Page 48 of The Dragon of her Dreams

“It’s all right,” she soothed, reaching out to touch my arm. “But I need you to know that I think you’d be a great king, Jaegar. You’re strong and fearless, and you love your people so much.”

I stared at her as her words sank in. And when they finally reached my soul, I snatched my arm out of her grip in distrust and hurt. “Is that what you think?” I demanded, speaking through my teeth, which were already shifting. “That I’d do a good job sitting on a fucking throne all day? Of playing at being royal like you? That goes to show how well you know me,mate.” And with that final barb thrown, I turned and ran from a life that was being thrust upon me. A life I never wanted.

That’s not me!

I ran through the castle, back across the threshold and out into the cold. I was panting and couldn’t catch my breath, and my dragon was screaming at me to fly, to take to the skies. With a racing heart and more emotions roiling within me than I’d ever felt in my whole life, I chose not to fight him.

“Jaegar! Can I help, sire?” the butler called out from the front door, a concerned expression on his face.

I turned and threw my best coat at him. “Just take care of my clothes, please.” I ripped off my shirt and managed to throw it toward my coat before my dragon ripped through my body. My arms and legs shortened, and my body grew in size. My skin became gleaming scales, and my blood turned to liquid ice in my veins.

How could my own fated mate turn on me during such a pivotal moment? Was she so obsessed with marrying a royal that she’d forgotten who I really was? Where I’d come from? Because I certainly hadn’t. Memories of my mother and the years we’d spent scraping to get by assaulted my mind, yanking on my heartstrings. This wasn’t what she’d intended when she asked me to seek out my sire, I was sure of it.

It was time to fly, to escape, and to retreat from the suffocating glitz and glamor of the royal world to the only home I’d ever known—to the place that I belonged. My duty as a man of the North was to the people—not a throne.

Chapter 18

Jaegar

PURE FURY SAW ME THROUGHthe first half of the next day. I still couldn’t believe that fate had sent me such a shallow, incompatible mate. Her intentions and desires were clear now. She was exactly what he’d feared she was—a pampered princess, inside and out.

She just wants a damn royal!

And for Theo to offer me the throne, in front of everyone? The way he put me on the spot like that... I hadn’t been prepared at all.

The fucking gall of that kid. Doesn’t he know anything?

My shoulders ached from the rocks I’d spent all day lifting, but it was a great and rewarding feeling to see the wall finally come together. A large part of the external barrier that ran around our kingdom was crumbling, and I’d been put on the team tasked with repairing it. We all still had secret worries about the wolves in the woods, even though they hadn’t been seen for almost thirty years now. Behind me, I heard one of the guys speak, dragging me from my thoughts.

“Your Highness,” he said. “It’s good to see you.”

“And you also, Tomas,” Damon’s already familiar voice answered.

I wiped the sweat from my brow on the sleeve of my shirt and turned around to look at the man who’d sired me. He wasn’t wearing his royal rags today. Instead he’d donned a simple gray shirt, trousers, and a coat. He didn’t quite look like he belonged here, but he didn’t look like the king either.

“Jaegar,” he greeted, nodding once, his blue eyes zeroing in on me.

I nodded back. “Hey.”

The men around us seemed to disappear all at once as they made various excuses to look in on other projects, leaving me alone with my father.

I took a sip of water from my canteen, waiting for him to speak. When he didn’t, I cleared my throat and spoke up. “Do you have something to say? Otherwise, I’ve got get back to this.” There were only a few hours of daylight left before the day was over, and I was almost done, albeit I’d gotten to the hardest part of the job.

“I’ll help,” Damon said, pulling off his coat and laying it on the stones to his left.

“Oh, no,” I said, shaking my head. “No need. I’ve got it.”

“You need a second pair of hands to finish the top layer,” the king said, walking up to me. “And don’t act like you don’t. I was building these walls since before you were born, son.”

His words made my heart feel strange, but I shook off the sensation. An able-bodied man had offered to help me. That’s all I needed to focus on. “Fine,” I relented. “Hand me that rock.”

He pointed to a step near the wall. “You get up first, then I’ll hand it to you. We’re going have to work together to get this part done before we lose the light.”

I stared at him for a moment, in awe at this side of him. He was right, of course. I’d struggle to lift the remaining rocks, hefty as they were, above my head high enough to place them on the wall, especially alone. And that immediately made me wonder.

What else has he done in his lifetime? What else do I not know?

“Okay,” I managed to say, then went and stood where he recommended. Then I watched as a man of at least sixty years old, albeit a dragon shifter, squatted down and wrapped his arms around the largest boulder in our vicinity. Before I could even think to tell him not to lift that one, it was done.

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