Page 106 of The Exiled Dragon

“I will make up for this night,” he promised. “We were to make love all night long.” I giggled, hearing him laugh as he spoke.

“But we will enjoy it much better if I know I have the Duke sitting in my Dragon’s belly.” I scrunched up my nose. He gave a loud laugh, making my Dragon calm. “You will be safe here. The palace is under a spell. No Vampires can get in. I love you.” Nodding, he kissed me one last time until he walked to the door.

I couldn’t watch him walk out the door. My heart ached too much for that. Shutting the door quietly, I pulled up a large pillow to my chest, trying to breathe in whatever scent I could pull that was his into my lungs. My Dragon cried with every step he took away from us.

“We have to do something,” I whispered to my beast. “Something to help everyone.”

***

I didn’t sleep the rest of the night. Granted, there were only a few hours left until daybreak. Rising from the bed, showering, and getting ready for the day, I put on one of the many dresses Melina had requested Juliet to bring. All of them were overly beautiful and expensive. Not one could be used as just a plain outfit.

Grabbing the one that looked the least formal, I opened the door to my room to find three guards standing in front. “Morning, Alpha Odessa.” The Dragons stood tall.

“Um, just Odessa, please.”

“Of course, we are here to escort you to the dining room.” They didn’t bother to give me their names, and I didn’t ask. The heaviness of the entire palace seemed to hang over me as I slowly walked with one in front and two behind me. I cracked each of my fingers as we entered the large dining room. Golden chairs sat next to the dark mahogany table, decorative tiers of cupcakes, flowers, coffees, and tea strung about each plate.

The silver forks displayed were decorated with gold spirals of leaves around each handle and repeated on the plates. Let’s not talk about the plates. They were gorgeous, certainly of royalty fit for a King and Queen.

“Here, come sit.” Melina pulled me to a chair. Amora sat on one side of me, her hand going to my back, stroking it.

“They are fine. Our mates are all out there together.” I blew wind through my nose, huffing at the thought of them staying out there while I sat in here. Melina eyed me carefully, loading my plate with eggs, bacon, and sausage.

“Eat the meat. Creed gave us strict orders to have you eat as much protein as possible. Your Dragon will appreciate it. We even got some beef from some of the Dragon tribes to fill you up, too.” I hummed, poking at the eggs. My Dragon stirred, urging me to eat, and I immediately felt better.

“See, protein goes a long way. Your metabolism will accelerate too.” Amora smiled, squeezing my forearm. After several minutes of silence, Melina placed her tea on the saucer, watching me.

“Odessa,” she whispered, watching my new Dragon warriors speak amongst themselves. “I’ve got a sorceress that will help you wield your Dragon’s powers.” I leaned my body closer to hers. My Dragon was pushing for this, so I’m going to trust her.

“We can do it in the library. You can order your guards to stand outside while she teaches you some things.” Looking back over to the guards and back at Melina, I nodded, eager to do something with my time rather than sit on my rear end.

The rest of breakfast was consumed by much lighter chatter. I spoke more about Ondi’s swift return here to the normal world. Their eyes glowed with excitement and jealousy when we saw the goddess Hecate and Aphrodite. The in-between was now a hot topic of discussion. Wondering if there were more supernaturals still stuck in the in-between, but no one was certain. Our chatter was interrupted when Daine had finally decided to grace us with his presence.

He looked extremely rough, his braided hair was in disarray, and the tunic he wore was hanging off his shoulders, showing his mark. His bright eyes were now grey, lifeless. We continued to pressure him on why he looked this way. Supernaturals do not get hungover as humans do. They always had a fast metabolism and ways to ward off simple sicknesses.

Continuing to brush us off, he had several cups of tea, slowly brightening his grey face. His face would smile at his teacup but quickly become a scowl as if he remembered something sour. Continuing to watch him, I gently nudged him under the table with my foot. Maybe he wanted to just talk alone?

“What’s wrong?” I mouthed to him. Shaking his head, I nudged him again. “Is it Tangle?” I mouthed again. His eyes watered, looking away. Standing up from the table between Amora and Melina, I went to sit with him. His head went onto my shoulder as I held onto him. He cried. My poor little Daine cried.

“We will be in the library, Odessa,” Melina whispered, pulling Amora to her side. “Stay with the guards.” Her eyes said it all. She was serious. Once they left, Daine pulled from my shoulder. Taking a napkin, I wiped away his tears.

“What happened?”

Daine sniffed, covering his face with his hands. “Tangle, I saw him talking to one of his ex-flings.” I sat back up straight, making sure I heard him right. “They just talked, but it was obvious that this guy was eye fucking him.” He breathed heavily, taking a napkin to wipe his nose.

“What else happened?” I pressed. Daine shook his head, looking back towards the table. “Daine!” I pushed his shoulder.

“The guy kissed him!” Putting my hand to my mouth, I shook Daine’s shoulder for more.

“Tangle pushed him away, right?”

Daine swallowed. “He didn’t get a chance because I punched the guy. I got so angry. I felt like an animal inside me, like a damn gorilla monkey thing. I wanted to rip off his dick, shove it in his mouth, and watch the dumb fucker choke on it. Then have Tangle fuck me right there in front of him to show the bloody bastard I was only his!” I snorted back a laugh. Daine was a lot of things. He had a loudmouth and no respect for other people’s feelings or boundaries, but Daine was definitely not a fighter.

“Then why are you crying? You socked the guy in the face! You should be proud you stood up for your mate who got taken advantage of!”

“That’s what Tangle said. He said it was sexy as hell, but I punched someone! I have so many mixed emotions! I'm glad I did it, but I feel so bad! I’m horny, but I’m not!” I scooted my chair away from Daine, unsure what would happen next. Was he going into some weird Elven heat or rut? They technically don't have an animal, but they can be animalistic...

“A-and where is Tangle now?” I pray to the heavens he is close because he needs to come to calm down his mate before he goes psycho.

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