by Abigail Owen
“You want to practice with a real axe?” Keighan asked. His question was for Blake, but his gaze remained on Sera.
She opened her mouth to shoot that down, but Rivin beat her to it. “We’ll be safe. Promise.”
“Sera?”
Delaney’s voice had her turning away to face the door leading back into the bunks and kitchen area.
Sera clamped her mouth shut around a bitter word or ten, wishing she could go back to stupidly believing these guys were only human. “Hey.”
“We’re ready for you.” Delaney watched her closely, probably for signs of a full-on breakdown.
Sera drew her shoulders back. If she could get through losing a husband, losing her parents, running the winery, and raising her son on her own, she could damn well keep her shit together now. “I’ll be right there.”
Smile firmly back in place, she sat on the bench in front of the lockers to address Blake. “I’m going to go talk with Delaney. You okay with Rivin and Keighan?”
“Can Aidan come?” he asked. Of course, he’d want his hero.
“I don’t know where Aidan is,” Sera said.
Blake’s expression fell for a second before he perked up. “It’s a real axe, right? I’m not a baby anymore. I’ll be fine.”
Figured he wouldn’t forget that offer. She aimed a glare over his head at the dragons who, for once, shifted uncomfortably under her gaze. “Anything happens to him—”
With Blake right there, she couldn’t voice the threat all the way. But she gave their crotches a significant look and, based on the way they cringed, both men got the message. Forget their lives, she’d have their balls. A much worse punishment in their eyes.
“We’ll keep him safe,” Rivin repeated.
She ruffled Blake’s hair, desperately wanting more, wanting to cuddle him close, but he was hitting an age where public affection from Mom was unwanted, especially in front of his heroes.
With a whoop, Blake ran off after Thing One and Thing Two.
Sera sighed and turned to Delaney. “I want to know everything.”
…
Finally.
He waited impatiently for Delaney to bring him his mate. He’d waited so long for this. Not just the months since he’d seen those glorious eyes showed dragon…he’d waited his entire life. Those women before her, whom he’d mistaken for his mates, all false idols.
He could claim this one.
In that dreamlike state that he dwelt in sometimes, Sera entered the room, which had gone blessedly empty, other than the two of them. Another fantasy of his mate, but he allowed it.
“I knew.” She crossed the room to stand before him. Her face glowed with pure happiness. “It’s like I’ve always known,” she said. She laid a hand on his chest, over his heart, like she couldn’t stand not to touch him for a second longer. He was careful not to try to touch her back. “Please tell me you feel it, too.”
He gazed into those sparkling eyes. “I could never deny my destined mate,” he said.
Sera smiled. That smile she saved only for him and no one else. “And we can be together now?”
“Forever, my precious.”
Movement caught his eye, and the fantasy slipped away, replaced by reality.
Delaney preceded Sera into the room, Sera’s small figure hidden behind the taller woman, her blond hair showing over Delaney’s shoulder. He got to his feet, waiting for her to see him, to acknowledge what she was and who he was to her.
Move, he silently willed his Alpha’s mate.
Delaney stepped aside, and there Sera stood, head held high, her usual sunny expression hidden behind a flat-lipped stare that didn’t give away much.
She must be overwhelmed, of course. The excitement would come soon enough. Especially when she realized they could finally be together.
Look at me, he willed her.
Sera glanced around the room, pausing when she got to him. She gave him a tiny nod of acknowledgment before bringing her gaze back to Finn.
He choked back dull disappointment. He’d been hoping for…more.
Of course, she needed everything explained. Maybe then…
He’d been patient this long. Another few minutes wouldn’t make any difference. He resumed his seat and waited.
…
Aidan hadn’t gone far when he’d left Sera in her apartment. Running wasn’t an option, not that he’d consider it. Running had never been an option for him, even when his parents died.
He’d hacked it out, staying with the group they’d lived with, retaining the brand on his hand that showed he wasn’t rogue. Even so, he’d gone from being a respected up and coming member of his society to being feared, watched with suspicion like he might go off like a bomb at any second. Friends he’d had for years stopped hanging out with him, shifters would avoid him, going out of their way to steer clear of his path. As if being an orphan was contagious. He’d had to scrounge for food. A lot of deer in the area had been toasted by his dragon’s flames. But he’d survived. Now look how far he’d come—an enforcer, a position of honor and respect.
But not enough.
This morning, he’d needed to be alone, having to reach for control and think through the implications of what he’d seen. Mere minutes before seeing her eyes shift, he’d been trying to persuade Sera that he wanted more. Now “more” was no longer a distraction, it was goddam impossible.
Not with what he’d seen on the back of her neck.
Not one mark, but three.
Three.
One of which was his. One belonged to Titus. And the other to Drake.
Or, rather, Drake’s family. Which was about to become a huge fucking problem.
Aidan had spent hours flying until he’d exhausted himself, his mind circling what he’d seen over and over until he wasn’t sure he hadn’t imagined it.
Unable to rest, he’d gone down to the dungeons to talk to the kid, who he’d found out was named Demyan. Wary pale eyes watched him with an odd combination of distrust and hope. Aidan had explained the situation of discovering a new mate and that the kid would have to hang out one more day before they got to him.
Given how his bones protruded from his skin, Demyan was probably more interested in the shower, safe place to sleep, and three square meals a day he was getting anyway. Waiting another day hadn’t fazed him. Likely he thought it was one more day he’d remain alive.
Even after distracting himself with the orphaned shifter, trying to get his head on straight and remember his goals was an impossibility. He’d been drawn to Sera from the beginning. Was that because of his mark on her neck? Had Titus and Drake felt the same pull, the same consuming urge to simply be with her? Would the High King?
His dragon flared in stark rejection at the thought.
Sorting out his warring thoughts wasn’t remotely feasible this fast, but at least he could stand in the back of the room and give nothing away to the team now. Finn would explain things, and then Aidan was sure he’d immediately call the Alliance and send her to the Mating Council. That’s what they were supposed to do with a woman showing dragon sign. Even one way out of the bounds of normal. He should trust the Council to find her mate.
Her mate. Fuck me.
Aidan flicked a glance around the room, doing his best to bury his thoughts. What if something went wrong? Finn and Titus were proof enough that could happen.
Finn hadn’t even given the Council a say when it’d come to mating Delaney, doing the deed before letting them know of her existence. Aidan stuffed his hands in his pockets. If his Alpha hadn’t trusted them—
No. He was being paranoid. Finn’s situation had been different. Delaney was being stalked by a dragon shifter. He’d been trying to keep her safe. And he and Delaney had been so sure.
Aidan was about as far from sure about anything as light was from the dark side of the moon.
Sera walked into the room, the overhead lights making her pale blond hair gleam. She glanced around the room, pausing when she g
ot to him. Mouth set in a grim line, the second her gaze landed on him, her expression morphed into a glare that rivaled Medusa’s. The woman was pissed.
He held back a grimace.
I don’t blame you, he silently commiserated.
Yeah. He’d be solid stone right now if looks could do things like that. This wasn’t his fault. Hell, he still felt as though a hand had reached into his middle and twisted up his insides. And it was about to get a whole lot worse if the team saw what he had.
Please let me have imagined it.
Please let it be real.
The dueling voices in his head wouldn’t shut the hell up.
“Sera.” Finn indicated that she should take a seat beside him.
After a glance at everyone else, most of whom were also seated, Sera silently did as he asked. Delaney sat beside her.
“First, we know what Aidan told us, but do you mind if we check your brand?”
“Why?” Sera asked, frowning.
Finn gave her a steady look. After a second, she nodded. “But then I want information.”
“Absolutely, honey,” Delaney squeezed her leg.
He still caught how Sera swallowed before she tipped her head forward. Hands already in fists to keep from crossing the room and holding her, Aidan had to force himself to look away when Finn moved around and blew his fire across her neck. Everything inside Aidan revolted at the act. A reaction he didn’t want to give fuel to.
What he felt had to be wishful thinking. The fates had other designs for her.
As soon as the rushing sound of flame ceased, he looked back over. Even from this angle, he could see the sparkling whorls on her skin, the dragon fire lighting the brand up, making it glow.
Beautiful. And still exactly what he’d seen earlier.
Fuck.
Finn stared at the marking long and hard, then sent Aidan an indecipherable glance. “You didn’t tell me that part,” he said.
Because he was half hoping he’d read it wrong. Apparently not.
While the marks still glittered on her neck, the other men got up to stare. Drake and Titus both tossed Aidan glances that he didn’t need a cipher to read.
“Holy shit,” Levi whispered.
Layered one on top of the other, the swirled edges of Titus’s black brand peeked out from beneath the one above. The oldest of their group, Titus deserved another chance before time started to ravage his body.
Not that he’d get that chance with Sera.
Aidan’s mark was the topmost layer, and the most glorious thing he’d ever seen. A sight he’d never thought to encounter. No fucking way would the Mating Council include a colony-born orphan in the mix, enforcer or not.
Especially once they saw the third mark. The largest of three, Drake’s red brand was layered below Aidan’s, on top of Titus’s, almost obliterating the black swirls.
Except Drake was just as fucked as Aidan and Titus, because he bore the same family crest as the High King. The king to whom all the other clan kings bowed down.
The Mating Council would be overjoyed to see the red mark. Pytheios, the Rotting King of the Red Clan, was so named because his body had begun falling apart centuries ago, worsening as he continued to age without a mate.
Sera had to be his—there was no other possibility. She’d save him and become the High Queen. An honor above all other honors.
The notion of giving her over, even for the High King, had Aidan’s dragon raging inside him, roiling with emotions that Aidan couldn’t let loose.
“What is it?” Sera demanded, as if she’d heard his thoughts, reaching back to touch her neck. She’d remained quiet up until this point, but the tremor in her voice told Aidan she was barely hanging on to the control she’d showed so far.
Delaney took her hand. “There appear to be three marks on your neck.”
Sera’s brows lowered. “Is that normal?”
“No.”
Sera paled visibly, and it took everything in him not to go to her. “Okay,” she said. “What does that mean?”
That was Sera…straight to solutions, next steps. No wonder she’d survived so much with that kind of strength.
The mated pair exchanged a glance, Delaney asking questions with her eyes, because most of this was new to her, too.
“We don’t know,” Finn said. “Until the two of you, every dragon mate I know of has shown one brand on the back of her neck. The family crest of their destined mate.”
Sera considered him for a long moment before she crossed her arms. “I don’t even know what to ask first.” She cast her gaze about the room, though she didn’t appear to be looking at anything or anyone in particular. “What usually happens?” she finally asked.
“Usually, we’d call the Alliance,” Finn said.
“Alliance?” Sera asked, eyebrows scrunching in confusion.
Finn passed a hand over his jaw. “There are six clans—red, black, blue, white, gold, and green.” He went on to explain the kings and clans and colonies and their place in the system, but Aidan tuned him out, focused on Sera alone.
“With me so far?” Finn asked.
Sera nodded slowly, though she was already starting to look glassy eyed.
Finn pushed on. “The Alliance is a council of six men—one from each clan—who govern the North American colony. They get direction from the kings. We report to them. They will be responsible for getting you to the Mating Council in France. It’s the Mating Council’s job to identify which man or men with that family crest they think is most likely to be your destined mate.”
“Men?” she asked. “As in, more than one?”
Finn nodded. “Dragons have children over centuries, not a handful of years like humans. Because of this, there can be many unmated men under the same family crest. I have family I don’t even know in Europe.”
And Drake had Pytheios, among others.
“What happens when there are several…er…candidates?”
Finn’s expression shuttered. “You meet them all. Get to know them over a short period of time. Then, you choose.”
“Choose?” Doubt dropped into Sera’s voice like a potbellied man doing a belly flop. “That fast?”
Finn sat back down in front of her. “Yes, but you’ll want to mate this man. It will be like a compulsion. A…rightness.”
“So, it’s obvious?”
Aidan didn’t miss the way her gaze flittered toward where he still stood at the back of the room.
Almost every man in the room grimaced, and Sera’s eyes narrowed. “I guess I have the answer to that.”
“Just don’t say yes until you’re sure,” Delaney assured her.
“Were you sure?” Sera demanded.
“Yes.” The look Delaney and Finn exchanged was almost uncomfortable to witness. Love was there, devotion, possessiveness even. But with something more. Something that made Aidan yearn, his soul reaching for that connection.
With Sera?
He pulled back, having to cover a grunt of pain as he did.
He’d get a mate. Eventually. Not now, and not Sera. Not with the mark she bore.
Finn broke the silence, focusing on Sera again. “I’m assuming that this time they’ll bring in men from each of the families indicated.” He exchanged a brief glance with every man in the room.
Yeah, they all knew what that meant.
Aidan clenched his jaw around words that wanted to spew from him. Claiming words.
Sera looked away, shaking her head. “This is crazy,” she muttered. She tossed a glance in Aidan’s direction, and he stiffened for an instant before she looked away.
What was she going through right now? Should he be the one helping her? He stayed frozen where he was. No. She wasn’t his.
She reached around, fingering the nape of her neck where the brands had disappeared already. “Can you tell me about the families?”
Despite the fact that every man in the room recognized those symbols, Finn shook his head. Beside him, Drake crossed
his arms and gave a low grunt. Aidan silently agreed. He couldn’t begin to imagine her reaction to finding out three potential mates were standing right in front of her, but she deserved to know. She’d find out soon enough. Wouldn’t it be better coming from them? Finn had broken rules before.
Except this time, the Alpha was already in deep shit when it came to mates, and the High King was involved. Perhaps not swaying Sera either way was better. Those rules were in place for that reason. Choosing before she’d met all contenders could lead to her death.
“I can’t tell you families,” Finn hedged. “But I can tell you the colors.”
Sera blinked. “That’s all?”
Finn spread his hands wide in silent apology.
“Tell me,” Sera bade.
“The three marks are layered one on top of the other. Black underneath, red, then—”
“Blue,” Sera whispered.
Shock pinned Aidan to the spot where he stood. How had she known?
That question must’ve shown in Finn’s eyes, too, because Sera gave a faint, grim smile. “The way Aidan reacted this morning, I figured it was a good guess.”
Bitterness laced her words and she didn’t look his way.
Aidan needed to get out of there before he did something stupid. Despite the hardships in her life, even when her winery had those fires, Sera wasn’t ever bitter. She was optimistic, and sweet, and kind to everyone she came across.
He’d done that to her. By keeping her at arm’s length from the moment they met. That and the way he’d run when he’d seen the marks on her neck.
“I need to…” She shook her head. “I’d like to think about this.”
Delaney hopped up. “How about I make you some dinner?”
Sera’s wan smile said clearly she doubted she’d eat a bite, but she still nodded. “Okay.”
Aidan had to hold himself back from following her. She was going glassy eyed thanks to shock and too much information. Not to mention the upheaval to her life.
The second the door closed behind them, it was as though the entire room took a breath, getting ready for the conversation that had to happen.
“Somebody’s gotta say it…” Hall shook his head. “Y’all are screwed.”
