The Rookie

by Abigail Owen

  A small snarl ripped from Drake’s throat and Hall tossed a shrug in the red dragon’s general direction.

  “He’s not wrong,” Levi said. “I’ve never seen anything like this. I mean, Delaney having no marks was weird enough, but this…” He gave a low whistle.

  “You’ll need to get help.” Titus directed the words to Finn. “With three of us gone, that only leaves you, Levi, Hall, Kanta, Rivin, and Keighan to guard the region. With Rune out there, you’ll be vulnerable.”

  Aidan held back a grimace and waited for Finn to shoot Titus down. Given who that red mark on Sera’s neck belonged to, there was no point. Right?

  Except Finn nodded. “I’ll call Deep. He may be able to borrow from the other American-based teams. And Lyndi’s older guys can fill in for the small stuff, as well as give us numbers.”

  Aidan jerked straighter. “You’re sending us?” Watching Sera find out she belonged to another man was number one on his list of things he never wanted to experience.

  “Sera’s dragon sign showed around our team.” Finn’s tone was pointed.

  Aidan scoffed. “You seriously think one of us might be her mate?”

  Finn shook his head. “It’s not for me to say. More often than not, the shifter that causes a mate to show dragon sign ends up being her fated.”

  “It’s pretty typical to send that man with the mate to the Mating Council,” Kanta pointed out. “They’ll send you back if the Seer doesn’t see the connection.”

  And, since all three of them had been around her, and all three marks graced her neck…

  “Of course, we’d go, rookie,” Titus said, way too calm about this. “Unless you’d like to forfeit your rights to her.”

  Aidan ignored the jibe. It was either that or snap Titus’s neck. The fact that he liked the man, respected him, was the only thing keeping his dragon at bay.

  “But with Pytheios in the mix?” Aidan pressed.

  “Better hope politics doesn’t trump the process,” Hall muttered under his breath.

  Finn whipped his head to stare hard at the green shifter. “Watch it, enforcer. You’re starting to sound like Rune.”

  Hall held up both hands. “That’s not what I meant. But you know the Alliance will be shitting themselves to have the High King’s mate found here in their colony.”

  “It would be a huge honor for Sera if she is his,” Kanta said. “Pytheios isn’t called the Rotting Red King for nothing. The man needs a mate. Soon.”

  Levi nodded in agreement. “She’d make a wonderful queen—compassionate and fair. Maybe her humanity is exactly what our High King needs.”

  “They’ll be extra careful in the process with Pytheios involved,” Titus said. “And even then, even if he were to be given preferential treatment, we’re not out of it. Look at Fallon. He wasn’t highly ranked, and they didn’t even know he’d been the one to find her when they included him in Maddie’s process. But he found his fated mate.”

  “And then had to run,” Hall pointed out.

  Finn gave him another hard look.

  “Because of the situation with the new king of the Blue Clan,” Titus shot back. “Nothing to do with the mating process itself.”

  Aidan’s dragon wanted to burst from his skin and burn down the entire mountain, animal instinct clawing at him to keep her here. Didn’t matter that she’d never be his.

  Aidan did his best to shut those instincts off and try to do what was best for her. And keep himself out of it at the same time. “Given Titus’s point about the team being vulnerable, wouldn’t it be better to wait for the Mating Council to summon us, if it comes to that?”

  Finn was shaking his head before Aidan even finished. “I’m already in deep shit with them. Not sending you could be taken the wrong way, even as an insult, as it’s against the norm. We do this by the book or we risk even more scrutiny. If we don’t want the Alliance or our kings second-guessing our every move, we have to do this right. Fallon was successful. They’ve called others of us before. They even allowed me to remain Alpha after mating Delaney, despite the circumstances. I say we trust the process.”

  Even though you didn’t. Aidan wanted to rage at his Alpha, even though he knew it was irrational. He trusted Finn above everyone else. This was emotions ripping at him, and his dragon beating at him, getting the better of him and stealing his ability to reason.

  “Sera needs guidance and the Mating Council’s Seer to help her with this,” Finn said. “Not a bunch of enforcers who only know fighting. Three of whom have a vested interest in the outcome.”

  That sounded more right. Except he still didn’t want to be forced to witness it. Aidan crossed his arms and turned to Drake who’d hung back in his usual dour silence. “What do you have to say about it?”

  Drake’s jaw worked for a moment, though subtly. Aidan, standing closest, might be the only one who caught it.

  “I agree with Finn,” the red dragon said. “Sera will be more than safe, pampered even, given her marks. Pytheios may be too far gone for a mate to save him, or he may not be her mate at all. We won’t know until she’s had a chance to meet the men brought before her.”

  For fuck’s sake. Even Drake thought they should go?

  Aidan turned back to Finn. “I’m an orphan. I’m low man on the team, the rookie. And I’m a blue dragon.”

  Damn, he hated putting that all out in front of the guys, but they weren’t getting it.

  “You want me to send Titus and Drake without you?” Finn reiterated Titus’s challenge.

  Fuck. Aidan shook his head. Then shook it again. “No.”

  “Right. You’re going. All of you.” Finn directed a hard look to him, Drake, and then Titus. “He’s not wrong about the Blue Clan situation, though. Make sure he comes back.”

  Both men nodded.

  “Stick to the rules,” Finn said. “No one influences Sera either way. In the end, this has to be her decision to make. Let the process work the way it should.”

  Chapter Nine

  This is surreal. To say the least.

  Not the first time she’d had that thought since this morning, and it probably wouldn’t be the last. But this had to top the charts. Things could only get easier from here, right?

  Nope. She’d been wrong.

  The guys had joined them in the kitchen. There’d been more discussion about mating and dragons—discussions that felt suspiciously incomplete, like they were keeping something from her. She’d deal with that, and the intense way Aidan kept looking at her, later. Actually, it felt as though they were all watching her like a ticking time bomb, but she didn’t have the capacity to call them on it. For now, she was on the slow road to realization that she couldn’t run from this. She’d have to give up Blake if she couldn’t find a mate, or she’d risk hurting him, or worse, killing him.

  But finding a mate didn’t guarantee he’d be safe among dragons, either. The guys hadn’t come across a mother being mated before but made a guess that Blake would remain human. A thin thread of relief snaked through all the worry at that, at least. Sort of. Human among creatures built for death and destruction. What would his life be like?

  She didn’t want to acknowledge the spark deep inside her. The spark that whispered of the rightness, that this was her world and she was meant to be in it. She pushed it away, needing more assurances than simple gut instinct to know this was right. She needed to know her mate, whoever that was, would accept Blake. That he would love and protect her son.

  Blake needed a father.

  Given that her setting fires accidentally could put her child’s life at risk, not telling him anything and burying her head in the sand was not an option, either. “How do I tell Blake?” she’d wondered aloud.

  Levi had grinned at her, golden eyes sparkling in the dim room. “That’s easy. He’s a boy, and boys love cool things.” He held his arms wide, indicating the guys.

  “Yeah,” Hall had chimed in with a grin. “Giant lizards with wings and fire. A boy’s wet
dream.”

  “Dude,” Drake snapped. “What the fuck?” He shot Sera an apologetic look that had her raising her eyebrows. Drake usually ignored her.

  “What?” Hall blinked, but his secret grin said it all.

  Sera shook her head, holding back a smile, not wanting to encourage Hall. His sarcasm had been one of the more entertaining surprises of getting to know the men. “Wings and fire. What could go wrong?”

  “Well, you did leave him with Rivin and Keighan,” Hall pointed out. “If you trust them, then wings and fire aren’t an issue.”

  Right. Good point. Despite all her massive concerns, when it came down to it, she trusted these men in an inexplicable way.

  So now they were headed topside so that they could A) tell Blake the truth of what they were, and B) show him some cool dragon stuff.

  She walked through the tunnels of their mountain headquarters in quiet contemplation.

  “Were you happy?” she asked Delaney who walked beside her.

  Her friend gave her a long sideways glance. “At first? Hell, no.”

  Finn’s shoulders stiffened as he walked ahead of them.

  Delaney ignored him. “I hated the idea of having my life dictated to me, or being turned into a dragon breeding factory.”

  “Like I’d try that,” Finn muttered.

  “What changed?” Sera asked.

  They paused on the other side of the dragonsteel door that guarded the entrance from the bunks and kitchenette into the mountain.

  “He’s my mate. I never knew love could be like this,” Delaney said straight up. Not sappy, not even as a big deal.

  “As simple as that?” Sera had loved Devlin, but, while she missed him in so many ways, a gaping hole hadn’t been left in her life. Guilt dragged at her for even thinking that. He’d been easy to love, their relationship comfortable. Not what Delaney and Finn shared. Their intensity was intimidating. Scary, even.

  If Devlin had irrevocably changed her life, would she have let herself love him?

  “As simple…and as complicated,” Delaney acknowledged with a soft smile. “But he is my everything.”

  Sera looked at Delaney for a long moment, refusing to look behind her.

  Aidan was trailing them with the other guys. Despite all her “this can’t be” and “not me” protestations, his presence still made her heretofore dormant dragon-senses tingle.

  What if her dreams of the two of them together were premonitions? What if they were fated mates? Each time she had that thought, she forced it back down deep. If Aidan’s brand was the blue one on her neck, he’d already decided the answer was no. If his brand wasn’t there, well, either way another man was her mate.

  She needed to stop wanting him.

  Which lumped her categorically in the loony bin. This whole mating, branding thing was screwing with her head.

  “Ready?” Delaney nodded at the door.

  Not particularly. She pulled her shoulders back. “Let’s go.”

  They found Blake outside in the helicopter with Rivin and Keighan. “They say they can take me up in it tomorrow, Mom. Can I go?”

  Aidan must’ve caught Sera’s expression, because he stepped in. “No. And if you guys want to keep hanging out with Blake—”

  “I don’t think you get a say, rookie,” Rivin snarked.

  “No,” Titus said pointedly. “You don’t.”

  Which pulled a scowl from Aidan, who took a step forward, fists clenched.

  Finn intervened. “I do. What Aidan said goes.”

  “Say no more, boss.” Rivin held up a hand.

  “Consider us boring and responsible from here on out,” Keighan added.

  Aidan glared at the two a beat longer before he rolled his eyes but stepped back.

  Unable to deal with Aidan right now, Sera ignored their banter, taking a seat inside the helicopter beside Blake. “Buddy, we need to talk.”

  Blake blinked at her like a little owl with glasses for a moment, his expression shifting from childish delight to a way-too-adult seriousness. “Is someone dead?” he whispered.

  Sera’s heart shattered into pieces at her feet. “No, baby.” She hugged him close. “No. I want to tell you a secret. It’s something we can’t tell anyone. Not even Nonna and Paps. Okay?” No way would Devlin’s parents be on board with this.

  Blake nodded slowly.

  Sera took a deep breath. How the hell was she supposed to do this? The words stuck in her throat like old chewing gum.

  “Is this about the dragons?” he asked.

  Sera’s mouth fell open and she stared at her son, shock stealing her voice. “How…” She had to pause and clear her throat. “What do you mean?”

  “I saw them flying around the winery one night. When we had those fires.”

  “You…” She shook her head. Her baby witnessed real live dragons and didn’t say anything about it, or have horrible nightmares? Why was he so calm?

  Aidan dropped to a crouch beside her. “And you knew the dragons were us?”

  Sera barely spared him a glance, though she had a fair idea that right now he was thinking, Epic fail.

  They were supposed to be secret from humans.

  Blake nodded. “You were helping keep us safe.” Simple in his child’s mind. Nothing strange or fantastic or frightening. Basic logic.

  Sera wished to high heaven she could get to that level of acceptance as easily. “Why didn’t you say anything?”

  Blake finally ducked his head, not looking at her. “I thought if you knew, you wouldn’t let me be friends with them,” he admitted. “I like them.”

  “We like you too, dude,” Rivin and Keighan said in stereo.

  Aidan grinned and ruffled Blake’s hair. “Yeah.”

  I don’t think I can take much more tonight.

  “Are we going to have to stop being friends with them?” Blake asked, his eyes pleading with her.

  Sera slowly shook her head. She had no idea what would happen next. A trip to France, apparently. Still, had this Council—or whatever they were—dealt with a dragon mate who already had a child? Hell, maybe none of the dragon shifters up for grabs would want her.

  “We will always be your friends,” Aidan said. “No matter what.”

  He shifted his sky-blue gaze to her, and Sera knew that message was as much for her as it had been for her son. Something clicked inside her, like he’d struck the right combination on a padlock, bringing a feeling of…comfort. Acceptance.

  This situation and the entire process were crazy—terrifying even—but right at the same time. Like she’d finally found home. Blake’s response only brought that sensation out more.

  Sera lifted her gaze to the rugged men all around them, each protecting, each standing guard and watching over her and Blake. Even when she’d married Devlin, she’d never quite fit into her world. Her parents, though always loving, had never quite got her. They hadn’t understood her lack of passion for the family business. Digging in the dirt and running a business were never what she’d wanted. She’d wanted adventure and travel and to try new and crazy things. None of which she’d done, settling with Devlin who had been more friend than lover, someone comfortable who, as luck would have it, was interested in her family’s business. It had seemed sort of perfect, but in the end had tied her back to the winery, and she’d still felt alone.

  Blake had come and filled some of those holes. And now this. She had no idea what happened next, but she did know these shifters, including Delaney, wouldn’t let her go through this new…adventure…alone.

  I’ll go to the Mating Council and have an open mind. But if it doesn’t happen, maybe Lyndi will take us in.

  Her guys, the older ones at least, could help contain her fires. Right?

  At least it was a path she could live with. For now.

  “So it’s cool, Mom?”

  She turned her head to find Blake watching her, an eager light in his eyes. Along with relief. She could see that, too. Sera gave him a small smile. �
�Yes.”

  He hopped up. “Can I see them be dragons?”

  A pent-up laugh—though part hysterical—burst from her. Of course, that’s what he wanted. “That’s what we came out here to show you, bud.”

  Blake gave a whoop. “Can I ride one?”

  Sera put a hand to her heart. “I’m not quite ready for that, yet.”

  Blake rolled his eyes in the way only kids could.

  “Can I see all of them?”

  Sera had to admit to curiosity herself. She knew in theory what they were but hadn’t seen any of them as dragons. Until now, she’d sort of allowed herself to forget that fact.

  Mostly.

  Things were about to get real.

  …

  “I’ll go first.” Aidan bit back a cringe as the words jumped from his lips.

  Wrong. He should be hanging back, keeping his distance, not muddying the water with needs he should be shutting down hard. Unfortunately, his logical brain took a back seat to gut instinct that he needed to be the one to show Sera and Blake what dragons were about.

  Why? He had no fucking clue. Probably stupid possessiveness, given his brand on the back of her neck. Not that it meant anything. Not with the High King. Not with Titus and Drake—both dragons more worthy than he. Both more in need. His brothers by fire.

  Titus glared. Drake stood back with his usual scowl in place. Too late now. Finn, at least, did a decent job of not frowning as Aidan stepped forward. His leader merely gave a brief nod. None of the others protested, either.

  Aidan silently expelled a breath that no one was going to argue with him. The way his dragon was pushing to get out, he wasn’t entirely sure if he’d back off or go for Finn’s throat. “Give me room,” he told Sera and Blake.

  She wrapped her arms around her son from behind, a gesture both maternally protective and a casual attempt to hold her enthusiastic child in place.

  Despite his inner turmoil, Aidan bit back a smile at the way Blake’s face contorted with childish irritation. She definitely had her hands full with that kid. Give him a few more years and Aidan had no doubts Sera would be beating her head against walls trying to keep him under control.