Chapter 8
Cecily’s mind spun as she walked next to Torrence. Just a day earlier she’d been standing in her shop talking to customers, and now she had a mate and was on the way to meet his parents. It seemed utterly impossible that her life could have taken such a drastic turn, yet holding Torrence’s hand and feeling the connection of their mating in her heart, she couldn’t deny that it felt absolutely right.
“Do you believe in fate?” she asked.
“To an extent. I believe we make our own choices and paths in life, but there are definitely things that are out of our control. Like my dragon choosing you.”
She smiled at him. “Yesterday morning I thought it was going to be a regular day. Now, I’m mated. It feels like the work of fate.”
“I think you’re right.”
“Will our kids be shifters?”
“I honestly don’t know if any boys we have will be able to shift. Female dragons don’t shift, and any girls we have would be half-dragon, so it’s possible that they might find dragon males for mates, or humans.”
“Would dragon guys care that they’re half human?”
He stopped walking and turned to face her. “Are you worried about our kids fitting in?”
“I’m just kind of thinking out loud. My mind is cranking out a hundred questions a minute about our future.”
“Remember that we’re going to be our own clan in Tomb, so we don’t have to worry about what anyone else thinks. But, when our kids reach age twenty-five, I’m positive that my parents will welcome them to take part in the mating fruit ceremony. If there are dragons who don’t want them around, then that’s their issue to deal with, not ours.”
“You’re so fierce. Our kids are going to be very lucky.”
“To have us both as parents.”
“Is it weird to be talking about kids already? We only just met.”
He shook his head. “I think it’s very natural, especially with shifters. I’m excited to start our family, too.” He tucked a lock of hair behind her ear. “I thought I was going to be alone forever, Cecily. I had no hope. Now, I have you. You’re the center of my world, and however big our family is, one thing is for sure – our kids will be loved no matter if they’re more human or more dragon.”
They resumed their walk, and she asked about his parents being the clan leaders. “Why didn’t your dad stay in Tomb? That was where his home was.”
“My mother’s clan lived here. My father had two brothers, and they all lived in the cabin, but he was the last one to get mated. When he met my mother, he wanted to stay here instead of starting a new clan in Tomb.”
“Why?”
“He never said for sure, but I think part of it was because of the pack. Dragons like to be with just their clan.”
“You’re sure you don’t mind being in Tomb?”
“Hell no. Wherever you are is home for me, period.”
“I feel the same way.”
They reached his parents’ home, and he knocked on the front door before opening it. “Mom? Dad?”
“We’re in the kitchen,” his mother called.
He led her down a hallway that was lined with family pictures, and she slowed her stride to look at them. “Aw, did you dress up as a dragon for Halloween when you were little?” she asked, looking at one of the framed pictures.
He laughed. “Yeah, all the clan children did that year.”
“Adorable.”
He snorted. “Dragon males are never adorable.”
“Fiercely adorable?”
“That’s not a thing.”
She grinned. They walked into the kitchen, and a man looked up from his phone and smiled, and a woman dried off her hands on a towel and moved to them.
“Mom, Dad, this is Cecily, my mate. Sweetheart, these are my parents – Benecio and Vanessa.”
“It’s so nice to meet you,” Vanessa said, giving Cecily a hug. “How are you feeling?”
“Wonderful, thank you. It’s nice to meet you, too.”
She shook Benecio’s hand. “Won’t you join us?”
Torrence pulled out a chair for her and she sat. His mother brought coffee for everyone and set a plate of cookies in the center of the table. Torrence put his arm on the back of Cecily’s chair and said, “Now that I can speak, I wanted to tell you what happened.”
“We’re all ears,” Benecio said.
Torrence explained how he’d woken up with a desire to go to town, how he’d shifted the moment that his eyes had locked with Cecily’s, and bitten her arm.
“Can we see the mating mark?” Vanessa asked.
Cecily nodded. She fished her arm out of the tunic sleeve, and carefully adjusted the top so it kept her covered.
“It glowed,” she said.
“What?” Benecio asked, standing and leaning over the table to look at the mark. Torrence removed his shirt entirely and laid his arm next to hers.
“The mark. When I woke up in the cave, it was black. But then Torrence and I were intimate, and right at the end, the mark glowed bright green.”
“It glowed on my arm, too,” Torrence said. “Then it turned black and we passed out together.”
“That’s very strange,” Benecio said, sitting back. “But nothing about what happened since you had that allergic reaction to the fruit has been normal. After you showed up last night, I went back through the books again, but I still came up empty. No one has ever recorded a dragon being allergic to the fruit, and no dragon has ever mated outside of our kind, at least not in the history of this particular clan.”
Cecily put her arm back in her tunic. “It’s still good, though, right?”
“She means it still counts as a mating,” Torrence said. “She’s worried that dragons will feel as though we aren’t truly mated.”
Benecio snarled. “There’s no other way to look at it. In my mind, it doesn’t matter that you were allergic to the fruit and mated a human. She’s clearly the catalyst you needed to claim your dragon. If you’d come to us and said you mated a human but you hadn’t shifted, I would have just assumed you weren’t meant to shift.”
“And not for nothing, but that’s the largest mating mark I’ve ever seen,” Vanessa said.
“Does that mean something?” Cecily asked.
“I don’t think so, but it’s interesting nonetheless,” Benecio said.
“Are you coming to stay here?” Vanessa asked. “We could get the builders working on your home.”
“Actually, we’re not,” Torrence said. “Cecily owns a donut shop in Tomb. She’s going to move into the cabin with me and I’m going to help out at the shop.”
“I’ll transfer the territory rights to you both,” Benecio said.
“Thanks,” Torrence said. “Cecily needs to call her friend. Do you mind if she uses a cell phone? Ours are both back in Tomb.”
Vanessa stood and went to the counter, tugging her cell from the charger cord. Cecily joined her. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I hope you can stay tonight. Benecio and I would love to get to know you better.”
She looked over her shoulder at Torrence who gave her a sweet smile. “That would be wonderful.”
Stepping into the living room to have some privacy, Cecily dialed Andrea’s cell.
“Hello?” Andrea answered.
“Hi, it’s me.”
“Where the hell are you? Are you okay? Did that dragon hurt you? Why the hell didn’t we know there was a damn dragon in Tomb? Holy shit!”
“Whoa, calm down,” Cecily said. “The dragon’s name is Torrence and he’s my mate. The alpha and some of the other males in the pack knew about him, but it wasn’t common knowledge. I’m on his clan’s mountain now, we’ll be back tomorrow. And no, I’m not hurt. He’s my mate.”
“Um, dragons don’t mate humans.”
“Well, this one did.”
“Are you sure?”
“I’m positive. I felt compelled to go to him at the shop, and then he bit me, and we now have identical mating marks. I feel really connected to him, like we were meant to be together.”
Andrea didn’t say anything for several moments, and then she said, “Well, I’m happy for you! Please tell me you’re staying in Tomb.”
“I am, but I’m going to move into his cabin on the mountain. He’s going to work at the shop, too.”
“You still need me, right?”
“Of course.”
Andrea blew out a relieved breath. “Good. I just got this job and I kind of really like it.”
“Me, too.”
“So, you’re sure you’re safe and happy?”
“One hundred percent.”
“Does he have a brother?”
With a laugh, Cecily said, “Sorry, no.”
“Damn.”
“We’ll be back tomorrow. How’s the shop look?”
“I cleaned up the broken glass and some of the wolves helped me board up the windows that were cracked. The door is ruined, so my dad replaced it, but it was expensive.”
“I’ll be sure to thank him when we’re back in town, and I’ll get him what money I can and then get him the rest as soon as possible.”
“I’m sure that will be fine. I’m glad you’re okay, I was really worried about you. I went to the alpha and told him what happened, and he said that there was nothing we could do because the mountain belonged to the dragon, so we couldn’t trespass without potentially being burned and eaten.”
“Ew. I don’t think that Torrence would eat someone for coming up the mountain. Unless they were attempting to harm one of us, of course. My mate is very fierce.”
“I saw,” she said dryly. “He took out the gazebo and three cars.”
“I’m sorry that I couldn’t call you before now. I hate that you were worried.”
“You’re okay now, and that’s what matters. And maybe now Jerris will take the hint and leave you alone.”
“He better,” Cecily said.
“Call me when you get to town. Love you.”
“Love you, too,” she said, ending the call.
Torrence came into the room. “I’m paying for the damages to the town and shop, so don’t worry about that.”
“You heard?” she asked.
He tapped his ear. “I have great hearing.”
She closed the distance to him, wrapping her arms around him and settling her head on his chest. She could hear the steady beat of his heart. He hugged her back, kissing the top of her head.
“My parents are having a dinner tonight to celebrate our mating. You’ll get to meet the clan.”
“That sounds fun. I hope they don’t mind having a human around.”
“Of course, they won’t. And if they do, I’ll just throw them off the mountain.”
She laughed. “My fierce mate.”
“Kill first, ask questions later. It’s my motto.”
“You need a new motto.”
“We’ll see. Now I think we were talking about taking a shower together?”
She glanced toward the kitchen and lowered her voice. “Can’t they also hear well?”
“My bedroom is on the third floor and is well insulated. Trust me when I tell you that I never wanted to hear my parents, either. Great hearing can be a hardship at times.”
“Then lead me to the shower.”
He gave her a gruff growl and smiled wickedly. Scooping her up into his arms, he headed for the stairs.
“There are clothes for you two for tonight,” Vanessa called from the kitchen. “If you put your clothes outside the bedroom door, I’ll run them through the washer.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Torrence said.
He carried Cecily up to the third floor. There were two wooden doors in the hallway, one on either side. He put her down inside the door on the right and started to strip. She followed suit and put her things in a neat pile outside the door with Torrence’s. The moment she was back in the room, he slammed the door and locked it.
“Mine,” he murmured, his voice a low rasp. “So fucking mine.”