Page 92 of Heir of Draga

“It’s the bond,” Kaiden insisted. “It ties both together.”

Adelina yanked back and studied Varan like she’d never seen him before. “He’s bonded to me as well?”

“Yes, of course.” Kaiden’s confusion was almost amusing.

And then Varan pressed a kiss to Adelina’s lips so hard and bruising she gasped and Nadyah saw him taste her tongue with his own.

It was a private moment, but it also belonged to Nadyah, because she loved Adelina in a way that was difficult to explain. She had to wipe her own tears away as she felt a boundless happiness fill her.

When Adelina had asked to keep the mate gene deactivated she’d felt devastated her princess would never know a mate’s love. But now…somehow she did.

Nadyah reached for Roxy and even though she knew it made the engineer and mechanic uncomfortable, Roxy took her hand and stepped closer so that Nadyah could feel her warmth. As she watched Varan and Adelina, Nadyah knew she was witnessing her first reciprocal mate bond. It looked wonderful. And it would be the same for Nadyah and Ian. It gave her a shred of hope for the future and some of the fear at leaving Adelina eased.

Nadyah shook her head and smiled. She needed to have a talk with Kaiden about the mate bond among the Drakesthai. If she could get some information from him and any medical studies perhaps she could give more autonomy and power back to the courtesans. If they could easily smell a mate without having to scan them – and to have the bond affect both? It would drastically reduce the suicides of mated courtesans that were rejected by their mates.

“Is Nash my mate as well?” Adelina asked Kaiden, turning to face him.

The tiny spark of hope in her voice broke Nadyah’s heart and she felt ready to track that bastard down so she could shred him to ribbons.

Kaiden didn’t move closer from his positon at the door, as though he didn’t feel welcome. He shrugged and crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance. “I haven’t been close enough to him to tell. He’s not an easy one to get along with.”

Adelina turned back to Varan as though the answer didn’t matter to her, but Nadyah knew better. “I need to message Ian right away.”

Varan looked to Kaiden. “What is the protocol here when you’ve found your mate?”

Kaiden cleared his throat, clearly uncomfortable with all of them looking to him for answers. “Normally both scent the bond and then request for official courtship with the Council. I’ve never experienced or seen a bond that was only scented by one person.” His brown skin darkened on the cheeks and Nadyah would have bet all her gold he was blushing, but still he stayed near the door as though he wanted to leave and give them privacy.

Nadyah had no idea what to do. Technically he was Adelina’s mate so he should be a part of their inner circle, but they’d just met him…he was a Drakesthai – from a race that was little more than shadow and rumor until twenty cycles ago.

If she could help him understand them. “You don’t smell like anything,” Nadyah admitted.

Adelina nodded. “When I first met you I could only smell the smoke and tang of rock.”

Kaiden cocked his head as he considered them. “It’s odd, but I suppose our sense of smell is different.” He jerked his chin at Varan. “You carry the scent of earth and soil. Princess Adelina smells of metal – gold.”

They all shared a look and Nadyah was intensely curious as one who sat outside the dominance spectrum. “And me?”

Kaiden sniffed the air and shrugged. “Salt – like ocean spray.”

She shared a look with Roxy and frowned. “Are you saying we all smell different?”

The massive winged male nodded. “The red-haired female smells like rocks and boulders, similar to her brother.”

Nadyah shook her head. “It’s so strange how different it is for you. I smell none of that. Adelina smells like jasmine flowers to me, and Roxy and Varan smell the same, but they are not blood.”

Kaiden looked as confused as she felt, but there was less awkward tension in the air. “They are not blood, but they smell like family—it is difficult to explain.” He hesitated as he studied Varan and Adelina. “It is not – required to court a mate,” he told them. “It is here with a Drakesthai female for the extra chance at offspring, but with the Unchanged Humans it’s up to the two participants as the bond isn’t sealed until intercourse.” He glanced at Varan on the last word, but the thief only had eyes for Adelina.

Nadyah was relieved that one thing at least about this mating was similar to what she knew. She was about to ask another question when Kaiden frowned and tapped a spot behind his ear like she’d seen the royal guards do.

“There is a Draga ship flying the royal crest, requesting an audience with you, Princess,” Kaiden stated.

Adelina frowned and glanced at Varan. “We aren’t expecting anyone else. Do you know who it is?”

Kaiden repeated the request in the Drakesthai tongue – such an odd language – and then turned back to Adelina. “He says Prince Asher sent him and his name is Alpha.”

Nadyah’s stomach flip-flopped and she tightened her grip on Roxy. Whatever he was doing here did not bode well, and after all they’d been through…she prayed to every god and goddess that all the royals were still alive.

“Please, allow him to land and I will see him in the first room you had us wait in,” Adelina said. Her voice was strong and her spine straight, despite how her hands shook.

Nadyah felt sick to her stomach, wondering if the reason Ian hadn’t sent her any recent messages was because…no she wouldn’t even think it. After all they were fated to be mates. She would have felt him leave this plane, but the other royals…she prayed they were all still alive because she didn’t know how much more her princess could take.

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