13. Rhod

Chapter 13

Rhod

I woke to the sound of voices nearby. At first, I was confused and my muddled head couldn't make out where we were. I was held down by something heavy, and it took me a moment to realise that it was Glenwise's large dragon form.

The voices got louder as they got nearer.

"This way. We're nearly there."

"You're going to love it."

"Come on."

I recognised two of the voices. Seren and Morgan. The other voice was deeper, one of the Hoskins clan.

Suddenly realising what that meant, I scrambled up. They were coming here, to the beach .

Glenwise and I had stayed all night. He'd brought me here last night, when everyone else was busy and we'd be guaranteed to be alone. It had been so beautiful, so perfect. He'd held me and made love to me on the sand, and then wrapped me up in his strong form. I'd felt perfectly content and safe.

Now, though, the voices were near and our little cocoon was about to be disturbed.

I sprayed sand everywhere as I scrabbled around for my clothes. The beach was surrounded by tall cliffs, which meant it was only accessed by the Hoskins clan and their guests, using the steps that were cut into the rocks.

At least, I assumed the people were using the steps instead of flying down in their dragon form, if I could hear them talking.

We were just out of sight of the steps, which meant I couldn't see how many of them there were. I found my shirt but couldn't find my pants, and I really, really didn't want to be caught naked on the Hoskins' beach by a group of however-many there were.

Just before they stepped into view, Glenwise stepped in front of me. He was still in his dragon form and his large body completely concealed me from view. I wasn't sure if he was doing it for me because he knew I'd want to be dressed, or for himself because he didn't like other people seeing me naked. Either way, I was glad of the reprieve.

The group reached the bottom of the steps, which brought them into Glenwise's view.

"Oh! I wasn't expecting anyone to be here." I recognised Morgan's voice again

There was a low growl. An unfamiliar growl. One of the Hoskins clan.

Seren spoke clearly and loudly. "Have you been here all night, Glenwise?"

He couldn't expect Glenwise to answer, not in dragon form, so I wondered why he asked. Then the growling stopped and I realised he might just have been announcing to the Hoskins dragons who it was, since they wouldn't have seen any of the Somervilles in our dragon form and weren't to know which silver dragon was standing before them.

I found my pants and pulled them on, followed by my shirt and trousers. My heart was beating faster than usual, still not sure how many of them there were or what they were doing here .

When I heard Alfie's voice, my dragon calmed. Our elder was here. We were safe.

"Morgan's showing me the beach. Are we disturbing you?"

Glenwise couldn't answer, of course, but he gave a low rumble of reply. It was permission to come nearer, which meant Glenwise wasn't afraid of whoever was with Alfie.

It hadn't taken much effort to make the switch of regarding Alfie as our elder. I'd been brought up with the notion that the old Lord Somerville's sons were the most important in the clan, and my dragon had always wanted to protect Alfie, in its way.

That felt weird now, because it both wanted to protect Alfie and also… expected him to protect us .

I smoothed my hair down and rubbed my face, trying to make myself presentable. Then I stepped out from behind my mate with as much dignity as I could muster.

Alfie blurted out, "Oh, Rhod, I didn't see you there. Although it makes sense you'd be here, I suppose, unless Glenwise came down to the beach on his own. Was he showing you the ocean? It's loud, isn't it?"

I laid a hand on Glenwise's long neck, feeling the solid scales beneath my palm. Partly to reassure him, partly to ground myself. I liked his solid presence.

"Yes, Glenwise wanted to show me the ocean. It was beautiful in the starlight and we stayed late. I must have fallen asleep."

Alfie nodded, not finding that strange. Beside him, his mate was looking at me with kindness, which I appreciated. Blaze was a sweet soul, and I liked him. I'd actually got to know him quite well while we'd been talking about the running of the Somerville castle. He'd wanted to know a few things and I'd spent several afternoons showing him around. He was quiet and kind and he didn't scare me with his presence.

My eyes went automatically to the curaidh who were standing beside Morgan and Seren. They were so big. My dragon moved uneasily inside me.

It wasn't trying to get out, just twitchy and nervous. I didn't get the jolt of warning that I was in danger, but I got the impression that my dragon was ready to respond if it did feel that sudden premonition that we'd be harmed .

Glenwise took a step forward, and somehow ended up mostly blocking my view. I couldn't help the smile that pulled at my lips.

"It's okay," I murmured to my mate. "They can come down and join us. If you want them to."

Glenwise gave that rumble again, and Alfie apparently understood it the same way I did because his face broke into a smile and he said, "I'm glad you're here. Morgan's been telling me about the sand for ages and I wanted us all to get a chance to— eeeigh!"

He broke off his sentence with a high-pitched scream as he took his first step onto the sand and his foot sank into the softness of it.

My heart leapt up into my throat for a second before realising that it was just Alfie being dramatic and he wasn't being eaten or anything, and then I took some calming breaths to get my heart rate back to where it should be.

Glenwise pressed his large shoulder against mine and my heart stopped hammering.

We watched Alfie take his first steps on the beach like he was a baby deer, floundering and gangly legged .

Considering I'd seen him in his dragon form, and he looked truly magnificent, it was jarring to see him unstable and looking so young.

It wasn't bad , though.

I'd assumed that the fear that had filled me at the thought of Lord Somerville was normal, that it was there because my elder was powerful and my dragon needed his approval. When Alfie had become our elder, I'd waited and waited for that feeling of fear to slide into my stomach and stay there. It hadn't.

I wasn't afraid of Alfie. And this was part of the reason why. He looked so very young and human as he laughed, gaining confidence on the new terrain. He turned and held out his hand to his mate, who took it and stepped tentatively after him.

The mingled pride and pity in Glenwise's scent was familiar. He'd smelled just like that when I'd seen the ocean for the first time last night. He was proud of his clan elder, but Glenwise more than any of us knew just how small our world had become. Just how restricted our lives had been. He'd had freedoms we'd never had, and while he might not think much of stepping onto the beach, it was new and exciting to me and Alfie .

I moved closer to him, pressing my body back against the crook between my mate's shoulder and his neck. He somehow seemed to surround me, even as we stood there and watched Alfie start to run. He and Seren raced down to the water and splashed around, and Blaze and Morgan looked on with satisfied smiles.

The two curaidh looked happy, too. As I looked, the little group huddled closer together, their arms brushing, smiling at each other. The Hoskins dragons might be bigger and dark-haired but they had the same expressions of love on their faces as everyone else. Okay, so maybe they were a bit like family after all.

I took a step towards Blaze, who was giggling at Alfie's antics in the shallows of the water. Glenwise stepped close behind me, looming over me protectively. Blaze turned towards us, his eyes alight with laughter, and held out his hand to me. I took it, and suddenly we were part of their little group, all bumping shoulders and smiling at our elder and his cousin as they splashed each other. Even Glenwise's scent gradually became calm and amused. I breathed it in and leaned back against him, knowing he would be there. He always was.