Page 3 of World At War

A smile graces Marco’s lips as he looks up and into my eyes. My wolf is howling with joy that he’s our mate; she’s loved him for so long. I feel like I cannot breathe as I look up at him into his pale gray eyes. He closes the distance between us in three powerful strides, then drops to his knees before me. Marco is easily a foot taller than I am, so on his knees, we almost see eye to eye. “Princess, I have loved you since the first moment Aurora allowed me in your presence. I have dreamed about this day for what seems like forever.” His voice is rough and gritty, as I remember it being. Today, his voice seems to be laced with a tinge of emotion.

His eyes drop for a mere moment before looking back up at me. “I wish to do a scale exchange with you, but I fear that is impossible.” He looks sadly down at his now-shifted hand, staring at his obsidian scales.

“Not impossible!” Tia says excitedly as she beams at me.

“What do you mean, sissy? I don’t possess any scales.” My voice breaks, admitting to the lack of scales.

Tia laughs. “That’s where you’re wrong. All of mom’s daughters have at least one scale. A single solitary scale, just in case she has a dragon for a mate.” Tia winks at me, then moves behind me and unzips the back of my gown. “I need your hand, Luna,” Tia says, giggling.

I raise my hand and leave it level with my shoulder, waiting to see what my crazy older sister does. Tia roots around inside my gown until there’s a sudden sharp pain, then ice-cold where the pain was. Triumphantly, Tia places the scale in my hand. Apparently, I had one just above my tailbone. Happy tears roll down my cheeks as I stare at the single opalescent scale.

“Will this do?” I offer Marco my scale, and you would think I offered him the keys to the kingdom.

“You honor me greatly, giving me your only scale.” Marco smiles, staring down at the scale resting in the palm of my hand. His eyes turn serious as he shifts his left hand to his taloned gauntlet. He stares intently at his scales, flipping his hand back and forward, scrutinizing his scales.

While Marco is distracted, I take this time to study him closely. His skin is littered with scars; the most prominent ones are on his exposed chest. As he moves, the robe shifts, exposing more of his bronzed skin and the silver scars that litter his flesh. From what I can see, his chest is well defined and has a sprinkling of hair between his pecs. Raising my gaze slowly, I follow the striated muscles that are flexing in his thick neck. His beard is short, black, and well-manicured. Marco grits his teeth, making the muscles tighten in his jaw, making its strong angles moredefined. Several emotions flicker over his features before he finally removes a scale from his gauntlet.

Tia moves forward and examines the scale that Marco has chosen and smiles. “It’s a grand scale, battle hardened and has proven its strength time and time again,” Tia says with great pride as she looks from Marco to me. Her own mates stand proudly behind her, offering us protection during this pivotal moment for us.

Tia’s eyes take on their pure white glow as she looks between Marco and me. As I look around, every other dragon’s eyes also are glowing like hers. She’s sharing what’s happening through the dragon bond she shares with every dragon and dragon-kin that lives. That means my entire family can see that I now stand before Marco with my single scale in the palm of my hand.

Tia shifts her hands to her taloned gauntlets and raises them high in the air, lightning arcs between her long, lethal white talons. “I, Tiamat Andrea Kraus-Stormbringer, the great-great-granddaughter of Skaldi Nyx Atriox, grant my baby sister Luna Ryker the right to take her mate. I will oversee the exchange of scales.” Tiamat’s eyes suddenly blacken, and those eerie blue pulses of energy flicker to life in the center of her eyes.

My sister looks at every dragon present, making sure none stands against her. “Marco, you have patiently waited for your mate for centuries. Present Luna with your scale. If she accepts … You must plant the scale over her heart.” Tia says firmly, then moves her snow-white hair to reveal the two scales that live over her heart.

Marco hesitates for a mere moment before holding his huge, thick hand out to me with his scale resting in his palm. “I offer you my scale as a token of my undying love and fealty. A dragon’sscale and word is his bond. My life and the life of my dragon are yours forever. If you accept us.” Marco swallows hard as he keeps his eyes locked on his scale, awaiting my answer.

I’m not sure what to do; until Tia motions for me to move my hair to the side and cup Marco’s hand with my free one. Smiling broadly, I rest my much smaller hand under Marco’s before moving my hand with my scale into his field of view. “It pleases my wolf and me to know that dragons take the mate bond as seriously as our people do.”

Drawing in a deep breath, I remove my hand from under his and pick up my scale and place it next to his. Slowly, I take both of my much smaller hands and cup his hand that is holding both of our scales. “I offer you my love and life. From this life to the next, we shall be together till the end of time. My wolf and my venom are yours forever. If you accept us.” I pray to the wolf Goddess I will not know rejection. I’ve loved Marco for as long as I can remember; I just didn’t know till today that what I had felt was the early tethers of the mate bond.

We look expectantly over at Tia, and she smiles at both of us. She brings her palms together and places the tips of her middle fingers below her cupid’s bow. “I bless and approve of this pairing. Please exchange scales, then in private complete the bond when you are ready.” Marco plunges his talon into his chest without warning. Quickly, he takes my tiny white scale and places it within the wound. By some miracle, his wound almost instantly heals around my scale. I stare in disbelief, seeing his skin knit back together as if nothing happened.

I am in absolute awe of the serene look that crosses his face. It’s a look of utter bliss and peace as he closes his eyes, reveling in the feeling he’s experiencing. His eyes open, and it’s his dragon’s eyes that look at me expectantly. Swallowing audibly, I cockmy right eyebrow up, looking at him. “I do not possess talons like you.” Moving my hair away from my chest, revealing the space over my heart. “I need your help.” Escapes my lips like a whisper.

Marco nods his head once before hesitantly placing his talon tip upon my flesh. “I can’t bring myself to harm you, Luna. I love you too much.” His eyes beg me to do what he cannot bring himself to do.

Drawing in a fortifying breath, I carefully grip his hand with both of mine and drive his talon into my milky white flesh. The deep rumbles of distress from his dragon answers, as a brilliant streak of crimson rolls down my chest. Carefully, I pick up his offered obsidian scale from his hand and place the fleshy side into the tiny wound we created together.

Surging power like a tidal wave makes my blood sing with newfound power. Love … I feel an indescribable amount of love flood my heart and grips me tightly. Its warmth makes me feel safer than I have ever felt in my entire life. I feel the tears of joy escape my eyes and race down my cheeks. The rough pad of Marco’s thumb gently wipes the tears away. All I can do is stare up into his pale grey eyes and smile.

Time moves in slow motion as he bends down towards me, his eyes locked on my full lips. My first proper kiss. I’m scared and excited all at the same time. A soft whine escapes my lips as my wolf’s anxiety kicks up.

Marco pauses in his forward progression and crushes me to his chest, hugging me. “Forgive me, love. I only wished for a kiss. I forgot how nervous your wolf gets.” He presses his lips to the crown of my head, then looks back to the other dragons and sends them out on patrol. “We do things at your pace, no faster.”His hand gently cups and engulfs my jaw as he tilts my head up to look at him.

I nod and smile. “Thank you for understanding.” I get a mischievous look, and my eyes dart around to see that everyone else has left us alone. “May I see your dragon up close now? They did not permit before me.” Smiling broadly, I bat my eyes at him and pout my lips. Hell, it used to work when I was little.

“Of course, my love. If he frightens you, let me know, okay?” A look of uncertainty crosses his usually stern face. Never once in all the years I have known Marco has he ever looked anything less than confident. I nod, agreeing, and back away, giving him room to shift.

His dragon practically bursts into existence and immediately lays down. I understand now why the black dragons are also called skull dragons. The exaggerated boney prominences of his head and his horns’ size make it look like a giant black skull. Slow steps carry me closer to my mate’s dragon. My wolf wants to cower and hide, urging me to run. A predator of this size is terrifying to us, yet I know my mate will never harm us. Sometimes it sucks to be an omega.

Drawing in a fortifying breath, I extend a hand out and rest it upon his huge boney maw. His obsidian scales up close have an iridescent quality to them. At first glance, the scales appear as if they should be smooth, but touching them, they feel like shark skin rough and grating. His dragon’s silver eye on this side watches me closely as I look him over. Hundreds of scars litter his maw from nose to horn, each one a tale of battle and triumph. Bending down, I duck under his thick, ridged, curved horn to move towards his body.

So many scars cover him; a little of my heart breaks because of all the battles he’s fought over his lifetime. I rest a hand on his front shoulder as I look at his front leg with its huge menacing black talons.“Are you okay, Luna? Do I frighten you? I can shift back,”Marco asks, as his head turns to watch me.

Carefully, I sit upon his foreleg and look up at him. “Surprisingly, I’m okay. I’m more intrigued by the scars that litter your scales than the size of your dragon. You’re almost a wyrm dragon, correct?” I ask curiously as I stare up in awe as he lifts his massive head for a moment to look around before focusing on me again.

“You are correct. At about eight hundred years old, I will attain wyrm status for my species. I’m much older than the others know.”He lowers his massive head and lays it on the ground, looking at me.“Does that upset you? That I’m so very much older than you?”I feel his anxiety through the tethers of the newly formed bond.

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