“You say that but—” he cleared his throat. “This is hard for me to say because in my mind, you’ll always be the little girl who used to follow us around, begging to be included in our adventures and games.”
She smiled at the memory. “I’m not a little girl anymore, but I’ll always be your sister.”
“I know,” he said, his expression softening. “And now I suppose is the time every big brother dreads.”
She rolled her eyes. “Oh please, Luke. Can you really see me with that guy?”
“A couple months ago, I would have said no. But he’s your mate, Sybil. You don’t understand, but you will.”
The word mate was starting to irritate her. In fact, the whole thing was annoying, and what he said basically echoed what she knew what everyone around her was thinking: that her mating with Aleksei was inevitable. How many times in the last few months when she saw her brothers and friends pair off, did she pray and hope for someone to sweep her off her feet? Well, I guess you should be careful what you wish for.
“Just, promise me you’ll be the smart person I know you to be, okay?” he said, his voice resigned. “But, mate or not, I’m going to kill him if he hurts you.”
That was the Luke she knew. “Not if I burn him first,” she said with a wink. “Now, go to your mate and son. I’m sure they’ll be wondering where you went.” She leaned over and hugged him. “Take care, Luke.”
“I will, Sybbie.”
As she lay in bed that night, Sybil just couldn’t shut her brain down. Between worrying about The Knights and then what happened at Rosie’s, her mind was filled with so many questions and thoughts.
She found so many reasons why she shouldn’t be mates with Aleksei, or any of the alphas. She was too young. She didn’t want to leave Blackstone. So many people depended on her at work. Her family needed her.
But a small voice inside her asked, or maybe you’re scared?
“Ha!” Her, scared? How silly. She wasn’t scared of anything. Least of all, His Royal Highness.
Ugh, just thinking about Aleksei made her feel all kinds of things that, well, she didn’t want to acknowledge. The physical attraction was there, but everything else about him—
You don’t even know him.
But she didn’t want to. She knew his type. Conceited. Selfish. Thinks the world revolves around them. When she was in college, she’d seen those kinds of guys on campus. Rich snobs who came from money. While those guys weren’t intimidated by her family name, she couldn’t stand them.
How do you know he’s like them?
“I just do and—Really?” She sat up quickly. Was she having a conversation with herself? “Argh!” She punched her pillow and then threw the covers over her shoulders as she settled back in bed.
Closing her eyes tight, Sybil forced herself to go to sleep. Eventually, sleep came, though it was one of those restless slumbers where she was fully aware of her surroundings. It was when she could see light behind her lids that she knew it was morning.
Thank God. Work would be a blessed distraction. She got up and checked her phone for messages. There were some from her mom, checking in on her, and she quickly answered that. There was another one from Kate that made her mutter a curse.
Don’t forget: bachelorette party tonight at The Den. Wear something white and sexy! It was followed by a series of emojis that ranged from party balloons to champagne glasses to eggplants.
Sybil groaned. She’d forgotten all about it. “I’m a terrible maid of honor and best friend.” Oh well, at least Amelia—dependable and responsible Amelia—had taken care of the arrangements and the decorations.
She trudged out of bed and into the bathroom to take a shower and get ready. As she prepared her morning coffee in her to-go tumbler, she checked her schedule to make sure she had all the details. Today was another day of traveling. While it could be pretty stressful, she preferred it to staying in her cramped cubicle.
Grabbing her keys, she made her way out of her apartment. As soon as she pushed the doors open, that strange, thrilling feeling washed over her.
“Jesus!” Sybil’s heart leapt out of her rib cage when she collided into something solid. She nearly toppled back, but strong arms wrapped around her.
Her dragon, of course, she knew it before her gaze landed on Aleksei.
Mine. Mate.
It was way too early for this. But she couldn’t stop the warmth that spread through her belly as his grip tightened around her. She took a deep breath—a big mistake, as his scent imprinted on her senses: Aleksei smelled like a day on the beach, like ocean mist and salt and something masculine she couldn’t place. Her dragon went wild, scurrying around in excitement. And then she looked up into his eyes. Her second big mistake of the morning. He stared down at her with those bright sea-colored eyes and she had to blink several times to come back to her senses.
“What are you doing here?” she asked in a voice that was supposed to come out angry, but sounded breathy instead.
“I came for you, of course.” He said the same thing yesterday, but there was something different about him today, she couldn’t quite figure out what. Of course, his presence was such a big distraction she couldn’t think straight. They were so close, she could feel the heat of his body even through her sensible office wear.
No, she had to get her mind out of the gutter. She huffed and then pushed away from him. “What do you want now? Are you going to keep stalking me until I agree to be your mate? You can’t do that, you’re not king here.”
“I came here to apologize.”
Her jaw nearly dropped to the floor. In the list of “What is Aleksei going to say to me now?” that would have been dead last. Or it wouldn’t have even been on the list at all. “E-excuse me?”
He reached out to tuck a stray lock of hair that had escaped from her ponytail behind her ear. “I’m sorry I have offended you and your family.”
The touch of his callused fingertips on her cheek was brief but sent her brain into a tizzy. At least he was wearing a shirt today. Not that it made him any less sexy. While he sported the same leather pants, he was wearing a white billowy shirt that made him look like a sexy pirate on one of those romance novels she hid under her bed. Or reminded her of Colin Firth in Pride and Prejudice. Plus, there was his sexy accent. She couldn’t quite place it—his vocabulary was posh, but the lilt and cadence was rough. When he spoke gently and sincerely like this, it made her eardrums tingle pleasantly.
She swallowed a gulp and tried to put the maelstrom of feelings inside her in order. “You are?” she managed to squeak.
“You seemed surprised.” He gave a slight cock of his head. “I was informed that my comments about your bear cousins were egregious and I regret offending you.”
“Oh.”
“It was not an insult, but merely a misunderstanding.” He scratched his chin, a move that seemed unconscious. “Your friends informed me that you are unaware of the terms, common and fabled shifters.” He quickly explained the difference between the two.
Sybil chewed on her lip. “I didn’t realize that.”
“Still, I have offended you, and my honor will not allow me to let such a thing pass.”
Oh, it was his honor that made him apologize. She didn’t how to react to that, but seeing that he actually seemed remorseful made her soften toward him. “I … if you really did make a mistake, then I suppose I could forgive you.”
His shoulders relaxed. “Thank you. And I will not use that word again if it offends you.”
“Well, if there’s nothing else, I need to get to work.” She tried to sidestep him, but he blocked her. “Yes?”
“Sybil—may I call you that?”
Again, his politeness arrested her. “Of course, A—Your … Highness?” Maybe she should ask Christina or Catherine on how one should address royalty, since they went to a fancy boarding school in England.
“I would prefer you call me Aleksei.”
That didn’t seem right,
but she wasn’t one to question him on the use of his own name. “Aleksei,” she repeated. There was something dark and heated that flashed in his eyes, but she ignored it.
He cleared his throat. “If you would permit me, I would like to get to know you better and to … court you.”
“What?” Now that really surprised her. “I mean, I … I don’t know. It’s just this whole thing, you know …” Her dragon cried in protest. “I can’t.”
“Oh.” He seemed dejected, and her heart dropped to her stomach.
“I mean, I can’t now because I’m going to work,” she quickly added. “I have to travel today and check in on my clients.”
“Understood,” he said. “Then I will escort you as you go about your business.”
“Excuse me?”
“These are dangerous times,” he continued. “You are vulnerable, especially if you are traveling outside of Blackstone.”
“I can take care of myself,” she retorted, placing her hands on her hips.
“But what about those around you? Are you able to protect all of them, if you were to be ambushed by The Knights?”
“I—” Damn. He made a good point. What if she were visiting with one of her kids, and then someone tried to attack them? Or use them as hostages? If Blackstone hadn’t come under attack, she could have brushed it off, but their enemies had struck one too many times for her to think she would be safe here. Maybe it would be better to use up her sick or vacation days until they figured this whole thing out. But she couldn’t just take off now. “Fine.”
“Is that a yes?”
“Yes.” She puffed out a breath. “But, you need to stay incognito and not talk to any of my clients.”
“Shall I remain Cloaked and follow you from afar?”
“What? No! I mean that’s still too creepy,” she said. “Look, why don’t you just ride with me? You can stay in the car, if you don’t mind.”
“As you wish.”
As he followed her to her parking spot, Sybil was still asking herself why in the world she’d invited him to come along with her. Aleksei’s presence was so distracting. He was so darn big that she couldn’t avoid him. When she unlocked her car and he attempted to squeeze into the passenger-side seat of her tiny Prius, it made his size even more apparent. Still, he moved with such a grace that he made it effortless, like he was getting into a limo and not her hybrid car. The vehicle dipped under his weight, but he settled in comfortably and put his seatbelt on.
She turned the key in the engine, then started her GPS. She already knew the route by heart, but sometimes it got lonely on her drives and it was nice to hear another somewhat-human voice. “Ready?” she asked her passenger.
“When you are,” he replied.
She drove out to the next town over, Greenville. It wasn’t too far away, and they were there in the town limits in fifteen minutes. The ride wasn’t uncomfortable, and Aleksei seemed to be fascinated by the sights outside. She wondered how he grew up and what the Northern Isles were like. Did they have forests and trees like Blackstone? Or were they mostly rocks and seas? Maybe it was like some quaint, seaside village with huts and fishing boats. She supposed she could look it up.
Or ask Aleksei, that voice inside her said. You can’t drive around in silence the whole day.
It was a good thing they had arrived outside the first house before she could answer. “I’ll be back.” She unbuckled her seatbelt and got out of the car. The cool, crisp air hitting her face felt good. She hadn’t realized how stuffy it was inside. Or maybe it was just Aleksei’s presence.
This first stop was routine for her job—a welfare check for a five-year-old girl, Lucy Marks, with her new foster parents. Evelyn and Jacob Ivanko were long-time foster parents, an older couple who’d never had kids of their own, but nonetheless decided they wanted to become foster parents. Sybil had visited their mobile home lots of times in the last couple of years, and though they weren’t wealthy, they provided clean beds, full meals, and as much love and care as they could. For all their foster kids. The visit took thirty minutes, and while she wanted to stop and chat with Evelyn this morning, she didn’t want to keep Aleksei waiting, so she said her goodbyes to the older woman and her charge, promising to come back soon.
“Hope you weren’t too bored,” Sybil said as she entered the car.
“I’m all right,” he said. “I was speaking with Dmitri on a few matters.”
“In your mind?”
He chuckled. “We are too far in distance.” He held up his hand and showed her his phone.
She blushed. “Sorry, I thought … I don’t know anything about that.”
“Do you not speak with your father and brothers this way?” he asked.
“Not at all.”
“Curious. Not all dragons can speak to each other,” he explained. “Only dragons of the same type can.”
“Ah, so you can talk to your dad, your brothers, and other water dragons around you?”
“Yes, the mental link is especially strong between people who are related by blood or have spent a lot of time together. I would say it’s the strongest between myself and my father and we can speak over longer distances. I don’t have brothers, but I have a cousin who is next in line to the throne, and we share a strong connection as well. And then there’s the Dragon Guard.”
“Dragon Guard?” she echoed.
“The most elite warriors in our land whose task it is to guard the royal family,” he explained. “I’ve known most of them my whole life, and thus our connection is strong.”
Sybil grew even more curious, wondering what it was like for him, growing up on an island and surrounded by a small group of friends. But, she had about another twenty minutes before her next appointment, so she had to get going. Reaching for the ignition, she stepped on the brake and pressed the start button.
“Sybil, may I ask a question?”
“Of course,” she said as she pulled out of the parking space.
“This is a silly question, but what is it that you do?”
“Huh?” Oh. He had no idea what her job was. “Not a silly question at all.” Most countries in the developing world probably didn’t have access to social services. "I mean, I’m a social worker. I work for a branch of the government that provides services to people who are disadvantaged socially, economically, and sometimes physically and mentally. Though I’m mostly assigned to child welfare services, but once in a while I’ll have clients who have other needs. There’s just not enough of us doing this work.”
“So, you care for those who are vulnerable and need the most help.”
“Well, that’s kind of a simple definition,” she said with a chuckle.
“But it’s true,” he said. “In a nutshell.”
“I suppose. It’s mostly a lot of paperwork and going to boring meetings.”
“But your work leads to people having better lives, does it not?”
“Well …” When he put it that way, it made her work seem more noble and she didn’t know what to say. Frankly, she didn’t think Aleksei could be so … eloquent. Mostly, he’d been acting like a bully, trying to get his way all the time. Today, he seemed subdued and polite. Was he sick or something?
Or maybe, this is the real him.
“Why did you want to do such work?” he asked. “Your family is wealthy, and you could have chosen any other profession.”
Normally, she would have bristled at such a question, but Aleksei seemed genuinely curious. “When I was about sixteen, I still didn’t know what I was going to do with my life,” she said. “My brothers were going to go into business, just like Mom and Dad, and everyone assumed I would be, too. But it just didn’t feel right.” She shrugged. “Then one day, I don’t know, I just wanted to get out of Blackstone. I mean, I’ve left Blackstone on vacations and I would go into Verona Mills to go out and have fun, but I’ve never been outside.”
“I understand.”
She slowed down as she reached a red light at a
n intersection. “I just drove around and I saw what it was like. That other places aren’t like Blackstone. See, over here, we care for shifters. After all, normal humans aren’t so nice to our kind.” She realized she’d been living in a bubble all her life, and what she’d seen that day changed her forever. “I just thought … well, who were caring for these people? The kids whose parents neglected them or didn’t have any parents? Or the old or disabled people who couldn’t rely on anyone? When I came home, I had a long talk with my dad.”
“What did he say?”
“That if I wanted things to change, then I would have to be the one to take action. Be the change you want to see in the world … and all that.” And since that moment, she knew what she wanted to be. She could have worked for The Lennox Foundation, too, but she didn’t want to just help shifters; she wanted to help everyone else.
“That is an honorable calling.”
She glanced over at him, and found herself staring into the depths of his eyes again. A warmth crept up her neck. “I—”
A loud, honking sound made her start, and she realize the light had turned green. She turned away and stepped on the gas, hoping that Aleksei didn’t notice the blush on her cheeks.
The rest of her morning passed by in much the same way. She had two more visits—one was a welfare check on an elderly client who lived in a remote area of the county, and another was meeting with some prospective adoptive parents. Sybil couldn’t believe how patient Aleksei was, just sitting in the car the entire time. He asked more questions about her work while they drove around, and she provided the answers she could, without giving away too many details that would violate her clients’ privacy.
“Are you hungry?” she asked. “We should stop for lunch.”
“I am famished,” he said. “Where should we eat?”
She looked at the long stretch of country road ahead of them. “I’m afraid we’ve slim pickings out here.” She thought for a moment. “There’s a greasy spoon that’s popular with the locals on the way back to town,” she said.
He grimaced. “A … greasy spoon?”
She chuckled. “Not literally a greasy spoon. It’s a term for a cheap place to eat. More appetizing than it sounds.”
The Blackstone She-Dragon: Blackstone Mountain Book 8 Page 6