Page 17 of The Dragon's Mate

“They were being beaten. I couldn’t leavethem to their fate.”

“You could have and should have done so.” Smokewas starting to drift from his nostrils.

“Calm yourself, Drago,” she said.

“Do not tell me what to do. You brought afox shifter and two humans into our clan. Have you gone mad? You’ll be luckyif the council does not banish you for what you have done.”

“If they choose banishment, I will acceptthe punishment.” Her voice was calm, but she felt far from relaxed. Her pulsewas racing, and panic was singing through her veins. She might often feelsmothered by the clan rules, but banishment meant madness and death.

Drago grabbed her arm and pulled her to astop. “If you would only stop your foolishness and accept my mating proposal, youwould not have to worry about being banished. They won’t dare banish you ifyou’re my mate.”

“Why? Because you believe you are next inline to be an elder?” She arched her eyebrows at him. “Believing you shouldbe an elder doesn’t make it true.”

He snorted. “I am the best candidate forthe position, Kaida. You know as well as I do that Cadmus will appoint me tothe council. It would be wise not to anger me.”

“Are you threatening me?” She pulled herarm free of his tight grip. “That’s not a good idea.”

“For God’s sake, I’m not threatening you. Butyou need to see that your foolish ways will lead you into trouble. It’s likeyou want to be banished, Kaida.”

“Just because I don’t believe the old waysare still appropriate for us doesn’t mean I want to be banished.”

Drago threw his hands up in annoyance. “Theold ways have protected us for years. If the humans were to find out of ourexistence, what do you think they would do? We’d be hunted and left with nochoice but to destroy them. Is that what you want? For humanity to fall beneathour flame?”

“Of course not,” she said. “But who areyou to say what the humans will think or do if they learn of us?”

“They have proven time and time again thatthey do not trust the paranormals. Are you really that foolish, Kaida?”

Sick of his questions, she stomped toward the community cabin.

“If you were my mate,” he was hurrying after her, “the firstthing I would do is curb you of your ridiculous ideas about humans and dragonsliving in harmony.”

“Thinking you can tell her what to do is exactly why she’llnever bang you, dude,” a voice drawled from the darkened porch of the communitycabin.

The dragon shifter stepped out into the moonlight as Dragomade a low hiss. “Mind your own business, asshole.”

“Hello, Kaida.” The shifter ignored Drago.

“Hi, Bones.” She studied the large shifter in the dimlight. At almost seven feet tall with a body thick with muscle, he was one ofthe larger shifters in their clan and the head of security for the clan.Rather ironic considering he’d earned the nickname Bones for being abnormallyskinny as a yearling and even into adulthood. But now, his large size, shavedhead and numerous tattoos intimidated many in their clan and even dragons fromother clans.

What Kaida had always found fascinating was that Cadmus had appointedBones to be the security head before he’d started to fill out. The otherelders had objected strenuously but Cadmus would not be swayed. She shouldn’thave been surprised by it, Kaida supposed. Cadmus often made decisions thatseemed strange but ultimately were perfect.

She joined him on the porch. “Why are you here?”

He tugged at his chest length goatee. The thick black hairwas threaded with silver. Before he could reply, Drago said, “Why do you think?There’s been a security breach, one that you caused when you brought a humanamongst our midst. You’re lucky he did not slaughter the humans immediately.”

Kaida glanced at Bones who rolled his eyes and said, “Do mea favour and tone down the fucking dramatics, would you, Drago? The human wasjust a kid.”

“One of them was just a kid,” Drago sneered. “The other wasa cop.”

Kaida twitched in surprise. “How do you know that? Wereyou hiding in the damn bushes next to my cabin while I spoke with the human?”

“Of course not,” Drago said.

“Javee took his license plate number and did some,” Boneshesitated, “research on him.”

Kaida sighed. Why she thought for even a moment that shecould keep the humans a secret from the rest of her clan was beyond her. Theywould have smelled Tyler and Corey as soon as she brought them close, and thecouncil would have immediately began assessing the risk and investigating thehumans.

“You’re lucky that we didn’t call for his death the momentwe discovered he was a cop,” Drago said.

---