"Like a pack thing," Quinn said, letting him go.
Valentine frowned. "But Bas and Apollo didn't trigger either of us."
"Bas and Apollo aren't alpha. You are, and Reeve is your family. In normal dragon families, all the siblings shift roughly at the same time. It's like a chemical reaction," Taranis explained, and patted his shoulder once before letting it go. "Go and see him, and be quick about it. We have about an hour before Midir contacts us, and we have to be ready."
"It's not face-to-face?" Valentine asked, a little disappointed. He wanted to get the bastard's scent and figure out a way to put a tracking spell on him.
"Unfortunately, Midir isn't that stupid. You can be surprised by the magic we use because if I start telling you now, you will get too distracted," Taranis replied.
Valentine laughed. "Good point." Both of them stared at him. "What?"
"Your smile is different, that's all," Quinn said.
"I feel...lighter," he said carefully. "I'd better go and see Reeve." He hurried to where his brother’s guest rooms were before they could ask him any more questions.
Valentine knocked on the door. "Open up. It's me."
The door was yanked open, and Charlotte glared up at him. It usually took a lot to get under her skin, but when she was fired up, it was good to remember that she was an Ironwood, and they all had the same temper. And knife training.
"Come to do some more damage?" she demanded.
Valentine put his hands up in surrender. "Charlotte, you know I didn't mean it. I couldn't control it."
"Let him in, Charlie," Reeve said from where he was lying on the couch. He looked pale, but he was in one piece.
Charlotte's eyes narrowed. "Don't upset him, or you will deal with me." She pushed past him and out of the room.
"Damn, I haven't seen her that defensive for a while," Valentine said and sat down in an armchair. "You okay?"
"Shaken up, and a bit tired." Reeve saw something in his face, and his eyes widened. "What... Areyouokay? You look different."
"Because I have one head instead of three?" Valentine tried to joke lamely. He rubbed at his chest. "I feel different."
"Your whole damn aura is different. I haven't seen you like this since Mom," Reeve cut himself off. His breath whooshed out. "You bound your dragon after Mom died, didn't you?"
Valentine nodded, feeling wretched. "It's a long story, and Dad and Bas and Apollo should be here before I go through it. I only want to do it once because you’ll all yell at me about it. I thought if I let the dragon out, I would go crazy. You know the way everyone goes on about the Greatdrakes curse."
"Except your actual family has never seriously thought you would go crazy or dark lord on us, bro."
"ButIthought I would. Now that the dragon is loose, I feel more sane than I have in a long, long time. I'm sorry it forced you to shift, Reeve. If I had known..."
Reeve poked Valentine's leg with his toe. "Stop it, Val. You can't blame yourself for every damn thing that happens to us. I couldn't shift on my own. I couldn't figure it out. It scared me and Charlotte, but it was what I needed to let it out. Taranis soothed it as soon as you left, and I ended up being able to shift back in under an hour. Heaps quicker than Bas and Apollo."
"Maybe because you've been mated the longest, your dragon was already synced with you," Valentine said, rubbing his chin. "Something to think about."
Reeve ran a hand through his long hair. "You want to tell me about Yelena? I know something more than a dalliance is going on there. I mean, I knew you liked her since she started writing to you, but..."
"She's my mate," Valentine blurted out because he needed to talk to someone, and Reeve was his brother and knew him best. "I just saw her sing and dance as a dragon, and something happened. It's like she reached into me and rearranged my insides, and my dragon just knew she was my mate, and I don't..."
Reeve's whole face lit up. "Val, you're babbling."
"I know!" He got up to pace because he needed to move. "I've always hated the idea of having a mate forced onto me, but with her..." He trailed off, still struggling to find the right words.
"You don't hate it? It can be a bit of a smack in the face when you realize what they are to you. Makes sense. You and Yelena are kind of the same. Lots of power, hard for you to make friends, you know, all that," Reeve replied with a slight wave of his hand. "Does she know?"
Valentine paused his pacing. "I don't know. She might? She's kind of sneaky." He let out a helpless laugh. "Fuck, I don't know what to do. She deserves a better mate than me. I'm not normal, Reeve!"
"Yeah, but neither is she," Reeve pointed out. Valentine whirled on him, and Reeve tossed a pillow at his head. "Don't glare at me like that. I didn't mean it in a bad way. Shereallyisn't like other girls, because she's a dragon for a start, and her magic is as insane as yours. It's no wonder you are mates. No one else could handle either one of you."
