4. Tarek
The moment I walked into this house, even from the main floor entrance, there was no denying the beautiful scent of my mate in the air. The chaos of the rescue had been all instinct and rushing. I had sensed her, but there had been no time to confirm her existence.
"What are you?" she asked again.
I took in her tiny stature, her big, beautiful eyes, and the flush racing up her chest. I had only one word to describe her.
"Magnificent."
She was far more beautiful than I could have expected. She, like the rest of the females we had rescued, seemed to pass out the moment we told them they were safe. I hadn't been able to see her in the chaos, and my dragon had struggled to remain focused on the task. Now though, she was here in front of me.
"What? What is that?"
Her soul was calling to me. Even the soft locks on her head called to me, and I reached for a strand, wanting to feel their silkiness running through my fingers.
"You are magnificent. I am a Pyrothian warrior, Zara."
I liked the way her name sounded on my tongue. There was no translation for her name exactly, but the sounds were so close to the Pyrothian language that her name fit. She was a Zara, my Zara. And she hadn't sidestepped out of my reach yet.
"A what? We…" She paused a moment and took a deep breath. "Sorry. We don't have any Pyrothian's on Earth."
I allowed the energy lights in the room to remain dim. The girls had all seemed terrified of the dark, but they needed to rest. Still, when I smiled at her, she seemed to have no issue seeing the action. Or I assumed so with the way I heard her heartbeat skip in her chest.
"You have had Pyrothians on your planet many times. However, you are right. We are not well known. I am what your people have historically called a dragon shifter."
She was nodding her head, but she wasn't saying anything.
I took a step closer.
"A dragon?" Aria asked.
I nodded. "Correct. A dragon."
There was no reason to look at the other tiny female who was dwarfed in the enormous four-poster bed built to support my kind. Zara took a step, and it wasn't missed by me that she had positioned herself between me and Aria.
The beat of her heart remained rapid, but she seemed to stiffen her back. The thought that my mate was feeling confident enough to stare me down and try to protect the other fragile female brought my dragon pride.
"You leave her alone. So, I wasn't crazy? None of us were? You were covered in scales? Like a dragon?"
I watched her shift closer to the bed as I took one more step forward. Was she afraid of me? I sniffed the air and there was a mix of so many scents. Fear wasn't a dominant one, however Zara was, and that soothed my soul. My dragon rested peacefully for the moment knowing we did scent small threads of fear and that would not do now that we'd finally found our mate. She was confused and misplaced, but she was our mate. I could help her through this.
"We were. We can shift between dragon and Pyrothian or this human form."
Aria seemed like she craved more knowledge, while Zara looked like she was more baffled at what she was hearing. And perhaps she was.
"Zara, shall I give you a tour of the house? Are either of you hungry?"
Both females nodded, but Zara wasn't moving.
"Wonderful. Kyra is already downstairs with Ravi."
I reached for Zara's hand as Aria seemed to jump down from the bed.
"I'm game if she's down there. I'm starving," Aria said.
I watched as Aria stood there and took in the night clothes that each of them had. Right. I cleared my throat.
"You will need these."
It took everything in my power to leave Zara standing there, still guarding her friend as if she could stop me from getting to Aria or any human if I wanted. Her bravery was commendable. Every moment spent with her, I could see why the goddess had chosen such a worthy female for me.
In my haste to find Zara, I'd left two large parcels in the hall. I reached for both and brought them back into the room.
Zara's scent had called to me the moment we'd rescued them, but I had to remain in control of my dragon and his need for a mate. I had to report the events to the Federation, which proved useless. Or perhaps I was deflecting. When had finding a mate not proved to cause some similar weakness in any Pyrothian male? I couldn't get back here soon enough.
She watched me. "Your scent was in the other room. My room. Why did you move here?" I wanted to ask why she was in my brother's room, but that was relatively obvious. I wanted to hear the reasons though.
"Aria… she and I… we've been having nightmares every time our eyes find the ability to close. She was crying."
I flicked my gaze over the two. Nightmares. Of course. I would kill the space garbage that had thought to torment my mate.
I blew out a breath, trying to keep myself calm, and by the way Zara's eyes had widened, I felt perhaps I was losing. I focused on the next task.
"Each box has several female garments in it. You are welcome to choose your own once we take you into the city. For now," I paused, "these will have to do."
I had to trust that our mothers and my brother's human mate weren't wrong. Aurora had seemed all too happy to distract her mind from what had happened.
Neither took the packages from me.
"You have clothing on Earth. I am positive of this. Why are you looking at me like this is foreign?" I asked.
Zara looked small in comparison to the box, and it was then that I truly realized how tiny and fragile she looked. Why hadn't Aurora or any of the other humans seemed this small to me? My dragon provided an easy answer. They weren't mine. I had no interest in any other human.
Reaching up, she took one box and got it to the bed, gently pulling off the lid.
"Thank you," Zara finally, looking over her shoulder. Aria took the other, but I wasn't interested in her. Zara eyed the box like it was going to bite, and Aria seemed to be watching my mate before she opened her own.
Aria mirrored Zara when things appeared to be safe.
"There are no Tarrawing's within there. Nothing that would bite. Just fabrics. If you would like help on how to wear the items, I will send up my brother's mate."
Zara paused her inspection of the fabrics and turned my way.
"No, what?" Then her mouth opened again. "Wait. Mate?"
I stood a little taller. Perhaps this was the moment that she would know me as hers. I could only hope that my mating might be simple and without incident.
"Yes. The females that our souls are bound to and theirs to ours. A mate."
Aria paused at the same time, but I didn't have much thought for the other female, aside from the fact my mate seemed to care.
She looked at Aria.
"I'll be right back. Pick out something for us, and we can figure out this origami together."
With that, my mate stormed in my direction. Perhaps I'd misread this whole thing with the way her little hands balled at her sides.
"Tarek, was it? I'd like a word with you. Out here." She grabbed my arm, and while my dragon seemed to drink in her touch and I felt the electrical tingle of what it was to be touched by my mate, I also had a brain that was cautiously watching this glorious creature.
Her grip wasn't anything to be feared, and yet I followed her next door to my room, where she was supposed to be.
"I've read enough books back home to know what mate means, but, like, well, we don't have soulmates. That's not a thing. And if you think for one minute that you get to save us just to sell us off…"
Her face flushed a most beautiful shade of pink as she paced.
"There is no selling off, my Zara. It is a call of the goddess's design. We are powerless to deny the other half of our soul."
She stopped and looked at me like I had two heads.
"This is ridiculous. First aliens. Then some kind of dragons. Now mates? Fated mates? This is… this can't be real," she said. Her hands fisted in her hair as she continued to pace.
I wanted to fix the worry creasing her brow, but I didn't understand her mumblings, not really.
"All these things are real. Not every creature is evil. My dragon will be gentle to his fated mate," I said, trying to calm her.
Her hands were on her hips as she paced back and forth.
"You can't mate off Aria. You can't separate us. You can't just pretend to rescue us and sell us off. That's not going to work. She deserves better."
Instinct had me not wanting to wait for her. Being at war with one's soul made patience a bit of a hassle. I reached out as she passed in front of me once more where I could pull her into my grasp.
"Calm your mind, my Zara. There is no selling off. There is no force. We are not some primitive people. The goddess's design is fated, but not guaranteed. We search the cosmos for our mates. Not all have found theirs, and the dragon drives them into madness."
She wasn't pulling away, so I pulled her a little closer into my body. Her eyes met mine.
"And where is yours? Won't she be a little pissed off you're in here alone with some other woman?"
Blinking, I let a slow smile spread over my lips. I sniffed at the air and caught the faint tinge of sour jealousy.
"Zara, I have?—"
A knock cut me off.
"Come in," Zara said and pulled out of my arms. I hated the emptiness but allowed it as I caught the scent of my brother's mate.
"Hello?" said Aurora, pushing open the door. "Ciro sent me up to help."
Aurora looked at me and then at Zara.
"Maybe I start with the other female next door?"
She started to back away.
"No. You can help us both. We're both here."
Zara looked around and realized then that Aria had entered and was headed toward the washroom.
Zara stomped past me, leaving me with Aurora.
"Well, that was odd. I didn't think it was possible to be so cold to your fated mate," she said, looking at me and reaching for my hand.
"That's her, isn't it?" she asked as her face transformed into that of the adorable little female that my brother was so in love with. I wanted my mate to look at me like she looked at him, not like she looked at me now. With pity.
"There seemed to be a bit of miscommunication. Perhaps you can help her, and we will talk later."
She made an odd little squeal that I'd come to recognize was a female sign of excitement.
"Do not tell my mother until I have been able to communicate with Zara."
Aurora pretended to lock her lips and toss an invisible key aside.
"Sure, Tarek. Whatever you say. You dragons are so ridiculous. Let me go get our guests dressed so we can show them their new home. Mid-Morning meal is almost done. Pretend like Ciro didn't burn something called toast. It's from Maddie of the Crimson Reach dragons. She said humans love it."
I shrugged because I didn't give a damn about food while my mate seemed too ready to run from me. But I'd play this game. Anything that would win me, Zara.