by E. J. Waugh
“And you are holding my son,” one of the men stepped forward. Jaren hesitated for a split second, but then remembered the panicked quality of Elston’s banging on the door, and his tears. This may well be his father, but Elston clearly didn’t wish to go with him.
“I am the lord of this land, and I consider him under my protection. As such, I will have to ask you to leave,” he said, keeping his tone firm and even as much as he could. This handful of humans didn’t frighten him, but he would prefer to end the conflict without having to resort to threats or violence. Not for their sake, but because the last thing he wanted was for Elston to see his true nature for what it really was.
“You have no need to offer him protection. This is his father, and I am his intended mate,” the leader said, stepping well in front of the rest of the group and coming to a stop no more than five strides away from Jaren. Jaren turned to the door and pushed it closed behind him.
A clearer picture of the situation was beginning to form in Jaren’s head. If this was Elston’s intended mate, then the intention was one-sided. He felt his shoulders tense, his body preparing to shift at the slightest provocation. Of all the things in the world that he hated, taking an omega’s right to choose their partner away from them, as was becoming so common in this age, was the worst of humanity’s crimes.
“He has asked me for my protection, and I will not withdraw it unless he asks that of me, as well.”
The leader took another step forward, readying to push Jaren out of the way. Before he reached his target, though, Jaren began to shift into his dragon form. He knew from experience that watching a human turn into a dragon was more terrifying than the existence of a dragon by itself, and hoped it would be enough to dissuade the gang in front of him from pushing further.
By the time he was done and had regained control of his vision, the stragglers were running in the opposite direction, cries of ‘monster’ carrying back to Jaren’s ears. Perhaps he was a monster, but no more so than someone who would contribute to forcing a mate on an omega.
Only Elston’s father and the leader remained, but both of them were backing away by inches. Jaren roared, then reared back and spat a jet of fire into the air, a warning that he wouldn’t hesitate to turn the same treatment on them.
He would hesitate, of course, but they didn't have to know that.
When he looked down again, the other two men were standing frozen. He hit the ground with a thud and looked the leader directly in the eyes. For a moment, Jaren wasn’t sure if the display would be enough, and he hadn’t planned past this point. They wouldn’t take Elston as long as he lived, but he would prefer not to have to resort to force.
To his relief, Elston’s father ran, and the other man seemed to lose the last of his confidence. He backed off, and then turned to run as well. Jaren watched them both disappear into the forest.
A creak behind him alerted him to Elston’s presence. Jaren’s heart sank. Now that Elston had seen him like this, he might never learn to trust him again.
He’d certainly never love him, which, Jaren had realized, was something he dearly wished for. No part of him expected it, nor believed it was going to happen, but any shred of hope he might have held onto was torn from his grasp the moment he saw Elston looking up at him.
Seeing him as a dragon under controlled conditions might have been one thing, but seeing him roaring and threatening a member of his family would be enough to make anyone wary, even someone as obviously intelligent and open-minded as Elston.
As he shifted back, Elston approached him, first cautiously, and then at a sprint. For a moment, Jaren feared he was going to attack, but instead, Elston wrapped his arms around Jaren’s middle and clung to him.
“Thank you,” he whispered, his face buried against Jaren’s chest. After a moment, when Jaren had convinced himself that Elston wasn’t going to move, he settled his own arms around him. It had been decades—no, centuries—since he’d held something so precious.
“I’m sorry you had to see that,” Jaren said. The damage had been done, but that wouldn’t stop him from trying to repair it.
“I’ve never seen a dragon before.” Elston let go and backed off a pace. Though his eyes were still red from crying and he looked worse for the wear, he no longer seemed to be panicked or afraid. Jaren considered this a good sign.
“Yes, and I’m sorry that the first time you saw one, it had to be out of anger.”
“Out of protection,” Elston corrected.
Jaren felt his heart jump in his chest. He wanted, more than anything, to be thought of as a protector. To use his strength for good. Elston, against all odds, saw him that way.
“I meant what I said. You have my protection for as long as you want it.”
“I can’t afford to refuse. You’re the only friend I have, and I can’t get away while they’re still looking for me. I thought they wouldn’t care.” Elston sniffed, and wiped his nose on his sleeve.
Jaren understood why they cared. Elston was a beautiful omega, and bright as well. In the world of trading one’s children for social, political, and material gain, he would have been incredibly valuable.
A harsh breeze whipped around the walls of the castle, making Jaren shiver. At his age, shifting was exhausting, and the cold was even harder to bear when he was tired.
What he wanted most was to go inside and curl up in front of a fire, but with Elston close by. Ideally, in his arms again.
“The weather is about to turn for the worse. But when it clears, I promise we will get you away from here.” Jaren wanted to add if you still wish to leave, but thought better of it. It would only cause him more heartache if he allowed himself to believe that Elston might stay with him. Or might want to explore the world with Jaren at his side.
“It won’t clear until the other side of winter.”
“I know. But I would rather you didn’t end up dying in a snowdrift, so I’d be obliged if you’d consent to stay for the season. It would make the time pass much more pleasantly.”
Elston’s cheeks colored, though whether it was because of the cold or the compliment, Jaren wasn’t sure.
“I would be honored to accept your offer.” Elston smiled, his shoulders slumping. Jaren hadn’t noticed how tightly he’d been holding himself until he stopped. He wanted to spare Elston as much fear and anxiety as possible.
“Then we will go inside, and I’ll have your room heated again.” Jaren breathed an internal sigh of relief. He would make the most of whatever company Elston was willing to offer, and consider it one of the gifts life had been so generous in giving him.
Chapter Seven
“My father thinks mating me to Torv will keep me in line,” Elston explained as he settled down next to Jaren on a plush sofa in front of the fire. He didn’t want to stray too far from the other man, and so far, Jaren had made no indication that this was a problem.
“Why should you need to be kept in line?”
Elston snorted. It was easier to laugh now that he felt safe. “No one likes an omega with ideas. Especially good ideas that work.”
“Ah, I see.” Jaren sighed. “I suppose that an omega with a mind of his own is terribly inconvenient. Worse, when it’s a mind as sharp as yours.”
“I’m flattered that you think so much of my mind,” Elston said. He wasn’t used to being complimented for his intelligence, only punished for showing it.
“I think very much of you in general.”
Elston wasn’t sure how to respond to that, so he let silence fall over them both for a few moments before he felt compelled to speak again.
“Torv’s a bully who’s been through half a dozen omegas he won’t acknowledge anymore. Why would my father want me to mate with him? He knows how cruel Torv is. Everyone knows. He ruins lives, and he’d discard me just as quickly.”
“I can’t guess as to your father’s motivations. Torv, however, is not an uncommon sort of man. He would be an idiot to discard you. Any alpha should consider t
hemselves lucky to have the benefit of your company.”
“Like you do?” Elston asked. He needed reassurance that he wasn’t alone in the world now, and knew that Jaren would provide it. He wasn’t blind or stupid, and he understood that Jaren’s affection for him extended beyond simple friendship. What he wasn’t sure of yet was how he felt about that, beyond feeling the need to hear that he was wanted and liked by someone.
“Like I do,” Jaren agreed, as predicted.
Elston shifted closer to him, hoping to provide some extra warmth as a small form of repayment. If Jaren noticed, he didn’t react.
He was the first person in Elston’s life who hadn’t asked for anything from him, but that wasn’t reason enough to enter into a relationship with the other man. Besides anything else, it wouldn’t be right if Elston’s heart wasn’t in it. Jaren was deeply lonely, and offering him companionship only to snatch it away later would be cruel.
Elston realized after a few moments that Jaren had dozed off while he was thinking. He might have looked more vulnerable in his sleep, but he never looked all that threatening while he was awake. Even in his full draconic glory, Elston hadn't been afraid of him. He’d been in awe.
Jaren was as beautiful as Elston had imagined a dragon would be. His deep scarlet scales had glittered in the light, his wings had been huge and powerful, but so delicate as to be transparent when he’d held them up.
Elston wasn't sure how to tell him this, though, without the risk of giving him the wrong impression. He may not have been in love with Jaren, but he couldn't stand the thought of hurting him.
For lack of anything better to do, he curled up against Jaren’s side and closed his eyes. If he was going to be stuck somewhere, this wasn't the worst place to be stuck.
When he woke, Jaren was gone and the fire that had been roaring before was now embers. Elston sat up and found he’d been covered by a blanket. It might have been any one of the servants, but Elston suspected it had been Jaren himself who’d done it.
As he made his way through the castle and back to his own room, he could feel a part of his heart opening up. Not just to Jaren, but to his home, as well.
He wasn't sure what to think of it just yet, but he promised himself that he would think on it. He’d ended up here for a reason, and he wanted to make sure he understood what it was.
Chapter Eight
Jaren couldn't avoid noticing the changes coming over him thanks to Elston's presence. He’d known that he enjoyed the younger man's company, but he hadn't realized how lonely he’d been. Not how deep the loneliness ran, or how much easier the world seemed with someone who he wasn't paying to be near him. With someone who wanted to be there.
Though it was never far from his mind that Elston had chosen him as the lesser of two evils, it was also never far from his mind that Elston had described him as his protector.
Jaren wanted to be that. More than anything, he wanted to make Elston feel safe and cared for.
As he watched him read quietly in his chair by the fire, Jaren wondered what he could do to show Elston that he would care for him always, given the chance. It still seemed unlikely that Elston would ever love him, but he had stayed, and he had not hidden himself away. It would be enough if he simply chose to accept Jaren’s help, for as long as he needed it.
“Did you ever have a mate?” Elston broke the silence, and Jaren’s train of thought.
“Hmm? Ah, no. Nothing like you mean, in any case. I had lovers, when I was younger, but I never quite found the time to settle down.”
“You’re a thousand years old and you live in a castle,” Elston said.
Jaren laughed. He was discovering, to his delight, that Elston had a very dry sense of humor and did not suffer fools lightly. Even if the fool in question was Jaren himself.
“The opportunity, then, rather than the time. Perhaps I could have made the opportunity, but I thought it would always be there. And now I am one of the few remaining members of a dying breed, and it isn’t.”
“There are still humans,” Elston said.
“There are,” Jaren responded cautiously, wondering just how much of his mind Elston knew. He hadn’t been careful enough in keeping his feelings toward Elston to himself, especially considering how perceptive Elston had shown himself to be. He was young, but he was by no means stupid.
“Have you ever been in love, then?”
“Oh yes,” Jaren said. “Many times.” He didn’t add always with humans, because he felt exposed enough as it was. Refusing Elston’s questions would make him seem brooding and closed off, and that wasn’t the impression he wanted to give, but he also didn’t want Elston to see the desperation with which he wanted to be loved again.
His fear was that Elston, who had a kind heart and a good soul, would take pity on him. Worse, act on that pity, and then become resentful when he remembered that Jaren wasn’t what he had wanted from his all-too-short human life.
“What’s it like? What’s it supposed to be like?”
Jaren paused, trying to decide whether to formulate an answer that would satisfy Elston’s curiosity, or to tell the truth. He realized a moment later that Elston would know if he told anything less than the absolute, honest truth, but that meant he’d have to settle for a less than satisfactory answer.
“It’s an uncomfortable feeling, but the nicest one I’ve ever experienced. Love is urgent and desperate and incredibly inconvenient, and has a bad habit of happening at the worst possible moments. I have been in genuine fear for my life, and I’ve been in love, and love is the more frightening of the two. But once the first storm passes, once you get used to the feeling, it makes the world seem like a much more manageable place. As long as it’s reciprocated, that is. But I think… it is my opinion that you cannot truly love someone who doesn’t love you. Only obsess over them.”
Elston was silent for a moment, but then he laughed. “So that’s what a thousand years of wisdom sounds like.”
“I think calling me wise would be an overly generous assessment.”
“I don’t,” Elston said. “It’s one of my favorite things about you.”
Jaren went to respond, but found he had nothing to say. The idea that Elston had favorite things about him was enough to make his heart pound in his chest, though he was sure Elston hadn’t intended such a thing.
“I take it you feel you’ve never been in love?” Jaren said, though he wasn’t sure he wanted to hear the answer.
“I don’t know. But I’ve never, uh, had a lover.”
Jaren’s stomach flipped, though he wasn’t sure if it was a good or bad reaction. The jealous, dragon part of him was glad to hear that, should he win Elston’s affection, he would not have to share it even with the past. The human part of him wanted Elston to have known love for his own sake. “You are very young. Even humans live longer than twenty years.”
“I’m old for an unmated omega, though. Soon, I’ll be too old.”
“Only for people who don’t value you for yourself, Elston. A good mate won’t care how old you are. They’ll only care about whether or not you’re happy, and if they can increase your happiness.”
“See? You are wise.”
“Well. Perhaps in some matters.” Jaren cleared his throat. “Only because of a wealth of experience and a great deal of heartbreak.”
“I’m sorry,” Elston said.
“Don’t be. I’ve had a wonderful life.”
“How long will you live?” Elston asked, his tone making it obvious that this was something he had been curious about, but was wary of asking.
“Forever, unless I die. Mortal wounds will kill a dragon, as will a truly broken heart.”
“Alina told me you’d turn to stone if your heart broke.”
“Alina is a very clever girl, and absolutely right. A broken heart in a dragon is usually caused by the loss of their mate.”
“Is that why you never mated?”
“No.” Jaren shook his head. “No, if I’d ever fou
nd someone willing to mate with me, even a human, I would have taken on the risk of death without a second thought. Living forever is a much less valuable prize, to me, than even a handful of years of utter fulfillment. I would rather be mated for a day than live another thousand years alone but for brief affairs.”
Elston hummed thoughtfully. “I did wonder why you cared so much about forced matings. I think I understand now.”
“Well, that and it’s fundamentally wrong to take the choice about what they do with their own body away from an omega. No one ever asks the same of an alpha. The fact that omegas bear our children should mean we treat them with the utmost respect and reverence, not as a means to an end.”
This time, Elston smiled. “I’ve never heard an alpha talk like that.”
“You should have. Humans have lost their way in the last few centuries. Omegas were thought worthy of worship, once. An alpha was allowed to be near them, not entitled to it. To me, that is the natural order of things.”
A pretty pink blush colored Elston’s cheeks. “I don’t know if we need to be worshipped. Respect would be nice, though.” He looked directly at Jaren, holding his gaze for a long moment. “I suppose that’s why you never feel like a threat to me. I feel safe sleeping here. I barely felt safe at home after my mother died.”
“As long as I draw breath, you will be safe here,” Jaren promised. He’d said it before, but it didn’t hurt to remind Elston that he was welcome to consider this his home.
“I know,” Elston agreed, and then went back to his book without another word.
The tiniest shred of hope wrapped itself around Jaren’s heart, and he knew immediately that it would never be dislodged.
Chapter Nine
While he’d known it was going to happen eventually, Elston hadn’t thought about what he’d do when he went into heat over the winter. He’d never been good at keeping track of them, and his first warning was usually an uncomfortable, itchy feeling he couldn’t quite identify the source of at first.
