Page 17 of Heart of the High King
Chapter 8
After his first few panic attacks, Aleksander had mastered the practice of completely losing his shit while appearing outwardly composed. It was a skill he was grateful for as he walked into Worth’s office, hopefully with his mate trailing behind him. The man who was about to upend Aleksander’s life was an attractive dragon a good eight inches shorter than him. His dark hair was shaved to his scalp without any style and curiously, he had a rugged scar through his left eyebrow.
Dragons and other large shifters didn’t usually have marks on their skin as their beast gifted them with superior healing for the reward of flying, which meant this man did not obey the call often. When the door snicked shut behind him, Aleksander faced the wary-eyed stranger who was wearing an outfit that appeared to be at war with itself. The dragon had on pants in a drab shade of maroon that awkwardly bared most of his brown socks. Even to someone style-challenged like Aleksander, it was clear that it clashed with his red shirt with the neon green stripes. Over the short-sleeved button-down was a sweater vest in an olive color.
Aleksander smiled—at least his mate would never complain that he didn’t care about fashion. But the pleasantness of finding his other half was not enough to drown out his absolute terror of not only explaining himself but somehow managing to build a relationship, and those problems charged back to the forefront as they stared at each other.
“We weren’t expecting anyone but Duke Sullivan, Your Grace,” Aleksander said and closed his eyes at his inanity. If he wanted the type of matebond that was so highly valued within the Council and his family, he was not off to the best start.
“Your Highness, I apologize,” Rafferty responded in a deep, gravelly voice that curled Aleksander’s toes. The D’Vaire king would be happy to listen to him talk day and night. It was hard to hold on to fear when he was so pleased with Fate’s choice, which was rather ironic, since he’d been insisting for centuries that he didn’t want a mate at all.I guess it’s different when he walks through the door, Aleksander thought. “My brother insisted.”
“I think in light of the circumstances, you can forgo the title business.”
“What do you mean, Your Highness?”
Lowering his head and staring into black eyes full of emotions he couldn’t read, Aleksander studied the handsome planes of his face as he contemplated how best to react. “You are my mate, Rafferty.”
“I had a good friend who used to called me Rafe. She died some months ago, and I still miss her,” he said, then scowled, which made Aleksander’s belly flop in arousal. “I don’t know why I just told you that.”
“Are you going to pretend that we aren’t mates?”
“Are you sure we are?”
“Yes, I am, Rafferty.”
“I don’t think you understand, though. I can’t be gay.”
“It’s okay, my family doesn’t know I am yet either. I have to tell them, though. At least the immediate members. We don’t have secrets in this house if we can help it. They aren’t going to take it well. I’ve kept it a secret a long time.”
“My brother can’t find out.”
“Kendrick? He hasn’t had any issue with the many gay men in the house.”
“Not that one. I hardly know him. I mean Duke Sullivan. In fact, we should leave right away in case he figures it out. My family doesn’t have any tolerance.”
“So, you’ve kept it a secret because you’re afraid of how they’ll react?”
Rafferty rubbed a hand over his face. “I don’t know.”
“Okay, I’m sorry. We don’t need to get into all this right now. Like you, I’m freaking out, and this is going to mean a lot of changes for us both.”
“I think I should leave.”
“You just got here.”
His expression grew pained as he threw his arms out. “I don’t know what to do. I need to go.”
“Give me your phone.”
With a questioning glance, Rafferty dug into his pocket and fished out the device, which he handed to Aleksander. It only took a few moments for Aleksander to punch his contact information into Rafferty’s phone and put his mate’s into his. “Now we can text each other, okay?”
“Can I leave now? I should go.”
“What about Kendrick? Aren’t you here to visit him?”
“Yeah, I guess. I mean, yes…Sullivan made me come.”
It was odd that the more flustered Rafferty grew, the calmer Aleksander felt. The dragon in front of him had to figure out how to tell a family that had no tolerance that he was gay. For Aleksander, he had the same secret, but there was no real question of how the D’Vaires would react. There wasn’t a single person in his home who didn’t have the utmost respect for the diversity Fate enjoyed creating in her people.
