Destined for the Dragon Read online

  He cut himself off abruptly, snapping his mouth shut as if he hadn’t meant to say what he’d said.

  Alanna bit her lip, watching the dip of his Adam’s apple as he swallowed. No one had ever told her dragons could be so gorgeous. In the silence that followed, she couldn’t stop her eyes from drifting down over his broad, muscular chest, to his narrow hips, and his thick thighs.

  She could feel heat beginning to pool in her belly as she looked at him, and she resisted the urge to lick her lips.

  What was happening to her? She’d seen good-looking men before. She’d seen men who moved with grace and skill, whose muscles weren’t just for show. She’d seen men who looked like they could pick her up with one hand without breaking a sweat.

  So why is this one so different? Besides the obvious, I suppose...

  “Anyway, I called some... friends, before I knew your wound was going to heal itself so fast,” Magnus said, not looking at her. “I think we should at least wait for them so you can get checked out.”

  “Friends?” Alanna asked suspiciously. “What do you mean by—”

  Her question was cut off with a gasp.

  Because at that moment, a massive red dragon dropped into view from the cabin window, coming to land with a massive thump in the clearing by the cabin.

  Chapter Six

  Magnus

  She’s our mate! Our mate!!

  Magnus’s dragon writhed ecstatically inside his chest as he opened the cabin door and went out onto the rickety porch to meet Isaak and Josie.

  He’d been lucky they were nearby – he’d realized quickly that Alanna’s wound was worse than he’d thought, but he had no idea where the nearest hospital was. As a dragon, he was hardly likely to need one.

  He hadn’t ever considered the possibility that the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen – Your mate! She’s your mate! his dragon gleefully reminded him once again – would show up in his life, badly in need of medical assistance.

  But we healed her ourselves, his dragon reminded him smugly. Through our bond. Our mated bond.

  She’s a dragon hunter, Magnus told it viciously. She kills our kind. Or does that not matter to you?

  The dragon coiled over itself, tail thrashing wildly. Magnus realized he’d managed to confuse it – not easy for a creature that tended to see things in very black and white terms.

  But here, its knowledge that this woman was its mate and its sense of self-preservation were in conflict.

  Two instincts that overrode all else in a dragon’s mind – its bond with its mate and its desire to live – were clashing.

  And the creature didn’t like it one bit.

  She showed us a memory, it argued stubbornly. You saw it.

  I don’t know that’s what it was, Magnus argued back, just as stubborn. It was only a flash of... something. It could have been anything. How can you be sure it was a memory?

  The dragon growled, but it didn’t seem to have an answer for that. Instead, it withdrew, glowering, its eyes glowing in the darkness of his chest.

  “Magnus.” Isaak had shifted as Magnus was arguing with his dragon, dressing himself quickly in track pants and a t-shirt his mate Josie had brought along in a backpack. “I’m sorry I took so long in getting here. The human, is she—”

  “She’s fine,” Magnus said, realizing he was being abrupt, but too confused right now to care.

  My mate. The one I’m meant to be with. And she’s a dragon hunter.

  Josie cocked her head slightly, her dark auburn hair shining like a halo in the sunshine. “Are you sure? In your message you said she’d been badly wounded.”

  “She was,” Magnus said shortly. How could he explain this? He wasn’t sure if he even wanted to. “Or... I thought she was. She’s fine now, though.”

  He watched as Josie and Isaak exchanged a glance. They probably didn’t need anything more than that to let each other know exactly what they were thinking.

  “Magnus.” Isaak’s tone was reasonable, but he could hear the note of warning beneath it. “What aren’t you telling us?”

  Magnus grimaced. He should have known it was pointless to evade the truth.

  “It’s hard to explain,” he said, dropping his head. He wasn’t sure he could look Isaak in the eye. Isaak and Josie had saved him, given him a job, helped him out when he was at his lowest ebb. And he’d repaid them by bringing a dragon hunter into their midst.

  It was an even more complicated situation than it would otherwise have been. Both Isaak and Josie had almost been killed by a dragon hunter: Bain, the man who had controlled Magnus with a collar, and forced him to fight his own kind.

  They had almost as much reason to hate dragon hunters as he did. And now, he was asking them to help one.

  “You can tell us anything,” Josie said, reaching out to touch his arm.

  Josie had always been kind – and it had been her first aid skills that Magnus had wanted when he called them here.

  Magnus swallowed. “She’s a dragon hunter.”

  He could have cut the silence that followed his words with a knife.

  “What?” Isaak asked after a few moments, his voice stiff. “What did you—”

  “You know what he said, Isaak,” Josie cut in, calmly. She turned to look at Magnus. “And you also know he wouldn’t have saved her without a good reason. Isn’t that right?”

  Magnus could only thank whoever was listening that Isaak had the most level-headed woman alive for a mate.

  Isaak was still staring at him, eyes blazing, but at least he wasn’t attacking him. Magnus decided he was going to count that as a win.

  “And... and she’s my mate.”

  “Oh.” Josie’s eyes opened wide, her mouth popping open in shock.

  “Your mate?” Isaak asked, his face screwing up in disbelief. “Are you sure?”

  Irritation surged through Magnus. His dragon flared up, arching its neck in anger. Is he questioning whether we know our mate when we see her?

  “Of course I’m sure,” he said, trying to keep his anger out of his voice – and not doing a very good job. “Were you sure the first time you met Josie?”

  “That was more... complicated,” Isaak said, seeming to sober somewhat. “I didn’t know I was a dragon then.”

  But you still knew, Magnus thought, though he realized he shouldn’t push Isaak.

  Despite everything Magnus owed him, both of them could still be prickly and quick to anger. That was the consequence of their pasts: Magnus as a captive who had lost his memory, and Isaak as a dragon who had grown up not knowing who – or what – he was.

  Not to mention, dragons were fractious at the best of times. That was why they needed a clan, ruled by a strong clan leader.

  But I have no clan, Magnus thought.

  No, his dragon replied. But now, you have a mate.

  “I know she’s my mate,” Magnus said, his voice sounding gruff even to his own ears. “When I said she was wounded... well, she was. Very badly. But...”

  “But you healed her,” Josie said, nodding. “Only the mated bond can do that.”

  It was true. Dragons could heal their mates. Josie knew that first-hand. She’d once told Magnus the story of how she and Isaak had met – she had almost tumbled headlong down a ravine, and he had saved her. The scratches and bruises she’d received in the fall had disappeared overnight.

  Alanna’s injury had, of course, been far more severe than that. But the mated bond had worked its magic. Her life was no longer in any danger.

  Magnus nodded. “Even though I could feel what she did to me, I thought – maybe I even hoped – that she’d consumed dragon blood, and that was why she healed so quick. But she said she’d never do that. So I knew then it could only be the bond.”

  He watched as Isaak and Josie exchanged another surprised glance.

  “And you believe her when she says she didn’t drink the blood?” Isaak asked.

  Magnus could feel his face growing hot. Inside him, his dragon
reared up.

  Is he accusing our mate of lying?

  “I believe her,” Magnus said, pushing aside his instinctive anger. It wouldn’t help now, and Isaak had every reason to be suspicious of dragon hunters. “I can’t read her mind exactly, but I can sense her thoughts. She was telling the truth when she said it.”

  Isaak stared into his eyes for a long moment, then nodded.

  Magnus let out a breath of relief he hadn’t even realized he’d been holding. He needed Isaak and Josie’s help – and if Isaak had refused it, he didn’t know what he would have done next.

  “Nonetheless, I think I need to have a look at the patient,” Josie said, her tone matter-of-fact. “Magical healing is magical healing, but sometimes it’s a good idea to make sure.”

  Magnus nodded. He trusted Josie’s first aid skills. The ‘doctor’ in front of her name might not have denoted a medical qualification, but many, many years of fieldwork meant she had dealt with all sorts of injuries, and she had a high level of first aid training. At the very least, she’d know whether Alanna still needed to go to a hospital.

  “But before we go in, I just want to make something clear,” Magnus said. “I know she’s my mate. And I know what that means – just as both of you do. But don’t think for a moment that I’d turn against the Novak Clan. A dragon understands debts. And I know I’m in yours.”

  Isaak hesitated slightly. “I know. And believe me, I trust you, Magnus. You’ve proven yourself a good man. I wouldn’t let you within a mile of my mate if I thought you were a danger. But the mated bond... don’t underestimate it.” He shook his head. “This is a complicated situation. A hunter and a dragon.”

  “Mates are mates,” Josie said. “You can’t just—” She cut herself off suddenly, her eyes flickering to somewhere over Magnus’s shoulder. “Oh. Uh—”

  With a cold feeling in the pit of his stomach, Magnus turned.

  But he already knew what he would see.

  Sure enough, Alanna stood on the cabin’s porch steps, one hand clutching the railing to support herself, the other pressing against her side. Her dark gray eyes were wide as she looked wildly between the three of them.

  “Wh-what? What did you say?” she asked, her voice so quiet that Magnus could barely hear her.

  Immediately, his dragon surged up within him, urging him to go to her.

  Our mate is frightened! Help her – chase away whatever is threatening her!

  Magnus took a step forward before his human side caught up with him, and he stopped. How could he explain to the dragon that what had frightened his mate so much was – himself? Their bond?

  To the dragon, the mated bond could only ever be a good thing – something that would bind them together for life, a source of strength and comfort.

  It didn’t understand that in real life, things were often far more complicated than that.

  “I’m – I’m his mate?” Alanna’s voice was louder now, and tinged with anger. “How long have you known this?”

  Magnus hesitated. “Since... since I first touched you,” he admitted. He hadn’t wanted to believe it though, so he’d told himself that the reason she sent lines of fire through his veins was because it had been so long since he’d held a woman in any circumstances. Then he’d told himself that her fast healing must have been because she’d taken dragon’s blood. He’d continued to deny it, until there was nowhere else left to turn.

  “Since you...” Alanna looked like she’d been slapped across the face. Then, she squared her shoulders. “That’s impossible. We can’t be mates.”

  Magnus’s dragon roared – but it was a roar of pain, not of fury.

  Why is our mate rejecting us?

  Because she’s right, he thought, feeling as though his heart was being torn in two. We can’t be mates. We shouldn’t be mates. There’s no way we can be together.

  But even as he thought it, he could feel his dragon resisting.

  That’s not true, it said, twisting its sinuous body, baring its glistening fangs. Smoke spooled up from its jaws, eyes flashing in hurt and confusion. The mated bond can never be wrong...

  Magnus closed his eyes. He truly wished things were as simple as the dragon thought.

  But they aren’t.

  Taking a deep breath, he forced his eyes open again, looking Alanna in the face. “I didn’t want you to find out this way,” he said. “I hadn’t even decided whether to say anything at all.”

  He didn’t know if humans could feel the mated bond the same way dragons could. It was possible she never would have known. If only he’d been more careful.

  “I... I don’t know what to say,” Alanna murmured, blinking. Her hand was still pressed to her side, and it was clear that getting up and coming outside had caused her pain.

  In a flash, Magnus was by her side, before he even had time to think about what he was doing. The only thought in his head was that his mate was in pain and needed his support. Before he could stop himself, his arm was around her shoulder, drawing her close...

  She smelled divine.

  Her hair was soft against the skin of his throat, and the curves of her body felt like they had been made to fit against the angles of his.

  Desire thrummed in his veins, his heartbeat quickening. Heat pooled between his legs as he felt her hand touch his side, accepting his support, wanting to be just as close to him as he did to her.

  He could feel her own heat rising, read it on her skin as if she had spoken the words I want you out loud.

  Rational thought was no longer possible. The only thing Magnus knew was that she was his mate.

  But then, a moment later, the illusion was shattered.

  “I... I can’t—”

  Alanna’s voice was barely audible, but her meaning was clear.

  She was right.

  They couldn’t. Not now, not ever.

  “Let’s go,” Magnus said roughly, taking a step back. Her wound was almost healed. She didn’t need him to help her stand. He had overreacted.

  With effort, he took his hand from around her waist, stepping away from her. He missed the feel of her body against his almost immediately. Looking down into her eyes, he thought he could read regret there too, before she dropped them from his face, looking away and licking her lips. He couldn’t help but stare at the way they shone with moisture.

  If he kisses me... oh God, I shouldn’t want him to kiss me so much...

  He heard her thought in his head as clearly as if she’d spoken aloud.

  But it was too late. Swallowing, he forced himself to turn away.

  The next thing he knew, Josie was standing by his side. He could see compassion in her black eyes – but right now, that was the last thing he wanted.

  What he wanted to do was fly away – fly far and fly fast, to immerse himself in the dragon’s speed and instinct and simplicity.

  “Come on, let’s get you inside and checked out,” Josie said to Alanna, bustling her inside with her no-nonsense tone that worked on everyone from haughty senior professors to unruly undergraduates – and apparently on dragon hunters too. Alanna let herself be pulled into the cabin without an argument.

  Magnus turned away.

  He could still feel her skin against his, her scent in his nostrils.

  And that will be the last time you do, he told himself, even as his dragon howled in pain.

  Chapter Seven

  Alanna

  Alanna’s thoughts were in a whirl as the car made its way up the long, winding road.

  They hadn’t stopped whirling since she had first come out onto the porch and overheard what Magnus had said to Josie and the dragon she had come with, Isaak.

  She knew about the bond dragons shared with their mates. It was something every apprentice learned as part of their training. Mated bonds were common knowledge amongst those who knew anything at all about dragons, along with most other common kinds of dragon magic, like the ability to use the Voice to command dragons under their power.

&n
bsp; In the past, mated bonds had been used against dragons, since it was well known that they would put themselves in grave danger in order to protect their mates, but the Loric Coven didn’t use such methods anymore. The chances of a rogue dragon having a mate were very slim since they were exiled from their clans, and dragons forming mated bonds with humans or other shifters wasn’t very common.

  Blinking, Alanna bit her lip, glancing across at Josie where she sat in the driver’s seat of the car.

  Definitely human, she thought.

  But she and Isaak were mates.

  And, more to the point, she seemed incredibly happy about it.

  Alanna thought back to the cabin, and the way Josie had introduced herself. She’d been matter of fact and to the point about who she was and what she and Isaak were to each other, and had examined Alanna’s mostly-healed wound quickly and efficiently, before asking her how she felt.

  Alanna had only been able to shake her head at that. Physically or mentally?

  Because physically she felt fine, for someone who’d just received a serious stab wound.

  Mentally...

  Well, mentally, she didn’t have a clue how she felt.

  How can I be a dragon’s mate?

  Despite the fact it didn’t make any sense at all, Alanna couldn’t deny that it was true.

  As soon as she’d heard the word mate spoken aloud, her heart had thumped in her chest, and suddenly everything had made sense. As much as she might have wanted to, it was impossible to deny it.

  He had healed her wound as if by... well, by magic.

  His every touch sent thrills of heat over her skin. Every moment she spent not touching him was like some awful test of endurance.

  And that wasn’t even mentioning the strange feeling that had come over her from the first moment she had seen his photograph back in her dorm.

  It was as if he had called to her even then, the bright blue of his eyes seeming to look into her very soul.

  But we can never be together.

  Alanna shuddered. Josie glanced across at her, concern on her face.