Iris stood in disbelief looking at her hands and then at the handsomely menacing stranger in her living room who was apparently magic-proof. The look he was giving her told her he had been expecting her reaction and he was enjoying the shock she was in, which too seemed expected. Carlisle's words rang in her head, 'Y' 'send enhanced creatures after you' 'power to kill you, get out of that city.'
That paralleled with the stranger's infuriating smirk standing confidently like he knows what she is and how to tackle her, Iris felt panic rise inside her like never before. She never needed to fear anyone other than her foster brother.
He was the only one stronger than herself with an extreme influence over the supernatural community that very few had. This man's ability to stand smirking against her magic blow meant Carl was right and her brother had succeeded in his mission and the creatures she was being warned about had already found her.
Dom saw the panic in her eyes.
This wasn't what he had planned. Giving her a panic attack was last on his to-do list. His mate was in front of him. He had finally found her. After centuries of waiting, he was finally able to look at her honey eyes and listen to her erratically beating heart. But the moment wasn't as he had imagined it to be.
Wasn't it supposed to be so that both mates were dragon shifters and both felt the heat rising and fire burning in their eyes as they connected for an eternity? Wasn't it supposed to be a dreamy magical experience? Wasn't it expected to be utter bliss to meet The One? So why wasn't his mate like him? Why was this turning into a nightmare? Why was she panicking?
He needed to calm her down, so she would listen to him calmly and accept what had happened and how it happened, and the decision he was about to declare to her. He hadn't expected to walk in, talk, and leave like a delivery guy, but her defensive stature and ready-to-attack pose made the conversation ten-fold difficult. It was getting out of hand and he needed to get control of the situation and steer it in a direction regarding what he had gone there to do. He decided to change tactics.
His demeanor shifted like magic. One second he was an arrogant jerk and the other he had a look of pure understanding and concern. He stepped back to allow her some space, making Iris feel even more confused. What was this stranger up to? She hesitated. He had changed tactics. She understood that much, but what confused her was the question, 'If he was there to kill her on her brother's orders, then why try to converse or calm her down? Why bother?' Unless that is exactly how her brother wanted it, for her to lower her guard and then get removed from this world once and for all.
"I know what you're thinking. It's partially true." He started in a softer tone, one that is used to calm a tantrum-throwing baby.
"O yea? So now you are a telepath too?" Her breathing was hard as she tried to form an escape plan. Death was welcome, but the way it was forced upon her by her brother wasn't.
"I don't need to be a telepath to know what your defensive reaction means." He said, trying to politely motion at her stature. As she overviewed herself, he resumed, "I am not an enemy, love. On the contrary, I am one of the only people on this planet who can protect you against them."
"And do I look like an idiot who'd believe that an apparently magic-proof stranger, who broke into my magically fortified apartment, came not to kill me on my brother's orders but drop some Dahlia's and chocolates?" She almost shouted at him.
"Well, if I knew you liked Dahlia's over roses, I might've, Yes!" He pointed to a pretty bouquet of red and pink mid-bloom roses sitting beside her laptop on a table beside her, his sly smirk reappearing slightly.
"Shut up!" She finally screamed, frustrated, "Just shut up! I don't believe you. And I am gonna kill you and your friend outside my door, one way or another. I am more than just my magic, and plant this bouquet on your graves."
That created another shift in him. Here he was ready to change his attitude, become soft and polite to his mate and there she was announcing a vain threat to kill him. Something snapped inside him. Giving answers can wait. Clearing confusion can wait. No one, not even his wild mate, was allowed to talk like that with him, whether she did it in ignorance or not. He took two large steps in her direction, making her shrink immediately in her respective corner as he told her point-blank,
"Alright. That. Is. Enough!" He was a foot away from her now and her back was touching the wall behind her. He came even closer and putting both hands on the wall beside her head, trapped her to stay put and listen to him.
This new development scared her even more. There had never in her, more than a thousand years of life, been a time when she got cornered by a man stronger than herself, and she didn't know how to get out of there, besides her evil brother and her first love. It had been so long since a man had entered her personal space and caused goosebumps of a strange bliss and not utter terror.
The moment she could feel his heat radiating in waves, she almost lost track of the conversation. He seemed to have strange magnets in his eyes that made sure, despite her fear of him, to not look away. Her mind was screaming at her to get out of there and keep a safe distance between them. He was possibly her murderer. But her body refused to follow, deep down in her heart, somehow she didn't feel as threatened as she should've by her angel of death. So she stayed put.
Dom could see the hesitation in her eyes, the involuntary reaction of her body to the closeness of his. So maybe, she did feel something just not as strongly as a dragon-shifter would've. It was about time his mate showed signs of their mutual bond as he had shown. He told in her ear,
"You are mine, Iris." He realized the moment those words left his mouth, that he should've phrased them better.
Iris had felt contradictory emotions the moment she first caught sight of him. She had felt a strange familiarity but she knew he was a stranger. She felt strangely attached to him though Carl had just been warning her against those who would be sent to finish her off. One moment he was almost flirting with her and then he started to care for her like she was a child and then suddenly he was back to acting like he wanted to make her his.
But the moment those four words left his lips, their bubble burst as she realized a killer would say the same. She had lowered her guard and here he was trapping her between the wall of her apartment and his tall and strong body radiating an abnormal heat and an inviting scent.
Her brain told her to break out of the trance and this time, she did. She kicked him in the groin and as he toppled over she ran to her bedroom. He may be magic-proof, but he was a man in the end. Despite her super speed, she had barely made it to her bedroom door when he had gotten hold of her waist. That shocked her even more. She barely whispered to herself about his speed and recovery in confusion, "How did-"
But he slammed her on her bed and got on top to immobilize her and groaned, "What have I done to make you mistrust me like that?"
He was about to keep that guttural tone until he saw she had tears glistening in her eyes and he could see that fact alone felt embarrassing to her. He resumed in a softer tone as he was still upset, "I brought you flowers, I told you I am not your enemy, I was even ready to give you the answers you needed, so why are you acting like this?"
He felt her stop struggling under him, but instead of understanding, he saw her give up. And soon she had completely blacked out. That confused him as he got up from her form, which felt like tearing one of his limbs from him. That's when he heard from the bedroom door, "I was about to suggest you two take a room already but then I saw those tears and I couldn't help myself."
Dom's right-hand man stood giving a judging stare to Dom and holding a tranquilizer gun in his hand, "Didn't expect the tranquilizer to work this fast though." Dom marched angrily at his friend, "Why would you do that? Freddie, I was getting through to her."
Freddie smirked and put a hand on his Alpha's shoulder, "Whatever you were doing, it wasn't getting through to her." He motioned to the unconscious girl lying on her own bed and said, "Your plan A wasn't working, so I decided to jump to plan B. Weren't we supposed to get her out of here safe, one way or another? She wasn't going to come willingly. This was the only choice."
Then he added, looking sympathetically at his Alpha, "She may not approve of this method now, but one day, she will understand. She is Alpha's mate, your mate! She will come around. Right now we need to leave with her before that bastard brother of hers notices we betrayed his master plan."
Dom nodded and ordered authoritatively, "Get Lady Marie and Susanne to come and gather every belonging of Iris. I will take her to the car. Let's go home." Freddie smiled appreciatively at his alpha, "Yep, let's finally get back home. It's been two hell of weeks we have been through."
Read on more to find out why Iris reacted the way she did. What makes her so paranoid?What would be your first reaction, if a handsome mysterious stranger broke into your house?
Iris's head felt heavy as she dizzily opened her eyes. It felt like an eternity when she was last time intoxicated enough to pass out or made to blackout. The former was due to her extra fast metabolism that made it hard for her to become drunk. The latter, though, was scary and brought very bad memories. Since she hadn't been drinking before passing out, she remembered the handsome Dominic guy with his henchman, clearly sent by her brother to torment her. One of them must've drugged her. That must be why it was hard to focus on her thoughts and she felt like she was in a car. A tranquillizer strong enough to take her down was only present in Y's stash. So many terrifying outcomes made her want to cry out, but her tranquillized body wouldn't cooperate. Dom felt his mate stir and open her eyes. He could see she was struggling to keep them open, keep herself awake and also recognize where she was. The moment her mind registered where she was and what had been done to her, her senses
This time Iris woke up in luxurious surroundings. Her head still pounded and she still felt dizzy, but her surroundings made her overcome every feeling she might have with confusion and awe. It was some sort of master bedroom. From the king-sized bed on which she lay to the marbled floor and painted ceiling with images of Greek Gods, Goddesses, and fire-breathing dragons. The room was a marvel. The royal-ish furniture seemed to be imbibed with gold and gems in various places. Iris tried moving and getting to a sitting position. She didn't know how she got there but the memories from before tranquillization came back gradually. This clearly wasn't werewolves, they would never treat her this well. So could it be her abductor, Dominic? She didn't even know his last name and he seemed to know her strengths and weaknesses like the back of his hand. She could see three doors, one of them must be the bathroom and the other the walk-in wardrobe, so that meant the third one was the exit. Tha
The reality of being kidnapped by a person who could legit turn himself into a dragon was a scary one. Iris was trying to come to terms with it all when the three women heard an explosion that seemed just outside the wall-sized window. Lady Marie suddenly got into a high-alert mode and ordered Sussane, "The duty to comfort and protect your Alpha lady is on you now child, prove your worth."* With that, she was out of the room as quickly as sound. Iris looked at Sussane alarmed, "What was that? What is happening? What did Lady Marie mean by Alpha Lady? Was she referring to me? What do I need comfort and protection from? Why did she ask you to prove your worth? Is it Dragon Dominic?" The questions poured from her lips like water from a waterfall but Sussane simply replied, "There are two things you should know, Lady Hanson. One, There are things like answering your questions, that I am not allowed to do, only Lady Marie or Alpha McBlaze can, even though I do know the truth, it's not m
By the time evening rolled in, Iris was getting jumpy and Sussane was finding it hard to keep her calm. Commotion and voices outside had ceased but Iris' restlessness only increased with every passing minute. Twilight had settled when Lady Marie entered, "Ah, finally, we can all relax and rest for the night. Tomorrow is a big day." She looked exhausted but had a victorious shine in her eyes. "Alright! That is enough!" Iris had finally had enough. She was done waiting and she was done waiting in one room belonging to her abductor and feeling caged. "Either you guys tell me the whole truth right now. Or so help me God, Dragons or not, I will tear you all to shreds and escape. I'd rather take my chances in the outside world than in this royal prison you are conducting." She was furious and both the women could see that. Sussane looked helplessly at Lady Marie and communicated telepathically to her, 'She has been on the verge of bursting for a while now.' Lady Marie nodded silently, t
"Mate!"The moment that those words left Lady Marie's lips, Iris felt a chill travel down her spine.She was familiar with this bond. It had happened once, a long time ago, when she was newly enhanced. It did not end nicely.#It was when Iris found herself in a random forest somewhere in England when she was only a century old, most of which was either spent in a Japanese temple learning to become a samurai or in a Russian laboratory as a lab rat. She had finally broken out of her lab prison and was currently trying to survive the cold English winter night when an amazing feeling hit her. It felt like home and comfort and warmth.She stood on her guard, ready to run again if need be. She had been through enough already. But that smell materialized in the form of a handsome blonde man with blue eyes smiling kindly at her. That is how she realized she had found home and comfort and warmth in the form of a man. But before that, she had already promised herself to another man, so she cou
A warm, soothing comfort surrounded her as Iris wanted nothing more than to snuggle into the inviting scent. Everything felt so right that she wanted to sleep a little more. But despite everything, she stiffened at the toughness of her pillow. Where was her feather pillow and why was this hard pillow breathing? Before she could react to what seemed like a nightmarish situation, a rumble was heard as a laugh sounded from her pillow, ”I know you are awake, little wolf!” She heard the smirk in his voice. Iris opened her eyes to stare directly into the mesmerizing ones of none other than Dominic McBlaze, who was lying shirtless where Iris' was against his naked chest, which felt like searing her cheek, and her ear could hear his beating heart. The full extent of her compromising position dawned on her when he noted smugly, "Even though you drool, you do sleep adorably." That made her shoot up, rubbing her chin to get rid of the little drool that got her made fun of, making the sheet cov
Since, apparently, they were having breakfast in the bedroom, Iris didn't want to stay with Dom alone any more than she had already done so far. He did things to her without touching her. He made her heart flutter, the kind of thing that made her confused. Yes, he was her mate and she understood that. That was why she was as hysterical as she was and trying to escape right now, but she needed time to come out of her love phobia. It felt like she had stopped allowing herself to be happy over the centuries, since her brother wouldn't ever allow her to receive the love of a man. Iris asked Lady Marie, "Will you join us for breakfast? I was hoping to get a few questions answered." But their privacy was all in Lady Marie's intentions, "My pretty child, you do not need me for any more answers. Your mate is just as well aware of the past and present as I am. He is quite capable of answering any and every question that you may have." She smiled, sensing her helplessness, and gave some detai
In no time, the breakfast was over and Sussane had come to fetch Iris to get her ready for the day and handed some papers to her Alpha cousin, who thanked her and left. After the conversation they had, Iris didn't expect much either. Sussane was all smiles and just as excited as Lady Marie like she had just come into the room of newlyweds. As soon as the breakfast was cleared up, Sussane started, "I hope you slept fine, I mean at dinner- you didn't seem so well." She seemed genuinely worried for her and it was a first in a long while for Iris. "Yes, I-uh, ghosts from the past." Iris tried to be vague, "I am fine now, thanks." Then she couldn't help but ask, "Can I maybe, from today onwards, get my own room? maybe?" She almost hesitated to ask but she couldn't spend every night on the same bed as him. "But you have your own room, you're standing in it." Sussane acted as if Iris' request confused her like she had asked something silly. "No, this is his room. Your Alpha's-" Iris tried