by Skye Jones
With a yawn, she shuffled out of her bedroom, pausing at the door to slip her feet into the sheepskin slippers one of the male servants had given her at some point. She wore a long T-shirt nightdress that came to below her knees and had apples on it, of all the random things.
She rounded the corner into the kitchen, scratching at her crazy bed hair, and stopped short. The room was a hive of activity. And people. So many people.
She immediately recognized Lilly and Mia. They were sitting at the breakfast bar with her mother and who must be Ice, or Claire, as she was now known. She’d never met Claire before, but she looked so like her sisters, she couldn’t be mistaken for anyone else. She was more striking than the other two females. Almost slightly androgynous-looking but softened by her full lips and stunning eyes. Her figure gave Gwen the envies. So slender and toned.
The large table looked like some sort of military briefing in progress. There were maps scattered all over it, and a plethora of stupidly large and handsome men were in deep discussion, their low voices filling the room with a reassuring rumble. Rhyndor was there, with his long hair and soulful eyes, next to his mate Callum, who reminded her of some sort of eighties playboy. Those guys needed to get into the current century with their hair and clothing choices. She bit back a smile.
A handsome young man stood next to a stern but striking male who appeared mid-thirties to early forties. He must be Nathan, and the younger one Dominic. She had not met the Scottish clan leader, but his reputation was fearsome. And then there was Aiden, who, as she watched, slowly walked away from the table and went to where the women sat. He kissed Mia on the back of her exposed neck, where her hair was swept up into a messy bun, and pinched a few bites of the croissant on her plate.
Gwen’s gaze returned to the group of men and settled on Steffan. Probably one of the most gorgeous males ever to walk the earth, the man looked like a pirate on steroids. Big and powerful, but with wavy, messy hair and a face to make any female melt. Then there were Awen and Lucien. Both serious as they stared at the papers in front of them. Finally, her gaze settled on Cade, and her heart flip-flopped. Gods, he was gorgeous. Objectively, he might not be as pretty as Lucien or as beautiful as Steffan, but to her, he was the most gorgeous thing she’d ever laid eyes on. Other than Jay, of course.
Slowly, almost hypnotically, Cade raised his gaze from the map to her, and she felt the lick of fire everywhere he looked. From the tip of her toes to the messy hair on her head, she burned for him.
The others in the room all seemed to notice her at once. Steffan gave her a panty-melting grin. Nathan, a respectful nod. Aiden took advantage of Mia’s squeal of delight at seeing her to pinch the rest of her croissant and cross the room to eat it.
“Gwen!” Lilly jumped from her seat and rushed over to wrap her in a big bear hug. “So excited to hear your news.” She sobered then, and her eyes filled with tears. “Forgive me. I mean, your news about finding your mates, not the awful news about Jay. I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to put my foot in it.”
“Stop babbling, sis. You didn’t put your foot in it.” Claire joined them. “I’m Claire. Pleased to meet you at last, Gwen. I’ve heard a lot about you from Lilly and Mia here.”
Gwen only knew Lilly and Mia a little. Lilly from the few times they’d met and talked when the female was mulling over her own decisions as to whether to mate with Rhyndor and Callum or not. And Mia from her visits to the Welsh clan with her mother. But the two females acted as if she were another sister of theirs. And right then, she couldn’t say she hated it. In fact, she liked it. A lot.
“Darling.” Her mum came and gave her a big hug, pulling Gwen with her toward the breakfast bar. “Come and have some coffee and food. You look shell-shocked.”
“She is, poor mite. Just found out she’s going to be chained to this nutter for eternity.” Callum pointed at Cade, who swatted his finger away.
“I can’t believe you all got here so soon.”
“We brought Kate and Rhiannon,” Steffan said. “Figured you’d need some magical help in this situation, alongside our help.”
She nodded, somewhat at a loss for words among this testosterone-fest. Cade pushed off from the table and came to her, putting his arm around her shoulders and pulling her into him. The moment she touched him, she settled.
“Come. Sit by your mother and get some coffee and food. It’s going to be a long day, and you look tired.” As they walked across the kitchen, she felt so many interested stares focused on her, it freaked her out some more. “Ignore them. They’re curious, but they’re all on our side.” Cade kissed her temple, and she relaxed again into his touch.
“Baby.” Her mother put her arms back around her and took her from Cade, welcoming her into the warmth of a motherly hug. “You really do look exhausted. Here, sit.” She patted the stool next to her, and Gwen glanced to her right to see Lilly smiling at her.
She sat, and Lilly gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. Suddenly, Gwen found her eyes filling with tears. All the people in this room were here for her and her males. She felt their concern and their love. Some of them she didn’t even know in the conventional sense, but all that was good about dragon society hit her. These people were her brethren. Never mind if she and Nathan had never sat down and broken bread together. She understood then, if she needed him, he’d be there for her unconditionally. Because she knew his mate’s sisters, and because one if his warrior friends wanted to mate her. It was that simple.
She and her mother had experienced the downsides of dragon life, but here in this room lived only the good. She glanced at her mother and saw Lara’s eyes shining, and Gwen assumed she felt the same.
Nibbling at a slice of toast and sipping her coffee, Gwen observed the action in the room as if in a dream. The guys were talking in hushed voices, pointing over the map, sometimes laughing low, other times raising their voices as the debate grew more heated. From the odd words and sentences she picked up, the debate seemed to be focused on who would go. Dominic and Aiden were adamant they wanted to be part of the rescue mission, but their bonded males didn’t like the idea due to their young age, which Dominic and Aiden found insulting.
Lilly glanced at her and smiled conspiratorially. “Wait until we tell them we females are going along too.”
“Are we?” Gwen loved the idea. The moment she pictured herself going into battle for Jay, her soul soothed. She realized a lot of her panic had been at the idea of being shut in this house waiting for news.
“Of course. These males are old-school and they are very powerful, but they don’t have the magic of Rhiannon or Ruth.”
“Or you.” Claire pointed at Lilly then smiled at Gwen. “This one is a bit shy in coming forward, but she’s got a shit-ton of magic at her fingertips, and she’s been practicing.”
Lilly’s face grew solemn, and she looked at Rhyndor across the room. “I’m going to avenge my male and put that bitch of a witch in the cold, hard ground.”
Yikes! Gwen made a silent vow never to get on the wrong side of Lilly. She’d pegged her as the gentlest of the three sisters, but perhaps she’d gotten that wrong. The Havsa were a famously warlike clan when they were still around, and Lilly certainly seemed to have inherited some of those genes. She might not be the meek and mild girl Gwen had always perceived her as.
“So…when are you telling your males that you’ll be going along on this little jaunt?” Lara whispered. “They won’t like it. Dragonea males are traditional, and warriors even more so. Yes, they worship their females, but they also control them when it comes to anything to do with their safety.” Her mum’s gaze flicked to Awen and Lucien, then back to the females at the breakfast bar.
“Now’s as good a time as any.” Claire shrugged. She lifted her chin and called out to Nathan. “Babe, you need to let Dominic come. Don’t be silly. We need all the help we can get. When you guys have a rough plan, come tell us ladies so we know where we’re going, okay?” She dipped her head to hide her smile and qu
ietly whispered, “Wait for it. Five, four, three—”
“Very fucking funny, babe.” Nathan shook his head. “But you know you aren’t coming.”
“We are coming,” Claire shot back.
“We? You mean all you foolish, crazy females think you’re tagging along?” Steffan stood, displaying his impressive bulk. “Over my dead body.”
“It can be arranged,” Mia muttered and rolled her eyes. More loudly, she looked to Steffan and grew serious. “You males need to listen to us and to use your brains. Lilly here is steeped in magic. Heck, my sis could probably turn me into a frog if she wanted to. Ice and I aren’t slackers, either. And Rhiannon is vital to this, as will be Ruth.”
“She’s right.” Lilly’s cheeks colored as she spoke. “You’re not going to fight an army of hardened men, only a few ragtag rogue dragons, so your warrior strength is not the issue. However, your magic is as you’ll also face a witch who is so strong she enchanted Rhyndor, who is probably one of the most powerful among you.”
Nathan bristled visibly at her words, Awen snorted, and Steffan gave a disparaging cough.
Mia sighed. “As much as it grieves you males to admit it, Rhyndor is superpowerful. How powerful we don’t know as he doesn’t fight anymore, but I would bet on him if you guys were facing off.”
Steffan’s face grew downright thunderous. Mia held her hands up. “Hear me out, okay. Look, you’re all big, scary dragons. You’re also all panty-meltingly hot. You two, especially.” She pointed to Steffan and Aiden and winked. “So, you don’t need to go letting your male egos get in the way. We don’t know who is the strongest amongst you, and we will never find out because if you start fighting each other, then we females will leave you. Permanently.”
Ice nodded, as did Lilly, and Gwen found herself nodding too because she knew if these males ever turned all that power and energy on one another, they’d cause the death of some of their group. They were working together now, but old rivalries ran deep, and Gwen would do anything to keep Cade alive, even walking away.
“Now, as I was saying,” Mia continued. “You’re all incredibly powerful males, amongst the strongest of your kind. No one knows who is the strongest of you all, but Rhyndor has to be up there. In the wars of old, he defeated many at various times, including a few around this table, yet Celine enchanted him. Think about this. You go charging in there being all macho, and you’ll likely end up dead or worse. You need magic to fight magic. And you need cunning to fight cunning. That’s where we come in.”
“Yep.” Lilly nodded her head vigorously, despite the heightening color in her face.
“Not you.” Cade pointed right at her, and anger burst in Gwen’s chest. “You don’t have strong magic, and you can’t change. You’ll be at risk.”
“Same with you, Lara.” Awen gave an apologetic shrug of his shoulders.
Gwen stood so fast her stool tipped over. She marched right up to Cade and poked him in the chest. “That bitch has my mate, and you’re stopping me going to help save him? No way.”
“You are helping. By our mating with the help of Ruth, your dragon will bond with his and help calm him and guide him.”
She blinked back tears of frustration. “No, Cade. I want to be there. Don’t do this to me. Not now when I finally decided I wanted to make this work, don’t go making me question my decision by being a controlling arsehole.”
“I’m not being controlling. It’s too dangerous. I can’t focus on the fight if I’m worried about you, and you can’t protect yourself because you can’t change, and you don’t have any magic.”
Shame hit her hard. Suddenly, instead of feeling she belonged for once, all the old feelings of rejection and embarrassment at her station in Dragonea society came rushing back. Her own mate didn’t see her as worthy. He might want her, but he didn’t see her as worthy.
“Forget it. I’m not going to be your mate, and I won’t do the ceremony. You’ve just made me feel like all the other dickhead dragons did in the past, and you reminded me of the reasons why I can never be a part of this society.”
She pushed her way out of the room, biting back a sob as she went. Fuck him. Fuck him and his stupid condescension. Storming down the corridor, she didn’t stop when she heard voices calling after her, but by the time she reached the room she’d been given, Lara and Mia had caught up with her.
“Honey, don’t turn your back on this now.” Her mother took hold of her upper arms.
She sneered at her mother, all the anger within her suddenly switched to focus on the woman she wasn’t sure she knew anymore. “Oh my gods. You’ve changed so much in mere days. One sniff of your mates and you’ve gone stupid. You spent your whole life telling me how we were going to avoid the dragon world. Your whole life. You told me it was misogynistic and hierarchical, and you said we’d never be respected in such a world as free-spirited women. You also know how much shit I went through as a young Dragonea, from my background and with my lack of magic or dragon power. Yet one whiff of Awen and Lucien and you’re all, Don’t turn your back on this. You’ve let them turn your head, and you don’t know what’s what anymore.”
She yanked her arm free of her mother’s grip and pushed through the door, storming into her room.
“Don’t you dare speak to me like that. You have no clue what’s going through my mind right now.” Lara stormed straight in after her, while Mia faltered in the entranceway, biting her lip, and glancing between them both. “I would never push you to be with a male for selfish reasons. It makes no difference to me being with Awen and Lucien, whether you accept Cade and Jay or not. But I’ve seen you these last couple of days, and you glow. These males, despite all I thought, they suit you so well beyond the mere biological match. And your match is strong. So strong that I know you’ll suffer terribly if you walk away. It was one thing to discourage you from low-matched males, but quite another to tell you to walk away from a once-in-a-thousand-years match.”
“It’s all bullshit. I won’t be with a male who sees me as weak. I can’t.”
The air in the room changed, heating and crackling with energy. She raised blurry eyes to see Cade standing in the doorway as imposing as ever. “Can you give me some time alone with Gwen, please?” He never once moved his gaze from hers, and she couldn’t look away from him either.
In her peripheral vision, she noticed her mother and Mia leave, and then Cade was shutting the door and stalking over to her. She braced herself for his anger, fully determined to defend herself.
Cade dropped to his knees in front of her and took her hands in his. He bent his head to her hands, kissing them, and murmuring, “Forgive me.”
Nothing could have surprised her more.
With anguish in his eyes, he looked up at her. “I’ve disrespected you, made you feel less than, and I am sorry. Gods, Gwen, I think you’re amazing. Incredible. You’ve got a quick mind, a fearless attitude, and a carefree spirit that makes you shine with life. I never meant for my words to make you feel less than.”
“You did, though.” She sniffed and blinked away more pesky tears. “All my life I got laughed at for not having any dragon magic. I can’t change, and I don’t have magic or any dragon power. How do you think that made me feel after my upbringing?”
“I know. And I’m sorry. Truly. I really am, Gwen. I’m torn. I want to tell you to come because I want you by my side, and I don’t want to hurt you. On the other hand, I’m scared to death. I don’t think your not having power or magic makes you lesser, but it does make you more vulnerable in this situation.”
“What about Aiden and Dom?” she asked. “They don’t have a lot of power or a lot of magic, do they? Not like you guys.”
“No, they don’t, and that’s why right now there’s a fierce argument raging between them and their males as to whether they should go.”
“You can’t wrap us in cotton wool. I’d rather die by your side than live hidden away like some sort of useless artifact.”
“Christ, do
n’t say that.” He rose to his feet and began to pace the room. “I can’t bear to think of it, not even for a second.”
“But what if…” She chose her words carefully but voiced a fear she’d already had. “What if this is a ruse, and you all go rushing to get Jay, and Celine’s target is really me or one of the other mates you guys leave behind? I’m safer with you than I ever would be here.”
He stopped pacing and turned to look at her, and she saw the impact of her words in the agony playing out across his face. “Fuck.” He went and placed his hands on the dresser, head hanging. “I don’t know what to do.”
“Let me come. Let me come, and I promise I’ll hang back with Dom and Aiden and Mum. You can have a warrior or two with us, hanging back too. It leaves more than enough of you to take on those men, and from what I can gather, the females, the Warders, they are the ones best placed to fight Celine.”
He sighed and turned to her. Crossing the room, he pulled her into him, her head to his chest as his lips nuzzled the hair atop her head. “Okay. You can come, but you do exactly as you’re told. No arguing.” He tipped her chin up and stared at her. “No. Arguing. Gwen.”
She smiled. “No arguing. I promise.”
“So…can we go get mated now?”
Yes, they could.
Chapter Eleven
Jay jerked awake, something nudging at him at the edge of his consciousness. What the hell? His dragon stirred from within, its power chafing at the bonds holding him, but he couldn’t change. If he did and the bonds somehow held due to magic, he could seriously wound his dragon.
