Taming the Alpha

by Mandy M. Roth

  “What are you not telling me?” Kyran asked.

  “We’ve had reports that there is a faction of Var who do not want us to open the portal. They feel that having the portal on Draig land gives us too much power over the fate of the planet. Some feel that your being the first to marry is proof of this.” King Severin frowned. “Right now, the people are still awaiting word about your princess. The next step is to make that happen. This must be done right, and it must be done fast. A catshifter must go next. One by one, the other princes will find wives. Then we will set a date to let the next batch of men go through.”

  Kyran knew the plan. He’d helped come up with the plan. “What did you tell the people?”

  “That the new princess is adjusting and being monitored closely for the safety of all shifters. The surgeon issued a report as to her compatibility but fragility. The last part was your mother’s doing. She is determined that all know these women are not as strong as dragon females and are to be protected.”

  “I think it is time that the people saw Princess Eve for themselves,” Kyran said. “I’m taking her outside the palace to the village.”

  “She is ready?” the king asked surprised.

  “Yes. Perhaps.” He sighed and stood from his chair. “I hope so. We need this to work. I fear the longer we keep her locked away, the more rumors will be circulated. Once they see she is shaped well, it will put many of the men’s minds at ease.”

  “The men are eager to find wives,” the king agreed. “This plays in our favor.”

  “I was also thinking about the portal trips. What if we planned on making the one night of darkness the sacred marriage day? It will limit the crossing over to once a year. We can take an equal number of Var and Draig, and we can institute a palace celebration to see the men off. We’ll imply that it has been discovered that travel during the night is less likely to harm the females. It’s true enough. If they come over when it is dark it is less likely they will be shocked by the full view of their surroundings. Eve kept mumbling about our three suns for hours.”

  Unless they drank tequila first. Then they apparently didn’t remember the trip over…or the fact that Eve’s hand had been firmly on his ass when they’d come through.

  “I’ll mention it to the queen.” The king turned his attention back down to his desk. “You can stop avoiding taking your wife out in public now. All this can be discussed later.”

  Kyran bowed out of habit, even though his father wasn’t looking directly at him, and left the office. The king was right. He was nervous taking his bride before his people.

  Chapter Nine

  “You should not denounce our marriage,” Kyran instructed. His wife wore his tunic shirt along with the new addition of the tight pants he’d found for her. “The people won’t understand.”

  Eve arched a brow and stared at him. He hated that look and wished she’d say something.

  “They will address you as a princess,” he explained. “You must allow them to.”

  “Kyran, do I look like an idiot?” She placed her hands on her hips.

  By all the dragon’s fire, she made his heart race. Every part of him wanted to touch her, be with her, please her—from his body to his mind. How could she not feel it? The attraction between them had been strong since the first moment he’d seen her on stage. When dragons mated, it was forever. He knew that she was his wife as surely as he knew he breathed air. How could she not know it?

  “Because you’ve repeated yourself three times now. I got it. You are asking me to behave, and at this point I’ll agree just so we can get out the door already.” Eve nodded toward the front door.

  “You act as if you have been kept prisoner in here. The door is never locked.”

  “Um,” she pointed at her face, “you saw what happened when I went out alone. I don’t really feel like being hit with an invisible hammer next time or falling into a dungeon through an invisible hole in the floor.”

  “That would be a ridiculous security feature,” he dismissed.

  “A few days ago, I would have said an invisible electric wall was ridiculous.” Eve scrunched up her nose. “And now I look like a crypt keeper.”

  “You look beautiful,” he assured her.

  Eve’s stern expression broke and she gave a small laugh. “They really do train you guys full out with the husband manual, don’t they?”

  “I don’t know what that means, but if you keep smiling, I will agree with it,” he said.

  Eve laughed harder. He liked the sound of her laugh. She tugged his arm. “Now let’s go. I want to see things.”

  Kyran obliged, leading her through the halls. Only when she reached the front gate did she hesitate. Kyran pushed a stone and the transparent wall tinted with blue. He reached his hand through to show her it was harmless. She took cautious steps as they walked outside.

  The day was warm and the green tint of the suns reflected off her hair to turn the blue streak a more vivid hue. He found the color did not disturb him as it once had—mainly because he’d noticed the hair closer to her head grew as a normal shade.

  Kyran automatically started leading her toward the trees, finding it hard to fight the urge to get her alone. However, Eve detected the rooftops of the nearby village and began excitedly pulling him that way.

  “Do they walk around like dragons?” she asked, practically bouncing as she walked.

  “If the occasion calls for it.”

  “So, is it like the wolfman where you have to have a full moon to change? Or is it more of a temper thing—like letting the dragon loose where you go all mindless and start attacking people? Or is it—”

  “I don’t know what you’re asking me. We shift if we want to shift, if there is danger, if we fall from a great height and need to land with minimal injury to our internal organs.”

  “Fall?” She frowned in obvious disappointment. “So you don’t fly?”

  “Only females and only at very rare times.”

  “Oh.” She sounded dejected. “So I guess you don’t breathe fire?”

  “There is a legend that females can when properly provoked. I have never seen it done.”

  Eve chuckled. “Yeah, we have that same legend amongst my people. We call it PMS.”

  “I have not heard of this.” Kyran was glad that she seemed more at ease. “You must tell me about it.”

  “Oh, if I’m here long enough, I’m sure you’ll learn all about it,” she mumbled. Then, becoming excited once more, she said, “Hey, so if I stay here, will I turn into a dragon? Will you have to bite me like a vampire or werewolf? Or is there some kind of mystical ceremony where I drink from the goblet of dragon ooze? Or—”

  “You are human,” he explained very carefully. “You will remain human.”

  Eve’s expression fell. “Well, that kind of sucks.”

  For some reason, her desire to become a shifter pleased him. “You no longer seem worried about being here. This pleases me. You will make a very fine queen someday, and I’m sure your new people will come to love you.”

  This did not seem to please her as he had hoped.

  “Oh, I don’t know about that.” She gave him a sheepish smile before narrowing her eyes. Eve pointed toward the tree line. “Is someone watching us?”

  He turned not seeing anyone.

  “Never mind, he’s gone. Hey, let’s not get into that whole marriage thing again. You seem a decent enough sort, and heavens know I’ve had crazier friends.”

  “You will miss these other friends,” he said, desiring that she know he understood the sacrifice she made. “For that I am sorry.”

  “My bandmates? Yes, they were a good fit for me. I’m sure they’ll find someone else to hang with though. We’d only been playing together for three months. The sad truth is I doubt they’ll even look for me that long.”

  “I am pleased you are accepting your role as my bride.” He smiled and lifted his arms to touch her. This was it. Finally…

  “I didn’t sa
y that,” Eve corrected.

  “But you accept that you are here. I thought—”

  “Come on, cowboy. Enough talking. I want to see the sights.” Eve jogged ahead of him down a worn foot trail, giving him no choice but to follow behind.

  ***

  I am your wife and you are my prince.

  Eve knew what he wanted her to say. The challenge hung between them every time they stood in the same vicinity. Her body tingled when he was near, as if begging her to remember the familiar press of his against it. Oh, but she did remember, in raw, hot, blood-boiling, sex-wetting detail. But desire did not equal marriage. In fact, Eve had never really considered marriage as a possibility. The thought of it terrified her more than the idea of breathing alien air.

  The mountains surrounded them, tall spikes reaching toward the heavens. Fresh air carried the scent of grasses and vanilla. A community surrounded the stone castle—small cottages and stretches of farmland. It was much like she’d picture an English village would look like, all nestled and cute, yards tucked behind stone walls and cobblestone paths. People took care of their property. The roads were clean.

  A strange birdcall sounded, drawing her attention upwards. She blinked, instantly regretting looking toward two of the suns. Red blurs darted through the sky, flying erratically before diving into the nearby forest.

  The planet was similar to Earth—well, Earth prior to the industrial revelation to be sure. No cityscapes and electrical light poles marred the view. The sky was clear of airplanes and industrial smokestacks. The surrounding nature was different enough that she couldn’t forget she was on an alien world. The skinny trees looked like trees of the high mountains but for the bark that had a strange bubbly texture. Thick bushes with dots of yellow and bubble-bark trees filled the distant landscape.

  She was surprised to find the commoners dressed like Kyran—in pants and tunic shirts. The only notable difference of rank was the dragon symbol on Kyran’s chest.

  When several people looked up from they were doing, Eve stopped walking. “Wait. Should you go get bodyguards or something? Is it safe for you to be out and about without protection?”

  “You are concerned for my body?” He smiled and his eyes flashed golden. That little trait wasn’t fair as it was all too seductive.

  “You’re incorrigible.”

  “If that means I want to see you naked, then yes, I am incorrigible.”

  The sound of gruff laughter cut off her answer, which was probably for the best since she didn’t know what her answer was going to be. A small group of dragon men walked in from a nearby field. She noted the dirt covering their hands when they lifted them in greeting. Eve didn’t understand a thing they said in their gravelly voices.

  “Eve,” one of the larger men repeated when Kyran introduced her. Eve’s name sounded like a painful grunt.

  Unsure what to do, she merely nodded her head toward him.

  “Well you come,” a younger dragon man said in heavily accented English, “Priceless Eve, my name is Muireadhach.” He looked very proud of himself for the introduction.

  “Murdock,” Eve said, knowing her pronunciation probably wasn’t the most flattering. “Thank you.”

  “Muireadhach, she is Princess Eve,” Kyran corrected.

  Eve arched a brow at Kyran and then smiled at the young man. “Priceless sounds better.”

  “He needs to learn the correct way,” Kyran said, his tone much more stern than it had been with her. He also looked more rigid in stance, as if the power of his position suddenly weighed down on him. “He wishes to marry and must be able to communicate with a bride before he can be chosen by the gods to go through the sacred portal.”

  “And this one doesn’t wish to marry?” Eve asked under her breath to the one who’d growled her name.

  “Beringer married one of the last dragonshifter females before they became scarce. He sees no reason to study the language. He has his woman,” Kyran said.

  “Well, you speak English very well. Should I assume you were desperate to marry?” The second she said it, she wished she could take the joke back.

  Kyran didn’t answer. The men took their leave.

  “What’s that guy’s story?” Eve asked, pointing at the man who kept watching them from the trees. She had detected glints of his shifting eyes as they’d gone through the village, but the second she turned her full attention to him, he’d disappear.

  “Who?”

  “No one,” she dismissed. “He’s gone now.”

  “Come, I will show you the rest of the village.”

  Chapter Ten

  There was something very easy about being alone with the dragon prince. Eve saw the formality in him when he talked to his people, but they seemed to respect and like him in return. That genuine admiration did much to encourage her positive assessment of his character.

  Kyran explained how they shared the planet with catshifters called the Var who lived to the south of the Draig lands. He spoke of aliens landing occasionally and as that being their only real threat on the planet. Pointing to what she gathered was the west, he indicated they were starting an underground survey to possibly mine for ore to use in interplanetary trade—but that such a reality was still a long time away.

  The light shifted from the greener tint to a bluer hue, in what she could assume indicated the evening hours. He didn’t seem in a hurry to go back. Since she was enjoying the exploration she didn’t protest when he brought them to a path in the forest and led her deeper in to the woods. Aside from the swooping of an occasional red bird of prey, they were alone.

  “What do you think of your new kingdom, m’lady?”

  “You have to stop saying things like that.” Eve didn’t want to feed this man’s delusion, but eventually he would find out just what kind of person she was. “Some women are made to be queens. I’m not.”

  “But you accept this world very well. Can you not accept me?”

  “There’s something you need to understand about me, dragon man. I’m adaptable, so I can come to terms with a lot—even apparently being on an alien world. Not much surprises me and not much scares me. My parents were, let’s just say they were not the reliable sort. They kicked me out of the family van when I was seventeen with a bag of ditch weed that I could either smoke or sell for cash, and they didn’t look back. I sold it because I don’t do drugs and needed food. My mother homeschooled me some when I was little, so I at least learned how to read. Sometimes they’d drop me off at a school, lie about transcripts being on the way, and used it like their own personal daycare. When people started asking too many questions, we’d take off.”

  He didn’t speak. She’d shocked him? If so, it was for the best. Maybe then he could see why pursuing a relationship with her was a bad move.

  “When food ran out, I stole from a farmer’s market. I did send money when I had it, but I did steal and I knew it was wrong. I lived on the streets and did odd jobs so I could buy a guitar. I did a few street gigs and bought a better guitar. Being transient is the only thing I’m good at.” She glanced back to where the village was beyond the trees. “I’ve been on my own a very long time. If this is where the wind has taken me for now, so be it. It’s not like I have some white picket fence to run back to. I have an old tour van and random couches in the back of clubs. It’s not glamorous, but I eat, I make music, I don’t hurt anyone.”

  “Your parents abandoned you to starve?” He couldn’t imagine. “And the people did not take you in and feed you?”

  “I was seventeen. And what people? Foster care? They’d have kicked me out the moment I turned eighteen.” She shrugged as if it didn’t matter, but it did matter. It hurt deeply.

  “I do not know what that is, but your people, other humans, should have made sure you never were hungry enough to steal. Here everyone contributes and everyone eats.”

  “Well, on my world not everyone contributes and not everyone eats.”

  He touched her arm and the contact sent tiny
tremors over her. She wanted desperately to hold him against her, to kiss and touch, to lose herself in the pleasure his body promised. “I give you my word you will never starve.”

  “Can we talk about something else?” She shrugged off his hand and backed away. Eve didn’t need him to fix her life or feel sorry for her. That’s not why she told him.

  “As you wish. How old are you now?” he asked. “The abandonment must have been a very long time ago.”

  Did he just call her super old?

  “How old are you?” she shot back a little too quickly.

  “I believe it translates roughly into sixty Earth years.”

  “Sixty?” Suddenly, she laughed, and he was glad for her smile. “I think you mean thirty.”

  “No, I am confident that it is at least sixty. Maybe seventy or more.”

  “Well, damn. Can I have the name of your surgeon?”

  “Why?” He tried to reach for her. “Are you ill?” He glanced around the forest as if to look for help that he could send to fetch the doctor.

  “It was a joke because you look so young for your age.” Eve shook her head. “You really have to learn to relax, Kyran.”

  “You must be around my age,” he said, “and you look young.”

  Eve snorted with laughter and grabbed her stomach. “I’m actually thirty. I see aging is different for our kind.”

  “Perhaps not. Here on our planet metabolism slows and people live longer.” He reached to cup her cheek when she didn’t meet his eyes. “The gods would not have paired us if we were not to live our full lives together.”

  “We’re not married, Kyran. You just don’t have a lot of experience with women here, so that’s why you think that there is more between us. If you look at it logically, you will see that I am not queen material. I’ve never lived in a real home. How can I adjust to a castle?”

  “And you should look at us spiritually.” Kyran reached for her hand. She hesitated before giving it to him. “I do not know if all this doubt is a human trait or simply yours, but you have to stop cycling things in your head and just feel the truth.”