Mated to the Dragon Prince

HANA

“We’re here.” My mom sung happily as she turned to look at me from her front passenger seat while dad parked the car in the driveway of our new rental house—a single-family home with two bedrooms, two baths and a finished basement—nothing remarkable.

“Great!” I said unenthusiastically.

New place. New people. New school.

So, what’s new?

My whole life, we had moved so many times that I had lost count. We never stayed in one place long enough for me to make friends—not that my parents wanted me to anyway.

‘Try not to get too close to anyone or tell them anything personal about yourself’ was what my parents would always tell me whenever I started a new school.

I didn’t know why we needed to move so often. Sometimes, it was so spontaneous that we would literally leave right after my parents picked me up from school. It almost felt like we were criminals running from the law.

Mom and Dad exited the car and I followed. They walked to the rental trailer connected behind our car and began unloading it.

Since we moved so often, we didn’t carry a lot with us. Usually, we would only bring clothes and a few other important items—definitely no big heavy items like the bed and furniture. We normally rented places that were already furnished.

My eyes scanned the surroundings. All the houses in this neighborhood were cardboard cutouts of each other. They had the same design with a double garage connected to the side of the house—again, nothing remarkable.

“Whoa. Is that a trail right there?” I pointed to the pavement that connected to our driveway and led into the woods located behind our house.

The last few places we stayed at were in the city where the only time we would see a tree was at a park. But here, trees were everywhere, it was a nice change of scenery.

“Go ahead and take a look if you want.” My dad offered as he unloaded more boxes from the trailer and placed them on the ground. “We got it from here.”

“You sure you don’t need help?”

“Yeah. Your old man can handle a few boxes and some luggage.”

“Okay.” I laughed. “If you say so.”

He wasn’t that old. He was in his early 40s with thick brown hair and no greys in sight.

“Don’t you wanna see your room first?” My mom inquired as she inserted the key into the front door while I turned to leave.

“No, thanks.” They were all the same anyway. Besides, we would probably move again before I get too attached to it.

“Don’t stay out too late. You have your first day of school tomorrow.” My mom reminded me as I walked away.

“Okay.”

The trail was narrow, just big enough for two people to walk side by side. Tall trees lined both sides of the walkway—blocking some of the natural light and providing me with plenty of shade.

I took a deep breath, enjoying the fresh air here. It was different from the city—cleaner, if that was the right word to describe it. The smell of spring lingered in the atmosphere and made me feel lighter for some reason.

After ten minutes of walking, one side of the tall trees opened up to shorter ones. I stopped to inspect the plants—some were around my height while others were a few inches taller.

“What. Is this corn?” My hand gingerly touched one of the covered fruits. I had eaten corn before but had never seen it on a plant like this. “Wow, we have fresh corn in the backyard,” I mumbled with a smile.

Well, not really our backyard since our backyard didn’t extend this far but still, it was neat to have corn plants within walking distance.

I’m starting to like this place.

My feet moved again, continuing on the path to see where it leads and how far. The cornfield stretched for at least an acre before tall trees appeared again.

It was a perfect trail to run or ride bikes on, I wouldn’t have to use the boring treadmill anymore.

After another ten minutes of walking, houses and buildings started to emerge on the other side of the path.

Suddenly, I heard odd noises and paused to listen. The square brick building to my right had the back door slightly ajar and I could see people fighting through the crack.

What the heck is going on?

Curious, my feet left the walkway and got onto the building’s parking lot. The noises got louder as I got closer to the opening, and I could pick out about a dozen guys fighting against one. Everyone was throwing kicks and punches, all striking the main guy.

The room was one big open space similar to a school gym.

Without thinking, I ran inside with my phone raised and screamed. “Stop! Stop fighting! The police are coming!”

I got in front of the man being attacked while the attackers all retreated into a group in front of us. “Leave him alone! I called the police. They’re coming any minute now. Leave if you don’t wanna get arrested.”

They stared at me briefly before all pairs of eyes focused on the guy behind me and for a second, I thought they were going to attack. Their fighting stances didn’t change.

They looked to be around my age, give or take a year. Each had a different style of hair—some bleached, some dyed, some braided. They looked like delinquents with smirks on their faces, ready to go again.

Crap. Maybe they know I’m bluffing.

Before I could figure out what to do next, they suddenly turned and started walking out the opposite door like something or someone had given them an order.

Thank goodness.

I exhaled a breath of relief while one of my hands came up and covered my erratic beating heart.

As the last body neared the exit, I turned around to face the victim. “You’re safe now.”

My eyes took in the white fabric covering his chest as his alluring scent caressed my olfactory nerves. I immediately sucked in a breath as I realized how close he was and how much he was towering over me.

Crap. He didn’t seem so tall or intimidating from where I stood a minute ago.

My head slowly leaned back while my gaze slowly trailed up to find his face. My breath hitched again as my eyes widened at his striking appearance. Mesmerizing green eyes stared back at me with an unreadable expression. His stance was relaxed with hands in his pants pockets. He didn’t even break a sweat and there were no marks on him.

He didn’t look like someone who was scared of being ambushed by a gang.

Maybe the stranger didn’t need saving after all?

He leaned down, his handsome face just inches above mine while his messy wavy bangs draped over his forehead attractively.

“Who are you?” His deep voice was as enchanting as his appearance, and it started playing with my heartstrings.

“Uh, nobody,” I said hastily and turned to walk away while my heart beat even more erratically and my insides did cartwheels.

What the hell did I just get myself into?

I quickened my steps, and the walk became a run as embarrassment took over.

I shouldn’t have interfered. I must’ve looked so stupid.

When my foot stepped through the exit, the same gang was there right outside the door as if waiting for me. My feet paused, hoping I could quietly leave in the opposite direction, but it was too late, they were all looking at me now.

Oh shit.

Me and my stupid jump-the-gun tendency. Always do things before thinking them through.

Why couldn’t I just leave it alone? Then I wouldn’t be in this mess.

I slowly walked backward as my nervous fingers tried to dial the emergency number on my phone.

“Ah.” My heel tripped over something, and my butt hit the concrete floor while the device fell out of my grasp. “Damn it!”

They laughed and languidly walked toward me like they had all the time in the world, like I was easy prey.

“Where’s the police now princess?” One taunted—his hair was bleached white with black roots peeking out—while the rest continued to laugh. “No one is going to save you now. Do you even know who we are?”

I scrambled on my knees trying to pick up my phone and make the desperate call, but my clumsy fingers kept dropping the damn thing. My heart rate skyrocketed further as it beat loudly in my ears, almost drowning out their condescending laughter.

Forget the phone!

Hastily, I straightened, standing on wobbly legs and stared them dead in the eye. “I don’t care who you are. Do you know who I am?” I feigned confidence with my chin lifted, pretending to sound strong while I was a nervous wreck on the inside. “I am the Chief of Police’s daughter. You wouldn’t dare touch a hair on my head unless you wanna get in trouble.” I lied, hoping they would buy it.

They all looked at each other but I couldn’t tell if they believed me or not. They turned back the next second and started laughing again at my expense.

The same speaker grabbed the nearest guy and turned him around. He pulled down the back of his shirt to show off the tattoo below his nape. “You see this?” He pointed to the dragon’s head in black ink. “This is the Dragon Prince’s symbol. You know what this means right?”

Should I? Is it their gang’s sign or something?

“I-I...” I took a step backward as they took another step toward me. “Stay back! Or-Or I’ll...”

Suddenly, they paused and then abruptly withdrew back into the building.

Huh?

A shaky breath passed my lips as I jumped forward and grabbed the phone off the pavement.

I stood, staring at their receding backs and wondered why they suddenly let me go.

Then I sensed something from behind. Before I could turn around, an arm snaked around my waist and pulled me back against a hard body.

“Ah—” A hand immediately clamped over my mouth, cutting my scream short as heat penetrated my spine. My face tingled the moment our skins made contact.

“Shhh.” The enchanting voice shushed me, and my insides flip-flopped.

It’s him.

“Who are you?” He whispered into my hair as he took an audible deep inhale of its scent. “And why do you smell so enticing?” His nose trailed down the shell of my ear and then my neck—zapping my skin as it went—while his hand at my waist slid under my shirt.

My legs started to turn into jelly. I freaked out and instinctively ripped out of his grasp. “What are you doing you perv!” I backed away from him as I spoke. “Do you grope every girl you meet?”

He blinked in confusion. Whether he was confused by his own actions or my rejection of him, I couldn’t tell... but I didn’t stay to find out. I got the heck out of there and ran straight home.

How lucky of me to meet a gang and a pervert on the first day in a new place, I thought wearily.

A/N October 6, 2023

Copyright © 2023 Haylie_Bee

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, including photocopying, recording or other electronic or mechanical methods, without the prior written permission of the publisher, except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical reviews and certain other noncommercial uses permitted by copyright laws.

This is a work of fiction. Any names or characters, businesses or places, events or incidents, are fictitious. Any resemblance to actual persons, living or dead, or actual events is purely coincidental.