Chapter 9 - Felix

Overhearing some of Sierra and Kairo's conversation fills me with hope. Deciding to give her some space and time to adjust, I head down for the day. I know my sister will take good care of Sierra, even if I want to stuff for her. I'd love to walk down memory lane—to make Sierra breakfast from scratch and take it to her in bed. To kiss her forehead as her eyelids flutter open and witness a smile grow on her face when she sees me.

The memories of simpler times squeeze my heart with the recognition of the pain I must have caused her. To say that we'd been happy while we lived together in that small apartment would be putting it mildly.

While I watched Sierra chase her dreams, nudging her forward, I couldn't help but believe that things would never work out between us. We were from different worlds, and roping her into mine would have stolen her ambitions and the future she deserved.

Now that she's here, even if by force, I know this is the second chance I'd been dreaming about.

I just can't face the resistance she's feeding me. Though I wasn't planning on ever facing her again, now that she's here, there's so much I wish I could do.

All in good time, I assure myself mentally, stepping into the kitchen where I find Kairo dishing up a plate of food.

"Is that for Sierra?"

Kairo nods. "She's a lovely girl," she praises. "But you're doing what the others did."

Realization dawns on me with a sigh. "Right… About that… There's no need for her to be locked up. I was simply taking precautions."

Kairo narrows her eyes at me. "What did you think? That she was gonna run away?" She scoffs. "Sierra wishes to explore the island. She doesn't want to leave."

"She—she doesn't?" I frowned in confusion. Just yesterday, Sierra had been adamant that she wanted to leave and go back home. "Are you sure?"

"Gosh!" Kairo rolls her eyes at me. "Of course, I'm sure. She likes the stillness of the island, and I understand that all too well. She might even like you already."

I'm taken aback and curious to learn more. "Like me? What makes you think so?"

Kairo giggles into her shoulder. "Well, when I knocked on her door, she must have thought it was you. She told me to come in very seductively."

My heart skips a beat, blood rushing through me with a sense of adrenaline.

"Really?"

My sister nods. "And when I went in, she was in nothing but a towel."

I feel the heat rising on my cheeks. "Oh."

"Uh-huh." Kairo pats my shoulder as she passes me. "If you ask me, she was hoping it would be you walking through that door."

Internally, I feel giddy, my heart skipping a couple of beats as I'm left stunned. Has Sierra changed her mind about me? Decided to give me a chance?

It seems she hasn't told Kairo about our history. Does that mean she's letting me off the hook? Agreeing to the clean slate I offered? I'm too dumbfounded to move, and my strong urge to go upstairs was only disrupted when Draco sent me a mind link reminding me that I was supposed to meet with him this morning.

Shaking my head to mentally remove the images I have of Sierra standing in a towel and waiting for my arrival, I grab an apple and head to the study.

"Sorry, Draco," I apologize as I enter. "I was taking care of some things with Kairo."

Draco lifts his head from his computer and grins bemusedly. "Is our little sister acting as the mediator again?"

I grimace as I cross the room. It seems Kairo is always there to be the bridge between her brothers and their human mates. I thought it would be different in my case; I was counting on it. I hated the idea of using force only for her own father to do exactly that.

"I'm afraid so. Diego Alverez has caused more damage than good," I lie. I don't have the guts to admit to my eldest brother that the human girl is someone I know. Someone I'd fallen madly in love with, only to leave her.

"Speaking of Diego…" Draco changes the subject, much to my relief. "What are we gonna do with him?"

Shrugging my shoulders, I take a seat across the table, pursing my lips contemplatively. "Have you spoken to Nimbus?" I ask Draco, to which he nods. "...And?"

My brother sighs. "He believes that the Council has already done enough. We should handle the rest from here."

"The Council has done enough?" I sneer scornfully. "Of course they did, by trusting the wrong man."

"No one knew he would deceive his daughter," Draco reminds me. "That only means that he cannot be trusted."

"No," I shake my head. "Diego is a crooked man. If we do take him back, he'll need to be under constant surveillance."

"We can't afford that either. If he opens his mouth, who's to say we'll get there in time?"

I open my mouth to reply when the parted window in the study allows for a gentle breeze to carry over the sound of fragrant laughter. Sweet and lilting, the sound is already etched into my mind, thanks to the past. As it resounds now, I'm compelled to follow it like a trail of breadcrumbs. My feet move off their own accord, carrying me forward as if I'm a starved man following the aroma of food.

When I reach the window, I spot the source of that beckoning sound as Sierra and Kairo walk down the stone path toward the bridge. Sighing with a sense of yearning gripping my heart, I stare at Sierra's back as the breeze billows out her colorful kaftan, swaying enticingly as if calling me to follow her.

I would follow her to the ends of the Earth and beyond, I realize. I wouldn't stop following her if only she'd be the one to call out to me.

"Felix…"

The call isn't the one I'm longing for. It's Draco from behind me, snapping me out of my daze. Jolted back, I turn around with clouded vision.

"What's wrong?" he frowns when his eyes meet mine, rushing off the chair and cautiously coming forward. He reaches out a hand on my shoulder, and that's all it takes for me to finally let loose.

Those pent-up emotions I'd been keeping to myself for the sake of being strong come crashing forward. It's not until the sob lodged in my throat is choked out that I realize the weight of everything I'd been holding back.

Draco remains silent as he gives me the space to be vulnerable for a change. It's always me who has the answers, the advice. This time, it's my turn to face the hard fact that I have no idea how to deal with my human mate. Only because the situation isn't as easy as it seems.

When I'm done pouring my tears out from their hiding place, I sniff and steel my shoulders, assuring my brother that I'm done.

"Want a drink?" he offers, making a rather tense situation much easier.

"A drink?" I chuckle. "Only if it's strong enough."

"Of course," Draco winks as he heads to the drinks cabinet on the wall. Unlike the liquor in the human world, our drinks are steeped in dragon claw—a special plant that amplifies the effects of alcohol in our systems. Because of our fast-working metabolisms, ordinary liquor burns out almost as soon as it's down a dragon shifter's throat.

The thought of having a laced drink is welcome right now, but when Draco passes me the whiskey glass, I'm again reminded of the first time I met Sierra.

"Fuck…" I murmur under my breath, taking the whiskey from Draco and staring at the surface as if I'm contemplating if I should drink it.

"Drink up and talk," Draco suggests, chugging down his drink.

"I wish it was as simple as that," I huff, still staring at the surface of the drink and seeing the pools of Sierra's amber eyes staring back at me.

She haunts me even when she's right here, on the island.

Draco perks up a brow at me. "Your life seems pretty complicated since yesterday. Out of everyone in the family, you were the most promising brother. Are you gonna tell me what's going on?"

Sighing, my shoulders drop regretfully when I realize there's no point in hiding. I just broke down in front of my eldest brother, the alpha of the Aurora Dragons. There's no point in keeping this a secret any longer. I've done it for seven years, which should be a drop in the ocean of time for a dragon shifter. Yet, it felt like a lifetime to me.

"I—" I pause, swallowing down my hesitation and puckering up my resolve. "I know Sierra."

"Your human mate?" Draco cocks his head to one side.

I nod. "Yes. I know her."

"It's only been a day, Felix, I don—"

I click my tongue to stop him. "I mean, I know her from before," I explain, running a hand through my hair. "I know her from the mortal world."

"On one of your travels?"

"The last one. We er—we had a relationship."

Draco stares at me blankly for a long time before he blinks. "You had a fling with the human who's here to be your mate?"

"No," I admit regrettably, hanging my head in shame. "We were madly in love. She was the reason why I didn't return home for another year."

Draco's brows rise as realization dawns on him. "I thought you didn't come back because you wanted to experience what having a mortal job felt like."

"Yeah…" I sigh, plopping on the couch with the whiskey glass still untouched in my hand. "... I wanted to experience that, experience moving in with the woman I love, experience supporting her in her dreams, and everything that's meant to follow. I didn't get to the part where we get married and have a family."

"Lemme guess…" Draco offers. "... She didn't know you're a dragon shifter until today?"

"And I didn't know it was possible that we could have human mates until recently," I murmur. "And I didn't know that she would turn out to be my match until yesterday."

"Ah, Felix…" Draco sighs. "What did you do?"

I look up with a grimace. "I left her without saying goodbye."

Draco stares at me blankly again, his disappointment making me feel worse than I do. Out of all the brothers, I guess I'm the one he least expected to break a woman's heart.

I was only doing it to spare her.

"Is she willing to talk to you?" Draco asks.

"Not really," I admit shamefully. "She didn't want to speak to me yesterday, but Kairo seems to think she's changed her mind. I just can't face her rejection again."

"Well, considering you abandoned her in the first place, you deserve to be rejected right now."

I groan internally, only because I know that Draco is right. Deep down, all I want to do is reach out and cradle her cheek, stare deeply into her eyes, and call her "mi ángel" again in the sultry voice that had her craving me, intoxicated by my mere presence.

Sighing, I look up at my brother sullenly. "Do you think she'll ever forgive me?"

Draco ponders this for a moment, filling me with dread before he says, "Of course, she will. It's you, after all."

"What does that mean?"

"You're the only one who knows how to truly woo a human woman," Draco smiles. "Remember, it was you who told me and advised me that I needed to sweep her off her feet."

"I did it before," I reply with sadness as I recall the past. "I don't know if my methods will work this time."

"So change them," he suggests. "She's probably changed since then. So have you. But if there's one thing I'm sure of, it's that true love never dies. No matter the circumstances."

I nod slowly, realizing that he's right again. I didn't consider that Sierra had changed, and she might not have accepted the things she used to accept. Perhaps she'll appreciate my authenticity more than ever. Before, she didn't know who I really was.

An idea pops into my mind as a whistle blows on the field outside. Smiling at Draco, a flicker of hope ignites in my soul.

"I have to stop being a coward," I say, deciding that I will face her without the fear of being rejected.