Dragon's Enemy Fake Fiance: A Paranormal Romance (Misty Vale Shifters Book 3), page 1
DRAGON’S ENEMY FAKE FIANCE
MISTY VALE SHIFTERS 3
SAMANTHA LEAL
BOOKS IN THE MISTY VALE SHIFTERS SERIES
Dragon Daddy’s Nanny (Book 1)
Savage Bear’s Fated Mate (Book 2)
Dragon’s Enemy Fake Fiancé (Book 3)
CONTENTS
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 9
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 13
Chapter 14
Chapter 15
Chapter 16
Chapter 17
Chapter 18
Chapter 19
Chapter 20
Chapter 21
Chapter 22
Epilogue
Dragon’s Enemy Fake Fiance
Copyright ©2022 by Samantha Leal
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any electronic of mechanical means, including information storage and retrieval systems, without written permission from the author, except for the use of brief quotations in a book review. The unauthorized reproduction or distribution of this copyrighted work is illegal. No part of this book may be scanned, uploaded or distributed via the Internet or any other means, electronic or print, without the author’s permission.
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CHAPTER 1
Audrey took a deep breath before she picked up the shooter and slung it back. The alcohol was harsh and hot in her throat, and she as she tried to keep it down. She really wasn’t made for nights like these, but after what she had been through lately, she needed to let loose and unwind. Even if it meant finding herself getting dolled up late on a Saturday night to head out to a club she really didn’t want to go to.
She sighed as she turned and looked at her reflection in the mirror. She was wearing a cute denim mini-skirt, a pair of sheer black tights, stilettos and a floaty black shirt. She had left the top buttons undone just enough to let a peak of cleavage be on show, and it made her feel that little bit more naughty. Even though she mostly just wanted to run away and hide, Beth had now supplied her with two shots of peach schnapps, and she was feeling super festive.
“I’m so glad you changed your mind and decided to come out tonight!” Beth called from down the hallway. She was in the bathroom curling her hair and using the good lighting for her make-up, whilst Audrey was sitting at her dressing table hoping she hadn’t overdone it with blush.
“I still don’t really want to,” Audrey admitted. “But I also can’t sit in, miserable, for another weekend in a row.”
“Exactly!” Beth cheered. “You’re a hot-as-hell woman in your mid-twenties, the weekends are for living, not hiding.”
It was obvious that Beth knew her all too well. It wouldn’t have taken a rocket scientist to figure it out anyhow. No one wanted to be out dancing the night away right after a bad break-up. And man, did this one truly hurt.
She blinked back a tear as she tried to shake the memories away. She couldn’t spend the first Saturday in forever that she was actually going out, to pine for Dylan. He simply did not deserve it. And yet, his actions and words had cut like a knife. She had really thought they had something which made the shitty things he said echo in her mind all the more.
When they had gotten together thirteen months ago, it had been so perfect. She had fallen for him fast and he had swept her off her feet. They had a connection that a lot of people would have been envious of, but after a few short months Audrey was aware that cracks were starting to show, and she got the feeling that Dylan maybe wasn’t all he appeared to be. He started staying out late, on more than one occasion he had come home smelling of a perfume Audrey didn’t recognize. But the final blow came when, after he had worn her down for the best part of ten months, suddenly he had told her that he had been sleeping with other people, all along. That was bad enough, but it was what he said next that really scarred her. How could she expect him to be satisfied with just her and her alone when she was so hideously disfigured?
Disfigured.
That was the actual word Dylan had used. He had thrown it at her and she was sure he had even smirked. It had hurt so badly, there were times when she still couldn’t believe someone she had trusted had done that to her. This man was supposed to love her, and he had taken one of her worst insecurities about herself and had used it to break up with her.
Her mind was still blown. She had just begun to let her walls down around him. She had just begun to believe that what they had could last. To be called disfigured and told that he was “disgusted” by her because of something she had no control over, was traumatizing, to say the least. And he had known how insecure she was about it to start with. What an ass.
She reached down and placed her hand on her stomach. Underneath the thin chiffon of her shirt, she knew it was there, out of view. Every time she visualized it, it got bigger and more hideous in her mind. It took on a presence so big and intimidating it frightened her. She had always been insecure over it, but since Dylan had been downright cruel about it, it had spiraled into something else. She was never going to let anyone see it ever again.
All this over a birth mark…
It may have been bigger than she would have liked, but in reality, that was all it was. A dark mark on her belly, one that looked like a cross between a flame and an explosion.
She shook her head and half laughed.
Man, Dylan was a prick. He can’t ever have loved her if he could tell her she wasn’t good enough for him. Certainly not because of something so insignificant in the grand scheme of things, but it had still cut deep. And she knew she was going to be licking these wounds for a while.
“I hope you’re almost ready!” Beth called through as she began to skip down the hallway in her high heels.
Audrey shook out her shoulders and took a deep breath. That was the last time she would think about her ex tonight, she was promising herself that. She rose to her feet and flicked her long, blonde hair over her shoulder. It was long and curled into the softest and most beautiful waves, and she almost felt like a mermaid with the aqua shimmer she had added earlier in a moment of madness when the girls had been bored. A mermaid with a big hideous birth mark, she reminded herself.
“You look smoking hot,” Beth said with a wide grin. “That outfit makes your legs look amazing.”
Audrey smiled and did a faux fashion model move, as if she were on the cat-walk. She hadn’t worn a mini-skirt in a while either, and she had also forgotten what great legs she had, with them always being covered up under her jeans and trousers.
“I just need to sort out my purse,” Audrey smiled as she reached down onto her bed and picked up her clutch. It was just big enough to fit in with essentials without being overly dramatic and demanding. She always hated having things to carry when she was out in a busy place, and she knew tonight was going to be no exception.
Beth picked up the flier and studied it. This night’s event had been plastered all over the little mountain town of Misty Vale for the past month. Since Oktoberfest had rolled out of town and winter had hit, everyone was gearing up for the holiday season with excitement, and this was the opening celebration.
“The Misty Winter Celebration,” Beth began. “Come and kick the holiday season off in style tonight at Club Chaos.”
“I still can’t believe this town even has a club now,” Audrey laughed. “If only it had opened when we were still in high school.”
Beth rolled her eyes.
“Like we would have been able to get in without some killer fake ID. Anyway, it’s much better now we’re older, we can enjoy it properly and we know our own minds.”
Audrey smiled, she couldn’t argue with her on that one.
“Come on anyway, before you change your mind and have us in our grannie pajamas doing knitting instead of painting the town red!” Beth winked as she linked her arm through Audrey’s and pulled her gently towards the door.
There was no backing out now. Audrey was once again joining the partying ranks of the singletons of Misty Vale. She just hoped she would survive it with her heart intact this time.
CHAPTER 2
Striker Livingstone nursed a whiskey on the rocks in his big hand, whilst the other clutched the end of a smoldering cigar. He didn’t smoke often these days, but when he did it was always because of stress. And nothing had been quite as stressful as this for some time.
He was sitting at the huge mahogany dining table that he and his family had found themselves around on many occasions. Usually, it was for Christmas or on a Sunday when the whole tribe came together to feast and divulge details of their weeks. But tonight, it was for something else entirely, and he was already seeing red.
“I think, overall, it is a good decision for everyone,” his father said as he peaked his two index fingers together in a point under his chin. “I mean for you, too, even though maybe you don’t see it this way at the moment. I don’t want to see you squander your inheritance because you need to sow your wild oats…and then sow them a
Striker ground out the end of the cigar into a little stub and gritted his teeth. Was he really hearing all of this? Surely this had to be some kind of joke?
His two brothers were sitting alongside him, but he was the only one who had been singled out tonight. The only one of the three of them who had been made to feel ten inches high.
“Father,” he said sternly. “I’m sure you can sense my displeasure?”
His teeth were bared now and his brow was so furrowed he didn’t know how he wasn’t shooting fire across the room. He and his father had always had a complicated relationship, but this was bordering on insanity.
“You’re a loose cannon, Striker,” his father said. “And I just want what’s best for you. But I also want what’s best for the rest of our family as well. We can’t put our assets at risk. I won’t put them at risk. So if you decide to go gallivanting all over the world, you can do it on your own dime. And honestly, I am considering making some amendments to the trust so that you will have no access, no matter where you are, until such time as you are married. But you are definitely not using our family funds to support your exotic travel plans.”
The fire began to rage inside of him. This was the ultimate insult.
“We all know you like the ladies, Striker…” his father continued. “Who knows how many you could end up impregnating before you finally decide to settle down with your true mate? That is a mess we can’t have. I have been willing to put up with it so far as long as you stayed in town, but with this talk of traveling, well, I had to put my foot down. Our fortune is vast, and in truth, you are the weak link as far as keeping that fortune safe.”
A weak fucking link, he thought. Well, there we go. At least now I know what he truly thinks.
Striker snorted and shook his head. He could feel his inner dragon twisting and turning. It was all he could do not to shift and go torch some innocent trees…or worse. He could feel the tension from his brothers and mother. She looked at him with pleading eyes and bit her bottom lip.
“We know how much you want to go on your round the world trip, but I think what your father is trying to say, Dear, is that when it comes to a legacy like ours, we have to be very careful. This is all for your own good. We don’t want you taken advantage of.” She shifted uncomfortably. “And we certainly don’t want to be taken advantage of either.”
“Fuck!” Striker stood up and threw his hands in the air. “What do you think I am? He’s calling me the “weak link” and you’re basically saying I am like some overgrown baby who can’t be trusted to travel alone?”
His brothers laughed, and he shot them both an angry glare.
“I never thought I would see the day,” Zane said, before he whistled out through his pursed lips. “That one of your Livingstone boys would be discouraged…no, punished for doing what you always encouraged us to do! To live it up, to own our power as dragons. To enjoy life. All Striker has done is acted his age and enjoyed women. Maybe he has enjoyed himself a little too much, true, but still I really think you’re going a little overboard by threatening to withhold access to his inheritance, Father.”
“Definitely overboard,” Dash confirmed.
“Listen,” their father leaned forward and glared at them all, one by one, deep in the eyes. “This is my fortune and my legacy to protect. I have been protecting our family for decades, as my father and my father’s father did before me. One day you will all have children of your own and you will understand. And if you’re all going to challenge me on my decision, then maybe it’s time you all had the breaks put on your funds as well, until you see things my way.”
The three brothers stiffened, and Striker looked nervously at Dash and Zane.
Great, he thought. Now I’m going to get the blame for this too.
“I have always wanted all of you married and settled,” his father continued. “But no one more so than you, Striker. You need a good woman behind you. Someone we all trust. You need to find a true mate like Dash has. We can’t risk you having a million more one-night-stands, or shacking up with someone who isn’t worthy. Just because we are Dragon shifters doesn’t mean we aren’t potentially subject to the laws of humans. Dealing with a messy lawsuit or some woman wanting to take a chunk of our fortune in a divorce settlement is not a mess I want to have to clean up. And if you end up fathering many children to many different women, then who knows what they could come after. If you want to head out to see the world, go ahead, but it will be without access to our fortune.”
Their mother pursed her lips and fidgeted nervously, her hands tight in her lap.
“Well then,” Striker said with amusement. “I guess that’s me told. Stay here and get married or get cut off. Thanks Dad…” he put emphasis on the word because he and his brothers never called him that. He had always been Father and nothing else. Byron Livingstone was a force to be reckoned with and he demanded respect from all angles. He wasn’t the type of guy to show weakness in any area of his life, even when it came to his kids.
“Prove to me you’ve changed, Son,” his father said calmly. “That’s all I ask. I worry about you boys so much. And now you’re not even boys anymore. Not even close. You’re strong, powerful men who are running Misty Vale in just the way I always hoped for. I’m very proud of you. Really, this is for your own good. You’ll see. For now,, I just don’t want you getting caught up with some random woman in some random town.” His father looked him in the eye and gave him a reassuring pat on the shoulder. He thought he saw a little fire twinkle in those eyes. Of course, there was always fire in their eyes. They were dragons!
“Yep, they do say that pussy will destroy us all.” Zane muttered under his breath.
Dash laughed, and Striker chuckled in spite of himself. Always being an idiot.
Their mother rolled her eyes up to the heavens and sighed.
“The three of you,” she said, with a wry smile.
“Okay,” Byron clapped his hands together. “All in all, I think we understand each other, yes?”
He rose to his feet and then helped pull back their mother’s chair and took her hand to pull her to standing. The large fire was still raging in the cast iron fireplace and the air was heavy with heat.
“Oh, we understand,” Striker said. “All of that was crystal clear.” He knew this was not the time or place to fight this. His father had made up his mind. That was that. He was going to have to figure something out himself.
His father gave him a wink and another strong pat on the shoulder before he and their mother left the room. His word was law, at least in his mind, he thought.
When the huge wooden door swung closed behind them with a deafening and echoing boom, none of them even flinched.
“Fucking hell,” Zane said. “I never thought the old man would go that far.”
“Me neither,” Dash said with a sigh. “But I think you have options.”
“Options?” Striker asked. “What options would those be?”
“Time to settle down,” Dash raised his eyebrows with a wiggle. “I think you’d make awesome husband material.”
Zane and Dash burst out laughing but Striker just shook his head.
“This is not some joke. I am not ready for one woman. And I do want to get the hell out of this town. You both know that. The last thing I want is a ball and chain. A woman in my bed for one night only? Yes, that’s another story. Sex whenever I want it, how I want it…? Yes again. But having one in my life on a permanent basis, nagging me, getting all up in my business and trying to order me around…? HELL NO. I have the world to see first before I even begin to contemplate the sorry state of being locked with one true mate. And why do they think all I want money for is to be a playboy anyhow? I have a ton of ideas for our businesses. Father has always wanted to keep it all conservative and old school. I think we could do a lot of good in Misty Vale if father would just get into the 21st century. Getting him into the 20th century would be a good start, actually. If I am cut off from the family money, there is no way I can start to put my plans into action.” His Dragon chafed at the whole thing. At least a steady supply of new ladies kept his dragon in line for the most part.
