7 – The Truth Comes Knocking
Leo hated leaving Gwenyth alone, but he’d had no option. Not with the tasks he needed to complete. He’d woken Gwenyth twice during the long night. She’d grumbled at him and gone back to sleep, her irritation reassuring him of her health.
He flew directly to the kill site and buried the dead wolf. With that grisly task done, he followed the trail. It ended in a large clearing, which pointed the finger at a dragon killing the wolves. Although he had the scent in his mind now, nothing about the pungent aroma triggered a clue of the culprit’s identity.
His dragon, who had remained quiet to this point, let out a yawn.“I don’t understand why a dragon would kill a wolf and remove the carcass. If they were hungry, why not steal one of your cows? That’s what I’d do. They’d be much tastier than a stringy wolf.”
“Unless it’s a message,” Leo said. “The rest of the wolf pack has left the area. I have seen no footprints or smelled fresh territory marking since we arrived. The place stinks of fear.”
“Yes,”his dragon agreed.
“I’m shifting this herd of cattle to the pastures below the cottage. Safer for my sanity.”
“We intended to move them to the lower pastures soon, anyway. Let’s hurry so we can get back to Gwenyth. I like her,”his dragon purred.
Leo did too, and he wished his conscience hadn’t talked him into forgoing lovemaking the previous night. Holding Gwenyth in his arms had turned into pure torture. Of the sweetest kind—certainly—but he ached to claim her.
His integrity chose that moment to kick him in the butt. He should tell her the truth—they weren’t married, but he craved that tie to her. She’d started asking questions, and his excuse that she should recover her memories on her own held shades of murky gray.
“I need to confess,” he whispered.
“It’s been one day. Can’t we wait a little longer?”his dragon pleaded.“We haven’t made love to her yet. She smells sooooo good.”
“Our saving grace is we haven’t reached that point.”
His dragon’s snort rippled through his mind.“You’re too honorable. Considering your parents and your older brothers, it’s unique. You’re nothing like the rest of your family.”
“I left and made my own way. Had I stayed, my character might’ve formed differently. Having another dragon pummeling me focused my mind, and any deluded notions of privilege bled out of me with my blood.”
“I miss those days.”
“Me too,” Leo said. “Fighting in the competitions was less complicated. Now, we fight through a quagmire of intrigue. Danger lurks each time we set foot in the castle. The bloody walls have eyes. All that posturing to earn favors. There’s scarcely an honest dragon amongst them. My family, the nobles, and the common shifters.”
Leo approached his lead cow and ran his hand along her back.
“Home,” he stated and slapped her on the rump.
Soon, the cattle massed and ambled toward the lower pastures.
“There’s one missing.” Leo counted his cows and calves. He scanned the pasture and went hunting. His cattle seldom wandered alone, preferring to stick close to each other. He scented the air, allowing his dragon to take more control.
“Nothing,”his dragon said.
“We’ll take to the air.” Leo released full control, and the transformation slid across his skin. An instant later, he sprang upward, the powerful beat of his wings taking him airborne.
He flew over the pasture then skimmed the treetops, using his nose and eyes as he searched for his missing animal. Leo’s reconnoiter took him over the two other grazing pastures, and when he reached the third, a death scent prickled his nostrils. He landed, shifted to his human form, and followed his nose.
“Slaughter site,”his dragon murmured.
Something—probably wolves—had fed on the entrails, but the remains were enough to tell Leo his beast hadn’t died of natural causes. “What the hell is going on here?”
A slaughtered wolf and pup. A cow butchered overnight.
Every instinct screamed trouble, yet he wasn’t certain of precisely what the danger was or from which direction it approached.
“I don’t like this,”his dragon muttered.
“Me neither. We can’t afford to lose more cows.”
