He had half hoped Hele might melt for him then. Perhaps if he told her how much he wanted her, she would forget his blunder and accept that things could not move forward yet. Maybe she would smile, and tell him he was forgiven, and even press her lips against his skin again.
But Hele was smart as a whip and wore a dragon’s pride. She did not melt. Sheburned.
His mate narrowed her eyes and brusquely replied, “You saidno.Tell me why.”
Vael hesitated. He promised himself he would never lie to her, but he also knew that there was no way the truth would go over well. His Hele had a temper, and when she set her mind to something…
There was no helping it. All he could do was try to soften the blow. Clearing his throat, he said, “You are too… It’s too soon. You aren’t ready yet.”
There was a beat of silence, then, “You don’t think I’m ready for a mate.”
He stifled a wince. “...Not yet.”
The hair rose on the back of his neck a second before Hele quietly replied, “I am not a baby. I amthousands,Vael. Eons.”
His heart sank. It didn’t take a hundred years of combat experience to know he was walking ass-first into a firefight.“T?ht,I know.”
“Do you know?” Her lovely face, fine boned and angular, contorted into an expression of deep, furious hurt. “You say that you want me. YouChooseme, but you don’t think I know when I’m ready? Do you think I’m stupid, or just ignorant?”
He knew the conversation was spinning out of his control, but Vael was helpless to stop it. “Neither, Hele,” he vehemently denied. “You’re so much more intelligent than I am. You’re the most incredible person I’ve ever met. I just want you to live your life before I ask everything of you. That’s all.”
A streak of white-hot lightning cracked the air between them, forcing him to take a short step away. Hele’s hair lashed. The ends fizzled out into pure electricity as she shot back, “I want to live my life.With. You.That’s why I Chose you!”
Gods, hearing the words on her lips, even when she was spitting mad, was a dream come true. His heart beat a hard rhythm in his chest, desperate to break free of its cage and reach her.
I Choose you too, my Hele,he wanted to cry.That’s why I’mdoingthis!
With that thought in mind, Vael threw up his hands and dared to creep closer. He didn’t care if she struck him with lightning a thousand times. It barely registered through his tough dragon skin, and even when it did, he’d grown to crave the feeling of her energy buzzing through his nerves. Dropping his voice to a soothing rumble, he assured her, “You are my Chosen. I will never want anyone else. Just you. When you’re ready.”
Hele reeled backward. Her mouth opened and then shut. Slowly, a horrible, pained expression crept over her face. One willowy arm slashed between them. “You donotChoose me. You Choose melater,whenyouare ready. This is not the same!”
He balked. “It’s not about me! It’s about—”
She gave the center of his chest one solid, accusatory poke. He felt the heat it gave off, and knew that if his clothing hadn’t been fire-proof it would have left a smoking hole behind. “Itis.You decided that I am not ready without asking. When I told you I was ready, you decided it wasn’t true.You.”
Hele dropped her hand and leaned backward. Her gaze raked over him, hurt but full of fire. “I am Hele of Clan Aždaja. I was vast and powerful. I amnotsomeone you Choose later, when you feel like it.” Her narrow chin jutted forward. “I do not need to wait for you to decide on me. I can find a mate who is sure. Maybe one of my kind, or maybe a dragon, or even an elf. The only thing that matters is that they know whoIam.”
Vael could have taken her rejecting him for his mistake. He could have even understood if she simply didn’t want him, surly and quiet and damaged as he was.
But he was not just a man. He was a dragon — a veteran of the Draakonriik’s most elite unit, a warrior who had fought for his people, a boy who had lost everything once upon a time. He was quieter than many dragons, and he preferred a simple, isolated life, but he was still fiercely proud.
And possessive.
At the suggestion that she intended to findanothermate even after Choosing him, Vael’s restraint snapped like the delicate bone of a wing.
His shoulders thrust back and his head lifted. Standing military straight, he stared down his nose at his angry mate. His wings mantled again, two huge and threatening shapes tipped with five razor sharp talons. Vael would never harm a hair on her head, but another potential mate? Yes, he could do a tremendous amount of harm tothem.
No one came between a dragon and their Chosen. No one.
In a hard, flat voice, he warned, “Do not test this, Hele. You have no idea the lengths I’ll go to make you mine. You will not Choose someone else.Iam your mate.Me.”
Hele’s eyes glittered with challenge. “I’m sorry. I don’t think I’m ready for that yet. Maybe later.”
The air around her began to heat. Vael’s lip lifted over his fangs with a warning snarl a second before he lunged. His arms locked around her lithe frame in a vice and his tail snapped around her slim leg, coiling tight. “Hele, donot—”
But it was impossible to hold her. He went temporarily blind as her form dematerialized in his arms. In the space between two heartbeats, she was gone.
“Fuck!”he bellowed, completely disregarding the wary looks of those few fools who still dared to share the street — if not the sidewalk — with him.
