Krofom turned out to be a good guy. The next morning he sent up another tray of food, and he didn’t wake us until the sun shone high in the sky.

“Did you sleep okay?” I asked Quinn.

“I don’t think I’ve ever slept that heavy in my life.” He yawned, his eyelids still at half mast, the imprint of a pillow across one cheek. “Did you?”

“Same.”

We fell quiet as we ate, so many things to discuss, yet so hard to figure out where to start.

“You’ll have to get your last tattoo,” I finally said to start the conversation rolling.

Quinn’s hand went to his collar.

“I hadn’t considered that.” He didn’t meet my eyes.

“You don’t want it?”

“I didn’t say that.” Quinn kept his eyes focused on his plate, his hands fidgeting.

“So what gives, then?”

Quinn finally looked up, his gaze tortured.

“I don’t think you understand what it means to be my familiar. What it entails, I mean.”

“It means I’m a channel for your magic, right? And we can communicate with our thoughts. Wait, can we do that when I’m in this form?”

“Yes, but I’m purposely shutting down the connection right now for privacy’s sake.”

“Oh. Well, good.” I wouldn’t want Quinn rummaging around in my head any time he pleased. “So, can I shut you out too, or is that only on your side?”

“I honestly don’t know. I’ve never heard of a dragon familiar, much less a shifter. Most familiars are just simple animals. You shouldn’t even be able to be my familiar.”

Huh. I scratched my chin, thinking over what he’d said.

“But I am.”

“Yeah.”

Annoyance flared in my chest at his glum expression.

“Don’t sound so thrilled about it. I mean, I only saved your life.”

His expression only looked more bleak if possible.

“I know. That just makes it worse.”

“I don’t understand.” I huffed. What was wrong with a dragon familiar?

“You’re linked to me now. Permanently.”

“Like mated?” I asked. And why did my dragon practically chuckle with glee at the idea? As if I didn’t know.

“Not exactly.”

“Okaaay. Care to explain it?”

“Familiars are more like . . . pets. They channel a witch’s power, but they also are under that witch’s control.”

“Uh-huh. Well, like you said, I’m not your average familiar, so I’m sure things will be different between us.”

Quinn sighed. “I don’t know if they can be.”

“What do you mean?”

“A familiar is basically compelled to do a witch’s bidding. They don’t leave their witch’s side. At least not for very long. I’ve been told it makes them uncomfortable.”

I let that sink in. Under Quinn’s control? What exactly did that mean? I wasn’t about to be under anyone’s command. I’d fought against it my whole life. Even a mate wouldn’t have that kind of control over me. Quite the opposite. I’d control him.

“Give me a command.”

“What?” Quinn couldn’t have looked more surprised if I slapped him.

“You said you can compel me. So compel me.”

“I don’t think that’s a good idea—”

“Come on. Don’t back out now. Compel me.” I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Stand up.”

I felt a strong desire to stand up. I remained sitting.

Quinn said it again. I continued to sit, though the urge to stand was strong. But not impossible to resist. Okay, I could work with this. Quinn looked equal measures relieved and chagrined.

“See, I’m different from other familiars. I’m not just a dragon. My fairy-side must weigh in too.”

“So you didn’t feel anything?” Quinn asked.

“I wanted to stand. But I wasn’t forced. More like a strong desire. I don’t really like it, but I can live with it.”

Suddenly a rush of sadness filled my chest. It didn’t come from me. Quinn groaned.

“I can’t even have a proper familiar. What kind of second-rate wizard am I? I say ‘stand up’ and you ignore me completely.”

My feet pushed off before I even thought and I stood before him. What the fuck? We both blinked at each other, then I gingerly sat back down.

“What in hydra’s hell fire was that?” I said.

“I-I don’t know.” He peered at me closely, then reached out and put his hand on my knee. My body instantly heated and I felt a connection between us grow. My cock hardened and my dragon wanted desperately to come out and play. Give him the mating bite. I wasn’t about to do it.

Whatever was happening between us, Quinn felt it too. His pupils blew wide and he licked his bottom lip slowly, drawing my gaze.

“If you don’t want to end up riding my cock, Quinn, I suggest you take your hand off me. Now.”

He yanked his hand away like he’d been burned. And maybe he had.

“Sorry,” he stammered. “I didn’t realize our connection would do that.”

“Oh?”

“As far as I know, most witches don’t want to have sex with their familiars.”

I grinned, feeling way too smug. “As I said, I’m not just any familiar.”

“No, you’re definitely not.” He shook his head. “It’s weird. It’s like there’s this connection, where I can tap into the dragon part of your nature. Would you let me try something?”

“Like what?”

“I want to try giving you another command.”

“Sexual?” I waggled my eyebrows. “You really don’t have to order me, I’d be more than happy to oblige.”

He smiled, a blush of color tingeing his cheeks.

“No, nothing like that. I want to see if my theory is correct.”

“Knock yourself out.”

“Kiss me.”

I felt an almost overwhelming desire to kiss him. This time the desire didn’t just radiate from him. I resisted. My dragon grumbled, denied a treat.

When I didn’t move, sadness descended in my chest again. I began to lean toward him, realized what I was doing and stopped. It took everything I had. Was it a delayed reaction? He’d give an order and the longer I went without fulfilling it, the harder it became? I didn’t know, but I really, really, really wanted to kiss him. And this urge wasn’t solely coming from me, even though I was eager to taste him.

“Kiss me,” he said softly, a tremor of hurt in his voice.

Before I could think to resist, I wrapped him in my embrace and locked our lips together. He opened for me and soon our tongues were battling, each slide of his skin against mine stroking the heat between us.

When we finally came up for air, we were both breathing hard, and I was having to focus on keeping my fangs retracted. Damn, I wished I understood all this. Was it possible it wasn’t Brandsome’s magic at all? Was it possible he truly was my mate? It didn’t make sense, but then, according to Quinn, neither did a half-dragon-half-fairy familiar. And yet . . .

“What happened?” I asked.

Quinn’s gaze was lust-struck, his lips swollen. He swallowed and squeezed his eyes closed. When he opened them, he seemed to have regained some semblance of control.

“Wow, sorry. I didn’t mean for things to get so out of hand.” He ran trembling fingers through his hair. “Okay, I think I’ve figured it out. While I can’t exactly compel you to do anything, you respond to my emotions. When I was disappointed you didn’t do as I asked, you quickly followed through. So, technically, you can reject my commands, but your dragon-side will have a very hard time resisting the pull of my emotions. Does that make sense?”

Did it? I considered the two commands he’d given, and the ache in my chest both times after I refused to do as he’d ordered. So, not exactly compelled, but if he got upset, my dragon would rush in to make him feel better.

Well, that sucked. The big traitor.

In fact, it pissed me off. I fought every day to live my life on my own terms. I didn’t conform enough to dragon society so I was cast out. I survived it. Most wouldn’t.

My dad tried to force me to live up to his expectations. I resisted. Rainbowpebbles had me chained to a wall to try to control me. I escaped. I carved my own path only to find out I was basically at the command of a human? A wizard, true. But it didn’t really matter what Quinn was or how great of guy.

And the worst part? Discovering my dragon, only to have it betray me by this link to Quinn. I didn’t want to be leashed by anyone. Bad enough I agreed to abide by the terms of the Alphae Guild. Now, I was to be the pet of a wizard? And my dragon was just okay with this? Fuck no.

“Twig, are you all right?” Quinn touched my arm and I jumped.

“Yes, why wouldn’t I be?” If my voice sounded bitter, well, what could he expect? He’d tied me to him in a way I didn’t ask for, didn’t want.

“Smoke is pouring from your mouth.”

I smiled, my fangs dropping.

“Do you know why I didn’t give you the mating bite, Quinn?” I clenched my fists so I wouldn’t do something I’d regret.

I could tell I took him off guard with the change in subject.

“Uh, because you didn’t think it was real, right? Brandsome’s magic interacting in some weird way with yours.” He sidled away from me, his back coming up against the armrest. I slid closer, crowding him. Bending, I pressed my nose where his shoulder and neck met. The spot I’d put a mating bite. He shivered, but didn’t try to push me away.

“There’s that,” I acknowledged. “If I had bitten you, you would be under my control.” I licked his neck, enjoyed his gasp. “Much like our bond now. Only the other way around.”

“So why didn’t you?” His hands gripped my shoulders as I took another nice long lick at his neck. Mmm, no one tasted like Quinn. So sweet. The urge to sink my fangs in grew strong, but I didn’t pull away. I wanted him to sweat it. Wonder what I’d do. He trembled and it washed over me like a soothing balm to my soul.

“I didn’t want to cage you. Didn’t seem right.” Another long lick. Another shudder. Nice. “It would also mean I must take care of you. You’d be my responsibility. An unwanted one.”

Quinn flinched, turned his face away from me. I was being a bastard and I knew it. Didn’t change things. Rage threatened to choke me. Part of me wanted to pummel him, though I could never hurt my mate. Unwanted or not.

“I’m sorry,” he all but whispered. “I didn’t know what else to do. We wouldn’t have survived the zombies if I hadn’t.”

“You mean, you wouldn’t.” I might as well have punched him with the injured look he threw me. He shoved at my shoulders. I didn’t budge.

“I-I couldn’t know that for sure. I did what I thought was right—”

“For you. Don’t pretend otherwise, wizard.” I growled against his throat, and only barely kept myself from shifting. My dragon was unhappy with me. Wanted to comfort our mate. Well, fuck that. Our mate had royally screwed us.

“Twig—”

“Don’t.” I released him, and jumped up. Paced. “I’m not gonna be your sweet little pet. Once we get the horn, I’ll hand it back to Brandsome and you’ll be on your way.”

Quinn shook his head. “It doesn’t work like that. We’ll need to be together—”

“Screw that. You don’t get to decide what my life looks like. Nobody does.”

“I told you, you can’t leave—”

I roared. Quinn drew back, his eyes round with terror.

“You don’t get to tell me what to do! You can break the bond, right?”

“What? No!” Quinn cleared his throat, lowered his voice. “I mean, no. I can’t. What’s done is done.”

Fuck. My. Life.

“Okay, you said you can block our thoughts.” I pointed at his chest. “You’ll do so. And we’ll go our separate ways.”

Quinn’s nostrils flared and his jaw ticked. Even afraid, the guy knew how to stand his ground.

“Try it.”

“What?” I snarled.

“Go on, try it.” He pointed toward the door. “Leave for a bit. See what happens.”

I narrowed my eyes. “Stop ordering me around.”

He scowled. “I’m not ordering you around, you stubborn dragon! I’m just telling you that you won’t be able to be away from me for any length of time. At least not if you react the way most familiars do.”

“We’ve already established I’m not like most familiars.”

“Then let’s test it.”

“Fine.” I needed a walk anyway. Not only was I ragingly pissed off, but Quinn’s attitude stoked my arousal like he was stroking my dick. Infuriating.

Storming out of the room, I ignored his voice calling me back. Screw him. I’d show him I didn’t need him.