Chapter 8 Draven
EIGHT
DRAVEN
Draven closed the door to his office and strode through the castle corridors, his mind spinning from the session with Lila.
I almost kissed her.
The memory of her startled retreat burned in his chest—the way she’d stumbled backward when he’d leaned closer, her professional boundaries slamming back into place like a steel wall.
But beneath his disappointment, something else had simmered. Through their growing mate bond, he’d sensed her desire in that charged moment. Her pulse had quickened, and her pupils had dilated with need. She’d wanted that kiss as much as he had.
She’s fighting it because of her professional ethics, he realized, pushing open the door to his private chambers. Not because she doesn’t want me.
The distinction ignited more hope in his chest. If her resistance was about maintaining boundaries rather than genuine disinterest, then he had a chance. He just needed to turn up the charm and show her he was more than a patient—he was a man who could give her everything she’d ever dreamed of.
It’s going to be a fine line to walk.
Too aggressive and he’d scare her off. Too passive and they’d waste precious time dancing around each other while his fire madness consumed what remained of his sanity.
Draven pulled out his communicator and called Jarek.
“Let me guess,” Jarek’s amused voice crackled through the device. “Dr. Reyes just convinced you to step back from your kingly duties.”
“How did you—”
“Because you’re too stubborn to make that decision yourself, and she’s obviously got more backbone than the rest of us combined.” Jarek chuckled. “You know, I like her already.”
Draven dropped into his leather chair. “She was... firm with me. Told me I couldn’t pour from an empty cup.”
“And you actually listened? Miracles do happen.” The grin was audible in Jarek’s voice. “She’s perfect for you, isn’t she? Nobody else has ever been able to stand up to the almighty King Draven.”
Heat crawled up Draven’s neck. “I would do anything she told me to do. I don’t even mind backing off my alpha ways for her.”
“Now I know you’re healing. Two weeks from now, you’ll be a completely different man.”
Draven scowled at the amusement in his best friend’s tone. “Are you enjoying this?”
“Immensely. But I’m also relieved. You need someone who challenges you, who doesn’t cower when you get all brooding and intense.”
If only Jarek knew the half of it.
Draven couldn’t deny that he’d probably be transformed if Lila chose to become his mate and queen. The thought of claiming her, of finally ending this torturous fire madness, sent electricity through his veins.
“Just handle the kingdom for two weeks,” Draven muttered. “I need to focus on therapy.”
“Therapy. Right.” Jarek’s laugh was downright wicked. “I’ll take care of everything. You focus on getting better in whatever way that ends up being.”
After ending the call, Draven sank back in his chair and tried to follow Lila’s meditation instructions.
Deep breaths. Clear your mind.
But instead of emptiness, his thoughts filled with images of her—the way that green dress had hugged her curves, the vulnerability in her eyes when she’d shared about her father, and the electric moment when their hands had touched.
I felt so calm and centered with her today.
The mate bond was strengthening every moment they spent together. He could feel it humming beneath his skin, urging him toward her with primal insistence.
If this was how grounded he felt just from her presence, what would claiming her actually feel like?
His communicator buzzed, jarring him from increasingly heated fantasies.
“Veyra,” he answered, noting the sharp edge in his own voice.
“Hello, Draven.” Her tone dripped sweetness. “I’m just checking in to see how things are progressing with your human psychologist.”
Something in her inflection—the way she emphasized ‘human’—made his jaw tighten. “Therapy is going well. Lila is helping me more than I expected.”
A pause. When Veyra spoke again, disappointment and irritation leaked through her careful tone. “I see. How... encouraging.”
“Actually, that reminds me.” Draven leaned forward, studying the communicator as if he could read her expression through it. “Corin mentioned something about an antidote. He said you knew about it—something that could cure my fire madness if I mate with a dragon shifter.”
“Oh, that.” Her voice brightened with sudden enthusiasm. “Yes, I’ve heard rumors. Corin and I discussed it briefly, though I don’t know all the details.”
Liar. Something about her tone suggested she knew far more than she was admitting.
“But Draven,” she continued, her words rushing together with excitement, “if this antidote is real, I could be your solution. Think about the political implications—we’d be such a powerful couple. I could ensure you remain fit for leadership, and together we could—”
“I’m not rushing into anything.” His voice cut through her sales pitch like a blade. “I’m giving Lila’s therapy two weeks to see if there’s significant improvement.”
The silence stretched long enough that he wondered if she’d hung up.
“You’re running out of time,” Veyra finally said, her mask slipping to reveal sharp irritation. “This fire madness is consuming you. You can’t afford to waste weeks on experimental human psychology when a proven cure is right in front of you.”
“I have to trust this process with Lila for now.”
“Fine.” The word cracked like a whip before the line went dead.
Draven stared at the communicator, unease crawling through his chest.
Why is she getting so worked up?
Veyra’s reaction seemed disproportionate to the situation.
Shouldn’t she want him to get better, even if it meant accepting help from Lila rather than her? Something’s not right here.
But with his mate bond calling him toward Lila and his fire madness finally quiet for now, Veyra’s schemes seemed like distant thunder compared to the storm of possibility brewing between him and his beautiful therapist.
Draven stalked to his mahogany desk, the weight of duty and urgency pressing against his shoulders like armor that no longer fit.
His condition demanded swift action—every day without a solution risked complete mental collapse.
Yet beneath that clinical urgency burned something far more primal and intoxicating.
Lila makes me feel alive.
The realization struck him as he pulled out a leather-bound notebook from his desk drawer. For the first time in eighteen years, his mind felt clear, focused, and electric with potential rather than consumed by chaotic fire.
He uncapped his pen and began writing, his normally controlled penmanship flowing with surprising ease across the cream pages.
Fear: That I’ll lose control completely and become the monster everyone expects.
Fear: That the kingdom will crumble under a broken king.
Fear: That I’ll never be worthy of the crown my father died protecting.
The words poured from him like lava finding its path down a mountainside. Eighteen years of suppressed emotion bleeding onto paper in jagged, honest strokes.
But with Lila...
His pen hesitated before he continued writing thoughts that definitely weren’t meant for therapeutic review.
With Lila, I feel like the man I was supposed to become. Strong without being brutal. Powerful without being destructive. She sees something in me that I’d forgotten existed.
The way she looked at me today when I leaned closer—like she wanted me to kiss her as much as I wanted to claim those lips. The professional boundary she’s clinging to isn’t about lack of desire. It’s about her ethics.
Which means I need to show her I’m worth breaking a few rules for.
Draven’s dragon stirred with approval, sending warmth through his chest that had nothing to do with fire madness.
He glanced toward the window where Nova Aurora’s twin suns painted the sky in shades of amber and crimson. Hours had passed since their session, hours he’d spent trapped in this room doing homework like some schoolboy while his mate wandered his castle.
Enough.
His alpha instincts roared to life, demanding action over passive meditation. Lila needed to see the real Nova Aurora, and experience the beauty and power of his world. And he needed to explore this connection between them outside the sterile confines of therapy sessions.
This isn’t crossing a line. This is being a proper host.
Even as he told himself that, Draven’s grin turned predatory. He knew exactly what he was doing.
Standing abruptly, he strode toward his closet and selected a midnight-blue shirt that emphasized his build without looking like he was trying too hard.
She’s going to love the view from the cliffs.
The plan crystallized in his mind as he made his way through the castle corridors toward her guest suite. Dinner at his favorite restaurant overlooking the pink sea, then perhaps a walk along the volcanic ridges where the aurora danced overhead like liquid starlight.
Romantic without being obvious. Charming without being pushy.
His steps quickened with anticipation, the mate bond humming stronger with each stride that brought him closer to her.
When he reached her door, Draven paused to smooth down his hair and straighten his shirt. The gestures felt foreign.
When had he ever cared about his appearance for anyone?
Since we met our mate, his dragon roared with certainty.
He knocked firmly, his knuckles rapping against the wood in a rhythm that matched his accelerated heartbeat.
Silence.
Where is she?
“Draven?”
The sound of his name in Lila’s melodic voice sent heat coursing through his veins.
He spun around to find her walking toward him with Nyra, the corridor’s lava-lit sconces casting amber highlights across her dark hair.
That green dress—the one he’d specifically chosen to complement her eyes—hugged her curves in ways that made his dragon roar with possessive satisfaction.
Mine.
The primal thought hit him with such force that he had to clench his fists to keep from reaching for her immediately.
“What are you doing here?” Lila’s brow furrowed with curiosity as she approached. “I thought I’d be eating dinner with Nyra again and wouldn’t see you until morning.”
Draven’s jaw tightened at the reminder that Nyra had been monopolizing his mate’s time for the past two days. Yes, he’d requested the arrangement, but that was before he’d realized how desperately he needed Lila’s presence to feel whole.
“I wanted to show you some sights and take you out to dinner, if that’s acceptable.” His voice came out rough around the edges, his alpha authority bleeding through despite his attempt at casual invitation.
Nyra’s knowing smile made his irritation spike. The hybrid woman stepped forward with obvious amusement dancing in her eyes.
“Oh, actually I need to leave and check on my husband.” She shot Lila an apologetic look that didn’t fool anyone. “I’ll meet you tomorrow for more sightseeing.”
Like hell you will.
“Actually,” Draven interrupted, his tone carrying the unmistakable command of a king, “I’ll be guiding Lila around starting tomorrow.”
Both women stared at him—Nyra with raised eyebrows and Lila with a mixture of confusion and something that looked suspiciously like excitement.
“If that’s what you want, Your Majesty.” Nyra’s formal address carried just enough emphasis to remind him that he was being transparent as hell about his motivations.
He didn’t care. Every instinct in his body demanded that he be the one to show Lila his world, to watch her face light up with wonder, and to be present for every moment of discovery.
Nyra departed with a final knowing glance, leaving them alone in the corridor.
Draven’s attention focused entirely on Lila, who stood before him looking nervous but undeniably excited. The mate bond hummed between them, stronger now in the intimate space without Nyra’s watchful presence.
“So,” he stepped closer, close enough to catch her intoxicating sweet scent, “are you ready to go to dinner with me?”
Her eyes met his, and he saw the exact moment her professional defenses wavered. “Sure, why not.”
The casual words didn’t match the breathless quality of her voice or the way her pupils dilated as he moved even closer.
Draven extended his arm in a gesture both courtly and predatory. “Shall we?”
When Lila slipped her arm through his, the contact sent fire through his bloodstream. Not the chaotic, destructive fire of his madness, but something warm and grounding and absolutely perfect.
This is what I’ve been missing my entire life.
Her touch anchored him in ways he’d never imagined possible.
Everything is about to change for the better.
The certainty hit him with the force of prophecy as they walked together through his castle corridors. Whatever professional boundaries existed between them were about to crumble under the weight of this mate bond.
And he intended to help that process along in every way possible.