Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Thirteen

Finn vibrated with anger beside him.

Jazdon put a hand at the younger man’s back to calm him. He fucking hated Daltor with a passion, and that was one of the things he’d neglected to tell Finn. He could see now it was an oversight.

The Greengile king on their side of the border was a fucking dick.

While the Greengile were a peaceful dragon race, their royalty possessed the temperament and the power to fight. As a result, King Daltor had become a nasty dictator, and if Jazdon had a say, he’d see Daltor replaced.

Yet, the only way that could happen would be to have Daltor ousted by his own clan and replaced by a new king.

“Well, that’s just fucking… er… that’s great,” Finn said throwing up his hands. “Are you telling me that my mother was a princess? A Greengile dragon shifter?” Finn glared at the king. “Oh, and by the way, call her or my father ‘thieves’ again, and I’ll rearrange your face, king or no king.”

Jazdon fought to hide a smile. He tensed though when Daltor aimed a look of outrage toward Finn. He’d die before letting the dictator touch one hair on Finn’s beautiful blond head.

“How dare you?” Daltor snapped.

“I’d dare a lot where my mom or my dad are concerned, so don’t test me.”

King Reykur stepped in with a calming tone. “I’m sure King Daltor misspoke. He meant no insult, Finn.”

“I said it was possible. That’s all I said,” King Daltor snapped, his eyes still furious. “I have no idea if your parents are the same people. The name could be a coincidence. It probably is, in fact.”

Much to Jazdon’s surprise and that of the two kings, Finn matched Daltor, glare for fucking glare.

“So how old are you?” Finn snapped right back.

“What?” Daltor looked confused. “Why would you ask that?”

“You look as old as King Reykur, but don’t act like it. I’m just trying to figure out if you have maturity and wisdom enough to be a leader.”

Silence dropped in the chamber and Jazdon threw a wide-eyed look to his father. King Reykur didn’t seem at all concerned but cut in quietly instead.

“We need to work together,” his father said, but it didn’t stop Daltor from verbally attacking Finn.

“Your impertinence will see you punished!” Spittle flew from Daltor’s lips, and his face turned purple, then King Daltor shifted into half man and half dragon, increasing his mass, height, and savagery.

Jazdon stepped forward but found his arm held by his father. King Reykur slowly shook his head, and Jazdon snapped his gaze back to the other pair.

His mouth dropped open.

Finn had shifted at the same time, half man and half dragon. The shirt Finn wore strained at the seams.

They could have been twins with an overwhelming similarity, only there was one glaring difference – Finn stood a good head taller than Daltor, and he was wider in body mass. It took only a few seconds for Daltor to realize that, and he shrank back. In a blink of an eye, the dictator shifted back into his human form and Finn did the same.

“I’m finished here.” Daltor yanked at his cloak with a sniff. “Do with this as you will.”

Finn smirked at the Greengile king as he stepped backward from him and didn’t look away until the shifter was gone. Jazdon couldn’t get over Finn and these bursts of power.

It was as if Finn were two different people.

The human who bitched and snapped at people and the shifter with royal blood who kicked ass and took names later. He knew it would only be a matter of time before Finn came into his own and didn’t go back to his human nature. At least not fully. He might even become some mixture of the two—the strength and power of the dragon and the more thoughtful nature of the man. Someone who would complement Jazdon completely.

Jazdon relished the day coming, because he needed a mate that not only matched him but enhanced him. One he could trust and one who would meet him on an even playing field yet challenge him at the same time. Perhaps his attraction to Finn had been his dragon’s doing after all. It had probably recognized the sleeping shifter within the fair-haired man. Hell, he and his dragon both would probably be bored with someone who had the exact same personality.

“I’ll put Vargla and Maridous on finding out how the castle was breached and what the Parsmitt’s plans are…while you two…” his father murmured and then paused.

“Us two what?” Jazdon turned to his father.

“Finn needs to take his rightful place,” Reykur said.

“And where is that?” Finn blinked.

“Here with us,” the king responded with a slight smile. “It’s time for you to learn to embrace your dragon.”

“How the hell am I going to do that when I’m not even sure I want to be one?” Sure, flying sounded cool, and he was glad he’d towered over the asshole Daltor, but this was a bit much…wasn’t it? “This is nuts,” Finn finished weakly.

Jazdon pulled a hand over his mouth to hide his smile.

“You are one, whether you like it or not, and you can’t deny your own nature. My son is going to help you.”

Finn’s mouth dropped open, snapped closed and then Jazdon found himself on the receiving end of a squinty eyed look. He couldn’t be sure if Finn was pissed or not.

“Oh goodie,” Finn murmured.

Jazdon was thrilled with the idea of teaching Finn the ins and outs of being a shifter, but if Finn didn’t want him involved, then Jazdon would bow out. With that thought in mind, Jazdon turned toward his father.

“You know what? I think Finn would rather have someone else teach him.”

“What?” Finn sounded shocked.

Jazdon spun on his heel and stalked to the door. “You obviously have a problem with me, and I’ll be damned if I know what it is. So, I’ll get out of your way.”

“Screw that!” Finn spat.

The anger in the words drew Jazdon around with the closed door at his back. He met the furious blue eyes from across the room and ached to approach, but he’d honestly had enough of the hot and cold.

“What do you mean?” Jazdon growled.

“Just what I said.” Finn’s chin tipped and blue eyes flashed with fire. “Screw that. Just because I’m hesitant—and why wouldn’t I be with all the shit going on around and inside me—doesn’t mean you get to walk away from m…this!”

Finn had wanted to say me… walk away from me… Jazdon knew it as much as he knew the grass was green. He knew it from the look in Finn eyes. The man wanted to be with him, wanted him, but was filled with uncertainty and caution.

One side of Jazdon’s lips curled and he nodded.

“I won’t walk away,” he promised Finn before looking over the man’s head to hold his father’s gaze of approval.

After a moment of hesitation, Finn turned to the king as well.

“Make it work,” King Reykur told them both and then waved a dismissive hand.

Jazdon didn’t move from the door until Finn reached him and then he took the man’s hand. Ignoring the small start of surprise from Finn, Jazdon tightened his grip, pulled him out into the hallway and snapped the door closed.

Finn laughed and Jazdon found himself chuckling.

“What’s so funny?”

“From where I’m standing? A lot,” Finn murmured with a smile.

Jazdon gave the shifter a sheepish grin. “I imagine so.”

“So what’s on the agenda?” Finn asked.

“Anything, everything,” Jazdon promised and pulled the young royal down the hallway.

Never once did either loosen their grip.

***

“Bank right, bank right!” Jazdon shouted through their mental link, but Finn didn’t bank quick enough and plowed into the dirt.

The young dragon sat on his haunches and spat out dirt with a splash of liquid green fire. They were at the north wall of the castle in the outdoor training area where they taught young dragons to fly. One would think that shifters could naturally fly, but they were taught shortly after their first shift. Not that Finn was that far behind, in fact, for having only taken to the air for the third time. Jazdon would have to say that Finn was a natural. The only thing he needed work on was accommodating his dragon’s size.

“You’re still in your head. You need to remember you have forty feet of tail and body and just as many feet in your wingspan.”

Finn shifted into half dragon and half man form and sat on his ass. “I’m never going to get this.”

“You’re there.” He came closer and crouched next to the younger man. “You need to trust that your dragon knows what to do.”

“I think…” Finn tipped his head back, and Jazdon got a good glimpse of the scales covering the shifter’s stomach and the size of his mouth-watering cock. He yanked his eyes up and caught Finn’s gaze. “Were you checking me out?”

“No,” he denied.

“You were too,” Finn said with a teasing flash in his eyes.

“Maybe?”

“Focus.”

“You were saying?” Jazdon questioned trying to get his mind back on training.

“What?” Finn echoed blankly and now it was Jazdon’s turn to tease.

“You said…I think…”

“Oh yeah, I think you should fly with me out there,” Finn responded with a point of his thumb toward the massive wall that shielded them from the outside. “I think I’ll do better with more room.”

Jazdon looked around the area that was half the size of a football field and snorted. He dutifully stood and yanked off his clothes and smirked when it became Finn’s turn to check him out.

“Wait, will they see us?” Finn said.

“No. When we shift, we become invisible to humans.”

“Oh. I think I remember you telling me that.”

“I did. And one other thing…” he said with a raspy tease. “You need to be faster!”

With that said, Jazdon shifted into his dragon form and flew like a rocket over the top of the sand-colored wall. He wouldn’t take Finn toward the sea where his soldiers were hunting Parsmitt, but he would take the young royal toward the gorges where Vargla and Maridous along with the Isatolia lieutenants were combing the land. It would be there that he could feel safe enough to have Finn away from the castle’s protection.

Finn’s shout of laughter drifted on the air and then traveled right into his mind when the Greengile shifted.

The air moved next to him when Finn swooped in beside him, and Jazdon gave a fiery roar of approval.