“If you acknowledge me as your mate, then this will all be solved,” Aleksei said. Her words had stabbed into his chest like a knife. But all wasn’t lost yet, not according to dragon law. Not until she formally rejected him. She had to actually say the words. No, this was not an outright rejection.
But Matthias turned to him with a look that said: not yet. “Perhaps this is a good thing. After all, she is one of the few eligible females dragon in the world. Why should we all not have a chance?”
Damn Matthias, Aleksei cursed. Must this also be a contest between them? Why could he not be satisfied with ruling his city from his tower in the sky? Stupid Air Dragons and their quest for power and dominance.
Kal, the Alpha of the Rock Dragons, spoke up. “This is dishonorable,” he stated in his low, gravelly voice. His dark brows furrowed together. “They are fated to be together, and to get in between them would be a disgrace and abomination of nature.” Kal was the tallest and largest of them all, nearly seven feet tall and dressed similarly to Aleksei in leather pants, though he had leather straps that crossed around his massive chest and held a gigantic axe on his back. Tribal tattoos ran down the tanned skin of his chest and arms, and crawled up his neck and the left side of his face.
“I agree,” Tarek, Alpha of the Desert Dragons, said with a nod. Lithe and slim, Tarek was the quietest and most secretive of the alphas. His eyes were the color of bright Saharan sand, a contrast to his dark tawny skin. “But, I also agree that the lady has a right of refusal, and she may choose whoever she wants, fated mate or not.”
Matthias turned to the last alpha. “Your Grace?”
Ian Henry Alastair MacGregor, Duke of Rothschilde and Alpha of the Silver Dragons, chuckled. “Don’t be throwing my title around like that, Matthias. They’ll think me fancier than I am.” His Scottish brogue wasn’t as pronounced as it usually was, though he added just enough to make himself sound charming. Of course, when he wanted to assert his dominance, he used the upper-class English accent from his mother’s side. “She’s a fine lass. Perhaps I’ll be throwing my hat into the ring.”
Aleksei’s dragon roared in fury at Matthias, Ian, and Tarek. “How dare you all try to lay claim to what is mine? Do I even attempt to try and take your hoards and—”
“Shut up!” Sybil held up her hands. “I’m not a prize to be won.”
“I agree.” So did his dragon, who nodded enthusiastically. “Because you are already mine.”
“No, I am not!” Sybil stamped her foot like a petulant child. “This is insane. I don’t want a mate and I don’t want suitors. I’m going to the cabin.” She wagged a finger at him. “Don’t even try to follow me. You—all of you—stay away from me.” She stormed off, disappearing into the log cabin behind her with a loud slam of the door.
Aleksei turned to Henry Lennox. “You must talk sense into your daughter.”
“Oh no.” The Blackstone Dragon shook his head and held his hands up. “Do you know how many times I’ve tried to persuade her to do anything? Too many. When Sybil sets her mind on something, there’s no stopping her.”
Damn stubborn Mountain Dragon. He looked to his mate’s brothers, hoping maybe that they would see reason. While the two men were identical, they gave him two different expressions. One looked at him curiously, while the other crossed his arms over his chest and scowled at him.
“Look,” Henry said, wiping a hand down his face. “While my daughter’s love life is a fascinating subject, I think we better get back to the real business in hand. You said that we needed to band together to stop The Knights of Ari-Ariste—”
“Aristaeum,” Dmitri provided.
“Right. The Knights of Aristaeum. They want to kill all of the shifters in the world and they have some weapon that can help them, yes?”
“Yes,” Caesar answered. “You have tangled with them before, so you know their ways. If we were all to fight together, we can stop them.”
“What is this weapon?” Hank asked.
The Dragon Council turned to Aleksei. He clenched his teeth tight together. “They have The Wand. The Wand of Aristaeum.”
“And what does this wand do?”
Aleksei’s blood turned cold, and for a moment, images flashed in his mind. A limp body on the floor. Cold, dead eyes. The wails and cries. “The wand separates a man from his animal.”
Henry’s eyes began to glow, signaling that his dragon was surfacing. “It turns a shifter into a human?”
Aleksei swallowed hard. “In a way.”
“It makes us easy to kill.” It was Matthias who spoke, and for a moment, his dragon’s fury matched Aleksei’s. “Once a shifter is separated from their animal, they become weak and vulnerable as a human.”
Henry looked at his sons in disbelief. “This is … a lot to think about.”
“Magic, wizards, wands.” One of the Blackstone Dragon’s sons shook his head. “I don’t know where to begin.”
“So, will you join us?” Dmitri asked.
Henry paused, then took a deep breath. “I’m willing to hear you out. You will tell me everything that you know, so we can come to a decision.”
“There is no time for this,” Aleksei said, his hands curling into fists at his sides.
“We will need to plan,” Henry said. “Once you convince me that there is a threat—”
“We have already lost a lot,” Aleksei interrupted. “We must act now.”
The Blackstone Dragon rose up to full height, his chest puffing out in challenge. “I nearly lost my son and my entire town to these bastards. What have you lost?”
“We have lost the Ice Dragons.” Aleksei’s voice was tight with barely contained fury. “An entire clan of dragons, obliterated. Not to mention the men, women, and children under their protection. Hundreds of lives lost.”
Henry’s face faltered. “I didn’t—” He shook his head. “I will need some time to talk to my family. Let’s convene in forty-eight hours.”
The Dragon Council members and the alphas looked at each other, convening silently through their mind links.
Your Highness, are you all right? came Dmitri’s question in his head. As dragons of the same clan and kind, they were able to communicate without words.
I am, he replied. But my patience is wearing thin.
As is all of ours. Dmitri looked at the other council members and alphas. But it seems we have no choice.
You may be right. We are stronger together than apart. Aleksei had been one of the supporters of the idea to approach the Blackstone Dragons. What do you think the others are saying?
I think they are coming to the same conclusion.
When Caesar and the other council members nodded, Dmitri broke off their mind link. The council members whispered amongst themselves, and then turned back to Henry Lennox.
“We accept,” Dmitri said. “If you allow us to stay in your town’s borders, then we will not have to travel so far.”
“Fine. You may stay in Blackstone town. But,” his gaze turned to Aleksei and Matthias, “if I hear of anything from anyone about you misbehaving or disrespecting any human or shifter in my town, I’ll kick you all out.”
“Of course.” Dmitri bowed his head. “Thank you for generosity.”
“Now, get out of my sight and out of my lake.”
The command of the alpha to leave his territory was difficult to ignore. To another alpha it was an irritation; like an itch. But to other shifters, it was a compelling order. It made the Dragon Council members uncomfortable, to the point of pain. Sensing Dmitri’s distress, Aleksei cloaked himself, and bid him to do the same. They both shifted into their dragon form, and Aleksei’s dragon flapped its wings and lifted off the ground. While it would have been easier to leave by water, Henry Lennox’s command had to be followed literally.
Go find us some suitable lodgings, he commanded Dmitri. Send me the location as soon as you can.
As you wish, Your Highness. Dmitri’s dragon bowed its head. But where are you going?
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To take care of other business. He flapped his wings and veered away from the rest of the dragons.
If Sybil Lennox thought he would be giving up easily, she was mistaken. He would find a way to convince her to see reason. His dragon nodded in agreement. There was no way any other man or dragon would lay claim to what was his.
Chapter Three
“The nerve!” Sybil stomped into the cabin and then slammed the door behind her. “Who the hell do they think they are?”
“Sybil?” Riva, who was closest to her from where she sat on the recliner, stood up and went to her side. “What’s the matter, honey?”
She let out a guttural, annoyed sound. “It’s that stupid, idiotic …” Oh God, she couldn’t even say his name, that’s how annoyed she was.
The door flung open again, and Amelia and Kate walked in.
“Sybil, are you okay?” Amelia rushed to her side and put an arm around her.
“What happened?” Christina asked. She was sitting on the couch with Penny, Georgina, and the two kids.
“Hoooo boy!” Kate rubbed her hands together. “Where to begin?”
“Shut up, Kate!” Sybil put up her hands. “No one needs to hear it.”
“Are you fu—” Georgina and Amelia gave the she-wolf disapproving looks, “fudging kidding me?” Kate cackled. “Everyone here has to hear this.”
“No, they don’t!”
“Sybil met her mate,” Kate finished with a snicker.
Riva’s mouth dropped open. “You did? Oh my God, Sybil! I’m so happy for you.” She hugged Sybil tight. “Honey?”
Sybil couldn’t bear to look up at her mother’s face. Couldn’t bear to disappoint her. “It’s not … he …” Oh God, how could she tell her mother?
Georgina cleared her throat. “Cassie, Grayson, I think I saw some board games upstairs in Pop-pop and Grams’ bedroom.” She stood up and took their hands. “Let’s go.”
When Georgina and the kids were safely out of earshot, Riva turned back to Sybil. “Why don’t you start from the beginning?”
Sybil sighed, took a long breath, and then told them what had happened. “…And then that oaf insulted Uncle James, Ben, and Amelia, then expected me to just be his mate.”
“And his princess,” Kate said gleefully. “And soon to be queen. Oh my God, my best friend is going to be royalty!”
“No way.” Sybil shook her head. “Nuh-uh. Not going to happen.”
“Oh right.” Kate tapped a finger on her chin. “There are at least two other alphas wanting to mate with you.”
“What?” Riva exclaimed.
“Yeah,” the she-wolf chuckled. “But seriously, princess-soon-to-be-queen is a better upgrade, I think. Hooo boy, this is going to be like The Bachelorette on steroids.”
“No, it’s not.” Sybil gritted her teeth. “No one can make me do anything I don’t want.”
“Uh, that’s true,” Amelia said. “But if he’s your mate, there’s not much you can do.”
Sybil looked around her, waiting for someone—anyone—to come to her defense. But all the women just stared at her. Of course, they were all mated to shifters themselves and knew all about the mating bond.
“Honey,” Riva began, placing a hand around her shoulders. “If you don’t like this Prince Aleksei, you don’t have to do anything. We’ll support you.”
“But, you can’t fight your animal,” Amelia pointed out. “You’ll only suffer if you do. Both of you will.”
“What am I supposed to do then?” Sybil asked throwing up her hands. “I wanted someone normal. A lawyer. An accountant. Maybe even a dentist.” Not a freaking dragon prince, of all things.
Before she could say anything else, the sound of the door opening made her lose her train of thought. Her father strode in, followed by the rest of their family who had stayed outside.
“Hank,” Riva said, immediately reaching for her mate. The grave look on his face made her frown. “What’s wrong?”
Hank shook his head. “I thought this was all behind us, but …” He explained what the Dragon Council had told him about The Wand of Aristaeum and the Ice Dragons.
“We need to stop them,” Christina said in a determined voice.
“Are you really going to join them, Hank?” James asked.
“I might not have a choice,” he answered. “Trouble is coming for us. They’ve killed other dragons, and who knows how many other shifters.”
“And if they have a weapon that could kill us instantly, then we need to find a way to stop them,” Luke said.
“Like I told them, I need some time to think about it.” Hank sighed. “We should head back to the castle. We’ll all be safe there.”
“But Dad—”
“No buts,” Hank said, his voice firm. “I can’t concentrate right now, knowing these dragons are nearby.” He turned his gaze to Sybil meaningfully.
“It’ll give us time to talk,” Matthew said. “We’ll all stay over, just for tonight.”
Sybil bit her lip. She had to remember, this wasn’t just about her. Really, if there were people out there trying to murder shifters, her problems were secondary right now. Hopefully, Prince Assface would see it that way. Maybe they could put all this talk of mates aside for now. “Fine,” she said.
“You can ride with us, Sybbie,” Luke said.
She shrugged. “Fine.”
They organized themselves, then took care of packing up their belongings. Soon, they were on the road back to town.
“Are you okay?” Luke asked.
“Huh?” Sybil sat up and swung her head back toward him. She’d been staring outside, her mind trying to piece together what was happening, but not making any sense. Beside her, Grayson was asleep in his car seat, probably knocked out from all the excitement. “I’m fine.”
“Really? You don’t seem fine.”
“Didn’t you say you wanted someone to take care of me?” she shot back.
Luke let out a grunt but kept his eyes on the road.
Beside him, Georgina was trying to hide her grin by covering her mouth, but the mirth in her eyes was evident. “A dragon prince sounds like he’ll be able to take care of Sybil.”
A strangled growl seemed to come from Luke’s mouth, but he cleared his throat. “Sybbie, if you don’t want this guy, then you don’t have to do anything … with him.”
Sybil should be grateful Luke was standing up for her, but why did she want to rebel against him now? She felt like a toddler, wanting to do the exact opposite of what her parents told her to do.
Georgina let out a sigh. “Luke, Sybil’s a big girl. An adult,” she pointed out. “She can do anything she wants. With whomever she wants.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Luke muttered under his breath.
Sybil felt a blush creeping up her cheeks. She hadn’t even thought of that. Sex. Despite being an arrogant bastard, she couldn’t deny that Aleksei was hot and built like some kind of sea sex god. All muscles and tattoos … not the usual type she was attracted to, but she’d have to be dead to not notice how sexy he was.
She stifled a groan. She would just have to stay away from him. And remind herself that there was so much more at stake now.
Soon they arrived at the castle, and Luke pulled up to the front door. As they got out of the car, she couldn’t help but feel like someone was watching her. But not in a bad way. A thrill ran up the back of her legs, and she spun around. But there was no one there. Her dragon did that fluttering thing again and she shushed it and told it to calm down.
Get through the weekend, she told herself. Maybe she’ll wake up and it’ll be Monday morning and this would all have been some crazy dream.
Unfortunately for Sybil, it was not a dream. She woke up Sunday morning in her old bed at Blackstone Castle. Things had been tense last night, and even in the spacious old castle, it was like there wasn’t enough space with everyone on edge. There was a lot of discussion what to do about the council and the alphas, but everyone
agreed that they had to do something to stop the threat. Sybil was just glad that it took the attention off her, though once in a while, she could feel her mother or one of the other women give her concerned looks.
Of course, her own dragon was giving her a hard time. The darned thing wouldn’t stop clawing and whining at her. Worst of all, images of Aleksei rising from the lake in nothing but his leather pants kept popping into her brain. An unfamiliar tingling between her legs and tightening of her nipples unnerved her, and her dragon was relishing it all. Despite her current virgo intacta state, she’d apparently been harboring a horndog—er, horn-dragon?—inside her. It kept sending her images of what it would be like to be with him, his body covering hers, those lips kissing hers and making its way down—
This was not good. It wasn’t like she was saving herself for marriage, but the thought of her first time with Prince Aleksei felt right, and it was a disturbing thought that she could want someone after spending two minutes with them.
Sybil had just had about enough. She wanted to go back to her mundane, normal life. She got out of bed, then got showered and dressed.
“I’m going out,” she announced as she walked into the common dining room of the west wing of the castle. This section housed the private apartments of the Lennox siblings, while Mom and Dad had the entire east wing to themselves. Matthew, Jason, her father, mother, Kate, Amelia, and Mason were sitting around the dining table.
“What do you mean, ‘out’?” Hank’s brows furrowed together.
“I’m getting brunch with Dutchy.” Once she says yes after I send her a text, she added silently. They’d been trying to get together for the last couple of weeks anyway. Dutchy was, after all, the only other single shifter in their circle of friends.
“We have breakfast here.” Matthew gestured to the large spread on the table, most likely prepared by their housekeeper, Meg.
“I know, but I’ve already made plans. We’d set it up weeks ago.” She bit her cheek at the lie. Technically a half-truth.
“Sybil,” Hank began, “you should really stay—”
The Blackstone She-Dragon: Blackstone Mountain Book 8 Page 3