Page 26 of Unexpected Mate

“Stop thinking, little one,” said Ivo. “We are working on a possible solution to help make it easier for you during the ball.”

His words calmed the bats slamming into the sides of my stomach. No sweet fluttering butterflies for this girl.

“There’s my BFF!” Damien’s voice made me wince; it seemed far too loud for this secret visit. He twirled me in his arms and kissed my cheek with a loud pop. He didn’t even let me catch my breath before he started dragging me toward a rack of dresses.

“Come on! I have some pieces from the top designers in our kingdom,” he said with glee. “I always wanted a sister I could dress up! This is going to besomuch fun!” He was stacking gown after gown in my arms, the rising pile of fluffy fabrics making it hard to see him. I felt his hands guide mebehind a folding screen to start changing. I really wished he had to breathe, that way he would at least stop to take a breath.

I was buttoned, tied, crushed, and squished into more gowns than I could count. Damien clearly had a specific vision in his mind because I barely had the chance to catch sight of my reflection in the mirror before he was yanking the beautiful fabrics back off me.

Ivo and Mithraheal sat and clapped politely with each dress, but the twins and Leo were far less mature. After the second dress, I came out to find them holding pieces of papers with numbers written on them. They were scoring each dress like it was a sporting event. I rolled my eyes, but their silliness helped keep my instincts distracted. My mates were amusing and I was enjoying this game.

Damien slid another gown over my head, the fabric so soft it reminded me of water trickling over my skin. He said this dress was an A-line gown with a plunging neckline. He added that the fabric had been hand-dyed by one of his favorite designers, Anca. I tuned him out as stroked the rippling fabric. The bodice was a deep royal blue, and as it shifted down my body the blues shifted and changed like the aquatic teals of the sea. It was an incredible trick of the light and spoke volumes about Anca’s artistic talent. This was the dress.

“Yes, this is the dress,” Damien whispered.

“Stop reading my mind!”I cried.

“Stop being so entertaining!”he fired back.

I had always wanted a brother, now Iquestioned the wisdom of that wish as I glared at him through narrowed eyelids.

He stuck out his tongue and gave me an exaggerated bow. I slipped around him and made my way carefully to the ornate gold mirrors that rose from the floor and up to the grand ceilings.

“You are the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen.” Mithraheal’s voice sounded raw with emotion.

“The vampire is correct,” said Ivo. “I have lived a lot longer than the rest of your mates, and you truly are the most exquisite creation to walk this earth.”

“Dang. You guys make it hard for the rest of us to compliment her!” Leo grumbled.

Levi blew me kisses, and Luke brushed lovingly against my mind.

“Okay! Take it off, T!” Damien said. “We can’t have you accidentally ripping the dress to shreds while you guys try to do some monster mashing.” He winked and I groaned.

I slipped back behind the curtain and carefully removed the dress. I couldn’t believe I was going to be wearing something so incredibly beautiful. I handed it over the screen to Damien, leaned down and picked up my T-shirt, slipping the worn grey fabric over my head. I picked up my jeans, but before I could step into them, I felt a warm wet trickle down my leg.

Glancing down I saw blood. Seriously? I had never had a cycle in my life, and my body decided that today was the perfect time to suddenly give me one? This week sucked donkey balls.

“Um, guys?” I was trying to figure out how to ask for the necessary girly items.

I shrieked as the screen was ripped aside and slammed into the wall. Mithraheal stood there panting, his eyes blood red. Gone was my well-mannered aristocrat, in his place was a vampire that had just smelled his most favorite thing on earth.

“Did you hurt yourself?” he asked. His fangs flashed as he searched my face for any sign of pain.

“Chill buddy,” I said, raising my hands in defense. “I’m the one that is supposed to go all feral at the drop of a hat, not you. It’s no biggie, I apparently just started my menstrual cycle—”

Ivo roared. “No, no, no!” he cried. “This shouldn’t be possible! The timing is all wrong! Why have the fates cursed us?”

I’ve heard cycles were less than fun, but this seemed a bit of an overreaction.

“Ivo, it will be okay,” I said. “This is normal for women, we’ll get through this.” His panic was making me panic, and two panicking dragons inside a castle was a very bad idea.

“It’s normal forhumanfemales, but not fordragon shifterfemales!” Ivo snapped back. “A dragoness will have only one bleed each year, and they don’t have their first bleed until they are at least three hundred years old.”

Huh.And here I thought I was a late bloomer - turns out I waswayearly.

“Merging with your Beasty must have accelerated not only your magic abilities, but also your physical development,”continued Ivo. He sounded like he had just lost his best friend.

“So, I’m weird, that’s not exactly unexpected in my life.” I shrugged.

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