Forever Fated Mates: A Shifter Romance Collection

by Meg Ripley

  Her mother put an arm around her shoulders. “Sometimes accidents give us the most wonderful gifts. Mind you, I plan to have a stern talking-to with your father and Varhan. If that spell had gone differently, you might’ve been seriously hurt.”

  “Oh, Mom. I’m fine. I just can’t believe this happened.” Her cheeks were already tired from smiling so much, but she couldn’t stop herself. It was thrilling, and it meant so much for their future. She knew even without asking that her father would be eager to start on the next step, whatever that may be.

  “Neither can I, but I suppose I shouldn’t be surprised. Stranger things have happened.” Naomi smiled gently to herself as she rinsed the plate and put it in the dishwasher.

  “Like what?” As she moved through the kitchen, Kaylee realized just how strange of a thing this probably would have been for the new dragons in their home. From what Julian had told her of Charok, they didn’t have modern conveniences like dishwashers or refrigerators. It was a much more primitive society, though civilized.

  “Oh, I don’t know. I think your father and Varhan are waiting for you in the library. You’d better go, or they’ll start talking without you.”

  Kaylee dried her hands on a towel and left the kitchen. As she headed for the library, she tipped her head up toward the ceiling. In the extra bedrooms upstairs, her parents had made room for each of the new dragons. Julian had apologized numerous times for the strange sleeping conditions, since none of them were used to sleeping in beds in a house, but they all seemed to accept the hospitality well enough. Even Archard didn’t say much, simply closing the door behind him.

  As her mother said, Julian and Varhan were in the library. The remnants of the salt, citrine and ashes had been swept from the floor. The rug was back in place, as was the furniture. Except for a few pieces of paper that’d been blown around the room and the piece of Varhan’s wand that still stuck out of the floor, it was like nothing had ever happened there.

  But the looks on the men’s faces were enough to remind her that it most certainly had. “The two of you are absolutely amazing,” Julian enthused, straightening a vase on a shelf. He was too excited to sit down, and he busied himself throughout the room. “More dragons! Who would’ve thought we’d not only find them, but bring them back here?”

  Kaylee sat down heavily, the leather couch cool on her back. “Yeah, it’s pretty heavy stuff.”

  Varhan rubbed a hand over his forehead. “We should be getting to sleep soon. We have a lot of work ahead of us.”

  “Agreed. I want to try the spell again as soon as possible.” Julian tapped a finger against the silver bowl, the inside of it tarnished from the burning herbs it held earlier.

  The wizard let out a low laugh. “No, my friend. That’s not going to happen anytime soon. We need to recover, for one thing. You’re excited right now, but when you wake up in the morning, you’ll realize just how much the magic has drained you. And I think you’re also forgetting that the spell went wrong. It was all purely accidental, and even if we tried, I couldn’t guarantee that we’d replicate it.”

  The smile faded only slightly from Julian’s face. “Even so, we have an excellent starting point. With a little bit of time and research, I imagine we can bring more dragons over within a week or two. Lucia said there were other clans still on Charok, ones that managed to survive the War and the Great Curse. We can’t just leave them there.”

  Kaylee cleared her throat. She didn’t want to argue with either one of them, but this was her opportunity to express the concerns she’d been having all evening. “Don’t you think we should be working on sending them back instead?”

  “What do you mean?” Julian almost looked offended, but Varhan’s eyes twinkled at her.

  “Well, they didn’t want to be here in the first place.” Archard’s words were still fresh in her mind. “We know that at least one of them wants to go back, and I think it’s only fair that we try to accomplish that.”

  Varhan leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees. He looked particularly old, his face lined with worry, and Kaylee realized she had no idea how old he was. “It’s a noble thought, and one that I’m glad to hear you’re having. The problem is that I don’t know how to send them back. If I did, then I could’ve just sent Julian there like he’d always wanted.”

  “I did want that,” her father admitted, biting his lower lip and shaking his head. “But I’m not so sure now. I mean, there’s a lot more opportunity for us here. We don’t even have to live in caves or hunt for food. They’re much better off, and we can help them.”

  An uncomfortable feeling squirmed inside Kaylee’s stomach. “But I’m not sure we did the right thing. I know it wasn’t on purpose, but it’s not fair for us to just assume they want to be on Earth because we think it’s better. They might miss their home. Hell, I’ve never lived there and I feel like I miss it.”

  Julian put his hands up in the air. “Fair enough. You’re right. I’ll talk to them some more tomorrow. But like Varhan said, we don’t know how to send them back. Not yet. In the meantime, they’ll have the chance to see what Earth is really like and make their decision from there.”

  “What about the others?” Varhan asked. “Have you told them?”

  “I called Holden and explained things. He thought I was playing a joke on him at first. We both agreed that we should take things slowly. We’ll give it some time before we bring everyone else over. They seem a bit overwhelmed as it is, except for Callan. I’ve no doubt he’ll be staying.”

  “It’s Archard that I’m concerned about,” Kaylee said quietly. “He seemed very unhappy about being here; angry, even. I don’t know that he’ll be able to keep this all a secret.” She’d tried not to think about him, especially after their encounter in the hall, but Archard had been on the forefront of her mind ever since the new dragons had arrived. She couldn’t deny her first thought: that she’d never seen such a gorgeous being in her life. His dark hair was swept back against his head, and he kept it a bit shorter than Callan did. Paired with those jet blue eyes, a strong jaw, and wide shoulders, he was like something out of a movie. Even his hostility hadn’t completely turned her off at first. He gave her a strange feeling in the pit of her stomach, like her own skin was suffocating her. The way Archard watched her made her feel like she was the only person in the room, and Kaylee had yet to decide if that was a good or bad thing.

  “Don’t worry about him. He’s just an angry young man who’s been pulled away from everything he knows. Some of it is his age, and he’ll get past it. Give him time. And for the rest of us, Varhan is right. We need some sleep ourselves. Good night, Kaylee. I’m very proud of you.” Julian kissed her on the forehead and opened the door to the library.

  Despite Varhan’s promise that their spellwork would leave them exhausted, Kaylee couldn’t sleep. She’d changed into her most comfortable pajamas, but the soft fabric kept twisting around her body as she tossed under the covers. She stripped them off and tried sleeping naked, but it was no better. As long as her mind was racing, her body wasn’t going to rest.

  With a grunt of frustration, she flung the covers back and got dressed. She was just wasting her time, and that was something she couldn’t stand. If her brain insisted on being awake, then she was going to put it to good use. In her bare feet, she crept downstairs to the library.

  Kaylee wasn’t surprised to see a line of light under the door. She sighed and shook her head. Her father had sent her off to bed, but he probably hadn’t even tried to get any sleep himself and opted instead to stay up and do exactly what she was going to do. Kaylee didn’t know nearly as much about spells as her father and Varhan did, but she could still do her best.

  She opened the door, prepared to find her father on the chair in front of the fireplace. But the dark figure in the room was none other than Archard. He stood in front of a large window on the wall opposite the door, his long arms stretching out to brace against the trim work. He looked over his shoulder when he
heard her enter.

  Kaylee softly closed the door behind her, not wanting to wake the rest of the house. “What are you doing up? I thought you went to sleep hours ago.” It had thrown her completely to find him there, and a bolt of adrenaline now made a heady mix with her blood.

  “No. I went to the room your parents said I could use, but I haven’t slept at all. I don’t think I’ll ever be able to, not under a roof like this. I’m used to being out in the open.”

  She wrung her fingers together, unsure of what to say. “I suppose you could ask if you could camp out in the yard tomorrow.”

  He whirled around, a strand of hair coming down to hang in his face. His fists were curled at his sides as he advanced toward her. “That’s just the problem! I shouldn’t have to ask permission for something like that! I’m practically being held prisoner here!”

  “Keep your voice down!” she snapped, irritated. “You’re not a prisoner. I guess you can do whatever the hell you want to. It’s just courtesy to talk to the owner of the house, especially considering that the outside world doesn’t know who you really are!”

  “Keep your own voice down, then, if you care so much.” His sapphire eyes blazed. “And that doesn’t exactly make it any better. Even if you and your family aren’t trying to contain me, your society is. I never wanted to be here, Kaylee.”

  It was the first time she’d heard him say her name out loud, and the sound made a vibration that rippled through her bones and caught in her throat. “I know that,” she choked, realizing that every cell of her body seemed to be aware of every part of his. If she closed her eyes, she’d still know exactly where he was and how he stood. “And I explained it was an accident.”

  “Accident or not, it was irresponsible of you to try such a thing. I have duties on Charok that are far more important than your experimental magic.” He tightened his fist and turned away once again.

  Kaylee worked her tongue in her mouth, trying to find the right words. She’d never had a hard time with that before. She’d always been quick with her tongue, even before she knew about her gift. Archard made her feel there were no sufficient words, no matter what she was trying to say. “I understand. I can’t really argue with that. But the fact is that we don’t have a way to send you back, at least not yet.” She cringed inwardly, waiting for another violent reaction from him.

  Instead, he just shook his head and turned toward the window. “Of course not.”

  In that moment, Kaylee realized that their spell hadn’t gone completely wrong. They’d created a window to Charok because they wanted to learn about its current state. Now, they could not only learn about it, but get firsthand accounts of it. “Could you tell me about it?”

  “Charok? Why would I do that?” His hand rubbed over the back of his neck and remained there, his biceps firm in the dim light of the lamps.

  “I just want to know. I’ve always wanted to know. I’ve never felt like I really belonged here on Earth, and I have to admit I wanted to go to Charok just as badly as my father did. Don’t punish me for this, Archard. It’s not something I ever would’ve done on purpose.”

  He pulled in a deep breath that Kaylee was sure would fuel some sort of retort, but he let it out again without speaking. After a long moment of silence, he said, “It’s nothing like this place, at least as far as I understand. My clan and I stay in the foothills of the mountains, where we’re close enough to the forest to hunt fraxen and gather vegetables, but where we can retreat to the safety of the caves when we need to.”

  “You don’t live in the caves? I’m sorry. I’m just going off of what my father told me.” She dared to take a step forward. His back was still turned to her, but she knew he heard her soft footstep against the floor. Dragons had excellent hearing.

  “Not for a long time. So many of our people died there, and it feels almost haunted. It was easier to start new lives for ourselves, at least as much as we could. There are some of us who still try to fulfill the roles our families have served in for generations, but others have ventured away from that. Callan, I’m sure, will be happy to see how your kind live.”

  “My kind?” The phrase seemed almost offensive. “We’re the same kind, Archard. We’re not really that different.” Why did she care? She’d told herself earlier in the night, when he’d been so stubbornly angry outside the library, that she wasn’t going to waste her time on him. But she very much wanted him to understand her and even accept her, as far-fetched of an idea as that seemed to be.

  “Physically, maybe, but that’s about it. Our lives are completely different. We’ve spent a long time wondering just how many of us still existed and why all this happened to us.” A heavy sigh rippled through his shoulders. “I always had a feeling something big was going to happen, like there was something out there waiting for me. I didn’t think it was going to be this.”

  Kaylee understood that feeling, and she took a few more steps and tentatively reached out her hand. She touched his shoulder. In the split second that her fingertips grazed his shirt, she felt a bolt of electricity shoot through her hand and up her arm. It was no mere static electricity, and she immediately yanked her hand back.

  Archard spun around, but he only looked at her with curiosity.

  She cleared her throat, the air between them tense. “I really am sorry. I want you to know that. And since it’s my fault you’re stuck here for now, why don’t you let me give you a little tour?”

  “I’ve seen the house,” he growled.

  She almost laughed. “No, I mean of our city. Come with me tomorrow and see what a day is like for us here. I’ll take you out of the house. I can’t guarantee it’ll make you feel better about being here, but it’s worth a shot.” Kaylee looked up at him hopefully, unable to avoid studying his handsome features. He was rugged and strong, and a shadow of a beard had cropped up along his jaw since he’d arrived.

  “All right,” he finally said. “I guess I might as well try, since there’s no telling how long I’ll be staying here.”

  “You’ll have to stay in your human form,” she warned him.

  He gave her a serious look. “Yes, I understand that.”

  Her body wanted to surge toward his. Kaylee had never been the kind to throw herself at a man, no matter how attractive or mysterious he was. It shouldn’t have made any difference that Archard was a dragon or that he’d come from a world she’d always been desperate to understand. Maybe that wasn’t even why she felt this way about him, but either way, she knew it was dangerous. At least while they were out tomorrow, they’d be in public. “All right. We’ll leave after breakfast. In the meantime, try to get some sleep.” She turned and left the library as quickly as she could without running.

  Back in her bedroom, Kaylee felt as though she couldn’t catch her breath. She leaned against the door, energy and excitement running through her body likes balls of fire. “So much for sleeping,” she whispered.

  8

  Archard awoke feeling stiff and cantankerous. He’d managed to get a little sleep after opening the window and pushing his bed up against it, allowing a stiff breeze to blow into the room. It wasn’t nearly the same as his favorite spot on the side of the mountains on Charok, but it was the best he could do for the moment.

  As he got dressed and the scent of hot food beckoned him down to the kitchen, Archard realized what a fool he’d been for accepting Kaylee’s offer. He shouldn’t be around her at all, not with the way she made him feel. He needed to keep his distance from her before he did something he regretted.

  But when he entered the kitchen, he knew he couldn’t back out. Kaylee was already there, dressed for the day. She sat at the table with a mug of something hot on the table in front of her, her head braced on her hand as she wrote in a notebook. Archard stopped in the doorway and stared for a long moment, examining the way a few stray curls gently caressed the back of her neck.

  “Good morning!” Naomi enthused from her position near the stove as she scooped strips of hot
, sizzling meat out of a pan. “I didn’t expect you up so early, not after a long night like that. I’m afraid I don’t have everything quite ready yet.”

  Archard took a deep breath, reminding himself to be polite. Despite his feelings about Julian and the wizard, this female dragon had been very welcoming. “That’s all right. Don’t feel rushed because of me.”

  Kaylee got out of her seat and came across the room. “We don’t need an entire buffet, Mom. Whatever you’ve got is fine.” She grabbed one of the strips of meat and handed it to Archard. “It’s bacon, and it’s delicious.”

  Seeing that she was getting another one for herself, Archard tried it. The salty, smoky flavor was surprisingly pleasant, and it made the back of his mouth water for more. “This doesn’t taste anything like fraxen.”

  “It’s pig. There are several different cuts of meat we get from them, actually, and almost all of it is amazing.”

  Naomi gestured toward the paper Kaylee still held in her free hand. “What are you working on?”

  “Oh.” Kaylee tucked it into her back pocket. “I’m taking Archard around to see a few things today. I was trying to make a list of the best places to go.”

  Archard felt incredibly uncomfortable at the way Naomi’s slanted eyes studied her daughter and then him. “I don’t want to burden you. I’m sure you have other things to do, and I’m tired anyway.”

  “Here. Drink this.” She poured him a cup of something hot and shoved it at him.

  He did as he was told. The drink was bitter but flavorful, and he couldn’t decide quite how he felt about it. “What is it?”

  Kaylee laughed at the faces he made. “Coffee, and pretty much everyone on the planet drinks it. It’ll perk you up, if nothing else. Now shove a few biscuits down your throat and let’s go.”

  “You seem to be in quite the hurry to leave,” Archard remarked when he followed her out of the house ten minutes later. The fluffy hunk of bread Naomi offered had been almost as good as the bacon, and it sat comfortably in his stomach. Though he wouldn’t have admitted it to anyone, he was eager to taste more Earth food.