Highland Dragon - Highland Shifter Romance

By Kyra Johnston

Maisie is an adventurer, and knows the woods, hills and crags around her home as well as she knows the village itself. Yearning for something new, she walks farther from the village than she's ever been before. It's something other than her sense of direction that poses an obstacle. A bad tumble down a hill results in a twisted ankle and a nasty crack on her head that has her thinking she's hallucinating before she finally passes out. 

When she wakes, she finds herself in a soft bed in a large cave, tended to by a man with fair hair and green eyes that hide a secret Maisie never could have imagined. 

A Standalone Short Story with No Cliffhanger! 

• Language: English
• Publisher: Special Highland Romance Club
• Release date: Nov 19, 2018
• ISBN: 9781386285304

Book preview

Highland Dragon

Chapter 1

Maisie was no stranger to exploring the lands around her family's home on her own. She would never grow tired of the tall, rocky crags and sprawling lochs tucked away in all the nook and crannies. It seemed as if there was always something new to discover every time she left their little village, something that Maisie had managed to pass by no matter how many times she rode or ran through the same places. There were caves a person could lose themselves in, and some of the lochs, though small, were so deep it was impossible to see the bottom.

Maisie had never been afraid of anything that lurked in the hills around them. She never went too far from the village, as per her father's wishes, and even that small population meant that predatory animals stayed far away from it, lurking only in the thickest woods and deepest caves, preying on the wildlife that roamed there, the same as the villagers did. Recently, however, there had been rumors and news of a particularly brave pack of wolves in the area. Several of the shepherds in the surrounding villages had lost sheep to them, and had devoured them so completely that there was only a handful of bones left behind.

Wolves didn't prey on humans, however, at least that was what Maisie had learned growing up, so there was little reason for her to be afraid. If the pack was growing fat on sheep then she need not worry about them attacking her out of desperation and could continue her roaming free of fear, so long as she was back by sundown and had finished all she needed to do for the day, her father's only real requirements. Her brother wasn't quite so lucky, but he made a decent living as the village's sole blacksmith. Maisie missed wandering the highlands with him, but his income helped put food on their table, and she couldn't be angry at him for that.

The morning had brought with it the perfect weather for a romp in the endless countryside. Even with summer on the way, the air in the morning was still cool to bring the kiss of dew to the grass and settled in Maisie's long hair. She finished her chores with lightning speed, dumping out the pots and feeding the goats and chickens all before her father and brother had moved from their beds. She could have left a message to let them know where she had run off to, but they knew her well enough, and should they question, Maisie passed a small number of people on her way out of the village, all of whom could attest to her whereabouts. It was far too nice a day to spend inside slaving over the fire or helping Ramsay in his shop. No, it was a day for an adventure.

Determined to find something new, Maisie set out with nothing but the clothes on her back and a small satchel filled with food for the day. Even if she did nothing other than find a fair spot to sun herself, it was better than being cooped up in the village, surrounded by the noise and mess of people. She would far rather soak in the sounds of nature, and there was plenty of that to go around. With the ease born of years of