Page 2 of Kidnapped Forced Mate

“Not if I’m meant to meet Sierra at the altar on time,” he muses.

What a buzz-kill, I think to myself ruefully as I pour the rest of the contents into my own drink. Not because I’m a heavyweight when it comes to partying, but because I need something to distract me from the fact that after tomorrow, I’ll be next in line for a human mate.

The human mating process came quite unexpectedly. For a long time, the Aurora Dragons had given up any hope of reproducing and extending the dragon clan. It was something I’d come to terms with. Both Stryker and I enjoyed our frequent trips to the mortal world. Being the youngest of the Vulkan siblings, our responsibilities are less imposing than it is on our elder brothers.

This meant that we were allowed to enjoy our lives freely. Almost a year ago, the Dragon Council decided to introduce the human mating process with the help of the Cube of Knowledge. Somehow, Stryker was suddenly excited about having a mate and contributing to the extension of the Aurora Dragons.

I was left to internalize my loathing of the experiment, forcing a smile on my face and pretending I was okay with how things had changed.

“Is something wrong, Stryder?” Stryker asks when I’ve lost myself, staring blankly ahead into the abyss of the unknown.

A shiver passes through me, returning that forceful smile on my face to douse his suspicions as he frowns at me.

“I’m just enjoying my drink,” I lie, tipping the glass to my lips and taking a deliberate sip.

“I know when something is wrong with you…” Stryker presses, watching me keenly through narrowed eyes.

I shrug diffidently, searching for an alibi when it’s almost impossible to hide anything from him. Because he’s my twin, we share an intensified connection that allows us to feel each other’s emotions.

Guarding those emotions against his innate instinct has taken me a long time. Having to walk on eggshells around him is something I had to train myself with great skill. Each step I take is in stealth mode, avoiding his sharp eye and acting as if we’re on the same page about the human mating process.

I can practically feel the way he doesn’t buy my lie.

“... You’re nervous, aren’t you?” he interrogates with a raised brow. “You’re next in line.”

I gulp without being noticed, my face turned aside to check on the others before I turn to Stryker and grin. “Perhaps they’ll skip me the way they did with Felix,” I chuckle, trying to hide my scorn with a joke. “You’ll end up being the vile one, forced to take his mate.”

Stryker chuckles at the running joke since the Council skipped over Felix and gave our brother, Aragon, his mate first. Aragon was obviously furious because he hated the idea of a human mate. It didn’t help that he was younger than Felix, and wasn’t ready. He’d been horrible toward Yazmine, his chosen human mate.

Until he wasn’t and fell madly in love with the girl. Now that they’re inseparable, I can’t help but wonder if the humans are putting hexes on us. The same goes for Draco, the eldest, who is the Alpha of the Aurora Dragons. Now there’s Felix, who stares starry-eyed into the ruminations of his human mate, a million miles away, while some of our closest friends have journeyed to the mortal world in celebration of his last night as a bachelor.

After tomorrow, it’ll be set in stone that I’m next in line.

Stryker doesn’t seem to notice the worry flashing in my mind, thanks to my strong resolve preventing him from feeling my feelings. He places a hand on my shoulder, beaming from ear to ear.

“And you’ll end up being the one who listens to his heart,” Stryker smiles, eyes flitting across the bar.

I follow his gaze toward Felix, who’s too lost in his fantasies to hear a thing that Aragon says to him. I can’t imagine myself like that, and following my heart would mean disappointing my family and choosing a life without a mate.

I can’t do that to the Aurora Dragons, but at least I have some time to kill before I’m tied down against my will. Chugging the rest of the drink in one go, I set the glass down with a purposeful thud, drawing the attention of our brothers and friends.

I clap my hands together and say, “It’s time to lose some money, boys.”

***

Flashing lights and soulful music fill our senses as we watch the dancers on the stage. Beautiful women caressing poles and swaying their full hips to the beat.

Human women are exotic in that way. Unlike the female dragon shifters back home with their haughty dispositions while being skilled at battle, human women are easier to charm. Not that Aurora Island has much to offer since the war many years ago that crippled reproduction rates and threatened our kind with extinction. That’s why we now rely on the human mating process, to find mates amongst the mortals and plant the dragonspirit seed in capable human females.

The notion appalls me – not because I see humans as weak, fragile beings incapable of bearing a dragonspirit to full-term. Thanks to Draco, Aragon, and Felix, they’ve proved that the human mating process is successful.

It’s just that I’d grown up accepting that mates weren’t in the cards for dragon shifters. I would have lived out the rest of my life without reproducing, just hopping from city to city, town to village, enjoying the escapades the humans have to offer. Now, I have to accept a human mate, and my time is running out.

The strippers on the dancefloor continue their seduction of the male gaze while others on the floor dance toward the tables. With skimpy lingerie that leaves little to the imagination, three women float toward us as if our presence alone is magnetic.

Of course, it is. With ample experience in the mortal world, Stryker and I had concluded that we always stood out in a crowd. With piercing green eyes against creamy skin, our distinct, sharp facial features were always attractive to the females. We barely had to lift a finger for them to be wrapped around it in seconds.

Tonight is no different, with Aidan, Brantley, and Landon joining us for our night out.

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