Hidden Dragon Read online

  Table of Contents

  Copyright

  Foreword

  Chapter One – Fleur

  Chapter Two – Fleur

  Chapter Three – Doran

  Chapter Four – Fleur

  Chapter Five – Doran

  Chapter Six – Fleur

  Chapter Seven – Doran

  Chapter Eight – Fleur

  Chapter Nine – Doran

  Chapter Ten – Fleur

  Chapter Eleven – Doran

  Chapter Twelve – Fleur

  Chapter Thirteen – Doran

  Chapter Fourteen – Fleur

  Chapter Fifteen – Doran

  Chapter Sixteen – Fleur

  Chapter Seventeen – Doran

  Chapter Eighteen – Fleur

  Chapter Nineteen – Doran

  Chapter Twenty – Fleur

  Chapter Twenty-One – Doran

  Chapter Twenty-Two – Fleur

  Epilogue

  Also By Harmony Raines

  Get In Touch

  Hidden Dragon

  Return to Bear Creek

  Book Twenty-Four

  ***

  All rights reserved. This book, or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner without the express written consent of the author or publisher.

  This is a work of fiction and is intended for mature audiences only. All characters within are eighteen years of age or older. Names, places, businesses, characters and incidents are either the product of the author’s imagination or are used in a fictitious manner. Any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, actual events or places is purely coincidental.

  © 2019 Harmony Raines

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  Hidden Dragon

  Return to Bear Creek

  Book Twenty-Four

  He’s been hidden away for centuries. Now he intends to claim her heart.

  Finally, she’s here. He can feel her, she stirs his blood, stirs him into consciousness. His time is in the past, but his mate is in the present and together they will build their future.

  Doran can’t remember anything about his past, it’s lost, his memories blocked. But he’s willing to learn to live in this strange new world. He must, because his mate is here, and she is everything to him.

  However, glimpses of his forgotten life creep into his mind, leaving him with questions that need answering if he is ever going to rebuild his life. But when Doran returns to the place where he slept for centuries, he regains his memories, but at a terrible cost.

  Bear shifter, Fleur, has her career all mapped out. At least she had. However, as events rapidly unfold her world is turned upside down. Not least because she suddenly has a centuries-old dragon shifter as her mate. Can she help Doran find out the truth behind his Ancient Slumber, without losing sight of who she is and what she wants to achieve?

  After all, she isn’t some medieval damsel in distress and she certainly doesn’t need Doran to ask her father for her hand in marriage. He has been warned!

  Doran does not want to get on the wrong side of her bear who might not be able to breathe fire, but she’s fierce and ready to teach the old dragon some new tricks.

  Chapter One – Fleur

  “I can take care of everything for you, Mr. Preston.” Fleur shifted her phone to her other ear as she pulled out the details for a large acreage of land halfway up the mountain that was predominantly woodland. The owner of the woodland, which was known locally as Woodacre, wanted a quick sale. But he also wanted a good price. Two requirements that did not often go hand in hand.

  Although many clients who walked through the doors of Bear Creek Real Estate didn’t understand why.

  “Are you sure? I don’t want to put more work onto you.” Mr. Preston’s voice croaked as if he hadn’t drunk for days.

  “I’d like to go and take a good look around. According to a local historian I spoke to this morning, there may be some kind of ruined cottage on the land. Which might increase its appeal, if not it’s value.” Fleur was trying to figure out a USP for Woodacre. So far, the only unique selling point was a ruined cottage buried under trees and shrubs.

  “It might.” Mr. Preston didn’t sound too hopeful. They both knew Mr. Devizes was asking too much money for the land.

  “I’m sending you a map with the possible location highlighted. Although, you should advise Mr. Devizes that even with the ruins, the land is still overpriced.” Fleur hit send on her phone, the map of Woodacre should reach her boss instantly.

  “I tried again yesterday.” Mr. Preston’s phone pinged as it received her message with the map attached. “I think I might have finally gotten through to him. So I won’t get his hopes up until we know for sure you have found something worthwhile.”

  “That’s a good idea. I can’t see anyone locally paying so much money for the land even with the ruins on it. You can tell he’s not from around here.” Mr. Preston paused. “I’ve got your message. I’ll take a look and speak to you later. But I trust your judgment, Fleur.”

  “Thank you.” Fleur chewed the inside of her lip. She wanted to ask Mr. Preston if he was okay, although, clearly, he was not. He sounded tired. His health had noticeably deteriorated in the last six months. But Fleur could not dwell on that now. There was nothing she could do since her boss hadn’t shared the details of his health, or any other part of his personal life, with her. Mr. Preston was a private man. All Fleur knew was that he had never found his mate and had plowed all of his energy into building his real estate business.

  “For everything,” her boss added.

  “No problem. I’ll go on over there now and take a good look around.” Fleur glanced at the clock on the wall. “It’s nearly three. I’ll be out of the office for the rest of the day.” And some of the evening if she really wanted to have a good look around. There was nothing to say she would find the ruins easily, the map was a little vague. The area marked on the map George had given her covered a couple of acres, maybe more.

  When she’d spoken to George, who worked at the museum and was her sister’s father-in-law, sort of, he’d apologized at not being able to pinpoint the area more accurately. Fleur had assured him the information he’d given her was more than enough. But it would take time to cover the area thoroughly.

  Although, if she enlisted the help of her bother, Jax, she could search the area in two or three hours.

  “Lock up the office for the day. I’ll field any calls from my mobile.” Mr. Preston hesitated. “Perhaps tomorrow we should have a talk.” He erupted into a coughing fit and covered the mouthpiece of his phone to mute it.

  Fleur swallowed hard, her bottom lip quivering as the coughing subsided. Mr. Preston was her mentor, and they had built up a professional friendship, despite their age difference. Fleur hoped he might trust her with news of whatever was wrong with his health. She wanted to help. Lonely, and with no family, she hated the idea of Mr. Preston facing an illness with no one by his side to offer support or care for him.

  “Excuse me.” Mr. Preston cleared his throat. “Yes. We do need to talk.”

  “Sure. First thing?” Fleur asked, keeping the wobble out of her voice.

  “Maybe second thing. I’ll be in the office at about ten.” Mr. Preston paused. “Maybe eleven. Thank you, Fleur.”

  The call ended before she had a chance to tell Mr. Preston he was welcome. Perplexed, she sat down at her desk and studied the image George had given her once more. Fleur tapped on the grainy image of Woodacre and zoomed in on the area marked in blue and labeled ruins.

  There was nothing to see
there but trees, and a few scrubby bushes. Certainly no sign of ruins. But she trusted George. If he thought there was something there worth checking out, then she would go check it out.

  You just want to go visit Woodacre once more before it’s sold, her bear told Fleur.

  Maybe. She tapped the screen twice, scrolled through her contacts and tapped the screen once more, waiting patiently while the phone rang.

  “What can I do for you, sis?” Jax’s deep mellow voice always brought a smile to her face.

  “Hey, Jax. Do you have a couple of hours to spare?” Fleur knew Jax would drop everything and come with her if he thought she needed his help. Jax was that kind of a guy. Even if he did dress in tight leather pants and a biker jacket.

  “For you, anytime.” He gave a short laugh. “You’re not in trouble are you, flower?”

  “You know I hate it when you call me flower,” Fleur said easily as she hitched her purse on her shoulder, switched off the computers and walked to the back door.

  “I do. But what are little brothers for if not to tease their big sisters?” Jax asked. There was a scrape of a chair leg over a wooden floor as he got up from his stool at the bar he part owned. He might play at being a biker, but he had business sense and had a sweet deal going on which left him with plenty of freedom and money.

  He worked long, late hours over at the bar which was tucked away in the foothills toward Wolf Valley. It offered privacy and a good live band most nights. Although at this time of day, between the lunchtime rush and the slow build of a busy evening, there would be a lull in customers. Which probably meant there was a pretty girl in the bar making gooey eyes at Jax. Not that they stood a chance at winning his heart or getting him into bed.

  Her brother might look like a man-whore, but he didn’t behave like one, even if women threw themselves, or their panties, at him. Which they did.

  You’ll put me off my dinner, her bear joked, and Fleur smothered a smile.

  “George has given me a map of possible ruins on Woodacre. I’m going up there to take a look.” Satisfied the office was shut down and secure, Fleur headed to the front door, keys in hand, ready to lock up for the day.

  “Woodacre? Isn’t that place literally acres of wood?” Jax asked. Fleur heard him talking to someone else and then the familiar sound of his boots on the sidewalk outside the bar. Any minute now he would sigh as he saw his bike, all chrome and leather. She couldn’t see the appeal of his bike, but it was his most prized possession and she respected that.

  “That’s what I’m going up there to check out.” Fleur walked to the back of the real estate office and exited by the back door, making sure she locked it securely. After checking the door twice, she turned around and walked to her car which was parked in the small parking lot behind the office. It was for staff only, although the occasional client would squeeze in the one spare parking spot if there were no spaces out front.

  “Oh, a treasure map. Intriguing. Does this mean we’re going on a treasure hunt?” Jax sighed with pleasure and Fleur stifled a laugh.

  “Are you staring at your bike?” she asked innocently.

  “I might be.”

  A laugh bubbled up inside her and this time she let it out. “What are you going to do if you ever find your mate?”

  “There would be no competition. You know I’d give all this up for the woman of my dreams.” Jax spoke from his heart, as he always did. It was one thing she adored about her brother above all else. “So, a treasure hunt.”

  She breathed deeply and calmed herself. She was a professional and needed to act that way since she was still technically at work. “A treasure hunt. Or a wild goose chase, I’m undecided right now which way it’s going to go. The map might lead us to the ruins of a building, or it might just waste a couple of hours of our time.” Fleur clip-clopped across the parking lot, longing to reach her car and slip on the comfortable Converse she wore when she drove.

  “Hey, a few hours in the wild with my sister is never a waste of time,” Jax replied.

  “I can see why women fall at your feet.” Fleur unlocked her car and slipped into the front seat. In a second, she’d swapped her shoes, and started the engine. “I’ll meet you there. You know where the entrance is?”

  “Yes, I do. I’ll be there in ten minutes.” Jax ended the call, but not before he was drowned out by the sound of his motorbike. It was a beast of a machine, much like Jax was a beast of a man, on the outside at least.

  Fleur pulled out of the parking lot and joined the steady stream of afternoon traffic that threaded its way through the main street of Bear Creek. She’d lived just outside of Bear Creek her whole life, her parents didn’t have much, but they were happy. With an almost empty nest and a house that was theirs, they were looking to enjoy a quiet period of their lives together. Her dad intended to cut down on the hours he worked in a warehouse job he’d never enjoyed.

  Fleur’s earliest memories of her dad were helping him plant seeds in his shed and then watching them grow. Each little green shoot had seemed like a miracle as it erupted from seed and grew big and strong with the help of water and warmth.

  She pressed her lips together, trying to avoid the nagging idea in her head that it was time to move and fly out of the nest herself. A year ago, that might have meant leaving Bear Creek. She had no idea what she wanted to do, but knew she needed to do something. She wanted a career and to be an independent woman.

  When Mr. Preston hired her to help run the real estate business, she’d finally found her vocation in life. She loved her job and had the career she’d always dreamed of. But she wasn’t an independent woman.

  She loved living in her childhood home on the outskirts of town. She loved helping her dad water his vegetables on warm summer evenings when the birds flew back and forth, busy feeding their chicks. She loved the view of the mountain and being able to slip out of the back gate and onto a trail that wound its way through the lower slopes before opening up onto the mountainside.

  If she moved out, renting a small apartment in town would be all she could afford unless she found a roommate. Fleur gave a short laugh. Most people her age craved company and a great nightlife.

  But this bear shifter loves the wild remoteness of the mountain, her bear finished for her.

  So true. As Fleur turned onto the quiet back road that coiled along the foot of the mountain, she sighed the same kind of sigh that Jax did when he looked at his bike. She was a creature of the mountains, of the wild places where a bear could go unseen for hours.

  Maybe we should buy Woodacre, her bear suggested.

  Unless Mr. Devizes dropped the price by a lot, we could not afford it. She glanced out of the window at the mass of trees around two hundred feet up the mountain. That was their destination, and a thrill of excitement filled her. Fleur had visited the site a couple of times, but never ventured far inside. Mr. Preston had handled the sale of the property up until now, although she had prepared the sales brochure and double-checked that the paperwork was all in order.

  A distant noise woke her from her daydream of owning the wooded acreage and living in a small cabin nestled in amongst the trees. Jax was approaching from behind, the steady throb of the motorbike engine getting louder as he throttled forward, the bike climbing the hill like a sleek beast hunting its prey.

  Fleur eased her foot down on the gas and her car accelerated as it wove its way through some tight bends. The climb was one of the steepest along this section of the mountain and few people took this road, but the views were stunning.

  On top of the world, her bear shivered in anticipation of being free to run through the woods with Jax. Ever since they were kids, they’d shared a close relationship and he often took her camping in the mountains. He was the best brother a girl could ask for and they had always been close.

  “Thanks for coming.” Fleur parked in the gateway of Woodacre and got out of her car. Jax glided to a halt just behind her and switched off his engine, the stillness of the mountain
s instantly enveloped them.

  “You saved me from a tall leggy blonde who wanted my body.” He grinned as she grimaced and put her finger into her mouth as if pretending to vomit. “I know you love hearing how I’m God’s gift to women.” He took off his helmet and shook out his dirty blond hair.

  “It must be your modesty that attracts them,” Fleur teased. She locked her car, walked around to the trunk and opened it up. Jax dismounted and came to join her.

  “Always prepared.” Jax rested his hand on the open trunk while Fleur pulled out a clean set of hiking gear and a backpack containing water and food supplies.

  “Here, take this while I quickly change. And here’s my phone with the area highlighted that we’re supposed to explore.” There was no one else around as Jax took the backpack from her and walked to the gate leading into Woodacre.

  “Do you really think it’ll help the sale if we find the ruins?” Jax asked as he studied the image.

  “Probably not. But people with money do like to buy a slice of history. And George was so eager to help when he heard about the sale. He’s a history geek if ever there was one.” Fleur quickly pulled a pair of jeans up her legs and fastened them under her skirt before she unzipped it. The loose fabric slid down her thighs and fell to the ground. Carefully, Fleur stepped out of the skirt, picked it up and folded it neatly. After placing her skirt and Converse on the back seat of the car, she pulled on a thermal jacket and then a waterproof coat.

  “Ready? I’ve got my bearings, it shouldn’t take long to reach the ruins. Although it’s pretty dense undergrowth between us and the place on the map.” Jax unlatched the rotted wooden gate and opened it carefully by lifting it over a couple of large rocks half buried in the rutted ground. “This place needs some TLC.”

  “I don’t think the present owner, Mr. Devizes, has been up here for a long time.” Fleur studied the land for a couple of minutes as they entered through the half-rotted gate. “I’d love to buy it.”