The Mating Power Read online

  

  Dragon Fights 1

  The Mating Power

  [Siren Classic ManLove: Paranormal, Fantasy, Shape-shifter, Gay/Alternative, Action, Suspense, Contemporary, MM, HEA]

  Zack never mooned over the dragons as powerful celebrities the way most humans do. He’s not a pure redhead the dragons tend to like, but he's not interested in becoming a dragon lover anyway.

  A group of dragons might not give him a choice. A handsome dragon comes to Zack's rescue, pulling him out of the arms of his attackers, and making Zack reconsider his position on dragons.

  Tory, the dragon with those gorgeous green eyes, stirs something inside Zack that he never knew was there. Having a powerful male like that getting to his knees and proclaiming his love for Zack doesn't hurt either.

  Tory doesn't just want him for a lover, he believes Zack to be his true mate.

  Zack will join Tory in a dragon battle to get back at the devious dragon who tried to force himself onto Zack. He will give Tory his energy to fight the other male, and to win.

  Length: 26,000 words

  THE MATING POWER

  Dragon Fights 1

  Marcy Jacks

  

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  A SIREN PUBLISHING BOOK

  The Mating Power

  Copyright © 2020 by Marcy Jacks

  ISBN: 978-1-64637-139-6

  First Publication: April 2020

  Cover design by Harris Channing

  All art and logo copyright © 2020 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 [email protected]

  PUBLISHER

  Siren Publishing, Inc.

  www.SirenPublishing.com

  ABOUT THE AUTHOR

  Marcy Jacks lives and works in Ontario, Canada with her loyal dog, where she loves to write, play games and mess around in art wherever possible. You can read more of her work at Marcyjacks.com

  For all titles by Marcy Jacks, please visit

  www.bookstrand.com/Marcy-Jacks

  TABLE OF CONTENTS

  Chapter One

  Chapter Two

  Chapter Three

  Chapter Four

  Chapter Five

  Chapter Six

  Chapter Seven

  Chapter Eight

  Chapter Nine

  Chapter Ten

  Chapter Eleven

  THE MATING POWER

  Dragon Fights 1

  MARCY JACKS

  Copyright © 2020

  Chapter One

  “Do you think Draggis Bormir is cute?”

  Zack Sweeney looked at his best friend, then up at the TV screen he was mooning over, and he had to lift his bottle of beer to his mouth to hide his smirk.

  “Sure, yeah, I guess so.”

  Zack wasn’t into the guys who were so brawny they looked like they needed to turn sideways to ease through a doorframe, but it seemed his cousin and best friend, Mike, was a sucker for a guy with muscles. He was a sucker for dragons in general, and the dragons who fought like Draggis did, like an animal in the ring, were his complete weakness.

  Mike looked at him, raising a brow. “You’re such a liar.”

  “I’m not lying,” Zack said, keeping his voice mostly low for the sake of the others in the restaurant. They were on the bar side, but there were still kids around, and Zack, for lack of a better word, was shy. He didn’t like talking about guys when other people were around.

  Let alone the dragons.

  “You don’t have to say it like that,” Mike said, looking back up at the TV. Others would be cheering at watching their favorite fighter bring his wings out and slam down his opponent, but Mike seemed as though he was fantasizing about being in those enormous arms.

  Zack didn’t understand dragon chasers sometimes.

  “I don’t think you’d have a chance with him. He’s clearly got someone cheering him on.”

  “He could take another mate,” Mike said, resting his chin in his hand, still staring at the flat screen above the bar. Then he smiled. “Or he could ditch the broad and bring me on instead.”

  Zack snorted. “You’re fucking crazy.”

  He glanced around quickly, but luckily, the few kids around didn’t seem to notice what he’d said from the other side of the restaurant.

  “What? No, I’m not!”

  Zack tried harder to keep his voice down. “You are. We need to stop watching reruns of these. Come on, let’s get out of here.” He pushed away his half-full beer bottle and what was left of his wings.

  Mike blinked at him. “What are you talking about? It’s only seven thirty?”

  Zack reached for his jacket, shrugging it on. “I know. I’m sorry. I’m just tired, I want to lie down.”

  It had been a long day at work. Of course something got fucked up somewhere in the system, and the boss was flipping out because some of the leads didn’t get called. Zack was over it. Sometimes he loved his job, and other times he wondered why he bothered for barely more than minimum wage.

  Meanwhile, Mike was barely looking at him, still staring up at the TV, watching millionaire professional fighting dragons pummel each other while their mates cheered them on from behind.

  Not that that was all they did.

  There was a prestige that came with being the mate of a dragon. Dragons who took mates absorbed the energy of their lovers or mates. Not that Zack knew what this felt like since he’d never been in a relationship with a dragon, let alone mated to one, but it was supposed to be that the stronger the lover or mate, the more powerful a dragon became in a fight.

  For dragons who fought with each other in some professional setting or another, or even in turf wars, which was most dragons, that became an important aspect of their lives. Getting lovers and mates, especially a mate since their connection was supposed to be so strong, was many dragons’ life goal.

  Dragons like Draggis Boromir who went around taking multiple lovers, testing out their power like he was testing out a car, bothered Zack. He didn’t like the way the dragons used humans like that, and it bothered him sometimes that Mike thought the guy was so cool.

  Draggis Boromir. It wasn’t even the dickhead’s real name, everyone knew it was a stage name.

  His real name was Duncan Beans.

  Not that Zack would ever say that out loud. Saying the guy’s name was supposed to be like saying Voldemort’s name. You disappeared after uttering it.

  Though it was true that humans who did become dragons’ lovers did tend to get more respect. Some of their dragons even paid them money to keep up with being their lovers if the power was good enough. Sometimes even Zack had to wonder what that felt like.

  He was done. He wanted to go home.

  It wasn’t that it had been a bad day, but he was in a mood nonetheless, and he wanted to get out of there.

  “I’ll see you tonight, Mike. Do me a favor and don’t get too drunk.”

  “I know, I know. See you around. Hey, actually, you sure you don’t want me to walk with you? The sun’s going down.�
��

  Zack glanced to the windows of the restaurant. It was coming on dusk. Dragons were a nocturnal species. They could go out in the day all they wanted, but their sleeping patterns were still different. Dragons who wanted to fight out in the streets might be more prone to appear soon enough.

  “I’m good. It’s only ten minutes.”

  “Take an Uber.”

  “No, I’m fine. See you later.”

  He was trying to save money to get a down payment for a house since he hated his apartment. He and Mike paid for as much as they could, but last year someone brought roaches in, and they were still seeing the little buggers on occasion.

  So, the Ubers were out.

  It was bad enough they’d shared a plate of wings.

  Zack paid for his drink and the wings, and even the drink Mike was still nursing before he left.

  Spring was coming, but tonight was chilly, and he found himself stuffing his hands into his pockets as he walked, getting farther and farther away from the restaurant.

  From where people were clustered around.

  He stuck to the main roads. He didn’t take any back alleys. He was being smart about this. As smart as he could be when he was a human walking on his own when night was coming.

  And the fighting season was nearly here.

  With something like a billion dragons in the world, that could be a problem.

  Whatever. Mike just got under his skin. He was too into those fights. The professional level, the armature, and even the street fighting shit. He loved all of it and that was the reason why Zack was nervous. Because Mike never shut up about it all and it made Zack think hard about it all.

  The bastard. The next time he heard about the next great fight, or who was mating to who, he was going to smash the man’s official UDF action figures.

  Ah shit, that lady was back looking for cigarette butts outside the bus stop. He tried to keep his head low and walk quickly, but it was no use, she saw him.

  “Do you have any change for something to eat?”

  “Sorry, uh, I’m all out.” Which was technically true. He’d paid for his wings on a credit card.

  Hurrying by her, he was damn near free when he stopped.

  He felt like an asshole. She was relatively new, but this would be the fifth time he’d rushed by her.

  A little good karma wouldn’t hurt anything, and sure, his apartment sucked, but he could still offer her a little something. Glancing back, from the look of her, and the smell, she wouldn’t remember he’d even done it.

  He wasn’t Mother Theresa and he didn’t ever pretend to be, but it had been a while since he’d done something nice and random for someone other than Mike or himself. There were so many people out on the streets around here that ignoring them all got to be a habit, and even if he did something for her, there were roughly five to ten more people he was going to have to pretend not to see when he got back on his way.

  Stupid credit cards.

  “You just looking for something to eat?”

  For a second he thought she didn’t hear him, but then she looked up, her eyes lighting up with hope. “Yes, I am. You have five dollars?”

  “Uh, well no, but I have a card.”

  “I’ll take that, too.”

  “Or, we can go into that coffee shop over there and get you something hot to drink and a sandwich?”

  She looked across the street then at him and smiled, showing off her yellowed teeth. “Thank you so much. I appreciate that.”

  Zack immediately felt good about this decision, even if he couldn’t really afford it. “Just don’t go thinking I can do this every day, all right.”

  “I can order whatever I want?” she asked, walking into the street without looking both ways. She was so lucky the traffic had slowed down and there weren’t many cars. Zack felt a need to jump in the road with her just to keep her safe in case some asshole did come zooming down the road.

  “Within reason.”

  “I understand. Thank you, thank you.”

  She wasn’t that old, maybe in her fifties, still young enough that her back shouldn’t be so hunched, her hands so filthy, or her clothes so ragged. He didn’t want to think about where her family was. He didn’t want to think about that for any of the humans he happened to see living out in the parks or on the roads. He just wanted to do his random act of kindness and then not think about another one for another month or two when he had more money coming in.

  She was so alight with praise and happiness that he almost didn’t notice her bringing him to the ally beside the coffee shop.

  “Oh, I think we’re walking past it. Hey, uh, miss? Ma’am?” He didn’t know what to call her, and she kept on walking as though she couldn’t hear him.

  Shit. Did she think she was getting her food out of that dumpster?

  “Hey, you know we can go in the front doors. I’m sure they won’t say anything.”

  He didn’t follow her right away. Something stopped him. But there was nothing in there. He looked around but only saw the wet brick and the stereotypical trashcans, along with the dumpsters.

  Was she possibly getting the cardboard over there to sleep on? Crap, that might’ve been it. It looked like it was freshly taken out, but then she stopped and turned back to look at him.

  “I need some help with this.”

  He really didn’t want to have to carry anything that was left out for the trash.

  Also, this was kind of a strange set up.

  Did he go into the alleyway and help the older homeless lady, who possibly didn’t have all her faculties in order? Or was he the asshole who backed off right about now and said forget it to the whole thing?

  He just wanted to go home and go to bed.

  She wasn’t very big, so what did he have to worry about?

  “What do you need help with?” He stepped into the alley, smiling, even though he wasn’t in a very good mood. “I think you’re fine as you are. We can go inside now.”

  “You’re too kind,” she said, her voice distinctly different than it had been before. As though she was… more aware of herself. “That will be helpful.”

  He shivered. A chill rushed down Zack’s spine.

  Looking down at her, he noted the awareness in her eyes that hadn’t been there before. The intention she had hidden. He found himself backing up, all Mike’s paranoid fears rushing into him now that he was here.

  “I need to go.”

  He backed into a wall, glanced up, and noted that the wall behind him was made out of solid muscle.

  The sort of muscle that could snap him like a twig if it wanted to.

  And there were dragon wing tattoos on the meaty neck of the wall, who stared down at him with fiery eyes and sharp teeth.

  “First one we got all night,” said the big guy. “You’ll do.”

  Chapter Two

  It wasn’t just this one guy either. There were two others for a total of three giant men standing behind him. And they all had those stereotypical dragon wing tattoos on their necks.

  Zack didn’t think those were just for show by a bunch of poser humans looking to get some clout by putting those wings on their necks.

  No. He was pretty sure these guys were actually real dragons.

  And he was alone. In an alleyway.

  If Mike could see this right now, he’d throw a fit. If Zack got out of this without any issues, he was never going to tell the other man this happened to him, either. Mike would never let him forget it.

  Zack glanced back at the homeless woman, who was standing a little straighter, pushing her stringy hair out of her clear eyes and smiling. Only then did Zack get the impression that she might be wearing a costume, and that he might be the biggest dumbass in the history of the universe.

  “Okay guys, if it’s all right with you, I’m meeting a buddy of mine inside and want to get out of here now.”

  “Come on, not so fast.” His shoulders were grabbed in an iron tight grip, yanking him back around befo
re he could get far at all. Those fingers dug painfully into his shoulders, but he got the impression these beefy dudes thought they were being gentle with him. “We have a proposition for you.”

  “I understand. I’m not interested in being a dragon lover or a mate. You wouldn’t get that much power out of me anyway.”

  “You’ve got nice red hair.”

  “It’s strawberry blond, not the real thing, and I’m scrawny as hell, look at me.”

  “Doesn’t look scrawny to me,” said the man with the buzzed haircut. He smiled at Zack as though he was especially interested. “You’ve got a good-looking body.”

  “Uh, yeah thanks for that, but I need to go.”

  “You don’t need to go, come on. We’ve got a business proposition for you.”

  Zack was a little ashamed to admit it, but he started to pay attention. “A business proposition?” He’d started to worry that he was about to get sexually assaulted in this dirty alleyway and there wouldn’t have been anything he could do about it, but if they were offering money…

  Well, what would be the harm in that? Sex was sex, wasn’t it?

  “We’ll pay you five hundred dollars a month, for a minimum of one month, to hang around with us, and we can use you to power up, win a couple of fights, and then be on our way.”

  “Five hundred dollars. For one month?”

  All three men nodded.

  “All three of you?” His voice squeaked a little more right then.

  Again, they nodded.

  Now this was starting to look a little less like the sweet deal he’d thought it would be and more like he was in trouble again.

  “I don’t think… yeah, no thanks. I’m sorry, why not use her? She’s with you, right?” He glanced back at the woman, just to see her glaring at him, her fists clenching as though he’d touched a sore subject.

  “She’s not a redhead, we don’t get much out of her,” said the guy with the red dragon wings tattooed to his throat. “We need something a little more powerful.”