Chapter 11

Jaegar

brEAKFAST HAD BEEN a bit of a strained time, but interesting, nonetheless. Which was how all my mealtimes had been since I’d gone to the castle and told my father who I was. It seemed royal life was not short of intrigue. When the king and queen of Bravadok excused themselves, I was left alone with Vanya and her sister, Jessa.

Jessa’s keen, bright gaze landed on me. “So... what are your plans now, Jaegar?” Her lips twitched as though she wanted to ask me more but didn’t.

From the way Vanya stiffened beside me, I had to assume that Jessa holding back wasn’t normal behavior for her. “I don’t actually know,” I managed to say before giving in and reaching for the coffee pot. I had a pounding headache and wasn’t sure if it was the lack of sleep, or the stress of the last few days, but I needed some caffeine to help get me through, which was not something I normally would admit to.

“What do you mean?” Jessa asked, her eyebrows narrowing further. “You’re Vanya’s mate, so the choices are pretty clear. Either you stay here with our family, or you both go back to the Northern Kingdom. Right?”

Her tones brooked no argument, and yet, I wanted to snap back at her. There were other choices.

Always.

But I managed to take a breath and wait a heartbeat, a trick I’d learned so I didn’t react on pure emotion. Instead, I said, “I think that’s between Vanya and me, don’t you?” When I flashed an annoyed look at her, instead of the anger I expected to see in her face in return, there was a flash of surprise, then a growing respect.

Jessa got to her feet and tossed her long blonde hair over her shoulders with a subtle smile and a nod. “You’re right, of course. And I think it’s high time for me to check on Rocky. I’ll see you both later.” Then she grinned at her sister and left the room too.

I took a long sip of hot coffee. “Damn, this is exhausting.”

Vanya twisted in her chair to look at me. “Which part?”

I gestured to the huge table. “All of it, honestly. The enormous family for starters. I’m not used to being around so many people.”

Vanya glanced down at the table, appearing hurt.

Damn it.

“I don’t mean to imply anything against your family, Vanya. Not at all. It’s just... I grew up with only my mother for company. Then I joined Damon’s family a few days ago.” Not intentionally, of course, but now none of them seemed to want me to go back. They wanted to keep me in their lives. “And it’s just been very full on. I need more quiet and some time to think.”

I didn’t know how to explain it better to her. Vanya had grown up in the castle, one of four siblings. Of course, she was used to the sort of noise and bustle that came with this life.

She chuckled softly, her expression brightening. “Oh, I can totally understand what you mean. I’m the only one of my family that doesn’t handle all this very well.” She made a gesture with her hand to show the encompassing area around us. “I’m a little bit of a black sheep, here,” she joked.

I relaxed back into my chair and took another sip of coffee, thankful that she wasn’t offended and understood where I was coming from. I didn’t want my mate to feel ill-at-ease so early into our relationship. “How’d you sleep?” I ventured.

She burst out laughing, then covered her mouth, saying behind her hand, “Um... very well, considering you were burning up the bed beside me. It’s like sleeping with a furnace!”

I shrugged, trying not to take exception to the joke. She couldn’t see that as a negative, surely? “Heat is important in the North, especially since I didn’t grow up in a castle.” Not that the castle had been in much better shape than the rest of the town thirty years ago. There had been huge chunks of the structure missing, and the functioning rooms were crumbling too, according to the few staff that still worked the ruins.

I wasn’t half proud to admit that my sire, King Damon and his family, had rebuilt the North stone by stone. He’d worked side by side with the farmers and builders, making our kingdom strong again. My father wasn’t just a royal with a crown, he was a man who wasn’t afraid to get his hands dirty, and I respected that.

“What was it like?” she asked quietly. “Growing up like you did?”

“You mean with a single mother, living in poverty? Or...” I didn’t want to say it but, was she wondering what it was like growing up knowing that my father was the king?

“Well... yes, I guess,” she said, shrugging. “I’m sorry. I’m just trying to understand more about you.”

I chuckled. “That’s not really something you need to know about, sweetheart. It was hard, all of it. But my childhood, and my life, my struggles... they made me who I am today.”

And I wouldn’t change anything—probably.

“And who are you?” she whispered, her eyes gleaming with the hunger that I was beginning to feel stir within me also.

I didn’t want to answer her question. The answer wasn’t easy or pretty. So, I reached out and cupped her face, threading my fingers through her long, dark hair. “Kiss me.”

She lifted her chin and leaned forward.

I met her halfway and kissed her, softly at first, then deeper.

Her fingers threaded into my hair and held me tight to her.

A loud cough made us both sit back, and I got to my feet, ready to face whoever was intruding.

It was my father, looking sheepish at witnessing our passionate display of affection.

My dragon was up and ready to protect my mate, if need be, but my father’s smile soothed me in the strangest way. I knew he wouldn’t hurt Vanya. Which on a logical level, made sense. But my dragon wasn’t logical, he never had been. It was why I worked so hard to master my emotions and temper. “Good morning,” I said, with a nod of my head.

King Damon’s smile was brighter than I’d anticipated. “We were planning on staying on a few extra days and Cass asked me to come and find you, to ask if that was all right with you?”

I glanced down at Vanya,

Her beautiful face was flushed pink, her gaze still glossy with desire.

Did I want to leave her? Never.

I forced my gaze back to my father’s. “Of course. I have nothing I need to rush back to.”

The king grinned. “We’re all getting ready to go for a walk around Bravadok. I’d appreciate your opinion on a few of the township ideas I’d like to potentially implement back home, if you can spare the time?” He lifted an eyebrow in question.

My stomach squirmed in the strangest way. “You want my advice?” I asked, scarcely believing it.

“Of course,” Damon said. “You’re the one who has lived in the town. You’ve known the stressors affecting the people, and what the weather has done to their homes. Your firsthand experience would be invaluable.”

Vanya stood up next to me but didn’t say anything.

Damon continued. “Dymitri and Lucian are here today but will leave early tomorrow. They’d like to see you.”

Vanya smiled at me in encouragement. “I’d love to come for a walk, if you don’t mind the company.”

My dragon wouldn’t have allowed her to stay away. I’d been sound asleep when she’d left our bed this morning, but I’d felt her absence almost immediately. “That sounds like a good plan,” I said, taking Vanya’s hand and pulling her close. “Shall we go now?”

Damon nodded. “Yes, we’re all congregated by the entrance. Come.”

I followed my sire, with my mate at my side. After so many years of being cold, and tired and lonely, I was now surrounded by family and friends and permitted access to the very best all the kingdoms had to offer. I was struggling to keep up with all the changes. The group standing in the foyer was larger than I’d expected, and my breath caught in my throat as anxiety rode me hard.

Vanya squeezed my hand.

I looked down on her for reassurance, and her subtle smile gave me the courage I needed.

Lucian was the first to come forward. “Jaegar,” he said as he held out his hand.

I offered him my arm and smiled in return. “Hey, Lucian. It’s good to see you.”

Lucian laughed. We’d worked side by side building homes for the townsfolk many times. “You didn’t think to drop the hint about you being my nephew?” he asked, one eyebrow cocked.

I shrugged as I withdrew. “Not really.”

Lucian laughed and this time came forward for a hug.

I didn’t pull back the way my initial instincts told me to, and instead let the man embrace me as family.

When he finally pulled back, his smile was warm and his eyes were surprisingly shiny. “Well, from one bastard son to another ,I say, welcome to the family.”

It was Damon who punched his brother in the arm. “Hey!”

Lucian shook him off. “What? Someone’s got to say it. Otherwise, that shit will eat you alive. Right, Jaegar?”

I suddenly felt the ease of something inside me. “Yeah, that’s about right.” It was the weight of carrying the secret that had always bothered me. And although I’d known that Lucian and Dymitri were my grandfather’s bastards, I’d never really considered them to be the same as me. They were well liked by the town and known to the king. They were family. I wasn’t. Well, I hadn’t been.

Now... things are different.

“Well, let’s get going,” Stavrok suddenly said from the front of the group. “There’s lots to see.” He pushed open the front doors, and we stepped into the sunlight.

Veronica rushed to the back of the group to stand beside me and chatter away in my ear.

Even King Damon didn’t go far.

The feeling was smothering but strangely soothing, and I tried to lean into the feeling rather than shy away from it. This was going to be my new life after all—full of family.

Bravadok was a beautiful, well thought out township. The king was well liked, and his people felt content to wave and speak openly with him.

The houses Damon had me confer on were interesting, though not well made for the levels of cold back home. I had a good look at everything he asked me to, and by the time we got back to the castle, I was ready to crawl straight back into bed.