~

 

Zana was playing cat and mouse with the glances that she was flicking towards her mate as he stood tall and proud at the battlements, his gaze alternating between the night sky and her, and every time that he shot a look at her; she could feel his gaze as if it was his fingertips brushing against her skin.

She wasn’t sure that she liked it. There was a loss of control about the situation that alarmed the part of her that liked to keep a rigid hold on her life…

When all around her turned to chaos and she had a job to do – she knew that she could always control that part of herself that needed to stay distant and aloof from the troubles at hand.

She didn’t have that anymore.

At least, not with him.

George was her mate and that meant that she had more than a vested interest in his wellbeing.

The watchers must have known that – so why had they sent her to do the job?

It was normally so simple – kill the beast – save the good guys – and move on.

She’d had a plan. If she couldn’t kill the dragon then she would kill the source of the dragon’s power – George – the true alpha.

Could she still carry out that plan if she needed to do it?

Could she kill her mate?

Could she feel something for him – something deep within her soul?

Zana wasn’t prone to showing affection – caring was a weakness, and she couldn’t afford to be weak.

She’d live or die by her skills, but when there was someone that you cared about … then there was a chink in your armour.

Emotions made you reckless.

Reckless made you dead.

There was also the knowledge that sat within the back of her mind that if they did mate then her life as she knew it to date would be over. She’d be his and he’d be hers, and they would be a family…

She’d never had a family. She’d had care homes and foster placements – but, people found her strange because her magic always shone through.

At least on the mountain she didn’t stand out among the other supernatural beings like a sore thumb. She’d be with other witches of varying degrees of power and ability, but still, witches.

Zana dismissed the way her mind was going. Not only did she not want to consider mating with the alpha – but, she didn’t even know if either of them would be alive by the morning to mate…

The dragon was coming, and she needed to focus on that and not the man with the soulful eyes and a granite body that she’d kind of like to explore…

Damn it – stop looking at him…

Stop wondering if those biceps are as hard as they look.

Stop following the damn line of muscle and sinew in his powerful forearms…

Stop wondering what it would be like to be caged in by him – out of control – while he …

Yeah, I’m not helping myself any here…

If he’d only stop looking at me…

If I could only stop looking at him.

Damn the mating pull…

Damn the watchers for sending me here…

Damn my mind and body for betraying me…

“I can get closer so you can give me a thorough inspection if you like…” George’s deep tone rang a few bells within her body, but it was his words that set off the alarm bells in her mind.

The thought of him getting closer was both tempting to the extreme and dangerous to her willpower to dismiss him…

“Just checking to see if you have any ticks or fleas – you might need a treatment at the vets,” she offered back, trying to make her tone sound as bored as possible, even if they both knew that she was anything but disinterested.

George shot her a look from beneath his dark brow. He felt his length twitch against the confines of a pair of jeans that he’d been given to cover his modesty, even if nobody had thought to give him a shirt.

He could feel his beast just under the surface of his skin. It still wanted out, but it wanted their mate more.

The wolf had given itself over to him. He was clawing back control from the beast, and he could finally concentrate on her.

He needed to woo his mate, or did he?

He was a true alpha – and he didn’t know what the hell that meant in the grand scheme of things. Perhaps leaving would be for the best, or dying at the mercy of the dragon – if it came.

Hell, he still didn’t truly believe in the true alpha myth – how was he supposed to get excited that there were still dragons out there in the real world?

He had known that he was cursed.

Both brothers had known, but only one wanted to trigger the damn curse just to see what happened … well, now he guessed that he was going to find out.

But why had fate chosen to send his mate to him with everything hanging over his head?

Why when he couldn’t rightly woo her? 

Why when everyone’s life was said to be held in the balance?

He’d brought this on the mountain community. He should leave – should already have left…

But, there was his mate looking like a damn tasty treat to his eyes, and as much as he didn’t want to go there with her. He wanted to damn well go there with her.

While the other witches were fevering away in the archives and pouring over books, including the one that Vicky had found, his mate was standing watch on the battlements.

In her hand she gripped a sword like it was her only lifeline to sanity.

She looked formidable.

She looked so damn hot that he wanted to lick her from her head to her toes, and back again.

Hell, he wanted to do more than that – he wanted to be buried balls deep inside of her with those long legs of hers wrapped around his hips as he thrust until they were both sated – then mate her some more, over and over, until the fever within his blood vanished…

George felt that ache within his jaw as his fangs started to elongate, and he shifted his gaze, and his stance to look away from the temptation. It didn’t help the ache within his balls, or the knot within his gut.

“I’ve had all of my shots,” George offered back.

He folded his thick, muscled arms across the expanse of his chest and eyed the sky. He tried to remember why he was standing up on Connor’s damn roof in the first place. It certainly wasn’t with the intention of stargazing with his mate, although, that thought appealed to him as well.

Hell, he’d just about do anything that she wanted so that he could stay within her sphere – be in her presence.

She was everything and more. He knew that – it was written within his DNA.

A mate.

A witch.

His one true love.

George had witnessed his pack finding their mates.

They might have thought that he’d been distracted by his brother, but he’d watched. He’d seen how the big, strong, fierce shifters had lost their hearts and their heads.

There was a part of him that had wanted that.

Maybe, that was why he had ended his brother … maybe he just couldn’t take his sibling stalking him a moment longer.

It didn’t matter why – it mattered that he’d screwed up.

He’d put his pack – the wider community in danger, and for that he was truly sorry.

Dexter had taken him in and given him a home. Family.

He’d done his bit to fight for that family, but he should have gone with his gut and left when he’d killed his brother.

He’d meant to do it.

He’d wanted to do it … but …

It didn’t matter why. It only mattered that he’d stayed.

If the dragon came then he would offer himself up on the condition that the rest be saved.

He didn’t want anyone fighting, or dying for him, because of him. It was his curse and his fight…