Page 19 of Marked Dragon

He spun on his heels and marched away, his dedicated golden retrievers following. With each stride that took him farther away, my stomach unclenched a little. I turned back to the king and the queen and realized that King Arman had been studying me for who knew how long.

Queen Mira stood and gestured at the door to the main house of the chateau. “Come on, dear.”

“Honey, why don’t you and the servants go in and get things ready while I have a moment to talk with Everly alone?” King Arman said as he patted his wife’s arm.

“Oh, of course.” The queen laughed, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. “Drake won’t let her out of his sight often.” She waved the servants in and left, leaving me alone with the king.

I tried to breathe despite my lungs screaming while I waited for him to say something.

He surveyed the area, and his gaze settled on my face. “Are you mated to Thorn?”

The world shifted, and I placed my hands on the table to keep myself from falling over. Somehow, this man…theking…knew, and I was certain he wouldn’t approve of me being mated to his eldest son.

What would he do to me?

CHAPTERSEVEN

Sweat pooled under my armpits,and I tried to control my breathing, but the way I had to brace myself on the table had already answered his question.The king knows,I connected with Thorn.

“That’s what I thought.” King Arman ran a hand down his face, and his eyes narrowed, deepening his faint crow’s feet. “That’s why Drake is so set on marrying you.”

What do you mean he knows?Thorn asked, trepidation leaking into the bond.

I straightened my spine.That I’m your mate.

Fuck,Thorn replied as his dragon snarled.

King Arman already knew the truth, so I said, “I know it’s hard to believe coming from me, but Thorn isn’t a monster or someone to be feared.”

“Even though he kidnapped you?” The king crossed his arms.

That was a fair question, and I needed to use this opportunity to change the king’s mind, if not for me and my situation, then for Thorn. “He needed leverage to free Cassidy and Vlad.”

“Drake said—” he started.

“He lied,” I interjected, not wanting to waste time. Drake could come back at any minute, and I suspected he’d be in a hurry. I hated what that meant for Eva. She probably wasn’t ready. At least, that would buy me more time to talk to the king alone. “Thorn took me because he’d learned of Drake’s plans for me. He wanted to use me as a bargaining chip.”

“And what did Drake want?” King Arman tugged at the sleeves of his white and blue striped button-down shirt.

“Thorn.” I ran a hand down my stomach to ease the nausea rolling inside. “He doesn’t like that Thorn exists. I don’t know how he found him—”

The king groaned. “I do, and no wonder the guards have been acting strangely. Falkor was my personal guard until recently, when he said he was worried that someone was stalking Drake. Falkor has to be in on it.”

What’s going on, Everly?Thorn piped in.Are you in danger?

No. Actually, the king seems bothered by all of this,I replied, trying to stay focused on my in-person conversation. “Wait, you know how Drake located Thorn?”

He placed his hands on the back of his chair and nodded. “It was because of me.”

“And you’re surprised he acted on it?” I scoffed and crossed my arms. Maybe it wasn’t the smartest tactic for dealing with dragon royalty, but damn, he didn’t get to ignore his role in this.

Growling, he focused his gaze on me and said, “I understand your predicament, but I am yourking. Lucky for you, you’re also now my daughter, but you need to understand your place.”

The hair on the nape of my neck lifted, and pressure built inside me. Despite the flood of warmth in my chest from him calling me family, the strength of his stare forced my attention to the ground…as if I were submitting. My dragon grumbled, not liking it, but I couldn’t fight it.

Then the sensation was gone, and I could glance up again.

“I’ve known where Thorn was hiding for twenty years.” The king’s face twisted in agony and something like regret.

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