Happy? I never thought about that emotion entering into the mix. “I have no idea what that would be.”
He partially shredded the napkin, then crumpled it into his fist.
It seemed wrong of me to be here eating with Tane if he wasn’t comfortable.
“When is Malin coming back?” I asked. I remembered him saying something about him being gone for days.
“I don’t really know.”
“Okay.”
This was turning into a fiasco. Things could have been far worse. But I couldn’t help but think Malin didn’t deserve me.
“You can find a lot around here to do. Swimming. The gym. Movies. What did you like to do back home?”
The last few years I’d spent most of my time alone. No one wanted to hang out with a set. “All that stuff you just mentioned.”
“With friends?”
“No.” I looked quickly at him. “You do realize once the designation is made, sets are pariahs, right?”
“No.”
“Why wouldn't you know that? The way dragons are around us. You already know we are sold as breeding stock and nothing more. That's about the lowest of the low.”
“I know that's the way things are. But our own omegas are so rare that we value them very much. They aren't pariahs. But we don’t have set omegas. Most births are from eggs. Mixed race births can be either an egg birth or live birth. But our children can shift from the day they are born. Most are born shifted. I guess I was thinking in that vein.”
I had no idea sets weren’t produced in the dragon race. “I'm not a dragon. You didn't forget that.”
“For a moment….”
Why didn't I believe him? Was he trying to placate me? He was a smart man. Before he came to the auction at the palace he would have done research, would have known what my only fated path would be. He was, after all, giving me to his bratty son.
“I didn't actually forget,” he said. “But I had an idea in my mind before I came to your country. Then when I saw you it was nothing like I imagined.”
I let out a sharp “ha” and said, “What did you imagine? Seriously, did you think I was some kind of doll? Or maybe a whore dripping with heat scent just waiting to meet someone to bend over for?”
I set my fork down hard enough for it to rattle against my other silverware. I couldn’t help it. I’d kept my emotions closed in, pretending I was fine. I wasn’t.
“I'm sorry, I didn't mean it that way. My words came out all wrong. I think I thought you wouldn't be….” He let his voice trail off again.
I finished the sentence for him. “A real person?”
“Not a dragon. Not a wolf. I don't know what I thought beyond that.” His fingers turned white around the torn napkin he was still clutching.
“Excuse me. I’m finished eating.” I stood, trying to pretend my knees weren’t shaking.
Tane nodded, staring straight ahead. “Of course.”
For the nextcouple of days, I kept to myself. I prowled the house, learning my way around, but mostly did that at night when I thought Tane would be asleep. I found the gym and the indoor pool he’d shown me. I didn’t use either, but I stood in those rooms for a while just staring from the shadows.
I found trays of meals left by my door. Great meals. Fantastic meals. I ate them and left the dirty dishes in the hall like this place was some grand hotel.
I wanted to go outside again to walk in the garden, but not after dark. I was careful to avoid Tane.
I had a lot of time to think. A lot of time to be angry and resentful. And bored. I wrote a nasty email to my father which I never sent. I slept a lot.
By the third day, I got bored enough to come downstairs during the day. No one was around, not even Elias. I raided the kitchen and made a sandwich, then sat in the sunny breakfast nook by the French doors and ate it while staring out back.
