A Mate for the Dragon Read online

  Erik Lukich was slowly and painfully getting to his feet. His left wing sagged by his side, clearly broken. But his red eyes still glowed with anger, fire still curling at his lips.

  Erik, give up, Stefan transmitted to him. I don’t want to kill you. Even despite everything you did to my clan, I’d rather we both walked away from this.

  Erik’s returning growl was furious.

  Never, he snarled. Only one of us is leaving this fight. I will have my vengeance.

  Stefan felt regret clawing at his belly. He knew he would win the fight – both his wings were intact, and he had the mated bond to support and help him.

  But he didn’t want to kill Erik. He hadn’t known that a member of the Novak Clan had killed his daughter – though he had trouble thinking of any member of his clan who would do such a despicable thing, especially when they must have known it could only lead to a blood feud.

  But he had given Erik his chance. He had tried to end this without the need for killing. And both times, he had been rejected.

  He had no choice.

  To protect his mate, he had to see this through to the bitter end.

  Lowering his head, Stefan let dragonfire build in his belly. Heaving himself forward, he opened his jaws, readying himself for his final attack…

  STOP!! Please, please stop this!

  A desperate cry from an unfamiliar voice above halted Stefan in his tracks, his dragonfire cut off just as it was about to leave his mouth.

  Pausing, Stefan looked upward, knowing it was foolish to take his eyes off Erik even for a moment. He didn’t recognize the voice from above at all, and, confused, he stared up at the two dragons circling overhead, one green and one red…

  Fool!

  Stefan felt the wind knocked out of him as Erik crashed into his side, teeth closing around his neck.

  Stefan struggled, but Erik’s jaws held him tight, crushing his windpipe. His bulk bore down on him, making movement impossible. His claws scrabbled against the stone, but he couldn’t twist his body far enough around to sink them into Erik’s flesh.

  He was helpless.

  No!

  He heard Holly’s cry, but there was nothing he could do. He struggled feebly, but he could feel his strength ebbing away, his vision slowly fading to black…

  Father, stop this!! Now!!

  The voice was the last thing Stefan heard before the pressure from his throat finally released. It was clear and strong…

  … And it was female.

  Dazed, Stefan rolled over. His head felt fuzzy, and he couldn’t quite figure out what had happened.

  … “Father”? But… it was a woman’s voice, and Castel isn’t…

  Realization hit him like a blow.

  She said “father”. And Erik had a daughter. A daughter he said had been killed by a member of the Novak Clan…

  The dragons circling above had been red and green.

  One male, one female.

  One Novak, and one Lukich.

  But still, Stefan couldn’t quite let himself think it.

  My clan was wiped out… because of a lie?

  Panting, he rolled away from Erik just as the two dragons landed by the front of the house. Erik’s men were either staring incredulously, or looking between themselves with unease.

  Erik himself was crouched low, fury burning in his eyes.

  Stefan, too bewildered to move, watched as the red and green dragons began to shift, shrinking into their human forms. The green female became a tall woman with long blonde hair that fell over her shoulders, her eyes the same dark red-brown as Castel’s… and Erik’s.

  The red male became a man with the same tousled black hair as Stefan’s, his eyes the same shade of green, and his face…

  Marko?

  Stefan recognized him instantly.

  His cousin, Marko – the son of his uncle, who had once been the leader of the Novak Clan.

  Stefan shook his head, unable to understand what was happening.

  Shift. Please. We can’t let this go on, the woman pleaded.

  In the next moment, everything was a jumble of voices – mainly Erik’s men, their voices rising in confusion and anger.

  What’s happening, Erik? What is this?

  That’s Landra – but you told us she was dead!

  How can this be?

  The blood feud – we fought the blood feud because you told us –

  Stefan shook his head. His body had taken as much as it could stand – and now, at last, this was too much for him.

  There was nothing he could do to resist the darkness that welled up to claim him.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Stefan

  The first thing Stefan saw when he came to was Holly’s beautiful sky-blue eyes.

  Dazed, he looked up into them, wondering if this could be real – if, after everything that had just happened to him, he could still be alive.

  I must be in Heaven, he thought vaguely. There was no way a woman like Holly could be real – and be his.

  “Oh, Stefan, thank goodness,” Holly breathed, before she threw her arms around him, encircling him and placing her lips on his.

  It should have hurt – he could feel that he was still grievously wounded from his fight. But instead, he felt only warmth where their bodies made contact. It was the healing touch of a mate – the effect that only they could produce.

  “Holly,” he said when they finally broke apart, reaching up to tuck a tendril of golden hair behind her ear. “I should never have done this to you. I put you in such danger – I should never have –”

  “Stefan,” Holly said, taking his face firmly in her hands and kissing him fiercely, “shut up.”

  Stefan tried to struggle away at first, before surrendering to the kiss. There was nothing he could do. She was irresistible, and the heat that flowed from her was undeniable. He could feel himself healing – her strength giving him strength, closing his wounds and knitting his battered and broken bones.

  My mate, he thought, feeling dazed when she finally pulled away. My strong, beautiful mate.

  He knew he could never have won the fight against Erik without her quick thinking, her perseverance, and her unwavering strength.

  But speaking of Erik… where is he?

  Grimacing, Stefan sat up, and for the first time began to pay attention to his surroundings. He was lying on a sofa in what was clearly one of the rooms of the old manor house – a low fire burned on a dirty stone hearth, and the room was filled with moldering old furniture.

  “Don’t rush yourself,” Holly said, stroking her thumb over his cheek, leaving a trail of warmth in its wake. “Erik is… well, he’s not a threat right now. I don’t think, anyway. The Lukich dragons… well, let’s just say, they didn’t seem too pleased when it turned out his daughter was alive after all.”

  Threads of memory started to pull themselves together in Stefan’s mind.

  Of course… the red dragon and the green dragon.

  “She called him father,” Stefan rasped out, shock running through him anew as he remembered how the fight had ended. “And… and that was my cousin, it was Marko…”

  His head still felt like it was filled with cotton. Nothing seemed to make sense.

  Holly swallowed, licking her lips. “I don’t understand everything that’s going on,” she said. “After they arrived, things went pretty quickly, and all I cared about was making sure you were taken inside to rest. I’ve been here with you ever since, waiting for you to wake up.”

  Stefan glanced at her, alarmed. “How long have I been unconscious?”

  “Not long,” she assured him. “Maybe twenty minutes. But everyone’s still here. I’ve been listening to them argue through the wall. They sound… angry.”

  Stefan nodded. “If Erik lied – if he started the blood feud because of a lie…” The enormity of the crime overwhelmed him and he trailed off. Despite what he had seen with his own eyes, and despite what he knew about Erik Lukich, he still had troub
le imagining any dragon could break such an important law. To call a blood feud and force his clan to carry it out when his daughter was still alive…

  To say the Lukich dragons would be angry about it was an understatement.

  Not to mention his own anger.

  Now that he had recovered a little, Stefan could feel it, hot and pulsing, in the pit of his stomach. His dragon, still weak from the fight, was beginning to awaken inside him – and it wanted blood.

  But first, Stefan told it, they needed answers.

  Groaning as he pushed himself upright, Stefan stood with Holly’s help, and made his limping way toward the door. It opened onto a scene that made him grit his teeth with shock – and his dragon writhe with fury.

  His cousin, Marko, and Erik Lukich’s daughter, Landra, stood at the front of the room, their hands entwined. Darklis sat, looking pale and furious, on a chair on their right. Castel was slumped in a chair, his face buried in his hands, his shoulders heaving as if he was sobbing, though he made no sound. Erik’s men, grim-faced, loomed in the background, their fists clenched by their sides.

  And Erik himself, still battered from the fight, sat in the middle, head bowed, his expression invisible in the low light of the room.

  He’s the one, Stefan’s dragon hissed, head rearing back. He’s the one who lied… who killed our clan… our family…

  Clearly sensing his rising fury, Holly placed a gentle hand on his forearm. Stefan closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He reined his dragon in with some difficulty.

  Answers first. We need answers.

  “Stefan! You’re awake!” Standing, Darklis rushed across the room to him, throwing her arms around him.

  Stefan lowered his head, resting his cheek against the top of her head. She truly was his little sister – there was no doubt about it.

  “I thought you were dead,” he said, his throat tight. “I spent so long thinking you had been killed…”

  “Me too.” When Darklis pulled back and looked up at him, her eyes were sparkling with tears. “I thought I was alone. I didn’t know what to do – I didn’t know how to –”

  “You were only a child,” Stefan told her. “We both were. We had no way of understanding what was happening.” His voice hardened as he looked over Darklis’s head to where Erik sat. The man didn’t raise his head to meet Stefan’s gaze. “I need answers. Now.”

  Even he was startled by the growling fury in his voice. It seemed to fill the room, reverberating through it like a wave. Every head in the room suddenly turned to look at him, as if they too had felt its power.

  The Voice, Stefan realized with a jolt. He’d never used a dragon Voice before – he’d never learned how. Magic was something that was only taught once a dragon had reached a suitable age to wield it responsibly, and thirteen had still been considered far too young.

  He didn’t know how he had accessed the power now, but it was obvious he had. Every dragon in the room was staring at him, eyes alert, ready to tell him what he wanted to know.

  “You don’t need to do that.” It was Landra who spoke up. “I’m ready to explain everything – in fact, I’ve been doing that. I promise you, I have no interest in concealing anything. I’ll tell you the truth.”

  Stefan hesitated, his instinctive distrust of any Lukich rising to the fore.

  “Listen to her, Stefan.” Darklis’s voice was soft. “She’s explained what happened.”

  Stefan’s eyes drifted to where Landra and Marko’s hands were clasped together.

  “Marko?” he asked, still not quite able to believe he’d found not only his younger sister, but also his cousin after so many years of believing them all to be dead.

  “It’s me, Stefan,” he said. “I know it’s hard to believe. And please believe me, if we’d known, we would have… I promise you we would have…”

  Marko’s voice caught in his throat, and he suddenly seemed to sag, as if his ability to stand had left him. Landra’s hand pressed against his arm, helping him to remain upright, whispering strengthening words in his ear.

  They’re mates. It came to Stefan with a sudden clarity – as if it hadn’t been obvious before. He’d been too caught up in his own storm of emotions to realize. But watching them now, it was as clear as day.

  And with it, came another realization – one far more grim and awful.

  “When Erik said a Novak took his daughter,” he said, speaking slowly, his voice low in his throat. “He never meant that a Novak killed her… he meant that… ”

  “Yes.” Landra confirmed with a nod. “Believe me, I had no idea that he’d…” She pulled in a deep breath. “Maybe you’d better sit down and let me start at the beginning.”

  Reluctantly, Stefan let himself be pulled to a free chair by Holly and Darklis. Only once he was sitting did Landra begin to speak.

  “This is… going to be hard to explain. And hard for you to hear. But please – just let me get it out in the open. It needs to be said, and I need for you to listen.” She paused, waiting for Stefan to nod before she continued. “This was twelve years ago now, but I can still remember it as if it was yesterday. I’d come with my father for the meeting of all the leaders of the dragon clans – I had come of age that year, and it was my duty as his heir to attend.” She paused, glancing across at Marko. “And Marko, of course, as his father’s heir, was there too. We’d never met before, because we were too young to accompany them earlier, but when we did…”

  Stefan swallowed. He could feel Holly’s hand stroking down his arm, her fingers warm.

  They realized they were mates.

  Stefan could already tell where Landra’s story was going. Raising his hand, he wrapped his fingers around Holly’s own, suddenly wanting to hold her.

  A mated bond can’t be denied. It’s there, whether you want it or not, whether it’s wise or not. A mated bond doesn’t see sense or reason – or any obstacles that might stand in its way. The mated bond simply is.

  He recalled his father’s words to him when he’d been young. He hadn’t quite understood at the time, but he did now. Despite all the promises he had made to leave Holly, to simply slip away before she could become involved in the blood feud, he hadn’t been able to make himself do it.

  And now Holly was staying with him, believing in him – believing in them – despite the fact that she really should be running for the hills.

  The mated bond was strong enough to see them through anything – even this.

  She is precious. She is my mate.

  He squeezed her fingers gently, and felt her returning squeeze.

  Landra shook her head. “I didn’t want it to be true – I tried to ignore it. I honestly did. But… most of you here have found your mates in life. You know it can’t be ignored.”

  She stared around the room, as if challenging anyone to deny what she had said. But no one raised a voice to oppose her – not even Erik’s men. They stood together, staring down at the floor.

  “Marko and I met to discuss the situation. We knew it couldn’t go on like this. Being separated from your mate… it takes a toll on you. You start to decline. It taxes a dragon’s strength, and not even the hoard can renew it. We knew the only thing we could do was try to talk to our fathers about it, and try to make them see that…” Landra trailed off, her voice catching in her throat. “You already know that the Novaks and Lukiches weren’t on the best of terms. So when I told my father about… about us, you can imagine what he did.”

  For a long moment, Landra stared down at her father, her eyes blazing like coals. Erik had said nothing before this, and he said nothing now. He simply continued to stare at the floor, his shoulders sagging.

  He looked utterly defeated.

  “I tried to tell him – tried to reason with him. I said I’d give up my inheritance as the future leader of the Lukich Clan, and I’d take none of my share of the hoard. I told him that Marko was prepared to do the same – that he’d leave the Novaks and join us instead, if that’s what he prefe
rred. But he wouldn’t listen.”

  Landra paused to draw in a shaky breath.

  “I’d never been frightened of my father before. I knew he was feared, but he’d always loved me. He’d never... I thought he’d put my happiness above clan rivalries. Or at least put it aside for a short time, and let us be together. But he went crazy. He threatened to kill me – to kill Marko. I pleaded with him, but I thought he wouldn’t really do it. But in the end, he did something that turned out to be far worse: banishment.”

  A cold shiver ran down Stefan’s spine at the word. Banishment was the cruelest punishment that could be inflicted upon a dragon. It meant that a dragon was cut off completely from their lands, their family, their clan, their hoard.

  Over time, being away from these things – from the things dragons needed to renew themselves – would sap their strength, making them weaker and weaker. Stefan had even heard of dragons who had lost their ability to shift after being banished. It was a story that was used to scare youngsters into minding their manners and doing what they were told – and to impress the importance of always obeying the clan leader, who was the only one who could banish a dragon.

  “We had no choice but to leave – Marko came with me.” Landra’s voice sounded cracked and broken. “Once the banishment was pronounced, I couldn’t stay – I don’t know how to describe it. But all of you must know what it’s like to have a Voice used on you. You can’t go against it, even if you want to. And being cut off from everyone I loved… it was like being plunged into darkness. Suddenly I couldn’t hear anyone’s thoughts, couldn’t sense our hoard. It was like losing a limb – worse than that. I had no choice. We left that night.”

  There was silence in the room.

  Stefan didn’t know what he felt. Anger rose in him as he looked at Landra and Marko – alive, together as mates – and he struggled to push it away. It wasn’t their fault, and he knew that. But still, the image of his mother came to him, her face strained with fear as she had hidden him in the cave, and his grief felt as bright as if it had been yesterday.