Chapter One

Mason

I sat at the edge of the pond on the wolf pack property, skipping stones, pocketing ones I could use later for carving. I tried to keep my mind blank─not thinking about him. My mate. The one that rejected me.

For the past ten years, while living with the wolf pack, I’d dreamt of finding a mate, belonging to another person, being their one and only. I'd fantasized about it for years. I'd even saved my virginity for the possibility of having a mate someday, only to find out my mate was not a wolf like I’d assumed he’d be. My mate was a dragon; and a mean one at that.

The only memory I had of Broderick was him glaring at me, then storming out of the room. That was the only time I’d seen him. I wish now that I'd never met him, never known this pull I felt toward him. Toward a man who didn't even want me.

It had been two months since I'd left Dragon Headquarters, as the five remaining dragons in the world affectionately referred to their compound. The place reminded me a lot of our wolf pack’s compound. It had been quite an adjustment at age fourteen to learn that wolf-shifters and other paranormal type creatures existed in the world.

I'd never forget the night that my adopted mother explained it all to me. She sat me down, told me about wolf-shifters and witches, and then asked if I was sure I wanted to be adopted by them. Of course I wanted to be adopted. I wanted a family more than anything in the world. I couldn’t care less if they turned into wolves or chickens or ducks. They were family.

I didn't know who my biological parents were. The records were sealed, and I saw no reason to go out looking for them. After all, they had abandoned me at birth. Why would they want me now that I was grown?

“Hey,” a voice said.

I recognized it immediately as my adopted brother Jericho, the Alpha of our pack.

“Hey,” I said. I continued to stare at the pond, not taking my eyes off the flat water.

Jericho sat down next to me. “I'm taking you back to Dragon Headquarters.”

I whipped my head around. “What? Why?”

Jericho took a deep breath and sat up straight, it was a motion that I’d seen him do plenty of times, when he was centering himself to defend a decision he’d made as our Alpha. A decision that not everyone would agree with. “Technically, you are one of the dragons’ mates. And I think you should spend some time with Broderick, to see if you two can work things out.”

“No.” I shook my head. “He doesn't want me. He doesn’t want a mate at all. I'm not going to force it. And I don’t want to be around him.” Don’t want to be rejected by him again.

“I understand that, but there's also the fact that you’re a dragon’s mate and Molpe is out there kidnapping dragons’ mates. You'll be safer there. Molpe already admitted that she and her vampire can't break into their property. Whereas here, they've already kidnapped from our compound once. I don't want to take that risk.”

“Then why let me stay here for the past two months if you were just going to send me back there?”

Jericho ran a hand through his hair. “I'd hoped that your mate would come to his senses, but he hasn’t yet. He hasn’t even returned to their property.”

My shoulders sagged. I wasn’t going to change his mind. “I still don't understand why I have to go.”

“It's just temporary,” Jericho said. “I want you to be safe, and we’re wearing ourselves pretty thin having extra guards posted for every shift.”

That was news to me. “You’ve had the betas running extra shifts?”

Jericho nodded. “I don’t want to take any chances with your safety. With Molpe still at large, we need to remain vigilant.”

My stomached tightened into knots. While I’d sat around the last two months moping about my mate not wanting me, the rest of the pack had pulled double-duty to keep me safe. I felt like a tool.

“I'll bring you back home once we take care of Molpe and that vampire, I promise.”

“I’ll go. When do we leave?” I asked. I couldn’t let my pack suffer for my safety.

“In a of couple hours. I've got to check on Cody and make sure his care is set up.”

I nodded. Cody still hadn't come out of his coma. But thanks to the fluids and rest he was getting, his vitals remained stable and he’d put on some weight. He’d been kidnapped over a year ago by Molpe. It was only when Gale, one of the dragons, had been tricked into going to Molpe’s cave that he was rescued.

“I have to run to the shop,” I said. “Pick up my tools. I don't know how long I'll be gone, so I'll make arrangements with Patty.”

Jericho stood. “All right, I'll meet you at the house in a bit then, okay?” He laid a hand on my shoulder and I looked up at him. “It's going to be okay, Mason. I promise. I know it seems bleak now, having a mate that you can't reach out to, but it's going to get better. It has to get better.”

I forced a smile. “Thanks, Jericho.”

He nodded and turned away.

I felt like an ass. I wasn't the only one in the world with a mate they couldn't actually connect with. I'd long suspected that Cody was Jericho’s mate, and seeing the anguish he'd gone through the past several months only confirmed it for me.

I stood up, dusted myself off, and squared my shoulders. If I was going to face my mate, I would do it with my head held high. Although, I had no idea what I would say to him if he was standing in front of me right now. Maybe I’d ask him why. Was it me or him?

I'm going to assume it's him.

I made my way back to the compound and grabbed the keys to my car. It was a Chevy Aveo, a compact car, but quite functional and it got great gas mileage, which worked out well living forty-five minutes from everywhere.

When I arrived at the store where I sold some of my carvings, Patty was working the front desk. She waved hello to me and I waved back. I made a beeline for the backroom, so I could grab my tools and be on my way. Of course, I'd let Patty know that I'd be leaving, but I wanted to be as quick as I could.

When I went back into the front room, she had just finished with her customer.

“Hi, Patty,” I said.

“Hi, Mason.” She didn’t smile, her eyes had a misty look to them, like she held back tears.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Jericho called me and told me that you'd be gone for a little while.”

“Yeah,” I said. “Apparently I'm going to go stay with the dragons. It'll give me a chance to hang out with my brother, Frost. That will be nice.”

She smiled. “Yeah, but we'll miss you around here.”

“I'll be back, eventually,” I said. I had no expectations that Broderick would see me for the second time and determine that I was worthy of being his mate, or get over whatever the fuck his hang-up was. If he didn't want me, I wasn't going to dwell on it. I'd continue living my life.

“You'll still send me some of your work, right?” She asked.

“Yeah, some of the smaller pieces should ship easily enough, and we can always post the bigger ones online and I can ship them to the buyer from wherever the heck I'm gonna be.”

“Okay,” she said. “Give me a hug before you go.”

She hugged me tightly and gave me a kiss on the cheek. “Be a good boy.”

“Okay.” I smiled. I had long since stopped being a boy, but that's okay. “I promise.”

As I left the shop, I ran right into another person I needed to say goodbye to. Instantly I recognized the thick cologne.

“Peter,” I said. “I'm glad I ran into you.”

Peter had been one of my regular customers for the past two months. He always came in to see what my latest piece was. For a brief moment, I’d thought maybe he had some sort of romantic interest in me. But he'd never crossed the line from friendly to anything else. So, I must have been mistaken. Not that I was interested anyway. Having a mate out there meant that I wasn't going to be with anyone else, ever. Whether my mate claimed me or not, I’d be loyal to him.

“Oh?” Peter raised a dark brow. His black hair was short and always perfectly cut and styled. It matched his pale face and high cheekbones. The man could be a model for something luxurious, Gucci or Calvin Klein. He had always struck me as sophisticated, though I didn’t know what he did as a career. “Where are you headed off to? Shouldn't you be working right now?”

“No,” I shook my head. “I’m going out of town for a little bit. I don't know when I'll be back.”

“Oh, really?” He asked. The corner of his lips twitched like he was going to smile, but he didn't. “Still pining for that guy you told me about? Please don’t tell me you’re going to let him get away with how he treated you?”

Something told me to keep my exact destination a secret, after all, this man wasn’t a pack member. He was just friendly. I’d told him a humanized version of my interaction with Broderick, without explaining that we were mates and destined to be together.

I shrugged. “Just hanging out with some friends out east.”

That was the general direction I'd be going, but it was about as a vague as I could be.

The wind picked up at that moment and blew his coat open. He wore a pair of dark slacks, with a black t-shirt. My eyes were immediately drawn to his necklace. A deep purple crystal hung from a chain around his neck. When he caught me staring, he closed his coat.

“I'll miss you.” He stepped toward me and I almost took a step back instinctually, like he was some sort of predator, but I stopped myself.

I smiled. It felt nice to be wanted, knowing that someone wanted to be around me even my mate didn’t.

“Well, Patty will still have all of my work here for you to take a look at, and as a regular you can have first dibs, I promise.”

“Oh, I won't just be missing your work, Mason. I'll be missing you as well.”

My cheeks burned with a blush that made me want to cringe. I didn't know what to say to that, so I just smiled. “Well, I've got to get going. Jericho is waiting for me.”

“Here,” he said. “Take my card.” He pulled out a business card and scribbled a number on the back. “That's my personal cell. Text me or call me sometime. At least let me know when you'll be back in town.”

“All right,” I said. “I'll do that.” I pulled out my phone and entered his number, then sent him a quick, “Hi.”

“There. Now you've got my number too.”

“Excellent.” He grinned wide, his pearly white teeth practically shining in the sunlight. Much to my surprise, he gave me a quick hug and kissed my cheek. “I'll really miss you, Mason.”

“I’ll miss you, too,” I said and walked away.

***

Jericho was waiting outside our house with a suitcase next to him when I got back to the compound.

“Are we taking my car?” I asked.

He nodded, picked up the suitcase, and tossed it in the trunk. “Yeah. I figured you would need a car there.”

“How are you going to get back?”

“Armant is coming back with me. We’ll be flying.”

My eyes widened. “You get to fly on a dragon? Do you think—" I bit my lip and looked down.

“You want to fly on a dragon?” He grinned.

“Yeah,” I said. “It would be amazing. Do you think one of them will let me?”

His smile fell. “I'm not sure that's the best idea. Unless—”

“Unless Broderick says it's okay.” I wanted to roll my eyes, but I knew it would be disrespectful to him as both my brother and Alpha of the pack.

“Yeah, I doubt he'll let you fly on any other dragon.”

“Well, then I just won’t ask his permission. I am sure one of the others will let me.”

I went inside and quickly packed up some clothes and any personal items I would need. I made sure to have my spare set of tools and my sketchbook. I would have a lot of time on my hands at Dragon Headquarters. I could get quite a bit of work done. Maybe they would let me explore the property and see what sort of stone I could find to carve.

Jericho leaned against the driver’s side door when I walked out again, suitcase in hand. He grabbed the suitcase from me, then paused.

“What?” I asked.

He shook he head. “Nothing. Just thought I smelled something, but it’s gone now. You don't have to go, you know,” he said. “I'm not forcing you. You just say the word and you can stay here, we’ll make something work.”

I nodded. “I know. But it’s not fair to the pack for me to cause so much extra work. If it's too hard to be there, to be around Broderick, I'll come home. I promise.”

“I really think Broderick just needs time. There is no way to deny the mate pull, at least not for wolf shifters. I doubt dragons are any different. The Fates didn't give us these gifts for us to deny them.”

I shrugged one shoulder, unsure of what to say. Not being a shifter myself, it was hard to understand. While I did feel the pull toward Broderick, it was manageable, and largely overshadowed by the fact that he had stormed out of the room at the first sight of me. It was hard to imagine coming back from that.

I hopped into the passenger side. Jericho slid into the driver's seat.

“I'll take the first shift,” he said. “You can navigate.”

“Onward to adventure,” I said and smiled, though my heart wasn’t in it.