by Rinelle Grey
Brad bit back a laugh.
Maybe that would have been easier. With the decision made, he could have just gotten on with dealing with it. Not still be stuck in the ‘will I, won’t I,’ stage.
He thought he’d put any option of mating with her off the table, but the indecision seemed to have returned after his chat with Karla earlier.
He pushed that thought away. Right now, he needed to help the dragons deal with the crisis they were facing, not muse on his own issues. And to do that, he needed to convince his brother to get mated.
Despite his initial resistance to the idea, Lyrian had been right. As soon as she’d made the announcement, the atmosphere in the lair had changed from nervous fear to subdued excitement. Definitely an improvement.
Nate nodded slowly, “I suppose so,” he agreed.
Brad could see the uncertainty on his face. “Are you really worried about Mum and Dad, or are you having doubts about the mating?”
“No, I have no doubts at all about mating Kyrian,” Nate said immediately, his tone enough to convince Brad that he spoke the truth.
“Good, then what do we need to do to prepare?”
“I don’t know,” Nate said, looking at Jayrian for support.
They young man smiled. “The mating ceremony is similar, in some ways, to the human customs Gretchen has described to me,” he said, giving his mate a quick smile. “There is a feast, singing and dancing, and if we had more time, there would be games designed to allow a dragon to show he was worthy of his or her mate.”
Brad would have liked to see that. Although somehow he suspected that he wouldn’t be able to win games against dragon competitors. And for a princess’s hand, there would be plenty of competitors.
Here he was, thinking about Lyrian again. He needed to stop that.
Nate wasn’t likely to face the same problem. In fact, his brother wouldn’t likely have any competition for the mate from an enemy clan.
Probably lucky they didn’t have time for games.
“Sounds simple enough,” he said firmly.
Jayrian nodded. “The magical component is the biggest difference between human and dragon mating.”
Nate nodded, and he and Brad listened.
“As you’ve no doubt heard, when dragons, or a dragon and a human, mate for the third time, a permanent bond is formed.”
“Do I have to do anything special to make that work?” Nate asked, his voice a little nervous.
Brad listened too, curious in spite of himself.
“Nope, it will just happen,” Jayrian said cheerfully. “There’s no way to mess this one up.” He grinned at Gretchen, then looked back at Nate. “All you have to do is trust your instinct.”
Trust instinct?
Brad wasn’t quite convinced by that. In his experience, human ‘instinct’ was dead. What people tried to call instinct usually turned out to be more related to fear.
And he suspected something other than instinct was responsible here. “You mean magic takes over?”
Jayrian considered him for a moment, then gave a laugh. “I suppose so. The mating bond certainly is strong.” He reached for Gretchen’s hand without looking, and she reached for his at the same time, their hands connecting without any fumbling.
For some reason, watching the simple gesture between them made a lump form in Brad’s throat, and tears prick at the back of his eyelids.
Was he missing out on that? Was he giving up possibly the greatest thing he’d ever been offered, all because he was afraid?
Well, it was logical to be afraid. This dragon mating bond was nothing to be trifled with, from what he’d heard.
How could you ever tell if you loved someone, or if it was just the dragon magic?
You’d know if you loved them before you mated with them, his mind argued. And from the ache in his heart, he knew it was true. He had no doubts of his love for Lyrian, and that the mating bond would only strengthen the tie between them.
The tie he already knew was there.
Nate was smiling at him. “Of course the magic takes over, bro. That’s the way it always is when you fall in love, don’t you know?”
Brad knew only too well.
Nate was still frowning though. Was he having second thoughts? Brad couldn’t help hoping he was, even though he berated himself for the fact. He was jealous that everything he was struggling with was so easy for Nate.
“Have you found that the other dragons accept that you’re a human mated to a dragon?” Nate was asking Gretchen.
She hesitated. “They weren’t very accepting at all initially. Jayrian and I were the first.” She looked over at her mate, and the love in her eyes caused Brad’s own eyes to mist up a little.
“That must have been hard,” Nate said sympathetically.
Jayrian nodded. “It was. I never thought they would accept a human mate, but we stayed true to our feelings for each other, and they accepted us in the end.” He smiled at Nate. “Just as they will accept you and Kyrian.
Nate didn’t look so convinced. “It’s not just a human mating with a dragon though, is it? I mean, if Kytr… Kyrian had been born a Rian dragon, then that would be one thing, but in this case, they need to accept her before there’s any chance they will accept me.”
“They will,” Jayrian said warmly. He clapped Nate on the back.
Brad forced himself to speak up around the lump in his throat. “They’re going to have to accept it, Nate. Lyrian has decreed it so. The advantage of being a princess I guess.”
Nate gave him a smile. “I suppose so.” He looked at Brad, a touch of curiosity in his gaze. “She’s a pretty amazing woman.”
Nate was fishing, curious about Brad’s feelings.
Brad forced a smile. Just because he had misgivings about his own feelings didn’t mean he doubted his brothers. “She definitely is.”
Nate looked at him strangely, and for a moment Brad thought he was going to say something.
He braced himself, prepared to defend his own choices.
But Nate just smiled.
Chapter 31
Planning for the mating kept Lyrian too busy to stop and think about the fact that soon, Brad would be gone. When she’d come up with this idea to use his brother’s mating to keep the clan’s spirits up while they waited for the tunnel to be finished, she hadn’t considered that.
Not that he was going anywhere until they were all out of here, so no point dwelling on it right now. She had more than enough to worry about. She needed to focus on keeping her clan safe, and that meant organising this mating.
There were food choices to make, a suitable mating outfit to be found and prepared, an area to be cleared and set up, and the inevitable disputes to be settled.
Taurian helped, of course, but he had little idea of what needed to be prepared, besides insisting on using nearly all the clan’s meat reserves. He seemed certain that the tunnel would be dug quickly, the Trima dragons would have no issue helping them, and they’d be out of the lair and hunting again within days.
Lyrian wasn’t so certain, and insisted some of the meat be put back into storage after he left.
Much as she was ready to welcome Trima clan back, she was not yet convinced that all was as they said it was. Besides, it was never a good idea to use up all the food based on something that hadn’t happened yet.
Even if the Trima life dragon did agree to help them, there was no guarantee she could make the humans leave. Lyrian knew how persistent they could be. Brad had hung around for a week trying to convince her to move to America with him. And he hadn’t known she was a dragon.
If he had…
She shook her head. This wasn’t about her. This was about Nate and Kyrian. The two had been through a lot together, and they deserved to have a nice mating.
Even if everyone would be busy thinking about the humans searching outside, the tunnel being dug behind them, and the fact that they were relying on Trima clan to save them.
She pushed th
at thought away.
Mesrian was far more help than Taurian. The elder knew just who to go to for something, and exactly how to convince them to help her. By the time everything was ready, Lyrian was even more convinced that the old woman was a valuable asset to the clan.
While she helped Kyrian dress, she left Anarian with Brad again. She was starting to get used to not having a baby in her arms every minute, and for some reason, that made her nervous. Anarian should be in her arms. If she couldn’t be, it was better that she was with her father, but still…
Lyrian didn’t even want to think what she would do once Brad left. Who could she trust then?
She twisted the end of the braid she’d plaited in Kyrian’s hair and tucked it in out of sight. “There.” She took a step back to survey her work.
The newest Rian dragon looked back at her nervously, but her expression was the only thing that wasn’t perfect for a mating.
It hadn’t been easy, finding something for Kyrian to wear. Everyone in the clan had claimed not to have any suitable outfits. Lyrian wasn’t quite sure whether to believe them or not, knowing how stacked the opinions were about the former Trima dragon, but she suspected that pushing would have only made things worse.
Mesrian had come to the rescue with an outfit that she said Wayrian, a young dragon who Ostrian had been pushing to mate with Taurian, had been going to wear.
Lyrian was fascinated by that story, and she would have loved to know more. It seemed Taurian and Karla had a rocky start too. That thought gave her a little more hope for her and Brad. Maybe there was some way they could figure this out.
But she couldn’t worry about that right now. Her clan was in danger. Her worries about the relationship between her and Brad paled in comparison to what might happen if the humans discovered the lair.
“Does it look all right?” Kyrian asked, nervously pulling at one of the strings of wooden beads.
“It’s fine,” Lyrian told her gently.
She felt a little bad for the dragon. She’d been the one who had insisted she renounce her clan and join Rian clan. She hadn’t expected that her own clan would have so much trouble accepting the newcomer.
Then again, for them Trima had been an enemy for three hundred years. For her it had been mere months since the clans had separated.
As if reading her thoughts, Kyrian asked, “Do you think they’re ever going to accept me?”
Lyrian wanted to insist that they would, but the reality was, she didn’t know them well enough to be sure of that. Ostrian seemed to have some influence over the clan, and he was quite clearly dead set against it.
Then again, he had apparently objected to Taurian and Karla’s mating as well, and no one seemed to have an issue with that anymore.
“Those who matter will always accept you,” Lyrian said, pulling the dragon into an embrace.
Kyrian held stiff for a moment, and then her body relaxed, and she hugged Lyrian fiercely back. When she pulled back, Lyrian’s shoulder was wet with tears.
“Thank you,” Kyrian said, sniffling a little. “I don’t know why I’m so emotional over this. Normally I’m not like this, I assure you.”
“A mating is always an emotional time,” Lyrian assured her. “Your reaction is perfectly normal.”
And most dragons didn’t have to deal with the uncertainty and ostracising that Kyrian was facing.
They just had to accept the fact that they would be tied to another for the rest of their lives. That made even dragons, who had known about the bond their whole lives, nervous. She wasn’t surprised it kept Brad away.
She was nervous about it herself. That was why she hadn’t told Brad a year ago.
Why she had held herself back since he returned.
Although it was becoming less of an impediment, and more of a draw as each day went by.
Kyrian straightened her back. “Well, it’s only going to get worse if I sit around imagining all the things that could go wrong. Let’s go get this done.”
Lyrian smiled. “That’s the spirit.”
As they headed out into the main cave, she couldn’t help feeling that Kyrian was doing a far better job of this than she was.
*****
“Brad, bring Anarian and sit over here,” Mesrian instructed him, pointing to the row of furs on a small ledge near the front of the cave.
Brad frowned. “Isn’t that where the princes and Lyrian are going to sit?”
It was either that, or the bridal party, and there were too many seats for that.
Mesrian frowned. “Yes, it is. Your place is here, beside Lyrian.”
Brad felt his face heat. The clan obviously still thought he and Lyrian were going to be mated, despite his insistence that they weren’t. He wasn’t sure if he’d said it directly to Mesrian or not, but he was pretty sure it didn’t matter. He’d seen how news could make it around the whole hospital in a matter of hours, he was pretty sure a dragon lair wasn’t any different.
And from the sharp look Mesrian was giving him, she knew.
Brad stared at her, thinking fast. “Actually, I think my place is beside my brother,” he said firmly. “He asked me to be here for his mating. He’s the one who needs my support.”
Mesrian’s eyes narrowed. “We only have three of our ruling dragons. That makes people nervous, especially when we’re facing an enemy.”
Brad shrugged. He felt like saying, ‘So what?’ but that sounded a little heartless, even if the truth was, it wasn’t his problem. It also wasn’t one he could solve. “I don’t see that my presence helps any,” he said instead.
The old woman’s eyes narrowed as she eyed him and the baby sleeping in his arms. “The clan has come to trust and rely on the prince’s human mates. Karla and Lisa have both proven their dedication and usefulness to the clan. I’m sure, with time, you will prove yours.”
Maybe he was wrong. Maybe she hadn’t heard. “Lyrian and I aren’t planning on mating.” Every time he said it, it was a little easier, and that made him sad.
Mesrian seemed unruffled. “So I have heard. I also heard that you helped convince Ostrian to keep to the truce the clan made with the Trima dragons. That your words were wise and true. We need that right now. You are also the father of the next generation. People need to see that the future princess has support, from both her parents.”
“Of course Anarian has my support. And Lyrian too.”
“Then how about you show it?”
Brad stared at her. How had the old woman managed to talk him around into believing that sitting next to Lyrian was the right thing to do? The way she put it, it was the only option available to him.
Except…
“This is my brother’s mating, and people are having trouble accepting that too,” Brad said firmly. “If I have any influence with the clan, I need to use it to help him. I think I should be sitting with him.”
His argument was perfectly valid, and not at all an excuse not to sit next to Lyrian. Not to take a place he didn’t think he deserved. Or to avoid pretending to be something he wished he could be.
Mesrian’s eyes gleamed golden. Brad couldn’t help feeling she was impressed with his response. But all she said was, “Before you can use your influence, you have to prove you have it.”
Meaning, he had to sit next to Lyrian.
Brad’s heart sank even as it soared. The up and down motion, the sudden swinging between excitement and hopefulness and disappointment, made him feel a little sick. He just needed to make a clean break, couldn’t anyone see that?
But the old woman’s hopeful eyes stared up at him, and he knew that everything she said was true.
Brad bit back a sigh.
It was only one evening. He could do it for one evening, couldn’t he?
Maybe even just part of an evening. “There must be some point during the ceremony when it would be appropriate for me to move and sit next to my brother, wouldn’t there? That way I can show my support to both.”
Mesrian nodded
, as though she’d already planned her response. “Between the main meal and desert would be the perfect opportunity. Changing seats to mingle with the guests is appropriate at that point.”
Brad nodded. “I’ll do that then.”
As though it had been his decision. But as he settled on the furs and watched the old woman walk away, he couldn’t help thinking that he’d been manipulated into doing exactly what she wanted.
As the other dragons began to come in and take their places, and he was the only one sitting on the ledge, Brad began to feel uncomfortable.
The other dragons shot him curious looks, but no one questioned his place.
Nor did Taurian and Karla, when they joined him. They both smiled at him, as though it were perfectly normal that he was there. So did Lisa and Verrian when they arrived.
Now, the only royal missing, was Lyrian.
*****
When Lyrian walked into the main cave behind Kyrian, and saw Brad sitting with her brothers, her heart thumped in her chest. Did this signify something? He was sitting in the position her mate would occupy, holding Anarian, who was just beginning to fuss.
Of course. He was the father of her child. No one would question his seat, but if he were absent, it would show a rift in the clan. That had to be why he’d been seated there. But who was responsible, and how had they convinced Brad?
Her eyes searched the room, catching Mesrian’s old, golden eyes staring back at her, twinkling. The old woman gave her a wink.
Lyrian apparently had more to thank the fire dragon elder for than just helping arrange the mating. She gave her a smile and inclined her head. She already suspected that she and Mesrian were going to be firm friends. Maybe she would be able to help her find someone to care for Anarian when she couldn’t be there.
Taking her seat next to Brad, it was hard not to reach out and touch him, just for the comfort the familiarity would bring. She wanted that closeness. Craved that closeness.
“This was Mesrian’s idea,” Brad said under his breath. “I hope you don’t mind.”
Did he really not know?
“I’m glad you’re here. I’m going to miss you when you’re not.”