Chapter 1 - Stryker

The tree rustling just outside the window is all I can hear right now, my father’s voice becoming distant and barely audible as I watch the leaves sway with the wind. A dance constructed by Mother Nature; I can’t help but picture myself doing the same.

Not alone, of course. But with the woman who’s meant to be my mate. I see her face clearly, her warm smile that reaches her sparkling hazel eyes, and imagine that she’s staring at me as I twirl her in a waltz around Aurora Island.

Gods… I miss seeing her face…

“Psst…” Felix nudges me in the ribs, jostling me from my daze and snapping my attention back to the meeting. “Earth to Stryker,” my older brother muses softly, lips curling in a satisfied smirk.

He knows exactly where my mind is going—to the human woman I’m meant to take as a mate, calculatedly picked out specifically for me thanks to the Cube of Knowledge. A technological advancement that has somehow been picking up the fated mates of all the Vulkan brothers before me, I’ve been highly anticipating having my turn come up in the human mating process.

The only difference is that I already know who my mate is. What did the Council think when they tasked me with transporting the Cube from Aurora Island to Samui Island last year?

I had to know who she was.

The only thing I’m waiting for is the go-ahead to seek her out actively. I’ve had to stick to the shadows all this time, not making myself known to her in the mortal world—in California, where she works as a tour guide in a local museum. I’ve also had to lie to my family, pretending I still have no idea who my mate is.

I glance over at Stryder, my twin brother, just as our Father gives us an update on the criminals my twin had helped to take down in the mortal world—a group of arms dealers who’d been on the radar of Stryder’s mate, Olivia. He’d taken them down, but not without exposing his dragon form. His face had been plastered all over the news, and we’d had to lie low for the past few months.

Especially since we share the same face. Because of his reckless behavior out there, I’ve been kept away from the mortal world.

Away from my mate.

Grunting my annoyance, I feign laughter when Father cracks a joke about the criminals who’d been captured. I’d barely paid attention to what he just said, but the gathering of my brothers and the members who form the Dragon Council of the four dragon clans spread across the four corners of the globe burst into lighthearted laughter.

They’d been watching the events of the arms dealer’s bust very closely, especially since Stryder’s face had been plastered all over the news in the mortal world thanks to police sketches. His punishment was having to remain on the island, and not being allowed to travel the mortal world until the news subsided.

It’s been my punishment, too.

My only consolation is that I haven’t been entirely honest with my twin. He’d been keeping secrets from me when he brought his mate, Olivia, to the island without telling anyone.

I’ve been keeping a secret of my own from him. I purse my lips when the laughter subsides, focusing on maintaining that secret without him catching wind of what I’ve been hiding from him for months. Because we’re twins, we share a connection, unlike the mind link we share with the rest of the Aurora Dragons. It’s been tough having to pretend that I don’t already know who my mate is, keeping the secret from the only brother who I’m the closest with.

It’s the only reason I’m able to forgive him for his actions that have prevented me from visiting the mortal world.

“It will come as a shock to them when we do decide to reveal our identity to the humans,” Felix comments.

“Of course,” Draco agrees. “But by then, those criminals will be long forgotten. Already, the news has turned to something else.”

The news comes highly anticipated, pulling all of my attention to the meeting I wasn’t interested in. “Does that mean it’s safe to travel to the mortal world again?” I perk up with hope, scratching the surface of my previous discontentment. As the youngest Vulkan brother, I’ve had to wait the longest for my turn in the human mating process.

With everyone unaware that I already know who she is, I’ve had to keep it to myself, wanting to follow every step the way the Council has set it out for us. Their instructions have been clear—since we’ll eventually reveal our existence to the mortal world, we cannot simply kidnap our mates and expect the forceful action to prove fruitful. It might have worked for both Draco and Aragon in the past, but the Council has since changed their methods since Draco suggested that we didn’t use force.

I’d never understood it, anyway. Kidnapping a human and bringing her to the island against her will never seem like the appropriate thing to do when we are meant to spend the rest of our lives with our mates. Thanks to Draco’s mate, Lily, who’s now the Lady Dragon alongside her Alpha mate, the Council soon realized their mistake and decided to change their methods.

Stryder was meant to let his mate, Olivia, fall in love with him organically before coming to the island. It was only when he found her in danger, that he was forced to snatch her from the mortal world and bring her to safety on Aurora Island.

As the last Vulkan brother in line to get my human mate, I have to do things the right way. My mate will fall in love with me out there, and I’ll reveal my identity to her, and she’ll agree to come back to the island with me, where she’ll bear my children.

“Yes,” Father turns to me, and to my delight, he nods. “That’s why we’ve called you here. Since you are allowed to travel again, it’s time you learned who your mate will be.”

I nod steadily, though I’m mentally doing cartwheels and rejoicing about this news.

Finally, I’ll get to go back to the mortal world, where I’d been keeping tabs on my human mate for months. This time, I can show myself to her, and not have to hide in the shadows and act as if I’m not excited for what’s to come. I’ve seen all my brothers find the happiness that lies in the arms of their mates.

It’s my turn now.

The only pretense I have to maintain is my surprise when the Cube of Knowledge is brought out, and my father unleashes its powers to bring forward the details of my human mate. The holographic image that appears in the air for everyone to see has her details highlighted in the air, but none of the information is new to me.

Camilla Torres. A twenty-seven-year-old female who works as a tour guide in a local museum. Her only family is her grandmother, who lives in an old-age home. I have to contain my excitement and stifle the urge to smirk knowingly. All eyes are on me, but I can’t slip up now.

If the Council knew that I sneaked a preview of my mate long before my time, I’d be subjected to some form of punishment. I can’t afford another bout of punishment for my own wrongdoings.

Little do they know that I’ve already paid dearly thanks to Stryder’s mess in the mortal world.

Being away from Camilla for months was enough penance I needed to serve for sneaking a preview of my mate. I’ve suffered enough when I discovered her and had to stay away for months up until now.

When a photograph of Camilla Torres is printed, and I’m handed her picture, I don’t even need to inspect it. My heart does a silly flip in my chest when I glance at the photograph, her honey-golden eyes glimmering as if filled with stardust. It’s those eyes that I’d been drawn toward whenever I visited the States. I’d frequented the Fresno Museum so many times just to catch a glimpse of those eyes, that I’d become a part of the monuments displayed in the gallery.

Those eyes had me spellbound to the promises of the future where she’d be my mate, dancing with me under the stars that glitter the Aurora Island skies, where bliss and fortune await us just as they had found my brothers.

Tucking the picture in my pocket, I don’t dwell too much on the frozen frame when I’m allowed to see her in the flesh once more. For months, I’d been kept a prisoner on this island, bound by my twin’s recklessness and the secret I’d been keeping for almost a year. Now that I’m free to explore my mating experience, I can’t wait to get to the mortal world and twirl Camilla into my arms.

I didn’t ever think that I’d be hypnotized by a human. We’d spent centuries going back and forth between the mortal world and the island, yet no one I’d ever met before was able to capture my attention the way she had.

I know it’s because she’s my fated mate, and destiny has a strange way of changing a dragon shifter. Though I never liked pointless pursuits of females in the mortal world, I didn’t ever think that I’d be disarmed by the way Camilla could hypnotize me.

She doesn’t even know who I am yet. I’ve not uttered a single word to her. Now that the time has come for me, I can do exactly as I’m told.

“As you already know, the Council has decided to make our existence known to the mortal world in due time…” Nova, the Fire Force Clan’s elder, addresses me when he says this. “... Because of this, you’ll be required to follow through with the plan we’d initially set out for Stryder.”

I nod slowly. “You want me to introduce myself to the human and make her fall in love with me before she agrees to come to the island,” I say, my words sounding as rehearsed as the plan had been drilled into my mind. That’s always been the plan, even if I’d been watching Camilla for months before today.

Nova concedes with a nod, seemingly proud of my dedication to the course, when his brows lift. “Gods speed, Stryker Vulkan,” he smiles. “Let’s hope that nothing deters your plan. Your mate is simply a tour guide. She doesn’t have a barrage of danger following her trail.”

I can’t help but chuckle bemusedly as the Council members and my brothers leave the boardroom on that parting note. When it’s just my twin and I left in the room, I turn to him, forcing the connection between us away, to the deepest recesses of my being.

When he brought Olivia to the island, he’d kept it a secret from me. I witnessed how that secret gnawed on his conscience until he had no choice but to tell me the truth. With the special connection we share, because we’re twins, he’d sense that I was hiding something. I have to maintain an oblivious smile when he asks,

“Are you alright, Stryker?”

I just don’t have it in me to tell him about the secret I’ve been keeping from him. Stryder thinks that I’m a lot like him, and I wouldn’t want to disappoint him with the truth that I’ve never been interested in baser pursuits the way he was before he fell in love with his mate.

Even without love to solidify the inevitable bond Camilla and I will share soon; I know that it’s only a matter of time before it happens. I want this to be perfect, the way the Council wants it to be. I’ll do as I’ve been told, and plant the seed from which love will naturally grow from Camilla. I might not feel love for her, but the threads of the fated mate bond have already been woven. For me, my seeds were planted months ago, but being kept away from the mortal world seems to have kept a veil over the sunlight it needed to grow.

“Yeah,” I shrug. “I’m just…” I cough to clear my throat, “... nervous,” I admit. It’s hardly a lie. Now that the time has come, a flicker of doubt rears its unwelcome head. Perhaps it’s because we’re alone now, and I’m reminded of our differences despite how uncanny our resemblance is. We might look the same, but Stryder and I couldn’t be more different when it came to women.

Human women, to be exact.

He frowns, magnifying our differences. He doesn’t believe that I would be nervous. After all, he’s never had to worry about wooing a woman. With his long line of pursuits under his belt, Stryder never had trouble in that department. On the other hand, I wasn’t interested in being wild.

At least over the past couple of decades. I’d calmed down so much, that even I could not recognize myself. Perhaps I always knew, deep down, that one day, the Aurora Dragons would be allowed to have mates to quell their desire for reproduction.

“Nervous? What for?” my twin asks confusedly.

“What if…” I gulp as the unruly talons of anxiety creep to the top of my throat, leaving a bitter taste of reality on my tongue. The words I’ve been trying to put a lid on end up slipping out, betraying my valiant act of brevity. “What if she doesn’t like me?”

“Like you?” Stryder scoffs, placing a hand on my shoulder that makes me feel foolish instead of comfort. “She will not like you, Brother. She will love you.”

Those are the words of encouragement I needed to hear, but somehow, they don’t have the desired effect. Perhaps it’s because I’d spent too much time becoming acquainted with Camilla’s presence from afar, that now I have to make the actual leap. I’m not sure if I have it in me. “Easy for you to say. You have a perfect relationship with Olivia.”

Internally, I grouch. Back when Aragon kidnapped his mate, Yazmine, my twin brother and I agreed that our older brother’s methods weren’t humane enough to earn him the love Yazmine freely gave him. Mistakes were made in the past, and Stryder and I wanted to do things differently.

Until he couldn’t and ended up kidnapping his mate to the island. It wasn’t his fault for going against his better judgment, but I can’t help but feel slightly regretful for the actions of my older brothers.

No human deserves to be snatched from their lives to fulfill the demands of a dragon clan they didn’t even know existed before their arrival on the island.

“Not without going through many trials before we got here,” Stryder admits with a sigh. “But if there’s one thing I know, it’s that our fated mates have no choice but to fall in love with us. Just as we fall in love with them.”

I can’t help but smile proudly when he confesses this little fact that brings back hope. “You really have changed, Brother. It’s refreshing to see.”

“Yeah, well…” he shrugs. “... You could say I’ve finally grown up.”

I see it for myself, feeling pride swell my chest as I stare at my twin. It’s almost like staring at my reflection, seeing his green eyes twinkling.

Feeling somewhat foolish for keeping a secret from him, I decided it might be time to come clean.

Who better to understand me than my twin brother?

“Will my very grown-up twin brother accompany me to the mortal world to see my mate? I could use a wingman,” I suggest with a grin. We could share a drink or two, and I’ll tell him that I’ve been watching Camilla from a distance for a few months.

“Of course…” he begins, then pauses, his eyes saddening with a sense of apology. “Maybe tomorrow?”

“Sure, no problem,” I agree with a smile, though it disheartens me that he isn’t as excited as he would have been a few months ago to visit the mortal world. I know it’s because he has a mate now, and his daughter is a newborn. Now is not the time to tell him about my personal life.

He has one of his own.

“See you around, Stryder,” I bid him as I make to leave. Hiding my disappointment, I don’t want Stryder to feel bad for changing his priorities.

Maybe if I’d been honest before, I wouldn’t feel this way. I don’t blame him.

All my brothers have families of their own now.

What’s left is for me to find my happiness out there, and bring my mate, Camilla, to the island.

With a new sense of determination fueling my steps, I make my way to the elevator to take me to the ground floor, where I’ll leave for the mortal world. Fresno, California, to be precise. That’s where I’ll find Camilla, pick up where I left off three months ago, and take the leap of faith to introduce myself to her.

What could go wrong, right?

Unless she doesn’t like me…

“Stryker!”

Father stops me in the hallway; something about his powerful, magnetic aura indicates that he’s about to tell me something important as he marches forward. I have no idea what it could be since the most important moment in my life had just come to light when they revealed my human mate to me. It’s only my own trepidations that overpower the magnitude of what just happened back there.

I’m the last male of the Vulkan family to learn about his human mate and be given the chance to produce offspring for the dragon clan to preserve our kind.

But right now, Father exudes the magnificence of his former Alpha position amongst the Aurora Dragons. As an immortal, it seems that the innate nature of his leadership will never die.

It compels me to bow my head just as he places a hand on my shoulder.

“I’m glad I found you before you left,” he says, prompting me to look up with a frown.

A million and one probabilities race through my mind.

What could be wrong now?

“What is it, Father?”

His eyes turn down gloomily, and it causes my heart to skip a beat. I know that look all too well—he had that same look on his face when he told me that I couldn’t visit the mortal world three months ago.

“You’ll have to put your quest on hold for a while,” he explains.

“Why?” I ask dejectedly. Despite my inhibitions and doubts, I’d just built up enough courage to go through with this on my own.

As the youngest sibling of the Vulkan family, I feel like I’m the unluckiest.

“It’s just for a few days,” he assures me with a curt, reassuring nod. “The Council has just informed me that we’re going through with the Dragon Ball this weekend. I want you to be in attendance.”

I sigh, but do my best not to show my father my disappointment. “Of course, Father,” I bow again. “I’ll be there.”

Father smiles proudly before leaving me at the elevator doors just as they slide open. If three months away from my future mate wasn’t enough, I now have to crawl through another few days that will only serve to remind me of my loneliness on the island.

Great!

I’ll just have to put a lid on my excitement to finally meet my human mate in the mortal world. Perhaps, by then, I’ll build up the courage to approach her and put to rest these uncouth feelings of unworthiness that seem to be creeping up as nervousness.

What do I have to lose, anyway? She’s just a human, after all. What could possibly go wrong?