Unexpected Mate (Dragon Goddess #2)

Chapter Four

I jerked awake as Tia’s wild emotions consumed me. On the far side of the bed, Levi sat up abruptly and his gaze darted around the room, clearly searching for our little mate. Without thinking, I lunged forward and grabbed his shoulder, teleporting us directly to her side. Materializing into a room full of supers was something we avoided; it was risky since we could not prepare for an attack. But at that moment, I didn’t care about anything except being at Tia’s side, even if it meant getting a knife in my back from an enemy.

The moment we appeared in the room, Levi shifted smoothly into his wolf. He flanked her left side, while I stepped to her right. My eyes slid around the room, assessing the number of wizards and any potential dangers. I recognized five of the wizards as the men I had spent many hours with over the past few weeks, sometimes guarding and other times relaxing on the porches. Tension eased from my body. Tia was safe from these men.

I turned toward Tia and immediately took in her expression. I had seen that expression before, on the day we first met when Damien had teleported her into our mansion. She had her hands clasped tightly in front of her, and I noticed the trembling that she was desperately trying to hide. Her beautiful eyes were glowing blue, as if holding fire in their depths, while the light in her tattoos ebbed and flowed in a hypnotic dance.

Her emotions continued to wash through my mind; anxiety, excitement, apprehension and desire all fought to surge forward. Her spine straightened ever so slightly and I couldn’t help but smile. My mate was experiencing a tumult of emotions, but she was determined to appear confident in front of these men.

I wanted to continue to observe my gorgeous dragon, but curiosity got the best of me. Glancing across the room, I studied the man that was Tia’s newest mate. I prayed he would be worthy of her. She hid her pain, but I was well aware she still felt the pain of Cage’s rejection. I had seen her puffy red eyes after one of her long showers. She thought she was hiding her pain from us, but we all felt it through our bond.

There were times when her thoughts flittered through my head, and it was clear that she was still going over the “what ifs?” in her mind. What if she had shown him more love? What if she had accepted their bond the moment he marked her? What if she had begged him to stay?

She worried that maybe they hadn’t even had a chance to bond because of Draven’s kidnapping, and the emotional state that she had been in after her parents’ murder. Levi, Luke and I had all tried to tell her that Cage could have stayed. He wasn’t forced to leave. He had made that choice. She was born to fulfill a prophecy, to change the world. Cage didn’t want a warrior; he wanted a soft mate to keep tucked away safety, and that was a role Tia couldn’t fill, no matter how much she desired it.

Now she was meeting her fourth mate, and her insecurities were rising to the surface. This man better not hurt my beloved, or I will be tempted to make him disappear from the face of the earth. I was fairly confident Tia wouldn’t approve of me murdering people on her behalf.

The man had obviously been speaking with Gregor, his handler standing a few steps behind him. I didn’t recognize either of them. Since I had always preferred to stay among my own kind, this was unsurprising. My gaze traveled over his light brown hair tied neatly at the nape of his neck. His face was clean shaven and his dark eyes were filled with wonder as he gazed at Tia. His expression was unguarded, allowing his emotions to be seen, which was unusual as very few supers would allow their faces to be so easily read.

I couldn’t stop myself from using telepathy, even though I knew Tia would not be pleased if she ever found out. I listened to his thoughts.

Is she the dragon shifter? No one mentioned how beautiful she is, how she draws you to her.

I smirked. He didn’t yet realize what he felt was the pull of the mate bond.

Oh no. She’s getting closer to me, what should I say? No one mentioned how blue her eyes are… are her ears wiggling? How is she so adorable?

I wanted to laugh at his consternation, but held it in. The poor guy was rambling in his head, clearly nervous. He still had no idea he was Tia’s mate. He wanted to impress her; he wanted her to notice him. Thankfully Gregor stepped towards Tia, holding out his hand in greeting.

“Welcome, Tia! You are just in time to meet the new arrivals. This is Leo, the nadir I was telling you about yesterday.”

He motioned casually toward Leo before continuing: “And this is his handler, Elani. As nadirs cannot teleport or use magic, the few who are employed by the council are given a handler to guide them in our world and ensure the council’s needs are properly met.”

Tia’s eyes narrowed slightly as she took in the woman standing against the wall behind Leo. It was obvious that she had only had eyes for Leo and hadn’t noticed Elani’s presence in the room. Little was known about dragon females but, based on the tendrils of her magic that were swirling around the room, I thought it was safe to assume they weren’t fond of having other females in their nest.

To Elani’s credit, she didn’t seem phased by Tia’s magic as it circled around her like a lion stalking its prey. Pushing herself off the wall, she stepped towards Tia and stretched out her hand in greeting.

“It’s wonderful to meet the dragoness that has caused such a stir among the wizards.”

Tia accepted the offered hand and gave it a firm shake. “I didn’t expect to meet a female wizard.”

Elani let out a throaty laugh as she moved to Leo’s side. “Very few people have the opportunity to meet a female wizard. We are rare among our kind, as most of our females are born without magic. Our females are typically nadir, like this nerd.” She punched Leo’s shoulder as she finished speaking.

My mate had gone from irritated to angry in mere moments. Her control slipped and her adorable ears lengthened to the pointed tips she insisted belonged on a fairy. I was proud to see that she was still controlling the rest of her shift, a skill we had been drilling in hard these past weeks. We wanted her to be able to maintain whichever form benefited her most in any given situation, rather than letting her emotions control her shifts.

Neither Gregor nor Elani had noticed Tia’s slip, but Leo was staring at her ears with a mix of curiosity and admiration. Our beautiful mate completely enchanted him. He stepped forward as if he were in a trance. Tia held her breath as he approached. With one hand he unconsciously pushed his glasses back up his nose, while he reached out with his other hand and gently stroked the length of her ear.

Tia shivered at his tentative touch, but otherwise, she remained motionless. His fingers continued to trace the delicate curve of her ear, and he leaned forward to get a closer look. His body blocked the wizard’s view of Tia. His face was so close to Tia that she had to be feeling his warm breath against her skin. Indeed, she seemed unable to remain still any longer.

I watched as she ever so slightly leaned forward and pressed her lips against the corner of his mouth. He was startled out of his fixation on her ears but didn’t jerk away. Instead, he turned his head and pressed his lips firmly against her own. I knew I should look away, but I kept watching the scene in front of me like some type of creepy stalker.

An adorable blush crept across Tia’s cheeks, and she leaned back from Leo. He wasn’t ready for their first kiss to end, and instead he captured her bottom lip between his teeth and nipped her gently. I couldn’t stop a chuckle from escaping. It seemed that the nerd might not be as inexperienced as I had thought. There was no denying he felt the pull of the mate bond.

My laugh brought them both back to the present, and Leo quickly dropped his hand and took a step back. Desire and disappointment flooded my mind as Tia struggled to regain her composure.

“Hello, I’m Tia.” Her voice was low and raspy, and it sent a wave of desire through my body.

“I’m Leo.”

Elani laughed from behind him. “Yes, we already told her that. How can you be so smart, and yet a complete idiot sometimes? This is why nadirs are meant to work within the community, not be paraded around in front of outsiders. ”

A growl rumbled Tia’s chest, and I didn’t miss the look of surprise that flitted across Leo’s face at her reaction.

“We won’t take up anymore of your time, Tia,” said Gregor, stepping forward. “Our team has the computer set up and ready for you to begin working, Leo.” Gregor took Leo by the arm and, after a nod to us, guided him toward the corner where his workstation had been set up.

Leo threw a longing look back over his shoulder and then allowed himself to be led away. I tucked Tia’s hand into the crook of my arm and began walking her toward the glass doors of the patio, Levi following behind us, guarding our backs.

As we stepped into the sun, we both looked once more in Leo’s direction. My eyes must have been playing a trick on me, because I swore he winked at us. This was quite an interesting development!