If you missed the May newsletter, here’s a quick recap: I feel called to share some raw and unedited “stream of consciousness” excerpts that were written 99% of the time upon waking and were my pretty much verbatim translations of the vivid dreams that came to me that night.
Some are steamy. Some are sweet. Some are emotional. Some are short. Some are long. Some are from the species world. Some are from other worlds. Some have more (lots more!) to the story and characters than the excerpt I’m sharing with you. And some of these stories may be written into a book and shared with you one day. ;)
April’s excerpt was called “Warrior God” and it’s short and S-T-E-A-M-Y!
May’s excerpt was Part 1 of what I’m calling The Dragon King.
And now, without further adieu, here’s Part 2 of The Dragon King!
(PS: Definitely, go back and read Part 1 if you haven’t already or else Part 2 won’t make sense.)
I’m curious what you think of Kemal, Kiera, and the tiny dragon creatures! :)
The Dragon King
PART TWO
By M.C. Solaris
Author’s Note: I don’t actually know the heroine’s name yet. But I’m putting Kiera as I feel like this is right but it is subject to change as I write this story one day.
With that speed of a reptilian predator, all ten of the small creatures were suddenly standing at attention, hissing and growling, and shaking their tiny tails in an aggressive back and forth—releasing the slightest rattle sound like a snake.
Easily understanding their body language, her eyes went wide and she didn’t dare move a muscle…
“Kiera, what are you doing with the paxcilier pups?” Kemal’s voice held that alpha’s edge and the corner of his mouth was lifted in that sexy smirk of his—it was so slight that it was barely detectable though. Unless you were like her and had a borderline obsession with that very off-limits (and alphaly stubborn) mouth of his.
Instantly, the tiny creatures softened. Some began chuffing and turning in swift, small circles of excitement. Others began charging forth to pounce Kemal. And that aggressive tail movement was replaced with a sort of wag, like a happy puppy. The movement was so endearing and energetic that it even had their tiny butts wagging.
She realized their previous reaction was just because they’d been frightened by Kemal’s sudden and unexpected appearance. Plus, she’d bet they likely could feel that alpha power that all but pulsed off of him. Even so, it was clear they knew their alpha, same species or not, because Kemal was the king of these lands.
Her attention was caught by the almost foreign sound of his slight laugh. Honing in on the sound, on him, she watched as one two of the pups—the very first two, the bright blue and viper green ones—tag-teamed Kemal, crawling up his dark pants with the determination of a youth on a mission.
A part of her wondered if they were the young leaders of the pup pack.
Paxcilier pups, she silently repeated what Kemal had said. So they were just babies.
Again, her thoughts were wrenched away by that deep, strangely melodic, masculine sound that had every feminine cell in her body standing at full attention.
She rarely heard or saw anything from Kemal except his dominant commands—the commands of the dragon king. And yet, here he was, his chuckle on just this side of a laugh, carrying over to her eardrums like a sultry song.
With a faint gasp, her eyes widened at the slight traces of deep purple blood trickling down his arms. Those “kitten” claws were fully out and digging into his skin as they climbed up his body.
“What?” Kemal looked at her and his dark brows cranked together, framing those potent amethyst eyes that pierced into her.
“You’re bleeding.”
He looked down to where her eyes had latched onto as if he were oblivious to being used as a scratch post. His face returned to his perma-stern, half scowl and his voice was dismissive. “Just a scratch.”
For whatever reason, she wondered if the dragon pups somehow knew they could play rougher with him than with her.
She watched as Kemal picked up the blue one—the one who was just a hair faster than the green in the race up Kemal’s body—and he held it on his forearm and hand, the creature balancing with a natural grace. She winced a little as the creature also dug his sharp claws into Kemal’s skin to aid with it’s youthful balance.
Kemal bent his his head slightly, his silken, black hair falling across his forehead, and with an actual smile—not a stern half-tilt of the dragon king’s lips but an actual smile of a male looking at a babe—he looked into those big, blue eyes for a moment as if there was a silent conversation going on.
A slight trilling chuff sounded into the space a moment later.
Kemal chuckled once more, breaking eye contact with the blue creature only to give attention to the green one with his free hand.
“She’s quite jealous for affection,” he announced, scratching the viper green one’s chin, her eyes closing in pure bliss as she made more of those cute, purr-like sounds. “And shameless.” He chuckled as the female pup tilted her head back further to give him better chin scratching access.
Kiera sucked in a sharp breath as the green pup, still learning the laws of gravity and looked to have forgotten those laws while being pet by Kemal—understandably so—toppled over and began to fall.
“Careful, little one,” Kemal chuckled and immediately course-corrected the fall with his inhuman speed, catching the green pup with ease. “Good.” He butted his forehead with the blue one’s.
“What’s good?” Kiera asked.
“He held firm in place even with my sudden movement.” His amethyst eyes met hers and as always, seemed to bore deep into hers and pin her to the spot with their intensity. “Their future alpha should have strength and quick reflexes.”
Future alpha. She looked at the bright blue one again as if with new eyes. “He was the first one who approached me. And then her.” She indicated to the green one.
“Unsurprising. He’s always getting into something and she’s”—he scratched her chin again—“never far from him. These two troublemakers are attached at the hip.”
Kiera smiled.
“But,” he said, his piercing gaze back on hers. “It’s unusual for the rest of them to play.”
Kiera’s brows knitted together slightly. “But they’re all over you.”
“Not me. They know who I am to them. I’m their alpha. It’s instinct.” His eyes seemed to appraise her with something she couldn’t quite understand. “Paxciliers are highly intuitive and instinctive. And it’s unusual for them to accept strangers so quickly, especially non-dragon shifters.”
There was a brief pause and she didn’t know what to say, seemingly struck dumb as those eyes held hers and were calculating with thoughts she couldn’t comprehend.
“Where’s their mom?” she blurted out, almost unable to hold that gaze any longer.
His face darkened to a lethal edge. “The enemy pack captured her.”
Her heart squeezed. “Can we get her back?” She hugged the violet one in her lap closer to her and it began that trilling purr in response.
“No.”
Her anger rose. “What do you mean no?” Her tone came out sharper than it probably should with the dragon king. “They need their mother.”
“I know.”
She could tell he was holding back a growl, holding it back for the pups, who all seemed to be able to sense his shift in mood all of a sudden. He took two large breaths and then said in a less charged tone, “She’s dead. She died from the emotional heartbreak from being separated from her pups so soon after birth.”
“Oh my god.” She blinked rapidly, hoping to placate the tears that sprang to her eyes. “I hope whoever did it is dead.”
It was a cruel statement of violence but surely whoever committed such an act with these intelligent and emotional creatures deserved death.
He looked at her for a long moment, as if he wasn’t expecting such lethal words from her. Hell, she hadn’t expected it either but it was the truth.
“Why?” She kept her tone calm for the pups but she wanted to scream for them. “Why would they take her?”
Again, his sharp alpha eyes were watchful before he answered. “Paxciliers are rare, ancient creatures. Secretive and mainly keep to themselves. But in the wars of the past, they were highly sought after, mainly for defensive detection. In many ways they’re resilient, can live in many climates. And specifically when they choose a place for birth—which is rare in itself—they use their instincts and intelligence to find a place they deem to be the safest within a reasonable proximity.”
He paused briefly. “When my second in command first saw her on our lands, I thought he must’ve been mistaken. I flew out to see for myself. Sure enough, he was right. I’m still surprised she let my second see her and then let me find her.”
There was a short break in his words before he continued, “They aren’t sentient, can’t communicate as you or I with language, but she wasn’t aggressive when I approached. And I immediately let her know in the ways of animals that she was safe here on my lands and I would protect her and her young.”
His jaw flexed with such deep angered emotions and he looked as if he had to force himself to take a breath.
“I failed her.” There was such depths of pain in his eyes at the broken vow that it made her chest ache. “But I will not fail her pups.”
“It’s not your fault,” she said. “What happened to her is not your—”
“It is my fault,” he cut her off with that dominant arrogance. “It is my burden to bear. I’m alpha of this region. Everyone and everything in it is my responsibility.”
The weight of his words were so heavy, it was almost crushing. Such a burden to bear.
“Maybe she knew,” she said softly, trying to ignore the pain in her chest.
“What?”
“You said they’re highly intuitive and instinctive,” she continued gently. “And that they basically live anywhere. No offense, but then why did she choose here? When there’s the growing tension with the enemy clan? And where did she come from?”
He remained silent, that alpha gaze locked on her like a laser point.
“So, why here? Specifically, why YOU, Kemal?” She paused. “Maybe she knew. Maybe that mother dragon knew something was going to happen to her and that’s why she let you find her and approach her. Maybe she knew you were the safest ones for her pups and that you would protect them.”
He looked as if he were going to say something, likely refute what she said but then he seemed to think about it for a moment. Finally, he said, “We’ll never know.”
A baby hiccup sounded out from the blue one and it coughed up a puff of black smoke.
Her eyes bugged. “They breathe fire?”
There was the faintest tug at the corner of his lips as he stroked the blue one’s throat in a soothing gesture as if akin to rubbing a baby’s belly for relaxing relief.
“Only the alpha’s.” He looked at her and then the empty bowl next to her. “Did you feed them?”
She bit her lips and then smiled innocently. “They asked nicely.”
He chuckled. “For them to feed from you is a sign of great trust. I was the only one who could feed them for the longest time after their mother.” Dark pain flashed across his features. “They only just started to allow my second to feed them recently. And that’s after he tried everything, even their favorite treats. And even then, they’ll only eat it if he stays a short distance back.”
His eyes seemed to appraise her even more carefully and the sight of how the pups were still crawling all over her and practically cuddling with her even now.
Without warning, the one on her shoulders somehow managed to balance on her head. Then the tiniest of roars sounded out, which turned into a yawn, which turned into it losing its balance due to its weight tilting to one side.
She quickly reached up and grabbed it, bringing it safely in her lap. She scratched its chin as Kemal had done with the green one. Almost instantly, it curled up and fell asleep with a trilling purr.
“Their father,” she asked tentatively. “Do you know?”
He shook his head. “Their species is the kind where the father is not a part of the raising.”
“Like bears,” she noted.
He nodded. “But it’s not unheard of for their fathers to track them down after the birth sometimes. It’s unknown why.” There was something in his eyes as he watched the pups for a second. “Come. We’ll put them in their nest for a nap.”
Copyright © 2021 by M.C. Solaris
Author’s Note: Okay, I think that’s a good place to end the glimpse of Kemal, Kiera, and the cute paxcillier pups! I hope to write their story one day soon and I’ll be sure to keep you posted when that day comes! :)
PS: If you haven't tried the Orion’s Order series, you can dive in at Calypso’s Heart (book 1) and then immediately continue on to Rhyker’s Key (book 2)!
M.C. Solaris
❤️Lover of love
✍️Storyteller of love
🔪Weapon of choice: love
✨Channeler of Orion’s Order
🧜♀️Author of epic Paranormal Romantasy escapes
linktr.ee/mcsolarisauthor