Chapter 3 - Stryder

Outside the door where I have the woman locked away, it’s relief that washes over my entire being and soothes my primal dragon. The innate knowing that her life is in danger prevents me from heeding her demands.

She wants to go back, but something deep down tells me I can’t let her return to the mortal world. Whatever she says, I saw her being kidnapped with my own eyes. I watched as the van pulled off while she lay there with her head in a bag.

She was in danger, and her life was threatened. It’s not something I was willing to overlook. Even if I don’t know her name.

That reminds me…

Turning back to the door, I reach out toward the handle, wanting to go back inside and formally make our acquaintances. But then I withdraw my hand with hesitation, knowing that she’s probably going through a whirlwind of emotions right now.

She thinks we flew here on a jet-pack! Chuckling under my breath at how absurd that is, I shake my head as I make my way toward my bedroom at the end of the hallway. It’s not like I’ll miss anything by not finding out her name. After all, she’s a redhead and isn’t my type.

A croaky groan reverberates through my chest as I sink onto my bed and fold an arm behind my head. My behavior tonight is wildly out of place, rescuing a human and bringing her to the island.

I’ve never brought a human woman home before. My past escapades were strictly reserved for the mortal world with no intention of bringing them to the secret location where our identities are hidden. Yet, taking the redhead to Aurora Island felt like the most natural response to her dire situation.

It’s almost as if my dragon commanded my every move. I could have easily dropped her off at the nearest police station, leaving her in the capable hands of the mortal world’s law enforcement. It was the inner dragon who wouldn’t allow it.

Now, I’m forced to keep her a prisoner on the island until I’ve figured out what to do with her. She doesn’t even know that she’s on dragon shifter territory – she probably doesn’t even know we exist.

I’ll just have to weigh my options later. For now, I need to stop thinking about her penetrating blue eyes of accusation and why my dragonspirit heart refuses to take her back to the mortal world.

***

Yo, Stryder! Comes a mind link from Stryker. You in your bedroom?

Yeah. Why? I reply telepathically, fixing my tie and tossing my suit jacket over on shoulder on my way out.

I need a new shirt.

Don’t tell me you spilled coffee on yours… I chuckle. Knowing my twin and how clumsy he can be sometimes, it is no surprise that he needs to borrow a shirt from me.

Stryker clicks his tongue mentally. I’m coming up.

As soon as I hear his reply in my mind, I freeze on the threshold and gasp. If he comes up to the thirteenth floor, he might discover that the guest bedroom is locked and proceed to question me about it.

It’s been hard enough trying to be secretive about my true feelings toward the human mating process. It’s going to be another tough feat having to hide the human away.

Don’t come up, I warn mentally. I’ll bring one down.

Stryker remains oblivious, much to my relief. Even when I arrive on the twelfth floor of the castle to bring him a fresh shirt, he suspects nothing as we speak about the wedding.

A wedding I’m only looking forward to for the treats. As a dragon shifter, Stryker and I are considered the youths in the clan. With that comes the territorial need to indulge the sweet tooth of the inner dragon.

It’s not that I’m not happy for my brothers, who’ve seemed to find true happiness with their human mates. It’s just that their displays of affection prove to be tooth-achingly sweet, filling my gut with dread for the future. My future.

“Are you alright?” Stryker asks when we finally enter the elevator.

“We’re late,” I lie, glancing at my wristwatch. “You know how the Lady Dragon is when we’re late.”

Stryker chuckles beside me. “Lily isn’t as strict as she was before. Not since Tyson started waddling around. That boy reminds me…”

The rest of what Stryker jests about Lily and Draco’s son gets lost in my thoughts. The looming dread of what’s to come for me hangs in every mention, every encounter with my brothers, their mates, and their children. Now that the Aurora Dragon clan is growing, so is my desire to remain single.

It’s not like there isn’t enough mating going on in Aurora Island. Lily’s already pregnant with dragonspirit baby number two. Aragon and Yazmine welcomed their son, Dracon, a few months ago. The next-to-be parents in the Vulkan family are Felix and Sierra, who is two months ripe with their dragonspirit child.

There’s more than enough to carry the legacy of the Aurora Dragons and the Vulkan name. I don’t see why I need to be mated to a human, to be entrapped by their heedless desire for love and happily-ever-afters. I just don’t buy into any of it.

“Stryder!” Draco slaps my back playfully when we enter the living room. Everyone is scattered around in the final moments leading up to the wedding, some chatting while others fix the loose ends on their dresses.

“Hey, Draco,” I greet my eldest brother with a warm smile as he holds his son on one hip. “Hey! There’s my favorite nephew!” Despite my reluctance toward the human mating process, I can’t help but release all the negative thoughts at the sight of the gummy smile from the little boy who resembles his dragon shifter father. He makes a fist, and I gently bump it, grinning at him.

Dragonspirit children are special and hold a special place in my heart. That doesn’t mean I have to have my own, or that the kid will soften my heart toward the human mating process.

“It’s time!” the Lady Dragon, Lily, calls out. It sends the room of the Vulkan family into a buzz of excitement as everyone disperses and makes their way out to where Felix is to meet his bride, Sierra, at the altar.

Holding my nephew in my arms, I make my way out of the courtyard and over the bridge leading to the beach. The rest of the clan is gathered on the logs set out as benches along the sides of the aisle, waiting eagerly for the bride to emerge once Felix takes his place at the altar, with our father presiding as the officiant today.

When my brother’s eyes sparkle with wonder as his bride makes her way down the aisle with her father, I feel my stomach churning. It’s almost unbearable to watch, only the need to be present for my brother’s sake keeping me in the crowd to wait out their vows.

I never imagined love for myself. I’ve seen love between my parents and my brothers and their mates blossom. It’s enough love to go around for everyone, and I don’t need it for myself.

Only my responsibilities toward the Aurora Dragons would force me into a mating relationship with a human, to produce dragonspirit children. Still, I find myself rebuking the idea because of what I know to be true.

The human females picked by the Cube of Knowledge as my brothers’ mates all have one thing in common. They’re strong, independent women, who demand their males tap into their emotions and give them the love they deserve.

I was quite content with not bringing love into the mix regarding my endeavors with human females. One-night stands were the easiest, not getting too personal and not having to forsake my freedom for bodily pleasures.

As the crowd of Aurora Dragons cheers for Felix and Sierra when they kiss for the first time as husband and wife, I find myself turning my face the other way. The display of affection and love only drives in the fact that marriage and mating shackles a dragon shifter for eternity.

Not willing to give up my freedom, I know it won’t be long until I’m forced to do just that. For now, I can distract myself with the sweet offerings of food that don’t require tender love and care. So, I get to my feet as soon as I can, arriving at the tea table first.

“Beautiful, wasn’t it?” Stryker comments, the second to reach the treats.

I grab a plate and pile generous helpings of sweet treats and pies, ignoring his glee as he watches the bride and groom dance on the beach.

I’m steadily losing my appetite, shoving a custard slice into my mouth so I can hold onto some semblance of my sanity. Even the custard's sweetness loses efficacy when I spot Aragon passionately kissing his mate, Yazmine.

“Beauty is in the eye of the beholder, Brother,” I say sullenly as I swallow the mouthful of cake.

“Do you not find it beautiful? The sacred union between a dragon shifter and a human?”

I shrug diffidently. “It’s quite remarkable that dragon shifters become weak for their counterparts, yeah? I suppose there’s beauty in that entanglement.”

“Entanglement?” Stryker sneers. “You sound rather opposed to the process, Stryder. I thought—”

“I’m not opposed to it,” I quickly interject, realizing that perhaps I’d given too much away by my string of words that got the best of me. I plaster a smile and continue, “It’s beautiful in its unfamiliarity. It’s foreign territory. That’s what I mean.”

“It’s exotic,” Stryker smiles back, seemingly buying my words. “I think we’re rather blessed that we get to experience it. Soon, it’ll be your turn. Isn’t that exciting?”

“Hm…” I murmur, desperately seeking an escape and finding it in the form of Tyson waddling toward the treat table. “Nephew!” I call out, leaving Stryker’s side and chasing Tyson around the table.

My twin brother’s skeptical stare follows me as I tend to the toddler, but I decide to pay little attention to it. I know he senses that something is off – that I’m not being entirely honest with him.

Growing up together for nine-hundred-and-ninety-seven years made us inseparable. It also convinced everyone around us that we were always on the same page.

I don’t have the energy to explain that Stryker and I are reading different books. Not even Stryker would understand, and I don’t want him to be disappointed with me.

That’s it.

The realization hits me like a freight train, stopping me in my pursuit of my nephew to straighten up to gaze at the castle forlornly. Behind those walls on the thirteenth floor, lies another reason for my brother to be disappointed in me. I can’t even tell him that I’d rescued a human last night, and recklessly brought her to the island thanks to my dragon, who refuses to let her out of my sight.

As a cold shiver of regret passes through me, I know I can’t do more wrong by her. Stryker and I agree about one thing – humans don’t deserve the short end of the stick. Especially with Yazmine, who we’d grown close to during her study of Grandfather’s fossils on the island, we’d both beared the brunt of Aragon’s begrudging treatment toward her. It was something neither of us could stand to watch, and we knew instantly that kidnapping a human and holding her hostage in our quarters wasn’t something we’d do.

I can’t help but wonder when I decided to change that outlook on my own behavior. Frowning, I pick up the plate of treats I filled for myself and then take a look around me. When I notice that my twin has gone off to speak to Yazmine, I steal away from the wedding ceremony and quietly make my way to the castle.

If I can’t figure out why my dragon intends to keep the woman safe, the least I can do is treat her with the same hospitality I wished my older brothers showed their mates. Just because I’m reluctant to have a mate doesn’t mean I’ll treat a human badly.

When the elevator doors open up on the floor of my quarters, I step out and take a deep breath. I’m in no mood for another confrontation with the human. Not while I cannot make sense of my need to keep her around. I can barely offer her an explanation, so I decide to unlock the door, slide the treats onto the pedestal, and lock the door again.

I won’t be a heartless brute to a human, even if I can’t open my heart to the idea of human mates.