Page 10 of Bound to the Dragon
A sensation rushes through me that I’ve never had before, and the hairs on the back of my neck rise unexpectedly. In unison, Blaze and I turn toward the entrance to the veranda.
Two enforcers stand on either side of the steps leading up from the grounds. There’s no one else there, yet I can’t shake the odd feeling that there’s someone lurking in the darkness beyond.
Our eyes meet, an unspoken question between us. Blaze senses that something is amiss, too.
“With this, I declare you mates.” The elder slaps the book closed and produces a pen for us to sign the paperwork on the pulpit in front of him.
If there had been room for objections, I missed it, apparently. Not that I expected anyone to speak up on my behalf, and I sincerely doubt that anyone would dare speak out against Blaze.
That’s it. It’s done. We’re officially mates.
In a way, it was anticlimactic, as if I had been waiting for the earth to stop or something catastrophic to happen when the elder declared us committed, but this moment is no different than the last. It’s almost disappointing.
I catch my mother’s beaming face, and Virginia flashes me a thumbs-up from her seat, as if I’ve accomplished some major victory.
I scrawl my signature on the mate contract and hand the pen to Blaze, who takes it without looking at me again.
I take that back. Something has changed. I feel like I’ve just signed my life away.
I shudder at the idea of what is supposed to come next, but simultaneously, I can’t help but wonder what Blaze is like in bed. Will he be as rigid as his exterior, or is there some gentle soul hiding beneath it all like I’d just glimpsed in his eyes?
Sooner or later, I’ll find out. Maybe even tonight.
Blaze signs the paperwork and turns to the guests. “Drinks are available at the bar. Dinner will be served in an hour. Feel free to mingle among yourselves.”
He doesn’t say anything to me and wanders off to speak with his Beta, leaving me feeling rebuked. I hadn’t expected a kiss oranything, but to just leave me standing there minutes after our union? It stings.
“That was a beautiful ceremony!” Mom is at my side, guiding me toward the guests gathering around the bar and food tables set up along the veranda. “Wasn’t it lovely?”
I have no idea who she’s talking to, but I’m too distracted to ask her. I haven’t been able to shake the sense that something’s wrong. Again, I find myself looking toward the veranda entrance, and my eyes narrow slightly. The original enforcers are no longer standing there, and the new ones make my skin prickle. They stand out for some reason, but I can’t place why.
This isn’t my home. I wouldn’t know one enforcer from the next.
But I can’t let it go.
I turn to speak to the first member of the Shadow Pine pack I see.
She recoils when I touch her, but instantly recovers from her faux pas. “Yes, what is it… Luna?” She almost spits out my title.
“Do you know those enforcers?” I nod toward the entrance, and she barely looks.
“Yep.” She walks away before I can ask any follow-up questions.
I’m clearly not going to have any luck with the Shadow Pine pack. They don’t want me here any more than I want to be here. It must insult them to know that no one in their pack can bear the heir that the Alpha desperately needs.
“Why are you asking about the enforcers?”
I turn my attention back to my mother and again try to shake off the ever-building tension mounting in my neck and shoulders. The clash of our two packs is wreaking havoc with my well-honed senses as it is, and I don’t trust my own judgment. It’s overstimulation, the party, the animosity oozing from the Shadow Pine pack, even from my own mate. I just want to getout of here, out of this hell I’ve found myself in. I need to find a moment of reprieve for myself, but I don’t think it’s possible.
“Never mind, Mom. Why don’t I get you a drink?”
“Champagne, of course!” She claps her hands together, her eyes shining. “I can’t believe my baby is a Luna! Your father?—”
“Stop it!” I hiss, cutting her off. “Stop bringing up Dad here, of all places! Mom, do you hear yourself?”
Mom’s face drains of color. “What a thing to say, Madison! Don’t you think your father would want to be here if he could? He would be the first one to celebrate your good fortune! He probably would have set this up a long time ago if he were still with us.”
I pull her away from the bar and toward a quieter corner of the veranda, lowering my voice. “Mom, you can’t be serious right now. Do you think I’ve forgotten what he did? I know you haven’t.”
