A Lair So Loyal (The Last Dragorai Book 2)

by Zoey Ellis

  “She is… settling into the lair.”

  “Is she happy?”

  “I cannot tell her moods,” Zendyor snapped. “She is a member of my staff. I do not analyze her every move. Although…” He took a breath. “Sometimes she sings.”

  “Sings?” I’mya beamed and her shoulders relaxed. “That sounds as though she could be doing well.”

  Zendyor inclined his head. He hesitated. “You may visit her if you wish.”

  I’mya’s brows raised and she gasped. “Really? You will allow it?”

  “I will not.” Nyro scowled. “You are inviting my mate to your lair, Zen?” he said disbelievingly.

  “You will attend to oversee it,” Zendyor growled. “I do not have the time or patience to supervise your mate.”

  Oshali press herself into Tyomar side and he put his arm around her, kissing her forehead as she continued to watch the exchange between Zendyor, Nyro, and I’mya. “This is amazing,” she whispered, her eyes bright.

  “This is your family,” Tyomar pointed out. “They will always look after you and defend you, Oshali. This really is where you belong.”

  She smiled up at him and grinned.

  The burning went as expected.

  Oshali wanted it to happen on the ledge at the Mheyu sanctum, and none of them objected, so she stood alone in the middle of the ledge while Tyomar directed Ryndross. The rest of his brothers were on their dragons, hovering a little distance away.

  Tyomar placed a hand on Ryndross’ neck and cast the incantation to start her transition. Rearing back, his dan askha roared out an uncurling stream of fire at Oshali.

  He could hear her screams from where he was, and it put him on edge to know she was in that kind of pain. But there was a purpose to it, and it needed to be done.

  As Ryndross’ fire faded, Oshali collapsed to the floor, her body blackened and steaming. Tyomar headed over the ledge and cast an incantation to encase her in a bubble of air before picking her up so he wouldn’t irritate any of her burns. It would also contain the charred, burning smell.

  Casting again, he rose up from the ledge back to his dragon.

  His brothers escorted him back to his lair and they all bid him farewell and good luck.

  His stewards had prepared a small cavern filled with soft bedding from her heat to help her successfully undergo her transition. It would take a lot of medicated baths, bandages, and time, but eventually she would be transformed into his mate.

  And he couldn’t wait.

  15

  Oshali's chest trembled with anticipation as she and Tyomar landed at the Vattoro clan temple. Of course, she'd heard about this temple many times before, but she’d never expected to even know what it looked like yet alone be there in person. She beamed at Tyomar, who was grinning at her as they stepped inside.

  Inside was gorgeous. Decorated in the six jeweled colors of the Vattoro clan that complemented the brothers. In the center was a rectangular stone table with chairs around it, with one raised chair at the head for the leader of the clan.

  All the brothers were already there, including I’mya, and they all smiled at her as she came in.

  "This is amazing," Oshali breathed. She took a step towards one of the walls. Many of the items on display were part of their history and heritage. "Look!” She pointed to a series of gold swords and shields. “This is from the Pachetti clan when they offered to trade land with you, is that right?"

  Zendyor peered at her. "Yes."

  "And this one," she said, pointing to the diamonds robes of Ishra. "This is when the Ishra women traded their diamond robes in return for the protection of their fleet."

  Sethorn chuckled. "Yes, that was very interesting."

  Oshali shot him a wry look and laughed.

  "Do you have any information on Sorthel," Khyros asked.

  The atmosphere in the room quietened and Oshali tempered her enthusiasm. Obviously it was a sensitive subject when a dragorai is without his dragon. Any dragorai who was not able to bond with their dragon for whatever reason was usually ridiculed and mocked. There was a derogatory term for it, called a hollow, and they were considered useless to their clan. The fact that Khyros was the head of his clan and didn't have his dragon must be difficult for him to deal with, not to mention always having to rely on his brothers to go anywhere.

  "Yes," she said. "All records indicate that he is alive and somewhere in the Twin Realms."

  "How do you know," Khyros asked, his attention fierce on her.

  "There are hints throughout some of the text at the Mheyu sanctum," Oshali explained. "It is not explicit that it is him, I am just piecing together different mentions from different texts over different periods of time." She looked at all of them. "Your dragons are quite distinctive. They are all variations of black, and all have that gold sheen that shimmers in the light. There are very few clans that had that kind of color." She turned back to Khyros. "There were times a dragon was mentioned that was like that, but I couldn't figure out whose dragon it was. So if there was evidence that your brothers were doing something else, I made the connection that it was your dragon." She raised her palms. "But this is just my casual guesses. It is not a Mheyu opinion, the Mheyu are not allowed to make such opinions about texts or draw conclusions like that. So I may be completely wrong."

  "That is why you are so valuable to us," Nyro said. "You have all of that knowledge and you can put into context. We were never able to get that from the Mheyu before."

  Oshali's eyebrows raised. "I suppose so. I was always telling Tyomar I couldn't make assumptions and give an opinion, even though he coaxed out of me, eventually."

  "She is extremely intelligent," Tyomar told the rest of the table."

  Oshali's face heated and she wished she could bury it into his chest, but this was supposed to be a formal meeting.

  "You most certainly are a valuable addition to our clan," Khyros said thoughtfully.

  "She is valuable anyway," Tyomar said.

  "Of course,” Khyros said. “But her knowledge of the Mheyu records, coupled with her impressive memory will significantly help us."

  Tyomar nodded. He couldn't disagree with that.

  "I would appreciate your insights about Sorthel," Khyros said.

  Oshali nodded, as did Tyomar.

  "Shall we begin?" Zendyor asked.

  They all found seats at the table—hers was next to Tyomar.

  "Is there anything for us to discuss before we start?" Sethorn asked.

  "Yes," Tyomar said. Oshali's heart jumped into her mouth., but she kept her eyes on him. "As you all know, Oshali went through her transition recently.”

  “Let’s see the scales,” I’mya whispered.

  Oshali raised one of her arms and folded back the sleeve. She twirled it for everyone to see. Along her arm, over her shoulder and up one side of her neck, where the claiming bite was, were skin-colored scales that also shone with the distinctive sheen. A beam of pride shone through her bond with Tyomar and she sat back down, grinning at him.

  “Gorgeous,” I’mya said.

  “What you may not know,” Tyomar continued, “is that her recovery time was extremely quick, a matter of days."

  The brothers all looked at them both in bewilderment and I'mya muttered something about it not being fair.

  "How it could that be?" Sethorn asked.

  "That was our indication that she is with child," Tyomar said smiling.

  All the brothers’ faces dropped in shock, and I’mya ran round and enveloped Oshali in a hug. "I'm so excited for you," I’mya grinned. "And I'm so relieved!"

  Oshali laughed. "I’m a bit nervous too. As much as I have been reading about this kind of thing for a long time, I never once expected to even be close to going through it."

  I’mya nodded. "I hadn't even been reading about it," she admitted. "It was a complete surprise to me. I have a really good steward who helps me, so maybe she can help you too."

  Oshali nodded gratefully. "I would really
like any support I could have on this."

  All the brothers congratulated them both and at the end, Khyros rose from his seat. "We have been blessed with two new members of our clan, I’mya and Oshali. I never would have thought we would even be welcoming anyone new into the clan, let alone be expecting young from two of our brothers’ mates. This is the moment to rejoice for all of us and I hope it is an encouraging sign of things to come."

  “Thank you," Oshali said. "You should all know. The Mheyu think that you will be finding your mates soon."

  The brothers all had different reactions to what she said. Sethorn simply scowled, Zendyor pursed his lips thoughtfully, and Nyro chuckled. Khyros was the only one she couldn't read. He probably wasn't that hopeful considering his dragon would not be around to confirm who his mate is like Ryn did for her and Tyomar. She made a note to try to remember every single mention of Sorthel in all the events in the records. If she could help him find his dragon, she would.

  "The first point we must talk about today," Khyros said, once everyone has settled, "is the queen of the south. She is making threats to attack us. I'm not sure how she’ll do it yet, but we should prepare ourselves. Is there anything that you can tell us about her?" he asked Oshali.

  “Yes.” Oshali took a breath and explained her whole experience with the queen.

  "She seems that she is determined," Nyro said gravely.

  "We will be more determined," Zendyor said. "We need a plan." He glanced at Sethorn.

  "It stands to reason that she will most likely attack the Mheyu sanctum based on your range Tyomar, since she knows that Oshali is attached to both the Mheyu and the dragorai."

  Oshali tensed at that assumption, and a flare of anger shot through the bond from Tyomar. She hadn't thought of that. "Another thing," she said. "One of the warriors helped me to escape, one of the queen’s elite warriors. Called a Warden."

  "We know," Sethorn growled.

  "She is quite familiar with the queen and her attacks and methods. I got the feeling she'd been with her for a long time. She may have insight that no one else has had before."

  "She said that you promised to save her friend."

  "Yes," Oshali said, a pang of guilt echoing through her. "I did say that. But there was no time to try to locate them before we left. My heat was coming on and both of our concern was about immediately escaping before I could no longer cast."

  "She wants us to save her friend before she gives us any information,” Sethorn said

  Oshali sighed. "We agreed we’d only get her friend if we had time. We didn't have time."

  "Yes," Sethorn said irritably. "But that agreement is over. If we want more information about the queen, then those are her terms."

  Oshali shook her head and laughed. "I'm not surprised." She shrugged. "But is up to you. I do not have anything to risk going in there. It is your lives in your dragon's lives that must be used to save her friend. Is the information that she could provide worth it?"

  The table was silent for a moment. "I think it is," Khyros said. "She was a Warden not just any old servant or guard in the palace."

  "And she's very talented," Oshali commented. "I saw her fight to other wardens, and they were overcoming in moments. It was thrilling to watch. She is very fast. She also said that she had some kind of method where she could tell when the queen when the king was about to attack."

  "How?"

  "I don't know, she said it's one of the reasons why the queen wanted her as a warden."

  Khyros nodded. “Then she is valuable. We’ll have to decide when we can collect her friend.”

  The meeting continued, turning to other topics that Oshali didn’t even know interested the dragorai, but she listened quietly and offered advice when necessary. As she looked around at all the alpha brothers and I’mya, she couldn’t believe how lucky she was to be sitting among them as though she was an equal… except, she was now. Her scales and her pregnancy were the indication that she had become one of them.

  After the meeting, she and Tyomar returned to their lair, where she was slowly making it her own at Tyomar’s insistence. He cuddled her into his arms and carried her to their bed and the bond vibrated harmoniously, light with her love for him and heavy with his love for her. He wanted her to feel like the lair was her space too, that she belonged there. But the main thing that helped her believe that was him. She belonged in his arms, and there was no more doubt in her mind that she had found her home.

  Epilogue

  Tyomar sucked Oshali's nipple, cradling her body in his arms as she rode him hard.

  He loved the way she kissed his shaved head when she was in this position, brushing her fingers over his ears and moaning out of control.

  Since she conceived, Oshali needed sex constantly. It was as though he spent most of his time with her either on his cock or in his mouth, but he wasn’t complaining. She leaned back, bracing herself in the bed as she worked her hips, increasing to a frenzied motion. He watched her breasts jiggle and shake, mesmerized as they danced to the rhythm of her squishy grinds.

  Her fingers curled into fists on the bed sheets and she cried out as she reached her peak, dropping onto one elbow as she went limp, her slick gushing out onto him. Tyomar covered her in his arms and rolled her over so he was on top of her. He kissed her slowly and sucked on her lips, savoring the taste of her on his tongue. She whimpered and pulled him closer, her arms around his neck as he lay on top of her, giving her his weight.

  Oshali let out a guttural sigh. "I love when you lie on me like this."

  Tyomar simply released a gritty hum. Soon, he began working his hips, rolling them around to press on her drenched channel, the squelch filling the room. Oshali sighed again, and hummed her approval.

  He pressed in, working her kon until he was rapidly slamming in, tilting her on the bed.

  He had been worried at first that he might hurt the baby from fucking her so hard, but Oshali explained he didn’t have to worry. She squealed as her climax rose again, breathing heavily, and thrashing.

  Tyomar roared as he slammed in to her erratically, and then with one final push lodged his knot deep into her.

  They both collapsed onto the bed, Tyomar on top of Oshali, enjoying the tight strangle of her on his knot as their breathing calmed. Tyomar rolled her on top of him and cuddled her close, pressing his hand and her bottom to secure her on his knot.

  He stroked her, knowing she loved being petted after sex, and he appreciated that everything was peaceful and blissful right now.

  "We need to plan your ordination," he said, glancing down at her.

  Oshali lifted her head. "My ordination?" her eyes wide.

  "Yes. We have to formally bring you into the clan."

  Oshali swallowed. "But that's equivalent to a wedding, isn’t it?"

  "Yes," Tyomar said chuckling. "Do you have a problem with that?"

  Oshali bit her lip. "No really. I don’t mind all the brothers, obviously, but everyone from every lair?" She bit her lip. "I don't know about that."

  "It doesn't have to be that big," Tyomar reassured her. "Obviously they are all very happy that you have joined the clan and they would all love to meet you. You are my mate and you are important to everyone. They should all know who you are and what you look like. But you don't have to have them all at ordination. We can visit the lairs in our own time separately to meet them, if that's what you would prefer."

  Oshali rested her chin on his chest, sinking into thought.

  "What would you prefer?" she asked after a moment.

  "I want to show you off," Tyomar said firmly. "I what people to be excited about you and fuss over you—you deserve it. But mostly, I want you to be comfortable. Khyros may not have said it, but you are the most valuable person to have joined our clan, and I want to make sure everyone knows who you are so they can protect you all times."

  "Do you think I will need protecting?" Oshali asked.

  Tyomar sat upright, cradling her carefully so he didn't
jostle her too much on his knot. "I don't think so," he said. "But, I won’t put anything past the king or the queen. Both of them are antagonistic and they have both targeted us in different ways. Once we were trying to not make it too obvious that we were working to limit their destruction over the realm, but now they are both aware of us and are aware we know what they’re doing. I don't see how being subtle is useful anymore. Once we become more aggressive, they may be more aggressive, so I cannot say what will happen. But I can tell you that you are not alone. You have a family of brothers who will do anything for you, and I’mya is in the same position as you. Anything we do out in the realm, we will ensure that the two of you are not impacted."

  Oshali nodded. "The queen is extremely devious.”

  "So is the king," Tyomar said darkly. "Both of them suit each other, they are both devious and despicable alike.” He paused. “Do you want to look for your father?”

  Oshali was quiet for a moment. “I do, but not if it will put him in danger.”

  “We can find the right time to go to him.”

  Oshali nodded and then sighed. "Why do there have to be so many violent people in the Twin Realms." She sighed.

  "Many things are born through violence," Tyomar said. "We had a period of peacefulness when the Seven were here, and everyone was celebrating all the new creations. It was never going to stay the same."

  Oshali nodded. "I would love to know why they left," she said quietly. “After everything they did here, it seems a shame for them to abandon us."

  "If you truly believe you have been touched by the Goddesses to be able to be my mate," Tyomar said, “then maybe they have not abandoned us. They may simply be not involving themselves with us directly."

  Oshali frowned at him. "So you think they are still around watching?"

  "I don't think they have removed their influence completely," Tyomar said. "Otherwise you would have needed a dragon to be discovered as my mate, as would have I'mya."

  "I hope that’s true," Oshali said. "I would have loved to have been here when the Goddesses roamed the land."