Dragon Undercover: A Dragon Shifter Romantic Suspense

Davis

Dragon Undercover

Dragon shifter and team lead for DSD—Dark Scales Division—Owen Ashton has never lost a case. When his sister’s murderer turns serial killer, he is determined to take the rogue dragon down, for good. His team tracks the murderer to a small town in Minnesota and Owen goes undercover to finally end Huff’s reign of terror. The last thing Owen expected was to discover his mate vacationing in the lake house next to his.

Nadia Hasting, along with her sister Sage, take the first vacation in years since their parents’ deaths. Visiting the lake house their family rented every year when they were children is exactly what they need for downtime before Sage heads to college. The hot neighbor is a bonus, but Nadia isn’t sure she’s ready to date. But the pull toward the sexy stranger proves too strong to ignore.

When Sage goes missing, Nadia turns to Owen to rescue her sister from a mad man. But will Owen’s dragon scare her away from the one man that can save them all?

1

The cold metal chains bit into Owen’s wrists and ankles. He jerked and twisted, trying to get free, but they were clamped down too tight. Fury and fear battled inside him. His sister needed him now. She wouldn’t survive the torture much longer, and she was barely twenty, too young to die.

It was his job to protect her.

He roared. His dragon repeated the sound in his head, pacing and gnashing its teeth as it trekked across the landscape of his thoughts. The beast wanted out. Wanted to rip the head off the SOB with the knife to his sister’s throat. The bastard planned to carve her up in front of Owen.

Come on, damn it! No matter how much he tried, his dragon couldn’t break through the bindings the murdering asshole had placed on him. There had to be a way for his human form to get loose so his dragon could surface.

We’re stronger than this. Jo needs us!

He yanked his right arm, then his left. He drew back a step and then charged forward, putting his entire weight into freeing the restraints. The dragon within charged at the same time, letting out a fierce growl that turned into a roar right before the bindings snapped apart and the beast emerged.

The chains fell to the ground with a crash that echoed through the darkness. Large black wings extended as the rest of Owen’s body went through the quick transformation. Within moments, he had four clawed feet, black scales with a single silver scale on his back, and bat-like wings tucked in at his shoulders. His eyes narrowed to fiery slits as anger tore through his veins.

The basement of the farmhouse was barely big enough for his dragon to stand. Owen didn’t give a fuck. He would save his sister and burst through the wall.

After he killed the bastard who had tortured her.

The asshole, who went by the name Roger—which Owen knew was an alias for Liam—backed away from Jo. Fear made the male’s eyes grow round. Instead of changing into his dragon and fighting, the coward ran. No.

He teleported.

In a flash, he was gone.

Owen roared again. The sound shook the walls, and fragments of loosened paint and dirt fluttered through the air like paper confetti.

Jo’s fragile body slammed to the floor, and Owen’s heart stilled for several beats. The tangy scent of her blood flooded the air.

He nudged her with his snout. No response. She couldn’t die. She was all he had left. His only family.

NO!

The piercing groan of an air horn startled him awake, and Owen shot upright in bed, the covers tangled around him. It took a few moments before the dream faded from his thoughts. The darkness, the farmhouse, Jo.

Where am I? He rubbed his eyes, trying to clear the vision away.

The lakehouse. Another mission.

He was hunting down the bastard who killed Jo and a few others since. All the victims were young women who looked like his sister.

The damn air horn went off again, bringing his attention to his phone. A low growl rumbled from his chest. His teammates at Dark Scales Division, DSD, thought they were funny. The ring leader of pranks was Courtney—the lone female on the team. She’d likely been the one to set the air horn sound to startle him.

He’d prank her back, and she’d wish she’d never tried to match wits with him. He snorted.

After placing his feet on the cool wooden floor, he answered the offensive phone and snarled in response.

Good morning, sunshine! I see you made it. How late did you get in? Courtney’s chipper voice sounded on the other end of the line.

He fought the urge to snap at her. No one should be so perky in the morning. Hell, Courtney was perky all the time. It was unnatural. After midnight. Spent the rest of the night setting up surveillance around the woods and the house and getting my shit unpacked. Owen raked his fingers through his short black hair.

Did I call too early?

No, he spoke through clenched teeth. Just taking me a minute to wake up.

The dream nagged at him like it always did. He’d need to go for a run. Maybe let his dragon out to soar through the warm air over the lake. Clear his mind.

The death of his sister had killed a part of his humanity. The longer the murderer was loose, the crazier his dragon became. The beast wanted revenge—and he would get it, one way or another.

They would get it. Owen and his dragon would tear the killer to pieces. As soon as they found him.

Pulling the cell from his ear, he set it on speakerphone and walked to the living room of the two-bedroom, modest lake house located on Coon Lake in Minnesota. The area was quiet and somewhat secluded. I see why East Bethel is a good place for the bastard to lay low.

Yeah. It’s rural enough to hide, yet close enough to Minneapolis. Courtney’s tone was clipped. But it wasn’t secluded enough. We’re pretty sure he’s there.

She had been Jo’s best friend and wanted the killer dead almost as much as Owen did. He knew her always chipper personality was to bury her pain from losing Jo, and to make the whole team think everything was okay. We all have our ways of coping.

We’ll catch him. Owen snarled. I hope you’re right and he’s here. I need him to be here.

I know you do.

You have no idea.

Usually, the Council would track a rogue dragon down and eliminate it without hesitation at the first signs of insanity. The Council called on DSD to eradicate threats and take care of things swiftly. Why Liam Huff wasn’t dead after killing the first victim was beyond Owen’s comprehension. What made it worse was Huff had crossed over to serial-killer status, and his latest victims were mortal.

The piece of shit threatened to expose the dragons to the human world. That couldn’t happen. DSD needed to take him down as quickly as possible, before they had an even bigger issue on their hands.

Be sure you catch him. You know how to reach us for backup. Courtney paused. There is a small general store about a mile from you. I only stocked the house with the essentials, so you’ll have to pick up anything else you need. Huff’s file was delivered this morning. Usual protocol.

Thanks. I’ll check on it. I don’t plan to be here long.

She continued, her voice trembling with repressed anger. You know the incantation for breaking the protection spell, right?

Of course, I do. I’m ready. Don’t doubt it.

Good. We’ll have limited communication until Huff is dead. You make that happen. We’ll be on standby. Later.

Owen grinned as she cut the connection. The female knew him too well. Owen didn’t bring his rogues in alive.