The Baby Dragon Shifter

Chapter 3 STEAL

Late that night, I woke to the sound of sloppy, female giggling. David's voice rumbled, creating a low counterpoint to the sound. I lifted my head, blinking into the gloom, and resettled my wings as I stood. Having only seen human females on television, I was curious and a little wary. I jumped from my bed, wings open to buoy my fall and soften my landing to barely more than a whisper.

Belly low, I stalked to the door like a was hunting mice and stuck my head into the hall. By the front door was a woman. She had dark hair, the colour indistinguishable, wide eyes, and a shockingly red dress riding high on her hips. Seeing it, I felt validated in my choice to only wear shirts; if this female could do so, why couldn't I?

David was standing close to her, arm around her waist and mouth on the side of her neck. This, apparently, was a cause for giggles. I found the position odd, a feeling it took me a moment to articulate; the woman wasn't scared or struggling. David could have ripped open her throat as easy as I bit the head off a mouse, but she didn't seem to care. Maybe it was because David didn't seem aggressive, I thought, trying to interpret their body language. I didn't really understand, but the way David's pelvis pushed against hers and retreated made me think of the lions mating on TV. It was how they made little cubs, babies. Did David want babies?

The thought excited me. If this woman had David's babies, I could play with them, and cuddle with them, and teach them to hunt mice. Then I wondered, why would David want this female? She wasn't a dragon; under her chemical laced perfume, I couldn't detect the sharp windy-almond-woodsy scent of a dragon. She was the salty-dirt-flowery smell of a vanilla human female. The idea of babies was suddenly terrible; I wouldn't share my territory with little humans. Sinking lower to the floor, I growled low and threatening.

Immediately David spun the female so her back was to me. "Whoo," she said between breathless laughter and stumbled against his chest. She kicked her shoes off, pushing them aside, and let her silky wrap slither down to pool around her bare feet as she arched closer. Over her shoulder, David glared at me and made a jerky hand motion at her waist indicating I should go back into my room. I hadn't even realized I'd begun to creep slowly down the hall. I looked at the female and made a sound of negation. David growled, his hand signal become sharper.

The woman pulled away from him a little, tossing something rectangular to land by her shoes. "Was that a growl, Dave?" Her voice was light and playful. Dave? Didn't she mean David?

David took his eyes off me to give her a teeth-baring smile. "Yeah, babe, you

bring out the animal in me."

She tilted her head back and laughed, full and throaty. In a line down the crown of her head I could see her hair growing in lighter at the roots. "Then let's get going." She grabbed his hand and turned to tow him down the hall. I ducked out of sight milliseconds after she'd seen me. "What was that?" she asked. The living room light flicked on. "Do you have a dog?"

"A cat," David responded and I grunted, offended. I knew what a cat was and I was no cat. "Why don't you wait for me in my room?" His voice was deeper when he asked the question and the female giggled again.

"Okay," she said, and I heard her unusually loud footsteps on the carpet pass my room. She didn't see me in the dark.

When David's shape filled my doorway, I cowered, wrapping my tail around my legs. "Stay in here," he hissed, "and don't you dare come out until the woman is gone. Got it? While she is in the house, you are in this room." He jabbed his finger at me in emphasis.

I trilled quietly, wondering why.

David glared one last time before slamming the door. Only it didn't latch, swinging back open to show the light-filled hall. I dragged my blanket under my bed and curled up to wait. A little later I heard sounds from David's room. With the protective ignorance of childhood, I denounced them as unimportant without a second thought.

But I was bored and, as sleep eluded me, a dragon's natural curiosity dragged me into the hall. On quiet paws, I sneaked up on the female's shoes. I batted one and hopped away, then quickly pounced on it before it stopped spinning. The pointy black heel jabbed me and I snorted dismissively at the offending footwear. Next, I investigated the wrap. I nosed it open and spread it wide on the carpet. I liked the way it shimmered in the light and wiggled underneath. The fabric was cool and I could barely feel it against my scales. Standing, it slipped off my back like water. That's when I noticed the little sequinned black clutch purse.

It closed with a magnet that I easily opened, spilling the contents on the floor. The biggest item was a cell phone with a collapsible antenna. I had seen David talking into a similar device and wasn't interested in the blocky piece of plastic. I sniffed at some crumpled bills and pushed them aside as well. Under them however, I found something I did like. A watch. The shiny face was rectangular, with shiny clear jewels set around the edges and a golden band. The links were flat and mirror-smooth so I could see the tiny red and silver scales on my snout reflected. I clinked my claws on the watch face and withdrew, utterly entranced.

In that moment, the watch became mine. I pinched it carefully between my razor-sharp teeth and carried it back to my room.

I don't like to think of myself as a thief, but it is undeniable that, in my younger years, I stole. After that day, David brought a woman home with him up to twice a week. Sometimes they were ones I'd seen before. Most of the time they weren't. They didn't always bring items as nice as the watch, but, in their purses, I could always find something shiny and pleasing to the eye. Sometimes it was a pair of earrings, a necklace, a ring. Not everything I stole was valuable. Sometimes the jewelry was plastic and sometimes I could only find coins, but I always took something. Why? I thought of it as payment. I was letting these human women spend the night in my territory. In return, they unknowingly traded me something I thought equally valuable. I squirrelled these treasures away in my shoebox with my other special things, and kept them hidden from David.

Most of the time, the women never knew I'd taken anything. But sometimes they accused David of stealing. David kicked them out and nothing ever came of the accusations. Once, one of his females demanded to search the house for her 'mother's necklace'. "It was a family heirloom," she had shrieked. "And I know you stole it, you good-for-nothing gold digger!" I'd taken my box and hid in the crawl space while she stomped about, opened drawers, and generally made a mess. In the end, she'd left empty handed.

I think David knew what I was doing after the first few accusations. He bought a new door knob - a sliver, lever-style one - with a lock on the outside. Upon arriving home with a new female, he locked me in. It took me about ten minutes to figure out how to use a coin to get free and then lock back up so David never knew. With a locked door between me and any goodies the women brought with them, David no longer suspected me when he took the blame for any missing items. That I was responsible for the accusations aimed at my leader was a source of guilt. I strove, after a time, to alleviate suspicion from him as well; I began putting small rips in the bottom of the purses or coat pockets I plundered. This method I discovered by serendipity.

One of David's females who's pretty bracelet with the sapphire inlay I'd taken returned, not to accuse, but to ask if David had found it anywhere. She showed him how the stitching on the corner of her bag had given way. She had hoped the bracelet fell out in his car or house, and not at the bar. David had told her he hadn't seen it - of course he hadn't, I'd thought to myself, it was in my box - and she'd left without any lingering suspicion. It provided me the perfect alibi for David, and my thieving career persisted.