Page 16 of Never Flirt with a Dragon

Elodie grimaced. “He can get one.”

“He can, but he leads the thunder,” August said. “His life will never be in Scale Ridge. They won’t accept it after I toed the line in his position for so long.”

Elodie’s grimace deepened. “We’ll figure it out.”

“I can’t spend the rest of my life living away from Vi,” Miranda said. “If he stays here, we can’t seal the bond.”

My instincts yanked against the tethers holding them again, and again.

My hold grew thinner, and thinner.

“That’s your choice to make,” Elodie agreed. “But it won’t be easy.”

“You need to get Jas inside and close the door,” August said. “He won’t be sane for much longer. Even in his worst state, if you say no, he’ll accept that the answer’s no. It’s impossible for him to hurt you.”

My control snapped.

Miranda stepped back, and August slammed the door between us.

All rational thoughts fled my mind.

I lowered my nose to my mate’s neck and inhaled.

She was with me, she was safe, but she smelled wrong.

Upset.

She was upset.

A growl vibrated my chest.

“We’ll be back with your stuff soon! Text me if you have more questions!” Elodie yelled through the door. “And remember, you used to want to be mated to a dragon.”

“Screw you,” Miranda yelled back.

Elodie laughed. “Screw him.”

Miranda snorted, and I breathed her scent in as her sadness and worry eased.

She was okay.

And she was mine.

That was what mattered.

four

RANDA

Insane Jasper really wasn’t that bad. He sniffed me and touched me a lot, but it took away the discomfort of heat. So I really couldn’t complain.

After August and Elodie left, he led me to his kitchen, sat me down on the counter, and made pancakes for me.

Yes, pancakes.

One of his hands stayed on my leg almost constantly while he did, too.

I didn’t point out that it was probably after midnight at that point, if not already the next morning. It was still dark outside, even though I could see thanks to whatever Jasper had done when he bit me.

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