“You realize what that would do,” I tell her. I didn’t want to say it, but the words fell from my lips far too easily.
“I know exactly what it will do. What it entails. You are her mate. Fight it if you will. You’re both stubborn, but in the end, she’s meant to be yours. Just as you’re meant to be hers. The dragon over her mark proves it.” Marina’s pleading eyes shred through my barriers faster than any other dragon could ever claw through my scales.
“Brother, she’s your mate?” Fire cocks a brow, looking surprised.
“She carries the dragon mark. She can be the mate to any dragon,” I tell him, releasing a heavy breath.
“But she’syourmate,” Marina remarks, makingsure to point at me. “You know the words that have carried on through eons with those who are born with the mark.” She takes a step toward me. “It’s said the one with the mate mark of the dragon is meant for one but can choose any. She will not be able to resist her mate or any other except of her own free will. The pull of which will be nearly as powerful to the one true, nearly as much as it will be of her decision. ‘Tis up to the dragon, who is meant to be her fated above all others, to prove to her that he wants her. That she’ll be beloved over any other.”
Of course, the woman would speak the words of the long legend for everyone to hear.
“Pyro, you don’t have to, but she’s my sister. Saving her would mean everything. I’d owe you more than you’ll know,” Inferno mutters, eyes hollow and haunted, his mate holds him tight.
Fuck me.
“Fine,” I clip out. I know what I’m about to do goes against every grain in my body. It’s fucked up and taking the choice out of her hand. Then again, it seems that’s the way of things when it comes to mates, doesn’t it? Especially when it comes to dragons. We’re known for plundering. Stealing. Killing and taking what we want for ourselves. I have more gold than I know what to do with, and it’s all tucked away not to be touched.
“I’ll save her, but don’t be pissed at me when she screams.”
Before anyone could speak anything else, I stalked past them all to go save the woman who my dragon sees as his. It’s just the dragon mark calling to us, that’s it. I don’t care what Marina said. I don’t have a mate fated to me. I was told a long time ago that I’d never have a fated mate, and so I put that part of life behind me.
Or I thought I did.
My dragon doesn’t believe it. He seems to think this woman is ours.
Well, doing what I’m about to do will surely make her that. There’s no going back once I do this. Saving her means bonding her to me, which is fucked up because no one should be bonded to me. Not with the blood I have on my hands.
Stepping into the cubicle room they have Carina in, my eyes go straight to her. She’s all I see. That and the bandages, along with the tubes and wires sticking out of her. The scent of antiseptics fills the room, but I can still smell her. All shifters have a keen sense of smell. Dragons even stronger. They’ve got her lying in the middle of the hospital bed, one leg up slightly in a sling looking thing with a cast on it. The other is beneath a blanket. The nurses had put her in a hospital gown that doesn’t look at that flattering,regardless, it does nothing to change the fact she’s beautiful. Neither do the bruises already forming.
Moving to her side, I reach out and stroke her cheek ever so gently. “Don’t hate me for what I’m about to do. It’s to save you. Make you whole. Heal you faster. Bring you home.”
She doesn’t respond. Not that she could. The sedatives have her out cold, but I can feel her in there.
With a heavy sigh, I pick up her arm that has an IV in it and see the tattoo. I stroke my fingers along the tattoo. It’s uncanny how it resembles my dragon when he’s out.
“My granddaughter is like her grandmother, sees things in her dreams. Knows the truth before she realizes it. She’s human, yet special. Makes her the perfect dragon mate.”Clay’s words ring in my ears from earlier.
Shaking the thought off, I close my eyes and will the dragon forward, letting him soar through my veins, come to the forefront of my mind, becoming one. Casting a barrier around us to keep others from seeing as I touch her this way, I lean forward, smelling her delicate scent as I dip down to the crease of her shoulder.
It’s not the ideal spot for where I would want to mark her, but it’ll have to do.
Speaking in the language of the dragons, Imurmur the words all dragons are taught at a young age. They flow off my tongue easily. With each word that leaves my mouth, my lips brush against her skin, warming her. The fire spreading inside her.
Finishing the words, I sink my teeth into her, drawing her blood into my mouth, savoring the sweet taste of her. She’s unlike any other, and tasting her, I feel the connection start, but it’s not done
I pull back and lap at the broken skin, feeling the magic swarming around us, sealing where I’d punctured through. Lifting a hand to my mouth, I bite down, drawing blood and place to her lips, letting the droplets slide over them. Her lips part marginally so I make sure the droplets make it into her mouth.
“Swallow, my sweet. Swallow and heal. We’re mates now, whether we like it or not. Swallow so you can heal. For your family.”
My dragon speaks to her in the language only dragons know. No one will be able keep us away from her. Not even me. And that alone can’t be good. Because I know I’ll end up making her hate me . . . just as my mother despised my father.
SIX
CARINA
“Wake up,my little sweet. It’s time to wake up and face the world.”
I frown, not sure where the voice was coming from. It sounded so strange. Like it was in my head. It’s not a familiar voice that I know, and my family wouldn’t intrude in my head unless I were flying. And I’m not flying.
