Page 7 of Primal Dragon

“I need to stew on this for a few minutes before I decide what to do next.”

Cillian accepted the cup of coffee Henrik poured for him. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from you. And thank you.”

“May I ask you a stupid question?”

Cillian chuckled and nodded while he sipped from his steaming cup.

“How do vampires find their mates?”

“That’s not a stupid question, but it is odd. Why are you asking?”

“You’re not tied to a gemstone like dragons. That helps guide us to our mates. Fate and all that. I know vampires have mates. How do you find them?”

Cillian smirked. “It’s all in the blood.”

Henrik looked down into his black coffee like it would somehow reveal the answer.

“You think you met your mate or something?”

“How would I know without my heartstone?”

Cillian considered his words and set his cup down. “If you think you need something physical to tell you who your mate is, then maybe you’re relying too much on fate to just hand you the answer. If you feel something when you look at her, if you know she’s important, then listen to that instinct. You’ve seen hundreds if not thousands of women in your lifetime, have you ever wondered if one of them was your mate?”

Henrik shook his head. “No, but now I understand my brother’s apprehension when he met his own mate. I’m right in the middle of this whole dragon and vampire mess. Adding a human unnecessarily just seems like a bad idea.”

“Your dragon going to be okay with you just leaving her be?”

“No. I don’t think I am either. I only know where she works and I’m not going to show up there and be a pain in her ass. She didn’t want to give me her phone number when I asked for it. Clearly, this whole feeling is one sided. Plus, she’s human. How dumb would that be?”

Cillian chuckled. “Pretty dumb. Your brother is king though, that should give you some allowances.”

“Not really. Our clan is close to being banished altogether or another dragon could take our throne. Maybe they should. But being with a human has never disgusted me the way it has some other dragons, including my older, mated-to-a-human-brother.”

“I think he’s just going by Ash now.”

Henrik smiled.

“If she’s your mate, she’ll show up again. It’ll be harder for her to deny you too. Don’t worry about it right now.”

Henrik finished off his coffee. “I’m not going into hiding. James gave me a way to hide myself, so that’s what I’m going to do. I’m going to finish the job.”

Cillian sighed. “I wish I could say that I’m surprised by that, but I’m not. I can’t go in there with you. You won’t have James backing you up.”

“I should never have let him risk himself like that.”

“You’re delusional if you think you could’ve stopped him. The man thinks he’s got to make up for bad behavior. He wanted redemption.”

“Well now we’re going to have to save his ass…hopefully.”

Henrik and Cillian finished their coffees in silence while they contemplated their next steps.

Henrik’s phone went off.

Unknown Number: I wanted to give you an update on the calico kitten you brought in. She’s doing well. I finally got her to eat a little.

Henrik smirked. Maybe things weren’t so one-sided after all.

Henrik: Is this from someone at the clinic?

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