A Mate the Dragon Does Not Deserve [A Dragon's Growl 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic ManLove) Read online

  A Dragon’s Growl 2

  A Mate the Dragon Does Not Deserve

  Andrei is an alpha dragon who is not happy. Mate with one of the former slaves of the vampires? Really? Seth seems to think it will bring the two together. Seth also thinks Andrei has been eyeing one omega in particular.

  Which he definitely has not!

  All right, maybe he has. Jesse is cute for a man—and a wolf shifter—but Andrei is still mourning his wife, and he can never offer his heart to the omega.

  Jesse used to fear the alpha—dragons are scary in general—but this alpha catches his attention in ways he can’t fully understand. It’s more than just hero worship. He loves the dragon enough that even Andrei’s cruel terms can make him happy.

  When Jesse is attacked by vampires looking to take their slaves back, Andrei will have to work quickly to save the life of the man he didn’t know he loved until he was almost too late.

  Genre: Alternative (M/M, Gay), Contemporary, Paranormal, Shape-shifter, Vampires/Werewolves

  Length: 25,981 words

  A MATE THE DRAGON DOES

  NOT DESERVE

  A Dragon’s Growl 2

  Marcy Jacks

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  A MATE THE DRAGON DOES NOT DESERVE

  Copyright © 2017 by Marcy Jacks

  ISBN: 978-1-64010-399-3

  First Publication: June 2017

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2017 by Siren Publishing, Inc.

  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED: This literary work may not be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, including electronic or photographic reproduction, in whole or in part, without express written permission.

  All characters and events in this book are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead is strictly coincidental.

  WARNING: The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. Criminal copyright infringement, including infringement without monetary gain, is investigated by the FBI and is punishable by up to 5 years in federal prison and a fine of $250,000.

  If you find a Siren-BookStrand e-book or print book being sold or shared illegally, please let us know at

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  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Marcy Jacks lives and works in Ontario with her loyal hound and is hard at work writing about more gorgeous guys in tricky situations.

  For all titles by Marcy Jacks, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/marcy-jacks

  Table of Contents

  Title Page

  Copyright Page

  About the Author

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  Landmarks

  Cover

  A MATE THE DRAGON DOES

  NOT DESERVE

  A Dragon’s Growl 2

  MARCY JACKS

  Copyright © 2017

  Chapter One

  “You want us to choose a mate?”

  Andrei needed to ask it out loud because it seemed too ridiculously stupid, so utterly out of date that he couldn’t believe it when his alpha said it.

  Sethraghck Dimitriu, the leader of their clan and alpha red dragon, hardly looked as if he were pulling a fast one.

  “It will cement the bond between us and the omegas,” he said, glancing at everyone around the table.

  The few omegas in the room looked nervous at the suggestion.

  Of the dragons around the table, only those who had stormed the mansion and stolen it were present.

  The lower level dragons, the ones that had stayed behind to defend what little territory they’d already had, Marxus, Al, Dimitri, Van, and Gideon, were not present. They were on patrol, defending the new territory.

  After winning the battle for the mansion and freeing the omega slaves, all dragons had come to live in the mansion. The property of Seth and his parents, before his parents had been murdered and the vampires built a fucking palace on the ashes of their former home.

  Now, they were all standing around the round table in the library as if they were King Arthur’s knights.

  And it wasn’t just Andrei who was shocked by their alpha’s suggestion.

  Stephan’s eyes positively bulged. Dimitri’s jaw looked like it was going to hit the floor. Lucian was the only one who managed to look stone-faced, which made sense considering he was a rock dragon.

  Seth glanced around the table, as though waiting for someone to finally say something.

  Andrei figured he might as well be the one to do it. “Are you sure about that?”

  Seth nodded. “I’m sure. We’re still invaders to the omegas living here. They don’t trust us, and that needs to change. We freed them, but they still consider us to be their masters.”

  Lucian shook his head. “And you think mating with them against their will is going to fix that?”

  “I never said against their will.” Seth glared at Lucian before he relaxed his features. “But if any of you can find someone in the house that you like, who you think would make a good mate, I’m just saying that it might be a good idea to pursue a relationship.”

  “Do we have a time limit on this?” Stephan asked.

  “The sooner, the better, really,” Seth said. “I know if I were to call for some volunteers to step forward, you would all have your pick of the litter.”

  There was a chuckle around the table, though Andrei was pretty sure Seth hadn’t been making a joke about the fact that they were talking about omega wolves and the one other fox aside from Miles.

  Andrei didn’t know what to think about this. He’d had a mate before. She had been wonderful. The best thing to ever happen to him.

  To replace her?

  “What if we don’t want to do this?” Andrei asked. He looked his alpha in the eyes. He needed to at least know this much about what was going on.

  Seth’s expression flickered to something a little closer to sympathetic, and Andrei knew they were both thinking about the same thing.

  “You don’t have to do anything you don’t want to do,” Seth said. “But this will help with the relationship between the dragons and the omegas in the long run. The more of you I can get to volunteer for this, the better it will be for the relationship we’re creating. If any of you want out,” he added, “then, at any time, say the word. If you don’t want to do this, or if you change your mind, there will be no questions asked.”

  Andrei was able to breathe a soft sigh at that.

  Good. Thank God. He would do anything for his alpha, but he wasn’t sure he could put the memory of his mate in the back of a drawer and completely forget about her.

  Seth had more to say. He went over the list of the areas where they were all patrolling, who was going out on which days, which groups they would all be in, and when they would come back from their rounds.

  Andrei listened carefully to this next part. Footprints had been found in the woods surrounding the house. Quite a few of them.

  Of course it would h
ave been too easy if those damned vampire overlords had simply decided to leave them all alone, but that wasn’t going to happen.

  Varrick wouldn’t rest until he got his revenge. Seth had the bloodsucker’s son as a hostage. Lucian was currently in charge of watching over him, and apparently, the dragon shifter was having an amazing time making the little sucker’s life miserable.

  Andrei wished he could join in from time to time, but even he knew there was a limit to how much he should allow his hatred and anger with the vampires to get the best of him.

  To add insult to injury, Seth had also mated with one of the omegas in the house, a young fox shifter, and apparently, he had been Varrick’s favorite little chew toy.

  So not only had they taken the house and Varrick’s son but also his sex slave.

  Actually, now that Andrei thought about it, that might be the exact reason why Seth had come up with this idea.

  Andrei had two working eyes. He could see the way his alpha doted on that little fox shifter. Andrei never understood the animal shifters. Their omegas always seemed to have their animal ears and tails out. It freaked him out a bit if he was honest, but Seth seemed wrapped so tightly around the omega’s little finger it was a wonder he hadn’t yet popped.

  “All right, everyone get all that?”

  Andrei blinked. Shit. He’d spaced out.

  Everyone nodded the affirmative, so he did, too. He’d ask Dimitri for the cliff notes after he got out of here.

  Seth nodded, seemingly pleased. “Good, okay, everyone, get out there. I’ll make a call for omegas who want to volunteer, and if any of you want to take your pick, be my guest. Just remember that it’s supposed to be a respectable mating.”

  There was a note of warning in his eyes as he said it.

  Lucian actually growled at him. “What do you think we are?”

  The corner of Seth’s lips pulled up in a smirk. “Horny, red-blooded alphas. Just don’t go breaking any hearts.”

  There were chuckles all around at that one, but Andrei was most eager to get out of there before Seth could stop him.

  He already knew the alpha would want to have a little pep talk after the reminder of his wife. Andrei didn’t want the man’s reassurances, apologies, or even if he just wanted to tell Andrei to suck it up. Andrei just wanted to get back to work.

  Not so easy.

  “Andrei, do you have a minute?”

  Fuck.

  Andrei turned. He’d been so close to the door he could see the omegas outside the library. Scrubbing floors and dusting the halls meticulously, as if they were afraid their vampire masters would come home and find out they had been slacking off or something.

  Seth’s expression remained professional as Andrei approached and the others left. The door was shut behind them, leaving him and his alpha entirely alone.

  “Yes, Seth?”

  Seth eyed him from top to bottom, as if he was considering something, and Andrei wasn’t sure he liked that.

  “What I said still stands. I wouldn’t force anyone to take a mate if they were uncomfortable with it, but I honestly think you should.”

  That was like a kick in the stomach. Andrei managed to keep himself upright. “Come again?”

  Seth’s eyes weren’t quite pitying, but it was close enough. “You’ve been alone a long time. I think having someone around to take care of you could be a good thing.”

  Andrei barely held back the hard growl he wanted to let out. Maybe his alpha saw in his eyes how much he was struggling with it because Seth sighed.

  “Just think about it. I know that one omega has been following you around like a lost puppy dog lately.”

  “It’s because he’s a stupid kid who doesn’t know anything about being free. Looking at me like his hero isn’t the same thing as being in love. He’ll learn the difference soon enough.”

  Seth scratched his chin. “Maybe, you could also be the one to teach him.”

  “He’s too young.”

  “He’s twenty years old. He’s no teenager.”

  “Great, twenty, a couple of months ago he was a teenager.”

  Seth looked him up and down, as though trying to figure out a way of saying what he wanted to say but then just spit it out.

  “I’ve seen the way you look at him, too.”

  Andrei abruptly turned. “Nope. Not happening.”

  “Andrei.”

  “I said nope. I’m noping out of here right now.”

  “That’s not even a word,” Seth growled.

  Andrei ignored him.

  If he didn’t, he would have said or done something he definitely would have regretted.

  Unfortunately, leaving the library put him back within sight of the omega in question. Jesse laughed at something one of the other male omegas said, both of them with their mops in hand, wolf ears sticking up high on top of their heads, and without a care in the world.

  Jesse’s wolf ears were a plain gray color. Nothing special, but it was the way they stuck out of his sand-blond hair that brought about the color contrast.

  It did make him look good, but the fact that he looked good and that Andrei was lonely didn’t mean he didn’t know how to keep his hands to himself.

  The others could find their mates among the omegas if it made them feel so great. Otherwise, he didn’t know why he had to think about this.

  Jesse blinked and, as though realizing he was being watched, suddenly looked up at Andrei.

  Andrei…couldn’t look away. He wasn’t even sure why he was being compelled to just stare at the man. Mostly, he wanted Jesse to be the first to avert his eyes, but he wouldn’t do that either.

  There had been a time when Jesse had been afraid of Andrei, and yet still the omega had followed him around anyway, as if he was more curious than scared.

  Andrei wished he would just go back to being scared so he wouldn’t have to deal with this stupid bullshit anymore.

  He glared at the omega, showing off his teeth and letting a little rumble come from his throat just for good measure, just to make sure the young man knew to back off and stop with his puppy-eyes bullshit.

  Those gray ears tensed on top of his head, standing just a little bit taller out of his hair. His gray tail puffed out. Andrei wasn’t exactly sure what that meant, but at least he had the man’s attention, and at the very least, he hoped he was getting his message across.

  He wanted the guy to stop it with his stupid crush because there was no universe in which Andrei was interested.

  He turned and walked away. A sharp bite of guilt got him in the chest, but he ignored it.

  It was better this way. Better to not let himself start thinking about things he shouldn’t be and better to let that kid off the hook.

  Andrei wasn’t the sort of person anyone would want to be saddled with. No young man in the prime of his life, with everything now going for him, recently freed from captivity, who could do anything he wanted, would really want to get stuck with someone who had the amount of baggage Andrei was carrying around.

  It wasn’t fair to expect Jesse to know what he wanted, not when his eyes were clouded with ideas of heroism and whatever else he thought about whenever he looked at Andrei.

  Andrei went to his bedroom. His new bedroom. It had belonged to one of the vampire elites when the house had been taken, but he’d since confiscated it for himself.

  He let himself flop down onto his bed. It was a big bed. Big enough for two people. Hell, he could probably fit three or four on it.

  But there was only one person he would like to have in it with him, and she was gone.

  The vampires had bled her out in front of him. They’d made him watch it. He should have been glad they didn’t drink any of her blood, but he knew they’d only done that to add insult to her injury.

  As if they were above drinking her blood. As if her blood was filthy and they wouldn’t dare put their lips on.

  Andrei pressed his palms into his eyes until he saw stars. He didn’t like bein
g so confused about so many things, and he didn’t like that when he squeezed his eyes shut for so long the face he saw wasn’t his wife’s, but Jesse’s.

  Chapter Two

  Jesse finished up his chores with Taylor. Well, Taylor let him leave a little early. Taylor was a good guy, the only other fox shifter in the entire house aside from Miles, and he must have seen the looks Jesse and Andrei were giving each other.

  “You can go. I’ll finish here,” Taylor said.

  Jesse felt bad for wanting to go, for setting his mop aside even as he asked if this was really what he should be doing.

  Taylor nodded. “Yeah, I mean, our new masters are nice. They won’t mind. And there’s only one other corridor for me to clean up.”

  “They’re not our masters,” Jesse said softly. He was pretty sure Taylor knew the difference and was just saying it out of habit, but it seemed important for Jesse to make the distinction.

  Otherwise Jesse would say it out of habit sometimes, too, and it was a habit he wanted to break.

  “I know, but you know what I mean, right?”

  Jesse nodded. “Yeah, and thanks for this. Not sure what I’m going to say to him. If he wants to see me.”

  Taylor pressed his lips together. “Doesn’t he scare you?”

  Heat rushed to Jesse’s cheeks. “Well, yeah, a little.” He looked off in the direction Andrei had walked off in, knowing the man’s room was down that hallway and through another corridor. “But I don’t know, there’s just…something.”

  Taylor smiled at him as if he understood what Jesse was trying to say, even though Jesse himself didn’t get it.

  “Well, whatever it is, I hope it works out, even if you just want to be friends.”

  Friends didn’t seem like the right word for it, but Jesse had no idea how else he was supposed to describe this thing that was happening with him.