Captured By The Dragon
Episode 72

Patara

I woke up alone. Dylan had left me, but the bed was still warm where he’d been. I guess he had things to take care of. Was Erik back with Ethan yet? I guess I wouldn’t know until I went to see.

I sat up and found myself naked and a bit dazed by everything that had happened. How long had it been since I had been trafficked from home? How long had it been since I had left Dylan and returned the human side of the continent? Would the scars ever heal? Would Dylan understand why I left? Would Ethan be all right?

I shouldn’t be thinking so morbidly after having s*x with Dylan, but I couldn’t help it. It felt a bit like I was just slipping back into old habits, seeking comfort where I shouldn’t.

Maybe this mark meant something, but it would continue to mean so little if we weren’t clear with each other. I got out of bed and found something to put on before exiting the room.

Ethan was standing in the hallway, looking up at me with big lost eyes. He’d grown a little more but he was wearing real clothes.

I shuddered, remembering how they’d had my baby dressed in trash bags, covered in dirt and starving.

I smiled and kneeled hoping that maybe I might get somewhere with him today.

“Hi, Ethan,” I opened my arms. “Can I hug you?”

He said nothing, but he didn’t turn away or flinch from me either. As I wrapped my arms around him, I sighed in relief. Maybe, just maybe, things would be okay.

He was so small, but it felt like he might have grown a little more. I lifted him into my arms and nuzzled him. He smelled clean.

“Pretty soon, Mom’s not going to be able to carry you like this anymore,” I said, the thought saddened me a bit.

I had missed so much time with him already because I’d gone back.

Maybe going back had made sure I would live, but I would never forgive myself for what had been done to my child.

Those people I called my family who had done this to him were to blame mostly.

I carried Ethan into the living room when I heard Erik’s voice.

“You can’t just barge in here.”

“I’m here to see Dylan, Erik, don’t get in my way.” It was a voice I didn’t recognize.

I entered the room and saw the woman standing in the doorway, glaring at Erik. I stared up at her. I knew the woman wasn’t human. The stories came back to me. Female shifters weren’t nearly as beautiful as human women to male shifters. Seeing her up close, I could see why. There was a viciousness and a fury in her that would have just felt like a challenge to Dylan and other male shifters.

Female shifters weren’t less pretty because of their looks, but because their power rivaled male shifters. Then, I thought about what female shifters didn’t have to worry about. Perhaps that was a part of why they weren’t as attractive to male shifters as well. How did shifters make more shifters other than with human women? Maybe that was the truth behind all the trafficking aside from male shifters just wanting something pretty to play with and own.

My doubts about Dylan and my place here resurfaced upon seeing her. A heightened s*x drive wouldn’t matter to her. She could say no and refuse. She could fight off another shifter if she had to. I couldn’t. If I was a shifter, I wouldn’t have been with Dylan, but I also wouldn’t be at his and everyone else’s mercy.

The reason I left came back all too quickly.

I thought of Cindy. She was just a girl, but how much longer would that last? Even if she was being cared for now, how long would it be before someone took an interest in her and took her away?

Shifters didn’t care about rules.

Dylan had been fighting for as long as I’d known him because that was the shifter way.

I pulled Ethan closer to me. Would Ethan grow up to be just another vicious shifter?

“Who is that woman?” The woman asked glaring at me. She took a deep breath. “And the brat?”

“Dylan isn’t here right now. I’ll be sure to tell him you stopped by.”

“Filthy wolf, you think you can put me out and ignore my questions? Do you know who I am?”

“Do you know where you are?”

“It doesn’t f*****g matter!”

Ethan whimpered and turned into my arms as I backed out of the room silently and headed towards the kitchen. I didn’t’ know what kind of shifter this woman was, but she was scary. I didn’t want Ethan around her.

The woman growled, “Who the f**k is that human bitch? What is she doing here? Answer me!”

“You need to leave,” Erik said. “Dylan isn’t here right now.”

I heard them scuffling and shoving at each other. There was a loud snarl before the door slammed closed. I heard something roaring outside and something pounding on the door. I pressed my hands over Ethan’s ears and cooed at him.

“It’s okay, I promise. You’re safe.”

The scuffling got louder outside before fading away. I heard Erik sigh as he entered the kitchen looking exhausted. He gave me a small smile.

“Just when things were looking up… Tiger problems.” He looked at Ethan, “Is he okay?”

“Who was she?”

“She thinks of herself as Dylan’s future partner,” Erik huffed. “She’s the tiger princess. Her father runs the tiger’s territory.”

I stared at him, “His… partner?”

Erik smirked, “Two years is a long time, and Dylan’s not the type to sit idle when it comes to his plans. There were… some talks about an allegiance brokered through a union, but it never went far.”

The tigers’ territory was the last bit of land on the shifter’s side of the continent that hadn’t been taken over by Dylan. If he could broker the alliance or take it over through some other means, his wars would be over, I think.

Or maybe, he would just turn his gaze on the human side of the continent with all of the shifters backing him.

I knew that shifter weaponry was powerful, but Dylan had already survived so many run-ins with it.

I turned from him, “Why would I care?”

Erik chuckled, “Why would you indeed?”

It didn’t matter. All that mattered was Ethan. I understood my place in this world. No matter what Dylan said or did, I was just a human incapable of standing on my own in the shifter world. Ethan was just a child, our child. I had failed him once because I was so caught up in my emotions to think clearly. I couldn’t afford to lose myself to my emotions again.

“Will it help his?”

“What?”

“If they’re… bonded or married?”

Erik sighed, “It’s probably the most peaceful solution given the way the tigers are.”

I nodded, “Okay.”

Peaceful meant that Dylan wouldn’t be fighting any more and Ethan would have a chance to know his father. He wouldn’t have to grow up with just me or end up dead because I can’t protect him. It hurt, but I understood.

“That doesn’t mean he wants to do it.”

No, but it meant that he should.