He looked somewhat stymied by that, but his eyes held a glitter of jealousy nonetheless. “Sorry I’m not pretty like the gemstone dragons they have here on Earth. But I promise I’m the apex protector.”

  “Good enough for me,” Becky said, apparently listening in. When Mara looked at her, she just shrugged like she was helpless not to eavesdrop on a dragon.

  Mara smiled, picking up the carnelian pendant he’d touched. “Carnelian. A stone of confidence. It’s supposed to ignite your warrior spirit.” She laughed softly. “Not something you need help with, though it is also said to be a healing and purifying stone.” She hung the pendant up and picked up another. “This is red jasper, for protection.” He shook his head, and she picked up another. “And this is rose quartz, for love, compassion, humanity—”

  He shook his head. “Definitely not that one.”

  “I suppose not.” She chuckled.

  He reached out and drew out a large, clear crystal on a simple leather cord. “What is this?”

  “Clear quartz,” she said.

  He touched it, putting his hand around it, and a small smile lifted the corners of his mouth. “What does it do?”

  “Clear quartz is powerful and completely overlooked,” she said. “It’s pure crystal energy. It can enhance the strength of other crystals, purify bad energy. It amplifies other crystals while protecting the wearer, basically.”

  He nodded. “I’ll take this one.” He frowned. “Though, I have no money.”

  “I’d be honored to give it to you,” she said, slipping it over his head. “As my friend.”

  His eyes narrowed slightly at the word friend, but then his lashes fluttered as she draped the necklace over him and showed him the mirror so he could see himself.

  He stood up proudly, wide shoulders back and chest high.

  Dang, he was gorgeous.

  “Well, I might not be one of those gemstone dragons, but I imagine with this on, I’m as pretty as any of them.”

  She came up behind him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “You don’t even need the necklace. You’re gorgeous.”

  He stared down at her and, for once, had no comeback. No sarcastic remark or reminder he only wanted to conquer.

  He simply wrapped his hand around the crystal hanging from his neck and looked down at her with enough heat that it was almost like he was touching her instead.

  She let him go, cheeks flaming as she noticed Becky, Willow, and some of the customers were watching.

  An older woman at the back of the store gave a whistle. “You go, woman! I’d grab hold of that man too!”

  Mara just laughed, pulling Konar behind the counter. “Here, you can come help me ring people up.”

  The next few hours went pretty normally, with Mara helping the customers and Konar exploring the crystals and getting to know Willow and Becky, who seemed to enjoy teasing the huge man.

  But then Willow said she’d go down the street to pick them up lunch, and when she came back, visible in the glass windows of the shop, she had someone with her.

  Multiple someones actually.

  And based on their height and the way they were crowding in around Willow as she tried to carry the food toward the door of the shop, perhaps they were shifters.

  Before she could get inside, the two men stepped in front of her, blocking the door.

  Konar stood immediately, setting down the amethyst sphere he’d been holding. He didn’t even need to be told to go check because he was already headed over, hands in tense fists at his sides.

  He jerked the door open, and the wind chimes jingled, forcing the two scruffy, huge men to look up at him.

  They were tall men in general, dwarfing a nervous Willow with their height since she was only about 5’4”, a couple inches shorter than Mara and Becky.

  Mara wanted to go tear the men apart for even daring to annoy her friend, but Konar looked like he was going to handle it.

  Holding the door open, he grabbed Willow gently by the arm and pulled her inside and behind him.

  Then he stepped out, cracking his knuckles and blocking the entrance to the store.

  “Wait!” Mara yelled, running forward. She opened the door only for Konar to reach behind him and pull it closed again by the outer handle.

  “Stay there, mate. I’ll handle it,” he said gruffly.

  “Mate, huh?” One of the men had brown hair that stood up in all directions and stains that looked like blood on his coat. “We step on your territory?” The man scented the air. “What are you? You’re no bear or wolf.”

  The other man, who had a few greasy strands of hair on his bald head, grinned. “If you don’t want the wrath of the Claw Clan to fall on you, I suggest you let us inside to finish talking to the female. It’s nothing to you.”

  Konar folded his arms. “I’m no wolf, and I warn you to leave immediately. I have no wish to shed blood in front of my mate.”

  The bald one sniffed the air as well. “I sense battle on you. Blood. You’re no angel. Now stop siding with the humans and let us in.”

  “It’s the age of shifters now,” the brown-haired one said. “No one can stop us now from taking what we want. There aren’t enough dragons.”

  “They have kept us down for too long,” his friend agreed.

  Mara just clutched the door handle, wishing Konar would let her out.

  “I’m sorry,” Willow said, standing behind them. “They followed me back from the sandwich shop. I tried to get rid of them, but I didn’t know what to do—”

  “You did the right thing coming here,” Becky said, shaking her blond hair with a nod. “Our dragon will take care of those idiots.”

  One of the wolf shifters’ ears perked up (at least Mara assumed it was a wolf based on the fact they said they were in a pack).

  “Did you say dragon?” the bald one asked.

  Konar glared down at them.

  “I don’t know,” the brown-haired one said, taking a step back. “Look at the size of him. He might actually be one.”

  The bald one put up his hands. “We don’t want any trouble.”

  Konar lunged toward both of them in a second, catching each man by his collar and hefting one in each hand.

  They struggled and gasped, clawing at his hold on them, but he merely turned toward the door and faced Willow.

  “Did they touch you?” he asked, stone-faced.

  Willow shook her head.

  “Apologize,” Konar said. “Or I’ll rip your guts out for harassing one of my mate’s friends.”

  “I apologize,” they both blurted out immediately.

  “Never come in this vicinity again, and if you know other shifters, let them know this place is more than protected.”

  They nodded, still panicked and clearly in fear for their lives.

  Mara was just proud that Konar hadn’t lost it yet.

  She stepped back, putting an arm around Willow and hoping to calm down her friend.

  “I’m okay,” Willow said, leaning into her. “Honestly. I just wasn’t expecting it. I haven’t been… followed like that before. Maybe we shouldn’t go to the club.”

  “There won’t be riffraff there,” Becky said. “And besides, we have Konar.”

  Konar, who was now crossing the street and dragging the men behind him.

  He walked to an abandoned lot that overlooked a reservoir just at the end of the road in the opposite direction of where she’d gone to meet Troy and Jack.

  Then he hauled back and threw both men, at once, as far as he could. They turned into smaller and smaller dots as they flew through the air and landed on the other end of the reservoir, making small splashes.

  Konar turned back to walk toward her, orange eyes glowing, clearly not caring if they made it to shore.

  Once again, he’d protected her.

  Her heart was warmed by how well he’d handled the situation.

  And how much he seemed to treasure the crystal she’d given him, putting his huge hand around it as he walked up to the door of the store, meeting her eyes.

  When he was inside, he looked to Willow. “Are you all right?”

  She nodded, gaping up at him. “How did you throw them that far?”

  “Dragon,” he said simply, pulling Mara in against him for a hug and kissing the top of her head. “For you, I didn’t kill them.”

  She let out a laugh of pure relief, already feeling better about going to the club with him, knowing he could hold back when needed. “I appreciate that, Konar.”

  As he went over to check on Willow and Becky, her heart squeezed painfully, wondering how to reconcile this gentle, thoughtful man with the out-of-control barbarian he swore he was.

  He was just so gentle with humans… Could he really want to destroy her world?

  And how would he behave once they reached the club?

  18

  Konar was proud of himself for not turning into a dragon and messily devouring the two wolf shifters who had dared to mess with one of his mate’s gentle friends.

  As far as he was concerned, anyone she cared about was his to protect also, and he’d light a bonfire on the next person who tried to harass someone Mara loved.

  Narrowing his eyes, he wondered if things were really that bad in the human world and shifters were that free to run amok.

  He’d sensed bad intentions from the wolves but nothing darker than simple interest, so he’d merely sent them a message they’d never forget.

  He hoped nothing would go wrong at the club now that darkness was falling and they were riding in a cab over to it.

  He watched the city fly by as his mate talked to her friends, wondering how the dragons actually policed this world.

  Dragons, acting as protectors and enforcers when they should be leaders and rulers.

  None of it made sense to him.

  But the relief on Willow’s face, and Mara’s shining admiration, had made him understand just a little bit of why some dragons might choose that direction.

  If they weren’t barbarian dragons.

  And if they hadn’t been betrayed and sentenced with no trial.

  Even his memories of his family had been taken. How was he just supposed to move on and forgive that?

  He was still brooding about it when they pulled up in front of a huge parking lot packed with cars in front of a club with a sign that said “Club Crimson” in glowing red neon letters.

  “Apparently, they just opened this new location,” Becky said excitedly. “This is the second one.”

  “Interesting,” Mara said, looking up at the sign along with Willow.

  Outside the club, a huge, muscled bouncer with wild blond hair in a mane to his shoulders stood at a long line, with a man with short, collar-length light-purple hair right next to him, looking over a list in his hands.

  A man with collar-length dark-red hair walked out to talk with the other two, and Konar took a moment to study the crowd, which was pouring in and out of the club as the bouncer waved people in by removing the rope here and there.

  Even from the car, Konar could scent shifters.

  Protectiveness lashed through him, making his dragon ill at ease.

  As the cab stopped and the three ladies he was escorting got out, he materialized his ax and stepped in front of them.

  “I’ll go ahead,” he said, reaching back for Mara’s hand and gesturing for her friends to stay back.

  “They aren’t going to let you take an ax in,” Willow said softly. She was wearing flowing black pants with a silver chain as a belt and a soft-blue blouse that was sleeveless.

  “But there are shifters, and I’m not in dragon form,” he said. “I must be battle ready at any moment.”

  “All you need to do here is dance, honey,” Becky said, winking. She was wearing a red and black polka dot dress that looked like something humans might dance in.

  But his mate… she was taking his breath away.

  She’d insisted on having Becky and Willow bring her some more clothes, and she’d changed into a slinky, form-fitting black dress that had full sleeves and went to the ground but left none of her curves to the imagination.

  The last thing he wanted was to take her into a club right now, looking so beautiful, with rouge applied to her lips and something smoky around her eyes that enhanced the incredible emerald color.

  Not to mention, all three women had put on some kind of pointy, spiky shoes, which had pretty much hobbled them from being able to run, for some odd reason.

  But Konar would protect them anyway, that much was certain.

  As they walked toward the club, he felt something foggy surfacing in his mind. A memory of a battle… a memory of a woman’s face.

  He shook his head. Now was not the time to get fuzzy.

  Perhaps he’d just been awake long enough now that his memories were coming forward.

  Or perhaps the way this tiny human was melting his heart had something to do with it.

  Either way, for now he’d focus on making sure anyone who touched his mate or her friends got an ax to the face.

  Gasps greeted them as they reached the line, women cringing back and shifters stepping forward, cracking knuckles, just in case.

  “Whoa, my man, you can’t just bring an ax out here in public.” The man with dark-red hair stepped forward, wearing a ridiculous amount of black leather along with necklaces on his neck and bracelets on his wrist.

  He was tall and smelled like wolf shifter and probably would be considered handsome by humans or other shifters.

  To Konar, he smelled like a threat. But how could such power emanate off a simple wolf?

  “I’m an alpha wolf,” the man said, cocking a hip and glaring with eyes that were a deeper, warmer orange than Konar’s. “If that’s what’s confusing you.” He put out a large hand. “You’re going to have to give that to me to come in here.”

  “I will not give up my ax,” Konar said with a growl. “But I will dematerialize it.”

  The man gave a charming shrug. “Whatever works for you. We just can’t have you causing a panic.” He put out a hand. “I’m Lock, and I co-own this club. I’m here to help set up the new location.” He gestured to the bouncer. “That’s Max, our bouncer.”

  The long-haired bouncer with blond hair like a lion’s mane looked over at the group with Konar, then immediately moved the rope for them to pass.

  In the line, several very well-dressed human women who looked in severe need of nourishment were standing, folding their arms impatiently.

  “Why aren’t we going in?” One of them—a pale woman with odd, long black hair that looked very dead and kind of attached artificially somehow, along with black shorts that showed off short, oddly masculine skinny legs and pointed boots that gave her odd proportions—scowled at Mara and her friends.

  Konar turned to give her a growl, but Mara put her hands on his. “It’s okay.”

  “Why are you letting those girls in instead of us?” the woman mocked. “Let some hot women in for once.”

  Konar helped usher Mara and her friends through the entrance of the club as the lavender-haired man stepped forward, wearing a lavender suit.

  To Konar’s surprise, the man had purple eyes and a face as beautiful as any woman’s.

  He walked over to the line and pulled the rope back. “I’m inclined to let you in just so you can see exactly what shifters find attractive,” he said. But then he closed the rope again. “Then again, your human clubs are much crueler in rejecting those who don’t fit their specifications, so I believe you’ll have to wait until there is room.”

  The woman gasped in offense, but the lavender-haired man shook a finger.

  “Watch your words,” he said, his smooth voice oddly ominous. “I don’t like people who insult my friends, and everyone who comes to this club is a friend to me.”

  “Why don’t you show our new friends inside, Felix?” Lock said as Konar stared around incredulously.

  “Wow, we got in past the line so fast,” Becky was saying to Willow excitedly.

  “It’s the first club I’ve been to where curvy girls go first,” Mara said in awe.

  Konar looked down at her and smiled. Damn, she looked so beautiful today. He’d had such fun with her.

  Could the human world really be so bad after all if he was in it with her?

  Still, he kept his guard up as they entered the club.

  Felix, a very talkative man as it turned out, was already showing the girls around the club.

  It was dark inside, with brightly colored flashing lights and overhead beams lighting up a dance floor full of people.

  Music boomed and pulsed, making Konar’s ears hurt.

  There was a bar to the right of the room, and he went to sit on a stool with the others to get a drink and continue with Felix’s introductions.

  “So, as you heard, I’m Felix.” He grinned. “Mated alpha wolf. I go way back with Lock.” He grinned at Willow and Becky. “So how did you hear about the club?”

  Becky looked at Willow, then back at Felix. “Just… heard about it.” Her face was bright red as she looked from Felix to the other shifters on the dance floor.

  The club was packed wall to wall with shifter men and curvy women dancing with them.

  Despite the crowd, everyone seemed to be having a great time.

  Everyone but Konar, who felt stifled and unsure about his ability to stay alert in such a crowded area.

  Becky and Willow got up, holding hands, and announced they were headed out into the crowd to dance.

  Konar tensed, ready to go with them since Mara would surely want to.

  But then he felt a soft hand on his arm and looked down to see Mara smiling up at him.

  “It’ll be okay,” she said. “We can just drink at the bar and watch out for my friends, okay?”

  He nodded. “I can’t really dance.”

  “Not a problem,” Felix said, looking him over. “Just go stand in the middle of the dance floor like that, and I’m sure the girls will dance on you. Look at you! I’m guessing dragon from the size of you?”

  Konar merely pinned the charming man with a glare. He didn’t trust charming.

  Felix put his hands up. “I was an assassin, but you have nothing to fear from me now. My mate tamed me.” He looked at Mara, who’d gone tense when he’d mentioned Konar dancing with other women. “Or are you two mated?”