True Love's Kiss

By Rose Wulf

Dragons are extinct. Creatures of myth.

Or so Audra believed, until one snatched her mother up off the ground before her eyes. Were it not for Griffin’s timely arrival she would be dead. At her insistence, Griffin took her in and began to train her, bringing her along to see the hunt through. She expected the road to be tough. She didn’t expect to fall in love along the way.

He wasn’t a knight. His armor didn’t shine. But he was her hero.

Would he be enough to kill the dragon before it burned down her hometown? Or would she need to draw on the mystery magic her three aunts said flowed through her veins?

• Language: English
• Publisher: Evernight Publishing
• Release date: Apr 26, 2019
• ISBN: 9781773399508

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Published by EVERNIGHT PUBLISHING ® at Smashwords

www.evernightpublishing.com

Copyright© 2019 Rose Wulf

ISBN: 978-1-77339-950-8

Cover Artist: Jay Aheer

Editor: Audrey Bobak

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED

WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be used or reproduced electronically or in print without written permission, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in reviews.

This is a work of fiction. All names, characters, and places are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, organizations, or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

DEDICATION

To my amazing mom, Marlene Wulf.

In so many ways, I wouldn’t be here without you.

Thank you for enduring and putting up with me and my increased needs since my foot injury began. Thank you for working so hard to support us both, and Shadow, when all I’ve been able to do is literally sit around these last several months. I can’t say it enough. Thank you.

I love you with all my heart, Mom!

TRUE LOVE’S KISS

Naughty Fairy Tales

Rose Wulf

Copyright © 2019

Chapter One

Isn’t this beautiful? Audra’s mother asked, sweeping another smiling gaze at the leafy green and flowery countryside around them. It’s a wonderful day.

Caught somewhere between reflex and obligation, Audra glanced around again as well. It was nice, she couldn’t argue that. The national park in this area was open to the public, and on such a clear day, in weather this mild, it would have been a shame for no one to witness the beauty their surrounding natural landscape had to offer. While the three of them, Audra and her parents, were spread out in a field not unlike a meadow from some movie, trees scattered around them in all directions. They grew thickest off to the south, where the hiking trails led to a waterfall and a couple of campgrounds. It was beautiful.

Audra turned her attention forward and managed to smile politely. The oddity was that they were out celebrating her birthday—two weeks late—and her parents had insisted on a family picnic. I turned thirty, not thirteen. She kept the ungrateful thought to herself, however, and replied, It is, Mom. Thanks for today.

Her mother leaned forward and tucked a strand of her long, blonde hair behind an ear. We’re so sorry we missed your birthday, she said.

We really will try harder to see you more often this year, Audra, her father added with his trademark smile. The smile was neither forced nor sugary, it simply was. A perfectly friendly, casual smile. He wore it constantly, and Audra thought it was the best way to describe her father. For better or worse.

Audra opened her mouth in an attempt to respond to her father’s promise, the one he’d made every year since her parents had tiptoed back into her life, but her mother spoke over her.

Stefan, she said, what’s that? Some sort of bird?

Hmm? He lifted his focus up in the direction his wife was pointing, out somewhere behind Audra. I’m not … sure…

Curiosity piqued, Audra twisted around to see for herself. What kind of bird could look so strange? Part of the problem, she quickly realized, was that it was flying in front of the sun, making it hard to see. But whatever it was, it was getting larger, fast. Frighteningly fast. An alarm went off in her head, telling Audra it was time to go. She couldn’t explain the reaction, but she didn’t question it. Her aunts had always told her she had great instincts. She turned her back on the approaching … whatever it was, and reached for her discarded purse. We should go, she said hurriedly.

An unexpected wind suddenly rushed in, swirling her hair, rustling their clothes, even crinkling the plastic from the bag of chips. A chill stole down her spine.

Oh, it’s probably nothing, her father said with a shrug of his lean shoulders.

Her mother seemed unconvinced. Stefan, maybe— She cut herself off as another, harder gust of wind ripped through. This one upended the old-fashioned wicker basket, sending several of the contents flying and tumbling across the field. Audra’s mother made a startled sound as her lightweight jacket tried to fly away with her still in it.

Audra could hardly see now, her hair whipping her face and obscuring her vision. Somewhere across from her, her father swore, and she thought she saw him fumble in the direction of the scattered items. Her mother shouted something about leaving and Audra tightened her hold on her purse, which was struggling to escape in the seemingly endless wind.

Stefan! We should leave! her mother decided, having to shout over the wind. She pushed, unsteadily, to her feet, stumbling against the gale. This way, Audra-aahhh!

Audra, who had been trying to shove her hair out of her face for the sake of her sanity, snapped her head up at her mother’s sudden scream. Her blue eyes went wide as the torrent of wind sucked the air from her lungs. Her mother’s blood splattered down over the field, sprinkling the blanket, their clothes, even her face, as her body hung partially out of the mouth of a dragon.

She sat there, stunned. Unable to move. Unable to think.

All she could see was the impossible. A beast from legend, a creature believed to have been hunted to extinction generations ago. A massive, four-legged, black and grayish-purple-scaled dragon. Complete with glowing green eyes, smoke puffing from its nostrils, and a pair of wings on its back. It had landed now, across from them. Watching them.

This thing, this impossible, nonexistent thing, was still chewing on her mother. As if it were taunting them.

Leah… Her father’s horrified whisper drifted to Audra’s ears. She dared to glance his way as he stood on shaky legs. Leah!

Audra wanted to scream at him to stop, but it was too late, and her throat wasn’t working anyway.

He broke into a run, one fist raised as if he could single-handedly slay the beast who’d just devoured his wife.

The first tear finally fell, mixing with the blood on her face, when Audra thought she heard the dragon laugh. Its wings straightened with a sharp snap and it shot forward. She screamed, certain she was about to watch her father be massacred. She wasn’t prepared to suddenly find herself snatched around the waist by a sharp set of giant talons and hauled toward the sky.

No … Leah!

Her father’s broken, sobbing plea drew her scattered, still half-numb attention and Audra craned her neck as best she could. She could hardly breathe, let alone see, but it seemed the dragon had grabbed him, too. Whether that was good or bad, she really wasn’t sure.

She tried to look ahead, as if somehow seeing where they were going would help, but they were moving so fast all she could tell was that they were probably above the trees. Assuming the trees were the rapidly-shifting streaks of green below her. But she couldn’t keep any breath in her lungs. No matter how hard she tried, unconsciousness quickly overtook her.

Her father’s sobs were the last things she heard over the roaring wind.

****

Audra… The voice was faint, male, and familiar, but she could hardly think. Her head hurt. No, her whole body hurt. Audra.

She was pretty sure she needed to wake up, though. Not just because of the pestering voice but because something was wrong. The more her mind cleared, the more certain of that she became.

Audra! This time the voice was joined by a hand—she assumed it was a hand—bumping awkwardly into her shoulder. The rough greeting helped to jostle some of her senses back into place even as the hand turned until he had a proper hold of her shoulder and could shake her bodily. Audra! Wake up!

It was her father.

She groaned and shifted until she could slap his hand away. Stop, I’m awake, she said. Or slurred. Close enough. She’d opened her eyes, she thought, but wherever they were was so dark she could barely see a thing. Only then did she finally become aware of the cold, possibly damp, rock-like ground beneath her feet and hands. The ground she’d been almost completely face-down on seconds earlier. What happened…?

The question was barely past her lips before the answer sprang to the forefront of her memory.

A dragon had appeared out of nowhere during her awkward family picnic. It had grabbed her and her father after… Mom.

She clapped a hand to her mouth in an effort to keep from vomiting. Her mother had been eaten. Literally over her head. Oh, gods. Did she still have her mother’s blood on her face? It had rained down, all over everything. Her mother had barely had a chance to scream.

Leah, her father said with a sob somewhere behind her, drawing her attention.

Audra carefully turned, still able to see next to nothing. Now that her eyes were adjusting to the darkness of what she could only assume was a cave of some sort, she realized there were sporadic glimpses of light, or reflections of water surrounding them. Nothing enough to be helpful. If anything, they were more distracting. But she tried using them to determine shapes, or the locations of walls. Although she wasn’t brave enough to stand up yet.

Dad? she asked, cautiously extending her arm in the direction his earlier touch had come from. She found him—his arm, specifically—after a second. Dad, that’s you, right?

He drew a ragged breath and a hand settled over hers. Yes, Audra, it’s me, he said. Her heart clenched. He sounded devastated. If she could see him, she realized, he wouldn’t be smiling. Honey, are you okay? Are you hurt?

A lump formed in her throat and she tried to move closer to him. Who knew how large the cave was, or if they were alone. Or if they would be left alone to slowly starve to death. I think I’m okay, she said, although the answer felt like acid on her tongue. She didn’t feel injured, just a little sore and a lot disoriented, but she was pretty damned far from okay.

Thank goodness, Stefan said with obvious relief. He tightened his hold on her hand. You weren’t responding and, after… I was worried.

Dad, Audra started, wrapping her other hand around his as well and leaning into him. I’m so, so sorry. She wanted to add more, but in the space it took her to think of what she should say, she heard something moving in the distance. The sound of pebbles rolling, shifting over larger rocks. Then footsteps.

No, her father whispered, fear heavy in his voice. No, no, no. He gathered her hands and suddenly stood, pulling her unceremoniously to her feet. For a skinny man, he was stronger than she’d anticipated. Listen to me, Audra, he said in an urgent, hushed voice. You need to get out of here.

What? No, Dad, I can’t—where would I go? I can’t even see! To say nothing of the fact that she would not even consider leaving