Eternal (Dragon Wars, #2) Read Free Page A

Island.” She let her gaze stray out the window to the small island miles off of shore. “We’ve almost got it. I need to see how they’re laid. Then this can all come to an end.”
    “Caitlyn.” Dougal drew her attention back to him. “If you think any of us are going to take you to what is arguably the most dangerous place on the planet, you’re hugely mistaken.”
    “You will.” She held his gaze, fully in control of herself. “Because your commander here is about to order you to do it.”

Chapter Two
    D ougal poked the fire with a stick. He should be eating, sleeping...something instead of aimlessly nudging a rock around at the bottom of a flame pit.
    “Should I be insulted because she didn’t remember me?” Brett sat next to him.
    Dougal snorted. Caitlyn’s lack of recollection struck Brett right in the ego. “I’m sure her three older sisters remember you well. Jane Knox knew you quite personally, actually.”
    “Yeah.” Brett laughed, spreading out his legs. “She did. Those were fun times.”
    “If you say so. Manwhore.”
    Brett punched him in the shoulder before snickering again.
    “Don’t act like you didn’t love your reputation.”
    “I did. I did.” His friend nodded. “While you lived like you wanted to go off into moon service. No women, not ever.”
    “It wasn’t that bad.”
    His parents had a really amazing mating. Dougal had always admired the purity of their love, the truth they saw in each other. He hadn’t wanted his future mate to run into a female he slept with every time she went to the grocery store. He’d decided to be more selective.
    Damn, it had been a long time since he’d thought about women, families, mating—any of it. Sixteen years earlier, life mattered without dragons, death, and doom.
    “I think I need to shift.” He shook his leg. “I’m out of sorts.”
    “You smell tense.” Brett shrugged. “We all are. Bringing a woman into dragon territory. They held your brother there for five years.”
    “I’m acutely aware.” Dougal jumped to his feet. “Maybe another dragon will come tonight. A big one.”
    “You’re hoping for one? By the gods, you are in a bad way. Do you want to, you know, talk or something?”
    “No. We’re not women. We don’t talk feelings.” He paced around the fire. “And, fuck, if I shift it’s not like I have anywhere to go. There are no woods left to run in around here. The beach is mud. The flying beasts destroyed all of it.”
    Brett shook his head but didn’t look at him. He stared out at the ocean.
    “There was a time when my family used to take vacations to the coastline. We loved the trips. I found the sound of the ocean calming. These days, if I notice it at all, it irks the shit out of me. I’d like quiet again. Bees buzzing. Someone coughing in the distance. Children’s laughter.”
    Dougal sat. Reminiscing about the old days wasn’t like them. They didn’t sit around at night and remember what wasn’t anymore. Werewolves planned, they plotted. They executed battles to save the pack. Not that there were such things anymore. He’d momentarily forgotten. When Andrews had been condescending Caitlyn, he’d called her pack.
    “What are Werewolves without pack?”
    “Fuck if I know.” Brett threw a stick in the fire. “Do you remember when Caitlyn was almost burned to death? It was a big deal. An injured pup got everyone worked to a frenzy.”
    That night... Dougal remembered the noise. The sirens. Some things left over from the humans were still useful. Ambulances had been one of them. He hadn’t gone outside to see the fuss. His mother had wanted the boys to be respectful. Boys weren’t to gawk at underage females.
    He remembered he couldn’t settle, couldn’t sleep. Much like his current situation.
    “There are females running labs.”
    Dougal stared at Brett. “Of all the things she said today, women in the work place bothers you? My mom worked sometimes when I was young. My father would