Chapter 1
Torrence looked at his reflection in the mirror and ran a hand through his dark hair, smoothing the longer strands on top. Satisfied with his appearance, he grabbed his suit jacket off the back of the chair and put it on as he walked from his bedroom. He was finally old enough to take part in his people’s mating ceremony. Twenty-five hadn’t seemed like a very old age, but it had felt like it took an eternity to arrive.
The mating ceremony happened only once every October, when the mating fruit their people cultivated in their mountain home of Pine Mountain ripened, turning from yellow to deep red. His father, the king of their dragon shifter clan, had spent the last few months preparing Torrence for the ceremony. The males ate the fruit, and it would awaken their dragon, who then chose their mate from the available females. Clans from all over the Northeast were coming to his clan’s mountain for the ceremony which was happening when the moon rose that night.
Possibly, somewhere among the female dragons who had arrived over the last week, was Torrence’s mate. He was so ready to be mated. Not only would he be allowed to join the ranks of their clan’s military, but he’d finally be able to start a family, something he’d wanted for a long time.
“Oh, you look so handsome,” his mother, Vanessa, said as he came into the kitchen. He pecked her on the cheek and smiled as she fussed with the collar of his jacket.
“Thank you.”
“This year is the largest gathering of females ever,” his father said as he looked up from his phone. “It speaks volumes for the next generation of our people.”
“I just know your dragon will choose an amazing female for you. You deserve all the happiness,” Vanessa said.
Torrence smiled. “He’s stirring in my mind already. I’ve been waiting for this day forever.”
Which felt like the truth. Dragons could feel their beasts from a young age, but the ability to change into their form didn’t come until after they mated. Once their dragon chose their mate, they’d travel to a mating cave in the mountain, intimately join together in private, and then shift for the first time. The dragon would bite the female’s arm and the venom in his teeth would brand her skin in a design that was wholly unique to the couple, and through the magic of their joining, the brand would appear on his skin as well once he returned to his form the following day.
“Why do you suppose our people don’t get their beasts until they mate?” he asked.
“It’s the way of our kind,” his father, Benecio, said.
“Yeah, I know, I was just wondering why. No other shifters have to wait until they find their mate.”
“My mother always said that it’s because the dragon is untamable without a female to be the balm to his base nature,” Vanessa said. “It’s sad when males are unable to find their mates because they can’t shift without them, but it’s the way we were made.”
Female dragons never shifted. They remained entirely human, except for the connection to their dragon mate. There was magic between them, and a bond so strong it was unbreakable. He’d often wondered why females weren’t able to shift, because he’d never heard of any other shifter groups where only the males changed. They were how they were created, though, and no amount of wondering would change the way things were.
Torrence glanced at his watch. “I’m ready. I’m so ready for tonight.”
* * *
“I think there are more clans here than I can ever remember,” Staz, Torrence’s cousin and closest friend murmured. The two males were standing to one side of the carefully manicured backyard. His parents’ home was the center of the clan territory, and the backyard was where all their important gatherings occurred.
“Seems like it,” Torrence said as he let his gaze drift across the sea of dragons. Dragon clans had their own territories but were loosely grouped together by region. Benecio was king of the largest clan in the Northeast, and that was why the clans had gathered there for the mating ceremony, as they did every year.
“Man, I hope my dragon likes blondes,” Staz said.
Torrence chuckled. “Careful. Don’t you believe in karma?”
“Do you mean I can jinx myself into a mating with a brunette?” He arched a brow.
“Yep.”
“Damn it. Okay, okay. I need to have a heart to heart with my dragon because he’s gotta hook me up with something tasty.”
“I feel terribly sorry for your future mate.”
“Why? I’m awesome.” Staz puffed out his chest exaggeratedly and strutted a little, making Torrence laugh.
“I think the jury is still out on that. And, of course, don’t forget that just because we turned twenty-five doesn’t mean our dragons will choose our mate this year. My dad is three years older than my mom, so he didn’t mate with her until he was twenty-eight.”
“That sucks. I hope my girl is here. A blonde bombshell with legs that won’t quit.”
“You’re certifiable.”
“The best males usually are.”
Benecio cleared his throat and the noise died down abruptly as everyone turned to face his parents as they stood on the deck at the back of their home.
“Welcome unmated dragons from all parts of the Northeast. Would the males and females please separate to their respective sides.”
Torrence and Staz joined the other males as they took up the left side of the yard and the females took the right side. There were females of all shapes and sizes, with hair a rainbow of colors from deepest ebony to palest flax. Thin, curvy, tall, short. Some smiling eagerly, some lustfully growling, and some looking like it was the very last place in the world they wanted to be.
Mated members of Torrence’s clan walked out of the house holding trays of mating fruit. “As my clan approaches, please keep your sanity,” Benecio cautioned. “There is plenty of fruit for every male here, and anyone caught behaving aggressively will be banned from the mating ceremony for one year.”
Torrence was standing in the front row with Staz and other males from their clan, with the visiting clans’ males lined up behind them.
Dino stopped in front of Torrence with a silver tray containing cut halves of the fruit. It was similar to a peach, with edible skin and a soft interior. Torrence took a half and nodded at Dino, who continued to stop in front of each male. When he moved on from Staz, his friend said, “So my dad said it takes a few minutes to kick in.”
“My dad said the same thing.”
If Torrence’s dragon didn’t recognize any of these females as his mate, then he’d know within an hour. That was the longest time any dragon in the history of their people had waited before his dragon connected with his mate.
Torrence’s hand started to itch, and he transferred the fruit to his other hand and looked at his palm. Little red bumps had erupted over his skin.
“That’s weird,” he muttered.
“What is? That blonde who’s flashing her boob? Not weird, totally awesome,” Staz said.
Torrence’s other hand started to itch, and the itchiness in both hands began to creep up his wrists. His skin flushed, and he swallowed, finding his throat scratchy and suddenly dry. He hadn’t been told that his dragon would react to the fruit this way, but he chalked it up to his beast’s anxiousness to find his mate.
“Gentlemales,” Benecio said, “devour your fruit and find your mate if the magic within you so wishes.”
Torrence took a large bite of the fruit and the sweet taste burst over his tongue. It tasted like fruit salad, a delicious mixture of strawberry, melon, and peach. As he lifted the remainder of the fruit to his lips, his vision blurred, and his throat began to close up. The itchiness that had spread up his arms, now carved a heated path down his body. Sweat broke out on his skin and he wheezed, dropping the fruit and clutching at his chest as his knees went out and he fell to the ground.
He could hear people shouting for him and someone was tugging his arm. His vision tunneled to a pinpoint and then disappeared. He felt only the cool grass under his cheek and then nothing.