Chapter 4
FOUR
DRAVEN
The knock on his office door made Draven’s shoulders instantly tense. Every sound set him on edge these days—a side effect of the fire madness that grew worse with each passing day.
“Enter.”
The door swung open to reveal Jarek’s familiar tall frame, but it was the petite woman in the designer pantsuit who commanded Draven’s immediate attention.
Gerri Wilder stepped into his sanctuary with the confidence of someone who owned every room she entered, her white bob perfectly styled despite the interdimensional travel.
Then something stopped Draven’s heart completely. The sight of the woman entering right behind Gerri.
By the ancient flames.
She was stunning in a way that made his dragon rear up and take notice—long dark brown hair that caught the light from his office windows, curves that would make any male appreciate the female form, and an aura of quiet strength that seemed to fill the space around her.
This couldn’t be Dr. Lila Reyes, the trauma psychologist his mother had hired.
He’d expected someone ordinary and forgettable—a clinical professional who would treat him like a case study and leave.
Not this goddess who made his heart hammer wildly against his ribs.
“Your Majesty,” Gerri’s voice carried that familiar note of mischief. “Please meet Dr. Lila Reyes.”
Draven found his feet moving before his brain caught up, his body drawn to her like metal to a magnet. Her scent hit him as he approached—wildflowers and rain with an underlying sweetness that made his dragon practically purr with contentment.
Mate.
The word thundered through his consciousness as their eyes met, those deep green orbs widening slightly as he extended his hand toward her.
“Dr. Reyes.” His voice came out roughened. “Welcome to Nova Aurora.”
The moment their skin touched, lightning crackled up his arm and straight to his chest, where something fundamental shifted into place with an almost audible click.
The mate bond.
His dragon, which had been a restless, burning presence for eighteen years, suddenly went completely and utterly still.
Not dormant—but calm in a way Draven had forgotten was possible.
The constant buzz of anxiety that lived beneath his skin quieted to a whisper.
The intrusive thoughts that plagued his waking hours simply. .. stopped.
Finally. Peace. When had I felt actual peace?
But alongside the relief came a surge of panic that threatened to undo all the good the mate bond had just accomplished. Of all the cosmic jokes the universe could play on him, making his therapist his fated mate topped the list.
How was he supposed to maintain any semblance of professional distance when every instinct screamed at him to claim her and mark her, to make her his in every way?
“Your Majesty,” she said, her voice a bit breathless. She extracted her hand from his, though not quickly enough, and he could sense she felt something too. “I’m honored to meet you. Gerri has told me quite a bit about your... situation.”
Situation. Right. The fire madness that’s been slowly destroying my sanity for nearly two decades.
“I’m sure she has.” Draven forced himself to step back, to give her space when every fiber of his being wanted to pull her closer. “Though I suspect you haven’t traveled quite this far for a consultation before.”
A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, transforming her from beautiful to absolutely radiant. “I have to admit, Nova Aurora isn’t the place where my usual clients live. But I’m intrigued by the challenge.”
Challenge. She has no idea.
His dragon stirred again, not with the manic energy of the fire madness, but with something far more dangerous—possessive hunger.
The beast wanted to wrap itself around this woman and never let her go, and to show her exactly what kind of challenge a dragon king could present for her in the best ways possible.
“If it’s agreeable to you,” Lila continued, pulling a small tablet from her purse, “I’d like to conduct a brief assessment now. Get a baseline understanding of your current mental state.”
Draven’s jaw clenched. An assessment meant questions and observation, a clinical evaluation of his weaknesses laid bare. Bad enough when he’d expected a stranger—catastrophic when that stranger was his fated mate.
“I’ll just step out and catch up with Queen Serenya,” Gerri announced with the casual air of someone who absolutely knew more than she was letting on. “Give you two professionals some space to work.”
Jarek caught Draven’s eye, raising an eyebrow in silent question. You good, brother?
Draven managed a slight nod, though good was the last thing he felt. Jarek escorted Gerri from the office, leaving Draven alone with the most dangerous woman he’d ever met.
“Please, sit.” Lila gestured toward his desk chair, her movements efficient but graceful. “Try to relax and go about your normal routine. I’m just going to observe for now.”
Relax. Right.
Draven settled into his chair, hyperaware of her positioning herself across from him with her tablet ready. Her scent wrapped around him like silk, making it impossible to focus on anything else. She smelled like home—a concept that had eluded him since his father’s death.
“Do you have any paperwork you normally handle around this time?” Her voice was professionally neutral, but he caught the underlying warmth that suggested she actually cared about his comfort.
Draven reached for a patrol report from the northern territories, but the words might as well have been ancient runes for all the sense they made in this moment.
How was he supposed to concentrate on border security when his fated mate was sitting three feet away, studying him with those intelligent green eyes?
Claim her, his dragon urged. Mark her. End this torment once and for all.
She’s here to help with the fire madness, not become my queen, he argued back, though his resolve wavered with every breath that carried her intoxicating scent.
She IS the help, you fool. She’s our fated mate. The completed mate bond will stabilize everything.
But even as his dragon made perfect sense, Draven’s human mind recoiled from the implications.
He couldn’t saddle this accomplished woman with a broken king and couldn’t trap her in a mate bond she hadn’t chosen.
And if she ran—when she ran—he’d lose both his therapist and his fated mate in one devastating blow.
His hands began to shake as the thoughts spiraled, the familiar tightness building in his chest. The patrol report blurred as his vision narrowed, his heart thundering like it was trying to escape.
Not now. Not in front of her.
“Draven.” Lila’s voice cut through the rising panic, soft but commanding. “Close your eyes.”
He obeyed without thinking, desperate for any relief from the anxiety clawing at him.
“Good. Now breathe with me. In for four counts.” Her voice became his anchor, steady and sure. “Hold for four. Out for six. Feel your feet on the ground, your back against the chair.”
The technique was simple, something he’d tried countless times before with limited success. But guided by her voice, grounded by her presence, his racing heart actually began to slow. The crushing weight on his chest eased degree by degree until he could draw a full breath again.
How did she do that?
When he opened his eyes, she was watching him with professional interest tinged by genuine concern.
“Better?” At his nod, she made notes on her tablet. “How often do you experience episodes like that?”
“Daily.” The admission felt like pulling teeth. “Sometimes multiple times per day.”
“And they’ve been increasing in frequency recently?”
“The past month has been... challenging.”
She nodded. “I can see why Gerri thought you needed immediate intervention. What you’re experiencing appears to be a complex case of anxiety-driven psychological distress, complicated by your unique physiology.”
Unique physiology. That’s one way to describe a dragon going slowly insane.
“Dr. Reyes.” He leaned forward, needing her to understand the gravity of what she was dealing with.
“This isn’t ordinary anxiety. The fire madness that afflicts my bloodline has driven kings to insanity, to abandoning their thrones, to.
..” He stopped before admitting the worst—that some had taken their own lives rather than succumb completely.
“I understand the stakes are high.” Her eyes held his steadily. “Which is why this will require careful intervention, built on trust and patience. I’d like to spend the next two weeks working intensively with you, if you’re willing.”
Two weeks. Two weeks with my fated mate in the same castle, breathing the same air, close enough to touch.
His dragon practically sang at the prospect while his rational mind screamed warnings about the impossibility of maintaining professional boundaries.
“Two weeks,” he repeated, his voice huskier than he intended.
“Is that a problem?” She tilted her head, studying his reaction with those perceptive eyes that seemed to see straight through his carefully constructed walls.
Only if you count falling completely under the spell of my fated mate while trying to hide the most humiliating weakness a king can have.
“No problem at all, Dr. Reyes.” The lie came easily, well-practiced from years of diplomatic necessity. “I’m... grateful for your assistance.”
And terrified of what those two weeks might cost us both.
Draven stood from his desk with careful control. Every primal instinct urged him to stay close to Lila, and to breathe in more of that intoxicating scent that had quieted his dragon for the first time in eighteen years.
“Shall we find Gerri?” The words scraped against his throat like gravel.
Lila gathered her tablet and purse with efficient grace, and Draven found himself studying the elegant curve of her neck as she bent forward.
Focus, you fool. She’s here to help you, not to be devoured by your imagination.