Chapter 5

Muted light graced my closed eyelids and a soft surface pillowed my body. My aching body. I tried to recall if anything I had done warranted such an ache. I wanted to slip back into sleep, but I could smell him. Feel him. The sweet, smoky scent of burning wood and the warmth of a roaring fire. I felt relaxed and as though I had slept long enough to be well-rested, but I was still exhausted.

            “You will feel that way until we complete our bond. Or join, as your people call it.”

            Again, I could hear him. Could practically feel his voice caress my mind, but I knew what I was hearing was only in my head.

            “It is the way of dragons. We can communicate with our mates without actually speaking. I can feel your emotions, hear most of your thoughts, see some of your memories. If you wanted, you could do the same.”

            Before I could dwell on thoughts of him being in my head, I heard Celeste’s outraged shrieks.

            “I am The Queen! You will remove yourself from this door and allow me to see my daughter or I will bring down my entire army on you! You are guests in my home, here only because I allow it. Do not make me rescind my hospitality!”

            “You’re no queen of mine and your empty threats mean nothing,” a rich voice responded.

            “Rescind your hospitality, we will gladly leave and take our future queen with us,” another chimed in.

            A shiver skirted its way down my spine and I paused when I realized it was the effect of the two voices. Valen’s voice should be the only one with any effect on me.

            “My brothers will be thrilled to know that they affect you so, little fox.”

            “I won’t repeat myself again! Open this door!” Celeste shouted.

            More reserved, I could hear my father’s voice telling her to calm down. I also thought I could hear Kormen. I really hoped they didn’t come in here, especially not when I remembered how I’d climbed Valen’s body in front of everyone in the throne room.

            “She will not enter unless you wish it. Konah and Brennan won’t let anyone in unless we tell them to. And feel free to use my body any way you like, it’s yours.”

            Ignoring his body comments, I followed his thoughts. From there, I knew that Konah was the blonde, Brennan the redhead. But the images of them were blurry, barely discernable. Celeste continued to threaten them, but they spoke no more.

            “Open your eyes, little fox. Let me see you.”

            It was uttered gently into my head. Soft. Almost pleading. There was no denying the fact that it was a command though. I hadn’t even realized my eyes hadn’t opened and I’d been seeing everything through him. My lashes fluttered and my gaze immediately found his. He sat next to the bed, his chair pulled up as close as he could get it. He sat forward, his elbows propped on his knees, hands clasped before him. Eyes, intense and brooding, bore into me. Golden amber again, with specks of bright gold glittering throughout them and framed by unruly lashes, they were mesmerizing. His pupils and irises were back to their circular form. Normal. At some point while I’d slept, he’d changed his clothing. His muscular frame was now sheathed in a clean t-shirt, still black though. I guessed he would have needed to get rid of the clothes he’d worn before since they would’ve been soaked in blood. Soaked in blood. I sucked in a deep breath at the realization that I’d intentionally tried to kill my mate. The one person meant for me. The one person I needed above all others. Had I not been so shocked by him being a dragon, I would have hurt him. Dragon. My mate is a dragon! Dragons don’t exist anymore. A hysterical laugh bubbled up and out of me. My hands shook.

            “Relax, Cyan,” Valen spoke out loud as he reached out and scooped me up, placing me on his lap. My shaking subsided and the mounting panic dissipated. “Your power recognized me long before you did. It enjoyed the challenge in the fight, but it would not have allowed you to truly hurt me.”

            That would explain the urging I felt to seek him out. To challenge him. To be near him. It would also explain my body’s reaction to him. Why he calmed me, warmed me. God, he was so freaking warm! I felt so familiar with him, intimate. Something was missing though. I didn’t feel¼balanced? Pushing those thoughts aside and drowning out Celeste’s voice, I looked at him.

            “Did I hurt any of them?”

            He gave a single shake of his head before he spoke. “Only their pride.”

            Relief poured through me, but it was short lived. “And Kormen?”

            His eyes narrowed.

            “What is he to you?”

            “My best friend.”

            “Nothing more?”

            I drew a blank. Of course there was nothing more. Did he think I would lie to him about something so serious?

            “My suspicions do not lie with you, little fox, just him. Apparently, there was always more expected on his end.”

            That couldn’t be true, but I’d been deceived by Kormen, so I wasn’t exactly the best judge of character. I didn’t want to believe it, but considered his words. Kormen had always been there for me. He had never treated me like more than just a friend. He’d also never dated anyone seriously or mentioned wanting to be with any of the many women who made their intentions with him clear. Unheard of amongst warriors of his standing. With our lack of females, most were indulged and prone to given whatever they wanted, especially sex with warriors who considered it an honor if a child was created. I remembered the look on his face when he’d told me everything would be okay. Did he know about this when I’d murdered the others? How long had he known he was intended as my mate? How long had he pretended to be my friend for that reason alone? How long had I really been such an idiot?

            “Why do you call me little fox?”

            If he was bothered by my change in subject he didn’t let it show. Instead a small smile curved sensuous lips and wow I wanted to bite them.

            “Have you never heard of the arctic fox?”

            I had. A small, all white creature. Cunning and fierce. Was that how he saw me?

            “Where are you from? All my life I’ve been told dragons don’t exist.”

            “I will show you,” he answered.

“Not vague at all,” I murmured and his lips twitched, the corners kicking up slightly. I glanced around the room. I wasn’t familiar with it, so it had to be his. One of the many guest rooms we had in the palace.

            “I have to face them, don’t I?” I asked, glancing at the door.

            “When you’re ready, but only if you want. We could always just leave.”

            But that wasn’t true. I couldn’t leave. I couldn’t abandon my clan. I had to stay and step up to the mantle that had been destined for me. I needed to do this and with him by my side, maybe I’d succeed.

            The Queen had gone quiet. Not a good sign. She could be amassing the warriors as we sat here, but a thought occurred to me. Dragons were said to be extinct. No one had seen or heard from them in years, centuries. Where had they been this entire time? Could Celeste be sending forces to decimate them at this moment?

            “The queen doesn’t know where you came from, right?”

            He smiled as though he could read my— Right. He actually could read my mind. That would take some getting used to.

            “Your mother can’t send her army after my people. Her threats truly are empty.”

            That was comforting. One less thing I needed to worry about. Now if only I could figure out why everything on me hurt so bad and why I felt so weak. There had been rare times when I’d felt this way. Drained. Completely exhausted and starved for life.

            “You’ll feel that way until we finish the bond. I didn’t know we had to wait until your birthday. Had I known, I wouldn’t have initiated it. You’ll suffer because of me and for that I apologize. In my culture we mate as soon as we meet to keep our women from suffering and being vulnerable.”

            “Vulnerable?”

            “If you tried to use your power right now you wouldn’t have the energy needed to sustain it.”

            I could hear the truth behind his words. I suspected he would never lie to me, but I needed my own confirmation. This vulnerability was not something our women faced. We were strong. We needed our mates eventually, but meeting them did nothing to damper our powers. Turning my head toward the bed, I blew a stream of air toward it. It frosted over, a thin layer of ice coating it, before my body slumped against his. Panic and horror grew as my breathing became labored. I felt weak as a lamb. How could I face anyone like this? I was weak. Weak and vulnerable. Two things I hadn’t been since I’d been a child. Two things I loathed most in the world. How could I survive like this?

            “You wouldn’t,” Valen answered aloud, placing his hand flat on the bed. The ice disappeared and his hand glowed slightly. “When our women are weakened and cannot complete the mating bond, for whatever reason, it is an honor for their mate to stand as their protectors. I told you before, I’d keep you safe. I meant that. I could never promise you wouldn’t be harmed, but I would do everything in my power to eviscerate your enemies or save you from them.”

            Eviscerate, huh? And suddenly I didn’t feel so vulnerable anymore.

            “Your birthday is on Christmas.”

            It wasn’t a question, but I suspected he wanted an answer. I nodded and waited for him to say more.

            “Where are the decorations?”

            I could no longer meet his eyes. He could read my thoughts, so I didn’t understand why he didn’t know this.

            “You do exceptionally well at blocking the thoughts you don’t want me to hear and broadcasting the ones you don’t care about me hearing.”

            His voice inside my head after speaking aloud for so long caused me to jump.

            “How do I block you?”

            Broad shoulders rose and fell in a shrug. Something so childish on a man his size seemed almost comical.

            “At this point you should not be able to. The bond is still developing. This is the time we should be getting to know one another. Think of it as a failsafe. It’s natural to want to hide things from each other, but that could cause misunderstandings and lead to discord between us. The developing bond would keep us from hiding things and show us exactly who we are deep inside, so there would be no issues.”

            Thick, calloused fingers stroked my cheeks before his fingers slid beneath my chin and applied pressure to make me look up and meet his eyes.

            “You’d have to be extremely strong to fight the bond. Not many could do it. It’s essentially unheard of.”

            “Like you?” I wondered aloud. I hadn’t heard any of his thoughts outside of the ones he ‘spoke’ or felt any of his emotions and anything I saw through him came through blurred or hazy, almost as if it weren’t being allowed through. He shook his head and that damnable smirk appeared again.

            “I’m not blocking you, little fox.”