Elesian Dragon Mates: Dragon Shifter Reverse Harem Complete Series

by Sammie Joyce

  It was nothing. I just wanted to say how sorry I am. I know it’s been rough for you with me gone.

  He was lying. Gavin had never lied to her before, and Rose didn’t like it. Still, she knew better than to push him—that was just going to make him retreat further.

  Where did you go, anyway?

  You don’t expect me to give away all my secrets, do you?

  Well, it’s not like you’ll need a secret place again—since I’m not letting you go more than three feet from me for the rest of your life.

  Who says I won’t need it? Maybe I’ll kidnap you—take you on a secret honeymoon and not release you until the hills ring with the sound of you screaming my name.

  Rose had learned that exchanging dirty talk with her dragons at dinner was a recipe for embarrassment, so she quickly changed the subject. Maybe when we’ve defeated Hellith, we can all go.

  Gavin hesitated. Sure. That’ll be great.

  He was lying again.

  Gavin kept eating, aware that Rose knew he wasn’t being completely honest, but clearly not willing to talk about it. Rose knew she should tell Asher, but if she did, Asher would insist Gavin tell him everything. If he did that, Gavin would probably refuse, and if that happened, Rose wouldn’t put it past Asher to kick Gavin out of the clan for good.

  Asher didn’t tolerate secrets well, and she knew he had good reason. They were all relying on each other for protection. They couldn’t do that if they didn’t all have all of the information.

  But Rose couldn’t bear to lose him again. She would have to hope that he’d tell her in time. Doing something that may get him taken away from her for good was unthinkable.

  Chapter Eight

  “What do you guys have planned tomorrow?” Annabelle was half-sitting on Dane’s lap, but it didn’t bother Rose anymore, not now that her own broken heart was mended.

  Tomorrow was a Saturday. So far, Maria had ruled that they got weekends off from battle training, though Rose knew that if things got more serious with Hellith, even that luxury may not be affordable.

  Rose’s plans for tomorrow had involved a lot of naked, sweaty bodies, but she wasn’t about to admit that aloud. “Nothing in particular.”

  “Do you want to come pumpkin picking with Dane and me?”

  Of all the things Rose had expected, that wasn’t it. “Pumpkin picking?”

  “There’s a pumpkin patch around the back of the mansion, where they grow some stuff for the kitchens. It’s traditional for the new witches of the coven to pick them for the Autumn Festival.”

  Rose was feeling stupider by the moment. “What’s that?”

  “Every year, there’s a festival to celebrate the new witches of the coven—when our powers are at their best and purest. It’s kind of a rite of passage. Some of the older witches decorate the ballroom with pumpkins and spells and things. It sounds like it’ll be a great night—fancy dress, dancing, and there will be a feast.”

  Annabelle’s eyes were shining with excitement, but her explanation just made Rose sad. She’d missed so much that normal witches got to do. It wasn’t anyone’s fault. Hellith was after her, and she knew that it wasn’t safe for her act like everything was normal.

  Apart from her classes, she spent most of her time in the basement with her dragons. Rose loved spending time with them, but the thought of the Autumn Festival filled her with longing. Of course, she couldn’t. It wasn’t safe. With so many people, it would be easy for Hellith to disguise herself and sneak in to make an attempt on Rose’s life.

  She considered asking Asher, but decided against it. He’d just have to say no, and then he’d feel bad for it.

  Still, she couldn’t bring herself to disappoint Annabelle. The place she was describing was small and sheltered, and there were only four new coven members, so it wouldn’t be too crowded. That much would be safe enough.

  “Sure, pumpkin picking sounds great.”

  Rose was sure her dragons picked up her melancholy thoughts, but none of them said anything. What could they say? Risking her life for an evening of fun and belonging wasn’t a good idea. It just made it worse that this wasn’t the first thing like this Rose had missed.

  While Annabelle, Wendy and Jade had been going through initiation rituals as new members of the coven, Rose had been in meetings with Maria and Asher, trying to formulate a battle strategy against Hellith.

  When they had been at a lunch with some of the more senior witches, which would allow them to have an idea of who they wanted to mentor them in future, Rose had been rushed away because of a possible breach in the shields.

  Maria had feared it might be Hellith and wanted to keep Rose out of sight. It turned out to be an ordinary glitch in the shielding, but by the time that was discovered, the lunch was over.

  Mace took her hand as they walked back to the basement, offering his silent support. Rose didn’t know how she’d stand the coming weeks of her friends talking excitedly about the festival, but it wasn’t like she had much of a choice.

  Her dragons encouraged her to go to bed early, no doubt seeing that she was miserable and hoping she’d wake up feeling better the next day.

  When Rose woke, she was determined to try her best to enjoy the pumpkin picking. She may not get to go to the Autumn Festival, but this, at least, she could do. She may as well have as much fun as she could without letting herself become overwhelmed with sadness that she couldn’t go to the actual event.

  Her dragons were all exchanging looks at breakfast. Rose probed their minds, but found them closed to her. This wasn’t the worrying sensation she was experiencing with Gavin, where he’d completely cordoned off a section of thoughts.

  They were keeping their minds separate from hers, so that she couldn’t see anything they were thinking. Rose recognized the signs—they were planning a surprise for her and didn’t want to ruin it by letting her read it in their thoughts.

  Her spirits lifted a bit. Any surprise her dragons planned was bound to be a good one.

  “You ready?” Annabelle and Dane were holding hands.

  “Sure.” Rose got up and followed them through the mansion, outside and around to the pumpkins, her dragons trailing behind her.

  Wendy and Jade were already there, laughing as they compared the merits of two pumpkins.

  “We’re supposed to pick out thirty,” Annabelle explained. “Then the more experienced witches of the coven will use magic on them to make them bigger and enhance them in some way. Make them glow in the dark, or cover them in magical glitter, that kind of thing.”

  Rose nodded, already scanning the rows and rows of pumpkins. She crouched down next to one.

  “What about this one? It’s a bit small, but its form is perfect—very symmetrical. It’ll look great when it’s blown up.”

  “Trust you to analyze the anatomy of a pumpkin,” Jagger muttered. Rose shoved him out of the way of her pumpkin. She and Annabelle quickly got into a spirited discussion over the merits of symmetry versus brightness in pumpkins.

  Jagger and Gavin started arguing over how many pumpkin pies they would be able to eat in one go. Rose was glad to see that their banter was nothing but that—their usual bickering, nothing serious like the fight they’d had before Gavin left.

  Dane vanished behind the rows of pumpkins, no doubt looking for fresh ones that hadn’t been examined yet.

  Rose and Annabelle made their way down the row, picking a few pumpkins here and there, leaving others that they deemed inferior.

  As they rounded a corner, Dane was suddenly there. On the other side of the greenhouse, out of sight until now, he stood in front of a pumpkin the size of a small car. He had a bouquet of autumn leaves, with some orange flowers scattered in.

  Annabelle and Rose stopped, staring at him in surprise.

  “Annabelle, would you be my date to the Autumn Festival?” He gave her a look that was both hot and sweet at once.

  Annabelle squealed in delight. “Of course, I’d love to!”

&nbs
p; Rose turned away as the two of them started kissing, trying to ignore the lump in her throat. She knew she should be happy for Annabelle, but it was hard when she’d give anything to be going to the upcoming festival herself.

  She went back to the pumpkins, wondering if she could volunteer to be on the decoration team for the ballroom. That would at least be some involvement, and the best she was likely to get.

  Rose looked around for her dragons. She needed some comfort right now, and one of them was always close, ready to put their arm around her, or tear off heads to defend her. She’d settle for the arm at the moment.

  To her surprise, none of them were in sight.

  Fear abruptly erased her sadness. “Asher? Mace? Jagger, Gavin?”

  Wendy and Jade looked up, their expressions also ones of sudden alarm.

  “Rose? Come here a moment.”

  “In a minute, Dane, I just need to find—”

  Follow Dane.

  Asher’s voice in her head filled her with relief. He didn’t sound stressed or tense, as he surely would if they were under some kind of attack.

  Rose hurried back around the greenhouse, ready to give her guys a scolding for scaring her.

  Annabelle and Dane moved aside. The huge pumpkin that Dane had stood in front of was now open. Part of its side had been turned into a door. Inside, there were sparkling lights all over the carved-out walls.

  Asher beckoned her inside. Giggling in amazement, Rose squeezed in. Mace and Jagger moved aside to make space for her.

  Gavin took her hands in his. “Rose, it would be our great honor if you would be our date to the Autumn Festival.”

  For a moment, Rose didn’t speak, sure she’d misheard. “But… but I can’t go.”

  “Of course you can.” Asher put an arm around her, and Rose leaned into him, breathing in his calming scent. “Did you think we didn’t notice how upset you were that you couldn’t go? We’d do anything to make you happy.”

  “What about Hellith? In the past, you’ve always said stuff like this is too dangerous.”

  “We’re not going to trade potential danger on your happiness. We’re all agreed on this.” Jagger raised an eyebrow. “Are you saying you’re turning us down?”

  Rose shoved him against the wall of the pumpkin, kissing him. “Of course not,” she breathed as she pulled away. She met Gavin’s eyes, then Asher’s and Mace’s. “I’d love to be your date for the festival.”

  There was still a lump in her throat, but for a different reason.

  “What’s wrong?” Mace wiped a single tear from her cheek. “Aren’t you happy?”

  “I am. I just never thought I’d have this. Before I met you, I’d never even had one boyfriend, and now I have four wonderful mates. If you’d told me a year ago that I’d have four smoking hot guys asking me for a date to a festival, I would have said you were crazy.”

  “You may not have been wrong. I’ve always thought Asher was a bit touched in the head.”

  “Shut it, Jagger.” Asher was smiling, though. The brothers almost never took Jagger’s teasing to heart.

  “Are you sure it’ll be safe, though?” Rose asked hesitantly. “I want to go, but I also want to live. Hellith is still after me.”

  “We all talked about it last night and decided that we can’t let the threat of Hellith stop you from living. For all we know, it might be years before we defeat her. We’ll be careful, but we need to keep living our lives.” Gavin’s eyes were soft as he looked at her, and they just made Rose melt inside.

  “We will protect you,” Asher promised. “I’ve already spoken to Maria about some extra security measures we can add.”

  “We’ll watch you the entire time, like we have been doing.” Jagger was uncharacteristically serious for once. “If there’s any hint of trouble, we’ll have you out of there before the alarms even go off.”

  “We’ve looked at the ballroom, and we reckon that if things go wrong, I’m small enough in my shifted form to turn into a dragon right there without hurting anyone. That’ll give the others time to get you out.” Rose understood Mace’s excitement at the prospect. His brothers often teased him about being the smallest, and this was the first time it had actually turned out to be an advantage.

  Still, the idea worried her. “I don’t want you even thinking of trying to fight Hellith on your own, Mace, no matter what the danger to me might be.”

  Mace looked like he was about to protest, but Asher spoke over him. “He won’t. We all know that one of us has no chance against Hellith. If things go wrong, Mace’s job will simply be to be the biggest thing in the room and draw her attention, as well as block her line of sight to you, until everyone else can mobilize.”

  That made sense. there would be a lot of experienced witches at the festival, and likely a lot of dragons too. If they could get past the surprise stage of an attack, they had a good chance of at least sending Hellith into retreat, if not defeating her.

  Hellith had to know that they were preparing for battle with her. They got stronger by the day. Rose didn’t know where Hellith drew her power from, but in the end, it wouldn’t be a match for the entire coven.

  Right now, it probably was, but once they developed ways to fight her, Hellith was doomed.

  The lump in her throat was gone. Rose felt like jumping for joy, but she was worried about hitting her head on the top of the pumpkin.

  She kissed her dragons one by one. “Thank you. This is the best surprise you’ve ever given me.”

  “I don’t know. I think the time I impersonated Annabelle for a day was pretty funny.”

  “Shut up, Jagger, that was not funny at all!”

  “You were certainly surprised.”

  “That’s because you came to breakfast wearing one of Annabelle’s dresses! She was furious.”

  “Ah, I remember her face.” Jagger was lost in reminiscence, giving Rose the opportunity to scoop up a handful of pumpkin seeds and dump them on his head.

  Mace backed away a few paces, as much as he was able to in the confined space. “Be careful what you start, Rose.”

  Rose saw the danger in what she’d just done as Jagger started collecting handfuls of pumpkin seeds.

  She squealed and dashed out of the pumpkin, Jagger hot on her heels. Gavin tackled his brother, stuffing a handful of seeds down the back of his shirt.

  Asher came out of the pumpkin next. Instead of stopping them, the traitor threw his own handful of seeds at Rose. She just managed to duck.

  Annabelle and Dane came running toward the source of the noise. It didn’t take them long to figure out that the only threat at present was getting a handful of pumpkin seeds in their underwear.

  They quickly became drawn into the battle.

  Later that night, Rose was sourly picking pumpkin seeds out of her pussy. Jagger was waiting impatiently for her to help him get a couple of them out of his ass, a task which his brothers had declined. Rose was taking her time. Maybe she’d have a nap before she helped him. She was tired out, after all.

  Maria wasn’t particularly happy. A number of pumpkins had ended up squashed, and some of the other vegetables had been trampled.

  Rose didn’t care. There were so few opportunities for lighthearted fun nowadays, they had to take what they could get.

  “Hurry up, Rose,” Jagger moaned.

  “I don’t know, Jagger, my fingers are getting awfully tired, picking these things out. Maybe I’ll take a break.”

  “If I ever see a pumpkin seed again after this, someone is going to die,” Jagger muttered.

  Rose chuckled as she wiped herself with a damp cloth, finally free of the seeds.

  “Alright, I’m all yours. Let’s see that beautiful ass.”

  Chapter Nine

  “I wish I could go,” Rose moaned enviously as she watched Jade and Wendy leave the mansion. They were going shopping for dresses for the Autumn Festival.

  Annabelle didn’t seem bothered. “We’ll have more choice shopping online anyway
.”

  Rose was infinitely grateful for her friend’s decision to order online too, so that Rose wouldn’t have to be alone in finding her dress without leaving the mansion. The dragons had consented to wait outside, even allowing Rose to use a silencing spell so that she and Annabelle could chat in private.

  She loved her dragons, but it got wearying having them dog her every step. Asher had added the stern condition that if a fly so much as landed on a windowsill suspiciously, she was to shout out mentally to them.

  “Yes, but we won’t be able to try them on first.”

  “You do remember Asher offering to fly you in a tailor from Paris, right? Trust me, if the dress doesn’t fit, your guys will have someone modify it before you can finish telling them.”

  That got a smile out of her. “I guess you’re right.”

  “Would he really have flown in a tailor from Paris if you agreed?”

  “Probably. The clan has built up a lot of wealth over the years. Of course, they couldn’t use it when they were being held captive by witches, but that didn’t stop their investments from making interest. I bet if Dane asked, Asher would fly in a tailor for you too.”

  “I bet Dane could convince him.” Annabelle’s dreamy smile no longer caused Rose any pain, now that Gavin was back.

  Still, all wasn’t completely well. Rose was becoming increasingly worried about Gavin.

  “You okay?”

  “Just thinking…”

  “Unlike your dragons, I can’t read your mind, so spit it out.”

  Rose hesitated, wondering if she should say anything. She hadn’t spoken to her other dragons about her worries, mainly because she was afraid of how Asher would react when he found out—which he would if she talked to his brothers. She’d been doing her best to keep that portion of her thoughts to herself.

  She was sure they must have noticed, but they were giving her space, perhaps because she was their mate, or perhaps because they knew she was still new to the whole mind reading thing and realized that the complete loss of privacy was still sometimes difficult for her. After all, she’d had only a year to get used to it—they’d had their entire lives.