21. New World
~ VOSKI ~
The clang of metal on stone. A distant shout. And the groan of a nearby dragon.
My instincts prickled, but I swam out of sleep slowly, inhaling as I stretched. Without opening my eyes, I smiled. I was curled around the warm curves of my mate, the blankets creating a pocket of heat and scent and comfort I was loath to open to cold, or scrutiny.
But my senses niggled. Something wasn’t quite right.
Nuzzling her neck, I lifted the arm around Grace’s waist to stretch, deliciously weary from chasing her late into the night, then both of us sneaking back, evading notice all the way back to her loft, once it was late enough to avoid foot-traffic in the stables.
She slipped through shadows like a cat. She was stunning. And terrifying. And mine.
Grace sighed and shifted, but didn’t wake, so I resisted the temptation to kiss her skin and trail a hand up her leg. She needed the sleep, and it was still early enough that—
“What the hell are you doing?” a feminine voice hissed.
With a jolt, I snapped my head up, eyes open and searching the half-dark of the loft, where the only light came in lines through the wall-slats.
I blinked three times, trying to make sense of the black silhouette of half a person, peering out of the floor. That made no sense—until Bren pushed up the rest of the ladder and stood at its top, dressed in flying leathers, fists on her hips, glaring at me.
Gesturing to her for quiet as Grace rolled over, I took the opportunity to push up and away, tucking the blankets around her and crawling carefully out of the bed to let her remain asleep.
I forgot I was naked.
Bren’s eyes went wide, then narrowed and she whirled to put her back to me, folding her arms. If her braid had been a cat’s tail, it would have bristled.
My heart pounded. But Grace was miraculously still asleep, and I wouldn’t let her be disturbed. Snatching up my discarded leathers, I covered myself and trotted silently to Bren’s back, to breathe in her ear.
“Downstairs. Don’t you dare wake her.”
My sister shot me a dark look over her shoulder, but took hold of the ladder like it had offended her, and turned to trot down it, carefully averting her eyes from me.
The moment she was out of sight, I yanked on my leathers and boots, then threw the shirt and jacket over my arm to hurry down the ladder after her.
I was only paces behind her when I reached the bottom and pulled the sleeve of my shirt up one arm, then the other as I chased after her, hissing so my voice wouldn’t echo in the loft.
“Where are you going?”
Bren froze, checked over her shoulder that I was covered, then turned back, storming toward me, pointing an accusing finger.
“I can’t believe this. Of all of them, I thought you were the one who’d never cross that line. You said nothing happened between you two! You told everyone—”
“Nothing had happened when I said that,” I growled. “But I was in denial.”
“Denial of being a self-serving rake?” she snapped.
“No, Bren, denial of my mate. I’d think you of all people would understand how disconcerting it is to discover a matebond.”
“Mate?!” She stopped a few paces from me, stunned—and furious. “Mate?! You said you hadn’t touched her!”
“I hadn’t.”
“You said you weren’t even drawn—”
“I lied.”
My squad sister’s mouth dropped open. “Why? Why would you do that? What the hell were you thinking?”
“I was thinking it’s none of your damn business—yours or anyone else’s—what happens between us!”
“She’s my friend!”
“And she’s my mate!”
“Is she? Or will your story change again as soon as you don’t want her anymore?”
“Don’t you dare suggest I would use my mate—”
“Don’t glare at me like I’m the problem here. I bet Ronen’s having kittens. The whole squad should have been informed—even we told them!”
“Ronen doesn’t know. And you won’t tell him.”
Bren’s mouth dropped open in shock again. “You have got to be fucking joking—you’re hiding this?”
I gaped at her. “How can you of all people be shocked?! You hid a matebond!” I hissed.
“I was the first woman chosen by a dragon, mated to the Battle Commander. You agreed that the men wouldn’t believe I’d gotten here on my own merits if they knew. And we did tell you and the other brothers! You supported me taking time to prove myself!”
“Exactly. I had your back. So, stop pointing and swearing like I’m some kind of asshole. We all have our reasons, Bren. And I stood behind yours.”
“You saw the hurdles I faced—what hurdles are in your way?” she squeaked.
“Stop it, both of you.” The sound of Grace’s voice echoing in the stable, bloomed in my chest and set my heart alight, in the same moment that it dropped to my toes. I whirled to face her.
“Go back and rest. I’ll handle this.”
“You’ve done enough handling,” Bren muttered.
The rage scoured through me, burning my lungs. I whipped back around, snarling at her. “Just because you’re the General’s mate does not give you rank. You stand attention for your superiors and shut your fucking mou—”
A thick fist appeared from nowhere, grasping my shirt.
I was thrown toward the stable door, stumbling in an effort to keep my balance.
When I found my footing I turned, opening my mouth to tell Gil to stay out of this—only to find Donavyn, looking every inch our General and Battle Commander, standing between Bren and me, his jaw set and eyes ablaze.
“What did you say?” he growled, low and menacing.
I gaped at Bren over his shoulder. “You told him?!”
“Please don’t fight,” Grace breathed. Bren turned toward her at the same time I did, but Donavyn caught my shirt and shoved me back again. And when I’d caught my balance, shocked, and staring. He shoved me again.
“Get out of here. Leave this to me,” he muttered to the girls, pushing me when I tried to protest and return to Grace, following me, leaving them in the stable as he shoved and cuffed me until we reached Kham’s empty stable.
When I stumbled inside, Donavyn yanked the door shut, its heavy rumble echoing down the corridor, until it slammed into its latch. Then he turned on me and for the first time, a warning shrilled in my head.
The only time I’d ever seen him look this furious was the night another Flameborne pinned Bren to a wall and tried to intimidate her.
He’d beaten the man senseless. We’d had to pull him off the guy.
I swallowed hard. I would have stood up to any man when I was under attack, but he was my superior officer, my boss, the leader of the Shadowfang, and my squad-sister’s mate. He also looked like he’d bite my throat out if I wasn’t careful.
I put my hands up to soothe him. “Sir, I’m sor—”
“Furyknight, Attention!” he snapped.
I didn’t even have to think. The response was immediate and instinctive. I snapped to attention, eyes on the wall over his head, and saluted. “Sir! Yes, sir!”
Then I went still, waiting. Heart thudding in my chest.
Donavyn stalked toward me, his upper lip curling back, and his hands in fists.
He was in flying leathers too—had they just arrived back from their wedding trip, or were he and Bren already being sent back out?
I couldn’t remember if this was the day they’d been scheduled to return.
There were dark smudges under his eyes like he hadn’t slept.
I knew the feeling.
“If you ever speak to my mate in that way again, if I ever catch you using your rank to manipulate your personal circumstances with anyone, ever again, I will show you what true leadership looks like and you will deeply regret it. Do we understand each other?”
I bristled, but nodded, eyes still fixed on that wall. “Yes, sir. I’m sorry, sir. I don’t make a habit of—”
“I don’t know what the hell is festering under your skin, son. But you lance that fucking boil, because I am finished letting you snarl and intimidate like a wounded dog when anyone speaks a word of disagreement with you. That is not the man I called to Fyrehold to help me.”
“Sir, I didn’t—”
“You will stand right here, until you’ve told me precisely what is going on—and you leave nothing out. Or, so help me, Voski, I will put you on formal discipline so fast, your head will spin.”
I closed my eyes and made some fists of my own. “Sir, it wasn’t as bad as it appeared—”
“I didn’t ask for your commentary. Tell me what’s happened while we’ve been gone, and your role in it. Now.”
Heart sinking, cursing in my mind, I knew I had no choice. I had to tell the truth.
The dragons mated.
We were sucked into a bond.
I resisted. Refused to complete it. Endured the fire of Koa’s heat.
Grace didn’t understand that there was a bond between us. She thought the feelings came from the dragons.
I’d been fighting it ever since. But the night of their wedding it all came to a head.
I swallowed hard. “I didn’t want the others to know, sir,” I said quietly. “Like you and Bren, it seemed prudent to keep this to ourselves until things were more settled.”
“Prudent? You mean to tell me you’ve been sneaking up here with her, and no doubt everywhere else, and you’ve managed to hide this?” He looked genuinely surprised. “How?”
Alarm screamed in my head. “Gil knows. He discovered us. But no one else. Grace agreed when I told her that I didn’t want the others interfering—”
“You’re hiding this from your squad?!”
I cleared my throat. “So far. Not forever, but—”
“Wait… Ronen doesn’t know? You didn’t tell your Squad Captain?”
I was suddenly glad I wasn’t meeting his eyes anymore. “No.”
“You idiot!” he snarled. “You’re lying and hiding from the very men who need to be at your back and protecting you. You saw how they were with us—why would you even question their ability to help you?”
“With all due respect, sir. They will not support me the way they supported you.”
“Can you blame them, if you’d hide this from them?”
“Sir! You hid yours!”
“I hid for my mate—not because I feared her!”
“I don’t fear Grace!”
“No, just the bond that ties you to her for the rest of your life,” Donavyn said dryly.
I wanted to protest, but he didn’t give me time.
“You keep your mouth shut, and you listen, son. Because it’s time for some training.
” He strode to stand at my toes. We were virtually the same height, but he outweighed me, and outranked me.
I knew I could take him in a fight with blades—I was faster. But I also knew, I wouldn’t.
I respected him more than any man alive. Had vowed myself to his service when it became clear that our hierarchy was under threat.
If I’d ever been asked who I wished to be, I would have named him without second thought. I’d been gratified by our growing trust. But now he stood over me, eyes on fire, raging.
The child inside of me wanted to cower, and plead for compassion. The man in me wanted to fight.
“You listen very carefully, Voski,” he growled.
“Sometimes I forget how young you are, because you conduct yourself with such steadiness. At least, you did. These recent weeks have been a trying and testing time for all of us, and I know you’ve carried more than the others.
But even under that kind of pressure… don’t be a dick. ”
I huffed. “Sir—”
“I am disappointed,” he muttered, and the bottom fell out of my lungs.
“I don’t know what’s going on in your head, but I know this: In this squad, and among our brethren,” he lowered his voice to avoid any chance of being overheard in a reference to the Shadowfang, “you are trusted. Admired. Viewed as eminently capable. If the men around you, particularly those who follow you, learned that you lied to them about anything that wasn’t mission-centric, you’ll teach all of them to question every word that leaves your lips. Is that what you want?”
“Of course not!”
I didn’t see his hand coming. He cuffed me upside the head like I was a boy, and I squawked, then snapped back to attention, glaring at him.
But, he met me, scowl for scowl.