by Maia Starr
The process of being chosen may not have been like a marriage, but the party certainly was.
The hall was modern and sophisticated in a way I hadn’t thought of Weredragons before. They’d always been all business to me, sure, but I’d never imagined them in suits and ties shaking hands and waltzing on a marble dance floor.
Soft music played in the background, and I began to feel more and more like royalty with every step we took into the building. Glowstones illuminated the entire arena, adding to the surreal quality of our night together.
There was always something so primal about them that made me feel like they were untamed and waiting to return to their wild ways. Or, maybe it was the lack of women that made me feel like nobody kept them in line. I snickered out loud at my own thought, and Haden looked down at me, his blue eyes piercingly curious as they followed my gaze across the room.
“They know how to hold a celebration, that’s for certain,” he said absent-mindedly as he looked around the room with a sigh.
“Is that right?” I teased, and he gestured to a fountain in the far corner of the venue by a table of appetizers. The fountain was blue and gold and intricately decorated with carvings of dragons. It also spouted wine.
“Is that…?”
He nodded. “Wine.”
“Not a bad idea, if you ask me,” I said with a smile, and we began walking over to it. Haden grabbed two wine glasses and began filling them up with the deep-red liquid. “Poor choice of color, perhaps,” I added as I took the glass from him.
“Oxblood sprouting from a fountain doesn’t get your taste buds roaring?” he grinned.
“Not exactly.” I took a sip. “But I’m not complaining!”
We made our way through the party and I saw a plethora of familiar faces. It felt odd, in a way, to have seen them strictly through official meetings and tours and to now be standing in front of them with my breasts half exposed in cocktail attire.
I thought it might be overwhelmingly awkward, but instead, they made me feel welcomed. Adding to this was the sight of Anita and Zaphira on the upper level of the grand foyer.
“There’s a brave soul,” Haden said as his eyes cast over Anita’s boyfriend, Christopher. It figured she would be the one to break the rules and bring a human male to a den full of dragons who would be all too eager to rip him apart and steal her away, hypothetically.
Christopher worked in security for the Riddell organization, though was rarely seen by the Weredragons. Mostly he worked in artillery that surrounding the choosing platform to make sure no dragon went out of turn. He was a funny guy. He had deep chocolate skin and welcoming hazel eyes. He was tall; built.
The man always made the office a pleasant place to work and had a knack for putting the girls in the choosings at ease. Opposite of my usual opinion of him, I felt a pinch of nerves explode within me as I saw a laser weapon hanging loosely from the holster around his waist. Way to be polite, Chris.
“At least he came prepared,” Haden chuckled as he too spotted the gun. “Not that it would do him any good.”
Clearly, the dark dragon knew he’d made me uncomfortable because he began to look around the venue awkwardly and couldn’t seem to meet my eyes again. “Sorry,” he offered lamely. “Your brother… I shouldn’t say, you know…”
“No, it’s okay,” I said as I pulled my shawl closer to my body. “My brother isn’t here, so there’s really no reason to feel bad. He would have hated a party like this anyhow. You know, the whole dragon mating thing freaks him out.”
“Well,” he raised a brow. “I promise we wouldn’t have mated with him personally.”
I batted him on the arm, the movement forceful enough to jostle my drink. “You know what I mean!”
Despite the joke, Haden still acted as though I were uneasy with the topic. I tried to keep my tone light, trying to convince him the subject matter was alright to talk about. Cathartic even. In truth, I actually liked talking to Haden about my family. I’d told him about my father’s passing years ago and how I never knew my mother. If we were going to be a real couple, then I wanted him to get to know the real me.
“You know, when we were little, my brother and I would play pretend and act as though we were dragons.”
Haden’s eyes went wide with surprise and he stifled a laugh. “You don’t say?”
“Yes, and he always wanted to be a blue one and I would always pretend to be a pink one that shot ice.”
“We don’t shoot ice,” he corrected coyly.
“I guess that’s what made me special then, isn’t it?”
“Well played.” He gave a nod and took my hand, raising it into the air so all the dignitaries could watch us.
They all began to cheer as we walked in a large circle, our hands still raised as though we were the spectacle of the evening. “When did the dragon fantasy become more of a fear than a delight?” he asked curiously; never breaking his smile as his eyes fixated on me.
“I guess once I started working there. Close proximity sort of takes the fantasy away.”
A smile slid up his face and seemed to settle there as he looked me up and down and proudly said, “Not always.”
My eyes sparkled with delight at the comment, and I looked up at Zaphira from the ballroom floor. She stood on the balcony in a deep plum skirt suit and stared down into my soul. It was the rare moment that I couldn’t read her eyes, but tonight something seemed to shift.
I turned back to Haden and leaned my head on his arm. Within moments, one of the Koth approached us with his small tail waving behind him regally.
The Weredragon nodded his head in my direction and welcomed me warmly before regarding Haden in the same, excited manner.
“What a perfect pairing we have here. The Koth hasn’t been so energized by a choosing ceremony in decades.”
“I know,” I said happily. “I saw some even attended! This is a very special occasion for everyone.”
“Any sign of a child yet?” came the enthusiastic, if not frank, questioning from Tharos, a well-respect member of the Koth. He was a green dragon with a long face and tiny wings that draped deep emerald tendrils along their high points. I’d never seen this feature on a dragon until I met him.
Fortunately for me, I’d had many dealings with him in the past and found him to be nothing but pleasant, if not a little too focused on my backside. I had been able to use that to my advantage on several occasions, so I wasn’t exactly complaining. It just figured he would be the one giving me a hard time.
It seemed as soon as his question was asked a group of shifters piled around one another until I was in the middle of their circle – all eager to hear about all the sex we were having, or something to that effect.
“Oh,” I said awkwardly as I twiddled my fingers around the stem of my glass. “No, no sign yet,” I sputtered.
“Some of these humans can take months to breed,” came the slightly annoyed sigh of a yellow dragon nearby. “They know what they’re here for, so just do it already. Why is it we ally with Earth and are only sent their frigid women in return?” And with that simple sentence, it seemed he instantly grew bored of my conversation and took off into the crowd.
“Breeding is an essential part of our pairings, Miss Hayes,” came the imperial voice of Tharos. His tone suggested to the other Weres that while the yellow dragon’s comment was a necessary conversation, it was also done in bad taste.
I could hear other mutterings around the circle of frustrated Dragons expressing their disappointment under their breath to one another.
My face must have turned a thousand shades of red out of both fury and embarrassment because Haden was instantly at my side as though ready to protect me.
“We are very excited about producing a child,” I lied with a simulated smile slapped on my face. I resisted the urge to show my nerves and pick at the lace on the side of my dress, and instead realized I had to put my work persona on. Charming, elegant, respected, and sexual.
“Then, might I suggest, get it done,” came Tharos’ warning. “This is a unification of planets. Solid, for the first time ever. There is a lot riding on you, Miss Hayes. I hope you know this.”
“But of course,” I beamed. “It’s only that Haden has been so preoccupied with making sure we all get exactly what we want in our alliance that he comes home absolutely spent. Surely you men all know exactly how exhausting dignitary work can be, if you know what I mean?”
The prospect that Haden had been too busy working to become aroused seemed to generate a throng of laughter within the crowd. I often found if I put a sexual spin on most statements and offered a provocative raise of my brow, I could guarantee laughter and intrigue by all the men around me.
While this seemed to win over most of the shifters in my presence, Tharos merely offered a deadpan expression and nodded slowly, unimpressed. “Then we will make sure he is well rested.”
With that, he made his leave from the crowd, and I was left with jeering Weredragons offering me drinks and welcoming me into their little group.
I could see Haden was annoyed with me, and one glance up to the balcony showed that Zaphira felt the same way. All I was trying to do was get out of an awkward situation, and it seemed all I’d done was irritate several very important people. Not Anita, though. She stared down the balcony and offered me a wink of approval before disappearing into the party.
Several speeches were given in our honor following that interaction, two from the Koth and one from Zaphira. They all made it very clear that this union meant peace between our worlds. In my naivety, I hadn’t realized that this was strictly a political pairing. I thought Zaphira saw something good in us. Not that she was looking to slap a bandaid over our alliance.
The longer the party went on, the worse I felt. It was becoming painfully clear to me that our relationship was expected to work out and that was final. No ifs, ands, or but’s about it.
“Did you tell everyone?” I exclaimed under my breath, pulling Haden into the corner of the elegant room as the last speech ended.
“Tell who what?”
“You know,” I whispered through gritted teeth, my eyes widening almost comically. “About last night? How we didn’t… You know! Look, women, with any man, we… well, we want to be made to feel special before that happens. Something that lets us know you’re not going to jump ship once you get what you want.”
“I wanted you,” he frowned deeply. “That’s why I chose you.”
“Fine, whatever! But with men, it goes that once they get that, it’s pretty much a power struggle where the women lose. Because frankly there are too many–”
Before I could finish my sentence, he set his fingers over my mouth and cooed me quiet. Once I silenced, he took his hand away and set it on the small of my back, moving me out onto the extravagant dance floor to try and hide our disagreement from the room.
He danced with me—beautifully, I might add—and leaned in close to my ear. He took a moment to nuzzle his forehead against mine before he took a quiet breath. “I know on Earth this is a different thing. But, how about you let me tell you what this means to me?”
Haden looked down at me, and our eyes met. Without even a gesture, my eyes told him to go ahead.
“I chose you because I already knew you were special. Maybe this isn’t something Riddell train you in, but we don’t choose mates because they’re attractive or on a whim. We choose because something in our blood that tells us we’re already connected. I chose you because something lit up inside me, quite literally, that told me you were meant for me.”
“…You did?”
He nodded. “Now, I know that isn’t what humans feel. I know this will take some catching up on your part. But I’m already there.”
“Well then,” I stumbled, letting myself be swayed in his strong arms; our bodies suddenly moving in perfect unison as the crowd around us watched with awe. Suddenly, my heart started pounding, and I knew exactly what I wanted. “As long as we’re both clear then.”
We danced as the night went on and I felt a fire in my soul like I hadn’t in years. I looked up at the pale blue eyes before me and leaned my head on his shoulder. His words shook me.
Maybe he was telling the truth. Even the thought that he had such a connection to me based on a feeling made me like him even more. It wasn’t that I was susceptible to flattery, per say, but if that was how Weredragons felt about their choosings, a primal knowledge that this was their soulmate, then that’s how I wanted to feel, too.
I squeezed his hand as we danced and we spent the next hour absolutely enveloped in one another’s company. It wasn’t until the celebration was drawing to a close that Zaphira finally approached me.
She held a glass of champagne that I knew she wouldn’t have touched all night and she smiled brightly to Haden while tapping her finger slowly against the flute of the glass. “Congratulations, again,” she said with a nod in the dark dragon’s direction. Then she turned her attention to me. “May I have a word with you before I depart?”
“Sure,” I said quietly, and my body snapped back into work-mode. I turned to Haden and put up a finger to tell him I would just be a moment.
Zaphira took me to an interior room that was rounded and filled with marble statues of fallen Weredragons. I marveled at the architecture, knowing not to speak to Zaphira until I was spoken to.
Her heels clicked against the floor with power and authority that used to frighten me. She half-leaned against an end table that sat next to a seating area filled with velvet couches, her hands on the table behind her for support.
“What are you doing?” she asked suddenly, her voice cutting crisply into the air.
“I’m fine. Great, actually,” I beamed.
“I said ‘what’ are you doing?”
“Oh.” I blushed. “I’m… trying to enjoy my party? Which, honestly, is becoming more and more of a challenge as this night goes on.”
“Act appreciative. Charm these people.”
I set my jaw and turned to face her completely. “I thought that’s what I was doing.”
“No,” she said with a drawn-out vowel. “I said I want you to charm them; win their trust, produce a child. I didn’t say I wanted you to make light of sex and erections in a public forum, did I?”
My jaw nearly dropped, and I felt a deep embarrassment. Here I thought I was impressing her with my assignment. I walked closer to her and crossed my arms, feeling somewhat silly for being in a dress when she was behaving so formally.
“Now, are you winning him over, or not?”
“Of course,” I said, trying not to sound too proud. She hated that.
She stared at me fiercely for a moment, a fury beckoning behind her eyes. It was a shift imperceptible to anyone but myself, but it was there all the same. Then suddenly, she relented. Her finely crafted brows seemed to soften, and she walked up to me, clicking her heels along the stone floor. She set her hands on both my cheeks and stared down at me like a mother would to a child.
I lived for these moments.
Many saw Zaphira as a tyrant. Too cold to be close to. But, I saw the mother in her. On the second mission she and I had taken out to Udora, years ago now, she’d had a tense meeting with the Koth in which they wanted to pull their support. They felt like humans were stepping in where they didn’t belong.
She’d been so frustrated by the meeting that I’d actually been moved to check on her that night. She didn’t like personal connections with her staff. The thought of coming to her door late at night and prying or asking her if she was alright terrified me. I thought she would think I perceived her as weak. To my surprise, she opened the doors with swollen eyes, and with a sigh, she let me come in.
It was then and only then that she’d told me something she had never shared with anyone else. She’d had a son. She’d been chosen by a Weredragon, and it hadn’t gone well. Her child was taken from her, and the Koth kept his location hidden.
I had been prese
nt at that meeting that day and didn’t notice any difference in the way she behaved or how she had presented our issues. But, the shifter who had been her mate was there. She wouldn’t say who. Only that it crushed her. She wanted her child back, and he was standing in her way.
This forever changed my perception of her. And while we never spoke of that night again, she never treated me the same after that. I had wondered if she would put her guard up or act harshly with me. Instead, she had taken me under her wing.
I thought my position would be temporary, but after that conversation, she had made it her mission to ensure I could do this job just as well as she could. She taught me how to manipulate and cajole the Koth; what to leverage and when to flirt. She made me the best, and we had accomplished a lot together.
Behind her harsh exterior, I knew she thought of me as a daughter, and likewise, I thought of her as my mother. A mother I could hardly please and was always looking to impress, but still a mother.
“Sarra,” she said with a breath.
I smiled at her and my eyes beamed at the contact. I let her cup my face and waited eagerly for whatever she had to say to me. “I didn’t send you here to play socialite at some party. I sent you here for Haden.”
“Yes, and I’m doing that. Wasn’t I also sent here to maintain some level of peace and become a breeder?”
And then she sighed with an audible exhale that suddenly made me feel sick to my stomach.
“If you remember nothing else I have ever taught you, remember this: I didn’t send you here to fall in love with him, Sarra.” She held my face firmer then, so close that I could smell her breath ghosting over my forehead. “I sent you to watch him. He has information we need. That’s why you’re here.”
Chapter Six
Haden
The celebration wore on and within just a few minutes of Sarra disappearing into private chambers with Zaphira, she emerged, ready to leave the party.
I wondered what the two had spoken of and if it had anything to do with her sudden desire to leave, or her sudden desires period. But I thought it was best not to press the topic. Either she would share with me when she felt comfortable enough to do so, or I would employ other means of finding out what was spoken of.