How could they not?They were all smart, and he had lost his cool for no reason. Because of her. Because of the damn human that he couldn't have.
Nathan didn't even care that she was human. It was frowned upon, for sure, but he would have taken that chance. If he didn't already have a mate that was fated to him since she was born and since he was born.
How could he fight that?
Nancy was a bitch in his opinion. She was rude and she didn't even like kids. He didn't know how to even deal with her, but this was the person that his family had set him up with. To go against it, would be certain failure on his part.
How could he go against fate?
But, if Nancy was his fate like they said, it was apparent to Nathan that he was to be miserable the rest of his life. She didn't make him feel a tenth of what Laurel did in the five minutes that he saw her every day. Sad, but true. Now, Nathan wouldn’t even get to see her. He had a feeling that Laurel was the one that kept him going, kept him listening to all the damn mating ceremony rituals and preparations that Nancy wanted to make. It was all a big show to her, and she had already made the ceremony almost two days long.Two fucking days long!
He had to watch himself, the anger was coming back up, and Nathan knew that it was really his emotions coming out. It was easier to feel anger. Anger didn't hurt so bad, and it was quickly relieved. Because he had already done it one way before, he took off from the building into the deepest part of the woods nearby. He couldn't change yet, not so close to the Academy and to people. He had to get away from them, away from all of the feelings that threatened to overtake him.
When it was clear, or clearer than he could hope for, Nathan immediately took to the sky and went high enough where he was above the clouds and no one could see him. It was another no-no.
Thankfully, this time the students weren’t watching him. They would once again see a demonstration of what not to do as a dragon. The only reason they got even a little bit of peace was because the few stories that remained of them that were true, were turned into fairy tales, and now dragons were nothing but fiction.
Nathan didn't want to change that. He just couldn't focus on anything. he just wanted to stop thinking about Laurel. It would have been so much easier if he felt nothing at all. Anything had to be better than how he was feeling right then.
***
“What are you doing? Coming back all sweaty?” He instantly knew who the voice belonged to, and he once again had to hide a groan that started to come out.
She would not take it well. Nancy didn't take anything well. Her hair was just as severe as her face today, the blackness pulled back, and she had a strange smile on her painted lips, like she knew that Nathan had been broken only about an hour before. She knew and she liked it.
Nathan pulled the thoughts from his mind. It didn't do him any good. He moved back into the room and asked her, “What are you doing there?”
Nancy shifted her small body on to the side of his desk when he sat down. She had this come-hither look that he completely ignored.
“Just went for a quick flight.” Nathan said.
She looked concerned. “In the middle of the day? Are you crazy?”
“I'm sure it'll be fine. I went far enough away. I have been teaching my kids how to be safe all these years. I figure I can do a quick run without alerting the humans.” He forgot how dramatic she was.
How had he forgotten such a thing?
She wasn't happy. Her fake face tightened up even more, and Nathan had to hold his mirth. Sometimes, the only way he could deal with her was to imagine her saying and doing certain things that amused him. Right then, she looked like she was sucking on a lemon.
How had fate decided that this was the woman for him? Nathan was sure that fate was a bitch. It had to be.
“So, what can I do for you, babe?”
Her nose crinkled up again. “You know I hate it when you call me that.”
Nathan apologized. He did a lot of that when it came to Nancy. She wanted to be treated a certain way, but he had no idea what that way was. He doubted that she did, either. She constantly berated everything he did. He didn't know if he could deal with a whole lifetime of that. There was obligation, and then there was just cruel and unusual punishment.
That made him smile, and then she wanted to, of course, know why he was smiling. Like it was some kind of crime for him to be happy.
“It is just good to see you, babe.”
Damn…
“It slipped, promise.”
She gave him a kiss like it was an honor to do so and told him that they should go out for lunch.
It was the last thing that he wanted to do, and he gave her an excuse about some extra classes that he had taken on. She acted like she was upset about it, but like most things when it came to his future mate, Nathan didn't believe it. Nothing about Nancy was real, not her clothes, fake boobs, or her lips. All of it had gotten a little bit of help.
