The corner of his mouth ticked up. "If we keep questioning each other, this isn't going to end well."
She shrugged. "It'll just take time to figure out how we work best together, that's all."
"I suppose."
Honoria yearned to reach over and take Asher's hand in reassurance, but they'd agreed to nix any public displays of affection and save it for private.
Her dragon muttered, Stupid rule. Dragon-shifters don't hide affection. That's a human thing.
For the time being, our every move is going to be watched by a few humans. So it's best to try and not surprise them too much.
Imagine if we reached over and squeezed Ash's arse. I bet the DDA human's mouth would drop open, or maybe she'd even faint.
Honoria couldn't help it, she laughed. When Asher sent her a questioning gaze, she shook her head. "Later."
His gaze lingered a second before he returned the nod. And for good reason—they'd arrived at the main security building for the clan.
They nodded at the young Protector manning the front door and walked inside. As they were guided to a room by another Protector, Honoria whispered, "I wonder if it's a group test or a team one."
Upon hearing of Honoria and Asher's arrangement, the remaining candidates had teamed up, too.
Asher replied, "We'll find out in about ten seconds, provided we're all gathered together. I rather hope not, though. I'd rather focus on showing our best assets during an individual trial."
The young Protector stopped next to a door and said, "This is as far as I go. They're waiting for you in there."
The "they" part of his sentence piqued her curiosity.
Asher opened the door and Honoria walked in. She promptly blinked at who sat behind a long table.
While she'd never met either of the dragon-shifters in person, the dark-haired, blue-eyed form of Bram Moore-Llewellyn and the blond-haired, brown-eyed form of Finlay Stewart were well known to her—and to most anyone in the UK, truth be told—from pictures and interviews.
It looked like the clan leaders of Stonefire and Lochguard had come to question them.
Bram spoke first and motioned toward the empty chairs opposite him. "Take a seat. I promise I won't bite, but I can't make any promises about Finn here."
Finn grinned. "If I'm going to bite, you won't see it coming."
Bram sighed. "I thought we talked about toning it down a fraction?"
"Aye, but I never agreed to it, if you remember."
Bram grunted. "Then why did you nod at the time?"
"Oh, that? Aye, well, I was remembering a tune I sang to my daughter. You just mistook it for agreement."
Bram let out an even bigger sigh, and muttered, "You promised Ara you'd behave."
The Stonefire leader referred to Finn's dragon-shifter mate, Arabella MacLeod. By all accounts, she was the center of Finn's world, along with his three children.
As Honoria slid into one of the seats, she couldn't help but smile. "What they say about you two is true, then."
Bram raised a dark eyebrow. "I'm almost afraid to ask what's true." He motioned toward the other leader and drawled, "Being connected to anything which involves Finn is asking for trouble."
A laugh escaped her lips before she could stop it. "That you two act more like brothers than anything else."
Bram shook his head as Finn winked. The blond Scottish leader spoke first. "Thank you, lass. You just made my day. Bram hates it when people say that, and anything that irritates him only improves my mood."
Honoria looked over at Asher, who sat quietly watching the pair. He finally jumped in. "I suspect this is an act to put us at ease before you pounce?"
Bram raised his brows. "I wish I could say yes, but this Scottish bastard is determined to ruin our images."
Finn waved a hand in dismissal. "If we're to maybe work with this pair in the future, they should know what they're getting into, aye?"
Honoria spoke up again. "So you're not against a co-leader team?"
Finn shook his head. "No. It's a clever idea, truth be told. Not that I'd want to share it with anyone, mind you. My family likes to meddle, and no doubt several of them would want to jump in and help. Which is all fine, until it turns into some kind of wee disaster."
Bram smirked. "And I'll make sure to mention that to your mate when I talk with her next. She is your family, too, after all."
Asher spoke before Finn could reply. "Then if you're not against a male-female team wanting to lead, then why are you here?"
Finn's eyes turned assessing, and Honoria nearly did a double-take at how quickly his carefree demeanor turned into one of shrewd intelligence. Finn said, "To judge your characters. Marcus King was a bastard who hurt a lot of people. Lochguard may be hundreds of miles north of here, but Marcus's actions affected us, too. And I'm not about to allow another arsehole to take over and possibly harm my clan again."
All eyes turned to Asher, and Honoria waited to see what he'd do. She suspected there was a motive behind everything, but she wasn't attuned enough yet to figure it out.
Which bloody irritated her, but all she could do was wait and see.
~~~
Some would be distracted by the Stonefire and Lochguard leaders' charm, but Asher wasn't going to fall for it. After all, at one time, his uncle had been charming. Until he hadn't been and instead had decided fear would work better to control the clan.
His dragon spoke up. Given what we learned, I doubt these two will use fear.
Maybe, maybe not. They haven't earned my trust yet.
Nor have we earned theirs.
I know, but I won't cower. Even if they're allies, dragon clans are still semiautonomous.
Once Finn answered about wanting to protect his clan, Asher leaned forward in his seat and said, "One meeting isn't going to accomplish much in terms of judging our characters."
Finn nodded. "Aye, you're right. Which is why we're staying for a wee while. And just know that me being here means I had to leave my mate and triplets behind. So tread carefully as my usually brilliant, hilarious self will be a little less forgiving at times, especially if it comes to displays of dominance."
At the steel in the Scottish dragonman's voice, Asher raised his brows. "If you think a mere threat will scare me enough to keep me in line, then you don't know a fucking thing about what happened here."
Honoria murmured his name, but he kept his gaze on Finn. The dragonman finally bobbed his head. "Aye, you're right. I don't know exactly what happened here since Skyhunter didn't share information with either of our clans for over a decade. But any male who'd bury dead bodies on his land and plotted with humans to take down other dragon-shifters can't have been a good leader."
Before he could reply, Honoria spoke up. "He wasn't. He killed my parents and threw Ash in prison for five years."
Bram glanced at him, Honoria, and back again. "Then is this some sort of revenge-based act?"
"No," Asher stated. "Skyhunter is my home. The clan needs good leadership if it's to survive and heal. It won't be easy, but I think Ria and I have the best chance of doing it."
Finn tilted his head. "Oh, aye? And why is that?"
Honoria answered, "Because I helped develop new types of technology we can use to bring the clan into the present. I perfected it and its implementation in America, and not even your clans have similar systems. And as for Ash, he has the knowledge of everyone inside Skyhunter and who would be the best fit for the various new roles going forward."
Under the table, Honoria took his hand and squeezed. The small gesture helped to ground him and make him focus on what was important, which wasn't prodding the two dragon-shifter leaders. "Not to mention we plan to divvy up specialized tasks, so that individuals can focus on specifics, rather than having one person try to tackle everything and stretch themselves too thin. As far as I know, none of the other candidates have the same idea."
Bram said, "Dividing up the tasks and handing off some responsibility would definitely make
our mates happy."
"Aye," Finn stated. "And the bairns. It's definitely something to think about for the future. Lorcan is due to step down soon, and his successor might be open to the idea, too."
Asher knew Lorcan Todd was the older leader of Northcastle, the dragon-shifter clan in Northern Ireland. But he didn't remember too much beyond that.
Bram studied Asher a second before saying, "You two seem to be coordinated in some way already, answering when the other pauses, and even comforting when needed—aye, I noticed that, too. So tell me, are you two true mates?"
Asher had never thought he'd want a mate, but for the first time, he wished fate had made Honoria his true mate.
His dragon huffed. Fate doesn't matter. Share everything and she can be ours.
Honoria squeezed his fingers tighter and answered, "No. Although we did date as teenagers. And whilst we've each changed a bit since then, it definitely helps us understand one another most of the time. Although occasionally, he gets all alpha dragonman-like and I don't understand a bloody thing."
The leaders chuckled, but Asher couldn't tear his gaze from Honoria. She would always be able to make him smile, and with enough time, could probably chase away most of the darkness from his prison stint.
If not for everything that could end up on their shoulders, Asher would pull Honoria close, kiss her, and say she should be his mate.
However, duty was a priority, so he refrained. True, he should let go of her hand, too, but he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Bram's voice garnered Asher's attention again. "I'll admit we all act that way from time to time, and I doubt our mates will ever understand us completely." He paused and in the blink of an eye, the laughter vanished from Bram's face. "And whilst I don't care if you two shag each other when the mood strikes, we need to know if it'll affect your ability to lead, especially if either of you turns to someone else later in life."
His beast growled. I don't want anyone else, just Ria.
Honoria replied, "It won't. Both of us love this clan and want to see it return to what it once was. After all, when we were small children, Skyhunter was one of the most open and understanding clans in the UK."
Finn jumped in. "I think we're all fairly close in age, which means I don't remember anything from before the age of nine or so and can't remember that version of Skyhunter. I'll just have to take your word for it."
Bram tapped his hand on the table a few times. "Well, so far, you seem fairly arsehole-free. But we'll see how things go over the next week or so."
Asher frowned. "Exactly how long are you going to be on Skyhunter?"
The Stonefire leader shrugged. "As long as is necessary." Finn opened his mouth, but Bram continued, "And we both have to agree when it's time to leave. I'm as anxious to get back to my family as you are, Finn, but if we want a good future for our children, this is important, too."
"Considering your mate is pregnant right now, that's very magnanimous of you, Bram," Finn stated.
Not wanting to think of pregnant mates—because then he'd start imagining what it'd be like to have a family of his own, something Asher had doubted he'd ever have since his imprisonment—he released Honoria's hand and stood. "Right, then I think we're done for now."
Bram remained seated. "Aye, for the moment. However, we'll be popping up at random times, to see how things are going."
Finn winked. "But don't worry, we'll make sure to knock first, aye?"
Asher didn't know the males well enough to joke about sex, especially with Honoria at his side, so he turned halfway toward the door. "Until later, then."
Once both the leaders nodded in parting, Asher turned and exited the room. Honoria murmured something he couldn't hear before joining him. However, as he made the turn toward the building's exit, the human Penny appeared from out of a room and blocked their path. "Er, no, you're not quite done yet. Once all the interviews are finished, there's another test today. Well, two, really. The first is a quick test on a tablet whilst you wait for the others. This way."
Asher held his tongue and followed the human into the room. He hoped the second test was something physical, as he needed it. Both he and his dragon liked to spend some time outside in the mornings, as a reminder that they were free and wouldn't be going back to a small, dark cell.
His beast spoke up. It's okay. Maybe we should take Ria for a flight instead of rushing her to bed again.
That isn't something I thought you'd ever say.
I want to know everything about her, as do you. If it means one day she becomes our mate, I can wait a while for more sex.
Asher was careful to keep a neutral expression on his face. You keep talking of mates. But what of the clan?
We can have both.
You don't know that.
Yes, I do. Ria will make us stronger.
A tablet was thrust into his hands, and Asher did his best to ignore his dragon and take the test.
He could feel Honoria staring at him, but she wouldn't cause a stir in public. However, they would be having more than a few words later, that he was certain of.
But for the moment, Asher responded to the strange situational questions. A clan leader needed to focus at will, and Asher was more than up to prove he could.
Chapter Seven
Honoria could tell from Asher's clenched jaw that something was on his mind.
The talk—or had it been an interview?—with Bram and Finn had been somewhat strange. But she didn't think Asher was worrying about the two leaders. She watched him closer than she probably should and had noticed the change when asked about being true mates.
Her dragon spoke up. I bet his dragon thinks like me—that we'd be a good fit.
I thought you said they needed more training?
Her beast sniffed. They do, but they're still far better than any other male we've met.
She should drop it. After all, there was another trial coming up and she should be psyching herself up for it.
But she replied before she could talk herself out of it. But is it truly a good idea? I mean, things could easily go wrong.
I have faith. Why don't you?
She stole a glance at Asher. She was coming to love everything about him, from the scar on his face representing how strong he was, to how he wasn't afraid to take comfort from her touch, to even his ability to stand up to other clan leaders no matter how famous they were. And all of that was still only the tip of the iceberg of what made up Asher King.
Truthfully, she was halfway in love with him again. She replied, Maybe. Let's see if we can win this thing first, and then worry about our personal lives.
So you're open to it then?
I suppose so. But it takes two people in a relationship, and if Asher doesn't learn to open up to us, it may be doomed before it even starts.
He'll tell us when he's ready. Just be patient.
Says the dragon-shifter who demanded sex ad nauseam until she got it.
That improved all of our chances of winning. There was a purpose behind it.
Honoria doubted that was her dragon's main reason for the badgering, but she focused back on the tablet in her hands and went through the questions. Each was a situation that could come up for a clan—such as trade negotiations with the local counties, or dealing with enemies such as the dragon hunters or Dragon Knights—and she answered as best she could. The other candidates came in sporadically, but she did her best to ignore them.
Only when she finished the last question did she survey the others taking the same test on their tablets. While she wasn't familiar with all the people beyond the public information she'd found, there was one glaringly obvious difference—she was the only female in the room. It seemed there were only two other sets competing along with her and Asher. Although how Shane Farhall had made it this far, she had no idea.
Her beast spoke up. He probably learned things from his older brother, even if Shane was in Wales and his brother here.
Shane's older brother h
ad been head Protector under the old leader. I'm not sure how that's a positive.
It probably means he knows how to give good-sounding answers.
That won't be enough for Bram and Finn.
For all we know, they could be keeping him in to push the rest of us.
Yes, that sounds more reasonable. Or, so Honoria hoped. Shane's temper should've gotten him disqualified already.
While she waited for everyone else to complete the task, Honoria did her best to memorize the faces and any sort of ticks and tells she noticed on the other contestants. The smallest detail could be the deciding factor in who won the trials.
Eventually, the final male-male pair raised their tablets and handed them over to the DDA human. Once Penny put them aside, she clapped her hands. "Right, then it's time to do the next section. This bit will be more familiar to you, as it involves physical tests that push your mind to the brink." She looked at each pair in turn. "And since all of you are competing as teams, there is one important difference. Both of you must complete the set of tasks and remain together at all times. If you leave your teammate behind—well, beyond short distances as laid out in the materials you'll receive—you'll be disqualified."
One of the males spoke up. "What if our teammate is injured? Should we leave them to find help?"
"Of course, but that still will disqualify you. You see, this is a true test under pressure. You will be going in blind, with only three rules. The first is you're not allowed to kill or mortally wound anyone. The second is you must remain within the confines of South Downs National Park. Where the park runs along the Channel, you may fly up to fifty feet within shore. But otherwise, you must remain in the park. And lastly, even though it should go without saying, you can't interact with or disrupt the humans in the area. We have eyes, ears, and CCTV cameras everywhere, so don't think you can cheat and get away with it." Penny motioned toward the door. "If you agree to these rules and wish to carry on, you need to gather in pairs at the main landing area. Robin will give you the first set of instructions before releasing you in timed intervals."
Winning Skyhunter Page 7