Chapter 3 - Felix

"Wow, Felix!" Kairo, my sister, marvels when she enters the guest bedroom. "You've really outdone yourself."

Chuckling nervously, I turn my face away when a blush starts to creep in. I shouldn't be as excited as I am, my heart doing strange flips inside my chest while butterflies flatter their wings in the pit of my belly.

It could just be anxiety rearing its ugly head, knowing that after today, I'll never be able to revisit my past. It's something I've been toiling with all night, waking up to put the final touches on the guest bedroom walls. Painting the last memories of the woman I love on the walls seems fitting.

Perhaps the woman I'm to mate with will fit into those memories and forge a future that fits us both. I never thought it would be possible to see anyone else's face between the fields of flowers. Now, I'm forced to do just that.

"I want her to feel welcomed," I admit. It's only partially true. The flowers I'd painted on the ivory walls were an ode to the secret I'd kept for so long.

"You're already doing much better than Aragon and Draco," Kairo giggles as she saunters around the room. "At least you're not kidnapping her and bringing her here by force."

I blow out a scornful breath. "I could never do that. They're just lucky the women they abducted fell for them."

Kairo comes over to the balcony, crouching to help me gather the paintbrushes. "Your mate will too, Felix."

I lift my head, brushing aside her comment with a gentle shake of my head. "I don't wish to take that kind of responsibility."

Kairo frowns, following me to her feet. "What does that mean? Do you not want to be loved by the woman who will bear children for you?"

I smile sheepishly, lugging the crate of paint supplies out of the bedroom. Kairo follows me quietly into the hallway, awaiting my response.

Sighing heavily, I turn to my sister and realize that she's mediating between me and the human I have yet to meet. The way I was the voice of reason for my brothers who'd been chosen in the human mating process before me.

Except, my case is a little different.

"It's not a requirement, Kai," I sigh. "If the human has agreed to come here, it's enough for me. She doesn't need to love me."

"Oh, but she will," Kairo insists as her lips lift in a wide smile. "You're the kindest dragon shifter I know. She won't have a choice but to fall in love with you."

"I hope not…" I mumble under my breath but put a smile on my face for my sister's sake. The last time a human fell in love with me, I left her without saying goodbye. The pain I've endured because of my own actions leaves me unwilling to break another heart.

The bell sounding out signals that the elevator has reached the tenth floor. Draco appears and throws me a smile.

"You ready, Brother?" he asks as he nears us.

I nod before taking a deep breath, fists curling at my sides to strengthen my resolve. Once I've made the journey to Louisa in North America, I'll be closing the book on the past and opening a new one.

The human woman—the private investigator's daughter—comes with a new slate. One that's clean, which I refuse to taint by the complications of love.

"Yes, I'm ready," I relent.

Draco pats my shoulder with encouragement. "Are you sure you don't want us to accompany you?"

"It's unnecessary," I say as the three of us approach the elevator. "Have you taken care of things with Violet?"

Draco clicks his tongue. "Lily and I are flying her out to Italy for her birthday. We'll meet her in the house we purchased there, show her a good time. It'll be fun."

I purse my lips. "She won't be suspicious?" I can't help but wonder if Lily's sister will accept that they live in Italy. The story with Lily's family goes that way, but her sister still felt the need to hire a private investigator to locate them. She doesn't seem to trust the story, and that's why we're here now—making a deal with the private investigator.

"She probably will be. The others have agreed to stop by occasionally to make her believe that we live there." Draco turns to me when we're inside the lift. "You should come by too."

"I will once my mate makes herself at home," I concede, recalling the past yet again.

I can't escape it, no matter how hard I try. Everything reminds me about her—like her wish to travel the world, Italy being at the top of her list of places she wished to visit.

Now, I'll have to live out her dreams with another woman. It's a tough pill to swallow, but one that I have to stomach.

***

The location I'd been given sends me to a suburban area in Louisa. I'm to meet with Diego Alverez and his daughter at his home and take the woman back with me to the island.

It sounds pretty straightforward, as easy as flying through the clouds with an invisibility cloak and landing effortlessly on the street. I hide behind the brick-faced house to shift into human form without being seen. I'm about to step out from the side when the screeching of tires down the road grabs my attention.

A red, dilapidated van with peeling paint appears from down the road, speeding all the way to Diego's house. It comes to an abrupt halt in the driveway, two men appearing from the back before the two in the front hop out.

"I'll get the door open. Bring her inside," the man with graying hair calls to the men at the back of the van.

"Yes, Diego," one of the two men concede with a curt nod.

What's going on?

Craning my neck from behind the fern bushes on the side of the house, I watch as the man steps inside the back of the van before reappearing, lugging a female body over his shoulder. I narrow my eyes, trying to figure out who the woman is, but her head is covered with a brown bag. The man carries her up the porch stairs and disappears inside, the others following until the door shuts with a loud thud.

What did I just witness? Is this a kidnapping?

The private investigator is up to no good; I can tell that much. Perhaps it's one of his quests, but something feels off.

What will his daughter think of this? Is she as crooked as he is?

All these questions flood into my mind, keeping me frozen to the spot until I'm snapped into reality. I have to help the woman they've kidnapped. I have to do something.

Stealing to the back of the house, I'm careful not to make a sound. It doesn't matter that the Council has made a deal with Diego Alverez.

I can't just stand by while he's clearly executing something illegal.

I make my way to the back entrance, confirming my suspicions when I witness Diego pulling up a chair and facing the woman. Spying through the back window, I can hear him speaking to her, though I can't see her face.

"There's no other option, mi hija ," he says, his voice faint as it carries to the back of the house. "My life is in danger, and you're the only one who can save me."

"H-how?" the woman croaks, the high-pitch in her voice attesting to the fact that she'd been crying.

"You are to be the weredragon's mate and bear children for him. In exchange, they will spare my life."

That's… That's his daughter?

I thought he assured Nimbus that his daughter agreed to this. Anger fuels the curling of my fists as I straighten up, eyes flitting around to make sure that the other men aren't around.

I can't believe this. I can't believe that he'd kidnapped his daughter, proceeding to lie to her that his life is in danger. The Council wasn't out to harm him. He's receiving a hefty sum of money for his silence and the security that his daughter will be taken care of.

I've just realized he doesn't care about her, driving in the anger. Breathing angrily, I'm about to kick the door down when Diego moves from the chair, and his daughter's crying face becomes visible.

I blink once… twice… a third time just to be sure that I'm not hallucinating. I can barely feel my heartbeat, the fine hairs on my neck prickling with attention.

It can't be… It's impossible…

Not the kidnapping. No.

The woman with her hands tied to a chair is none other than the woman bound to my heart.

Mi ángel…

Time freezes as my breath hitches in my throat, acrid bile rising to my throat as I witness fear cripple the features of the woman I love.

The human woman I'd left in the mortal world because I didn't think it would work out between us was the woman to be my mate.

I don't know if this is some twisted joke dealt by the Universe. If it is my punishment for leaving her, my penance comes in the form of knowing that I'll have to face her again.

Not before I save her from the clutches of her own father.

"You have no choice, Sierra," the man tells his daughter as he towers over her.

The mention of her name is all I need to know, and I imagine it's her. Still, the question of Diego Alvarez's motives remains.

He wasn't supposed to force her into anything she wouldn't agree to. The fact that he's forcing her means he cannot be trusted. Not to keep our secrets or deceive us once the exchange has been made.

"... Whether you believe me or not changes nothing," Diego goes on. "Weredragons exist, and your mate will be here to pick you up soon. Get it together."

Sierra drops her head, tears falling from her eyes and pooling on her light blue yoga pants. She was probably doing what she loved the most until her father snatched her by force.

The thought is horrendous, filling me with anger that has me seeing red. I take a step forward, about to unleash my wrath on the man, when I remember the Council's decision. Not to mention that there are humans around, and I can't risk being seen.

So I wait until the man has left the room, leaving a vulnerable Sierra to sob quietly to herself. I know I can't just swoop in there and risk letting her see my face. Not yet. Perhaps it's cowardly of me, but with the memories of the past flooding my mind and reminding me again that I love her, there's a dire need to protect her, too. To save her from her father, who she'd worked hard to run away from, chasing a better life.

Only to have him ruin it all over again.

I close my eyes and cloak myself in the haze of invisibility, just as my dragon is called to the fore. Shifting entirely, I walk through the wall thanks to the power of intangibility and pause.

I'm so close to Sierra, but she can't see me. Not yet. Not until we're safely out of harm's way. I grab the chair into my arms, scooping her up carefully. She gasps, frightened eyes flitting around as she tries to discern how she's hovering in the air. Her breath catches in her throat when my nose brushes against her cheek.

I know she's probably wondering where the heat is coming from. I have no choice but to extend my supernatural powers to her, cloaking her with both invisibility and intangibility to make it through the roof. I don't want to risk bursting through the ceiling. The only trouble is that when I've radiated the shield around her, she's able to see me.

"What?!" she exclaims, her tormented eyes widening with horror as she stares at my dragon face. She meets my reptilian eyes, pupils slitted and softening when they encounter the hazel depths I remember so clearly. All I can do is whimper to give her assurance as I flap my wings and send us out of her father's house.

All while my eyes are focused on her face, her heart-shaped lips trembling with fear as long, scaly fingers rip the chair apart from under her. The broken pieces crash to the ground behind the house just as Sierra's eyes roll to the back of her head, and a sigh escapes her lips.

She just passed out, but it's better this way. I'll take her to the island, where it's safe for her, away from her father.

But then again, I can't just leave him out here, in the mortal world, to deceive us. I'd much rather have him under permanent surveillance.

Aragon… Can you hear me? I send a mind link call to my younger brother, who promised to be on standby if anything changed.

Yes, Felix, what's up?"

I need you to come to Louisa and bring Diego Alverez into our custody.

Why? What happened?

I shake my dragon head, hovering over the house and watching Diego suspiciously as he speaks to his minions. I'll explain it later. But Diego cannot be trusted.

With that, I flap my wings and carry Sierra higher, above the clouds, with my pointed nose toward the island's direction. Thank the gods, she's passed out, so she doesn't have to see my human face just yet. I'll lay her down on the bed prepared in the guest bedroom in my quarters, and figure out how I'll face her.

I wasn't expecting to see her ever again. I'd made peace with that. Now, she is to be my mate, and I don't know if I'm capable of facing her after leaving her without notice.