Mia: Dragon Clan

by Skye Jones

  The moment Aiden finished getting dressed, he turned around and shook his head at them. “You’re both idiots. I can tell you’re letting your feelings get in the way, and that’s stupid. We can’t let it happen, okay? I’m the good guy here, and you’ll realize it when you get your heads out of your asses.”

  He strode from the room without turning to look at them. Steffan muttered a curse under his breath and stalked after him. Two minutes later, he reappeared. “Had to let him out the damn doors.”

  She rubbed at her eyes, tired suddenly.

  “Don’t let him get to you.”

  “It’s not…or at least, not only him. He says I’m not one of you. The whole come meet your people speech is a lie.”

  “Angel.” He held her gaze, and his eyes went from cold, hard steel to warm, molten gold as they watched one another.

  She forgot her troubles for a moment, fascinated by the light show going on in Steffan’s face. “Why do your eyes change color so dramatically?”

  He shrugged. “It’s a part of me, is all. It’s damned annoying at times, as it lets people know what I’m thinking.”

  She nodded but said nothing more. Her face twisted, and she glanced around the room, her discomfort clear, the mood well and truly broken. “I ought to go to bed. Did you call Nathan?” She turned away, and he let her have the space she clearly needed.

  *****

  Damn him. With everything going on, he hadn’t called Nathan. Steffan pinched the bridge of his nose. His head banged. Dragons rarely suffered with headaches, but after the stress of the evening, it didn’t shock him.

  He’d nearly walked away from the whole thing when Mia had seen his leg, and now, given Aiden’s unforgivable meltdown, he bloody wished he had. Furthermore, he worried he already felt far too much for both of them. Despite being fuming mad at Aiden, he still wanted the other male. And he cared about him. Something about Aiden niggled at him. Worried him. The young male behaved so at odds for a dragon of his age. For himself, all battle-scarred and having suffered so much loss in life, wanting to shut himself off didn’t come as a surprise. But why did Aiden back away from any sort of commitment? He should be bonded to another male and searching for a female mate, not living all alone and running away to scrabble around in the mud with humans.

  As for Mia, gods help him, but he wanted to keep her here with him. To protect her. He knew it was idiotic; Nathan, Claire, and Dom were more than capable of protecting her, and she didn’t face any threat at the Scottish clan anyhow. But he couldn’t deny the deep biological urge to keep her here with him. They never should have for a moment believed they could play with a bond so strong.

  “I’m going to grab my shower and call Nathan. Make yourself comfortable. You take my bed, I’ll take the couch.”

  He gave her a kiss on the forehead, about the only place he dared let himself kiss her, and walked into the bathroom. After a quick shower, he threw on some sweat pants and padded as quietly as possible through the bedroom, shooting a glance at Mia, who seemed asleep, and on into the lounge where he picked up his phone and dialed Nathan.

  “Steffan.” The other male’s voice resonated down the line. “Is she okay there with you guys? I take it the clan are behaving themselves?”

  “Yes, of course. There’s no threat here now that Ellie is gone.”

  Nathan’s mate had been horribly attacked by two of the Welsh clan, so he didn’t blame the other dragon for being wary. But none of the others would behave in such a way. Robert had laid down the law good and proper. It had been one of the few times Steffan had seen their leader truly fired up.

  “I know. But I’m glad you’re with her. To be honest, if you weren’t around, I’d have told Robert to leave it and we’d have come for her, despite it probably causing renewed tensions between our two groups. It’s only because you’re there that I trust her safety.”

  Steffan had to tell him. Oh, gods, he didn’t want to because he had no clue how Nathan would react, but he didn’t want to lie to his friend. He braced himself for anger as he spoke.

  “There’s something you need to know. I was sent to fetch Mia with another male from here called Aiden. He and I… We’re a good bonded match. Okay, we’re an excellent bonded match, but seeing as neither of us wants to be bonded, or wants a mate, it’s irrelevant.”

  “Go on.” Nathan’s tone turned serious, hard.

  “Or at least, it was irrelevant, until we met Mia. Nathan, she’s a perfect match for us. Couldn’t be more so.”

  “Fuck.”

  “Yes. Precisely.”

  There lingered a long beat of silence down the other end of the phone, and he wanted Nathan to say something, anything.

  “You can’t help it if you match.” Finally, the other male spoke.

  So, not pissed, but clearly about to tell him to ignore his feelings. Yeah, Steffan couldn’t help matching, Nathan was right, but he ought to be able to control how he responded to the match. The unspoken words hung heavy in the air, and he waited for Nathan to say it outright.

  “Why don’t you mate her?”

  Steffan sucked in air. What the fuck? Not what he’d been expecting. “Because she doesn’t fully know our way of life or what she is. She has a life of her own, and it isn’t here. And Aiden doesn’t want to take a mate, and neither do I.”

  “Why not?”

  Steffan paced as they talked, his long legs eating up the space while he strode back and forth. “You know why. I have something I’ve got to do.”

  Nathan snorted. “You’ve been supposedly doing that something for centuries.”

  He growled in the back of his throat. How dare Nathan mock his need for revenge? “I’ve been trying.”

  “Yeah, but it isn’t easy to fight an enemy who isn’t there. We don’t even know if Rhyndor is alive. And if he is, he may not be the dragon you think he is—not anymore. You’ve heard the stories, how those who claim they’ve seen him say he refuses to fight, is beaten down and ruined by life. He’s either dead, or he’s a living wreck. You’re wasting away, wasting your life. For what? A revenge you may never get. How many more centuries are you willing to throw away? Do you think your mates would have wanted this for you? Because I don’t, and I knew them well.”

  Steffan bit back his angry response and tried to hold on to his temper. “I’m not even going there with you. But let’s say I did decide to stop trying to avenge my mates. It doesn’t change anything. Aiden doesn’t want to bond. I can’t take a mate as a single male, and Mia is still a total stranger to our ways.”

  His friend laughed. “Yeah, right, and Claire understood everything about our ways when we met her. When she was a tough cage fighter and called herself Ice. She knew it all, didn’t she? Do you think it stopped me? I got Dom down to the city, and we did everything in our power to make her ours. Mate matches are rare—you know this. And you say it is a strong one? If it’s anything as strong as ours, then you’re looking at a one-in-a-million chance. Don’t waste it.”

  Steffan didn’t know what to say. “I’ve got to be honest, I didn’t think the call would go this way, friend. She’s your mate’s sister. I imagined she’d be off-limits, and you’d be royally pissed.”

  “Any other male, any other male in the world, and you’d be correct. I’d be on my way there right now. But you…fuck, Steffan, you’re the best male I know, besides Dom. You’re stronger than me. You’re intelligent. You’re one of the best of our kind, and you match my mate’s sister. Don’t you think I want the very best for her? And she’s going to find it hard to adapt. She won’t fit into the human world as she matures, you know as much. She’ll find her magic becomes stronger, and she’ll need to know how to use it. She will be a stranger both in our world and in her old way of life. Lonely as fuck place to be, if you ask me. But with a mate, she’ll be so much more secure and safe…in herself, as well as in the eyes of our society. And males everywhere will want her. A young female, as beautiful as she is? Gods, there’ll be all sorts
after her, none of whom I’d be happy to see her with.”

  Steffan had no words. For a moment, he allowed himself the fantasy. The idea of taking the gorgeous female and making her his, with the blessing of her sister and his friend.

  “Wait, you’re saying all this, but what will Claire think about it?”

  “I’ll speak with her, but I have no doubt she’ll be happy once I tell her what a truly great male you are. Of course, there’s the matter of me not knowing this other fellow, this Aiden, but I presume if you say you bond, then you think he’s a decent dragon? I imagine you wouldn’t even bother mentioning it if he weren’t worthy.”

  Aiden. The young male’s features popped into his mind: cocky, brash, but with a sadness behind those green eyes Steffan had only just recognized. “I think he’s an honorable male deep down, but he does have some issues. And all of this is irrelevant, as he doesn’t wish to be bonded or mated.”

  Nathan laughed, and it boomed down the phone. Steffan had to smile as he imagined his friend, head thrown back, guffawing it up at whatever the hell struck his funny bone so hard.

  “I’m glad I amuse you, although I’m not sure why.”

  “Because, Steffan, if you want him and you are a great match, I doubt he’ll be able to resist for long, whatever his views on settling down. And if Mia is a perfect mate match for the pair of you, then he’s done for. Biology is a bitch, and she always wins.”

  He had no answer. But still…his leg. He knew Nathan was aware of his injury, but he doubted the other dragon understood how much it plagued him these days. He recalled Rhiannon’s words about him needing something to live for, and a diamond-bright chunk of hope blossomed in his heart. Could Mia and Aiden be the thing he needed to beat the poison? He’d go and speak with the healer in the morning, before the guys arrived from Scotland.

  “What time can we expect you tomorrow?”

  “Oh…not sure we can make it tomorrow, now.” Nathan’s tone told him the other dragon must be smiling…or smirking, the bloody bastard.

  “Ha-ha, very funny. What time?”

  “No. I’m serious, I’ve remembered a very important meeting. I’ll talk to Claire, of course, but I’m sure we won’t be able to get there for a week or so.”

  “She’s in Welsh clan territory, Nathan. She’s Havsa. Really?”

  “And who is going to challenge you? Of course, you won’t be able to let her out of your sight. Either you, or this other male, will need to stay with her at all times. Yes, you’ll need to stick very close.”

  Fuck. He ought to tell Nathan he wasn’t as strong as he had been. But even with the insidious poison resurrecting its vile power within him these last decades, he’d still win outright against any dragon in the clan. Only someone like Nathan could probably beat him now. But he’d have to make sure Mia stuck to him and Aiden like glue. Which, of course, was Nathan’s plan all along.

  Part of him vibrated with excitement at the prospect—an emotion so alien he hardly knew what to do with it. The other part of him wanted to change form, fly to Scotland, and rip Nathan’s smug head right the fuck off his neck for dropping him into this mess. Shit. What should he do?

  “Friend.” Nathan’s tone turned serious. “Give it a day or two, and then call me. You don’t want to do this, or she doesn’t want it, or this Aiden person is set on not wanting a mate, we’ll come get her. But…I’ve been worried sick about what might happen to her. And I never in a million years thought you’d match with her. What are the fucking odds? But now that you have, I’m relieved as fuck. So, give it a chance. For me. I know this is another favor I’m asking of you, but please. If we find more of Claire’s siblings, I’m going to have my hands full trying to integrate them into dragon life. This way, Mia will be safe and cared for in a manner I’d honestly never even hoped for. I’ve got the female in the US being watched right now by two clan healers. Turns out she’s dragon? That’s another one we’ll most likely be bringing here.”

  Steffan clenched his fists and threw his head back, eyes on the ceiling. For a moment, his brain whirred and whizzed, computing all the ways for this to crash and burn. But his body thrummed with the desire to say yes, yes, yes. Fuck it. He’d never forgive himself if he didn’t at least give this a day or two.

  “Two days. That’s it. In two days, I’m calling you, okay?”

  “Deal. Now go and look after Mia, and sort your Aiden fellow out tomorrow. Maybe he needs sorting out, you know, with some good old-fashioned discipline?” With a chuckle, Nathan hung up on those final words, without saying good-bye.

  He’d kill the fucker, really and truly, he would. But now…now, he needed to go tell Mia her sister wouldn’t be coming for a day or two.

  He headed into the bedroom and stopped short at the sight in front of him. Mia had curled into a tiny ball under the covers. Her arms were out of the sheets, and her hands were in tight fists under her chin as she breathed deeply. The sight punched him hard in the gut. She looked so vulnerable and peaceful at the same time.

  She stirred and blinked open one eye, then the other. “Hey.”

  The redness around her eyes told him she’d been crying. She’d be feeling messed up to hell, poor kid. Only in her twenties, no age for a dragon, she’d have no idea how to deal with the maelstrom of emotions and hormones whirling around in her. And she’d been dragged out of the only life she’d ever known and brought here, somewhere alien and new, only to find, even here, she didn’t quite fit. But she did belong somewhere, didn’t she? She fit him.

  “Hey. So…I’ve got a bit of bad news.” He brushed a strand of her gorgeous dark hair from her forehead. “Claire and her mates can’t get here tomorrow. It’ll be the day after, probably.” A small white lie, but he figured she’d probably be skittish over the idea of any longer.

  “Oh.” He sensed her immediate disappointment, but something else churned underneath, emerging as the seconds ticked by. Something like hope, his senses told him.

  “We should sleep now. Tomorrow, I need to go and talk with Rhiannon, and I also need to have a good long chat with Aiden.”

  Her face crumpled at the other dragon’s name. “I sensed he didn’t like me, you know. Right from the get-go, but after everything we did tonight, I thought I’d got it wrong. But I didn’t, did I? He doesn’t like me, not one bit.”

  “Angel, he more than likes you.” Something snuck up on him then, an understanding of Aiden’s behavior based on his centuries of experience. “In fact, I think you’ll find it’s exactly how much he likes you…and me, which has him so riled up and angry. You’re probably reeling from it all a bit, too. I mean, your human culture, it doesn’t do the whole bonding at first scent thing.”

  “I’m so freaked out by everything, it’s not even funny, but I know when I’m with you both, I feel …right, somehow. You scare me some, but I still feel right with you.”

  She’d have caused less pain if she’d slapped him, because her words hit him full force. “You’re scared of me?”

  He didn’t want her to feel that way about him. It hurt his heart.

  “A little. You’re so…I don’t know, you’ve got this aura. This potency. It’s more than a little intimidating.”

  He didn’t even bother trying to deny it. He wasn’t bigheaded, but he did have an awful lot compared to most. He’d lived for so long and seen and done so much. He’d earned his strength and wouldn’t deny it. But she’d got it all wrong.

  “Move over.” He indicated for her to scoot up under the covers, and she did.

  Steffan got in next to her, but he didn’t get under the covers. He lay beside her, on top of the sheets but with his arm around her, pulling her into him.

  “You’re right. I am very…potent, for want of a better word, and your dragon side senses it. I’m not going to deny it or sugarcoat it, it’s a simple fact of our existence that some of us possess much greater power than others. But, angel, there’s no need for you to fear it. Even if I wanted to, even if I were an utter bas
tard, I’d never use this force against you. Never. You’re my mate match. Do you know what this means?”

  She shook her head.

  “To us, it means everything. It’s rare and it’s awesome. I’m not saying every single relationship between dragons is perfect because, of course, that would be bullshit. But often, if there are problems, it is because males and females who aren’t true matches mate because they want a relationship. So their scent might not be the perfect combination. Their hormone profile is a little off. When they are together, their hearts aren’t quite in sync. Of course, many dragons can make this work because they do what humans do—they fall in love, they put effort into it. But other times, they can’t or don’t make it work. Those times things can fall apart and get ugly.”

  He paused, then dropped an impossible to resist kiss to the back of her head, inhaling the faint strawberry scent of what he guessed must be her shampoo. “So, yes, we have issues the same way humans do. But when a match is perfect, strong, those issues don’t occur. It’s like building a house from the strongest foundations imaginable. Your heart rate syncs with mine perfectly, as does Aiden’s when he’s with us. Our scent profiles and our hormonal profiles are off the charts with how brilliantly they complement one another. In a weird sense, it’s as if you’re a part of me. I don’t know how else to explain it. I could never physically harm you. No matter how angry I get or what you did, I’d never use all this strength you sense against you. This power. This thing about me which scares you…it’s for you.”

  She turned to him, her eyes wide. “For me?”