Chapter 8
Chapter Eight
Excitement rushed through me as I got ready for the day, the morning sun was shining and my mood was rising with the promise of seeing Harpy soon.
Normally when you sealed your bond, you’d prefer to stay with your fated, but the school had rules and one of those rules was that you kept your roommate and had to sleep in your own rooms no matter what.
I had to trust The Magic knew what it was doing when it made that rule, so even though it pained me to part with Harpy, I simply allowed myself to enjoy this excited giddiness instead.
“Ready?” Casey asked, standing by the door in his blue robe, black shirt, and pants. He looked almost nervous as he fiddled with his sleeves.
“Yeah.” I hurried to brush my fingers through my hair, hoping to tame my red locks into submission.
We walked side by side through the hallways, down the stairs and soon we arrived in the busy dining hall, the tables all filled with food and students. Jamie stood from what was now deemed as “our” table, waving his hands eagerly, like we would have no clue where to find them.
Harpy stood next to the table, an easy smile on his face as he talked with an enthusiastic Myve.
Just from the sight of my fated, my dragon relaxed, but the relief of seeing him well and happy was soon replaced by a clawing need to stake my claim on him.
All students here needed to know he was mine.
My instincts took over and soon I was prowling between the tables, my gaze locked on my prize. My Treasure.
Harpy’s gaze found mine, likely sensing he was being watched, hunted.
He swallowed, his eyes never leaving mine as I closed the space between us.
When I reached him, I grabbed his neck with one hand, the other landing on his hip, then slammed my lips against his, hot and demanding.
He whimpered, then fell into the kiss, opening up for me.
A growl of pride escaped me as I met his eager tongue with my own, letting my longing for him show.
“Damn, that’s hot,” Myve commented in a breathy voice. It almost broke the moment between Harpy and me. The need to laugh was nearly enough to break through the lusty haze I was in, but then Harpy’s hand found my ass and squeezed, making me rock hard and aching for him.
He was claiming me too, showing our classmates that I truly belonged to him.
Fuck it was hot.
“Um,” I heard Jamie’s unsure tone, but ignored it. “Nice to formally meet you, I guess.”
Casey laughed awkwardly and that was enough to break the spell between Harpy and me. We broke the kiss, but my hands still held him close, not yet ready to let go of him. I took his hand in mine and together we sat, seeing Jamie and Casey smile softly to one another as they sat, too.
“Your dragon doing okay?” Ryn teased, bumping his shoulder against mine.
I grunted in response. The truth was that even though I felt like I could breathe easier now that Harpy was next to me, and I’d claimed him as mine in front of the other students, I still itched to fully claim him.
Harpy smiled knowingly next to me, but I ignored it and grabbed a few pieces of bread, offering him two slices too. Then I took some orange juice—a new morning staple—and added a handful of blueberries to Harpy’s plate, still not sure what he preferred to eat.
“Thank you,” Harpy whispered, looking at his plate with a soft smile. Had Casey never done that for him? I wondered. I would show him just how loved a dragon’s mate was.
“So,” Myve cut in, smiling widely. “How does it feel to seal the bond?”
Nazuss snorted, “Like we haven’t been told a thousand times growing up.”
“That’s different!” Myve insisted. “They were our dads; they definitely kept some of the dirty details out.”
I laughed at that, remembering back to all the get togethers where we would ask them question after question about how they found each other.
“Don’t laugh!” Myve whined. “Just spill the details already!”
“Fine,” I relented, still smiling. “I felt a warmth spread through my body and then a tugging sensation that seemed to pull me closer to Harpy.”
Myve nodded. “Was it the same to you?” she asked, looking at Harpy now.
Harpy nodded with a shy smile. “It felt like something shifted into place inside of me after, a good sort of feeling.”
Myve seemed disappointed. “So truly nothing sexy about it.”
“Hey,” Ryn objected, looking almost offended. “That could still be considered sexy!”
Myve just rolled her eyes and muttered vanilla-lover under her breath.
I couldn’t help but smile. I finally found my mate and got to show him off to my family. And later today I would shower Harpy with so much affection his heart would burst from it.
“Are you going to try out your dragon form today then?” Jamie asked Harpy excitedly.
Harpy blushed, then stammered weird words that made no sense. He clearly didn’t know what to answer. I decided to help him out.
“I haven’t fully claimed him yet.”
My cousins and brother all stared between Harpy and me with wide eyes of shock.
“Why the fuck not?!” Myve demanded, her tone incredulous.
“Do you not realize that your dragon can just decide to take over? Do you want to claim your poor mate right here in the dining hall in front of everyone? Gods! Is that why?!” She leaned in and whispered conspiratorially, “Are you into that sort of thing?”
Rolling my eyes at her dramatics, I was just about to tell her that it wasn’t her business, when Harpy spoke.
“I asked him to wait to claim me until my mind had time to catch up. Besides, I’m a little intimidated with my new form.”
Ryn waved that off. “You’ll learn to deal with the instincts over time, we were told that by our uncles. It will be harder at first, though.”
“Um,” Harpy said, blushing prettily. “I meant the flying part, not the instincts.”
Ryn just blinked. “Oh.”
Harpy laughed at Ryn’s confusion and I smiled at the sight, holding my mate’s hand under the table and loving this moment. I still had to figure out what to do on our date. Luckily, we had a few classes before our date and I begged my mind for an epiphany.