“She’s a siren. A hybrid that was hidden in our kingdom, and now they know she’s alive. A male siren is after her. The short story is that I need your help. He’s coming, and frankly, I’m afraid. They are powerful, and Evian wants to kill her."

Father stared at me with widened eyes. “Son, are you serious? You think that I’m going to waste my army's time training to fight some mythical sirens—,”

“They aren’t mythical.”

Zerk turned to look at them both. “With all due respect, I was here when he showed up. It’s real, and we need to prepare the kingdom.”

Mother scoffed and turned her head. “This is ridiculous, Dorran. Sirens? Those were fairytales told when we were children—,”

“We’re dragons!” Dorran said. “Faes, vampires, and werewolves exist, and you think I’m crazy for telling you my mate is a siren? Do you know how ridiculous you sound right now? I’m telling you that I need your help to save this kingdom—,”

Father stood up. “Son, our kingdom is vulnerable right now. We’re merging, trying to get warriors into the groove of working with each other; we can’t toss them into some war with a species we know nothing about. Have you considered giving Amara to the sirens?”

I blinked, staring at the serious look on my father’s face. Were they telling me that they wouldn’t help save my mate? That they wanted me to toss my mate to the wolves? My dragon grew pissed, but my heart split into two pieces. My parents didn’t give two cents about my life because my mate wasn’t a dragon.

“You are never going to accept Amara, are you?” I asked, glancing between the two of them. “Why is it that you two gave up searching for your mates to be with one another? Because drawing an alliance between your two kingdoms was that important? I won’t apologize for wanting to be happy. I won’t give Amara up. You both can see your way out. I won’t tolerate one more second of being in your company.”

Father reached forward and put his palm on my shoulder. “I want you to be happy, Son. I don’t mind that your mate isn't a dragon, but I can’t kill my army this way.”

My gaze shifted toward Mother who stared at the floor. At that moment, my dragon wanted me to toss her off the side of the mountainside, and part of me wanted to make him happy.

The royal part of me understood not jeopardizing the entire kingdom, but the human side didn’t understand my parents' lack of sympathy.

“I will fight them alone, and you can crown Damien as king. I want nothing to do with a family that can’t pull together to save the one thing that matters to me. I’m so madly in love with her that the thought makes my dragon heartbroken. I wish you two understood that.”

Mother stood up and folded her arms over her chest. “You’re being melodramatic. It’s the mate bond—,”

“It’s not,” I snapped. “It’s the fact that my parents won’t pull together to help me, or even offer a plan to save my mate.”

I turned away from them, and my father’s hand fell from my shoulder. When the door shut behind them, I felt Zerk walk over and put his hand where my father’s hand had been. “I’m sorry, Son. I didn’t think they would react that way.”

“Half of me is not surprised,” I said, facing him. “I was hoping they would pull the kingdoms together, but my mother’s inability to have compassion for anyone that doesn’t help her agenda is baffling.”

“What are we going to do?”

“I don’t know,” I answered honestly. “I only have a handful of warriors that I know would stand by me, and it’s not going to be enough to save us. Perhaps if the sirens show up and start destroying the city, Father will have no choice but to call the warriors.”

Zerk frowned. “I’m afraid that will be too late.

The front door swung inward, and Damien formed in the doorway. I hadn’t seen my brother in a while, and I’d almost missed his sarcastic ass.

“What is it?” I asked.

Damien chuckled, walked inside, and shut the door with his boot. “I overheard your dilemma, Brother, and I’m sad to say that our parents are even more selfish than I thought. What a shame. Hey Zerk,” he said, nodding his way.

“Is that why you’re here? To rub it in?”

His features turned serious. “No, I’m here to say that I will talk to the guards and the warriors myself. Let them know what’s going on so they can prepare amongst themselves. They’re not doing anything other than training and pretending to get along, but maybe if they know sirens are coming, they’ll be willing to train without father knowing?”

I examined him. Damien often had underlying reasons for things, but I couldn’t pinpoint an advantage for him. “Why should I believe you? Father will be livid if he finds out that you told them.”

“He’ll change his mind when the sirens arrive, won’t he?”

“You’ve seen a siren before? Do you even know what we’re up against?”

“Yeah,” he laughed. “Your mate. She’s beautiful and alluring. I don’t deny you for a second. If they are anything like her, then they are seductive and—,”

“Okay,” I said, my eyes narrowing. “I get it. Amara is beautiful, and from what I’ve seen of the others, they are too.”