I sit beside Donte, watching him drive us home from the library. With my excitement over finding the book, I almost forgot what I’d just experienced with him: my first time making love.

I barely let it affect me at all. My mind was so focused on the acquisition of information that I didn't feel my excitement.

I smile wistfully as I gaze at my handsome Donte, happy that it was him I experienced that precious moment with. Of all my mates, he is the wisest among them. He guided me through my first time. I will never forget that.

I’ve watched the mating holofilms and the computerized animations many dragons at the Academy enjoy watching. I knew what to expect. But nothing could have prepared me for the overpowering hunger I experienced mating with my fated.

As we pass Draxos Prime on the way back to Arcadia, Donte looks at me and smiles, squeezing my knee.

“How are you?” he asks.

“Good. Better than I expected.”

“What did you expect?”

“I guess I didn't really know what to expect. But making love with my fated mate was…inexplicably euphoric.”

“It was the same for me, Joon,” he says.

I know that he means it, and it makes my heart explode with joy. I love that I made love with Donte, but I know there will be hell to pay when I get back to the palace.

Donte directs the speeder into the atmosphere of Arcadia and swoops gracefully to land outside my palace. I sigh as the exit hatch slides open and a ramp settles onto the ground. I can see the guys hurrying out of the palace to greet us. Uri is at the exit hatch before Donte and I even place our feet on the soil of Arcadia.

“You've been gone far too long,” he says.

“We went and came back as quickly as possible,” Donte says.

Uri leans over me and sniffs around my neck. He stands back with an angry grimace, prompting the other guys to gather around and smell me too. They can scent what Donte and I did in the library. My face flushes with heat and Donte takes my hand to reassure me.

“You've mated with her, haven’t you?” Uri demands.

Flume crosses his arms and scowls. Reese lets out a long grumbling sigh and Mika stares at me wide-eyed with wonder.

“Can we discuss this inside?” I ask. The servants gather around me, asking what I need.

“Come Joon,” Donte says, placing his hand at the small of my back. “Don’t let them get to you.”

He guides me through the crowd of my mates and servants and into the palace, where he escorts me into our favorite sitting room. There is fire blazing in the hearth. It’s cozy as the rain begins to fall outside the window. The guys file into the room, silently brooding. Their anger fills me with agitation.

“Yes,” I start as they all sit on the couches around the sitting room. “Donte and I made love at the library. We also found critical information in the quest to save our species from extinction. Let’s keep things in perspective.”

“How could you do this?” Uri snaps at Donte.

“I chose to make love to Donte, Uri.”

“Now he has an advantage over all of us,” Uri says.

“No one has an advantage. It just happened.”

“To be fair, we should all get a chance to make love to her,” Uri says.

“I'm not a toy to be shared. I decide who I make love to.”

The looks on their faces are dark and irritable. I can feel the intensity of their energy throbbing in the room. All five of these men are in a deep mating thrall. Their unhinged energy is directed entirely at me. Holofilms and pleasure houses will never satisfy them now. Only I can do that.

I let out a deep sigh, wishing I could go down to the laboratory and explore my new insights without having to deal with any of this. But my mates are my responsibility. Without me, they will die.

“Okay then,” I start. “Since I made love to Donte while we were away. I will date you each again and if things go well on the date, I will make love to you.”

The men all look at each other and nod in agreement. I let out a relieved sigh and stand.

“Well, now that that's taken care of, I need to get to the laboratory to contact my brother. Excuse me gentlemen, I will see you later tonight.”

“Wait?” Uri asks. “Who goes first?”

“To make this easy, let’s use the same rotation we used before. While I’m away, why don’t you all think about how to make the experience romantic and pleasurable for me.”

I stand and exit the sitting room. I wish there were more I could do to reassure them and settle them down, but I'm too focused on my discovery to think about it now. I'll think about it later when it's time to make love to Flume.