Page 6 of Dragon's Honor

Ash leaned forward, his voice gravelly and almost growly as he said, “No one will touch you.” With that he stood up and stormed away.

Henrik sighed and shook his head.

“Any chance you’re going to explain to me exactly what that was about?” she asked.

Henrik stood. “I would, but you wouldn’t believe me.” He held out his hand. “Finley, it was nice to meet you.”

Finley shook his hand, but noticed his eyes watched the accessory on her wrist while he did. What the hell was going on with this bauble?

Olivia bounced back to the table. “Who’s the hottie?”

“Henrik, my sister, Olivia.”

Olivia put her hands on her hips. “You hitting on Finley?”

“Uh, no. I don’t have a death wish.”

Olivia’s puzzled look matched Finley’s own questioning expression.

“Why would someone want to mortally wound you for hitting on my sister?” Olivia put her hand on her hips like she meant business, but with her drunken lean, she lost some of her ferociousness.

Henrik smirked, tossing one more wink to Finley. “You’ll see.”

And just like that, he was gone.

Finley looked over at Olivia, her expression still curious and her brow crinkled with confusion.

2

A Night up in Flames

“You didn’t touch her.” Henrik’s voice was almost understanding as he plopped himself on the stool next to Ash.

“It’s not mine,” he growled.

“You and I both know that’s not true, and that’s exactly why you didn’t touch her.” Henrik gestured to the bartender for another beer.

Ash growled, this time a real honest growl to tell his brother to shut up. “This isn’t why we’re here. We’re looking for…”

“For what? You think Tristian is slumped on a couch with a woman, murmuring sweet nothings in her in ear in the middle of a dance club name after his own clan?”

“Heisa cocky son-of-an-asshole.”

“So am I, but neither of us are that stupid.”

Ash conceded to his point and took another drink of water. His mouth and throat had been dry and scratchy since he saw her dancing. She caught his attention long before the sight of the tourmaline on her wrist. It looked nothing like his cuff, but he knew the stones were his anyway, not that he’d admit it to anyone, especially not his ass of a brother.

He knew if he touched her, he’d have to have her. His dragon was already pissed he walked away. The urge to shapeshift and grab her and haul her away burned deep inside of him. He wanted to take her away a claim her as his own. It was a primitive, primal feeling. Dragons didn’t take maidens from the villages, not that they ever did, but the need to mate, to claim the woman destined to be his, was almost too much to bear.

The Larimar Clan took human mates, but the sea dragons had long since been extinct. Obsidian had been lost to time for so long, no one alive even remembered seeing one, let alone who they mated.

But the other six clans were far more traditional than the barbaric Larimar. Dragons mated dragons or witches born of dragon blood. Even other shifters weren’t considered worthy of mating.

Except in the last few hundred years, female dragons had also become all but extinct. His sister was one of six unmated females left. The chances of finding a mate in one of the remaining five was slim to none. There were a few crones, mated, past their birthing years, and part of the Clan of Elders that remained to guide the females.

Ash knew it was his duty to find a match in one of the six remaining females. He couldn’t take the title of king, even with his mother and father’s recent murder, without a female dragon by his side, ready to serve the clan with as much strength and wisdom as his mother had. Along with his parents went their kingdom, left to ash and ruin. He and his siblings barely escaped the attack.

Their witch, Syrena, had sent their heartstones into the aether to protect them. She said she wasn’t sure how they would return to them, but she hoped the stones would find their mates and be protected until both could be returned. If showing up on a human was Syrena’s idea of a joke…

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