The Dragon's Tattoo - Roxie Ray

Prologue

Anthony

The room was full of dragon shifters and humans, mingling uncomfortably. My parents had done exactly as I’d asked, thank goodness. The decorations weren’t over the top, and they’d even hired a DJ.

My best friend’s voice cut through my introspection. “Give it up!”

I looked around, searching for Skye. I’d been looking for her for half the party. I hadn’t seen her since it started, but I’d been pulled aside several times by members of my clan, congratulating me on my sixteenth birthday.

Normally these parties were clan only, but I’d insisted my human friends be invited as well. We lived as humans, in a human town, working jobs with them and going to school with them. It wasn’t fair that I couldn’t have all my friends at my party. When I’d put my foot down, my parents had caved.

That gave me hope for the future of my parents’ acceptance of humans. I needed them to be open-minded.

Moving around the large rec room, I smiled and talked to clan members. Several wished me luck on my upcoming first shift, though they did it quietly, so they didn’t freak out the human guests. I hoped this party would help with all the humans in Bluewater Coast thinking our clan was some sort of religious cult.

Our clan knew about the rumors. That’s what made them stick so close together, ironically. They should’ve mingled more with the townsfolk instead of avoiding them. They’d made their own beds. I was going to be alpha someday, and Dad was always telling me to start thinking like one. So, I’d put my foot down about the party.

If I hadn’t been able to invite my best friend, Skye, I would’ve been pretty upset. I lost track of her voice as I moved around the room, so I opened my senses to seek her out. She was always easy for me to find, filtering out everyone else until her annoyed voice reached my ears. “Will you find someone else to bug?”

“But I like bugging you.” Jace’s voice bugged me. I rounded the corner to find Skye leaned against a wall with Jace beside her. I had to force myself not to growl at him. He had his arm up by her head and his typical cocky smile plastered on his smug face.

“Shove off.” At least I kept my voice out of a growl, but Jace definitely heard the warning. He didn’t mean any harm, but I couldn’t stand him being in Skye’s space.

Jace gave me a confused look but laughed. “Whatever, Ant.” He shot Skye a sly look. “See ya later.”

She gave him a finger-wave as she shook her head. I was glad she found him annoying. It would’ve all been much worse if she’d found his flirtations charming.

I didn’t speak for a few moments as Jace crossed the room. Another member of our clan, Tessa, stopped him. They spoke for a few seconds before both of them looked at me and Skye. When they saw I already had my gaze on them, they looked away very quickly.

So Jace had picked up on the threat in my voice. What a gossip he was. He hadn’t waited a full minute before blabbing.

“So.” I turned back to Skye and put my clanmates out of my mind. We’d been raised together, having been born around the same time. They’d give me plenty of shit about this later, I wasn’t going to worry about it right now. “Are you having fun?”

She shrugged. “I guess. It’s a little annoying, seeing all the catty girls vying for your attention.”

I agreed with that. I didn’t care for the fake girls at our high school, but I’d wanted the party to be open for everyone in town, so of course, they’d come. They followed me around campus, too, every chance they got.

“How about we go dance and take your mind off the jealous girls.”

Skye turned her big green eyes up and stared at me with a smirk on her face. “I don’t see that they have much to be jealous of, but sure. Let’s dance.”

I wanted to take her hand, but we didn’t have that sort of relationship, as much as I wished we had. If those other girls knew how I really felt about Skye, they’d have more than enough to be jealous of.

When we got to the middle of the dance floor, I put my hands on her hips and thanked my lucky stars that the music had slowed to something we could sway to, instead of