A small tendril of fear slid up his spine.
This would not be good.
“You should be aware the Conclave has been following you for quite some time,” Alexander said, his voice low and steady, as if he had all the time in the world to get to his point.
Dante frowned and lowered his snout. “Following?” He hadn’t felt a presence following him, and he was damned good at spotting anyone looking for him.
The other dragon waved a claw and rolled his eyes. The younger dragon by his side snorted, an annoyed expression his face.
“We’ve known of you. You know of us because of your Royal House, yet you would have been on our radar regardless because of the sin you committed against the demon realm.”
Dante held back a growl.
He’d made one mistake that he still didn’t believe was a mistake, and it had haunted him for almost three hundred years.
He didn’t say anything as there didn’t seem to be any use. The other dragon would make his point eventually. Dante just hoped it would be before he rolled over and died.
“You killed the demon Conclave member to save a friend of yours, do you remember?”
The room silenced, and Dante raised his head high. It wasn’t as if what he’d done was a secret to anyone in this room. He’d killed a member of their Conclave. Of course they would know. They’d been the ones who had given him his sentence—even if he’d never actually met them.
“Yes. He was killing a woman I considered to be under my protection.” He wouldn’t lie. There was no use. The kill had been justified. It didn’t matter that the demon had held higher power than Dante in the grand scheme of things.
“You were banished from the entire hell realm because of it.”
“I would do it again.”
Again, no use in lying.
Murmurs filled the room again, this time some sounding on his side—including the two younger members.
Good.
“You saved the Goodwin bear and killed the demon,” the wizard interrupted. “And now, by a twist of fate, that bear is the paternal grandmother of your new mate.”
Dante clenched his jaw.
“Levi, you’re ruining my fun by jumping in,” Alexander.
“You would have taken too long to get there,” the fae added.
“Tristan, don’t help,” Levi mumbled, and Dante held back a grin.
Under other circumstances he might have wanted to get to know Tristan and Levi. Right now, though, he wanted to leave and go back to Jace and Nadie. That didn’t look like it would happen any time soon.
“You were banned from hell because you killed the demon conclave member,” Alexander repeated. “You saved your mate’s grandmother before your mate was even born. Such a twist of fate should not be ignored.”
“Nor will it,” one of the demons put it.
Dante wanted to ignore it. He wanted nothing to do with it. Jace’s family knew what happened, and that’s how he’d met Jace. He’d come back to the bear’s den after being away for a long while and found his mate within the family that had taken him in. He’d save Jace’s grandmother again and kill the demon just like he’d done before, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be part of whatever plans the Conclave had for him.
“What is it you want?” he asked, fed up with their slow pace.
“I’m retiring,” Alexander said, and Dante held his breath.
Fuck. That’s exactly what he’d thought. He didn’t want this and surely didn’t want Alexander to complete whatever he wanted to say.
“You have been chosen as my replacement. You will begin your duties right away. To train, you must do as your brethren have done. All species have different time restraints, but as a dragon, you must stay within the Conclave realm for five hundred years before you will be allowed to leave. You will learn your new powers and learn how to rule. Only then will you be able to return to this home you have grown so fond of.”
Dante blinked and held back a growl, a small tendril of smoke floating from his nostril. “Do I have no say in this?”
Five hundred years away from his mates? No, hell no. His body felt hollow, aching at just the thought of being without them. The Conclave couldn’t take him from Nadie and Jace. They wouldn’t be that cruel.
Dante, though, new exactly how cruel they could be.
Alexander looked perplexed. “Why would you say no?”
Dante tried to form his words carefully. He’d already been banned from one realm because of the Conclave. It wouldn’t do to add another.
Or be killed for voicing his own desires.
“I’ve just found my mates and have newly formed the bond. I can’t stay away from them for that long. They need me as I need them.”
“Ah yes, the bear whose fate is entwined with yours and this human…who isn’t so human, is she?”
There was something about the way the dragon said the latter that had Dante’s dragon standing on edge, but he put it to the side for now. He had to get out of there and get to his mates. Then he could worry about everything else and all the nuisances that came with this meeting.
“You don’t say no to the Conclave,” the merman said.
“I can’t leave my mates.” He wouldn’t. Five hundred years might seem like nothing to a dragon, but a newly mated dragon needed their mates. Plus Nadie was still human in nature. She needed him. And Jace…
No, Dante wouldn’t leave them behind.
“As he’s newly mated, he should at least have time to…think about it,” Levi put in while Tristan nodded.
Dante wanted to reach out and hug the two men, but held back. He’d give his thanks later…after he watched them for any hidden agenda for their help. One could never be too careful.
“Why would he say no?” the old dragon asked. “This is power, the most to be had in our realm. You’d be revered.”
“I’d rather be with my mates,” he said honestly.
“You dare defy me?” Alexander asked, and the room hushed.
He had to tread carefully here. “I need a choice. I need…time to consider,” he lied. There would be no considering. No, he’d only spend the time to figure a way out of doing this. “I need to be with the two I have newly bonded with. True halves are something that are sacred. I can’t break with that.”
The dragon narrowed his eyes, and Dante knew he hadn’t fooled him. “You can go with your mates, but we will call for you again. Soon. You will give us your…answer then.”
He forced himself not to react, only to keep his head raised. His gaze traveled to the two young members, who gave him nods. What that meant, he didn’t know, but he had a feeling he would not be alone for long. These two seemed to be on his side. At least that’s what he hoped.
“Don’t disappoint us,” Alexander said as a parting shot, and Dante held his breath.
The room disappeared, and he found himself in the clearing where he’d started earlier.
Holy gods, this was bad. This was worse than bad.
He didn’t know how he would tell the others, but he had no choice. He’d promised Nadie no secrets.
How was he going to tell her that, though he’d finally had her in his arms, he’d now have to leave? For if he said no to the Conclave, Dante had a feeling he wouldn’t live to tell the tale.
One, after all, didn’t say no to the Conclave.
****
“He said no! Did you hear that?” Rock screamed as he paced the room in his human form. He’d just come back from Alexander’s after the old bat of a dragon informed him that Dante had wanted time.
Time? Fuck that.
The fucking dragon prince, or whatever he liked to be called, should have gone down on his knees and thanked the Conclave’s ass that he’d been sought after in the first place. Rock, on the other hand, had been looked over. What the fuck was up with that?
He was supposed to be the one who gained the power from their ranks. He’d been the one who had been by Alexander’s side for so long, and
how did the old fuck repay him?
By tossing him aside for the perfect Dante.
“Of course I heard, darling,” the dragoness purred through lips that were overly plump on her skinny face.
He still thought she was fucking hot, and the way she rode his cock and sucked it through those fat lips of hers made everything worth it.
“Then what are we going to do about it, Stacia?”
She patted his cheek then laid on the bed, spreading herself for him. “We will find a way to fix this. My son, that bastard of a dragon, should not have said no. I raised him with the every care I could give, and yet he’s betrayed all of us.”
Rock slid into her, pumping his hips. He liked the feel of her around him and knew it would take off the edge. Her nails dug into his skin, making him bleed, and he growled. He spent himself then pulled out, throwing his body next to hers on the bed. She was always a quick fuck when he was angry, and considering her husband would probably be back any minute, he had to hurry anyway. He didn’t care if she came or not since it took for-freaking-ever for her to do it. She usually just faked it for him if she didn’t come right away.
“What are we going to do? I was going to have all the power and have you by my side.” Well, maybe not that last part, but he needed Stacia, so he’d use her while he could.
The dragoness patted her breasts then sighed. “My darling, think. We can’t have the power if he’s part of the Conclave. Dante has long since ignored the family. Bastard,” she spat. “What we can do though is…ensure that he won’t be a problem and won’t come back to be part of the Conclave at all.”
Rock narrowed his eyes. “If he says no, the Conclave will kill him.”
Stacia rolled her heavily made up eyes. “That’s a chance we can’t take. What if he were to say yes?”
“What are you saying?”
Stacia sighed then stroked his cock. He always seemed to think better with her hands on him. “If we kill him before he has a chance to say no, then he can’t be in power, can he?”
Rock swallowed hard, her hand squeezing just right so he came again on his belly. “Kill him? Yes. We can do that.”
Stacia giggled then patted his chest. “Good. Now do be a dear and clean up before Udell gets home. You know how fickle he gets when I smell like another man’s seed. When you come back after he leaves, I do hope you have news of Dante’s demise. That would really put a hop in my step.”
The woman was clearly demented, but Rock loved the way she thought.
“Consider it done.” He smacked her ass then walked out of the room, naked and annoyingly still hard.
With Dante dead, Alexander would finally see who should be the one in charge. Rock smiled and shifted to his dragon form. Yes, that sounded like a plan indeed.
Chapter Eight
“Are you sure he’s okay?” Nadie wrung her hands together, that prickly feeling on the back of her neck not going away no matter what Jace had said before.
She’d woken up alone in bed, the smell of coffee tickling her senses. She’d been in such a haze of needing caffeine that she hadn’t thought about the fact she’d been alone, pleasantly sore, and in need of time to think about what she’d done.
What she’d become.
She’s called her job right away, letting them know she needed to take a leave of absence. They had been relativity understanding about the whole thing considering she had given them warning. All of the women had put plans in place to take time away from their daily human lives in case they were thrust in a new change, a new world. In Nadie’s case, she’d warned them she’d need to leave because of family reasons and had a replacement lined up. Her school was very private and very unique in that they actually cared about the teachers and their needs. She hated having to leave, but she couldn’t do it all. Ever since Jamie had been taken to hell and had lost so much time, the girls had been smarter. Rather than scramble around, trying to fit their new lives into their old lives, they would step away and try to find a new balance.
That meant that someone else would be teaching her children from now on. At least until she got a handle on what it meant to be a succubus, have two mates, and have a new world to immerse herself into.
All of that, though, was on the back burner while she sat in the living room with Jace, needing to have him reassure her.
Again.
Her bear ran a hand through her hair, and the large calloused palm seemed as big as her face. She inhaled his scent, the earthy tone seemingly richer, more decadent that morning than it had been when she’d been fully human.
“He will be fine, Nadie.”
She turned so she was facing him on the couch but still touching him. “I don’t know if I believe you because I don’t think you believe it yourself.”
Jace sighed and pulled her into his lap. She leaned into him, surprising herself at the ache for him, the need for the bond to pulse and remind her she wasn’t alone anymore.
“He told me he would come back, and he will. You know Dante enough to know that when he says something he means it.” Jace squeezed her tighter. “He’ll do whatever he has to in order to come back to us.”
She let out a breath and closed her eyes. “And the Conclave? They won’t hurt him?”
Jace had come to her as soon as she’d woken up, explaining about the Conclave and the summons Dante had received. He’d yet to explain why Dante had left without a word, and Nadie had a feeling even Jace didn’t know.
That was another thing she and her dragon would have to discuss.
He couldn’t keep treating her like fragile glass when it came to big decisions. Leaving her asleep while he went off to a group of paranormals that could hurt him classified as one of those things that he needed to at least mention to her.
Not just tell his messenger.
Apparently she was still a little peeved at that.
“Nadie, honey, I don’t know.” She winced at his honesty but didn’t interrupt him. “I have no idea what the Conclave wanted with him, and, fuck, I was so scared when Dante told me where he was going. I’m one huge-ass grizzly, and I wanted to cower under the table and hide the two of you away forever.”
She blinked at him. He needed to work on his whole don’t-freak-out-Nadie thing.
He moved her so she was straddling him and they faced each other. “That doesn’t mean the worst though, Nadie. All that means is that I know of the whispers and stories I was told when I found out I was god-touched and a Meditator. Dante is stronger than anyone else I know, and he wouldn’t have left if he hadn’t had a way back.”
She didn’t know if he was lying to himself or trying to keep a good outlook, but either way, sitting there and fretting wasn’t getting anything accomplished. She’d spent most of her life fretting over one thing or another, and she didn’t want to spend the next part of her journey doing more of the same.
“There’s nothing we can do right now about it other than worry some more, so let’s try to think of something else,” she said, surprised at how calm her voice sounded.
Inside she was a mess of contradictions, regrets, and fear, but right then, she wasn’t sure Jace could tell. From the way his brows lowered, she was probably wrong about that.
“We can do that. Now, why don’t you tell me what’s on your mind that puts that little crease between your eyebrows, right here.” He traced the spot with his finger, and she closed her eyes, unsure of what she was going to say…how she was going to say it.
“I feel like a slut. No, that’s not it. I feel like I should feel like a slut. But I don’t.”
Okay, apparently she was going with the blurting-it-out method.
Jace growled, a low sound that vibrated along her bones and deep in her belly. She froze, her inner succubus—if that’s what she wanted to call it—on alert at the danger in the room.
“You. Are. Not. A. Slut.”
She shivered at the intensity of his words but didn’t drop her gaze.
“Why would you even
say that?” he asked, his look piercing.
Nadie swallowed hard, unbelieving he would even ask that question considering where she was sitting. “I slept with you and Dante last night. Together. Others might think that makes me slutty.”
He narrowed his eyes. “We’re your mates. Are you saying what we did was wrong? The bond we now share is somehow now abhorrent?”
Her heart hurt at his words, but she shook her head. “No, that’s not what I meant. Stop twisting up my words.”
Jace lowered his forehead to hers. “Then tell me precisely what you meant, Nadie.”
She licked her lips, ignoring the way her bear followed the movement. No, this was not the time for those kinds of thoughts—even though they were yummy, warm, and oh so tempting.
“I met you less than two days ago, and now I’m sitting on your lap after mating with you. I was a virgin before last night, Jace. And now I’ve slept with two men and want to do it again. We didn’t talk about anything other than the fact that we felt that spark and wanted to know more. What kind of person does that make me? And the thing is, I don’t care. All I know is that it felt good and I shouldn’t be feeling bad that I don’t feel bad about it.”
Jace growled again and nipped her lip. He licked the sting, and she shuddered at his taste. “You are a succubus, Nadie Morgan. You’ve always had that dominant strain of DNA in your body. That’s why you are the way you are. Having sex with your mates is not wrong. The hunger you felt for us was intensified because of the blood running through your veins. We are mates, Nadie. We might have come to this point backward and turned around, but that doesn’t mean we weren’t meant to be. So what if we have the bond already? So what if you crave the carnal side of our relationship as much as Dante and I do? All that means is that we’re a match and we can give each other whatever the other needs. Also, even if you weren’t a succubus? Who the fuck cares? Sex isn’t a bad thing, and you don’t feel bad about what we did. So don’t harp on what others might think because they are too close-minded to think beyond what good girls do. Fuck them.”
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