Page 67 of Stolen By Dragons

“I’m saying whatever we feel, since it’s clear there’s something there after what happened, we need to shut it down. You have your wolf friend, focus on him,” he said firmly.

“Yeah, well, he kinda knows something happened,” I mumbled, and he sighed heavily.

“That’s not something I can help with. You will figure it all out, Aria. For now, though, I think we should stay away from one another.”

With that, he turned and left, the door clicking shut behind him as I stood there with my chest aching.

It shouldn’t have meant a thing to me, and yet it stung like hell.

“Fuck,” I muttered as hot tears broke free. “Why?”

I’d barely turned when another knock echoed through my room.

Who the hell was it now? Knowing my luck, it was Chris.

I sighed as I sniffled and wiped my eyes.

I’d done this to myself, whatever happened now, I’d figure it out, I’d take the harsh words and him ending whatever we’d been doing.

To my surprise though, it was Lydia at my door.

“Aria, crap, what happened? I saw Ossian come down here and then he left quickly. You’ve been crying, what happened?” She moved into the room, guiding me towards the bed where I sunk down.

Selis sat patiently at her feet, her scales glistening in the dim light of my room now that the sun had set outside. The sight of how much Lydia's dragon had grown only served to emphasize how small mine still was.

Before I knew it, I was spilling everything - my encounter with Ossian, Chris's declaration about mates and marking, the guilt that was eating me alive, now Ossian’s words and dismissal, and Chris storming off. Lydia listened without judgment, her eyes filled with compassion.

When I finished, she pulled me into a warm hug. "Oh, Aria, crap. You're in quite a tangle, aren't you?"

I nodded against her shoulder, fresh tears threatening to fall. "I don't know what to do, Lydia. I've messed everything up."

“Well, the whole Ossian thing is not a good thing in my opinion, but I’m biased too. I understand you guys are friends and you wanted to help, but it’s clear there’s more feelings there if it got that heated,” she said as she patted my back and sighed. “Which then makes me wonder if Chris is right about it being a mate bond he felt with you. Because, if it truly was, you shouldn’t have felt a thing for Ossian after meeting Chris, but clearly you do.”

“So, what does that mean? That it isn’t what he thinks?” I asked as I pulled back and wiped at my teary eyes.

“I think, because you’re human, that makes it all the more harder to gauge. Shifters don’t normally fall for humans, it’s rare.”

“But it happens?” I asked softly, and she nodded.

“But it’s definitely not like the feral instant connection that shifters feel. Where the urge to mate mark hits so hard while you’re together.”

I nodded slowly, wishing someone could just tell me what the right thing to do was.

“Ossian wants to pursue nothing with you, so take him for his word on that. You guys may have gotten close, but he’s right. Humans and vampires aren’t a good match.Twilightbe damned,” she said with a slight smile.

I flicked my gaze to where my dragon was now inspecting Selis, the pair of them chirping softly. My little dragon was so small in comparison.

“I know, but things still… they still happened. After I was with Chris.”

“True, but you also weren’t fully aware of what can happen with a vampire bite. How could you have known? Yeah, it’s not something we can just brush off, but it’s not like you made a decision to go do it, right?” she said as she searched my eyes.

“I don’t know, Lydia. I felt something for Ossian before anything happened, and I guess… I don’t know,” I mumbled. I didn’t want to admit that being around him had me slightly excited, like a schoolgirl with a crush.

“Well, that’s something you need to work through. Chris is all in, he’s made that clear, so you need to figure out how you feel for him. A mate bond is special, and I’ve never heard of the other party not feeling it. I don’t know if what you feel for Ossian is some weird thing, maybe to do with our Dracarian blood, but Chris… if he really feels this, then it’s not something you should take lightly.” Her brow was slightly furrowed as she stared at me.

“I know, and I’ve gone and messed that up, how on earth can I fix it? I wish I’d never wanted to help Ossian,” I said as a few tears slipped free, a sob escaping my lips.

“Oh, sweetheart,” Lydia pulled me back to her tightly and sighed. "You haven't messed it all up. You're in an impossible situation, trying to navigate feelings you don't fully understand. Be gentle with yourself. Leave Ossian behind, and focus on reviving everything with Chris. Like you said, it wasn’t like you had an exclusivity chat, although we both know he was likely in that mindset.”

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