Draconia Secrets: Draconia Outcasts, #3

By Renee Hewett and Mandy Rosko

A conspiracy theorist who is suspicious of everything. A woman from a hidden world who isn't prepared to trust outsiders. Can they learn to work together before it's too late?

 

Wolf shifter Von Springs can't believe that his brother and best friend truly found mates from Draconia Island. Something else has to be happening. He can feel it. Are the dragonesses plotting something against the local wolves? It wouldn't be the first time, and Von is determined to uncover all the facts before it's too late.

 

Shae Green might be a trusted warrior from Draconia, but that comes with secrets. No one else knows Queen Regina is ready for a change—one that is years in the making. It won't be easy, but with the help of the Draconia Outcasts and their mates, the future could look much brighter for all.

 

That is, if Shae and her mate, Von, can learn to work together in time.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Eighth Ripple Press
• Release date: Jun 26, 2023
• ISBN: 9798223404699

Book preview

Chapter

One

Von Springs hated being the most responsible guy in his pack.

He took care of business, crossing all his t’s and dotting all his i’s, but no one appreciated the guy who looked ahead, saw the shit coming, and planned accordingly.

Do you need this much rice? His brother, Dustin, dropped his jaw at the sight of many, many, many crates of food that filled the rooms on the lower deck of his ship. Are you prepping for the economic collapse or something?

Von wasn’t packing up the micro-yacht they used as a party cruiser. He had moved up to Dustin’s full-sized yacht when Buzz had borrowed the smaller one. Conveniently, because now Von had plenty more room for supplies.

Von smiled at his brother, patting the wooden shipping container that held roughly a few hundred pounds of dry rice. I’ve got two more of these. Those four crates over there have my eggs. Powdered, of course.

What? Dustin spun around, his hands rushing into his hair in disbelief. Every single inch was packed tightly, with only a few narrow pathways to get to the bedrooms. You really are planning for the apocalypse here.

Doesn’t hurt to be prepared. Von tapped his finger on the splintered wood of his rice crate, giving his brother, whom he loved more than anything in the world, a look.

Dustin made a non-comical noise, still staring at the crates like he thought there were spiders inside. Von was almost glad he hadn’t pointed out the other crates of freeze-dried meat, powdered milk, and butter, along with a mix of seeds and spices he had behind the stack Dustin stared at.

For years, he’d warned Dustin and the rest of the Mactire pack. He tried and tried to be heard, but no one listened.

Something bad was coming.

Von could feel it all the way down into his bones.

As if things in the general economy, political climate, not to mention global warming, weren’t bad enough, the shifter world was going topsy-turvy too. The recent issues with Draconia Island were just the tip of the iceberg.

Dustin might not pay much attention to what was happening outside his wife, kid, and multi-million-dollar tech company, but Von sure did. When the time came, he would be ready to take care of his family. When they needed help, when they needed him, he would be there. The I-told-yous would be implicit because no matter what, he loved them.

Until that happened, it was difficult watching his older brother mull over the best way to tell him he was nuts and wasting his time.

After a minute, Dustin wiped a hand down his face, and nodded, his chest heaving a heavy sigh. Things aren’t that bad. It was one thing when you were stocking up on MREs, but this is a whole other level. All this will go to waste, won’t it? You could feed a thousand people on all this for a month.

Von shrugged. "All this wouldn’t feed a hundred people for more than two weeks. Maybe a month with heavy rationing."

And that was being generous. On that kind of rationing, people might as well be starving.

Besides, it’s mostly powdered shit anyway. It will store for at least ten years.

And everyone knew the freeze-dried, powdered stuff could go on for even longer than that in an emergency.

Still seems like a lot.

He wasn’t wrong. It was a lot. But it was necessary, of that there was no doubt in Von’s mind. Can never be too careful after what happened with Buzz.

Smart, capable, stubborn Buzz, held against his will. But being a prisoner wasn’t even the worst of it. Buzz was injected with nanobot technology designed to control his body and mind.

Von and Dustin never discussed Buzz’s ordeal because it was impossible to wrap their heads around it.

Von panicked whenever his mind slipped into that murky, terrifying place of his conscience. It always made him feel crazy to imagine insane scientists playing god. The worst part of it? It wasn’t a simple unfounded fear. Two dragon shifters had set up on a secret island to perform illegal and dangerous experiments on unwilling participants. How many others were out there doing the same?

What kind of bad shit could just swoop down on his loved ones? How much of it? How would they survive it?

Von forced a breath into his lungs, the air almost too sharp to bear. He took another deep inhale. He had to stop himself before he went down yet another fear-inducing rabbit hole.

Have you heard from him lately? Von was already sure of the answer, but he asked anyway. He was much closer to Buzz than Dustin was, but their friend had gone off-grid while he recuperated from the experiments that forever changed him.

Haven’t heard a peep. Dustin rubbed his jaw, sounding irritated, not quite making eye contact. Beau is in communication with him, though.

Buzz wasn’t a wolf, but an elf, and an honorary pack member for his closeness to Von and the pack alpha, Beau. Buzz’s desire for seclusion after his return from the mad scientist’s island didn’t sit well with Von.

And he was pretty sure it had something to do with Naomi.

At first, Von had been happy for Buzz when he went off to meet with the woman he’d developed a more-than-friendship with online. Buzz was always a secretive guy, so no one was shocked that he hadn’t shared much info on Naomi.

Von had thought Buzz would return with his new girlfriend, and everything would be great. That’s not what happened, though. Instead, Buzz returned with the dragoness, news of a second secret island, his body full of nanobots, and a warning that his scientific torturers might still be alive—and looking for him.

No matter how Von sliced it, big trouble was headed toward Georgetown.

All because of Naomi.

The second the dragoness walked into their lives, Von’s predilection for doomsday prepping moved into its preparation phase. It hadn’t stopped, nor would it until he had absolute certainty he could provide for his family and keep them safe.

You’d think your wife would be more concerned, Von pointed out. Claire knows what the Draconia queen is capable of.

What does Regina have to do with any of this? Dustin asked, ignoring Von's usual mistrust for his Draconian sister-in-law.

Von ground his teeth down against a sharp remark. Explaining his suspicions—his way of thinking—was always tedious and rarely met with approval.

"Regina’s got everything to do with this and you know it. Zoila wants Draconia for herself, and she did all of those experiments to topple one person. Regina."

The dragonesses’ home island was no longer a safe haven—if it ever was one with the way they’d run things over there. But by leaving its troubled shores, Naomi and Claire had left a trail of breadcrumbs right to Georgetown.

Right to his safe haven.

Sensing Von’s mounting agitation and silent accusation, Dustin gritted his teeth. To answer your question, whether or not Claire is worried about Regina, I make sure to downplay things at home. Claire is focused on being a mother and wife, and I want to keep it that way.

I feel like you and Claire aren’t even discussing the Zoila threat. Von shook his head, clenching and unclenching his fists. It’s one thing not to have a survival plan. It’s another to keep someone you love in the dark. To pretend crazy shit isn’t going down.

"I’m not keeping her in the dark, Dustin snapped. If there were anything to tell her, any movement from Regina or any sightings of Zoila, I would. I am not stressing out my wife for no reason. After a lifetime under Regina’s thumb, Claire deserves this peace. And that’s probably what Buzz and Naomi are doing right now, too."

Enjoying a false sense of peace? Oh, that’s nice. That won’t blow up in all your faces at all.

Dustin leveled him with a steady look. "I let you take over my yacht, the first one as your personal party vessel, now this one as a doomsday ship. But that was with the understanding that you keep your alarmist concerns to yourself. Do not go around Claire or Naomi with your baseless claims of danger."

Von ran his tongue over his teeth, all kinds of comebacks shooting through his brain.

He chose to let it go.

For now.

Fine.

Just come off the ship once in a while, will you? Dustin said, climbing the steps to the main deck. You’re a wolf. You’re not meant to be at sea all the time.

A hot rush of offense bubbled inside him. I’m barely at sea now. The ship is docked.

So come on land with me. We can go to the Mactire land to hunt and have a good run. You and me.

It felt like an olive branch was being offered.

Will Buzz be there? A good talk with the elf was the one reason Von would return to Georgetown.

Dustin huffed a sigh. Of course not. What do you expect him to do? Put on some Legolas cosplay and be a forest creature with us?

Dustin was right, the elf didn’t have an animal that