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Ker Drachen jiggled his computer mouse and brought his screen to life. He shouldn't be this excited to check his email, but he wanted to see if Tiana Jonas had emailed asking for his help once again. The sweet schoolteacher had gotten under his skin. He looked forward to her emails and calls.
He had only a few minutes before he had to go down for breakfast and check on the kids. He loved that the castle was full of children now. With all three of his brothers having found their mates, he was the last without someone to make his life complete. There was also an elder now living with them. Nana had returned from a very far away planet to help anyone needing to find a mate. She’d brought along Newton. He’d found his mate instantly. Lucky bastard.
Too much had happened in the past few years. Enough that it felt like a lifetime had gone by and still Ker had no mate. Should he worry? No. There was no desperate need for a marked mate. Not when one particular human made him feel new emotions he’d never felt.
Thinking back to their recent years, it was clear when things had turned and the men, once distressed dragons seeking mates to continue their race, were now happy family men, husbands, mates, doing anything and willing to kill anyone to keep their families safe.
His oldest brother, Tor, had met an empath, Morgan, and mated. The first of the dragon mates had been found. But when Tor found Morgan, the Noir, a race of black dragons set on destroying the Drachen line, had started attacking them even more. They had been unsuccessful in killing Morgan and stopping the mating. Now Tor and his mate had several children and were stronger than any Noir without a mate could be.
When his brother Clacher met his dragon mate, Lexi, the Noir returned full force, wanting to stop their mating as well. They’d almost succeeded, but Lexi and Clacher made it and had offspring of their own. Now, they, too, were stronger than ever. No Noir could go up against them. So, they didn’t try.
Last winter, his brother Jae met not one, but two, women. One he’d fallen in love with and readied to give up his dragon for her. Even though the other marked female could have been his mate. After dodging the Noir and their attempts at killing both Hannah and Avery, they found out some amazing news.
The woman Jae had fallen for, Avery, was his marked mate. There had been no need to give up his dragon to become human.
Then the Noir had gone quiet. Eerily quiet.
So as far as Ker knew, he was the only one missing a mate. Not that the fact worried him for a second. He was too busy chatting up Tiana.
His text messenger popped up on his screen with a ding.
“How are you, Ker? Can we talk on the phone?”
He grinned at the smiley emoticon and tried not to sound too excited she was already online. “Sure, now is good.”
He’d given her his cell phone in case there were any issues she needed to reach him for. That and because he really liked her. The sound of her voice the first time they’d spoken had made him hard for hours. Hell, even now, thinking about it, he was getting turned on.
He picked up when the phone rang and tried not to sound overly enthusiastic that she’d called.
“Hey, how are you?”
“All right. How are you?” she said in her husky voice that made him think of hot nights and tangled sheets. Not to mention naked bodies. Their naked bodies.
“I’m good. How’s that website building going today?”
“Meh,” she growled. That sound of frustration had never been so sexy coming over the phone. And he’d never gotten hard just from listening to a woman’s voice like he did with Tiana. Thank god, she couldn’t see him. “I would rather be somewhere else.”
He frowned. She was usually so upbeat and happy. There had to be something wrong. “What’s going on?”
“Nothing. I’m just a bit disappointed. Anyway, I don’t think I’ll be online working on this today, so you have the day off from my million and one questions.”
“You’ve paid for training and I am here. If you don’t feel up to working now, we can take it up later.”
There was a long pause in which he thought she might have ended the call. So far, Tiana had been shy but very interested in learning. At first, she’d been setting up the website for the school. Once that was done, she was having him help her with the donation website for the homeless shelter she volunteered at.
“I’m thinking of going away for a few days,” she said softly. Something in her tone raised his hackles.
“Vacation?” He tried to sound mildly interested but wanted to know what was really going on with her.
She cleared her throat. “Yeah. Just some personal stuff going on. I need a breather.”
He hated that she was having any kind of problem and wished he could help. Then he thought of something. “Where will you go?”
He owned a small cabin in upstate New York. Nowhere near Jae’s massive one. This was a small place he’d bought when he heard Jae talking about building a real estate portfolio. Ker only used his cabin when he needed a break. It was sitting furnished but empty most the time.
He only used it a few days of the year. And he loaned it out to the winner of his scholarship for a week. Thankfully, he had a local person keep it clean and stocked with food when someone was going to stay.
“I don’t know. I wasn’t planning this vacation so it’s sort of last minute,” she sighed.
“I might know of a place, if you’re interested.”
“Really?” There was a note of concern in her question and he realized how what he said might come across.
“What I meant is, I have this small cabin in upstate New York. It’s not very big, but it’s by a river and has great views. It’s clean and it only gets used twice a year. So, it’s sitting empty now. If you needed a place to go and get away for a few days, it’s yours.”
“I don’t know,” she said. “Let me think about it for a day or two. I have a lot on my mind, right now, and I’m unsure which way to go.”
“Tiana,” he cut in. “I’m here for whatever you need. Even if it’s not related to your website building, let me know. If I can help, I will.”
“Thank you, Ker. I appreciate it.”
After their call, Ker sat, wishing he could do more than just offer a place to stay for a few days. He’d been trying to approach asking her on a date, but she’d been so set on keeping their training and calls on the professional level, he’d been worried she might stop using his service to learn. It didn’t matter that he was volunteering his time to teach her through his foundation. Tiana was the one woman he’d found that he wanted to get to know on a personal level. Something about the conversations drew him in.
He headed out of his working office and to the castle kitchens where Nana sat with Jae and Tor.
“What’s going on?” he asked. There was a thick sense of dread in the giant space.
They all glanced at him, Tor being the one who spoke. “Nana is telling us there is something coming. Something big.”
He refilled his coffee mug and sat with them at the giant kitchen table. “What kind of big?”
Jae brought his cup down and met his gaze. “At first, we were hopeful it was your mate finally making an appearance.”
“You guys know I’m not worried about that,” Ker tried to calm their fears. Now that Tiana was in the picture, he wasn’t worried about a mate at all. Though younger than his brothers by a few hundred years, which made him the kid amongst them, he had never experienced any human attachment like Clacher or Tor.
Like Jae, he’d been busy learning the latest in the fields he was interested in. At first, he’d been a crown protector like his brothers, then a student of the arts. After that, he stuck to technology. Investing in everything that drove evolution of commerce. When computers were created, he’d been one of the first to test and learn and invest. He’d made a killing. But at the same time, found something he loved.
The internet’s birth opened new doors for his investments. He made a fortune in Silicon Valley. Not that he wasn’t already wealthy enough for his great-grandchildren to never need a job. But Ker needed stuff to do. Technology called to him. E-commerce driven businesses created a new platform for him to grow DrachTec, the foundation he had started to teach nonprofit and small businesses about E-commerce and technology.
He had over a thousand employees. Humans said he looked no older than someone in his twenties. Unlike his brothers who looked old--like thirty-somethings. Age wasn’t a big deal to his family. It was what one did during those years that counted.
“Ker,” Tor started. “Morgan got a vision. It wasn’t like the others. She said she felt it was mate related, but all she saw was you.” Tor’s lips pressed into a straight line. “You needing help? You being targeted to be killed?”
Ker frowned. “I haven’t had any targets. Not like the rest of you.”
“That’s a good point,” Jae growled, running his fingers into his hair in clear frustration. “I don’t know what that dream means, but Avery had a similar one. You needing to be saved.”
Nana cleared her throat and gave Ker a kind look. “So did Lexi. The women are so worried about you they want us to make sure you don’t leave the house.”
Ker glanced from one to the other to the other. None of them smiling. “You’re kidding me, right? Things are fine. There have been no other mates and I haven’t been attacked once by any black dragons.”
“We know,” Tor replied. “But that doesn’t mean it isn’t coming.”
“I can’t--no, I won’t--stop living my life because of what could happen. None of you have and I won’t be the first.”
“This is different, Ker,” Jae told him.
“Where are the women anyway? They’ve always felt comfortable enough talking to me. What brought this on?” His patience was usually pretty good, but knowing Tiana was going through something cut short his ability to give a fuck about shit like this. What he wanted was to go to Tiana. To help her with whatever she needed, and at the same time, get closer to her. A new craving for more than just online or phone conversation had grown in him. One he couldn’t quiet. One he didn’t want to shut down.
“With Morgan and Lexi so close to birthing babies, they’re resting. Avery, Hannah, and Star are watching the other children,” Nana replied. “Newton’s helping too. And I know Avery won’t last long, needing as many naps as she does now that she’s carrying twins.”
Ker nodded. He loved all the babies and women in the castle. They were his family. But he wasn’t going to live in a cave because they were worried. He had a life to live. “I have too much going on. The tournament is in a few days. Even if I wanted to stay home for a few days to calm their fears, I can’t.”
Jae gave a sharp nod. “I understand. We all do. Just be careful. Sayeh is still angry over the loss of so many of his Noir.”
He understood. There had been so many deaths, and so far, Sayeh hadn’t done anything to retaliate. They were living peacefully but waiting for an imminent attack.
“It’s coming,” Nana said with a sad tone. “It’s going to be big. And it might break this family.”
Ker shook his head. “Nothing and no one will break up our family.”
Jae and Tor looked at each other. “We’ll do whatever is necessary. Even give up our lives to protect our mates.”
Nana met Ker’s gaze. “Neither of you wouldn’t be the one to sacrifice.”