#13 The Dragon King and his Werewolf Princess
Chapter 20 River

It was a fucking dragon.

A real-life, 8 foot tall, scaley, fire breathing dragon.

And not just one. Six or more four legged, long tailed, big bellied dragons were stomping across the grounds just outside the castle. Their tails dragged through the grass, the weight killing the grass and the spikes on the tip digging rutts into the ground. Their bellies were huge, nearly dragging on the ground, and they glowed red just before a huge flame of fire roared from its mighty snout. Each beast was a unique color, their scales nothing short of a magical art piece.

The one closest to the window had holographic-like scales that switched from a navy blue, to a light turquoise, to a plum purple every time it moved. Its wings, at least four feet wide each, beat powerfully over its long body as it turned towards the castle. I bit the inside of my cheek as its red eyes leveled their gaze to my window.

“River!” Grier shouted and I realized a second too late that the dragon’s belly was glowing red.

I opened my mouth and screamed as a ball of fire shattered the glass of the window, heading straight for me. I felt the blistering sting of fire on my arm before a body slammed into me and I was tackled to the ground. My head slammed against the wood floor and I winced painfully as dots filled my vision. Once I was finally able to focus, I saw that Grier was shielding my body with his and sparks were flying all around us, flames licking up behind him.

“Come on! We need to go!” Grier shouted, jumping up and pulling me with him.

Grier took my hand and we ran through the castle and towards Calix’s office.

“Where are we going?” I yelled.

“There’s a safehouse in the basement. The entrance is in the west wing.” He yelled back over his shoulder.

Before we could make it to the offices, our path was intruded on by frantically running and screaming individuals, people who had sought cover inside the castle.

“We have to help!” I called out, tugging on Grier’s hand.

“No, I need to get you to safety!” Grier didn’t so much as pause as he plowed through the crowd.

“We need to help.” I spoke to Lavender this time.

“He won’t like it.” Lavender said and I knew she didn’t just mean Grier.

“I don’t care.” I snapped.

“It’s your first shift.” Lavender warned me.

“Do it quickly.” I said,

With the strength of Lavender behind me, I ripped my hand free from Grier’s. Grier stumbled to a stop and whipped around, but it was too late. Lavender had taken control over my body. It was quick and dirty, but effective. My bones snapped and reshaped to hold my new form, my organs rearranging, my nails turning into claws, my teeth into canines, and my skin into hair.

I dropped down to all fours in a matter of seconds, my legs no longer legs and my arms no longer arms. I was now standing on four paws, paws covered in bright red hair just like my own. Lavender threw back her head and let out a righteous howl before crouching back on her hindlegs and taking off.

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Grier yelled after us, but we ignored him. There wasn’t shit we could do against the 8 foot tall dragons outside, but we could help control the chaos inside, take care of the wounded, and usher the children to safety.

“River? What the hell!” Grier was easily able to keep up with us with his ten foot long legs, matching Lavender stride for stride.

Lavender barked at him and he looked furious.

“Calix is going to skin me alive for this,” He said to himself, “Everyone! Get to the safe house! Follow the red wolf!”

The statement was just crazy enough to catch everyone’s attention. Lavender howled again and their attention snapped towards her. For the first time, I realized how big Lavender was. She was much, much taller than me and nearly stood eye level with the massive Dragonhearted around her. She turned her back on them and started running towards the west wing. Surprisingly, the crowd followed.

We needed Grier to show us the entrance to the safehouse, since we’d never been there before, and open up the heavy safety door. Once he did, everyone flooded down the steps.

“Now will you go down there?” Grier looked at me, annoyed.

Lavender huffed through her snout and shook her head, running away from the safe house.

“River!” Grier called out in frustration.

We needed to make sure the castle was clear, so we ran from hallway to hallway, checking everywhere. Then, we stood in the foyer, directing new people as they frantically ran inside. As the front doors opened and closed, we caught glimpses of what was going on outside. The grass was on fire, the woods were engulfed in flames, and dragons were stampeding around everywhere.

Finally, someone we recognized stormed through the front door and stopped dead in her tracks.

“That’s a wolf.” Vix stated obviously.

“Thank you.” Grier grumbled sarcastically.

“Wait….is that….are you….River?” She struggled to form a thought.

Lavender bobbed her head.

“Oh, Calix is going to kill you.” She sang, looking up at Grier.

“No shit,” He snapped, “What’s going on out there?”

“It’s winding down now. The Ferals had a couple dragons on their side and they were nasty bastards.” Vix shook her head, but was grinning maliciously.

Lavender barked to get Vix’s attention.

“Calix is okay. All of our people are okay, in fact. Well, besides the Feral.” She said, guessing what we wanted.

“Now will you….” Grier started, but we ignored him.

Instead, Lavender ran past Vix and out the front door.

“You have got to be kidding me!” Grier yelled and I knew he was following us.

There were lots of bodies laying around on the grass and some people were chained up, but alive. There were only three dragons now, and they all looked to be cleaning up instead of setting things on fire. One of them, an all obsidian black dragon, immediately looked towards the castle and seemed to be on high alert. He dropped whatever he was doing and moved quickly towards Lavender, who reeled back on her hindlegs and growled warningly at the beast.

The dragon dropped down onto his belly and made himself eye level with Lavender.

“Mate.” Lavender whined.

“What?”

“That’s our mate. That’s Beau Feu and Calix.” Lavender said, sounding confident.

“How can you tell?”

“I can sense him. Beau Feu is my mate.” She barked.

With that, she leaned forward and rubbed her face against the dragon’s. It felt weird, hard and cold against our warm, soft fur. Lavender started to chuff, vibrating almost like she was purring, and the dragon’s eyes blinked closed.

One of the other dragons walked up behind Beau Feu curiously and the black dragon didn’t like that. He jumped up and whipped around, snarling and growling dangerously at the approaching dragon. Beau Feu turned back towards us and nudged Lavender with his head gently, pushing her back towards the house. She huffed in annoyance, but trotted back into the castle anyway.

“I’m dead. I’m going to die. This is how it ends.” Grier was talking to himself as he paced in the foyer.

Lavender blocked his path and Grier nearly fell over top of her. She huffed at him once before walking around him, her way of telling him to shut it. Lavender bound down the hallway and into Calix’s office. She found comfort in his scent, curling up on the floor and waiting for him to return.

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