"It's not a fake name. Her full name is Yelena Caelan Tuathach. You would have known that if you had ever bothered to ask her," Taranis said, and his tone gentled. "I knew you two would be fast friends if you got over bad first impressions. Was I wrong?"
Spots of bright color appeared on Valentine's pale cheeks. "Let me go."
"Just think things through before you burn a friendship you both need. Her magic helped you save your brother, after all." Taranis let him go, and Valentine shot out of his chair like a jackrabbit. He stormed out of the hall, leaving crimson trails of magic in his wake.
"I'm sorry, my king. It was a stupid blunder of my tongue," Owain said, lowering his head.
"It's not your fault. He needed to know sooner or later," Taranis sighed. He picked up Valentine's mug and drained what was left. "Fuck."
"It'll be okay, Uncle Taran," Apollo said and gestured at his brothers. "We know Val. He will be pissy about it for a few hours, and then he'll realize it's not the end of the world. You should have seen him talking about his friend Caelan the whole time we were in France."
Lachlan nodded. "He did, and he'd light up when he did it. He's smart enough not to throw a friendship like that away. He's just embarrassed he didn't figure it out."
Apollo gnawed on his bottom lip. "He's not in a good head space right now anyway. He finds it hard to cage his magic after using so much of it. By the looks of that crimson, it's not going back in."
"It's because he's outgrown his cage," Taranis replied, rubbing a frustrated hand over his face. "What is it with you Greatdrakes boys? I swear I'm not even your father, and you give me chest pains."
"Well, Dad has a dragon too. Wait until he starts waking up," Reeve said, a sly grin on his face. "I think he will give us all chest pains just to get back at us for stressing him out over the years."
Taranis groaned. "Dagda, spare us."
Lachlan rubbed Apollo's arm. He still looked worried. "Don't worry, baby. Valentine and Yelena will figure it out. We did, after all."
"True," Apollo said, shifting in his spot to put an arm around Lachlan's shoulders. "How are you feeling?"
"Good. Happy." Lachlan frowned because Apollo's grin was getting wider. "Why?"
"He's probably spiked your drink," Bas said, and Apollo glared at him.
Lachlan's arm tightened around him. "What? What did you spike me with, Apollo?"
"Nothing…that you won't enjoy," Apollo replied and bent to whisper in his ear. "But we should probably sneak away in the next twenty minutes before it really starts to work on you."
"Oh my god, you can't just spike my drink!" Lachlan said, appalled and laughing at the same time.
Reeve laughed. "You should have known better than to mate with a deviant alchemist if you didn't want that."
Lachlan tickled Apollo's ribs, making him squirm. "You are such a brat, and you're going to get it."
"Sure am. In about twenty minutes," Apollo giggled and put his arms around Lachlan's neck. "You love me and my antics."
"I really, really do," Lachlan replied.
If their family were teasing them, Lachlan didn't hear it. All he could see was the love of his life smiling at him, his golden eyes shining.
"My perfect mate," Apollo whispered.
He kissed Lachlan slowly and deeply, and Lachlan had never felt so loved and contented in his whole life. If this was what being mated to a dragon felt like, then eternity would never, ever be enough.
