2. Alfie

Chapter 2

Alfie

I felt the change in atmosphere as soon as we drove into the Hoskins' territory. My skin prickled and I tried to shake off the feeling of… wrongness.

Even though I reminded myself that we'd been invited and that I was hoping to make an alliance with Lady Hoskins, my dragon was unsettled at my core. Being in someone else's territory made it uneasy. Somewhere in my deepest instincts, I knew that being in someone else's territory meant war or invasion or captivity.

"We were invited," I said aloud to myself. I was trying to convince my dragon of it.

From the front of the car where he was sitting next to his mate, Rhod looked over his shoulder at me. He was clearly wondering whether he was required to answer that.

"I was just saying," I said.

Rhod nodded and faced the front again, but I saw him cast me a couple of concerned looks in the rear-view mirror. Maybe Glenwise could tell something I couldn't, maybe Rhod's scent changed, because Glenwise reached out a hand to rest on Rhod's knee.

I could still hardly believe that Glenwise of all people was so good at offering his mate comfort. He wasn't normally the type.

Blaze liked cuddles and he liked people, which meant he was nice to everyone and all of our clan loved him. They kept fussing round him and I knew he felt more and more secure and loved the more they fussed.

Glenwise wasn't like that at all. The only person he ever really touched, unless in a medical capacity, was Rhod. I focused on his bonds, just to see. Glenwise had a bond with every member of the clan. He even had them with all of the sprites of our clan, which I'd seen before and never questioned. No wonder Mrs. Wilson had known where he was .

Those bonds were thin and efficient, though. Glenwise cared about every member of the clan, his dragon wanted to heal and protect them, but it was holding them at a distance.

The bond he shared with Rhod was very pretty. It changed as I watched, and I realised that Rhod had been very tense before because he relaxed and his bond became calmer. Glenwise had taken care of him.

We drove up the long drive to the Hoskins castle and, as we got nearer, I grew more and more tense. Looking out the window, I saw the great castle loom in the distance, solid and large and grey, just like the curaidh .

Our car was at the front of the convoy, which meant we got there first and I stepped out of the car first. My dragon was pushing against me, and I wasn't yet used to it so I couldn't be a hundred percent sure what it wanted me to do. All I knew was that my protective instincts were firing strongly and I needed to check there was no danger before I let my clan out of the cars.

When I got out and stood there for a minute, nothing happened. Nobody attacked. Nobody shouted .

Behind me, Blaze's sweet voice said, "Excuse me, my darling."

His soft little hand pressed against my back and I allowed him to move me to the side and slide out of the car. I didn't let him take a step away from me, though. My arms were around him before I realised and he was pressed close into my side, just where I liked him to be.

His scent was woodsmoke and ash, tinged with excitement and nerves and amusement. The fact that I couldn't scent any fear on him settled me. He didn't believe for a second that we were in danger.

I didn't believe it, not really.

My dragon wasn't sure, though. No matter how many times I told myself that Morgan was my brother and he'd never invite me here if it were a trap, my dragon didn't like going into a strange dragon clan's territory.

I'd never met Edith Hoskins. My dragon didn't trust her as an ally.

Which was silly, I knew, but I couldn't help the way I felt. I'd met Morgan and Seren's mates and they were nice. They were large and dark-eyed but they both smiled a lot and their bonds with my brother and cousin were beautiful. It was clear they adored their mates. Still, they were the only Hoskins I'd ever met.

When everyone was out of the cars, I moved first, walking up to the large front doors. They had already opened and a tiny old woman was standing in the entranceway. I didn't dismiss her for a second. She radiated power in a way my dragon recognised. She was the elder. She had the power to protect her clan.

Inside me, my dragon prickled, pressing up closer to my skin as though it were going to protect me.

I kept walking, subtly pushing Blaze away from my side so he was behind me instead of beside me. Not that I wanted to be first just for the sake of it, only that if there was going to be any danger at all, I wasn't having my mate get in the line of fire.

I could feel my clan around me. Glimmer was nowhere to be seen, although I saw his bond shining with bright protection, flashing silver like a sword in the sunlight. He was close, right beside Blaze.

Lady Hoskins kept her eyes on me the whole time and I wondered if that was out of politeness or whether she was feeling some of the same strangeness I was .

"You're welcome in my home, Lord Somerville."

Compulsively, I glanced behind me. Even though I knew my father was dead, I suddenly expected him to be looming there, his cold eyes glaring.

Then I realised.

"Oh, you mean me!"

Beside me, Blaze sniggered and all my tension whooshed out of me. I gave him a playful shove. "Shut up, I'm just not used to the title, that's all." Turning back to Lady Hoskins, I asked, "Can you call me Alfie, please? I like it better."

She gave a gracious incline of her head and said, "Yes, I can Alfie. Perhaps you'd like to call me Edith?"

I smiled. Edith sounded much nicer than Lady Hoskins.

As I stepped inside, I felt a strange pull in my core and a new bond flickered into being. I gaped at it.

Blaze was suddenly beside me, his warm little body pressed close to me and his woodsmoke scent was in my nostrils.

"What's the matter?" he asked .

I pointed at the bond, and then realised nobody else would see it. I still found that strange. How did nobody see what was right there?

"We- we formed a bond. It's new, but… there. I don't understand how, though. I'm not her clan."

Edith didn't seem as perturbed by it as I was. She turned and began to lead us through the large entrance hall towards what I assumed would be a parlour. She spoke over her shoulder.

"You are a guest in my territory, Alfie. It is my duty to guard you while you are here. And you are an ally. It is my honour to protect you."

Inside me, my dragon snuffled a bit. I got the impression that it liked having Edith as an ally but it wanted to be the one doing the guarding.

"Do I get to protect you, too?"

Edith turned to me sharply and her black eyes locked on mine. I thought I'd offended her until she said, "Yes, you do. That is what creates our bond."

"Oh. That's okay then. I like that." And then, because I'd never been able to get my mouth to stop once it had started, I carried on. "I was awfully worried about Morgan, you know, but I'm glad he was with you. I want him to be protected. Do you think we can do anything to help strengthen your boundaries while we're here? You know, just to help. Can I leave any protections around him if he's in your territory? Seren said he has protections over Morgan and Seren's part of my clan, so it doesn't seem like it would be a problem, and besides, I'm Morgan's brother."

Edith said, "That is a lot of questions, and it will take time to answer them. Perhaps we can do it later."

She phrased it as a suggestion, but I got the impression it was an order.

"Yes, that's fine."

As soon as we walked into a large room with solid furniture and a large fireplace, I was almost dazzled by a bond. It was obviously many hundreds of years old, and as bright and strong as anything I'd ever seen, and it was strung directly between Edith and… nobody?

She moved in that direction and stood between me and whoever was on the other end of that bond. "Please, make yourselves comfortable."

My Uncle George, Glenwise's father, moved into the room. He always looked so put-together and in-control that it instantly made me feel scruffy and small. I don't think he even meant to do it, so I tried not to mind.

Uncle George had Great Aunt Evangeline on his arm, and they walked in stately procession across the room, like a royal couple.

As they neared Edith, she gave a bow of her head to Great Aunt Evangeline, which made me gawp right up until I remembered to shut my mouth and try to pretend I hadn't just seen a dragon elder bow to another dragon.

Edith said, "It's a pleasure to see you again, Lady Evangeline."

Great Aunt Evangeline said, in her quivery old voice, "And you, Edith. It's been a long time."

Behind me, Morgan's mate, Lew, asked, "Wait, you know a Somerville, Nana?"

Edith gave him the sort of glare that would make me want to scurry away, and I was glad she hadn't turned it on me. Yet.

"Yes, Lew, I do. Lady Evangeline and I knew each other a long time ago, when her mate was Lord Somerville. We had a strong alliance."

It might have been my imagination but Great Aunt Evangeline stood a little taller and walked a little stronger as she made her way across the large room.

I nearly leapt out of my skin when whoever-it-was spoke from just behind Edith. As soon as he spoke, I could see him. There must have been some kind of magic keeping him hidden until then. He had been sitting in one of the chairs by the fireplace and he rose to greet his guests.

"Please, join me by the fire."

He was a handsome older man with a broad smile and I saw Edith's bond flare bright and protective as soon as I turned my eyes on him. So it wasn't just me who was feeling a bit weird and tense about this, then. Even Edith, with all her power and her years of being an elder, still felt the flash of unease at having another dragon elder's eyes on her mate.

I looked away quickly in case me looking at him made her react badly.

Great Aunt Evangline settled by the fire and Uncle George sat beside her.

John turned to Blaze with a smile. "We wondered if you'd like us to keep a fire going? Are you warm enough? Please feel free to use any of the hearths in the castle. "

Blaze smiled back and I felt a wave of gratitude towards the older man. Morgan had been right when he'd told me that John was a kind, gentle man. He'd made Blaze feel cared for before he'd even sat down.

When Edith spoke, though, my dragon twisted suddenly inside me, trying to push between her and my mate. I stepped forward, blocking her view of him.

She said, "Won't you sit down? We'll have some refreshments."

My dragon didn't want to sit. Sitting meant being at a disadvantage. Sitting meant I couldn't leap up to fight. What if someone attacked from behind me?

I was just about to descend into a full-blown panic when Blaze said, "Thank you. Will you sit with me, Alfie?"

What could I do after that? My mate wanted to sit in my lap, and I didn't have it in me to deny him.

I sat, feeling like I wanted to push in front of all my clan and shift, release my dragon and spread my wings to shield them all from view. Blaze slid onto my lap, though, and my arms wound automatically around him, pulling him close to me, and the feeling of him there somehow made my dragon stay still. It paused its agitated grumblings and did nothing. Sometimes I wondered whether it was just a drama queen who would do anything to make Blaze snuggle up close to us.

We sat and Morgan and Seren came into the room. Our bonds were bright and strong. They were healthy. This wasn't a trap.