“Viol! Don’t you want your mate?” he asked.
Something about his phrasing made me pause. He didn’t saytofindyour mate. He said ‘want your mate’—as if he already knew who that person was. That angered me on a deeper level than Crimson calling me a liar.
“I don’t care,” I spat roughly.
Saffron looked hurt, but I was unsympathetic. It was a hard-learned lesson not to push my buttons, especially when I was already in a bad mood.
As usual, Aurum came to his twin’s defence. He stood beside Saffron, doubling the amount of brats blocking my exit.
“Dude, stop freaking out,” Aurum said. “We’re only talking. Besides, you’re the last one of us who doesn’t have a mate. You should’ve known you’d be the final bachelor.”
My patience was frayed, and Aurum was bouncing up and down on my last nerve like it was a fucking trampoline.
“I never agreed to that,” I snarled. “Get out of my face.”
The twins didn’t budge. I didn’t actually want to hit either of them—only because they’d have to greet their young children with bruised faces, and I’d rather not traumatize the poor kids.
Since they were obstructing my way, I stormed back to my seat at the table and sat down with my arms crossed. Maybe if I bored them to death, they’d all leave me alone.
Thystle sat beside me. He was the only one who hadn’t said anything yet. He was young, but unlike the twins, he had more than half a brain cell and didn’t bother trying to sway my opinion. He gave Jade a wordless shrug.
Jade sighed, pushing up his glasses.
I saw him gearing up to give me another speech, so I interrupted: “Don’t bother.”
“I wasn’t going to say anything,” Jade replied calmly, although it was an obvious lie.
A strained silence fell over the room. Now that I wasn’t trying to make a break for it or punch my brothers in the face, Cobalt slipped back into his seat. The twins also sat down awkwardly.
I could tell everyone at the table wanted to look at me, but kept their gazes averted. Good. Maybe if they stewed in their own discomfort long enough, they’d let me out of here. I didn’t care either way. Unlike my brothers, I didn’t have important shit to do. They were wasting their precious time trying to convince me to be the bachelor when they could be spending time with their mates and kids instead. How idiotic.
I never asked to be part of the Dragonfate Games. I never agreed to be the final bachelor. Why the fuck did they care so much?
The awkward silence was broken by Saffron clearing his throat. “So, uh... If Viol won’t do it, what about Gaius?”
“It’s called the Dragonfate Games, not the Gryphonfate Games,” Crimson countered in an unnecessarily snarky tone. Our little tiff clearly got on his nerves. “Nobody wants to burntheir retinas watching a season about Gaius and his heinous outfits.”
I relaxed in my seat. Thank Holy Drake I wasn’t the topic of conversation anymore. If they kept this up, their stupid plot to place me as the bachelor would blow over.
But that viper Jade wasn’t willing to let it slide. “I’m sure Gaius would make excellent television,” he agreed. “But skipping an obvious dragon bachelor won’t do. The audience will wonder why Viol didn’t have a season.”
I slammed my palm on the table. “I don’t give a flying fuck about the audience. I’mnotdoing the Games, and nothing you say will change my mind.” Before Jade wormed his way in with honeyed words, I went on. “You all have mates. The Games were a success. Why do you even want a final season?”
“Because you don’t have one,” Saffron said, nearly pouting. He was such a baby sometimes, despite being a father.
“I missed the part where that’s your problem.”
Saffron’s frown deepened. He shot Aurum a look, but his twin shrugged like he’d given up.
“Guys, lay off,” Thystle said. “Viol’s not gonna find a mate just because you force him into doing something he doesn’t want to do. How do you know he even wants one? He could be aromantic for all we know.”
I was surprised to hear Thystle stand up for me. Although his suggestion was totally wrong, it might steer me out of the limelight.
“Are you?” Crimson asked casually.
I glared at him. “None of your fucking business.”
“How charming,” Crimson said in a dry tone. “Actually, I agree with Viol. He shouldnotbe the bachelor. Can you imagine how cruelly he’d insult the omegas? It would tarnish the general public’s image of dragons forever.”
