Page 7 of Emerald Waves
I chanced a glance at the handsome protector whose arms I was still cradled in, and there he was, flesh and blood. This wasn’t a dream. This beautiful man, whom fate deemed wasmine, had saved me. His emerald eyes bore into mine, awaiting my response.
“Together.”
Any other answer wouldn’t do, though I had no clue how to wade through any of this.
Together.
I sighed.Yes dragon, and thank you for never leaving me.
Thank you for finally allowing me to have a voice. Now, let’s get on with this mating ritual.
Dear Goddess, I awoken a beast in more ways than one.
No need to answer, as my home was once again invaded with Denarius brethren. They’d only just left, hadn’t they? Or had I lost all track of time being this close to Caro? Maybe they waited downstairs while we talked. Too many questions, most of which didn’t really need answers to.
Let it go, Emerson and enjoy what’s about to come.
Yes, dragon, enjoy.
Chapter Three
Caro
My brother’s hand on my shoulder kept me grounded and focused on the man in my arms, rather than the snarling beast in my head that ping-ponged between giddy excitement at having found our mate and a vicious desire to seek out everyone who’d ever hurt Emerson and stomp them into the dirt.
“We’re going to go and leave you two to sort things out now,” Ionus declared, giving my shoulder a squeeze.
“But if either of you needs us, you only have to reach out and we’ll come right back,” Alex added. “Welcome to the family, Emerson. It’s awesome to no longer be the only mate. When you’re feeling up to it, we should plan a picnic, just us. Until I came here, my only friend was my Gramps. I’d really like the chance to get to know you better.”
“S-seriously?” Emerson asked, the caution back in his voice.
“Seriously,” Alex said, his voice firm and fierce.
Discovering his dragon had turned my new brother-in-law into a force to be reckoned with and now here he was, making sure my mate knew that he had a place with us and a friend waiting to see to it that he never felt left out or excluded again. I loved him for that and for the light he’d brought into my brother’s life. When I thought back to the way he’d come to us, smart-mouthed and fearless after wiggling through a fissure in our cave wall, I couldn’t help but offer up a silentthank youto the Goddess.
My big brother had already changed in ways I never imagined. When I looked over at him, all I saw was love and pride in his eyes as he looked from his mate to me and Emerson.
“Welcome to clan Denarius,” Ionus said. “May you make my brother as happy as my precious mate has made me.”
I watched Emerson blink, then blink again, as astonishment and relief swirled like a tornado inside of him. Tears shimmered in his eyes as Ionus and Alex took their leave, falling only after Ionus had closed the door behind them.
“I...” he stammered, voice trailing off as words eluded him again.
I was glad for that. It meant that he was no longer searching for reasons for us to reject him, though I knew I would have a rough path to forge when it came to getting him to see just how valuable he was, and not as an archivist or an omega, either. Just from the glimpses of emotions I’d gotten from him and the things his dragon was sharing with mine, I knew that was all he’d ever felt that he had to offer. It was no wonder he was so twisted up inside. No wonder his mind had started to fracture and become a place where he no longer felt safe.
Hadn’t my brothers and I feared the same thing happening to Ionus, with how focused he’d been on training, drilling us so hard that at times resentment had crept in, leaving us bitter and upset over the man our brother had become. Centuries of battlepreparedness, shrewd business transactions and investments, ever watchful, ever spurning the things in life meant to bring joy, even temporarily. Hadn’t we wondered what that was doing to his mind and if there would come a time when we’d lose him to his narrow-minded mission?
How could I have ignored the same signs in Emerson?
How could I have thought that leaving him alone was the best way to sort out what it was supposed to mean that he was my mate?
And how could I ever have thought that flying hundreds of miles away would help bury my curiosity and the budding feelings I’d tried to squelch because I didn’t believe myself up to the task of handling a mate that needed, well, I hadn’t figured out what Emerson needed yet, except to be loved, and I could do that.
I owed him that much and more.
Had I really almost talked myself out of this moment because I was wary of the challenge?
Yes.
