by Rinelle Grey
“Wayrian? Where are you?” Her grandfather’s dragon speak was crotchety and demanding. Her stomach clenched as soon as she heard it.
“I’m out helping Chase with his chores. I figured it was the least I could do after he offered us hospitality in our time of need.”
She could easily imagine her grandfather's mollified expression. “Well, it is time you returned. I need breakfast.”
Wayrian heaved a sigh. So much for the lovely morning she’d been having. Just like that, it was over. “Yes, Grandfather.” So much for saying something profound.
Chase turned to her and raised an eyebrow. “Is something wrong?”
“Grandfather is awake, and he wants me to come and help him find breakfast.” She couldn’t help feeling disappointed. Once she and Chase were back at the house, there would be no time for private conversations, much less…
She cut off that thought before she could reach the parts that would make her blush.
“Do you want me to take you back to the house?”
Chase’s question was casual, but there was something in his eyes when he looked at her—a question he wasn’t asking—that made her pause.
“I should…”
But she didn’t want to.
“Do you always do what your grandfather tells you?” Chase asked.
Wayrian considered his question, before shaking her head. “Not always, no. But most of the time. He makes such a fuss if I don’t, it’s not always worth defying him.”
“But it is worth it sometimes?” Chase stared at her, his eyes intense.
Wayrian could guess what he was thinking. Was he worth defying her grandfather for?
The answer, without hesitation, was yes. The trouble was, the risk was just as high. If her grandfather realised there was something going on with her and Chase, if it occurred to him that she thought Chase might be her fated mate, then the fuss he was going to make would be comparable to none.
“I would,” she said quietly, “But if he figures out that I’m interested in you…” she trailed off, a blush stealing across her cheeks.
“Is that going to stop you?” Chase asked. “Because if it is, there’s no point in pursuing this at all, is there? Even if we are fated mates.”
“But if he doesn’t find out until after… after the mating is done, then there will be nothing he can do to stop us. You can’t undo a mating bond.”
Chase raised an eyebrow. “That’s your plan? Mate in secret, then present it to him as a done deal?”
Why did he sound so unconvinced? Didn’t he see that it was the only way?
“He’ll never accept it,” she said desperately. “He thinks that mixing with the humans is going to destroy Rian clan. That’s why he wants me to mate with one of the princes, so that they can’t mate with a human. He will never accept us mating, and mating requires approval from the elders.”
“But he’s not the only elder, surely?”
“But the others will listen to him.” She needed to make him understand that this was the best way. The only way. “They did when he wanted me to mate with Taurian, and even Taurian didn’t dare say no until Ultrima gave him a reason to.”
“That dream of yours seems like a reason. A similar enough one anyway.” Chase’s expression was blank, and Wayrian couldn’t get any clue as to what he was thinking from his voice.
“They won’t believe me. Even Grandfather didn’t. I find it hard to believe myself.”
“Yet, you’re prepared to mate with me just in case it’s true.”
How did she explain that one? Did she dare tell him the truth? Wayrian swallowed, and took a deep breath. “That’s not why I want to mate with you.”
That caused a reaction. One of Chase’s eyebrows flew up. “It isn’t?”
Wayrian shook her head. Her whole body trembled with a mixture of anticipation and nerves. She wanted to reach out and touch him, but she wasn’t quite game. “Can’t you feel it?” she asked softly.
She could see it in his eyes, the recognition of what she was saying, even though he shook his head. “What do you mean?”
“I mean that I’m drawn to you,” she said quietly. This time, she didn’t blush. Somehow, the way she felt about him had become so much a part of her that she wasn’t even shy about it. “Every time I’m near you, you’re all I can think of. There is something here, something stronger than anything I’ve ever felt before. I want to see if it gets better.”
This time, Chase was the one who swallowed. “Well, I’d better get you back to your grandfather, I guess, before he starts to wonder what we’re up to.”
Wayrian frowned. She’d thought it was all going so well. Had she said something to upset him again? Why was he pulling back?
Before she could figure it out, her grandfather’s voice echoed in her head. “Wayrian? Where are you? Are you nearly here?”
How did he always know the worst possible time to interrupt her? Annoyance surged through Wayrian, and her immediate reaction was to dampen the feeling, to convince herself to do as she was told. That was what a good dragon, and a good granddaughter did.
If she did that, she suspected it would be the last straw. Chase would withdraw, and she wouldn’t have another chance.
So instead, she did something she’d never done before. She ignored the voice.
Instead, she took a step towards Chase. “Maybe you’re right. Maybe I do need to ignore Grandfather for a bit.”
“Can you do that? It must be hard to ignore someone who’s in your head.” This time, there was some sympathy on Chase’s face. “At least I never had that problem. If I walked away from Dad, then I walked away. He couldn’t keep badgering me.”
“Answer me, Wayrian.”
That was kind of putting a dampener on things. If her grandfather was talking normally, she’d be able to put her fingers in her ears, or walk away, as Chase had said. When he was in her head, there was no way to block him out.
Or was there?
If she were far enough away, the voices would disappear, as Karla and Taurian’s had. But there wouldn’t be anywhere on Chase’s station that was that far away.
She tried withdrawing her mind, and sure enough, that made her grandfather’s voice grow fainter.
“Answer me at once, Wayrian!”
But no less demanding.
Chase was watching her, but not saying anything. Wayrian would explain in a minute. If this worked.
The small success with making her grandfather’s voice fainter had given her hope. Wayrian tried a different tactic. She waited for her grandfather to speak again, which he did relatively quickly. “If you don’t answer me at once…”
She pushed him away with all her mental strength.
The voice stopped abruptly.
Wayrian paused, listening. Had he just been so shocked he stopped talking, or had she done it?
But there was nothing but blessed silence in her head.
“I’ve blocked him out.” Wayrian stared up at Chase in amazement. “I didn’t know I could do that!” An amazing sense of freedom bubbled up in her. She felt like she could go anywhere, do anything, be anyone.
She hadn’t, until that moment, realised how much her grandfather’s presence weighed on her. How much of her body was always tense in expectation of his command or complaint?
Chase seemed to understand. “I bet that feels good.” His smile was wide.
“Oh, it does.” Wayrian nodded enthusiastically.
She’d pay the price later, of course, when they returned to the house and her grandfather let her have it. But right now, she didn’t really care. “What shall we do?”
She felt like she could do anything.
The temptation to transform into her dragon form and do a barrel roll was high. But no matter how excited she was to get rid of her grandfather’s voice, risking being seen by a reporter or an enemy dragon wasn’t worth it.
Chase rubbed at the stubble on his chin. “Well, we’re about done with the chor
es. I mean, there’s probably a to do list a mile long, but that isn’t really the way you want to spend your day of freedom.” He looked thoughtful for a moment, and Wayrian waited, sure he’d think of something marvellous.
“I know just the place,” he grinned.
“Where?”
“Wait and see,” Chase said mysteriously.
Wayrian was more than happy to wait. The truth was, she didn’t really care where they went.
So long as she was with Chase.
Chapter 11
Chase pulled up in front of the stock yards, his mind still on their earlier conversation. He had reached the point where he understood Wayrian couldn’t just walk away from her grandfather. He’d accepted that it wasn’t a reflection of how she felt about him.
Then she’d turned everything on its head by defying her grandfather when he least expected it.
There was something going on here. Something deeper and stronger than either of them. He wasn’t quite game to look too closely at it. If he did, he might shy away, and he didn’t want to do that right now. The moment was too full of promise.
So he pushed his fearful doubts away, and turned to Wayrian, and asked with a smile, “Have you ever ridden a horse?”
The bemused expression on Wayrian’s face told him the answer, even as he figured it out. Where would a dragon get a horse? And if they did have one, they’d probably be more likely to eat it than ride it.
When they both got out of the ute though, he wondered if riding had any chance of being successful. As soon as the horses saw Wayrian, they set back their ears and galloped to the other side of the yard. No amount of coaxing, or even the carrot he pulled out of his pocket, could entice them back.
Apparently, they recognised a top level predator, even when she was in human form.
“I don’t think they like me,” Wayrian said doubtfully.
“That’s just because they don’t know you yet,” Chase said bracingly. He wasn’t ready to admit he’d made a mistake by suggesting Wayrian ride. Not yet anyway. There was no other way to get to the place he wanted to show her. “Wait here.”
He grabbed a bridle off the hook, and climbed through the fence.
The horses skittered a bit as he came close, but the carrot in his hand, and the fact that his smell was familiar, enticed Missy over. The little grey mare nibbled at the carrot for long enough for Chase to loop the reins over her neck. By the time she tried to back away, it was too late.
Chase slipped the bridle on, then lead the horse back towards where Wayrian was waiting at the fence.
He wondered if she’d be nervous, and unsettle the horse more, but he should have remembered how she’d reacted around Ted.
Even though she didn’t move a muscle as he approached with Missy, the mare dug in her hooves and ground to a stop about two metres away from the fence. She nickered nervously, and the rest of the horses neighed in response, only making her more nervous.
“Get a move on,” Chase said, and flicked at her rump with the reins.
Missy jumped sideways, but didn’t move forwards.
Chase bit back a sigh. This wasn’t going to work. Could they ride the quad there? Not really. Motorbikes, yes, but he didn’t think Wayrian was really up to that. Besides, he’d have to go all the way back to the house to get one, meaning her grandfather was almost sure to catch them. As much as he’d love to see if Wayrian could defy her grandfather while he was there in the flesh, he suspected he already knew the answer.
A soft clicking sound, almost like the nicker the mare made but not quite, surprised him. He looked up, but there were no other horses nearby. The sound came from Wayrian.
Missy didn’t move, but she did prick her ears forwards.
“Come on, girl. I won’t hurt you,” Wayrian said, holding out her hand, palm up. She made the nickering sound again.
Missy’s body relaxed a little. She took a step forwards, then another.
It took all Chase’s willpower not to take up the slack in the reins, to make sure she didn’t back away again, but that would just spook her.
It would be better if she went to Wayrian willingly. Once she realised the dragon shifter wasn’t a threat, they’d have no problems, and it might just reassure the other horses too.
A few more steps, and Missy was in range of Wayrian’s hand. Chase waited to see how the horse reacted to her reaching out to pat her, but to his surprise, Wayrian didn’t move. She just kept her hand held out until Missy put her nose into it and blew through her nostrils.
“See, I told you I wasn’t scary,” Wayrian said softly. With her other hand, she scratched the horse behind the ear, and was rewarded with another snuffle into her hand. She gave a soft laugh. “What’s her name?” she asked, not looking up at Chase.
“Missy, meet Wayrian,” Chase said jokingly.
It was probably his imagination, but he almost thought Missy’s next snort was disdainful, and directed towards him.
Since Missy and Wayrian seemed to be getting on okay now, he looped the reins around the top bar of the fence, and returned to catch Stocky, the brown gelding he usually rode. The gelding was a little more skittish than usual, but Missy’s acceptance of Wayrian seemed to have dispelled some of their nerves.
He fetched the saddles, and some more carrots for Wayrian to feed the horses while he saddled up.
By the time they were ready to ride out, both horses seemed to have decided Wayrian was their best friend. Food had a way of doing that for animals.
Or maybe the horses had sensed a kindred spirit in Wayrian.
Chase brought a mounting block over for Wayrian, and put it next to Missy.
She looked up at the horse’s back doubtfully. “It’s very high.”
“Not nearly as high as you can fly, I bet,” Chase pointed out.
“That’s different.”
Chase nodded. No denying that. “Missy’s a very docile horse, she won’t throw you. She’ll just stay with Stocky. Horses are herd creatures, they like to travel in groups.”
Wayrian still looked doubtful.
“I’ll be right there with you,” Chase said.
He didn’t really hold any hopes that his presence would reassure her, so he was surprised when she bit her lip, took a deep breath, then nodded. “How do I get on?” she asked.
Chase showed her how to put her foot in the stirrup and throw her leg over the horse’s back, and to his surprise, she managed much better than she had when trying to climb onto the back of the quad.
Then again, this time she had her own mount, and she wasn’t trying to get on behind him.
He watched her closely as the horse moved, but she seemed to sit easily, her body relaxed and her hands low, letting the horse guide itself rather than trying to control it. By force of habit, Missy ambled along beside Stocky.
Once Chase was sure Wayrian wasn’t going to fall, he headed out of the stockyard and across the dry, brown grass towards the creek. Wayrian had seemed interested in it earlier, and they had to cross it to get where he wanted to go anyway.
Wayrian did, indeed, look interested as they entered the trees. She didn’t say anything, but her eyes were bright and attentive as she looked around.
Chase suspected she was going to be disappointed when they arrived at the actual creek, and he wouldn’t blame her.
When they broke through the trees to the rocky bed of the dried up creek, Wayrian stared around. “Where is all the water?”
“The creek dried up a couple of months back,” Chase explained. “Been too long since we had decent rain. In fact, water’s becoming a real problem.”
As soon as he said the words, the ever present worry that niggled at the back of his mind sprung to the forefront.
The bore was drying up. What would they do then? How would they feed the cattle if they had no water?
He glanced up at the sky, but it was as blue as Wayrian’s eyes, with no sign of a cloud.
Chase heaved a sigh. There never was.
Wayrian glanced over at him. “But you had plenty of water this morning?”
Chase nodded. “We do for now, but even the bore is running low. I can’t run it for more than half an hour before it stops pumping. If we don’t get some rain soon, we won’t get even that.”
Wayrian gave a worried frown. “What happens then? How do you get water for your cows?”
Chase grimaced, “We have to bring it in by truck. Costs a fortune, and eats into our profits. Which needing to buy hay is already doing.”
“That’s not good.” Wayrian looked worried. Far more worried than she should, considering it wasn’t her problem.
She worried too much about problems that weren’t hers. Chase wasn’t going to let her take on another one.
“We’ll sort it out,” Chase said.
But Wayrian didn’t give up. “How?” she asked.
Shrugging uncomfortably, Chase explained. “We borrow money and feed the cows, then hope we make it back when it’s time to sell them.”
Wayrian turned around, staring at the dry creek bed, her horse automatically turning as she moved her body. “But there is water here. You can feel it. The trees wouldn’t still be growing like this if there wasn’t.”
“Doesn’t do us any good if it isn’t flowing,” Chase pointed out.
His dad said the same thing, talking about there being an underground spring in the area, but he’d never seen any sign of it. And he didn’t want to worry about that today. He had something else on his mind.
“Come on,” he said. “Let’s keep moving. There’s a lot more to show you yet.”
As Missy and Stocky ambled along the cow track running through the bush beside the bank of the creek, Chase wondered what he was doing.
The situation wasn’t good. Wayrian might be giving off signals that she was interested, and that she wanted a forever relationship, but she wasn’t willing to stand up to her grandfather for it, even if she thought the fate of her clan rested on it.
If she couldn’t stand up to her grandfather, that didn’t bode well for any sort of relationship. Even if they mated in secret, her grandfather was going to continue to bully and manipulate her, only then, he’d be caught in the middle.