MARKUS

by KD Jones

  “A section of land my people call a ranch. It’s named after King Reichardt.”

  She had raised a fork with scrambled eggs and froze with it inches from her lips. “King R Ranch?”

  “Yes, do you know of it?”

  “Only rumors of how it’s the biggest ranch in Arizona and extremely private. I don’t know anyone who has ever been here before.”

  “King Reichardt…Rei said that we could explore and go wherever we like.”

  “I am off today so that sounds exciting. Did any of your family make it through the portal or come with you on the battle cruiser?”

  “My mother and sister came through the portal. Rei said that he sent word and they will arrive tomorrow. I can’t wait for you to meet them. They will love you.”

  “I don’t want to interfere with your reunion with them.” She couldn’t imagine having family she hadn’t seen in years. In addition, his sister and mother had been on Earth hundreds of years even though it had only been a decade for Markus. Finding Markus had arrived to Earth would be a miracle. It was sure to be an extremely emotional and private moment.

  “Of course you should be there, you’re my bonded mate.”

  “Uh, your what?”

  “Bonded mate. I knew you were meant to be mine the moment I saw you. My dragon recognized you as ours as well. Then I was able to share my dragon fire to heal you. Only a true mate would survive the fire of a dragon.”

  “Okay, let’s backtrack a minute. Last night I was stabbed in my stomach.” She moved the blanket to part it over her stomach. There was no sign of any stab wound. “You healed me? Exactly how?”

  “I kissed you and breathed my dragon fire into you. Your body and soul accepted it and you were healed. Then when we made love this morning, our souls fused together. Can you not feel my emotions?”

  “I…” She couldn’t believe everything he was saying. How could she survive dragon fire? What was he talking about—her being able to feel his emotions? That was crazy…or was it? She closed her eyes and sorted out her confusion and disbelief, pushing that to the side. A strange feeling came over her, feelings of frustration and desire, but those weren’t her feelings. She opened her eyes and stared at him in surprise. “I can feel you.”

  Smiling wide, he picked up a biscuit. “Yes, we are fully bonded and our connection will only grow stronger and stronger over time.”

  “But…you dragons live for hundreds of years. What’s going to happen when I slowly grow old and die while you remain young and handsome?”

  “That’s not a problem now that I have shared my dragon fire and bonded with you. You will age like a Drakonian.”

  “Holy shit! I’m immortal?”

  “Not immortal. We can die, but it will be difficult for any to cause us true harm. If our hearts or heads are removed, we will die.”

  She shivered with the image of those two horrible things happening. “I can’t believe I will live for hundreds of years.” Getting up, she walked over to the dresser and dropped the blanket. “If I had known I would stay this way for almost forever, I would have lost a few pounds.”

  Markus came up behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist. “You are perfect.”

  Tilting her head back to look up at him, she saw that he truly believed that. She could also feel his devotion and his…dragon? “Your dragon, what does he think of me?”

  “That you are beautiful, sweet, delicious, and ours.”

  Strong desire pulsed through her entire body. “I have never felt like this for anyone before.”

  “Neither have I. It’s special between true mates. Not everyone finds theirs. I’m truly blessed to have you and I will treasure you for the rest of our lives.”

  Tears fell and she turned to wrap her arms around his neck. “I’m scared because this is so strong and new, but I won’t give you up.”

  He chuckled. “Glad to hear that because I will never give you up.”

  Leaning down, he kissed her and fire ignited inside of her making her moan. A simple kiss from him had her body primed and ready to go another round of lovemaking. He bent and lifted her up, carrying her back to the bed. He came down on top of her and she loved the feel of their bodies sliding against each other. This was not only where she wanted to be, but where she felt she belonged.

  Chapter 15

  The Next Day

  Markus couldn’t help but smile as he walked next to his Valorie while they explored the ranch. They had planned to go exploring yesterday, but they barely left the bedroom except to get food or shower…which led to more lovemaking.

  In between bouts of amazing sex, they talked about their lives. He told her what it was like growing up on Drakonia, of his first time flying in dragon form, the day his little sister was born, and the day his father died in battle. In turn, she told him how her family abandoned her, how her ex-boyfriend used her, spent her money, and left her in Dragoon. It tore him up to hear how no one had treated Valorie with love and kindness. She deserved so much better than what life had given her and he was determined to fix that situation.

  They were waiting for the arrival of his mother and sister. His dragon sensed their closeness, something he hadn’t felt in ten years. Blood called to blood—he would recognize their dragons anywhere.

  “Look up into the sky, there.” He pointed toward the rocky mountain terrain. He saw two dragon figures coming closer and closer. The figures disappeared on the other side of the trees as they lowered to mere feet from the ground. They lost sight of them. “Come on, let’s go greet them.”

  “It’s daylight. Aren’t they worried someone would see two huge dragons in the sky?”

  “The ranch is very remote and the terrain prevents others from getting too close. I would assume that they would most likely think that they saw large birds of prey.” He took her hand and headed down the dirt path leading to the trees.

  He stopped walking when he saw them, his mother and sister. His mother looked the same as she did when she left Drakonia, but his sister—she had grown into a beautiful dark-haired female.

  “Markus!” his mother cried out, choking on tears as she rushed to him and threw herself into his arms.

  “Mother, I thought I might never see you again!”

  “We thought the worst, that you had taken your final flight. Thank the stars we were wrong.”

  He pulled back and opened his arms for his little sister. “Destiny, I made a promise to find you.”

  His sister hesitated for a moment, then she too threw herself into his arms. He held both of them close, breathing in their scents so that he would be able to find them if he needed to. “I am truly blessed.” All three of them cried, rejoicing.

  Glancing back, he noticed that Valorie was wiping tears from her eyes. He let his mother and sister go so that he could motion Valorie to come forward. When she didn’t move, he reached for her hand and pulled her to his side.

  “I want to introduce you to my mate, Valorie. Valorie, this is my mother Lania, and my sister Destiny.”

  “It’s a pleasure to meet you both.” Valorie reached out to shake hands but that was not his people’s normal greeting. He hadn’t told her that. She pulled her hand back after she felt his hesitation, and he squeezed her shoulders in comfort.

  His mother and sister wiped their tears and turned their attention to Valorie. His mother frowned but his sister was more verbal with her thoughts.

  “You’re human.”

  “Yes, I am.”

  His mother looked at him in concern. “Does King Reichardt know?”

  “Yes.”

  “He allowed it?”

  Markus stiffened as he answered, “He has no say in it. She’s my true mate and we are fully bonded.”

  Destiny leaned forward and sniffed at Valorie. “She smells a little bit like a dragon. How is that possible?”

  “I shared my dragon fire with her. She was dying at the time.”

  “What? None have survived dragon fire!” His mother
sounded incredulous.

  “It’s because she’s my true mate, or she would have also died.”

  Noticing how Valorie pulled away, he reached for her emotions and found her hurt and rejected. “Valorie, they’re not rejecting you.”

  His mother finally stepped forward. “Of course we’re not rejecting you. You are a surprise, a welcomed one.” She took Valorie’s hand in hers.

  “Our people first came here with hopes of making this our new home. Over time, no new mates were found. At one time we did attempt to mate with humans. There were two possible outcomes. Either the dragon fire was withheld, the human would age and die, and the Drakonian would mourn the loss and sometimes try to take their own life. Or the dragon fire was given…but only a handful of humans were given the dragon fire and all of them died. Because of those fatal outcomes, the kings’ council ruled that our people were to keep their distance from humans and no one was to attempt mating with one.”

  Valorie looked at him in concern. “Are you in trouble with the kings because of me?”

  Markus kissed her forehead. “Of course not, you’re my bonded mate. There is nothing even the kings could do to change that.”

  He turned when he heard the dragon call. “I must go, the other kings are arriving.” He hugged his mother and sister again. “Would you show Valorie around the ranch while I’m gone?”

  His mother patted him on the arm. “Of course, I’m looking forward to getting to know my new daughter.”

  Destiny wrapped an arm through Valorie’s. “I am so excited to finally have a sister. I get to tell you everything about Markus.”

  He laughed. “Don’t scare her off, little bit.” He turned and walked away, feeling like the most blessed Drakonian that ever lived. He not only found his true mate, he got his family back as well. Those three females had his heart. He would get this meeting with the kings over with so that he could return to them.

  Chapter 16

  Markus heard the whispers as he entered a room with a long table. Four of the five kings that came to Earth were seated at the table, while warriors lined the walls. Most of these males he had not seen since he had been a young and upcoming warrior. They recognized him immediately, even though for them they hadn’t seen him for hundreds of years. They looked about the same, with only a few signs of aging.

  King Reichardt motioned for Markus, Sonar, and Roan to take the empty seats across from them. Markus was in charge of the team so he answered most of the questions.

  “When did you leave Drakonia?” King Niko, once king of the Drakonians in the northeast region, asked.

  “We left ten years ago on the last battle cruiser to escape the complete destruction of our homeworld.”

  “How is it possible? We have been here hundreds of years,” Queen Arena asked. She took over the reign when her king died and now ruled over the Drakonians that lived in China.

  “I was given coordinates to the two planets the refugees had been sent. The coordinates took us through several wormholes, which sped up our travel time.”

  “We were sent to Earth in a primitive time, yet you have arrived just ten years after we left,” King Malachi, who now ruled the Drakonians in Scotland, stated.

  “I don’t know the exact why of it, that would have to be answered by one of the mages.”

  King Reichardt asked, “Did any mages travel with you?”

  “No. Craggen had been severely injured when we left. He said he had to make sure the portals were completely destroyed so that the enemy could not follow.”

  King Niko looked at the Sonar and Roan. “Is all of this true?”

  “Yes, my king.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “King Reichardt says that there is no way for us to go back to Drakonia,” Queen Arena said.

  “There’s absolutely nothing left but a continuous flow of lava…and there is no oxygen. All animal and plant life was destroyed,” Markus confirmed sadly.

  “It doesn’t matter, we can take the ship and leave this planet.” King Niko folded his arms over his chest as if the matter were decided.

  “Why would you do that?” Markus asked, confused, looking around the room. “It took us ten years to get here. In all that time, we only found one or two planets that could sustain the life that was indigenous to the planet. The lifeforms there were primitive, with no advancements. It may have taken hundreds of years, but it seems as if Earth is finally starting to catch up to where Drakonia had once been.”

  “Those can’t be the only planets out there with life.”

  “If you found another planet with intelligent life, what would you do? Kick them from their home so you can take over? That’s what King Dyson wants to do to this planet. He wants to use Drakonian technology and firepower from the battle cruiser to rule the people here. Is that what we have come to?”

  Several warriors growled in anger at Markus’s outburst but King Reichardt only cleared his throat. “No, that is not what we have come to.”

  “At least we could use the battle cruiser to search for mates, find a way to breed so that our people don’t die out,” Queen Arena added her thoughts.

  “I found my mate right here on Earth within days of arriving.” Markus couldn’t help but feel pride.

  “With a human?” Niko spit like it was the most disgusting thought. “That’s forbidden. The female needs to be disposed of and you will be punished for breaking the laws we set here.”

  He stiffened his back and glared at the other male. He might have been a king on Drakonia, but they were not on Drakonia and Niko had never been his king.

  “My mating is complete. We are fully bonded and Valorie has accepted my dragon fire. It is against Drakonian law for any to interfere with a fully bonded pair. Our souls are tied.”

  “That hasn’t happened in…” The queen was clearly shocked.

  “At least the past one hundred years,” Reichardt finished for Arena.

  “Why? Why has this happened now?” King Malachi asked. “We’ve tried to mate with humans before to no avail.” He was one of the ones that tried to mate a human, but the dragon fire killed her.

  “We don’t know, but since both Markus and his human mate are here, we have time to study and find the answers. It gives us hope that this planet may once more be the answer to our prayers. That’s enough for now, we’ll let everyone rest then have a huge banquet where we can have some of our people from the battle cruiser come down for. We’ll discuss more later.” With that, King Reichardt ended the meeting.

  Markus was grateful it was over. All he wanted to do was to get to his mate. He was experiencing pain and sadness. What happened to make her feel these things?

  Chapter 17

  Val walked between Markus’s mother and sister, listening to them tell stories about Markus when he was young. Even after all these centuries, they still could remember what was important to them.

  “Markus couldn’t wait until he could shift and fly. He would stack boxes and climb on top, then fling himself off.”

  “Oh my gosh! That must have been terrifying!”

  “At first it was, but nothing I said could have stopped him. So his father would make sure there were plenty of cushions on the floor for him to land on.” Lania laughed at the fond memory.

  “When did he finally shift?”

  “He shifted when he turned thirteen. That’s the age all dragon shifters start to come to maturity. I’m grateful because he was so busy the first two years, learning how to shift and fly, that it kept him away from the girls his age.”

  “I can’t imagine how hard that would be with his body changing so much and then going into puberty.”

  “Exactly. Most parents get their boys into warrior training as soon as possible to help teach them discipline. His father, one of the last things he did before he took his final flight, was to enlist Markus in training”

  “When did your husband…mate die?”

  “Markus was eighteen and Destiny just five. Falcus was a capt
ain in the Elite Warriors and had a mission that took him to the region ruled by King Dyson. There were rumors that females and children were being used as slaves. A battle broke out and Falcus never returned.”

  “I’m so sorry, that must have been horrible.”

  “There was suspicion that King Dyson might have had something to do with Falcus’s death, but it couldn’t be proven.”

  “I’ve met him. He’s an asshole.”

  “He wasn’t always like that. I actually had come from Dyson’s region and grew up there alongside him. Many thought that we would eventually mate. When I visited the capital city of Drakonia with my parents, my dragon felt the pull toward Falcus. We mated and bonded, that was that. Dyson never approved of the mating but since I moved to live with Falcus under King Reichardt’s rule, he could do nothing about it.”

  “This is all so crazy. A few days ago I had no idea there were other beings in the world. Now I am trying to wrap my mind around the idea of shapeshifting dragons from another planet.”

  Lania patted her back. “It’s a lot to take in, I know.”

  Val yawned. “Excuse me, I didn’t get a lot of sleep last night.” She blushed at remembering why—Markus made love to her on almost every surface in the bedroom.

  “Why don’t you go lie down and get some rest. I will be checking to see how arrangements for dinner are coming along and Destiny has online courses.”

  “What are you talking classes for?” she asked Destiny, who was sweet and shy.

  “A doctor…healer. Though I don’t know if I’ll even be allowed to go to medical school—too many humans.”

  “Destiny, we’ll speak with King Reichardt again. I’m sure something can be worked out.”

  Destiny didn’t reply but there was clear doubt in her pretty eyes.

  “Well, I think I will take that nap. It is such a pleasure to have met you both.”

  Lania and Destiny took turns hugging her. Markus’s mother hugged her a second time. “I’m so glad that Markus has found you. He is truly lucky.”