The Dragon's Treasured Mate (Uncontrollable Shift Book Two)
The Dragon’s Treasured Mate (Uncontrollable Shift Book Two)
By R. E. Butler
Copyright 2017
The Dragon’s Treasured Mate (Uncontrollable Shift Book Two)
By R. E. Butler
This book is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This book may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of the author.
Cover by CT Cover Creations
This ebook is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are the product of the author’s imagination and not to be construed as real. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, events or locations is coincidental.
Disclaimer: The material in this book is for mature audiences only and contains graphic sexual content and is intended for those older than the age of 18 only.
* * *
Editing by Tracy Vincent
* * *
Thanks to Joyce & Shelley for beta reading
For BB and BL - I love you both.
Table of 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
Coming Next
Contact the Author
Other Books by R. E.
The Alpha Wolf’s Mate
The Dragon’s Treasured Mate (Uncontrollable Shift Book Two)
By R. E. Butler
When dragon shifter, Torrence, develops a life-threatening allergy to his people’s mating fruit, no female within a thousand miles will mate him. Heading to his father’s homestead in the Tomb Mountains, he finds himself at odds with the local wolf pack, and facing a lonely future.
Cecily Houseman has never been happier. She’s finally able to open her own shop, Cecily’s Donuts. Although she grew up in Tomb, as a human among wolves, she’s always felt on the outside of things. The alpha’s son is interested in being her mate, but he’s not the right one for her. She’s waiting for that spark to knock her off her feet.
Torrence wakes one morning with a single thought: go to town. The nearer he gets, the stronger his beast rails in his head. As he comes to a donut shop, his beast forces a shift so fast and hard that he rips the door off the shop and takes out the town gazebo with his tail. The alpha wolf wants him gone because he’s dangerous, but Cecily takes one look into his golden eyes and knows that he’s the one for her.
Chapter 1
Torrence looked at his reflection in the mirror and ran a hand through his dark hair, smoothing the longer strands on top. Satisfied with his appearance, he grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the chair and put it on as he walked from his bedroom. He was finally old enough to take part in his people’s mating ceremony. Twenty-five hadn’t seemed like a very old age, but it had felt like it took an eternity to arrive.
The mating ceremony happened only once every October, when the mating fruit their people cultivated in their mountain home of Pine Mountain ripened, turning from yellow to deep red. His father, the king of their dragon shifter clan, had spent the last few months preparing Torrence for the ceremony. The males ate the fruit, and it would awaken their dragon, who then chose their mate from the available females. Clans from all over the Northeast were coming to his clan’s mountain for the ceremony which was happening when the moon rose that night.
Possibly, somewhere among the female dragons who had arrived over the last week, was Torrence’s mate. He was so ready to be mated. Not only would he be allowed to join the ranks of their clan’s military, but he’d finally be able to start a family, something he’d wanted for a long time.
“Oh, you look so handsome,” his mother, Vanessa, said as he came into the kitchen. He pecked her on the cheek and smiled as she fussed with the collar of his jacket.
“Thank you.”
“This year is the largest gathering of females ever,” his father said as he looked up from his phone. “It speaks volumes for the next generation of our people.”
“I just know your dragon will choose an amazing female for you. You deserve all the happiness,” Vanessa said.
Torrence smiled. “He’s stirring in my mind already. I’ve been waiting for this day forever.”
Which felt like the truth. Dragons could feel their beasts from a young age, but the ability to change into their form didn’t come until after they mated. Once their dragon chose their mate, they’d travel to a mating cave in the mountain, intimately join together in private, and then shift for the first time. The dragon would bite the female’s arm and the venom in his teeth would brand her skin in a design that was wholly unique to the couple, and through the magic of their joining, the brand would appear on his skin as well once he returned to his form the following day.
“Why do you suppose our people don’t get their beasts until they mate?” he asked.
“It’s the way of our kind,” his father, Benecio, said.
“Yeah, I know, I was just wondering why. No other shifters have to wait until they find their mate.”
“My mother always said that it’s because the dragon is untamable without a female to be the balm to his base nature,” Vanessa said. “It’s sad when males are unable to find their mates because they can’t shift without them, but it’s the way we were made.”
Female dragons never shifted. They remained entirely human, except for the connection to their dragon mate. There was magic between them, and a bond so strong it was unbreakable. He’d often wondered why females weren’t able to shift, because he’d never heard of any other shifter groups where only the males changed. They were how they were created, though, and no amount of wondering would change the way things were.
Torrence glanced at his watch. “I’m ready. I’m so ready for tonight.”
* * *
“I think there are more clans here than I can ever remember,” Staz, Torrence’s cousin and closest friend murmured. The two males were standing to one side of the carefully manicured backyard. His parents’ home was the center of the clan territory, and the backyard was where all their important gatherings occurred.
“Seems like it,” Torrence said as he let his gaze drift across the sea of dragons. Dragon clans had their own territories but were loosely grouped together by region. Benecio was king of the largest clan in the Northeast, and that was why the clans had gathered there for the mating ceremony, as they did every year.
“Man, I hope my dragon likes blondes,” Staz said.
Torrence chuckled. “Careful. Don’t you believe in karma?”
“Do you mean I can jinx myself into a mating with a brunette?” He arched a brow.
“Yep.”
“Damn it. Okay, okay. I need to have a heart to heart with my dragon because he’s gotta hook me up with something tasty.”
“I feel terribly sorry for your future mate.”
“Why? I’m awesome.” Staz puffed out his chest exaggeratedly and strutted a little, making Torrence laugh.
“I think the jury is still out on that. And, of course, don’t forget that just because we turned twenty-five doesn’t mean our dragons will choose our mate this year. My dad is three years older than my mom, so he didn’t mate with her until he was twenty-eight.”
“That sucks. I hope my girl is here. A blonde bombshell with legs that won’t quit.”
“You’re certifiable.”
“The best males usually are.”
Benecio cleared his throat and the noise died down abruptly as everyone turned to face his parents as they stood on the deck at the back of their home.
“Welcome unmated dragons from all parts of the Northeast. Would the males and females please separate to their respective sides.”
Torrence and Staz joined the other males as they took up the left side of the yard and the females took the right side. There were females of all shapes and sizes, with hair a rainbow of colors from deepest ebony to palest flax. Thin, curvy, tall, short. Some smiling eagerly, some lustfully growling, and some looking like it was the very last place in the world they wanted to be.
Mated members of Torrence’s clan walked out of the house holding trays of mating fruit. “As my clan approaches, please keep your sanity,” Benecio cautioned. “There is plenty of fruit for every male here, and anyone caught behaving aggressively will be banned from the mating ceremony for one year.”
Torrence was standing in the front row with Staz and other males from their clan, with the visiting clans’ males lined up behind them.
Dino stopped in front of Torrence with a silver tray containing cut halves of the fruit. It was similar to a peach, with edible skin and a soft interior. Torrence took a half and nodded at Dino, who continued to stop in front of each male. When he moved on from Staz, his friend said, “So my dad said it takes a few minutes to kick in.”
“My dad said the same thing.”
If Torrence’s dragon didn’t recognize any of these females as his mate, then he’d know within an hour. That was the longest time any dragon in the history of their people had waited before his dragon connected with his mate.
Torrence’s hand started to itch, and he transferred the fruit to his other hand and looked at his palm. Little red bumps had erupted over his skin.
“That’s weird,” he muttered.
“What is? That blonde who’s flashing her boob? Not weird, totally awesome,” Staz said.
Torrence’s other hand started to itch, and the itchiness in both hands began to creep up his wrists. His skin flushed, and he swallowed, finding his throat scratchy and suddenly dry. He hadn’t been told that his dragon would react to the fruit this way, but he chalked it up to his beast’s anxiousness to find his mate.
“Gentlemales,” Benecio said, “devour your fruit and find your mate if the magic within you so wishes.”
Torrence took a large bite of the fruit and the sweet taste burst over his tongue. It tasted like fruit salad, a delicious mixture of strawberry, melon, and peach. As he lifted the remainder of the fruit to his lips, his vision blurred, and his throat began to close up. The itchiness that had spread up his arms, now carved a heated path down his body. Sweat broke out on his skin and he wheezed, dropping the fruit and clutching at his chest as his knees went out and he fell to the ground.
He could hear people shouting for him and someone was tugging his arm. His vision tunneled to a pinpoint and then disappeared. He felt only the cool grass under his cheek and then nothing.
Chapter 2
Cecily Houseman wiped the sweat from her brow and leaned against the counter. This was her baby. Not her literal baby, but the dream she’d had for years, ever since she had used her toy oven to make cookies and decided she wanted to be a baker for the rest of her life. It wasn’t until she graduated from culinary school two years earlier and treated herself to a donut at a specialty shop that she found her true baking love – unique, delicious donuts.
She was pretty sure her parents would have loved the idea. Unfortunately, they passed away the summer she graduated from high school. She missed them terribly, but they’d always encouraged her to follow her dreams, no matter how crazy they seemed to others. She’d inherited their trailer, a two-bedroom in a park in the small town of Tomb.
Which was the freaking eeriest name for a town that she’d ever heard. But it was home, and she was happy. Especially now that she was a day away from opening her donut shop – Cecily’s Donuts.
“It looks great,” Cecily’s best friend, Andrea, said as she walked out of the kitchen. “This place was a dump a month ago. Look how pretty it all looks!”
“And clean,” Cecily added. “I couldn’t have done it without you.”
“Hey, what are best friends for? Plus, you’re giving me a job, too, and I’d do anything to avoid going to work for my dad, since he won’t stop talking about me finding a mate.”
Andrea’s father was on her case to choose a mate and settle down. But Andrea, like Cecily, was happily single and not looking to start popping out babies anytime soon. Cecily, though, was human, so she didn’t have to adhere to any shifter rules or mating customs.
“When’s your next mating get together?”
“A few weeks. I overheard my dad talking to the alpha about me. Just because he and mom mated when they were eighteen, he thinks there’s something wrong with my wolf that I’m twenty-three and still single.”
“What could the alpha do about that? You’re waiting to find your mate.”
“Yeah, but the alpha could decide that I need to pick a male and join with him, regardless of whether my wolf likes him or not.”
Cecily made a face. “That sucks. Who would you pick?”
“No one! There isn’t a male in my pack that I like. My mom told me once that my dad always hoped that Jerris and I would be mates, but that guy is so slimy he glides when he walks.”
Cecily grunted in agreement.
“Plus, he’s hung up on you, anyway.”
“I didn’t need a reminder.”
Andrea shrugged. “Sorry.”
Jerris had decided in high school that Cecily was his mate. He hadn’t cared that she had no interest in him in any form. She’d heard that most shifters stayed within their own kind, except for wolves. For some reason, wolves didn’t mind mating with humans or other types of shifters.
“Would your parents be mad if you mated a human?”
“I don’t know. I think they want me to mate with a wolf so we’ll have purebred children, but if my wolf chose a human for a mate I don’t see how they could do anything but be happy for me.”
“Would your kids shift if you were with a human?”
“Shifter DNA is dominant, so most likely, but there are exceptions to everything. Even purebred wolves can have screwy genes and end up not shifting. Would your parents have cared if your husband turned out to be a shifter?”
Cecily smiled. “No. They just wanted me to find a guy who would treat me well and provide for me.”
“Well, Jerris could provide because his dad is loaded, but he’s a jackass.”
Cecily laughed. “Yeah. It’s hard to think someone is handsome when they have such an awful personality.”
“Well, whoever we end up being mated to, just promise me that I’ll be your kids’ aunt and you’ll be my kids’ aunt, and we’ll raise our kids together.”
“I promise.”
Cecily put the cleaning supplies away and then walked into the kitchen where she washed her hands and pulled out her recipe book to double check her ingredients. She was going to start baking at four a.m., so she could open the front door at six. She was hopeful that since she was the only donut shop in town, that she’d have a line of customers out the door. It might be a little pie-in-the-sky dreaming, but she was optimistic.
Andrea said, “I’ll be here at 5:45 tomorrow. Anything in particular you want me to wear?”
“Do you have a solid black shirt?”
“Yeah.”
“Wear that. I’m tapped out for funds at the moment or I would have paid someone to design a logo and had shirts made.”
“No worries. Everyone in town knows that I’m working for you. How late are you staying?”
She glanced at the clock. It was nearly midnight. “Shit.
Ten minutes.”
“Good thing your lease included the apartment above the shop,” Andrea said with a grin. “See you in about five hours.”
“You bet.”
* * *
Cecily had managed to get only an hour of sleep before excitement for her opening day drove her to get out of bed, get dressed, and get the heck to work. Her two-bedroom apartment above the shop had two sets of stairs – one exterior and one interior. She unlocked the interior door and took the stairs down to the shop’s kitchen. Flipping on the light, she blinked at the brightness as the overheads lit, illuminating the commercial kitchen.
As she did every time she looked around the shiny appliances, she thanked her parents. Their life insurance had paid for college and many of the appliances. Grabbing her apron, she tied it on and set to work making the first batch of batter as the oil heated up.
She was elbow deep in glazed donuts when there was a knock at the front door, and she glanced at the clock and found it was nearly five.
Washing her hands quickly, she hurried out to the front, turning on the lights in the shop. She expected it would be Andrea, but instead she found Jerris, holding a bouquet of flowers.
“The shop’s not open yet,” Cecily said loudly. Jerris, like most shifters, had excellent hearing.
“I know. Open up, I came to help.”
Wariness set her teeth on edge. Just why the hell was he there? “No thanks.”
His smile dropped. “You should really let me in, Cecily. I can make this shop a success. All you have to do is agree to be mine.”
The wariness burned off in a heartbeat as anger took its place. “You need to leave, or I’ll call your father. I’ve told you a hundred times that we’re not mates, and I absolutely don’t want your help. At all.”