Page 26 of Brutal Alpha Dragon

“Aragon?”I ask as I round the corner to enter the kitchen.

Sure enough, my younger brother peeks his head from the top of our family group huddled at the island table. His bright blue eyes sparkle when he spots me and instantly heads over.

“Brother!” he cheers as he comes bolting toward me. The wide grin on my face extends to the warm arms that pull him into a hug.

“When did you arrive?” I ask as I hold him at arm’s length, inspecting his face as if I’m not well-acquainted enough. But the months he’d spent away seemed to have aged him finely as he models a beard now.

He’s more mature.

Aragon’s lips lift into a smile. “Just this morning,” he chuckles as he slinks his arm around my shoulders and turns to the rest of the family. “I wanted to give you all a surprise.”

“This is a surprise indeed, Aragon,” Kairo giggles as she steps closer with a fruit basket. She picks out a glossy strawberry and holds it out to Aragon.

It’s tradition to sweeten the tongue of a traveler when they get back home. And even though it brings back fond memories of the time I’d spent traveling the world before taking up my place as Alpha, I can’t help but eye my sister suspiciously.

“Where’s the rest going?” I ask flatly as I nod at the basket.

A frown flits past Kairo’s face. “Lily, of co-”

“No,” I cut her off with a dismissive hand. Aragon senses the tension and removes his arm from around my shoulders. Any feeling of comfort he may have provided is gone when he walks away, leaving me to deal with my sister. “You’re not allowed to go to the human.”

“So she’s still ‘the human’?” Kairo scoffs as she clutches the basket to her chest.

“She is whatever I say she is,” I retort glumly. “And right now, she’s off limits.”

Kairo rolls her eyes defiantly. “She’s not yours to order around. It’s not like you want her.”

My sister’s words cut deep, slicing my insides like a sharp blade. But my stubbornness and denial won’t allow me to admit that she’s not just ‘the human’ anymore.

However, keeping that thought, it serves me well enough.

“You’re not to visit Lily today,” I instruct my sister, using the full extent of the Alpha dragonspirit within me to punctuate each word of the order. “I know you left her bedroom door open, and I won’t have that happening again.”

When Kairo realizes that I know what she’d done, she recoils and hangs her head. “Forgive me, Brother,” she apologizes pensively. “I was only trying to—”

“To what? Cause disruption?” I interject, fuming inside.

Kairo lifts her head, eyes full of remorse. She opens her mouth to say something but is interrupted when our father enters the kitchen.

“Aragon,” he addresses his younger son. “You’re back.”

“I am, Father,” Aragon bows his head as silence befalls the kitchen.

“Good,” Father says. “Meeting in five,” he announces as he glances over at his children in the room.

Felix and I exchange concerned looks as Father leaves the kitchen. But none of us say a word, and I’m reticent as I enter Father’s study with the others in tow.

I’m not in the mood for a lecture about the human mating process. So it is a relief when Father announces what the meeting is about.

“The Dragon Council has received word that an impending threat is on the horizon.”

“A threat?” I ask with a raised brow, sitting forward and steepling my fingers on the edge of Father’s oak desk. “What kind of threat?”

“We’re not certain at this time, but the Council received an encrypted message this morning.”

“What did it say?” Felix asks as he leans in.

Father sighs heavily as he leans back into the leather chair. “It was only a warning.” He turns his eyes to me as if what he’s about to say is personal. “Someone isn’t happy about the human mate process we’ve embarked on.”

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