Page 101 of The Dragon's Mate

“My bear,” she cupped his face and smiledat him, “I cannot go to your wedding.”

“You have to,” he said.

“I cannot,” she repeated. “The reporterswill follow me, and I am not ruining your wedding.”

He growled in anger, and she stood and presseda kiss against his forehead. “I wish I could be there, my bear, I do. Ishould get back to the clan. Give Ava my love.”

He stood and took her hand. “I’ll walk youto your car.”

Chapter Eighteen

Kaida put the dishes in the dishwasher andchecked her phone. She glanced around almost guiltily, before pulling up Bren’sFacebook profile. They weren’t friends on Facebook, but it looked like he hadn’tposted anything on social media in over a month anyway. She shoved her phoneinto the pocket of her jeans before pouring herself a second cup of coffee.

It was Friday morning and still nothingfrom Bren. No phone call or texts. The acid clawed its way up from herstomach and settled in her chest as her dragon made a mournful cry.

Shh, it’s all right.

My mate. I need him. Please?her dragon said.

He is not our mate. You must forgethim.

Her dragon made another sound of grief andKaida pressed a hand against her chest. The ache for Bren was a deep, physicalone that had only grown worse since Wednesday night. Straightening, she took agulp of coffee that made her indigestion worse. Her healing powers were weakened,a side effect of her dragon’s depression and misery, and for the first time inher life, she felt powerless and frail.

My sweet, it will be all right. She purred to her dragon, hoping to bring it out of its misery.

It burrowed down deep, refusing to acknowledgeher comfort. Kaida sighed before heading to the front door of her cabin. Shestepped out onto the front porch and sank into one of the wooden rocking chairsnext to the door.

She stared at the dirt road leading back tothe main road. Yesterday, it had been clogged with reporters’ vehicles and thereporters themselves had roamed freely around the cabins, knocking on doors andpeering through windows while the clan had remained together in the communitycabin.

About half an hour after she’d returned fromBishop’s office, a half dozen police officers had shown up and herded thereporters off their lands. The reporters were still there, just below thecrest of the first hill that led to their cabins, but the police had set up abarricade and there were officers posted at the barricade and in a loose perimeteraround their cabins.

Bones had spoken to a few of the officersguarding the perimeter and, at one point yesterday evening, her grandmother hadgone around handing out bottles of water and freshly baked cookies to thehumans.

She could see Cadmus making his way acrossthe clearing toward her cabin and she looked away as her dragon growled. Itwasn’t just her dragon that was pissed at the high elder, she could feel herown rage rising.

Cadmus climbed the porch steps and sat downin the rocking chair next to her. She immediately stood, and he said, “Staywith me, Kaida.”

Smoke drifted from her nostrils, but shesat back down. Cadmus smiled at her. “You are angry with me.”

“Yes,” she said.

He pulled his cloak closer as a cold windblew his long hair into his face. “Tell me.”

“You would have let them burn the humanalive. Bren saved the hatchling. He’s a good man and when the council votedto kill him anyway, you didn’t say anything.” The words tumbled out of her,hot and hurt and dripping with fury. “He’s a good man who didn’t deserve thefate the council decided.”

“Are you angry because he’s a good man orangry because the council tried to destroy your mate?” Cadmus asked.

She glared at the old dragon. “Do notspeak so foolishly, Cadmus.”

She expected him to be angry with her. Instead,a smile crossed his face. “Valen and I once burned with the same fiery passionthat you and your human share.”

“He is not my human,” she said.

“I miss my mate,” Cadmus said.

The grief in his voice dissipated her angerwith him immediately. She reached out and took his hand. “I know. I’m sorry,Cadmus.”

“Did I ever tell you that Valen and I hadto seek permission from the council to mate?”

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