10. Rehan

CHAPTER TEN

REHAN

W aves crashed on the surf before sweeping back into the vast ocean, isolating our island. My inner beast calmed with the sound, but didn't stop his pacing in the back of my mind.

Our mate wasn't with us. We needed to go to her. Fix this. His thoughts played on an endless loop, but my human mind knew better. The sun beat down on the dark sand beach. I imagined the hot rays pinning me in place and forced calm into my muscles. Good things came to those who waited.

"Dad's gonna kill you," my teenage brother said, kicking sand onto my arm as his shadow blocked my sunbathing.

I sat up. With a thought, my tail grew out of my tailbone and knocked my brother on his ass. I pulled him to my side and gave his hard head a solid noogie while he attempted to squirm out of my grip. Once I'd gotten my point across, I released him. He scrambled back, his annoyed smile betraying him.

I grinned. Annoying sibling or paranoid ancient wizard, family was everything to me and all water dragons. "You're too serious, Bret."

"You broke the rules, and you don't regret it." Bret kicked some sand at me. "I can see the smirk on your face!"

"Rules were made to be bent, and I don't." I grinned. "Knowing Tyson can't lay a hand on my mate is the only reason I can be here and not storming down his door."

Bret's eyes swam. "But you lost."

I growled; my scales rippled across my body. "I didn't lose."

"Your mate's not here so… " Bret trailed off, stabbing the sand to avoid my glare.

I took a calming breath. My brother wasn't wrong. "She will be."

Bret raised a skeptical eyebrow.

"Tyson's a hot head, and she wears my mark." I smirked and lay back down. Not every bonded pair worked out. I was banking on that. "There's something different about her." I pictured her mud-covered face, the way her body felt pinned by mine. "My magic has never reacted to another like that. I won't know until we spend more time together, but once she's in my bed, I'll uncover her secrets."

Bret wrinkled his nose. "Icky, Re."

I grunted. "I say that every time mom finds a crusty sock next to your computer."

Bret turned bright red, and I chuckled.

A dragon landed at my back followed by a gruff voice. "Rehan, I have the information you asked for."

I shot up like a bullet and bolted to my security officer's side. Not quite as tall or bulky as me, the shifter still looked the part. A few tattoos crossed his built chest. He kept his light blue hair tightly cropped and his lower half armored in scales.

"Report," I demanded.

The man handed me a tablet out of a tattered backpack. I unfurled my wings to give us enough shade to see the screen in the glaring sunlight. Every detail, from Tyson's girlfriend showing up, to the pile of rubble removed from his apartment, pointed to precisely what I predicted. The fire dragon was frustrated and not responding well.

"The healer on duty stepped out before Betty woke," my officer continued while I skimmed. "She was the last to wake and had to be given a shot to pull her out of unconsciousness. I was unable to track down who administered that shot. However, bystanders reported a Priestess of the Air Temple leaving the tent."

I nodded, unsure what to do with this bit of information.

"Betty still cannot speak," my officer stated.

I jerked up from my reading. "Still?"

"Apparently, Scalehive sedates the girls and silences them on their journey here, so they have no way of identifying our island."

I didn't like that, but there wasn't much I could do about it.

My officer brought up a PDF with the name "Betty Strop'' across the top and her details. I did a cursory scan. She hadn't been in my arms for long, but even her name felt off. Tukaqu's warnings whispered in my ear. I'd discounted my grandad's words, and I still wanted to, but nothing about this felt normal.

Especially not my mate in the arms of another dragon.

"You stole that from Scalehive?" Bret piped up, his eyes wide. "They are the only neutral force on the Island. No one steals from them!"

I raised an eyebrow at my officer, grateful for my brother's lack of tact.

"It was surprisingly easy," he admitted. "Their usual security wasn't in place. I'd report it, but it would lead to uncomfortable questions."

I nodded. "I'm sure someone's been informed."

"Jesus, you marked something that looks like that?" Bret blurted, peering at the tablet in my hands.

My security officer cocked his head to the side, clearly catching Bret's reference to mate marks. I clenched my fist and fought not to strangle my only little brother.

A wave crashed on the beach. I followed the water line until the next wave swallowed it up. Pulling my shoulders back, I met my security officer's gaze. He wasn't just my security officer but my family's. I'd yet to report to my dad or grandad I'd marked Giggles. They didn't need to know until she was back in my arms. However, saying that out loud would gain me nothing. Either our officer would keep quiet or fill in the family. It was out of my hands.

"Thank you, keep me updated," I said.

"On your mate's dalliances with another dragon?" My officer asked evenly.

I shifted my jaw so fast the man didn't get a chance to blink before I bit him. He did, however, get the scales on his shoulder into a solid light blue shield before my teeth sank in too far. I released his shoulder and dropped, kicking his legs out from under him before transforming my hands into razor-sharp claws and poking one into a chink in the scales running up his neck.

"She's mine," my dragon snout garbled the words, but the man got the point.

"She's yours," he repeated, relaxing in my grip.

My dragon receded, and I stood, holding my hand for my officer. He took it, straightening his clothing and averting his eyes so he didn't come across as challenging. Smart man. Although, I was a hair's breadth from apologizing for losing control, I stopped myself. This man wasn't my friend. He was just as likely to hand over everything he learned to Tukaqu.

And then what? Would my grandad approve? If he didn't, he'd call a family meeting…and if in the meeting they decided Giggles wasn't right, what would I do? I wanted her in my life. Even if it was just the magic of The Hunt still pulling us together, the spark of new, of something different, burned. I refused to let it go out.

I excused my officer. He shifted into his dragon and headed directly inland toward Tukaqu's manor house and my family.

"I'm sorry, Re," Bret watched my officer.

I rubbed the top of his head. "You're a dragon, Bret. Don't apologize. Tukaqu would have guessed from the information I asked for. I made my own bed by keeping this from him."

But a guess wasn't something he'd act on, he demanded facts. I whipped my tail against the sand. Best case scenario, he'd sit on the information until after the elemental mixer.

I focused on my mate again—my future. I felt her, a faint dot in my consciousness, somewhere in fire territory. She wore my mark. Tyson could do nothing. In less than two days, I'd be dressed to impress at our second elemental event of the year—an evening of socializing with our opposites and finding mates from those who needed a second chance.

Giggles would be there, waiting for me. I'd take her in my arms and show Tyson everything he would never have. She'd cling to my chest as I flew her back to water territory, far away from the other elements. My dick twitched just thinking of her between my legs.

The next two days couldn't go by fast enough.