“Ready for our date?” I asked, giving him a wide smile.
“Is there going to be flying?” he asked, narrowing his eyes at me.
“Would that ruin our date?” I smirked.
He huffed. “No, I can fly.”
“Good,” I grinned, taking his hand in mine, ready to lead him outside.
“See you later!” Myve laughed before retreating upstairs, either to her room or the library. I felt horrible for leaving her when she clearly needed more cheering up, but this was something she had to work through on her own. It was her life, her mate.
Harpy and I soon stood outside of the academy walls, the greenery stretched before us with endless opportunities for flying and running around in our cat forms, both were equally compelling, but my treasure needed to learn how to fly.
“Let’s start our date with some wing stretches,” I suggested, moving away from Harpy to shift. Some of the other students were out here too, but the area was so vast we were practically alone.
“Fine,” he relented, shifting into his dragon as I did the same. We came together and I nuzzled my head against his neck, seeking his affections as always.
“My Treasure,” I rumbled.
“My Prince,” he teased.
I nipped his neck playfully, making him rumble with a purring sound of happiness.
We then did some practice and before I knew it, Harpy was flying beside me, high up in the sky, his fear all but forgotten as he took in the beautiful scenery from above.
“I never want to land,”he said, his tone awed.
“We will need to eventually,” I grinned. “Besides, I was promised cat snuggles.”
“Fine,” he agreed. “Cat snuggles sound perfect too, but maybe you can stay in your dragon form? I rather like being all small next to you.”
My chest flooded with warmth. My mate enjoyed my natural form. “It would be my absolute pleasure.”
“Then let’s go!”His laugh was carefree in my mind as we soared through the skies, searching for the perfect place to cuddle.
“I’m sorry for being so reluctant in the beginning,” Harpy said, his cat form hiding under my wing as I protected him from the chilling night air.
“You were with Casey. I get that it took you longer to accept he wasn’t your fated.”
“But still,” he sighed.“I see now just how much I was blinded by it. Casey and I truly weren’t meant to be and I should’ve realized it before we found out we weren’t fated at eighteen.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, for one, I always wanted to be taken, something Casey wasn’t into. He prefers to be the one being taken and I’d longed to have the same role.”
I swallowed the need to growl. I did not enjoy hearing about his intimate moments with Casey, but my mate seemed to need to talk through his feelings, so I ignored my jealousy.
“So, you both wanted the same thing, and because of that you put your own needs and wants aside to make him happy?”
“Basically, yes. I craved to be taken care of, protected and claimed. I guess me being tall just naturally made Casey think I should be the one protecting and caring for him.”
I doubted Harpy would’ve brought this up if we were in our human forms. It seemed he felt braver in his cat form, and I was grateful to help him out. It also gave me immense pleasure to learn he was working through what he’d had with Casey and why they weren’t meant to be, because I was the only one meant for Harpy. I didn’t care if that made me selfish. I wanted him to only desire me.
“So not only sexually, but also in your relationship roles, you were neglecting your own wants for him?”
He nodded regretfully against my dragon belly. “I realize now that I did us both a disservice. Had I been true to myself and my own needs, we would’ve known before we were eighteen that we weren’t meant to be.”
“Maybe,” I said, then added, “But no matter what, you have me now and Casey will soon find his mate too. The time you and Casey shared will hopefully be something you think back on fondly instead of feeling guilty for how it ended.”
