by Sable Sylvan
“No frikkin’ way,” said Sage. “Remind me never to wear this again.”
“I think you look so handsome,” said Addy. “You always do…but why do you insist on wearing those bad boy clothes?”
“If you haven’t noticed, I get a lot of unwanted attention,” said Sage, shrugging a shoulder toward Georgina.
“You’d get unwanted attention if you wore a paper sack,” said Addy. “You have to face it, Sage. You’re not only frikkin’ handsome, you’re a Scoville, and no matter what you wear, people are gonna look. I can’t believe you wear those tacky graphic t-shirts, though.”
“Hey, I don’t pick it out,” said Sage. “Sabine styles me, too. I just always ask for the same uniform of black shirts, black jeans, and some alternative looking items. I told her I wanted a wardrobe that’s mix…”
“…And match,” said Addy with a smile. “Me, too. I guess I can let it slide…as long as you promise to dress up for me sometimes.”
“How about a compromise?” asked Sage. “I wear what I want when I want at Bonimolean, but when we’re in Fallowedirt, you can pick out my wardrobe. I’ll even wear pink, white, and yellow. Sound good?”
“It doesn’t sound good. It sounds great,” said Addy. “I can’t believe that you and I aren’t biting each other’s heads off like I thought we would be. I can’t believe I was so blind to it before. I guess you and I are a perfect match, even if we make an odd couple.”
After some more dances together, Sage and Addy were free to do whatever they liked, as they’d met their social obligation and had more than a dozen dances together.
“Come on,” said Sage. “I want to show you something.”
“But won’t people notice we’re missing from the ball?” asked Addy.
“Who said we won’t be going back?” asked Sage. “Trust me. It’ll just take a moment.”
“All right, all right,” said Addy. “But let’s bring Mace.”
“Mace? Why?” asked Sage.
“We wouldn’t want people to talk, now would we?” asked Addy.
“Fine, fine, but then we’ll go on this little field trip,” said Sage. “I can’t believe my little frikkin’ brother is gonna be my chaperone.”
Once they’d snagged Mace, they headed outside. It was cold but the many layers of Addy’s dress kept her warm. Of course, Sage gave her his jacket.
The grounds of the Scoville Manor were expansive, surrounded by natural barriers that meant there was no need for some great stone wall. There was a mountain range lining the back of the estate, and a large river acted as a moat around the front of the estate. While the back “yard” of the Scoville Manor was made of large rolling green hills, there was also a forest of tall pines leading up into the mountains.
The grounds of the Scoville Manor were covered with a sprinkling of powdery white snow that was growing slowly but steadily. There was only a crescent moon on this Valentine’s Day night, but a series of what looked like glowing mounds of snow lined the way into the forest, along two paths. One was thin, for strolling groups, the other wide, to accommodate horse-drawn carriages.
Sage, Addy, and Mace grabbed three cups of warm hot chocolate topped with whipped cream and sprinkles and got into a carriage. There were blankets in the carriage, enough for all three of them, but as Sage and Mace were polars, they didn’t need blankets, so they gave theirs to Addison.
“This is abso-frikkin’-lutely magical,” said Addison, looking around at the estate. She looked up at the crescent moon and at the snowflakes falling on the trio, illuminated by moonbeams.
“What are those?” asked Addy, pointing at the glowing mounds of snow.
“They’re snow lanterns,” explained Mace. “We just put them in for the event. They’re waterproof LED stakes containing an LED lantern. They’re battery powered.”
“We?” asked Addy.
“Grandpa put me to work this semester,” said Mace. “What, you think I get to lounge around in my room playing piano like Sage? No frikkin’ way.”
“What the heck did you do for him to pull you out of Bonimolean for the semester?” asked Addison. “You will be back next semester, won’t you?”
“You won’t believe it,” said Sage. “Are you gonna tell her, brother, or am I?”
“Fine, fine,” said Mace. “But don’t tell any of your sisters…especially Savina.”
“Especially Savina?” asked Addison. “Ooh…do I sense an inkling of a crush?”
“More than an inkling,” said Sage, but Mace shot him a look. “Fine, fine. Are you gonna fill Addy in or what?”
“I sort of…took the private plane on a joyride,” said Mace.
“More than sort of. You nearly crash-landed into the Norskehavet,” said Sage. “I was afraid we’d have to send out the Kystvakten and the Sjøforsvaret.
“The who in the what in the where?” asked Addy.
“Sorry. The Kystvakten is the Norwegian Coast Guard. The Sjøforsvaret, the Royal Norwegian Navy. The Norskehavet is the Norwegian Sea, between Norway and Iceland,” said Sage. “He’s lucky he landed in Reykjavík. We found him eating lamb hot dogs on the dock.”
“Yeah, because my favorite kæstur hákarl joint was closed,” said Mace.
“Keester what?” asked Addy.
“Kæstur hákarl, it’s a vile dish,” said Sage. “You don’t wanna know what’s in it. Trust me.”
“It’s fermented shark,” said Mace.
“It tastes like ammonia,” said Sage. “I’ll stick to our country’s reinsdyrsteik, thank you.”
“Reindeer steak?” asked Addy.
“Exactly,” said Sage. “You’ll be speaking Norwegian in no time.”
“And don’t worry, none of Santa’s reindeer shifters get made into steak,” said Sage.
“Ha-ha,” said Addy.
Addison looked around as the brothers talked. They were nearing the woods, which were well lit by lanterns. Various people were wandering the woods, looking at trees. Many of the trees were missing bark and had been carved.
They entered the woods, which were brightly lit on the side toward the house and not as brightly lit on the mountain side. There was a large clearing in the woods, with more food and beverage and people strolling. There were rune stones around the clearing, and some people seemed to be reading them. Addison finished up her hot cocoa and left the tin mug in the container for empty mugs, a small wooden barrel, and was helped out of the carriage and out onto the snow by Sage.
“The forest is gorgeous,” said Addy. “I’m guessing this wasn’t put in this month.”
“Nope, these trees have been here for eons,” said Sage.
“You haven’t told her about the woods?” asked Mace.
“These trees are special to our Clan,” explained Sage. “Each one is a familietre, a family tree. I don’t know who started the tradition, but every tree is engraved with the names of the people in each family. So, for example…” Sage led Addy through the woods to a certain tree, which was engraved with signs and sigils in runes she recognized as Nordic.
“This is my grandfather’s family tree,” said Sage. “His name is there…and our grandmother, who’s passed on, as you may have gathered. There’s my father’s name, my name…”
“Wow,” said Addy. “Can I touch it?”
“By all means, go ahead,” said Mace. “The cool thing is, the seeds from the tree are planted, and those seeds grow into trees for the children to engrave when they find their fated mates and start a family.”
“No frikkin’ way!” said Addy. “Really?” She ran her hands over the wood and felt the runes under her hand. She looked up and saw what looked like a face, but on closer inspection, it was the face of Morten Scoville as a younger man, around Mace and Sage’s age.
“Am I seeing things or…” started Addy.
“That’s right, that’s my grandpa’s face,” said Mace. “Each of the trees has been carved by artists. The runes are carved by the tree’s owner.”
“Have your trees been
carved yet?” asked Addy.
“Nope,” said Sage. “We have to choose our trees after our weddings.”
“That makes sense,” said Addy. “Do you know what trees you want?”
“Of course,” said Sage. “I know these woods like I know the back of my hand. Come on.”
Sage and Mace led the way into a deeper, darker part of the woods, where tall, uncarved trees loomed over them.
“This is the one I like best,” said Sage.
“That one? It’s so thin,” said Mace.
“Sorry, not all of us want a tree that’s built like a boulder,” said Sage. “What do you think of it, my dear?”
Before Addy could answer, a figure stepped out of the shadows.
It was a figure that they recognized from earlier. In an emerald green gown with scale details and a deep jewel green fur cape, with flowing brunette locks, it was Georgina.
“I don’t know, baby, maybe your brother’s right,” purred Georgina, approaching Sage and putting her arm around him.
Sage politely removed her arm.
“Are you lost from your group?” asked Sage.
“I can escort you back to the carriages,” said Mace.
“No, but Addy looks a little cold,” said Georgina, looking over Addy, who still had Sage’s jacket over her shoulders. “Maybe you should take her back, and give Sage and me some…alone time.”
“Georgina, we’re pretty much alone, so I can say this to you firmly but gently,” said Sage. “You and me? That’s never happening. You’ve known since we got our marks that we were never meant for one another. I’m with Addison. She’s my fated mate. You know what that means.”
“Yes, I do,” said Georgina looking over Addy and narrowing her eyes. “It means fate made a mistake…but I can fix that. After all, when your fated mate passes, Fate will match you up with someone else. Let’s hurry that along.”
Before Georgina could move, Mace had shifted into his polar bear form. His pink hair made his shift’s standard white fur hot pink, and Mace stood out against the snow. Addy could see what Sage meant about Mace and things that were built like boulders. While Sage had a tall, long form, Mace had a rock-hard body that was almost round but had a more central center of gravity. Mace didn’t lunge at Georgina. Georgina was being held firmly by Sage. He was holding Georgina by the waist from behind, firmly and hard. Still, Georgina struggled to get out of his firm grip and get to Addy.
Sage’s bear roared. Never in a thousand years would he have suspected Georgina would go nuts. Hopefully, the Rosetti heiress would get her act together before she did something unthinkable. They were in private and right now, if she ended this, it could end privately, too…but if she pushed this any further, well, Sage hated to think what would happen to Addy, to his brother, and even to himself and Georgina.
Mace kept his polar blues on Georgina and growled a low growl. It was a warning growl. Would Georgina back down or take this to the next level?
Georgina managed to turn and look at Sage.
“Sorry it had to come to this,” hissed Georgina. “Oh, wait, I’m not.” Georgina slipped out and under Sage and started to run. Mace chased after her, but Georgina was shifting mid-run.
Addy thought what she was seeing was a scrap of fabric from Georgina’s green gown, but it wasn’t fabric. It was a tail, long and scaled, emerging from under the dress. Mace pounced to try and stop Georgina, but he couldn’t keep a hold on the tail, which smacked him in the face, hard. Georgina kept running and transforming. Her arms transformed, becoming scaled, with claws where her fingernails used to be. Two giant wings burst out of her back and she took flight, up and into the trees, before she roared.
Georgina had gone from a tall, stick-thin waif to a tall, slender dragon, its wings batting against the night sky.
Mace didn’t bother trying to climb the tree. He frikkin’ ran.
“Mace!” called out Addison.
“Let him go,” said Sage. “I trust my brother. Whatever he’s doing, he’s doing for a reason. Whatever you do, Addison, don’t freak out. I’m just a polar, but I can protect you. I need to shift into my form. I can’t talk to you in it, but I can protect you. Let me protect you, okay?”
“Okay,” said Addison, as she started to cry stress tears.
“No tears,” said Sage softly, kissing Addison’s tears away and giving her a quick kiss before he got on all fours and shifted into his polar form, scraps of fabric from his suit joining the scraps of fabric left from Mace and Georgina’s transformations.
Georgina brought her head back and roared. A flame escaped her mouth, and Addison’s eyes widened. Dragons were real, and could breathe fire? How the heck would Sage be able to compete with that?
Georgina turned. Her emerald green eyes glinted in the darkness and Addison gulped. Georgina was going to attack her, she just knew it, but she had to do what Sage said and stay still.
Georgina roared again and flew done from her perch, her head like the head of an arrow, aimed straight toward Addison.
As Georgina flew at Addison, Addison looked around. Where the heck had Sage gone? Had he abandoned her, the prince letting the princess get frikkin’ eaten by the dragon?
Georgina was a few yards from Addison but then, out of seemingly nowhere, Sage came flying out and hit Georgina on the face. The dragon crashed down and Sage swiped its face. The dragon hissed, and Sage turned to Addison, motioning with his face to the place where the light was coming from, the clearing in the center of the woods, which was surrounded by rune stones.
Addison took her shoes off and grabbed them before running toward where she had been dropped off by the carriage.
“Dragon!” shouted Addison. “Help! Dragon!”
Addison ran into the circle, and people turned to look at her as she huffed and puffed.
A woman with olive skin and white hair came up to her. The woman was wearing a pearlescent white silk dress with a pink and red blossom pattern.
“Miss Addison, whatever is the matter?” asked the woman.
Addison looked up. It was Maggy from the mail room!
“Maggy, a dragon attacked Sage and me,” said Addison. “This girl, Georgina—”
“Georgina?” asked Maggy, as her male companion approached the pair. It was none other than Professor Bingley.
“Yes, Georgina Rosetti,” said Addison. “We need to get help.”
“You already have,” said Professor Bingley. Before he had even finished his sentence, Maggy was running into the woods along the same path Addison had taken.
“I have?” asked Addison. “Maggy’s going to get hurt, isn’t she?”
“You don’t know much about dragons, do you?” asked Prof. Bingley. “Dragons get stronger as they get older, not weaker. I’ll grab some blankets to cover them up when they go back into human form. I saw a polar bear, I assumed Mace, run off earlier. He probably went to get help. You go make sure Sage is okay.”
“All right,” said Addison, nodding before she ran back along her path through the woods toward where the fight was going on.
Addison made her way through the winding woods and got back to the clearing. In the air, a fight of epic proportions had started.
It was dragon versus dragon, with the green emerald dragon challenged by the pearlescent pinkish-white dragon. The big pearlescent dragon made the emerald dragon look like a lizard. The white dragon was big, with thicker, stronger features than the emerald dragon. It let out a roar that echoed through the woods.
The emerald dragon let out a squirt of fire, singing the top of the trees, but the pearl dragon froze the tree leaves without even needing to open its mouth. It cast a layer of frost, stopping the fire in its tracks.
The green dragon was small but fast. The white dragon lunged to grab the green dragon, but the emerald dragon moved its neck so it was hooked around the white dragon and started to squeeze. The white dragon started to struggle and fall to the ground.
The dragon hit the ground, and Addison m
oved out of the way just in time to only get hit by some of the snow that had fallen from the branches that the dragons had crashed through. Addison turned and watched as the pearl dragon struggled against the emerald dragon’s grip.
Then, seemingly out of nowhere, came three bears. One was hot pink, one had a streak of black running through its fur, and the other was big, grizzled, and roaring. The bears tore the emerald dragon off the white dragon. The three giant white bears subdued the emerald dragon, using the weight of their bodies to keep its wings and tail down on the ground as the pearl dragon got up. The pearl dragon flapped its wings and let out a roar. Pure ice escaped its mouth and hit the emerald dragon, freezing the emerald dragon’s legs and arms in place. The pale dragon kept freezing the emerald dragon’s legs as some figures came into the clearing.
There were at least a dozen older people, ranging from their late thirties to what looked like their late eighties, walking toward the emerald dragon. They were wearing couture ball gowns and tailored suits and looked pissed. Of course, Professor Bingley was there, too. He was carrying a thick stack of blankets so everyone could cover themselves up.
“Georgina!” yelled one of the women, a short brunette who was curvy and had thick eyebrows that were furrowed at the center. “Get out of your shift this instant. Don’t make your father and I let our dragons out.” She was followed by a tall, thin blond man who was carrying some blankets. They walked toward the green dragon, which was slowly turning back into a woman.
As Georgina transformed, the polars got off of her and back into the snow. They walked up to Prof. Bingley, each took a blanket or two in their mouths and retreated to the shadows to shift into human forms. Addison followed them. Prof. Bingley was the only person in human form she recognized.
Prof. Bingley carried the last blanket to Maggy, who was still in her dragon form. She shifted out of her form, and her husband wrapped the blanket around her. She tied it into a sort of a wrap. Luckily, the blankets were big enough for shifters and BBWs alike.
The polars came out, back in their human forms. Sage had his blanket wrapped around his waist while his brother and his grandfather had one each around their waist and their shoulders, hiding their mate marks.
