Page 4 of The Dragon's Mate Proposal

“No.” The dragon shifter swept his gaze across the entire office. “You have two hours to decide. I will wait outside for your answer and carry it back to my people.”

Without waiting to be dismissed, the dragon-man walked to an exit. At a wave from the president, the very unhappy secret service agent opened the door. I couldn’t begin to imagine how antsy they must be, letting a dragon get that close to the president.

The instant the soundproof door clicked shut, all hell broke loose in the room as everyone shouted their opinion. I cringed as the loudest of them all came from my ex-husband. “The General,” as I’d called him sarcastically as our marriage deteriorated, was very vocal about his feelings on the matter.

“We cannot give up. We don’t surrender! The US has never lost a war, never retreated. They are taking our land. Land the flag has flown over for centuries! Are we seriously going to just let them do it? I say no. We reject their terms, and we fight!”

I snapped.

“We’re losing, you idiot!” I shouted, stepping forward. “We can’t reject these terms, you ox-brained fool. Millions of our people have died. Millions more are trapped and probably dying, and millions more will die. But not you since you sit here all comfortable in your office, sending young men and women to do your dirty work! Taking these terms will save millions of people, which is something your soldiers can’t do, not with the dragons being basically invulnerable to your weapons!”

Red-faced, neck veins popping, General Travis L. Greene rocketed up from his seat.

“This is our home,” he hissed, the room silent now.

“And we should preserve of it what we can!” I snapped back. “Our weapons can’t hurt them. Accept it!”

“We don’t know that,” he said, glancing at the president. “They might not be invulnerable to all of them.”

The president stood up, hands slamming down on his desk like gunshots. “We are not going to nuke sovereign soil. Get that out of your head and drop it now, or I will have you relieved for insubordination, is that understood?”

I clenched my teeth, my lips flattening into a line as I basked in the enjoyment of my ex getting a proper dressing-down from the supreme authority in front of everyone. I shouldn’t be that petty, but damn, if the asshole didn’t deserve it.

“Fine,” he said, taking a moment to recover, his attention still on me. “If you believe in surrendering so badly, then you should be the first to volunteer to go fuck a dragon. Apologies, to mate with a dragon,” he added at a glare from the president.

My blood ran cold. I was trapped. There was no way I could say no. Not after I’d called him a coward for not fighting on the front lines.

“You are of breeding age,” he added with a sneer.

“Enough, General Greene,” the president warned. But his eyes turned to me, followed by every other head in the room. Waiting for an answer.

Fuck.

“Fine,” I said, staring at my ex, even as my stomach churned itself into knots. “I’ll go.”

He smiled evilly.

I turned my head to address the president. “Now, you only need seven.”

Chapter Three

Cade

I looked down upon the building with a certain trepidation. Anticipation, perhaps, or a hint of eagerness. But not desperation. Absolutely not.

There was no denying my desire to have it over and done with. That much I was willing to admit to myself. It had been eight long months’ worth of avoiding Kalann and his goons.

The war might be over, and peace the word of the day, but not for me. Not until I repaid the debt I’d taken on for my failed business deal. The one that should have set me up for life but had instead taken everything from me.

Claws tightened as I soared on the winds above the largest collection of skyscrapers on the East Coast. Deep within the now universally titled “Occupied Territories,” New York had been one of our first targets, falling swiftly as flights of dragons filled the skies and overwhelmed the meager human soldiers. Now, it was ripe for the picking.

My target was a fairly nondescript building. It was built in a style no longer used by the humans. A stone façade hid what I was sure was a much stronger internal defense system. It would have to be, given what it held in its belly.

The sun glinted off my yellow dragon eyes, turning them a glittering gold, much like my target below. A toothy grin spread across my snout. Yes, there was gold here. More gold than I needed, in fact. If the rumors were true, there were over five thousand tons of it, buried deep within this building.

A mere fraction of which would clear my debts to Kalann and let me work on rebuilding my empire. I would take it and head to the West Coast. I would start anew and regain the power that had been taken from me by the war.

Diving from the sky, I landed in front of the building, eyeing the entrance. It looked sturdy, metal shutters firmly held in place behind the glass doors. I was sure that much of it was stronger than it looked as well, built to hold back trucks and the like.

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