by Zoe Chant
And Magnus is a prince. Don’t forget about that part.
That was going to take some getting used to.
She didn’t even really know how dragon royalty worked. A thousand questions buzzed through her mind, now that the initial overwhelming surprise had worn off. Was Magnus’s family home hidden away like this because his clan had chosen to isolate themselves from the world? What exactly was Aron king of, anyway? Did they really live like medieval lords all the time? And last, most importantly...
How are they going to react when they find out I’m a dragon hunter, and my father is Lord High Hunter of the Loric Coven?
Taking a deep breath, Alanna rested her hand against the pocket of her climbing pants. She could feel the slight bulge of the bundle of papers against her palm: the treaty, already signed by her father, that she was to offer King Aron and Queen Leandra.
A treaty of peace.
She could only hope that they would see it for what it was: a genuine, heartfelt desire for peace between dragon hunters and dragons.
She cleared her throat slightly, and Magnus’s head turned towards her.
We should do it now, she sent to him, uncertain whether the rest of the family could also hear her thoughts. Before...
Magnus nodded. Yes. Do you want me to do it?
Alanna swallowed. Truthfully, it would have been easier to ask Magnus to do it. But no – this was her responsibility.
“King Aron, Queen Leandra... there’s something else I have to tell you,” she said, forcing her voice not to tremble. She watched as their heads turned toward her, and perhaps they could sense something troubling in her, because their foreheads creased in concern.
They had guessed that the reason Alanna was able to hear the rest of the clan’s thoughts was due to her mated bond with Magnus, but she wasn’t sure how much of her thoughts they could sense when she wasn’t actively trying to send them to anyone.
Well, it’s now or never, she thought, forcing herself to stand on legs that suddenly felt extremely wobbly.
“There’s something I have to tell you,” Alanna said, not able to make herself look anyone in the eye. “I... I’m not just Magnus’s mate. I’m also Alanna Carlyle, member of the Loric Coven of Dragon Hunters... and daughter of Hadrian Carlyle, the Lord High Hunter.”
She could have cut the silence that followed with a knife. Alanna gulped, looking down at her hands where they were balled into fists in front of her.
“What?”
Somewhat to her surprise, it was Liev who spoke up first.
Alanna chanced a glance up at his face, only to find it twisted in anger.
“Magnus, what do you mean by – by—”
“Magnus. Would you care to explain?” King Aron’s voice was soft, but Alanna would have been an idiot not to hear the anger behind it.
“She’s my mate, Father,” Magnus said, his voice forceful. “I already told you how she helped me. I would have been back in the collar if not for her. She’s not here to hurt us.”
“Like she could!” Liev said angrily. “If she so much as lifted a finger, I would—”
“What would you do?” Magnus was on his feet in a second, bristling, his hands bunched into fists. “Liev, you might be my brother, but if you so much as touch her—”
Alanna swallowed heavily as the two brothers faced off.
Magnus, please, she sent to him desperately. The last thing she’d wanted was this. She couldn’t bear the thought that Magnus would have to fight the family he’d only just found again.
Magnus, his face set in a snarl, glanced down at her.
I know, Alanna – but he can’t threaten you like that, family or not.
“That’s enough, both of you. Liev, give him a chance to explain. Give both of them a chance to explain,” Aron once again interrupted.
Alanna could feel the tension in the room pressing down on her from all sides. But she had always known this would happen – there was no way things could have been any different. A dragon hunter in the home of a dragon – there was no way this would ever be a comfortable meeting.
Magnus visibly reined himself in, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry,” he said. “But he can’t threaten my mate like that.”
Liev’s lip was still twisted in an angry grimace, but he too backed off, dropping his eyes. He said nothing, but Alanna could see the anger simmering in his eyes.
“I have something to offer you. From my father,” Alanna said quickly, her fingers going to her pocket. Hastily, she pulled out the thick white papers, bound with golden ribbon and sealed with dark red wax. “A treaty. An offering of peace.”
She held it out. For a moment, nobody moved.
Alanna had just begun to think that Aron was not going to take the papers from her at all when at last he reached out a hand.
With a swift movement, he untied the ribbon and broke the seal. Glancing down at the page before him, he said, “Your father has already signed it.”
“As a show of good faith,” Alanna said. “You don’t have to meet with him. You don’t have to negotiate. You can see that he offers almost unconditional peace – the only thing he asks is that you ensure your dragons don’t harm humans.”
“We of the Drakos Clan would never harm a human,” Leandra broke in indignantly. “For hundreds of years we have left humans in peace, and asked only that they do the same for us. We have punished any dragon that defies this law.”
“The Loric Coven has another treaty like this with the Novak Clan,” Magnus said as his father studied the document. “Alanna’s father truly does want peace with dragons, provided they don’t harm humans.”
Aron looked up, curiosity in his eyes. “The Novak Clan? I’d heard they were wiped out. Do they still live?”
Magnus nodded. “Some survived, though not many. Stefan Novak is the clan leader now.”
“I remember Stefan when he was just a child,” Aron mused, looking back down at the treaty. “His uncle brought him along to a meeting of the clan leaders.” He shook his head. “Well, well. Clan leader. I never would have suspected he had it in him. He was such a scrawny little thing.”
Alanna hoped her surprise wasn’t plain on her face. Scrawny was the last word she would have used to describe Stefan Novak.
For a moment longer, there was silence. Tension seemed to fill every nook and cranny of the room – until at last, King Aron sighed.
“As much as I may not want to, I must admit that without you, my son may never have returned home,” he said. “And I must admit also that a peace treaty is the last thing I expected you to offer me after your announcement. But... I cannot say it is unwelcome, either.”
Alanna’s breath caught in her throat. Does this mean... will he...
She swallowed, and forced herself to speak.
“Does that mean you’ll sign it?”
Aron paused, before finally raising his eyes to look at her.
“Yes, child. That means I will sign it.”
***
“That... could have gone a lot worse,” Alanna said later, when they were in the rooms that Leandra had shown them to. She had explained that they were Magnus’s rooms, and they had left them exactly the way they had been four years earlier, on the day that Magnus had disappeared.
We couldn’t bear the thought that he might come home and not find everything just as he had left it, she explained as she opened the heavy wooden door to show them inside. I never gave up hope, not for one single day, that he would return to us...
Magnus pulled her into his arms, and she gratefully rested her head upon his chest, listening to the slow, steady beat of his heart.
“You’re telling me,” he murmured, pressing his lips to the top of her head. “I thought for a moment there...”
Alanna shuddered, remembering the silence that had descended in the moments after she had announced who she was. But just as quickly, she pushed the thought from her mind.
Things are okay, she thought as she closed her eyes,
allowing herself to sink into the warmth of Magnus’s body. Better than okay.
She smiled to herself as she thought about what an understatement that was.
Things were almost perfect.
Magnus had found his family again.
His clan were dragons who wouldn’t dream of harming humans.
They had... well, if not quite accepted her yet, they certainly seemed willing to work on it.
King Aron had signed the treaty.
And Magnus had his own – completely ridiculous, now that she was looking at them – rooms back.
“Wow,” Alanna said, pulling back from him and gazing around. “So... were you in charge of your own interior decorating?”
Magnus grimaced slightly. “I wish I could tell you I definitely wasn’t,” he said, as he looked around.
Heavy tapestries hung from the walls, while gaudy golden candelabra seemed to occupy every available flat surface. Heavy leather couches lined one entire wall. And clothes were strewn from one end of the room to the other, tossed aside as if whoever had been taking them off hadn’t cared at all where they’d fallen.
“I... guess I wasn’t much for tidying,” Magnus said, a slight trace of embarrassment in his voice. “And I suppose my mother did they left everything exactly where it was.”
“I can see that,” Alanna said, laughing. “Is being here bringing back any more of your memories?”
“Yes and no,” Magnus said, frowning. Releasing her from his arms, he wandered across the room, touching a few of the various knick-knacks that rested on shelves and cabinets. “I... can feel them in my mind, but they’re... not strong enough for me to hold onto. Not yet, anyway.”
“I’m sure they’ll come back with time,” Alanna said confidently. It seemed that Magnus had remembered so much already – surely, it could only be a matter of time before the damage that had been done to him by the collar would heal itself completely.
Being back in his home, amongst his clan, and close to his hoard had to speed things up, Alanna thought as she watched him. Her heart swelled with love as he moved through the room, picking things up and putting them down.
It must be strange to look at things and to know they were yours, but to have to memory of them, or know whether they had been special to you, she thought.
Her chest aching, she moved toward him, just as he reached for something high on a shelf.
“Alanna,” he said suddenly, and the sharp tone of his voice made her breath catch in her throat. Magnus slowly lifted something she could see from the shelf, before lowering his arms, cradling something in his hands.
“What is it?” she asked, crossing the distance between them quickly. Looking down at what he held, she frowned.
It was a thick band of gold, which looked like it might be the right size to fit on someone’s head. It was inlaid with brilliant green emeralds and flashing diamonds, and was covered in intricate etchings that curled around the precious stones like the tendrils of a vine.
“It’s beautiful,” she breathed.
And it was. Compared with some of the jewelry she’d seen flashed around by dragons, it was almost plain. But its beauty lay in its simplicity.
“What is it?” she asked, glancing up at Magnus as he stared down at the circlet in his hands.
“I... I think it’s...” He shook his head, frowning. “No. I know what it is. It’s the piece of the hoard I selected to crown my mate with back when I came of age. Every dragon does it. They select one piece – a crown, a ring, a pendant – that they will use to crown their mate and seal their bond forever. This was the piece I chose.”
Alanna stared down at the gorgeous golden circlet in his hands.
He chose this... for me?
“It’s perfect, Magnus,” she said. Her hand drifted up to touch it without her conscious will. She stopped it just before her fingers touched its surface. “Can I...?”
Magnus turned to look at her, his blue eyes filled with such love it made her catch her breath.
“Alanna, of course you can. It’s yours. But...” He paused, swallowing. “I wonder if... I could crown you with it first?”
He asked so tentatively – as if there was any chance she might say no! – that Alanna almost had to laugh.
“Magnus, yes. Yes please. Crown me as your mate. I’m yours. I want you to.”
“I am yours, Alanna,” he whispered, as he placed the circlet reverently upon her head. “Always, always yours.”
His lips were searingly hot when they met hers, his arms winding around her back and pulling her into his chest.
Alanna gasped against him, feeling the golden bond than ran between them glowing, strengthening, at last completely sealed between them. With the circlet, she now belonged to him entirely – just as he belonged to her.
My mate, she thought dizzily, as Magnus kissed his way down from her lips to her jaw, her throat. Mine.
When he at last looked down at her once more, his pupils were wide with desire. She could already feel the hard rod of his erection pressing against her stomach – hot and heavy and massive.
Alanna closed her eyes, pressing herself against him, letting herself melt into his heat as he kissed her again, his tongue delving urgently into her mouth. Pleasure raced through her veins, sparks chasing each other over her skin, and she could not hold back a moan.
Alanna... my mate... and you truly are my mate now.
I always was, Alanna sent back to him, as, touching and kissing, they began to make their stumbling way across the room to the bed. Pulling back a little, Alanna yanked at his shirt, finally getting it up over his head. The soft light of the room threw the hard planes of his pecs and the tight grid of his abdominal muscles into stark relief.
Alanna groaned as she looked down at him, her hands wandering over his skin. He was so warm, so beautiful... and he was hers.
Dropping her hands lower, she traced the bulge of his cock through his straining pants, looking up at him through her lashes as he moaned and threw his head back.
She could sense the desperate thrill of pleasure her hands sent through him – and it only served to tighten the need she felt deep in her belly. She could feel herself growing wet between her legs, heat winding its way up through her body.
As if he could feel her own desire rising within her, Magnus pulled her to him once more, kissing her, his hands sliding beneath her shirt to find her hot skin beneath.
Oh, Magnus...
Even the lightest touch of his fingers made her feel dizzy with need. He broke the kiss as he pulled her shirt over her head, before his hands made short work of her bra as well.
At last, they pressed against each other, skin to skin, the peaks of her nipples grazing deliciously against the hardness of his muscles. Alanna gasped, desire rising desperately within her. Urgently, she pushed at his pants, sliding them down his narrow hips – and taking his underwear with them.
His hard cock sprung free, full and thick, and Alanna couldn’t hold back a groan at the sight of it. She ran her fingers lightly over it, watching, fascinated, as he shuddered beneath her touch.
“You are so beautiful,” he whispered as he looked down at her, his eyes pools of pure desire. “Alanna... let me... I have to...”
He was too overcome to finish the sentence, apparently, because in the next moment Alanna found herself falling backwards, Magnus’s arms still around her, until suddenly she felt the softness of his bed beneath her. And then he was kissing her again, leaving trails of fire across her skin, making her moan and writhe and cry out again and again and again.
He kissed down her belly, his hands pushing her pants and underwear down her thighs, before at last slipping them over her ankles and tossing them aside.
His mouth on the sensitive skin of her upper thigh made her shudder, and she moaned, spreading her legs around his shoulders.
Alanna... dear God, Alanna...
When he looked up at her, Alanna could barely stand the heat of his gaze. He looked at h
er as if she was a goddess to be worshipped, something he could not quite believe was real.
But I am, Alanna thought, dropping her hand to run her fingers through his hair. And I am yours.
She moaned at the first touch of his tongue against her wet folds, her hips jerking up uncontrollably. Magnus was slow as he traced her gently with his tongue, taking his time to drive her wild.
Oh God, Magnus...!
Alanna clenched her fists, gasping, her toes curling as Magnus curved his tongue against her, finding exactly the right place to send white-hot shards of ecstasy all the way through her body. Stars spun across her vision as he moved against her, filling her with heat and desire.
My mate.
His voice was in her head, strong and sure.
She could hear him even through the haze of her pleasure, even as her thoughts began to fly apart, taken over completely by the hot surge of ecstasy in her veins.
Please, Magnus... please...!
Just as she felt herself at the peak of her pleasure, Magnus suddenly withdrew. He turned her over and drew her hips up, pulling her backwards against him.
Alanna cried out as she felt the hard rod of his cock against her. The thick head rubbed against her wet, waiting entrance – and then, finally, with one long thrust, he was inside her.
Their voices mingled as one as he sheathed himself inside her, his hands gripping her hips. Moaning, she pushed herself back even further, wanting to feel him as deeply inside her as she could. She could feel the mated bond flowing between them, enveloping them in its golden light, making their connection even more perfect.
His pleasure was hers – and hers was his.
She could feel it crackling along every single one of her nerves as he thrust into her over and over again, his hips driving forward, burying himself within her...
My mate. My perfect, beautiful mate...
Magnus’s voice in her head was the last thing she needed in order to plunge over the edge into pure bliss.
Alanna cried out as she came, feeling Magnus throb within her as he did the same. Together, they were swept away into their shared climax, white light blotting out everything except each other.