by Amelia Jade
And when she succeeded beyond even her own wildest dreams, they had been only too happy to strut her around at parties, as if to say “Look at our daughter; she is your better.”
That wasn’t entirely fair to her parents. They loved her dearly, and in the rare moments of family privacy, hadn’t been shy about showing it. But most of her life until she struck out on her own had been one giant pageant. But she owed them, and this was a big occasion indeed, so Rhynne hadn’t objected once when her parents had told her to be there—under the guise of a carefully worded request.
Besides, it wasn’t every day that a group of shifters from another enclave came by.
Cadia was, as far as anyone knew, the largest of the shifter territories that the human world governments had given them over a century ago, when their presence had first been revealed to the human populace as a whole.
Fenris was the second largest, however, and a big rival to Cadia any time the territories assembled, be it for sporting events or anything else that dictated power between them. Cadia had been unchallenged for a long time, but recently Fenris had begun to make inroads. Many predicted it wouldn’t be long now before they started to openly challenge Cadia for supremacy.
Rhynne was quite interested in meeting the Fenris delegation. She wanted to size up the competition. It was even rumored that several Wards of Fenris were part of the delegation. They were the Fenris equivalent to the Guardians.
A tall man with a reserved expression on his face and perfectly groomed hair swept off to the side stepped in front of her just before she entered the main hall at the center of the cross, where the gathering was to take place.
“Rhynne,” he said with a nod of his head.
Her eyes widened slightly in surprise. “Daxxton!” she exclaimed, needed an extra moment to recognize him. “You shaved!”
“I did,” he replied, his lips tugging upward very slightly in amusement. “I figured it was time for a change.”
Rhynne returned his smile, baring her teeth to make up for his lack of facial expression, and happily taking his arm as he offered it to her.
“I didn’t know you were going to be here,” she said, happy to have someone else with her who wasn’t all about the formality of functions like this.
“The Wards will be here. I like to keep up with them, and to try and find out any tidbits to see if there are ways I can improve Top Scale. Hawk’s Nest has come a long way since it was founded. I don’t want to get complacent.”
Rhynne nodded, impressed as always by the depth of knowledge Daxxton possessed. He was not a man predisposed toward long conversations and idle chitchat, but over her tenure as an instructor at Top Scale, she’d come to know him on a level few others could say they did. She saw now why he was Wing Commander of Cadia.
“Shall we, then?” she asked, nodding at the figures all intermingling in the room.
“Oh, yes please,” he said with fake enthusiasm.
The pair strode into the room, nodding politely to the movers and shakers of Cadia, all of whom had come to her parents’ reception for the guests from Fenris.
As she moved through the room, Rhynne endured the usual compliments from her parents’ friends, and said her pleasantries to those who deserved them. Most of the Cadian Council was present tonight, meaning she had to talk to far more people than she would have preferred.
“Rhynne, darling!” her mother said with an accent that humans had learned to mimic—and mock—with a surprising ease. The aristocratic snob act was, unfortunately, not something that shifters had taken from humans, but the other way around.
“Mother,” she said, slipping all too easily into the same accent, and hating herself all the while for doing so as they embraced.
“Daxxton,” her mother said, giving her hand to the Wing Commander, who swept it up elegantly to his mouth where he brushed his lips against her skin.
“Klara,” he said, polite as ever to a member of the Cadian Council, even if he was somewhat outside of their jurisdiction, and didn’t care much for the power games they played.
Rhynne marveled at his ability to switch gears with ease, though she knew it rivaled her own to a degree. When one’s mother was on the ruling council for all of Cadia, that one learned a great many things growing up. Not all of it was bad, but this forced pageantry bugged her to no end.
“Rhynne my dear, you simply must meet this fellow from Fenris. Come along,” she said, tugging at Rhynne’s arm.
She glanced helplessly over her shoulder as she was dragged away from Daxxton.
Help me, she mouthed at him.
Daxxton’s lips swept upward slightly, and he shrugged in equal helplessness as he was mobbed by several other prominent members of Cadian society. They all tried to gain some sort of social influence with him, not realizing he didn’t care about it at all.
“Who am I meeting, Mother?” she asked as they moved toward a knot of people at the very center of the hall.
“His name is Garviel,” Klara gushed.
Rhynne felt her mood sour. She recognized that tone in her mother’s voice. It was the tone she took when she’d found someone who just had to be a perfect suitor for her daughter, no matter how often Rhynne told her she didn’t care, and wanted no part of it.
“I am not interested in your matchmaking today, Mother,” she protested, letting some of her dissatisfaction leak through, in hopes it might penetrate the bubble around Klara.
“Oh nonsense. Trust me, once you meet him, you’ll understand,” came the distracted reply.
“Garvi! Garvi! This is Rhynne, my daughter that I told you about? She finally made it. You two will have so much in common. I am sure of it.”
Rhynne forcefully kept her eyebrows down as a tall handsome man separated himself from the crowd, straightening up as he turned to look at her mother. His eyes danced and he turned them to Rhynne, who had a hard time maintaining her calm.
Oh, he’s easy on the eyes. Mother got that part right, at least. Very easy on the eyes.
“Klara, you never told me your daughter was a spitting image of you.”
His attention turned to Rhynne. “You are gorgeous, m’lady,” he said, offering a short bow in her direction while Rhynne’s mother twittered at his words.
Rhynne, however, was instantly on her guard, though she didn’t let it show through her exterior façade. This man was smooth and charming in a way that made her so uncomfortable that she knew it had to be an act of some sort. There was no way he was actually like that.
“Oh, I think I’m needed by your father, dear. I’ll be right back,” Klara Nova said, easily untangling herself from the duo and disappearing into the crowd before Rhynne could say a word.
Subtle, Mother. Very subtle.
“So, you’re from Fenris?” she asked, deciding to go on the offensive for a change. Playing the weak helpless daughter of a socialite grew old fast, and there was something about this guy that rubbed her the wrong way.
“I am,” he replied easily.
“Interesting. What do you do?’
“I’m a Ward.”
Interesting.
“What brings you to Cadia?” Rhynne wasn’t wasting any time.
Garviel gave her a knowing look. “If you had the chance to leave Cadia and see some of the world, would you turn it down?”
Rhynne felt herself smiling. “Touché. I can’t say as I would argue that.”
He nodded. “If putting up with bullshit functions like this are the price I have to pay, well, life could be worse,” he said, dropping the pretentious attitude with an ease that caught her off guard.
“You play the part well,” she said, crossing her arms as she tried to recover her composure at being so easily surprised.
He’s good. Very good. He had you completely fooled. Don’t let it happen again.
“As do you,” he said with a respectful nod. “May I?” he asked, extending his arm.
Before she could interrupt, her mother returned with a smile
so broad Rhynne thought it might break her face. Her mother wasn’t a pushover, but the delight she took from functions like this annoyed Rhynne to no end, mostly because she should know Rhynne better than that.
“Jessalyn, tell Rhynne your news!” her mother said, tugging along one of the children near Rhynne’s age that she had been “friends” with growing up, if being forced to interact with each other was friendship.
“I’m pregnant!” She practically squealed with delight.
“Oh Jess, I’m so happy for you,” Rhynne said, not having to fake it for once. She might not be best of friends with Jessalyn, but she knew this was something she’d wanted for a long time. Even if it wasn’t for Rhynne, she wouldn’t object if someone else found enjoyment from it.
The pair embraced.
“So now that Jessalyn is expecting,” her mother said forcefully, “that only leaves you without any young ones of your own, Rhynne.” Klara’s eyes darted to Garviel and then back at Rhynne.
Her jaw dropped open at the blatancy of her mother.
“Did you seriously just say that?” she asked in shock, feeling her temper rise.
“Now, Rhynne,” her mother said cautiously, as if she realized she’d overstepped her boundaries.
“No, Mother. Do not patronize me by saying you meant something else,” she turned to Jessalyn. “I am very happy for you, I really am.” Her glare hardened as it swiveled back to her mother. “And you. I am not a baby factory. If I have children, it will be on my own terms, not the fantasy ones you want them to be.”
She turned on her heel and left the hall. Her evening was ruined now. There was no point in sticking around.
What a miserable few days.
She just hoped it wouldn’t get any worse.
Chapter Three
Dominick
Sunlight streamed in through the huge wall of windows in front of him. The three-story-high wall faced east, and so every morning it was greeted by the sun with a fiery display of colors and brightness. Dom leaned back and looked at the roof, three full stories above him.
He liked this view.
The easternmost part of the dormitory in which he now sat was completely open. There were no floors above him. A three-story-high roof that felt nice and airy, perfect for a dragon shifter who preferred to be soaring through the sky. Behind him, vaguely visible in the reflection from the window, were the walkways that ran along the second and third floor, evenly spaced with doors leading to rooms of differing function.
The ground floor was completely open-concept. Behind him to his right was the kitchen, and in the far rear left corner, a common room.
But this was Dominick’s preferred area. The library. Stacks upon stacks of books lined shelves that rose fourteen feet up, with ladders on metal tracks looping between them so that one could easily reach whatever they needed.
He sat now at a table between two stacks, looking out the window, and slowly inhaling the scent of real leather-bound books. The table and chairs were made of thick mahogany wood, which added a pleasant aroma to the air.
Right now it was overwhelmed by the food on his plate, but he liked that smell too.
“Dom.”
“Dominick.”
“How are—”
“You today?”
He blinked, shaking his head at the broken sentences coming as Asher and Zeke plunked themselves down next to him, arms around his shoulders, so that he couldn’t get up from his seat.
“This isn’t fair play,” he complained, finishing his food and pushing the tray out in front of him, across the table at which they sat.
“Nope.”
“Not at—”
“All. But really—”
“How are you—”
“Today?”
He glared at one then the other of his fellow cadets. “If I talk, do you promise to shut the hell up and speak normally?”
The pair of them leaned forward so they could look at each other.
“Per—” Zeke started.
“—haps,” Asher finished.
Dominick couldn’t help it. He barked a single, short laugh.
“It’s good to see you laugh,” Asher said, speaking normally, though he didn’t remove his arm from around Dom’s shoulder.
“Yeah, it’s been far too long man,” Zeke echoed.
“Haven’t felt like laughing much lately,” he said with a shrug. “Nothing against either of you.”
“Well, that’s one concern off our shoulders,” Asher said. “We were concerned we’d done something to piss you off, and we wanted to fix it.”
Dom shook his head. “No, it’s not what you’ve done. It’s what I haven’t done.”
He could feel both of them intently focus their attention on him. Dom hadn’t meant to be quite so revealing, but the damage was done now.”
“What do you mean, man? You’re in Top Scale, and on the path to graduating and getting a shot at becoming a Guardian. How many others can say that?”
“Not many,” he said reluctantly.
“Okay, so you’re on your way to making something of yourself,” Zeke chimed in. “You’re barely starting your life. We can reasonably expect to live another thousand years. So it can’t be that you feel you’ve failed at life. None of us has really lived yet. Can we agree there?”
Dom shrugged, not really ready to agree or disagree with them.
Asher sobered up, looking at his friend. “Okay, so if you don’t want to talk about it, can you at least tell us why you don’t want to talk about what’s bothering you?”
He laughed silently for a second. Then he thought about the question. Why wasn’t he willing to open up to them? Was it because of jealousy? Was he mad, and didn’t want to hear any condescending replies?
You know better than that. Neither of them would talk to you like that.
“I don’t want to involve you in my problems,” he said at last, knowing that they both saw that as lamely as he did.
“Yeah, if you kept them all to yourself, instead of wearing them externally, then that excuse might fly. But your change in attitude, your distance from us, your friends, kind of makes that argument moot,” Zeke said.
They were right, and he knew it.
So tell them the truth.
“I guess I’m just jealous,” he said with a shake of his head.
“Jealous?” Asher asked with a confused frown. “Of what?”
“Of you,” Dom replied, then looked at Zeke. “And you.”
“Of us? What the hell are you talking about, man?” Zeke exchanged a look with Asher.
Dominick sighed. “Well, you’re both younger than me by a good few years. You both have already found your strengths here, and on top of all that, you’ve found a mate who cares for you,” he said with more bitterness than he’d intended.
Was it really affecting him that badly?
“Ah” Asher said, giving his shoulder a brotherly squeeze. “Shit man, I’m sorry. Were we just rubbing it in your face all this time, inviting you over to come hang out with us?”
Zeke also apologized, but he waved them off. “No, no, you weren’t rubbing it in my face. At least, I know you weren’t doing so intentionally, which is all that matters. It was more me not being able to accept the fact that I haven’t found anyone yet. That is the problem. I mean there was a period where you had Quinn, and Zeke was still unattached, and he didn’t deal with it badly. So no, do not feel bad. You did not do this to me. I did. I just need to come to terms with the fact that I have not found a mate yet.”
His mind flashed to Rhynne, as it often did at times like this. Dominick often wondered how things between them might have worked out. They had always gotten along well, even within the boundaries of the cadet/instructor relationship. As things had progressed with Asher and Quinn, and then Zeke and Amber, he had felt himself more and more drawn to her.
Then, one night when they were the only two at the Academy for the evening, things had grown heated, and they had sp
ent one passionate night in each other’s arms. It had been—to him—nearly perfect. He couldn’t remember being with another woman who made him feel the way she had.
But the next morning it was like a wall had sprung up between them. Every day it had gotten taller and covered in more ice and other defenses as a way to keep him out. Dominick hadn’t done a damn thing either, which was the most irritating point. If he’d said or done something bad, then he could at least own up to that himself and accept it.
Instead, near as he could tell, Rhynne had subconsciously realized how hard things would be to continue on with him, and had decided that shutting him out would be easier. That was something that—though he would have had a hard time with it—Dominick felt he could have done if Rhynne had had the decency to talk to him and explain things.
All he’d gotten, however, was the cold shoulder and the crass treatment during exercises like the day before, where she’d dumped him on the ground unnecessarily at the end. And all of that was beginning to rub him the wrong way.
“Thanks for talking, Dom,” Asher said. “I’m not gonna give you some trite bullshit about it all working out. You know I feel that way, and I know that doesn’t help you at all at the moment. I’m just glad we got this out, and that you aren’t pissed off at us for something we did.”
Dom leaned back in his chair, and this time the other two let their shoulders slide off.
“Surprisingly, speaking aloud actually helped. I should have opened up to you guys earlier,” he said. “Maybe we can have a beer at the end of the day?”
Zeke slapped his hand on the table loudly. “No!”
Dominick frowned. “Uh, okay. Maybe not?”
“I demand we have two beers,” Zeke said, throwing an elbow at Dom, who blocked it effortlessly.
“Well, if you’re going to twist my rubber arm about it,” Dom told them as the three had a chuckle. “For now though, I have a few things I need to take care of,” he said, his mood souring slightly as he noticed movement coming down the hallway.
Tall, lithely powerful movement, with long pulled-back reddish-brown hair, engrossing brown eyes with that tantalizing hint of red all framed by high cheekbones and thin, but utterly kissable lips.
