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

abandon her, but instead of striding away, he went still.
    “Um, the obvious?” She pointed to her cheek. “An injury no amount of shifting will heal. It makes me much less likely to mate, ever. A flaw in my shifting capabilities, subconsciously recognized by potential mates, which therefore stops the mating gene in them. In other words, should I feel it, but he won’t.”
    “You were burned.”
    Dougal must like to state the obvious. Did he want a response? “Yes.”
    “You weren’t born with three legs. I don’t see how it’s a gene flaw which would trigger a subconscious anything.” He didn’t look at her when he spoke
    “I should have healed when I shifted. After the initial injury was managed, the shift should have removed all trace of the injury. It didn’t then and hasn’t since.” She wanted to change the subject.
    Finally, he stared at her again. “If you think a little thing like a burned cheek is going to stop any of these men from being interested in sex, you don’t know what it’s like to have not seen females in decades. Mating is the last thing on their minds.”
    A sound filled the air and it took her a moment to realize what she heard. “Dragon?”
    He looked toward the sky. “Yes. I guess so. Tenth one today.”
    She shivered. Caitlyn studied the remnants of dragons—their eggs, the secretions they made, and how they were being used in manufactured drugs. Despite studying dragons and the effects of their war, she’d never seen a live Dragon before. Her home wasn’t part of the region occupied by the dragons. So far, the winged creatures hadn’t become part of her day-to-day life.
    “I...”
    Dougal craned back his neck to stare upward. “Why aren’t the alarms going off?”
    “Should they be?”
    “Five minutes ago.” Dougal grabbed her arm. He pointed at the burned out trees behind the commander’s tent. “Shift. Run there. Don’t stop. Don’t look back.”
    With his head thrown back, he howled at the sky. She stopped for a moment to watch him. Not every Werewolf could present a full on howl outside of his shifted body. Dougal looked at her. “Caitlyn, go.”
    She nodded and ran in the direction he’d pointed. Calling her wolf onto herself, she let her body splinter and reform into its animal shape. She’d never much cared for the process or the resulting wolf when it was over. Others loved their animal, craved the time spent on all fours. Caitlyn had always been too invested in what her human self was doing to want to waste time running around living on instinct alone.
    Still, when the shift came she did what she’d been born to do. She became a wolf. The strong male, whose scent she craved and could not have, told her to make for the woods. She obeyed.
    The dragon smelled foul, like garbage or the scent of something spilled in the lab. And it drew closer. She skidded to a stop to see how far the creature was behind her and then wished she hadn’t.
    With a whimper, she realized the stuff of nightmares hovered right above her. She stared behind her. Why had it followed her? There was an entire army of Werewolves in her wake who would be much better foes. Why did the dragon target her?
    Four large Werewolves barreled toward her and she supposed that had to be a good thing. If her nose proved true, one of them was Dougal, another Brett. She didn’t know the other two, but if they proved to be her saviors, she’d promise to learn and never forget their names. Ever.
    The dragon dove toward her. She snarled. Caitlyn might not be an Alpha wolf, but dammit, she wasn’t going to sit around and let herself be killed by a dragon either. Of course, sometimes the smart move was to run like hell.
    Maybe she could hide in the woods. They didn’t have great noses. If she could find a way to disguise herself, maybe she could survive.
    The dragon darted in front of her blowing fire in the direction she’d intended to run. What little trees remained, no more than kindling really,