Chapter 28
Rook
Five Days Later
We should be by our mate’s side, my dragon rumbled in my head, its voice loaded with frustration.
Business first, pleasure later. Anyway, maybe if you’d actually told me she was our mate…
He grunted noncommittally. I suspected that, like me, he hadn’t felt the mate bond snap into place until we’d seen our mate in her true form.
But in truth, she’d claimed my heart long before she’d claimed my body and saved my life with her bite.
The mate bond? It just confirmed what I’d known for a long time: Kaylee was mine.
The flight back from Gaheris’s territory took longer than my patience could tolerate, and I pushed myself harder.
After he’d napped through the end of the fight and left my mate exposed to danger, I should have taken his throat.
But it was hard to be angry with him while the mate bond swirled in my chest, and when he’d played an admittedly significant part in my mate’s rescue—prior to get himself knocked out like a hatchling.
Then I’d wanted to take his throat all over again when the asshole had knelt before me and called me ‘king’.
Like I had any use for petty titles, or time to waste ruling vindictive dragons.
I planned to return to my estate, and stay there—with my mate.
And if we left, it would only be because she wanted to explore the world that had been hidden away from her for her entire existence.
But if the last two days in my—our—room were anything to go by, we’d be too busy for the next decade or two to be travelling.
So instead of giving Gaheris an ass-kicking, I gave him a crown and called the job done.
He’d always had a better head for politics than me.
We would have ruled better than him.
And, so far as I knew, he wasn’t hampered by an annoying voice that second guessed all of his decisions.
You treated our mate like a common slave. Your judgement is impaired.
I grunted at that, and flew faster. It made me uncomfortable to consider the way I’d treated Kaylee, and no amount of attempting to make amends had eased the pressure in my chest. I didn’t know how to make it cease, or even lessen—nor was I sure I deserved it.
You should bring her a deer.
We already brought her three.
Yes, but not today. Our mate likes deer.
It seemed to be true, but I was quite sure she would prefer the delivery I’d arranged yesterday.
Her hoarding preferences, it transpired, ran similar to mine.
I looked forward to seeing her face when she discovered my gift…
and then I looked forward to watching her face as she enjoyed my gift.
And after that, I looked forward to watching her face as I pleasured her on my knees, worshipping the only creature I would ever prostrate myself before.
The thought made me wish I could fly straight there, and lay eyes on my divine mate. But no. There was one other thing my mate desired almost as much as I was certain she would desire my gift: answers. And, annoyingly, there was only one place I could think of where she might find those answers.
I had suspected she may have a dragon half hiding within her when she recounted her nightmares to me, the dark shape chasing her reminding me of the shadow that had lurked in my subconscious before I’d come of age and shifted for the first time.
Our mate has shifted much younger than most dragons, my beast said, his voice swelling with pride.
It was true. Our kind of dragons didn’t claim our power at such young ages as wolves, but then, we didn’t die so quickly, either.
That my impending death had brought on my mate’s shift only underscored how unequal we truly were.
I could live a thousand lives and never be worthy of her.
We should tell her that.
I groaned inwardly. I’d rather bring her another deer.
My dragon had been full of ‘helpful’ ideas on how to woo our mate, most of which were horrific.
I’d been around Kaylee enough to have scented her arousal on several very specific occasions, all of which centered around the appearance of my dominant side.
And I’d felt the way her body reacted when I was deep inside her, showing her my strength.
Females enjoy being told they’re important, my dragon argued.
When did you become the expert? You’ve known even less than me. Why would females be any different from males?
Perhaps we should challenge her to a fight, then, my dragon bit out with what I knew was sarcasm, but…
No! His shout deafened me from inside my own head.
She was magnificent in battle with Uther, I reasoned. She must enjoy fighting and bloodshed.
I think she would prefer the deer.
I think she’ll prefer what we’re actually going to do.
He fell silent. We were in agreement. It was time to find those answers she craved.