Chapter One
Brad Harper watched the human female named Natasha Jenkins as she smiled and handed a male his final order for the night.
Even though he knew she smiled at almost everyone, he barely resisted digging his nails into his thigh.
His inner dragon—the second personality inside his head—spoke up. You’re the one resisting her, so you have no say. You know she’s our true mate.
Brad had known that fact since the first day he and his friends had walked into Tasha’s bar. Of course, who wouldn’t notice the female with black hair streaked with blue, warm brown eyes, and brown skin. Skin he wouldn’t mind exploring every inch of to better know the curves and valleys of her body.
Not that he would act on his attraction. And you know why I resist her.
His inner beast sighed. So Amber left us for a human male over a year ago. That shouldn’t make you hate all humans, especially not when it’s our fated female.
For a dragon-shifter, a true mate was their best chance at happiness. Not guaranteed, of course, but the odds were usually better. Kissing one would also set off a mate-claim frenzy, basically a nonstop sex marathon that resulted in pregnancy.
Because of that reason, all honorable dragon-shifters had to tread lightly around their true mates, especially if they were human and had no idea of what it all entailed.
He replied to his dragon, Maybe you can dismiss Amber so easily, but I loved her with everything I had. I’m not about to jump into a true-mate pairing simply because the female showed up. Especially since humans require a lot of work and care, which I don’t have the patience for. So stop pushing me.
Then stop getting jealous when other males smile at her. It’s all your own making. She could be smiling at us, if you tried to win her over even a little.
Tasha winked at the tall male at the bar and Brad resisted a growl. It’s not entirely my own making. If David hadn’t asked me to take this job as a security guard, I wouldn’t have set foot near this place once I’d known about Tasha.
David Lee was the leader of Clan StoneRiver, the dragon clan situated to the northwest of Lake Tahoe in California. Of course, David was more than just a leader—he was also Brad’s friend, one he’d do almost anything for. Which was why he had agreed to the security gig despite everything.
Before his dragon could reply, Brad noticed two human males at one of the bar’s back tables stand up, and he watched their movements closely. All evening the pair had given both man and beast an odd tingling sensation, almost as if they were a threat.
And yet they hadn’t done anything to merit his throwing their asses out on the street. Yet.
Still, Brad suspected they were part of AHOL—the America for Humans Only League. Most people referred to them as the League, and they were a bunch of crazy fuckers who wanted to drive all dragon-shifters out of the US into other countries. They also targeted businesses friendly to dragon-shifters, with hopes of keeping the two groups separate for good.
Not that any of the stupid assholes realized that dragon-shifters had roamed the earth as long as humans had. While Brad’s ancestors were mostly dragon prisoners sent over from Ireland hundreds of years ago—at one time the United States had accepted dragons from other countries in exchange for money and had contained them in prison reservations—many of his clan had always lived in the area, before any of the human European settlers had arrived.
In other words, they had more claim than the vast majority of present-day humans did. Not that the League cared about facts or history. Their hatred guided their every action.
The two males walked casually toward the bar, and Brad moved to the edge of his seat in case he needed to help Tasha. The pair placed an order like any other customer, but Brad didn’t move his gaze once. He was used to watching and noticing details. After all, his day job was as a Protector, which was what dragon-shifters called a member of their clan security teams.
Tasha quickly served the humans two beers. One of the males took his and turned away. The other followed suit.
However, just as they took a step away, one of them turned back around and hopped over the bar.
Brad was up in a flash. Even with his supernatural speed, Tasha quickly ducked and then kneed the guy in the dick before Brad could reach her. The attacker dropped to the ground holding himself, and Brad went for the other guy.
Right before he reached the human, the fucker pulled out a gun and aimed it at Tasha. Brad tackled him just as he fired, the shot going wide.