Valentine pressed his hand harder to his sternum, crying for the first time since his mother had died. Yelena's song was breaking through all the parts of him that had been numb and closed off for so long.
He gasped, struggling to get a big enough breath through the sudden wave of pent-up grief and new longing. He couldn't fight against it. His magic had always risen to protect him, but it couldn't protect him from Yelena. He just sat there, tears tracking down his skin as his world fell apart.
Mate. Balance, the dragon insisted, solving the mystery of why their magic worked together for him, too.
Valentine knew he should be panicking. He had always looked at his brothers and other family members mating and thought itwould be like just another noose around his neck that was designed to choke the life out of him.
This didn't feel like a rope around his neck, but around his heart. As soon as the thought formed, the silver line of light he had been following to find her flared to life.
"Oh, that's what that is," he whispered, feeling like the biggest idiot in all the worlds. He had always been confused about how he was drawn to her. Even masquerading as Caelan, he had yearned to come to Faerie and see her. She was his friend, his magical balance, and his mate.
Yelena was his everything, and he had been too stubborn and caught up in his stupidity to realize it.
Valentine wiped at his cheeks before Yelena could see the tears and climbed back to his feet. She had stopped singing, and he strode through the grass towards her. With no clue what else to do, he climbed up on her clawed foot and hugged her leg.
He didn't know how he could bring up the fact that she was his mate, or how someone as alpha and independent as her would react to it. He only knew that in that moment, he wanted her to see that he wasn't afraid of what she was.
"Thank you," he said, his face pressed to her cool scales. "Thank you for sharing this with me. It was... You're the most beautiful dragon I have ever seen."
Yelena's paw shifted so she could hold him. Her head lowered to sniff him, and he placed his hand on her snout. This was her real form, not the human-shaped one.
"You are amazing, you know that?" Valentine told her, looking into her large eyes. "You learned to live and shift and do magic with no one to show you the way. You are a miracle, Yelena."
Yelena's paw lowered him back to the ground, and somehow, she shifted at the same time, so by the time his feet touched thefrost-covered grass, she was in his arms. Her arms and legs were wrapped around him, her face pressed into his neck.
Valentine held her tighter to him. He inhaled her scent, and the numb pieces of himself flooded with warmth.
"Thank you for accepting me," Yelena said, her lips on his skin.
"You are incredible. I don't... I don't have words to describe what I'm feeling right now after seeing that. Thank you for trusting me enough to show me," he stammered, struggling to find any words at all.
Yelena slid her legs down his until she was on her own feet. She held his cheeks in her hands, just staring into his eyes. She opened her mouth to say something and then stopped herself. She kissed him instead, soft and sweet.
"We should be getting back. Taranis will be expecting us at the meeting with Midir," she said when they broke apart.
Valentine nodded, a lump in his throat. He ran a thumb over her chin, not wanting to let her go but knowing he had to. "Lead the way, baby girl. I'll be right behind you."
Valentine needed some time alone to think and get his head on straight before he could play politics. Most of all, he needed to think about how he could eventually convince her to accept him as her mate.
He had failed everyone he loved. He had failed as a son and a brother so many times over the years. He had failed her as a friend. He didn't deserve to be her mate.
It didn't matter what his dragon said. Valentine wasn't going to ask her to be his until he had proved to her that he could be a good mate. That meant protecting her first and foremost.
Valentine shifted into his dragon with no pain and a new plan. The meeting with Midir was no longer about politics. It was about standing face-to-face with the male who had tortured and mutilated his future mate.
And then, Valentine was going to figure out exactly how to kill him in every way he feared most.
26
They flew back to Mag Argatnél on quick wings. The landing platform was blissfully empty. Valentine shifted back into his human form without any difficulties. It was barely a thought, and it happened.
For so long, he had expected the worst of his dragon side. That it would fight him for control, and he would be gone. It was the opposite. The constant pressure in his head and chest was gone, and he was able to take full, deep breaths.
Yelena went up on her tiptoes and kissed his cheek. "I will see you at the meeting."
Valentine let her braid slide through his fingers. "Don't wear pastels."
"Don't tell me what to do," she tossed over her shoulder as she walked away.
