2. Chapter Two

In all my years as a dragon shifter, which the last time I counted was thirty-two, I'd never encountered a woman who looked so scared of me. Some gawked. Some swooned. But never feared me.

This little fairy looked like I'd threatened to end her life.

Though, the blonde wasn't where she was supposed to be by any means.

The bridge was off-limits to humans, and she was definitely that, a human. She was small, portable, and something about the look in her baby-blue eyes intrigued me. Which was a new one. The number of dragons and humans that flung themselves at a Dragon Prince was embarrassing.

Then she ran away as if I would blow fire on her and burn her to death.

Like I would ever ...

"Dorron."

My mother's shrill voice came from behind me. I turned to see her standing at the entrance to the bridge, the moonlight brightening her ageless face, and the elegant dress she wore for the occasion.

The Dragon Reign.

It was the day dragon shifters were accepted into society, and no longer looked at as beasts. However, we all knew there was a beast inside of all of us.

Especially my mother.

She stepped out onto the bridge, the trail of her dress dragged against the cobblestone floor, and her stark white hair shimmered in the moonlight. "Where on Earth have you been, Son? You disappeared after dinner, and your father and I need to speak to you. Why are you lollygagging on the bridge?"

Of course, they did. It was a twice-a-day occurrence at our house. It jumped from their attempt to arrange a marriage for me, to the responsibilities of becoming King when I did marry.

"Why you go wandering the castle during Dragon Reign will never make sense to me. It's our Independence Day. We should be celebrating together. Not playing hide-and-seek in search of our grown son."

Tilting my head, I walked over toward my mother and cradled her face, because I knew she hated it, and pinched her cheek. "Honestly, Dorron. Grow up. Maybe you'll find a bride if you do."

"Oh Mother, don't worry, I'll find a gold digger before you know it, and I can be as happy as you and Father."

She inhaled sharply, her dark eyes narrowed to slits. "How dare you, Dorron. I suggest you watch your tongue, or I'll do it for you."

"Right," I said, stepping around her. "You'd just hire a maid to do it like you did when I was young."

I jolted down the steps that would take me into the depths of the castle, following the scent of cigars and my father's aftershave. I knew he'd be in his big leather chair in our sitting room because it made him feel normal to do so.

My mother's hurried footsteps followed, but I didn't wait for her. She knew the way. My brother—Damien—sat on the sectional, staring at the fireworks from the floor-to-ceiling windows across the room.

He looked just like our mother, down to the mole on his upper lip and the stick up his ass. "Late as always," he said, pushing back his hair.

"Kissing ass, as always," I said, sitting down beside him.

We were opposites, and not just physically. Damien would make a great King if only he'd been born first.

Dad cleared his throat and glanced up from something on his phone. "Dorran, I'm glad you're here. We've heard from The Eastern Kingdom. They want to introduce you to some of their maidens. We're having a ball next weekend."

Damien smiled over at me, and I fought the urge to knock his teeth down his throat. I wouldn"t have been surprised if a ball was his idea. The bastard. "A ball? What is this the 1800s? I'm not dancing with a bunch of random gold-diggers out to get our money and title."

Dad sighed and swiped his glasses from his slender nose and placed them on top of his head full of salt-n-pepper hair. "Not this again, Son. You have to marry to get the crown. Why can't you just find a nice dragon to settle down with?"

"Like you and Mom?" I asked, not trying to keep the sarcasm out of my voice.

Dad's eyes flickered red, and I figured I better not test him. "Okay," I said, leaning back and letting my head rest against the couch. Then something struck me.

"Can we invite the kingdom?" I asked.

Dad looked confused. "You've seen all these dragons ten million times. Why would we invite them again?"

I nibbled on the side of my lip. Because I wanted to see her again. The little blonde troublemaker from the bridge. I'd just landed there because it was a quicker route to my room. I was over the fireworks, it was the same every year, but this time, she waited on me. My dragon was attracted to her. Everything about her. Her scent. The color of her hair. The way her mouth opened in shock at the sight of us.

Was she my mate? She ran off so quickly that I couldn't be sure.

"Humans, too," I said.

My mother's teacup fell to the floor and shattered. "Honestly, Dorran. You want to mate with a human?"

I shrugged. "Are we being racist, Mother?"

"Of course not, Dorran. You know my grandmother was a human—,"

"Then what is the issue?" I asked, standing up and walking toward the stairs. "Make the announcement. I'll be the dragon all the gold-diggers are tossing themselves at and trying helplessly to live up to my parents" expectations of me."

Mother hissed something under her breath, as I jogged toward my room. The fireworks were almost over when I slipped out my window and nose-dived into the midnight air.

The cool September breeze blanketed me. There was something about flying at night that fed my soul.

With her scent still fresh with me, I followed it toward the wall and landed with a gentle thud. It led me toward a Victorian house built right against the wall.

She must have leaped from her rooftop to the wall and walked down the path to the bridge. It was a perfect path for her and her friend to break the law.

I leaped toward the roof and stalled when I realized that her scent went toward the attic window. Had she snuck out to see the fireworks? She looked young, but not that young. God, I hoped she wasn"t a teenager. That was one rumor we didn"t need floating around the kingdom. Me lusting after a child.

Bending down, which was harder than it looked with a dragon's height, I peered into the darkened window. There was no movement, but I could hear her breathing. It wasn't even enough for her to be asleep. She was pretending.

Why?

Her bedroom door cracked open, and I ducked out of view, to see the silhouette of someone before they shut the door behind them. Her mother? It smelled like a woman.

Curiosity got the best of me, and I glanced back into the window to see movement, and then the light of a laptop brightened the room.

She knew her mother would check on her.

Her face lit up with the screen. Her elfish features were pretty, her mouth lush and her cheekbones high.

It was natural beauty all the way. Something I didn't see too often in the kingdom. The amount of face paint these girls wore made it hard to see their true features beneath it.

For the briefest of moments, I felt sorrow for her, which was weird. Dragon Shifters didn't sense others" emotions. Then she glanced up. A soft gasp slipped from her mouth.

Her gaze settled on mine, and she froze as if I couldn't see her if she didn't move.

Smiling, I put my finger up to my mouth and fought the urge to break into a human's window. What would it make my family look like if I snuck into a human girl's house, and had my way with her?

Nothing good would come of it.

She nodded gently, her breathing picking up, as she attempted to scoot to her headboard and hide behind her laptop.

I stood up, and bolted into the sky, ignoring the tug in my chest.

I'd see her at the ball, and I'd judge why this little human intrigued me so much.