Page 13 of The Monster at the End of This Courtship

"We aren't trying again," I said, doing my best to keep my voice calm but firm. "We've both found our fated mates."

Dirk crossed his arms over his chest. "If you've found your mates, where the hell is mine?"

"I don't know. I wish I did, I swear." I wanted to help, so I didn't think through how my next question would sound. "Have you tried the nursery school?"

"Why the fuck would I do that?"

I took a step back. Dirk and I had been friends before I'd gone and ruined everything by mating with Weld. Now, he looked like he wanted to sink his teeth into my neck and rip my throat out, all so he could steal my alpha.

"Weld's mate is one of Punky's babies." Weld and I had met with Punky and Lark earlier in the week to soothe over any hard feelings. The way Robin had latched onto Weld had been so cute. They both knew they were meant to be together, even if they had to wait twenty-five years to make it happen.

We all had our own issues, though. My mate was now a fully mature adult kobold alpha, but he refused to look at me when Dirk skulked away.

"I meant what I said." Axel huffed. "I don't dance."

"You don't have to dance." I grabbed his shoulders. "You can stand there while I dance beside you."

I swayed from side to side. I couldn't help but smile when he started to sway with me.

The song changed to another, this one slower. I stepped closer to Axel. When he didn't back away, I rested my head on his shoulder and dropped my hands to his waist.

He inhaled sharply and grabbed my hips, too. "Why do you always smell so good?"

"I do?" I leaned in, sniffing his neck for the first time. Gods, he smelled divine, like sun, sand, and sweat. "You smell like a volleyball court."

He laughed. "I talked to Merritt about our idea yesterday after class, and he showed me a natural sand quarry just beyond the fortress today at lunch. There's a decent swimming hole, too, but we'll need to run it past the dragon before we mine sand, or even swim."

"Rumor has it, the dragon isn't as mean as we thought."

Axel's chin bumped my shoulder when he nodded. "Merritt said the same thing. Said we'd need to run it by a beta named Mac."

I'd never met Mac, but I had good rapport with most betas, or so I hoped. After Dirk's animosity, I was beginning to question whether my social skills as a human transferred to kobolds, or if I'd lost my touch.

"What are you thinking about?" Axel asked. "You look sad."

I tried to smile, but Axel's frown deepened with concern.

"I thought I'd made some friends here, including Dirk. Mating with Weld cost me more than I realized."

"Do you still want him?" Axel didn't seem the least bit jealous. Why would he be? He was ready to return to Earth and leave me here by myself. What would become of me then? Would I die without another chance of mating, or would the magic recognize that my fated mate was no longer on Ignitas and spawn another?

I couldn't think like that, or I would cry.

"I don't know that I wanted Weld in the first place," I admitted. "He was kind to me, but he was mean to others, especially Coz and Grindl."

"I've met Coz," Axel said. "He brought me a welcome kit when I moved into my cabin."

"He's a great guy, but I think he might hate me."

"Nobody hates you," Axel said. "You've got too much shine for anyone to hate you."

"Too much shine?" I laughed.

"That's what my grandma used to call it. Shine. Hutzpah. Gumption. Charisma. You name it, you've got it."

I laughed. "Charisma is a Dungeons and Dragons thing, right?"

Punky had called it that, too, when I'd introduced myself to him on our first day of class. He claimed he had negative charisma and wouldn't make a good friend for someone like me. In the end, he was the better friend to Coz and Grindl, since it had been his idea to move their eggs into the cabins aboveground.

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