Page 15 of Storm Dragon
Tamsyn couldn’t deny what she saw. The pasture behind the Grand Hall of the Ryder Pounce was packed. She’d never seen it so full– not even when your mom and dad were still in Defiance and the residents were setting up for the yearly Fall Festival.
There were so many more Supes than she’d ever imagined. From far and wide, they dropped everything and came running as soon as they’d gotten her email asking for help. Many only replied, ‘on the way’ with no other questions asked. It was unbelievable.
Some were from as far away as Ireland, Scotland, and even New Zealand. Others were from her very own backyard–people she’d known her whole life, but because they were from different Paranormal Races, their relationships had been little more than, ‘hi, how’s your family,’ when they saw each other in Crowley- the largest, and pretty much only, town within two hundred miles.
But Mt. Serenity was different. There weren’t many on the mountain she didn’t think of as Family. She would do anything and everything to keep them safe. It didn’t matter if they had fur or scales or a little bit of both; everybody in Defiance was related. They damned sure took care of each other.
Magic—ancient and as powerful as Chaos—filled the air. The Earth's Ether pulsed with life, vitality, and a reassuring camaraderie that eased the tension in her shoulders. Mother Nature was adding her Blessing to those who’d come to help. This was a wonderful feeling, no matter what kind of hellacious storm had them in its sights.
The only other thing Tamsyn desperately wished for was a clear look at the man haunting her dreams and his name. The not knowing gnawed at her, making her restless and irritable, and only the Great Goddess knew how much longer she could survive on sleepless nights and a haze of caffeine.
“Oh, my, Lordy,” Bridgette breathed. “Just take a gander at those tall, broad-shouldered boys over there. They’ll make you forget about your dreams. They are oh so very real, and from the Isle of Skye- the honest to the Goddess birthplace of Shifterkin.”
“Or so the stories say.”
“Those stories are one-hundred-percent true, Sweetpea. You can take it to the bank.”
“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” she teased, knowing it was the best way to get the Bobcat Queen with whom she shared her soul going. “Besides, I thought everybody in the Motherland, as you’re so fond of calling it, was old and wizened. Those boys are anything but old and…”
“Nope, nothing old about them,” Bridgette purred. “They know how to grow ‘em right in the Goddess’s country. Even the ladies are beyond gorgeous.”
“And could walk a runway in their jeans and T-shirt. Seriously, they don’t have an ounce of body fat. Do they eat over there? Anybody fry a pork chop, mash a potato, throw some good, thick white gravy on a biscuit?”
“Girl, you need to stop that talk right this minute. You’ve gotta body like a back road that all the boys want to explore. Face it, you are curvy and gorgeous with a capital G, just like everyone on the Isle of Skye. Those girls got nuthin’ on you, and I know what I’m talkin' about.”
Ignoring Bridgette’s words and trying not to laugh at her musings, Tamsyn said, “Yeah, well, those boys deserve our undying gratitude, not you ogling their muscles and panting like you’re in heat.”
“What’s wrong with a little ogling? It’s not like they can hear or see me,” the Bobcat Queen grumbled. “You never let me have any fun anymore. I’m always stuck up in here with nothing to keep me busy but Netflix. Thank the Universe and the Great Goddess for hooking us all up with the internet.”
“I’ve been meanin’ to talk to you about that. I think you need…”
“And I think you need to stop right there,” Bridgette warned with a hiss. “You can take away my catnip. You can tell me I can’t have any more of Jed’s brambleberry wine. Hell, you can even tell me to stop chasing mice on the rare occasions you let me out, but you cannot, and again I say, cannot, take away my Netflix.”
“But I wasn’t gonna…”
“Oh, yeah, you were,” Bridgette snapped. “Don’t forget I’m up here with my toe beans in your brain. I know what you’re thinkin’, and you can bet your bottom dollar that shit is not gonna happen.”
“Your toe beans? Seriously? That’s the best you…”
“Oh, hush, and listen up. Maybe I am in heat. It’s not like you ever…”
“Stop right there.” It was Tamsyn’s turn to hiss. She couldn’t believe Bridgette was about to talk about her love life–or lack thereof–when she was getting ready to greet some of the most important and influential Shifters in the whole world–those who had come to help, along with all the inhabitants of Defiance.
It was a total mindfuck in all the best ways but required every ounce of concentration Tamsyn had. Hell, she’d already had to go toe-to-toe with the Legendary Carrick. Well, maybe it was only in her mind that he was anything but cordial…
No, he had a look in his eye. Not to mention, the way his pupils got all Dragony and the air around him got kind of fuzzy. There was no doubt about it. The legendary Guardsman had thought she was being less than honest.
“And I set him straight, too,” she mentally blustered.
“If you call letting him read your mind setting him straight,” Bridgette chuckled under her breath. “Then you did just that, my dear.”
“I hate you sometimes.”
“No, you don’t. You love me all the time, and twice as much on days that end in y.”
Ignoring her alter ego’s last comment, Tamsyn went back to what she had been saying. “I may not have told that Dragon off like I would Luke or Peaches, but just as sure as God with a capital G made little green apples, he knew what I was thinking, and that’s that.”
“Indeed, and while Carrick was findin’ out what you were thinkin, did you ever wonder if he…”
