Prologue

 

Chrystal’s Dragon Heart

 

Chrystal believed everything she had been taught since birth.  She would have one mate, one true love, the only one that would complete her soul.  Did she miss something while growing up?  She thought he was the one.  She loved him with all of her heart.  But it wasn't enough.  The last time they were together they had a huge fight.  She'd basically called him a "dog."

They were on a plane on the way to rescue some were-panther cubs that were being used as test subjects by the Militant in Canada.

Devon yelled at her, "Chrystal you didn't have to come!”

"Devon!  Stop being over protective.  You know I hate that," Chrystal said.  “Besides, if Uncle Dominic let me come along then you can just heel.”  The minute it was out of her mouth she regretted it.  The look on Devon's face said she went too far.  Telling a wolf to heel was like the worst insult you could give them.  She shouldn’t have said it but she was pissed with everyone trying to protect her.  Damn!  She was angry!  She unbuckled and left her seat.  She needed space.

She wouldn't be able to forgive herself or trust herself ever again.  How could she have been so wrong? 

Now Devon was gone.  Dead.

She had him for such a short time.  Now she had no one.  Everyone she knew had someone.

Steve had Lily, and although they were apart for 120 years their love continued to grow.  Dominic found Remi when she came to 2233 from 2012.  Sara found Morgan even though Sara was a were-wolf and Morgan was a were-dragon.

Where did she fit in?  Her heart was breaking.  They needed to save the weres and humans being tested in other Militant facilities.  But she needed to get away from everyone.  She couldn’t stand seeing them all so happy. 

She decided that when they got back to California she would leave.  The others would go on their next mission and she would disappear.  Uncle Dom and Aunt Remi would be having their baby in a few months.  She would come back for that.  Maybe her heart would be healed by then.

The Pack had made it back to California without any incidents.  The men were meeting on how to handle the next Militant facility.  And the women were preparing the funeral for Devon. 

The funeral was lovely, as far as funerals go.

Steve, Reese, and Morgan were now ex-militant soldiers.  They were not considered AWOL because George Gaston, the new head commander of the Militant base in northern California, had asked for the Pack’s help.  They were going over what they knew of the other facilities.  They worked cautiously because none of them trusted George Gaston.  But they thought it important to “keep their enemy close.” 

Chrystal did not want to go back to the apartment where Devon and she had spent so much time together.  So she decided to stay at the safe house with Remi and Dominic.

Two nights later Chrystal slipped out of the house.  She didn’t know where she was going as she left.  She turned to look at the house one more time before melting into the woods and disappearing.

The next morning everyone was frantically looking for Chrystal.

Chapter One

 

Chrystal’s Dragon Heart

 

“Where would she go?”  Remi asked through her tears.  Chrystal was her best friend and really her only friend since coming into the future.  “We should have known something was wrong since Devon’s death.”  Dominic went to Remi and put his arm around her.

“Don’t upset yourself.  We don’t want anything to happen to you or the baby,” Dominic said, trying to calm her down even though he was frantic himself.  Chrystal was the baby of the Pack.  She was his only niece and he knew how much Chrystal meant to Remi. 

Reese was the only one who seemed to take it all in stride.

“She will be back,” he said to Dominic and Remi.  “She needs time to get herself together.” 

He knew where she was going to end up and he was going to make damn sure she was safe.  He had to give her time to get over Devon before he could claim her as his mate.  She didn’t know that she was going to be a major part of the Militant’s permanently disbanding.  Between Morgan, Sara, Chrystal and him all hell was going to break loose and they were the only ones who could contain it.

Dominic looked at Reese and very quietly said, “Do you know where she is?”  His voice was menacing.  Dom took two steps toward Reese.  Remi grabbed Dominic by the arm.

He will hurt you honey.  Dom looked down into her face.  Thanks for the vote of confidence, he replied back.

Reese chuckled, “She didn’t mean you couldn’t take me, she just didn’t want you to get hurt.”

Both Dominic and Remi looked at him.  They kept forgetting he could read their minds.

“Damn, first Lily now Reese?  We are going to have to use those damn chips anyway!”  Dominic said, thinking about the neuropathy blocker chips the Militant produced.  It was not safe for the weres to use them but he might make an exception if these weres wouldn’t stop reading their minds.

“Don’t forget Sara and Morgan too.  Are we the only ones who can’t read everyone’s mind?”  Steve asked as he came into the small living room from the back yard with Lily tucked protectively under his arm.

“I tried to locate her,” Lily said. “I scanned the area and I couldn’t feel her anywhere close.”  She looked like she had been crying.  Steve was gently rubbing her arm, trying to comfort her.

“Reese, we know you know something.  Can’t you get her back?”  Remi asked walking to stand in front of Dominic hoping to stop him from advancing on Reese.

“I do know where she is and no I can’t just go and get her.  But as I told you before,  I can’t change what is going to happen…” 

Before the words were out of his mouth everyone said in unison.  “If you try to change the outcome of the visions it will be worse than the original outcome would have been.”

“Ha-ha real funny!”  Reese responded, starting to feel like he fit in.  The camaraderie started a couple of days before and it felt good to be a part of a family again.

The group was laughing, including Remi who still had tears running down her face.

“Reese would tell us if it would make a difference but it won’t help,” Morgan said as he and Sara came into the safe house.  “We don’t have the same premonitions about Chrystal that Reese has, but we know she’ll be coming back.”

“Let’s get back to planning the next mission and then we’ll worry about Chrystal,” Steve said as he sat down at the bar.  He wanted to help get everyone’s mind off of Chrystal.  She would be back, but when was known only to Reese.  He could sense that Reese was the only one who could fix this.

Chapter Two

 

Chrystal’s Dragon Heart

 

 

Three months later Chrystal found herself in Tucson, Arizona.

 

 Chrystal was standing in front of Remi’s memorial from 2012.  The “Disaster of 2012” where 4.2 billion people died.  Somehow Remi and her dog were transported to 2233.  She missed Remi.  They were best friends.  They had even moved in together before Remi finally mated with Uncle Dominic.

She had wandered from town to town doing odd jobs for the last three months.  She was passing herself off as human.  It wasn’t hard since she was small.  No one even thought to ask her if she was a were. 

She actually had never worked a day in her life before this.  The pack always took care of her.  So this was a great experience for her, or at least that was what she kept telling herself.

It took about two weeks to get the hang of waitressing.  Once she started she liked it.  It was exhilarating and tiring work.  She was so tired by the end of the day she wasn’t thinking about anything but getting home and going to bed.  At least her mind would stop.  Once her head hit that pillow she was out.  She had nightmares the first night but those didn’t seem to last long.

The people that hired her were all friendly.  Her luck must have been changing.  She had met a few nice young men.  But she still wasn’t ready for a relationship just yet.

Standing there looking at Remi’s family picture with their eulogy below the picture reminded her of Remi’s baby that was to be born in five months.  Which in turn reminded her that she didn’t have a mate, in turn reminded her of Devon.  Damn it!  She thought she needed to get over this shit.  She normally didn’t swear that much either.  What was the matter with her?

You are still hurting baby.  A masculine voice said answering her silent question.  The voice was smooth and sexy as hell.  Give yourself some slack.

She thought she recognized the voice.  Who is that?

She waited a few minutes but no answer.  Well if you don’t want to tell me who you are then don’t bother me again.

Maybe she was just so lonely she imagined the voice.

You didn’t imagine it.  I am here waiting for you.  The voice hummed, your sadness is overwhelming me sweetheart, and you need to come see me.

Was that Reese?  She had heard him talk before but the intimacy of communicating telepathically was throwing her off.  She knew he was telepathic but he’d never spoken to her that way.  Was it him?

Reese is that you?  she finally asked, waiting for him to say something else.  When no answer came she decided that she did imagine the voice so she strolled down the memorial for a few more minutes and then headed to the room she was renting.

Shit!  Reese should have known better than to talk to Chrystal telepathically.  She recognized his voice.  He broke off the communication quickly.  Damn it!

He had been keeping his distance for the past three months.  Well, sort of.  That first night she was gone and the nightmare she had was so heart-breaking that he couldn’t help it.  He connected with her and helped change the dream.  He snuck into her dream’s occasionally to watch her.  He didn't want her to know he was keeping track of her. 

Remi and Dominic talked him into at least keeping tabs on her to keep her safe, although he didn't need to be talked into anything. 

He made sure the places where she was hired were friendly and welcoming.  The places that weren't he made sure she steered clear of them.  He had been doing this all from California up till two weeks ago. 

Two weeks ago he had a premonition he didn't like and decided to go to Chrystal in Tucson.  Now here he was able to keep an eye on her.  He found a hotel near her work and any man getting close to her.

He didn’t want any man around her so he would push either her or the man.  He’d make her feel sad like she wasn’t ready for a relationship but the first time he did that he felt guilty so he’d push the man toward another woman.  He wasn’t proud of himself and he'd pay for his decision when the time came, but he wasn’t taking any chances losing her.

Now that he had communicated with her he was going to go have to confront her.  And he knew just how he wanted to do it!

Chrystal made it to her room without realizing it.  She was walking on automatic pilot not really thinking or caring where she was going.  When she got to her door she unlocked it and went to bed.  It was only seven in the evening and she was exhausted.  She fell onto the bed without taking her clothes off and was asleep within seconds.

Chrystal’s dream started out the same: They were in Canada at the Militant’s facility, and she watched Devon fall to the ground.  She started to run toward him.  In the middle of her stride the scene changed.  She knew it would but normally it would change to a comforting memory of the past.  Something was different this time.  She looked around she was in a room it was decorated in soft earthy tones and was masculine.  There was a huge four poster bed next to a large picture window.  At the opposite end of the room was a fireplace with a fire burning that was casting a warm glow across the room.  She walked over to the window and looked out; trying to figure out if this was a dream.  When she reached the window all she saw was her own reflection.  She was startled when she realized she had on a very sheer white night gown.  She reached down to touch the fabric, it felt real.  The hairs on the back of her neck stood up.  She slowly turned away from the window.  That was when she noticed a large shadowy figure standing in the door way watching her.  She could tell the figure was a man.

“Do you like the room?”  the man asked seductively as he approached her.  At first she couldn’t see his face except for shadows caused by the fireplace.  As he came closer she realized who it was.

“Reese?”  she asked quietly, “What is going on?  Is this real?” 

“It can be as real as you want it to be.  Do you want it to be real?”  he asked huskily. She was so beautiful and he wanted her.

He was playing with fire.  When she found out what he was doing she could be very angry or she could be relieved.  Hoping she would be the latter he continued walking towards her.

She shook her head trying to wake up from the dream, hoping it was a dream, because if it was real then she would have to deal with her feelings for Devon.

“No, I don’t want it to be real,” She whispered breathlessly as he made his way towards her.  He stopped a few inches from her.  She could feel the heat coming off of him.  If it is a dream then she could do and be whatever she wanted, whatever he wanted.

“And what do you want?”  he asked, reading her mind.  He looked down into her lovely eyes.  He allowed his eyes to roam her face stopping at her lush kissable lips.

He was so close his breath was a whisper across her face.  She wanted him to kiss her.  After all it was her dream so she decided to take charge of things.  She lifted her lips towards his she wanted to feel his lips on hers.

She wasn’t experienced.  Oh, she and Devon had kissed; there had even been some heavy petting.  But she’d stopped at that because she hadn’t been ready for the sex thing.  That was just another notch on her guilt belt. 

He knew she was thinking about Devon.  He heard her, all of it and he was having problems getting his breathing and body under control. 

Reese couldn’t take the chance of her thinking about Devon much longer.  He gathered her closer, feeling her heart beat racing and hearing her breath hitch.  He knew the moment she was going to bolt.

She started to panic.  Just thinking about Devon made her heart hurt.  She had put her head down out of shame.  He put his finger under her chin and brought her face up to his.

"Don’t think about that.  I want you to think about me, about us and only us,” he said with his lips so close to hers she could feel his hot breath across her lips.  

He smelled of chocolate and mint.  Her legs felt like jelly.  His lips brushed hers ever so lightly.  If he hadn't had his arms around her she was sure she would have fallen.

“Are you sure this is just a dream?”  She whispered against his lips.

“I don’t want it to be,” he answered honestly.  “I want this to be real for the rest of our lives.”

She gasped out of shock from his answer.  Did she want a mate so bad she had to dream of one and not just any one!  Did it have to be Reese?  She pushed away from him making it to the door and ran.  She ran and ran …

Chapter Three

 

Chrystal’s Dragon Heart

 

Chrystal woke up out of breath.  Damn, she didn't know why she would dream of Reese.  What a stupid dream.  Running a hand through her hair, she stretched and yawned.  

The sun was just coming up and she had to get ready for the morning shift at the diner.  She was more tired now than when she went to bed last night.  She looked down at herself.  When did she change into her night gown?  She started to take off the gown when she realized it was the same one she had on in her dream and it wasn’t hers.  Where the hell had it come from?  Was it just a dream?  She didn’t have time for any of this shit.  She needed to get ready for work. 

She pushed the thought of the dream away.  Maybe after work she would try to figure out what happened to her last night.

She didn’t bother stopping for something to eat, she would eat at the diner, if she could find her appetite.  Right now she was just trying to get to work on time.  She had only been in Tucson for 3 weeks and since she was still new at her job she didn’t want to be late.

By the time her shift was over she couldn’t think straight.  She headed home on auto mode again.  It was only two in the afternoon but she couldn’t keep her eyes opened.  For the second day in a row she fell to the bed fully clothed and fell straight asleep.

“Wake up love,” He whispered in her ear.  When she opened her eyes she was in Reese’s bedroom lying on the big bed with Reese pressed against her.  “Are you going to run again?”

“Reese what are you doing to me?”  She asked quietly, “Why am I here again?”  She tried to move away but his arm was around her waist holding her to him possessively.  She felt a spark bolt through her as she realized she was lying next to him totally naked.  She blushed crimson as he smiled a slow seductive smile.

“Where do you think you are going sweetheart.  You are not going to get away from me this time."  He nuzzled the side of her neck.  “We are going to talk

Impressum

Verlag: BookRix GmbH & Co. KG

Tag der Veröffentlichung: 07.11.2012
ISBN: 978-3-7309-3832-4

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