1. Adrian

ONE

"Aren't we far beyond these formalities?"

Adrian fiddled with his cufflinks while Zakary looked down at his cell phone, watching the time tick by. A dim lamp on an antique desk lit the dark wood study, the closet mirror illuminating Adrian's hardened jawline.

"So you've been saying," Zakary said. "But those formalities allow you endless fornication. I really don't know why you keep bitching about it."

Adrian cast a slight smile, finally snapping his wrist buttons in place before patting a golden dragon cufflink with satisfaction.

"Oh, is somebody jealous?"

Zakary scoffed.

"No, idiot," he said. "I couldn't be happier with Tillie."

They walked through the double glass doors. Adrian felt the strain of his tuxedo against his more muscular forearm. He would need to be refitted soon.

"That wasn't what I asked," Adrian observed.

"If you're going to spend so much time grumbling about it, why not host your own Full Moon Masquerade? You don't have to fall in with Callum every time."

Adrian growled disdainfully.

"Oh, sure. I'll just spend weeks coordinating a time that works for everybody, spend a gold hoard on caterers, and find the perfect playlist for the orgy."

"That is the idea," Zakary said as they descended a spiral staircase. "You might have more fun if you got off your throne and joined us down here on planet Earth. And I bet you'd throw one hell of a masquerade anyway."

The thought of a mansion filled with sweaty, entangled bodies drove Adrian into a mental frenzy, which he stifled. He could feel himself heating.

Secretly, his heart yearned for something much more than physical pleasure, but he felt like his inner dragon drove him mad with desire. He figured their interests would never align, that his physical needs would always trump his heart's yearnings.

"I'm old, Zakary," Adrian said despite appearing to be in his mid-thirties. "Besides that, you know I'm only keeping up appearances at this point. Things are tense out there."

Zakary nodded. "You don't have to remind me."

"And so what if I don't have a date right now?" Adrian continued. "I shouldn't have to host my own event just to meet people. Nor should I have to make nice by going out and fucking total strangers. All of this is ridiculous."

"Is he still complaining about the orgy?"

Tillie appeared from the guest room, her perfectly coiffed brunette hair falling over her elegant shoulders. She wore a frilled white dress, the pristine brightness contrasting sharply against the dark interior of the manor.

Adrian shamefully suppressed the urge to look down at the exposed pale white skin of her chest. It didn't matter that it was Tillie. It could have been any woman, and he would have reacted the same way.

"Let's be fair," Zakary replied, moving toward her before placing his hand on her hip and dipping her at the waist. He planted a deep, passionate kiss on her ruby-red lips.

"It's not an orgy," he said, pulling his face away from hers. "It's the custom of our people."

Tillie smiled, looking deep into his eyes.

"Well, whatever it is, I love the effect it has on you."

Zakary chuckled.

"That's the moon, darling," he said. "It might not be out for a few hours, but it's got a dreadfully powerful effect on our biology."

Tillie squeezed his bicep. "You sure it's not all those people giving in to their base desires all at once?"

"Well, I suppose it's that too," he replied almost in a whisper. They leaned back into each other, ready to kiss again.

Adrian smiled. On the one hand, he was immensely happy for Zakary and Tillie and always would be.

But on the other hand, he was starting to feel very out of place and had a feeling that if he didn't intervene, Tillie and Zakary would start fucking in front of him. Then, he'd be put in the awkward position of having nobody to go with.

Faint rays of sunlight cast through the window above the front door of the manor, the golden hour sunset shining brightly over the dark wood in hues of orange and pink.

He coughed.

Tillie and Zakary instinctively separated, jumping a few inches before casting a sideways glance at him. Zakary rubbed a hand through his long, jet-black hair.

"Oh, uh," Zakary started. "Sorry about that."

Tillie corrected her posture, trying to play as if she hadn't momentarily forgotten Adrian's presence.

"You know, if you're so tired of all these events, you could just take your own mate permanently," she said. "Gods only know why we still go."

Zakary laughed.

"You know why we still go, darling," he said suggestively.

"Now, wait a minute," Adrian said. "Were you eavesdropping?"

"I don't have to eavesdrop. It's the same thing you say every month."

Adrian cast a suspicious glance at Zakary's wife, now certain that she'd heard every word of their private conversation.

"What?" Tillie mumbled. "So I get a bit bored from time to time. Big deal."

Zakary gave Tillie a sideways glance. Upon her noticing, he shook his head in disapproval.

"It's not my fault! Blame the shifter hearing!"

"So you think I can get out of everything by just taking a permanent mate?" Adrian asked.

"Oh, here we go again," Zakary said.

"That wasn't really what I meant," Tillie said. "I just mean that if you take a mate, people might be more inclined to let things slide. Maybe then you might not have to go to every masquerade."

Adrian sighed, then chuckled to try to ease the tension.

"That's the thing, though. I'd be trading masquerades for weddings, christenings, holiday parties … Even minor social functions like game nights or couples parties … If I'm not there, people will talk. And that talking leads to escalation."

"We get it, man," Zakary said. "You're under a lot of pressure."

As Zakary embraced Tillie and they cast Adrian a sympathetic gaze, something twinged deep within Adrian.

I don't want what they have, he reminded himself.

He thought once more about finding the love of his life. It crossed his mind often and usually at the least convenient times.

After spending his life fleeing the prospect of a political marriage and rejecting the idea of settling with somebody he could barely tolerate, perhaps he'd feel a pull toward his true mate. She would have to be wonderful.

He'd spend every morning waking up next to her, bringing her morning breakfast, and laying kisses on her cheek. She'd caress him, reminding him to take every moment in stride.

And even as her skin wrinkled and he stayed exactly the same age, he'd love her just the same.

Then he imagined kissing her one morning, only to discover her skin had grown cold. Dragon shifters outlived all other kinds. Unless he found one of his kind, it was a reality he'd have to face. He thought about what he'd do after that.

Stupid, he admitted to himself. That's why you don't get attached.

"These events just get really repetitive after a while," Adrian said.

"We know," Tillie admitted.

"But them's the breaks," Zakary added. "You didn't choose to be born into this. You've just got to take it one day at a time."

Adrian looked down at his tuxedo and then fiddled with his golden watch. He was almost ready, but he felt like he was missing something.

Tillie sniffed the air before turning her attention to Adrian, furrowing her eyebrows. "Hey," she said, "are you forgetting the hunter's block? Or do you want to use the booth at Callum's?"

Adrian nearly facepalmed. "I prefer my own," he said. "I'll be right back."

He wondered how he could have forgotten something so basic after so many centuries of these parties.

As he made his way back up the stairs, Adrian could almost hear Zakary and Tillie making out, faint echoes of their moans reaching him as he pushed once more on the double doors.

He removed his tuxedo momentarily, grabbing the bright green glass bottle and applying drops of liquid to his fingertips. Adrian rubbed the block over the rippling muscles of his neck and down onto his chiseled chest, taking care not to stain his white undershirt.

"Well, then," he said quietly to himself, "no chance of finding my mate tonight now." As he felt a surge of relief, a vexing thought crossed his mind.

Had he subconsciously refrained from applying the hunter's block in the vain hope of meeting a mate? Was his inner dragon longing for something deeper, even willing to socially sabotage him to get it?

He shook his head, then laughed under his breath.

"That's a funny thought."

Hunter's block was one of his favorite inventions. Normally, shifters had a sense about each other. They were able to find their mates among a crowd and even understand some of the deeper motivations and feelings of their peers from a simple smell.

Hunter's block stifled all of that by suppressing pheromones. For one night every month, the Full Moon Masquerade allowed total anonymity. No mask would have been able to conceal the identities of the participants thanks to their shifter noses. Block was an absolute necessity.

They really were a group of total strangers, fucking for sheer carnal pleasure. He stepped out of the closet and left the study. As he walked down the hallway and then descended the stairs, the last rays of sunlight were disappearing.

"All ready to go then?" Zakary asked.

Adrian approached the front door and then looked out the window. The faint outline of the full moon hung high above them.

How many full moons had he seen? He could feel the primal connection emerging, trying to take him over.

Adrian could fuss over all the details, dreading this evening and the social obligation it represented. But it was just another night, probably no more memorable than any of the other Full Moon Masquerades in which he had taken part.

"Yeah," Adrian said, turning the doorknob and looking back at Adrian and Tillie, "let's go."