A few days later, Zinc knew he had to be realistic about his situation.

Though he loved spending time with Leanne—and every time she spoke to him, he felt as if a part of him was healing—he knew, overall, he was still going downhill.

How could he be so weak yet destined to be the leader of his planet?

That was even if he found a mate who was willing to go there. He supposed it would be better to stay on Earth with a mate than to die altogether, but he wasn’t sure how the current royal family of Drakkaris would feel about that.

With the entire dragon guard here, who would take the throne?

And why was he thinking about it now, when he was probably going to die?

Usually, he tried to keep those kinds of thoughts away, but he found himself unable to as the poison made him weaker, reaching farther and farther into his mind and heart.

Zinc. A great metal. A life-sustaining force in the right amounts but utterly toxic when uninhibited.

What would his parents say, seeing him succumb like this?

He felt a damp warmth on his forehead and looked up to see Leanne tending to him with a washcloth, looking like an angel as usual, dark curls falling over her forehead, brow furrowed in concern.

He loved her deep, smooth skin. Her full lips. Her face that was beautiful without any enhancement. Her soft body that sometimes brushed against him when she was helping him sit up.

She wished she could have seen him before this, when he was a warrior. Someone who could have protected her. Protected an entire planet with his abilities.

“You’re doing great,” she said, dabbing his face.

“Liar,” he said, giving her what he hoped was a smile.

She grimaced. “Maybe a little. Why are you so cold? No matter what I do, I can’t warm you.”

He wiggled his eyebrows at her. “Well, you haven’t tried everything.” Despite their time spent together, she hadn’t ever gotten in his bed. “As for why I’m cold, perhaps it’s because I’m a dragon. Or perhaps because my blood is all screwed up and my circulation is slow.”

She bit her lip nervously, and he hated himself for putting any worry in her beautiful eyes.

“Leanne, stop it. It’s nothing to do with you. You’ve actually made it so much better. I promise. When you’re here with me…”

She surprised him by throwing the covers back and climbing into his bed. Her curvy body tucked against his, her back against the bars on the side of his cell. Together, they barely fit there, even with her body partially on top of his.

Her softness felt perfectly molded to his muscles, and he closed his eyes as he enjoyed the pure warmth of the moment.

“The guards are up on break, so I doubt they’ll mind. Besides, I’m supposed to keep you alive however I can.” She sighed. “If you die, I die.”

She’d mentioned that before, and it had only added to the horror he felt. Still, he thought their captors were probably lying and it was an empty threat.

Why would they kill a valuable captive just because they lost one?

“I’ll try not to die, then,” he said.

“Do your best.” She cuddled against him. He could feel warmth radiating off her face. Was she blushing?

He peeked down at her, and she looked away from him, clearly embarrassed and perhaps even more affected than he was by the moment.

Did this human like him?

He put a hand up to run it comfortingly through her hair, hoping to soothe her. He felt at least well enough to do that.

“You’re a really good person, right, Zinc?”

He nodded. “I’ve tried very hard to be.”

“Where do you come from?”

“Drakkaris,” he said, thinking there was no point in hiding it from her now. He either would be rescued or wouldn’t. If he was, she would be as well, and she would meet his friends and find out where he was from anyway.

“Drakkaris,” she said. “Never heard of it.”

“It’s in the stars,” he said vaguely, feeling a wave of illness wash through him again, leaving him dizzy and anemic. “I… miss it.”

“Sounds like a great place.” But there was hesitance in her voice, almost as if she didn’t believe him. Or perhaps she didn’t know what to make of his words.

“Someday, maybe I’ll take you there.” He knew he was talking crazy, but the thought of it, of being home with Leanne standing next to him as his queen, was enough to almost elevate him from all of his pain and their awful surroundings.

“Sometimes you talk in your sleep. I don’t always know what you’re saying.”

“Neither do I anymore,” he said, continuing to run his hand through her hair, enjoying the softness as she seemed to enjoy the contact.

“Zinc?”

“Yes.”

“Please tell me what you’re dealing with,” she said. “How can I help if I don’t know what it is? I mean, maybe I can’t help either way, but I want to believe I can. What could it hurt?”

He gave her another smile and looked at the dirty ceiling, not sure where to even begin. He didn’t want to tell her about needing a mate. He didn’t want her to feel obligated to do something like mating him just to save his life.

Yes, he wanted to live to go home and see Drakkaris.

Yes, she was beautiful, and he wanted her very badly.

But despite many things hanging in the balance, they didn’t override this one human’s choice.

The decision to mate was a serious one that couldn’t be undone, and the last thing he wanted was to feel someone had to sacrifice their own happiness to help him.

That wouldn’t be a good start at ruling a world.

Still, he thought he would be able to make her happy if things were different. Win her over and make her want him for her own, without any coercion due to his illness.

Maybe if they were rescued, he could recover enough to do it all the right way. Get lucid enough to truly know if she was his. The others had spoken of knowing right away that their mate was for them.

He thought he could feel something like that with Leanne, but he didn’t know if it was just because he was sick and she was being so kind to him.

Not that he had to know she was his to want her. He’d want her either way, but he’d feel more confident that everything would work out for the best if he felt she was fated to be his. More confident that he could truly be her best match.

She was so beautiful and kind. Surely there were men waiting for her return.

The thought made him angry, and he tensed slightly, holding her close.

She looked up at him in concern. “Are you okay?”

He nodded tersely. “Fine.”

She wasn’t his. Not yet. So he had no right to think that way.

“Okay, then,” she said, snuggling close. “Mm. Feels so safe in your arms.”

“You are safe,” he said. No matter what, as long as he was alive, he would keep her that way.

She reached up to touch the collar on his neck. “Do you think this thing is causing it?”

“No, I was sick long before that,” he said. “It’s just how things work… in my world.”

“What does it do?”

“I assume it makes it so I can’t take my dragon form. But honestly, if I had half my usual strength, I’d have no trouble snapping it in half. It was a good trap they laid.”

“So that’s how they caught you? A trap?”

He nodded. “We thought we were responding to a call to rescue a dragon heart. We showed up and none was there. We figured it might be a trap and tried to leave. The others got back through the portal, and I was last because I’d ordered them through.”

“You’re in charge of them?”

“You could say that.” He frowned, thinking of his friends who would be worried about him. Hopefully, they were doing okay. “Anyway, another portal opened, and they grabbed me. Apparently, I was their target all along.”

“The lady dragon said something about being your mate.”

Zinc jerked in shock. “That’s the first I’ve heard of it. Hell no.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not mating her. Hell. No.” He relaxed back, forcing his heart rate back to normal. “I’d rather die.”

“I mean, I don’t think those are the two choices.”

“You’d be surprised,” he said drily.

“Well, hopefully your friends come soon.”

“Maybe,” he said, enjoying her warmth. “Still, I’m not really minding this for now.”

She smiled up at him, making him feel a small thrill. “Glad to hear it.” She raised her head at the sound of footsteps. “Damn, they’re back.”

“Boo.”

She laughed. “I better get up.”

He let her go reluctantly. “I suppose we can continue this later.”

Now she was definitely flushing as she ducked her head slightly. “Okay. If it helps.”

“Does it help you?”

She nodded. “You know, I think it does. It’s been lonely.” She crossed her arms over her chest as the footsteps came closer. “Damn them for always checking on us.”

“Wonder what they want.”

She stepped to the side of the cell and waited until the door to the basement slammed open and a very angry Barney stepped through.

“You, human bitch.”

Zinc let out a low snarl at the lack of respect, but Leanne sent him a look of warning.

When Zinc got his powers back, he was going to flambé that stupid wolf guard. And all the others. And sweep Leanne out of this place.

Or maybe that was a silly dream.

“Yes?” Leanne looked at Barney.

“Hora wants to see you.”

Leanne blinked, looking as confused as Zinc felt by the announcement. “Um. Okay.”

Barney opened the cell and grabbed her by the arm, and Zinc felt fire flash through him at the sight of someone else touching Leanne.

Apparently, the dragon inside him was still very much alive.

“You stay here,” the wolf said, jabbing a finger at him before closing and locking the cell.

Leanne walked ahead of the wolf up the stairs, and when the door closed behind them, Zinc found himself staring impatiently at the door, as if he could somehow get out of this cell and go through it.

A haze of pain went through him, and the room temporarily blurred.

My mate.

No, not my mate.

As Zinc lay back on his cot, waiting for the dizziness to pass, he honestly didn’t know.