I looked around the library at my brother and cousins. All of them looked the same. They believed Alina had to leave us, for our sake as well as Jasmine’s.

I was almost willing to agree with them on that.

My dragon, on the other hand, didn’t feel that way at all. To put it mildly.

He roared and thrashed inside me, unable to understand why any of us would think beyond what was perfectly clear to him. Tell them you want her to stay. Tell them she’s our mate.

How ridiculous would that sound? Not to mention the way it would look, suddenly deciding I had found my mate right after my brother found his.

Pathetic.

Jasmine took Pierce’s hand and went to his side, leaning on him a little.

He practically glowed with pride, and I could tell his dragon was content. There was peace on his face I had never seen before—not on him, not on any of us.

And I envied him that look. I couldn’t help it. Maybe it was because of that envy and my ability to see it slinking around the corners of my mind that I held myself back from reaching out and taking what I wanted. Who I wanted.

I had wanted her from the moment I saw her, standing with her back to me in that tower room of hers, working on a salve or a potion.

So intent, completely absorbed in her work. It reminded me of how deep I’d fall into a book or a scroll, or a game of chess.

She moved like water, flowing gracefully the way golden hair flowed gracefully down her back. The linen dress she wore flowed the same way, skimming the curves of her body. I was hooked then and there.

She wasn’t wearing that dress anymore. The borrowed clothes hid her body and made her look small and fragile inside them. Which only made her more desirable to me, since she looked more in need of protection than ever.

And if my dragon liked anything, it was feeling like a protector.

Her impossibly blue eyes searched my face. She wanted to stay. She was desperate to stay.

With me? I barely dared hope.

No, with her sister. She wanted to stay with Jasmine.

Anybody who watched them could see how close they were. Alina didn’t want to leave her—after all, the alternative was leaving her alone with a bunch of dragons, in a cave she would never be able to live outside of. Who wouldn’t want to stay and protect a person they loved?

It wasn’t for my benefit that she looked so stricken at the thought of leaving. I was only a friend, the ally she had made in the days since she’d come to heal Jasmine’s wounds. That was why she looked at me the way she did. Begging me for help, if only silently.

My family needed my help, too. All of them looked to me. They knew I was the one she would listen to. I was the one who spoke reason. I was the one she had gravitated toward. I wished more than anything right now that one of them had grown close with her instead of me.

“This is for the best,” I reminded her.

I hated myself for it. The dragon hated me even more.

It was an old story, though, one which I had lived out for ages. He wanted action. He wanted us to take and take until there was nothing left to be taken. And for the most part, I agreed with him. But there were things to consider. Strategies to put in place. Like a chess game—the winner was never the player who barged straight through without a plan.

He couldn’t understand that, because he couldn’t understand reason. Which meant he usually roared in frustration, agitation, the need to be heard. Somebody had to keep the rest of the family in line. It had to be me.

I was practiced in denying myself the things I knew would make the dragon happy. Like Alina. She would make him very happy. He might feel the sort of satisfaction Pierce was experiencing as he slid his arm around Jasmine’s waist.

Tell them. Claim her. You know she’s ours. She’s been ours from the moment we saw her.

Oh, yes, he had wanted her as we watched her work back there in the tower. He had nearly roared in my head when I first laid eyes on her. He had never sounded like that before.

I had never worked so hard to keep him in the background—if Pierce hadn’t gotten my attention when he had, I might have shifted in mid-air and broken through the window. And I had never come close to losing control of myself before then, even when we were young and just coming into the fullness of our powers.

“I guess I need to go tonight?” she asked, chewing her bottom lip.

Miles was kind enough to step up. “Do you think it would make things easier for you to leave tonight? I mean, versus arriving tomorrow morning?”

“There’s bound to be questions,” Fence added. “The house might be quieter overnight.”

“Oh. That’s true.” Alina nodded.

She and Jasmine looked at each other, having a silent conversation while the rest of us stood and watched. Jasmine shrugged, and Alina nodded.

“Yes. I guess it would be easier to go back tonight and get myself settled in. I can answer questions in the morning. I don’t need everybody jumping on me the moment I walk through the door.”

“I’m going to miss you so much.” Jasmine went to her again and held her tight, squeezing her eyes shut against the tears I was sure wanted to flow freely down her cheeks. I wondered how I would react if I knew I’d never see my brother again.

“I love you. I’m so happy for you.” Alina took Jasmine’s face in her hands and held it close to her own. “I want you to know that. No matter what happens or if I never speak to you again, I want you to always know how happy I am for you right now. I want this for you, because I know it’s what you want.”

“What about what you want?”

A ghost of a smile appeared on Alina’s face. “That’s never really mattered, has it? You know what I mean. I’ll be happy knowing you’re happy. Besides, I’ll have my work, and that’s always been my life.”

“That’s true.” Jasmine didn’t believe her.

Neither did I.