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  Dragon Prince

  Qurilixen Lords: A Qurilixen World Novel

  Michelle M. Pillow

  Click Here to Join Michelle’s Mailing List

  Dragon Prince (Qurilixen Lords) © copyright 2019 by Michelle M. Pillow

  First Electronic Printing Feb 12, 2019

  Published by The Raven Books LLC

  ISBN-13: 978-1-62501-226-5

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  ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

  This book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

  This novel is a work of fiction. Any and all characters, events, and places are of the author’s imagination and should not be confused with fact. Any resemblance to persons, living or dead, or events or places is merely coincidence.

  Michelle M. Pillow® is a registered trademark of The Raven Books LLC

  Contents

  About Dragon Prince

  Qurilixen Lords Series

  15 Year Author Anniversary

  Michelle’s Bestselling Series

  Author Updates

  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

  Chapter 23

  Chapter 24

  Chapter 25

  Chapter 26

  Chapter 27

  Chapter 28

  Chapter 29

  Chapter 30

  Marked Prince

  About Michelle M. Pillow

  Free Reading Guides

  Please Leave a Review

  About Dragon Prince

  Grier’s fiery passion for Salena might be everything his dragon ever wanted but loving her might just lead to the destruction of everything he’s trying to save.

  With all that is happening in his land, the upcoming shifter mating ceremony is the least of Grier’s concerns. Even though he is heir prince of the dragon-shifters, he doesn’t have the authority needed to help the humans stranded in dragon territory, nor can he banish those who ruthlessly control them. Yet honor demands he finds an opportunity to intervene, and he hopes that doing so won’t start a war the shifters can’t win. Discovering his destined mate couldn’t have come at a worse time.

  Salena knows what it is like to be a pawn of the Federation. They might have kidnapped her and brought her to this strange territory, but she will never do what they want of her… what everyone wants of her. The last thing the fugitive needs is the very public attention of a fierce dragon prince claiming they’re fated by the gods—even if the sexy man makes her burn in more ways than one.

  Qurilixen Lords Series

  Dragon Prince

  Marked Prince

  Feral Prince

  More Coming Soon!

  15 Year Author Anniversary

  Note from the Author

  Fifteen years ago I published my first book The Mists of Midnight (now titled Forget Me Not), a Regency-era ghost romance. However it is my second book that same year, Dragon Lords: Barbarian Prince, which became the start of the fan favorite multi-series collection, Qurilixen World.

  First, don’t let the numbers I’m about to tell you scare you away. Each series installment in the world can be read as a standalone as can each individual book. As the author I do recommend reading series installments from start to finish, but it is not necessary. For help with reading lists, suggested reading orders, and more information please visit my website for the free reading guides.

  Not only is this my author anniversary, it is the fifteen-year anniversary of the Dragon Lords series. Though I plan a whole year of celebrating, I’m starting with this book—the 37th title in the Qurilixen World, Qurilixen Lords Book 1: Dragon Prince. Fans of my work will instantly recognize that these stories focus on the adult children of the dragon-shifters from Dragon Lords series, and their cat-shifter neighbors from the Lords of the Var® series. Readers have been asking for these books since book one came out and I cannot wait to hear what you all think!

  If you’re new to the series, no worries, jump right in! If you enjoy my work, there will be plenty of books for you to choose from.

  For the sake of completeness and to make your web searches easier, the Qurilixen World includes the following series: Dragon Lords, Lords of the Var®, Dynasty Lords, Space Lords, Captured by a Dragon-Shifter, Galaxy Alien Mail Order Brides, Qurilixen Lords, and Galaxy Mates (The Galaxy Mates shorter stories is currently out of print). You can find out more about each series at https://michellepillow.com/dragonlords.

  No mention of my fifteen years would be complete without my heartfelt thank you to the readers and reviewers who have supported me for all these years. I love you all! It has been an amazing journey and I (literally) could not do it without you. I hope you’ll come celebrate out with me online and subscribe to the mailing list to be informed of new books, freebies, and all the fun party stuff happening this year!

  Thank you,

  Michelle M. Pillow

  Praise for Michelle M. Pillow

  “Filled with intrigue and adventure, Dragon Prince: A Qurilixen World Novel is an exciting new spinoff in a rich and intricate universe. Michelle Pillow creates characters to cheer for, to hope with, while building worlds that are portals for the imagination. Truly, Ms. Pillow is a master of futuristic fantasy.”

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  Yasmine Galenorn, NY Times, Publishers Weekly, & USA TODAY Bestseller (galenorn.com)

  “Michelle Pillow weaves a fantastical tale of dragon shifters, full of rich world-building, action and adventure, along with a sexy love story. This entire series is not to be missed!”

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  Bianca D'Arc, USA TODAY Bestseller (biancadarc.com)

  "Sometimes you just need to gobble up the insane goodness that is dragons, and Michelle has been aiding in that addiction for fifteen years."

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  Eve Langlais, NY Times & USA TODAY Bestseller (evelanglais.com)

  "A wonderfully sexy tale filled with romance and dragon-shifters that draws you in from the first page and doesn’t let go. The Qurilixen Lords series is one you don’t want to miss!"

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  Mina Carter, NY Times & USA TODAY Bestseller (mina-carter.com)

  Michelle’s Bestselling Series

  Qurilixen World Novels

  Dragon Lords Series

  Barbarian Prince

  Perfect Prince

  Dark Prince

  Warrior Prince

  His Highness The Duke

  The Stubborn Lord

  The Reluctant Lord

  The Impatient Lord

  The Dragon’s Queen

  Lords of the Var® Series

  The Savage King

  The Playful Prince

  The Bound Prince

  The Rogue Prince

  The Pirate Prince

  Qurilixen Lords

  Dragon Prince

  Marked Prince

  Feral Prince

  More Coming Soon!

  Captured by a Dragon-Shifter Series

  Determined Prince

  Rebellious Prince

  Stranded with the Cajun

  Hunted by the Dragon

  Mischievous Prince

  Headstrong Prin
ce

  Space Lords Series

  His Frost Maiden

  His Fire Maiden

  His Metal Maiden

  His Earth Maiden

  His Woodland Maiden

  Dynasty Lords Series

  Seduction of the Phoenix

  Temptation of the Butterfly

  Having trouble finding the books?

  Updated Buy Links Here

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  To learn more about the Qurilixen World series of books and to stay up to date on the latest book list visit www.MichellePillow.com

  Author Updates

  Join the Reader Club Mailing List to stay informed about new books, sales, contests and preorders!

  http://michellepillow.com/author-updates/

  To the readers who have supported me for the last 15 years, thank you! I’m excited to be sharing my 15 year Author Anniversary and the 15 year Dragon Lords series Anniversary with all of you!

  1

  He was not the king, not yet.

  He could not help the people before him.

  He could not banish those who needed to be ejected off his world.

  Grier didn’t know how to explain to his royal parents and the Draig elders that this wasn’t the same world anymore. They clung to the past with an almost delusional need, as if, by willing it hard enough, everything would return to the ways of their youth. Hope and determination did not change reality. Qurilixen was no longer the primitive oasis of farmers and ceffyl herders whose biggest worry was protecting the ore mines from alien attacks or guarding the borderlands against their feral Var neighbors.

  If only that were still the reality, when dragon-shifters and cat-shifters were the only kinds on this planet. Such times seemed easy compared to now.

  Grier was probably oversimplifying matters. His father had warned him more than once to be careful about minimizing the past. The old days had not been as easy as Grier was wont to believe, and there were many things he did not know. That may be true, but he knew the problems of here and now.

  Grier gazed down from the cliffside watchtower at the alien city sprawled over the valley below. There was something calming about sitting on the circular roof, at a height so great that none of the new residents of the planet could reach it. Locals had nicknamed the settlement below Shelter City because they meant it to be a temporary shelter for their visitors. That was over thirty years ago.

  The top of the tower that surrounded a spire was flat, wide enough for him to sit, but the roof slats at his feet angled downward. He felt the wind, smelled the fresh air, heard only the barest hint of shouts from below.

  The city was not supposed to have lasted as long as it had. Qurilixen was to be a short resting place where the people regained their strength after the destruction of their world and recovered from a virus that killed almost their entire population. His father, King Ualan, and the Var cat-shifting King Kirill, could no longer turn away hundreds of people in need, any more than they could have killed the aliens themselves. When they had agreed to partner with the Federation to save the Cysgodians, there had been invisible strings attached to the deal that had only revealed themselves over time.

  Grier gazed over one such string. Until that moment, the shifters had kept their planet from any dealings with the Federation and free of its rules. They did not want to be part of the Federation Alliance. Now they were in a questionable gray area. The Federation claimed squatters’ rights because they had dominion over the makeshift city, and the shifters refused to agree that city was anything more than a temporary settlement—to do so would be to accept the alliance.

  They were at a standstill. The real victims of this political battle were the people caught in the middle. If the dragon prince could have his way, he’d funnel the people out of the city and allow them to choose their path—whether it was to stay on the planet or leave for space. No one’s destiny should be decided by a dictatorship.

  The cluster of metal and stone buildings, built in a hurry and falling over time, created the portion of the city that filled the valley. Canvas flapped in the wind, giving shade from the constant daylight of the planet. This is where the Federation kept their poor, which was almost every citizen of the city. Shifters had no say in the alien hierarchy.

  Grier wanted to change that. Politics would not let him. He hated these politics.

  The shifters did not have poor, or at least they hadn’t before the Cysgodians came. Dragon-shifters took care of their own. If a child was orphaned, there was always a family willing to give them a new home. His cousin, Mirek, had not been blessed with children but had more sons than the rest of them combined from taking in those in need of a family. If someone needed food, someone fed them. Everyone worked, and everyone thrived. They considered it a matter of honor.

  It was this sentiment that had caused his parents to take in so many off-worlders when they’d known it would strain their resources. Scientists had been convinced the blue radiation from one of Qurilixen’s three suns had the healing properties the Cysgodians needed to recover. Besides, at the time, there was nowhere else for the residents to go.

  But then, the city grew, too fast to be natural. They discovered others were being brought to the sanctuary—first three more; then twelve; then a shipful dropped off during the one night a year when darkness covered the planet, and the dragons had been occupied with their sacred mating ceremonies. That is how Shelter City now held more than the original Cysgodians, though they still used the term to describe the people there. Cysgod meant shelter in the Draig language, so it made sense.

  By the time they made the discovery, it was too late. The people had dispersed into Shelter City and to round them up would have meant full-on attacks. None of the shifters wanted a war. What they wanted was the Federation gone as it was their fault this was happening. They had taken advantage of the elders’ good-hearted natures and the Cysgodians’ desperation.

  Grier was not as soft-hearted as the elders. He couldn’t be. He knew in order for his people to survive, he would have to make hard choices, ones he did not want to make.

  Looking at his hands, he traced an old scar he’d received in battle training as a youth.

  “Battles are not meant to be easy. They are meant to be won,” had been the lesson his uncle Zoran, commander of the Draig army, wanted them to learn. Zoran was still a hard taskmaster to this day. Grier had received the scar from Zoran’s daughter, Grace.

  Fights did not scare him. Losing his people did. For better or worse, the Cysgodians were now his people, and they needed freed from the Federation’s rule. Only then could the shifters start truly absorbing them into Qurilixen society if that is what the aliens wanted. As it was, crime and discontentment were escalating.

  Above the city of metal and stone were structures of a different nature. They were evenly spaced buildings along the ridge of a mountain, identical and just as they had been since the Federation put them up thirty years earlier.

  A large stone building towered over it all, across the valley from his watchtower perch but low enough that he could see the roof. The rectangular structure stretched along the length of the city. Metal arches slashed over the top. That is where the city officials stayed. It was where his parents and ambassador cousin were now, discussing the many issues that arose from this ever-growing nest of malcontents.

  Suddenly, a wave of heat hit his back, propelling his body down the side of the roof. A roar of flames filled the sky over his head. He dug his heels against the surface even as his hands flailed to grab something solid. The slats of the roof clattered under his boots as he tried to stop his fall. It didn’t work. As he flew over the side of the tower, he managed to grab hold of the edge with one hand. He swung violently so that his back struck the stone side. Another roar of fire filled the air.

  He took a deep breath, ignoring the pounding of his heart as he gained control of his body. Kicking the side of the building, he propelled himself around, gripping the roof’s edge even as he released
his anchored hand long enough to change his hold so that his wrist wouldn’t break.

  Grier did not hang long. He used his toe to launch from the side and his arm strength to lift his head over the edge of the rooftop to look at his attacker.

  Grace peeked at him from the other side of his resting spot, hiding her naked body. Her light brown eyes shone with mischief. His cousin was pretty and would have appeared as regal as any queen if not for the fact she’d just tried to firebomb him off the side of the tower. Her brown hair flew around her head. She grinned down at him. “Let me borrow your shirt.”

  Grier dropped his weight, kicked off the side of the building a second time and flung his body upward. With much effort, he climbed onto the roof and made his way toward the top. Sitting with his back to his cousin, he took off his shirt and held it behind him. The cooler air hit his naked chest, and he breathed deeply. “Do I even want to ask where you left your clothes?”