Page 38 of Bite Me

His brain kicked into gear before that could come out. “You look fucking amazing in that color.”

He sounded like a dumbstruck teenager.

Jada looked down at the clothes and shrugged. “Oh. Thanks. I’m used to wearing black all the time. This feels like I’m wearing a neon sign that says look at me.”

“I’m looking.”

“Uh-oh. I should have warned you not to give her a dress that color. He’s going to be distracted all day.” A gorgeous blond with more curves than Marilyn Monroe crossed the room and took Jada in a big hug. “I’m Ciara, Jakob is my mate. I’m so frickin’ excited you’re here with Ky. Now I have someone else to be a bridesmaid at the giant wedding I’m throwing…in my mother’s face.”

Ky shot a look at Jakob, who grinned like his mate had just said the most brilliant thing on the planet.

Love struck fools, the both of them.

“Oh, I…uh, we…” Jada’s stumbling over the words to deny that they were together made Ky even more sure he had to go ahead with his plans to put her in charge.

Dax, the red assigned to this area along with Steele walked in and rubbed his hands together. “Let’s get this party started. I’m ready to burn up some demon dragons.”

“What about Match and Cage?” Steele asked.

Jakob shot Ky a quick glance. They’d all decided not to let Cage’s precarious condition out to the dragon warriors. “Cage is indisposed and I’m still waiting on an update from Match. He’s in Africa working on this problem from the underground side of things.”

If anyone could rescue the Mami Wata girl from the hellish environment of a volcano, it was Match. He thrived in that heat.

Ky offered Jada a seat. “We’ll work with what we’ve got here now and call in reinforcements when we’ve got a plan.”

Fleur came in with a tray of coffee and herbal teas. The pendant around her neck glowed a little brighter this morning.

Ky glanced from Fleur to Ciara and back again. They both wore the crystal pendants. Their mates did not.

Holy shit. How had he not realized it before? Both Jakob and Steele had given their soul shards to their mates.

That couldn’t simply be a green dragon thing. The shard contained a piece of their souls. No smart dragon was ever without that most prized possession.

Ky knew all the way to his core that they’d given up their shards because they’d given their mates their souls, both figuratively and literally.

He’d give his to Jada a hundred times over. If she’d take it.

They weren’t ready. She wouldn’t want it, wouldn’t understand what giving it to her would mean.

Time to put that plan to win her over into action. Jada sat on the edge of a chair and Ky stood behind her, putting a hand on her shoulder. “I suggest we let Jada lead. She’s good in battle and knows our enemy unlike any of the rest of us.”

The room erupted with cries about allowing a demon to even be there, much less take any charge. Only Steele and Fleur knew that Jada was Ky’s soul mate.

Ky stepped to the center of the living room and raised his hands, sending out a wave of cool mist to hit them all in the faces and get their attention.

His powers came easier to him now, ever since he’d walked into that donut shop and laid eyes on Jada. His tactic got everyone to shut up almost instantly.

“I would rather have addressed this later with the AllWyr council, but you lot will have to do.” Ky didn’t know how Jada was going to react to his announcement.

“Before you all flip your shit, you need to know, Jada is a fierce warrior who is being hunted by the demon dragons. The black demon dragon beast wants her himself. But that can never happen, because Jada is my true mate.” The shard on his chest glowed with a blue light that filled the room in a flash as if to emphasize his point.

Ciara gave Jakob a see-I-told-you-so look. Dax threw his hands up in the air and rolled his eyes. The only reaction Ky cared about was Jada’s

Her eyes went wide, and she shook her head at him. She was going to deny it right here in front of everyone. That was going to hurt like a son of mother ducker.

“I’m not a warrior,” she said.

The beats his heart had skipped pounded in his chest, putting the rhythm up a notch. She hadn’t said she accepted him, but she didn’t refute his claim either. He could kiss the hell out of her right then.

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