Chapter Seventeen

IF Avery could have reached his own ass, he would’ve kicked it. What had he been thinking when he made that comment about a declaration of love and hoards? Then there was that comment Warwick made about loving smartasses.

He tried to not to read too much into that, but it was hard not to. Did Warwick love him? Could he love him? Avery was afraid he was well on his way to loving Warwick. Maybe he was already there. He had a bad case of lust, there was no denying that, but that wasn’t a bad thing either.

But Warwick fascinated him. He had a soft heart, at least for those he cared about. Avery was pretty sure he fell in that group. They got along well together, but they hadn’t had a full-on argument either.

Just because werewolves believed in fated mates didn’t mean the couple was perfect. No one was, paranormals included. Avery did have faith that Warwick was right for him. Now he needed to convince Warwick of that.

If that hadn’t been enough of a shock, Warwick surprised him with the businesses he’d assumed from his father. Avery never entertained the possibility of having control over them. He was an Omega, and most thought he didn’t have the qualifications to deal with such. That Warwick was willing to give him a chance, and trusted him to deal with it, was a boost to his self-confidence that Avery hadn’t known he needed.

On top of everything else, Warwick seemed to be distracted, and Avery had no idea why.

They finished dinner, then dessert. Between the two of them, they manage to drink the champagne. Warwick had a TV that rose out of the bottom part of his bed, so they watched TV for a little while, and then Avery yawned again.

“Ready to go to bed?”

“Yeah, I think so. Do we have any plans for tomorrow?”

“Why don’t we play it by ear—outside of the meeting you have set up with LeMoyne, that is. We can spend the day exploring the castle and getting you settled in.”

“That sounds good to me. I’m going to go to the bathroom right quick. Then I’ll be ready for bed.”

“Okay.” Warwick clicked the button on the remote to shut the TV off, and it started a slow descent back into the footboard.

Avery took care of his business in the bathroom, then brushed his teeth. He caught his reflection in the bathroom mirror and glared at his neck. He wanted that damn mating mark. He never really thought of it before, but now that it obviously wasn’t going to appear, it upset him greatly not to have it.

How would other werewolves react? Oh, they’d be aware he was involved with a dragon from the smell, but that mark meant a lot to his kind. With a sigh, he tried to let the negative feelings go. There was nothing he could do about it. At least Warwick wore his mark.

After he finished in the bathroom, Warwick slipped in and took care of his business. Fortunately there wasn’t a wet spot to deal with, so he plopped down on the bed. Warwick joined him, and after a few false starts, they figured out what position worked best for them.

Warwick went to sleep quickly, but Avery caught himself staring across the room at the fireplace. He was tired but was having trouble falling asleep. Having a body in the bed next to him was going to take some adjusting to. No, not a body—his mate. He savored the words. He had someone now, someone who truly cared for him.

Finally he dropped off to sleep.

WARWICK’S alarm woke them the next morning and, bleary-eyed, Avery stumbled to the bathroom and flipped on the light. He turned on the shower and hunted around in his overnight bag until he found something to pull his hair up so it wouldn’t get wet. Turning toward the mirror, he reached for his hair… then screamed.

The sound of a body crashing to the floor, then a low roar, echoed into the bathroom, but all Avery could do was stare at the mirror in shock. Warwick stumbled into the bathroom, hair all over the place, fangs down, and claws out. Even the scrollwork around his eyes had appeared.

“What!” Warwick bellowed, searching the bathroom frantically. “What’s wrong? What happened? Are you okay?”

Avery pointed at the mirror.

Growling, Warwick turned to the mirror. Then his mouth dropped open too. “Merciful gods.”

“How… how?” Avery lifted his fingers, his hand shaking horribly. Gently he touched what could only be described as a massive, modern tribal tattoo that began where Warwick had bitten him last night while making love, and extended all the way down his right arm. Crisp lines, thick and dark, curled around and emphasized the lean muscles of his bicep and forearm. The lines were sharp, but… the more he looked at it reflected back in the mirror at him, the more he began to see a pattern to the scrolls and swirls. The longer he stared at it, the more he noticed the overall design looked like an abstract figure of a dragon in profile. He could almost see the snout, an eye, and the frills.

What was startling was that the ink wasn’t black like one normally saw in this kind of design. It was the same brilliant purple as Warwick’s eyes. It looked like a tattoo, but it couldn’t be. Then, of course, there was the issue of this appearing overnight while he slept and he hadn’t felt a thing.

“Incredible,” Warwick whispered as he gently traced some of the lines. “But I have no idea how or why this appeared.”

“I haven’t either, and it’s impossible to tattoo werewolves,” Avery said, breathing hard as he watched Warwick trace the lines.

“This can’t be a tattoo,” Warwick said, lowering his hand.

“I don’t think it is either,” Avery said, still unable to believe what he saw on his arm. “I don’t know what it is.”

Warwick bent and leaned closer. “Notice it starts right where I bit you last night.”

“Yeah, I saw that.” Avery gulped. Warwick was close enough that he could feel Warwick’s breath on his skin. As usual, his body reacted. Shock and desire mixed together. “Do you…. Do you think it looks like a—?”

“Like an abstract drawing of a dragon?” Warwick straightened. “Yes.”

“Holy… holy shit.” Little blinking lights danced across Avery’s vision. He took a deep breath, then another until they disappeared. “You think this could possibly be something like a mating scar?”

Warwick scratched his head. “I thought it was just a myth. I mean, I remember something mentioned about this a long time ago, but really didn’t think there was anything to it.”

“Well, if it’s strange, it’s going to happen to me.” Shock quickly gave way to excitement. The one thing he’d desperately wanted was tangible proof on his skin that he belonged to Warwick. He’d tried to accept he wasn’t going to get it, but it’d been hard.

Warwick snorted. “It only goes to prove how special you are.”

“Oh gods, oh gods.” Avery couldn’t believe it, simply couldn’t believe it. Happiness overwhelmed him. The mark was gorgeous, a bold and proud statement. He flung himself into Warwick’s arms, and Warwick grunted with the impact. After a brutally quick kiss, he leaned back. “I want to tell everybody, but I also kind of want to keep it between us—not a secret, really, but something special that only the two of us share.”

“Whatever you want to do is fine by me, but that’s going to be hard to hide.”

Avery moved out of Warwick’s arms and glanced down. “Yeah, it goes all the way out on the back of my hand. Oh well. Unless I’m not planning to leave the room, it’s silly to talk about keeping it between us.”

“I’m all for staying in here. I’m confident I can think of something for us to do.” Warwick winked.

Avery chuckled. “I’m sure you could, and I’m right there with you. But servants talk, no matter how much we wish they didn’t. No, as much as I’d like to keep this as something private between us, it simply isn’t feasible. I guess it’s a good thing I’m used to being stared at, because this is going to cause quite a stir.”

“You, my lovely werewolf, will always cause a stir.” Warwick tugged his hair. “How about we take a shower? I’d like to examine that up close and personal.”

“Uh-huh. You just want to get me naked.”

“There is that too.”

After they showered and dressed, they went down to breakfast. Avery had barely taken his seat before the comments started. He’d worn a long-sleeved shirt but with the sleeves rolled up, and the marks on his arm were hard to miss. There’d been exclamations of surprise, followed by questions. Several of the staff wanted to touch his mark, which wasn’t surprising, but he’d said no. This was his, and he wasn’t ready to have people touching it, although he understood why they wanted to.

Once everybody’s curiosity had been appeased, breakfast was served.

“So, what do you have planned today?” Avery asked, eyeing a crispy strip of bacon.

“Well, while you and LeMoyne are busy, I’m going to do some work—take care of some emails and things like that. Nothing that’s going to take long. I thought after you decided what room you wanted, I’d join you.”

“You’re welcome to come, if you want to.”

“I know, but I thought I’d give the two of you time to get to know each other. Don’t forget to call your father so he’ll know to send your things over.”

“I will. There really isn’t much. Most of the stuff in my bedroom my mother picked out. She was a stickler about the decor.” Avery shrugged. “I may set the room up as a type of office, since that’s something I’m apparently going to need.”

“Good idea. If you need anything, let me know. We can go shopping.”

“You like shopping?”

“What can I say?” Warwick bit into a piece of toast. “I can shop with the best of them.”

“Glad you can. It’s something I could take or leave.” Avery wiped his mouth with his napkin and laid it back down. “I also need to talk to my father about the party planned for our mating, and give him a heads-up about my mark.”

“Are you sure there isn’t anything we need to bring?”

“No. The mated couple only needs to show up. There’ll be drinking, dancing, and a good time had by all. If you want to invite anyone, please feel free to.”

“I doubt LeMoyne will go, but Clarence might,” Warwick said. “That reminds me. When I met with your father last, Clarence took an interest in your pack’s lawyer, Lisa.”

“Really? She’s a nice person.” Avery ate some of the eggs, which dripped with cheese.

“I haven’t had a chance to ask him much about it, but I do believe they exchanged phone numbers.”

“That’s great. I don’t know Clarence, of course, but Lisa is a lot of fun,” Avery said. “We can find out if Clarence wants to go and take him with us. I’m sure Lisa would enjoy that.”

“As would Clarence,” Warwick agreed. “It’s been a while since he’s taken an interest in somebody, so I hope it works out. Is he her mate, by chance?”

“Well, when she saw him, did she throw him over her shoulder and carry him off?”

“Um, no.” Warwick sipped his orange juice.

“Then he isn’t. But that’s not to say they can’t still date or even mate. Lisa has a fated mate out there somewhere and may find them. So many of us don’t find the one, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have relationships. Speaking of my pack, that reminds me. I need to check in with Father about him announcing Mandy as a contender for the next Alpha. He promised me, and I’m going to make sure he adheres to it.”

“Are you expecting problems?”

“It isn’t going to be easy since it’s not something seen within the werewolf community as a rule, but it does happen. Father is progressive enough that he’s open to her taking over when he’s ready to retire. She may lose some pack members, but I think many more will stay. She’s going to have to fight for what she wants.”

“Anything worth fighting for usually is. I’m not sure exactly how your hierarchy works, but if it helps, we can throw our weight behind her.”

“It certainly couldn’t hurt,” Avery said, eating more of his eggs. “It’s definitely going to be an interesting situation, but I know Mandy. She can handle anything thrown at her, and she will make an excellent Alpha.”

“Speaking of interesting situations, there’s something else I need to tell you about dragons and their abilities.”

“And the surprises just keep coming with you, don’t they?” Avery snickered. “What new and exciting things do you have to show me now?”

Warwick cleared his throat. Once we share blood with someone, we have the ability to speak telepathically with them.

Avery jumped in his chair. His eyes bulged as he frantically looked around the room. “What the hell was that?”

That was me.

“Ho-ly crap! I-I can hear you in my head.” Avery pressed his fingertips to his temples. “Wow, that’s freaky. Guess that’ll teach me to joke about your abilities. That’s amazing, strange, and hell, is there anything you guys can’t do?”

Warwick frowned. Does it hurt? It shouldn’t hurt.

“No, no. It doesn’t hurt.” Avery dropped his hands, picked up his drink, and took a long swallow. “It… you know, totally caught me off guard. Seriously, I need you to sit down and write out a damn list of things you can do.”

It would be miles long.

“Now that I can believe.” Avery shook his head. “Nevertheless, we will be making that list.” He blew out a breath and took a sip of his coffee. “Okay, you can speak to me telepathically. Can I speak back to you?”

Of course. Clear your mind, then concentrate. Try to envision speaking to me without moving your mouth. Use your mind and try to project the words to me. There is a connection now, outside of our mating, since you took my blood. That connection is different for every person, but you should be able to feel it. Clarence said it’s like a long line between me and him.

Avery shut his eyes and concentrated. He knew all about connections. He had one with his Alpha, and there was a tentative one growing between him and Warwick now that they’d mated. He searched, looking for something new, something that hadn’t been there before.

Finally he found it. It looked like threads wound together into something like a rope that flowed from him to Warwick. Clarence was right. It did resemble a line. The bond they shared was almost golden in color but there was a deep, rich thread of purple that ran through it. He assumed it represented Warwick.

“Okay, got it.”

Telepathically, remember? Say that again, but use your mind.

Avery struggled, trying to force his mind around the very idea. Since he had no experience to go by, he decided to throw himself into it fully. Okay, got it.

Warwick flinched. Excellent. Now try to dial it back a bit, please. You’re basically shouting. Think of speaking normally. What do you sound like? Apply that to this.

So, inside voice, right?

Exactly. And well done. It took Clarence struggling for almost an hour before he got it.

Avery opened his eyes, and grinned. “Looks like I’m a natural.”

“Indeed it does. We can speak that way anytime we want. Also, having this ability doesn’t mean I can read your mind.”

“Oh, thank the goddess. No offense, of course, it’s… sometimes I can get rather snarky in my thoughts.”

“You? I would have never thought it.” Warwick bit into a piece of sausage. “And in case you’re wondering, that was a joke.”

“Didn’t know dragons could joke.”

“Ha-ha. I’ll have you know we have a killer sense of humor.”

“Uh-huh. By the way, tonight is a full moon.” Avery finished off his eggs.

“Do you need anything?”

“Only someplace to run. I could join my pack, but I’d like to be with you, if that’s okay.” Avery paused. “Hey. What if you joined me? Like, joined me in your shifted form. Do you think it could cause any problems?”

“I would love to join you, and in what regard?” Warwick asked as he picked up his napkin and blotted his lips.

“Don’t laugh or get mad, but your dragon isn’t going to want to like… eat me or anything, is it?”

“Would you want to eat me if you were in your werewolf form?”

Avery huffed. “That was a stupid question, wasn’t it? I should’ve known better.”

“I could no more hurt you than you could hurt me, but I understand you asking. Simple fact of the matter is, even in your werewolf form, you’re defenseless against me in dragon form. But know my dragon would lay down his very life to protect you.”

“Yep, stupid question. I’m sorry.” Avery took a last sip of coffee and set his cup down.

“Don’t be. It’s understandable.”

“Well, I’ll certainly not get mad anymore when humans ask shifters that question.”