When Elait, Air Prince of Galaton, finally received the message that his mate had been identified, he could barely contain his excitement.

He strode out onto the balcony of his Crystal Palace and looked out at the Air Lands below. His castle was built on the highest mountain peak in all of Galaton. Below the tower of crystal that was his home, the snow-covered mountain descended into the void. Around him, the air was turning with an oncoming storm.

Elait flicked the wrist of his tight-fitting blue uniform, bringing up his holocom. He clicked on the picture of his new mate. He saw a tiny, curvy human female with flowing brown hair and caramel skin. She had eyes that slanted up slightly at the corners, and a sly smile that melted his heart. He quickly read her profile, learning that she was a transport pilot on Earth and had dreams of traveling to space. The rest of the profile was largely unintelligible.

Just looking at her, he felt his heart swell and his inner dragon rumble. He flicked off his holocom screen and tried not to think about her. He could not afford to be infatuated with his bride just yet, or it would bring on his mating thrall.

Since the last female had died several years ago, the male dragons of Galaton had been rising against their princes. It was a common thread on Galaton. Every five thousand years, when the X chromosome finally died off among their people, the lower level aristocrats tried to overthrow their princes.

Elait had sent his semen sample to Earth many long months ago, along with the other Galatonian princes, in an effort to secure his bride without leaving their lands alone at such a turbulent time - but they also dared not risk the mating thrall.

Since the Draconians had allowed Galaton into the mating lottery, the princes had devised a plan to safely bring the brides to Galaton. They’d send their semen on a faster than light-speed transport craft to Draconia and then through the wormhole to Earth. The tiny transport craft could fly faster than any living creature could with their technology.

Elait was overjoyed that his beautiful mate had been located. The fates had brought them together, finally, after all these years alone. The girl was only twenty-six, but Elait was over a hundred and twenty.

He had been waiting for her for decades, and now he had an image of her face. The tiny, petite human would come to him and bear his son: the heir to the Throne of Air.

According to their plan, his mate would be artificially inseminated with his seed before leaving Earth, and she would then spend the next twelve months travelling to him, arriving with his baby in her arms.

Yet, Elait knew that he had to put her out of his mind until then. Every thought of her, every impression of her, made his mating impulse begin to stir. If he left the impulse unchecked, it would eventually drive him mad.

The princes discovered that if the bride was impregnated before leaving Earth, starting the mating bond, it would alleviate the sharpest edges of the thrall.

The plan had worked for the Fire Prince, so Elait believed it would work for him as well. The Fire Prince’s bride was already on Galaton and he had survived his mating impulse.

The trick was to not think of his mate…Sophia. He must not contemplate the feeling of her skin under his fingertips as he traced the curves of her body.

He growled and pushed away from the balcony, walking into his chambers. Delicate furnishings, popular among the air elemental dragons, decorated his room. Spiraling gold posts and cloud white upholstery dominated the design. Everything was of the finest quality, crafted with the exquisite beauty of Draconian logic. His craftsmen had created a crystal bed with a mattress so light it felt like sleeping on a cloud.

He walked through his room and exhaled, making his way to the elevator where he could go out to one of his speeders.

He had to do something to take his mind off of Sophia, and piloting a speeder was the one thing he knew would distract him. If he shifted into dragon form right now, he would be in trouble: his dragon was hungry for his mate, and Elait dared not let the beast come out.

Instead of shifting and taking a flight, he would take a speeder out for a good, soul-filling thrill and focus on something other than the gleam in his mate’s big, brown eyes.

He walked out of the Crystal Palace and onto the docking bay where he found his favorite speeder. His favorite was a single person unit that was open to the air.

He slung his leg over the seat and gripped the handlebars. Elait flicked his hand over the holographic dashboard and the speeder rumbled to life.

It slowly rose into the air. Elait pushed the accelerator on his handlebar until he was jetting through the sky over the snow-covered mountain peaks of the land of air.

His heart thrilled like the flapping of dragon wings as the wind slapped against his face. His inner dragon flew inside his mind, feeling the wind blow over his scales.

Elait shot up through the clouds and down again, doing acrobatics in the air as he went. This, surely, would be enough to help him forget about her.