Dragon in the Rough (Elders Enterprises Book 1) (9 page)

              The elevator chose that moment to bing, letting Katie know that she had arrived at her floor. She held her breath as the doors opened and hoped that no one was standing out there waiting for the elevator. When she did not see anyone, she released her breath. Katie then darted out of the elevator and headed straight to her office as fast as she could. Once there, she closed and locked her door.

                                      ***

              Paul had woken up to find that Katie had already left for work. Sighing, he pulled himself out of bed and started to pull his clothes on. Memories of last night made their way to the front of his mind. He moaned at the thought of how Katie felt so right to him. He had never wanted someone as much as he wanted her. He was just pulling on his shirt when he felt a familiar pull at his mind. He quickly sat down and pulled at the link.

              When he opened his eyes, he was standing in a bare office. Katie had her back turned to him staring out the window. He walked over and wrapped an arm around her waist, leaning in and smelling her hair. Sighing, he said, “As much as I love seeing you, you should be working.”

              Katie let out a long, slow breath. Turning around, she laid her head on Paul’s chest. Paul knew something was wrong when she refused to make eye contact with him. “Paul,” she started. “We might have a small issue.” Paul went still. Had one of the men here found out what she was? Did they know she was sleeping with him? His mind was going crazy with everything that could have happened.

              Through it all, Paul managed to ask, “What is wrong?” His voice was shaky and even though he tried to sound confident, he knew he was failing. Then Katie looked up at Paul and everything else fell away. There in her eyes were flakes of gold. Meaning he was right, she was a dragon. But even more importantly, she was his mate.

              Paul picked Katie up and started spinning her around. He had waited his whole long life for this moment. Now that it was here, he would remember it for the rest of his life. This was his new beginning. He could now have the family that he always wanted. Katie was laughing in his arms as he hugged her tighter to his chest.

              “Paul,” Katie squeaked out at him, bringing him to a quick halt. “I am happy about this too, but if you have not noticed, we are standing in the middle of my office at the head of Elder Enterprises.”

              Paul’s mood immediately changed. “You need to get out of there right now, Katie. They cannot see you like this. Not yet anyways.”

              Katie sighed. “I am too scared to leave. Before I sat down to contact you, I heard people moving around outside of my office.”

              Paul’s mind was racing. He had to get Katie out of there quickly. Things could end very badly if anyone happened to see that her eyes were changing to gold. “Okay,” Paul finally started. “I will figure something out, I promise. Just stay in your office and continue to work. If anyone comes in, turn your head away from them.” Paul was worried that this would all blow up but he was not about to tell Katie that. He pulled Katie in close and hugged her before leading her to her desk chair. Once seated, he leaned down and gave her a quick kiss. “I promise I will not let any harm come to you, Katie.”

              Before she could say anything, Paul cut the link. He opened his eyes and immediately started cussing. Without another thought, he stood and headed out the door. He went straight to his apartment and picked up the book, sitting down on his bed. He knew what he had to do. The only thing he did not know was how to do it and keep Katie safe. After a few more minutes of debating with himself, he came up with a plan. He hoped that it worked because if not then he and Katie were in a lot of trouble.

              Laying down on his bed, Paul called out to his brother. After what seemed like forever, his surroundings started to fade and change. He was now standing in the same room from two nights ago. He took a step back when he looked up to see his father and both brothers standing there. “How the hell are y’all here, too?” he asked

              “We have our ways,” Fabian said. “But I am guessing you are not calling to shoot the shit. What do you want, Paul?”

              Paul took a deep breath. It was now or never. He had to do this for Katie. He spread his arms wide. “I have come here to negotiate my surrender and to return your beloved book.”

              No one said anything for the longest time. Paul wished they would hurry up and get this over with. He needed to know that Katie was all right. He needed to have her in his arms again. Finally, Fabian spoke up again. “What are your terms?”

              “The woman I have found has started to change. She is my mate.” Paul paused to watch his family. His father had the look of a proud parent. Mark looked happy but Paul could see the look of sadness in his eyes. It was Sam that caused the confusion. He looked like he was pissed. Why would his own brother be mad that Paul had found his mate?

              He continued after a moment. “I need to know that if I turn myself in, my mate will be safe. Also that I will still get to see her. We all know how much our race is relying on new mates. We cannot let everyone suffer because of my stupidity.”

              It was Sam who spoke first. “Who do you think you are? First, you break our laws. And now you are trying to get off without any punishment?” He was pissed off and was not even trying to hide it.

              Mark turned and stepped toward Sam. “Why don’t you just keep your mouth shut? Paul may have screwed up but he is here now trying to do the right thing, for himself and the race. We need more mated couples so that we can thrive again.” Mark poked a finger at Sam. “You may have given up, but that does not mean the rest of us have.” He turned to look at Paul. “Tell me who she is. I will protect her until all of this is sorted out.”

              Paul did not know what to say. After all he had done and screwed up, he never expected Mark to still have his back. Before Paul could open his mouth to speak, his father stepped forward. Closing the space between them, Fabian wrapped his arms around Paul, hugging him close. “I want to first congratulate you on finding your mate. I have waited for this moment a very long time, as have the rest of the Elders.”

              Paul pulled away so that he could look at his father. “You mean to tell me that you knew this day was coming? That the Elders have been waiting for this? Why?”

              “Well, son,” Fabian spoke as he released his son. “That book you stole told us that you would save our race from extinction. We have all been waiting for this day for some time now. So why not just come on in and we can work out all the kinks.”

              Paul was stunned. The answers he had been searching for had just been given to him. Relief washed over Paul, this meant he could be free with his Katie. With a big smile on his face, he said, “I will be in the office in ten minutes.”

              Before Paul could leave, Mark spoke up. “Tell us who she is first so we can make sure she has protection.”             

              Paul hesitated but finally told them. “You already know who she is. She is sitting at her desk inside of your building right now. It is Katie.” Paul laughed as a look of shock spread across each of their faces as what he said sank in. With that, Paul pulled back and broke the link. As he opened his eyes, he stood up, doing a little happy dance. He grabbed up the book and ran out the door, he could not wait to see Katie and tell her that they were free.

Chapter 13

              It had been a few hours since Katie had heard from Paul. Luck had been on her side and no one had come knocking at her door. She was doing the research on the human foster care system when she came across something very interesting. While inputting all the parameters into the search engine, the results were astonishing. Over the past thirty years there were at least twenty kids that fit the description in this state alone. All of which were girls. This caught Katie’s attention. After her talk with Paul last night, Katie knew that dragons would not just abandon their babies. So why were so many in the human foster system?

              Katie pulled up a national registry and again entered the parameters. While the search was loading, Katie started to pull any information she could find on the kids she already knew about. They all had the same story as her. When her computer finally dinged, letting her know that it had finished its search, Katie clicked on the tab and started cussing. There were hundreds of little kids that had been abandoned. This could not be right. She started looking into each kid and stared in horror. How had the Elders not seen this happening? Someone should have noticed all these kids missing.

              Katie jumped when someone knocked on her door. Turning her head toward the computer, she hollered at whoever it was to come in. She heard the door open and close and waited for whoever it was to start talking. Her heart started to race as the person walked toward her. “I am busy right now.” Katie prayed to the fates that whoever it was would just hurry up and tell her what they wanted.

              “I want you to look at me, I need to see those beautiful eyes in person.” Katie froze, she knew that voice. Turning slowly, she looked up at Paul standing in front of her desk. Katie’s heart skipped a beat. “There they are.”

              “What are you doing here? I mean, do not get me wrong, I love seeing you standing there all sexy, but it is too dangerous for you to be here.” Paul laughed as the door opened again. In walked Fabian, Mark, and Sam. Katie’s heart stopped as they all looked at her. They all wore straight faces so she could not tell what they were thinking. Finally, they came to a stop behind Paul.

              Mark was the first one to speak. He looked at Katie and then Paul, then he got a big smile on his face. Slapping Paul on the back, he said, “Well shit, brother, congratulations. So when are you going to make me an uncle?”

              Katie stood and made her way around her desk to stand next to Paul. “What the hell is going on here?”

              Paul reached over and pulled Katie into his arms. He leaned down and gave her a quick kiss that was far too short for Katie’s liking. Katie pulled away when she heard clapping. “What is happening is I have surrendered and told them the truth.”

              Katie looked around at the men smiling at her, her gaze landing on Sam. Even though he was wearing a smile, Katie got the feeling that he was anything but happy. Pushing the thought aside, Katie asked, “So what does that mean for us?”

              “It means, my dear, that we do not have to hide and until we are fully mated, you will have round the clock protection.” Paul picked Katie up and walked over to her desk chair and sat down, adjusting Katie so that she sat across his lap. They looked up at the three men standing in front of them.

              Katie knew that Paul was making his mark on her, showing the other males that she belonged to him, but she did not mind. In fact, she was enjoying it. “So,” Fabian began. “It looks like we do not have anything else for you to do today so after the meeting with the Elders, you can go home.”

              Katie sat up. “Actually, sir, there is something that you need to look into.”

              The smile vanished from Fabian’s face. “What is wrong?”

              Katie pulled up the list of girls on her computer, turning her screen around to show everyone. “When I was looking through the human foster care system, I came across all these girls that could be dragons.” Fabian moved so quickly that Katie barely saw him. He grabbed the screen and looked at it closely. “They all have pretty much the same story as me. They were dropped off at hospitals, churches, or fire stations all across the United States for the last thirty years.” Katie paused to look around the room. Paul squeezed her hand, reminding her that he was supporting her. “My gut is telling me that something really horrible is going on here.”

              Sam spoke for the first time since he walked in, “I think you are right.” The other three males nodded in agreement.

              Fabian stood up straight, “I want you to forward everything you have to each one of us, then meet us in the conference room.” Fabian and Sam turned and left, leaving Mark staring at Katie and Paul.

              “I just want both of you to know how happy I am for you.” He walked over and gave Katie a hug but quickly pulled back when Paul growled at him. “Easy there, big boy. I was just giving my future sister-in-law a friendly hug.”

              “Damn it, Mark!” Paul yelled, “Could you slow down a little bit, please? Katie and I have a lot to talk about. So please leave.”