Dragon in the Rough (Elders Enterprises Book 1) (17 page)

              “So what is this all important issue that caused me to put my life on hold?” a lady with long dark hair asked. Her husband reached over and grabbed her hand, Katie guessed it was a warning to the woman to watch what she said.

              “If you will bear with me, I will explain everything. In order to do so, I think there are a few things you need to know about me. About my life. So if you could, hold all of your questions until the end.” Katie watched as each and every one of them nodded their heads.

              Pushing past the lump in her throat, Katie took a deep breath. “I only recently found out that I am a dragon.” She watched as even more confusion crossed their faces. “I was abandoned as a baby and left in the human foster care system. I felt like I was unloved and unwanted, bouncing around from house to house. It was horrible being told I was freak my whole life.”

              Katie paused to calm herself down. She needed to push her emotions to the side for right now. Before she could say anymore, the same woman from earlier stood. “I hope you are not suggesting that one of us would abandon our child!” she screamed at Katie.

              “I am not saying that at all,” Katie snapped back. “Now, may I finish?” Katie waited until the woman nodded and sat back down before she continued.

              “Now, as I was saying, I met Paul about a week ago. He thought that there was a possibility of me being a dragon but we were not sure until my eyes started to change.” Katie looked around again. All eyes were on her. She cleared her throat again. “So naturally, we started looking into my birth parents. But we hit a dead end, well, until we started looking into other possible dragons.”

              Katie reached behind her and grabbed Paul’s hand, giving it a tiny squeeze. She really did not want to be the one to tell these people. “I will not go into detail as it is still an ongoing investigation, but it seems that Julie Embers was the one who dropped us all off with the humans.” Katie watched as their faces went from confusion to shock.

              “How is that even possible? She was not mated, so she could not have had any children. And what does this have to do with us?” one of the men asked.

              “It was possible because they were not her children. She was crazy. She thought if she got rid of all the females that she would have a better chance of finding her own mate.”
Now the hard part,
Katie thought. Paul squeezed her hand, reminding her that he was there for her.

              “She would help deliver the babies, then when a female was born, she would switch the child with a dead human baby. The parents would think their child was dead and then the female would grow up with the humans.” She watched as the looks of shock and confusion turned to horror. Katie could not watch them anymore. She turned her head and buried it into Paul’s chest. She was relieved when he wrapped his arms around her and held her close.

              Mark stepped forward and cleared his throat, catching everyone’s attention. “What I believe Katie is trying to say is this. Julie has been doing this for fifty years now. She has slipped past everyone’s radar until Katie came along. She did it to each and every one of you sitting in this room. Each of you may still have a daughter out there that needs you. Now, you all have been brought here today because you each lost a baby girl in the weeks surrounding Katie being abandoned.” He paused and looked at Katie now. “This woman right here could very well be your daughter.”

              “How will we find out?” another woman asked as she wiped away a tear that ran down her cheek.

              “We can do a DNA test as soon as you are ready. It will take a few days to get the results,” Paul said as he rubbed Katie’s back. They all looked at Katie with wonder in their eyes. Katie wanted to do a happy dance. She now knew that it may not be easy, but she would have a family.

              After what seemed like forever, the gentleman with silver hair stood, tears streaming down his cheeks like a river. “If she is my daughter, then I would like to know.” Katie looked around as everyone nodded their heads in agreement. “That being said, why wait for a DNA test? It is clear that she has already started the mating process, so why not just do the ceremony? It is the quickest way for us all to get an answer.”

              “Sorry, I am still new to all of this. How would that be faster than a DNA test?” Katie asked, looking around.

              The man smiled. “My wife and I are earth dragons. Smokey and his wife are fire dragons. The Tempests are wind. Then the Crests are water dragons. You could not have picked four better couples. If you are one of our children, then your dragon will match us.”

              Katie knew that she was ready to finally know. They were already planning on doing the mating ceremony in a few days, so why not just go ahead and do it now? She looked up at Paul, asking the silent question. When he nodded, Katie turned to look at everyone. “We will do it.”

              “Give us a few hours to pull everything together. You will have your answers by the end of the night.” Paul gave Katie a quick kiss before he leaned down and scooped her up into his strong arms. Before anyone else could say anything, he turned and carried Katie out of the room.

              They were silent as they took the elevator down to Katie’s office. Once inside, Paul kicked the door closed and made his way over to her desk where he sat her down. “We do not have to do this so quickly if you do not want to, love.”

              “We need to do this. Not just for us but for those families, too. We all need answers.” Katie paused, pushing past her emotions. “I just cannot help feeling that one family will get the best news ever tonight while the other three will be devastated.”

              “They will not be devastated, Katie. They will be hopeful that their little girl is still out there waiting for them to find her.” He wrapped Katie in another hug. “We will all work together to bring every child home.”

              Katie looked up into Paul’s eyes. She was so damn happy that she had found him. Even if she had only met him a week ago, he meant the world to her. “I love you, Paul.”

              He smiled down at Katie. “I love you too, Katie.” He landed a quick kiss on her lips. “As much as I want to make love to you right here and now, I need to start making arrangements

for tonight.” He turned and picked up the phone and started making calls.

Chapter 20

After making calls for an hour, Paul had walked Katie back to their apartment. Giving her a quick kiss at the door, he told her that he was going over to Mark’s place to get ready. Katie had then spent the next hour getting ready. She did not have a dress that fit the occasion so she just decided to wear a floor-length black dress instead. She knew the old wives’ tales but really did not have the time to go out shopping for a new gown.

Katie was in the bathroom when she heard a knock on the front door. She glanced at the clock and decided that it could not be Paul because she had another hour before she had to leave. As she made her way to the door, she stopped in the kitchen and pulled a knife out of the block on the counter.
Just in case it is Julie,
she told herself. As she neared the door, whoever was on the other side knocked again. “Just a second,” Katie yelled out.

Katie peeked through the hole and froze. Fabian stood on the other side of the door. Katie felt stupid holding the knife as she opened the door. “Hello.” Fabian looked down in her hand and laughed. “I am glad to see you are being safe, but I do not think you will need that.” He pointed to the knife

“With Julie still out there, I cannot be too careful,” she said with a smile. “Would you like to come in?”

Fabian nodded and stepped in when Katie moved to the side, granting him entrance. “I know you must be busy, but I thought I would bring you something that might make things a little easier.” Katie finally glanced down and noticed that he was carrying a garment bag.

“I will take any help I can get at this point,” she said with a smile. She was curious as to what was in the bag.

“We have a tradition in our race. A mother passes her gown down to her daughter when she mates. I figured that since we still do not know who your mother is, that you could use this.” He handed Katie the bag.

“You really did not need to do this,” Katie said as she took the garment.

“It was my wife’s dress. I know it would make her happy to see you wear it. I am sure you will be just as beautiful as she was.” Tears threatened to spill out over Katie’s cheek.

She wiped at her face before throwing an arm around Fabian and pulling him in for a hug. “I would be honored to wear it.” Katie stepped back and watched as Fabian wiped at his eyes.

“You are the best thing for Paul. I know that he will treat you right. You deserve the world, Katie.” Before Katie could reply, Fabian turned and closed the door as he left.

Katie rushed back into the bedroom and carefully laid the dress on the bed. She unzipped the bag and stepped back in astonishment. The gold material sparkled under the light. Katie pulled the gown out of the bag so she could admire it. The princess cut of the top held her gaze for a moment before she continued on. The bottom looked to be tight-fitting with a dragon that wrapped up the legs.

Katie could not wait to put it on to see how it fit. She rushed into the bathroom. After stripping out of her shorts and t-shirt, Katie grabbed the gown and carefully pulled it on. She was surprised when it fit like a glove. It not only hugged the curve of her hips, but pushed her boobs up and out. For the first time in Katie’s life, she actually liked how her boobs looked.

After applying her make-up, Katie took one more look in the mirror. She decided to leave her hair down and combed it over to the side. Taking one last glance, Katie turned and headed into the closet. She picked out a pair of gold stiletto heels she had bought but never wore. Thanking the fates that she had decided to splurge on them, she slipped them on her feet and stood.

Katie made one more stop to grab her purse off of the kitchen counter before she made her way out of the apartment and down to the street. When she stepped out of the building, she saw Mark standing by the rear door to a black town car.

“You look beautiful,” he said as he opened the door. “My mother would have been a blubbering mess right now. She would have loved you.” His smile held a hint of sadness. Katie gave him a quick hug before climbing into the back of the car.

The ride to the Elders building was short. Katie and Mark went over the vows. Katie repeated them over and over, she did not want to get up there in front of everyone just to screw up her vows. When the car parked in front of the building, Katie waited as Mark got out first and came around to open the door for her. He held out a hand and helped her to climb out.

Once she was standing on the sidewalk, Katie looked up to the roof. Everyone should already be up there waiting for her, including Paul. Katie’s heart started to race at the thought of seeing Paul standing at the end of the aisle, waiting for her to reach him.

“Do not fret, sis. Everything will be all right.” He held out his elbow for Katie to grab onto and she did so willingly. She needed something to ground her. Everything just felt like a dream. She had found the love of her life and was about to find out who her parents were.

“Are all the families up there waiting?” Katie asked as they walked through the front doors and headed toward the elevator.

“Yes, ma’am. That are all very excited to find out if you are their daughter. There was even a mad dash of them all offering up their dresses. Dad had other plans, though. He said this would eliminate any more fights.” He smiled at Katie as they stepped onto the elevator. “I believe he even threatened the full wrath of the Elders if they did not behave themselves the rest of the night.”

“Oh,” Katie looked up at Mark. “Is this what it is like to have a family?” she asked. Katie knew it sounded naïve, but she really did not know how loving families acted.

Mark gave her a big grin. “For the most part, yes. We will fight every now and then but we will always have your back, Katie. I am here if you ever need me to kick Paul’s ass.”

Katie laughed as the elevator dinged. She took a deep breath and stepped out as the doors opened. On the walls hung candles leading the way to the stairs that would take her up to her future.