately need to know if Matt is in any way related to him. And that’s because I’m Seth’s biological daughter.”

  By the time I’d finished speaking, Uncle Dan had turned white as a sheet, terrifying me.

  CHAPTER 15

  Now it was my turn to ask Uncle Dan if he was okay, which I did with a little tremor in my voice.