Page 134 of Consort of the Dragon King

Kitsuki

By the time they reached their room at Kehnon’s castle, Auslin’s misery was almost more than Kitsuki could take. He desperately wanted to make the situation better for his mate. It was the only thing that took priority over wanting vengeance on the one who had upset Auslin so much.

Kitsuki waited for Auslin to talk. When the mage could only blankly stare at the floor with unseeing eyes, Kitsuki prompted him, “Start from the beginning.”

Auslin’s tone was flat as he spoke. “I used to come here with Kio because the town was so accepting of half-shifters since King Kehnon is one. I got to know Eldin during my stays at the temple since we were close in age and had a lot of shared interests.”

The mage sighed heavily before he continued. “Once he met Kio, he saw firsthand how toxic my relationship was. His outrage hit a new level when he ran into Kio cheating on me with Maseo. He hated Kio for not being loyal to me.”

As much as Kitsuki didn’t want to have something in common, he appreciated Eldin wanting better for his friend. “At least in that, Eldin and I agree.”

“Because Eldin was one of my closest friends outside my temple, I found reasons to visit more often,” Auslin said in a small voice. “When we started staying for longer periods of time, Kio started inviting Maseo to spend time with him while I was with Eldin.”

Kitsuki reflexively growled in anger but curbed it when he saw how it made Auslin shrink away. “My apologies.”

“After we ran into them on a date, Eldin got into an ugly fight with them. When we got back to the temple, he gave me an impassioned speech about how I deserved better. I wondered if maybe he was talking about himself, but I couldn’t believe he’d be interested in me after seeing how I allowed Kio to disrespect me.”

Auslin was silent for a long moment before he continued. “There was another night when Kio was with Maseo. I had a few too many drinks to make myself forget about how much that hurt. Eldin sympathetically listened to me vent about everything. I was so upset, but Eldin’s kindness made me feel a bit better.”

Auslin’s wretched feeling twisted in his stomach. “At some point, Eldin kissed me to make me feel better. I didn’t stop him because I was so caught up in my emotions. However, when he tried again, I fled back to the inn with Kio.”

Kitsuki wiped away the tears from Auslin’s eyes before they fell. “You do not have to tell me the rest if it is too painful.”

“No, you deserve the truth.” Auslin took a deep breath before he continued. “Even though Kio could smell Eldin on me, he didn’t say anything about it. And sure enough, the next night, Kio leftto go be with Maseo again, which hurt even more than normal. I went back to Eldin because I didn’t know what else to do.”

When Auslin’s upset spiked, Kitsuki rubbed his back in silent comfort.

The touch helped, but Auslin’s voice was barely louder than a whisper as he confessed his greatest shame. “Eldin told me Kio didn’t love me enough, then kissed me again. I knew it was wrong, but when I thought Kio didn’t care, it made it harder to want to stop it. Plus, Eldin was so passionate, whereas Kio was always so perfunctory. In my grief, I let Eldin go further than I ever should have.”

Auslin’s guilt was intense. “I stopped him from going all the way because I didn’t want to get together with Eldin as payback to Kio. I didn’t want things between us to be tainted with such ugly emotions. He kept pleading with me to break up with Kio so we could be together, swearing he would do anything to be with me. There was a part of me that desperately wanted to give in because Eldin’s feelings for me seemed so genuine, but I still felt too loyal to Kio despite our relationship being so broken.”

He hid his face in his hands with a sob before he continued. “I went back to the inn. When Kio smelled Eldin all over me, he demanded to know what I had been doing. I asked if he was afraid I had been doing the same thing he was with Maseo. I told him it would serve him right for me to leave him to be with someone like Eldin, who actually loved me.”

It was hard for Kitsuki to hear without wanting to rend Kio into pieces for what he had put Auslin through, but he remained silent as he listened.

“Kio insisted I was his, but I told him it was a lie when he so clearly belonged to Maseo. He reassured me I was the only one who mattered. I was so desperate to believe him. I begged him to take me and have his dragon make me his mate if that was the case, but Kio refused.” It had hurt Auslin so much, but he was deeply relieved Kio hadn’t permanently bonded them together in misery.

Kitsuki hesitated before he brought up something that had been bothering him since they first met in the past. “Did you ever meet Kio’s dragon? Or see him in his dragon form?”

“No, he always insisted he held him back to keep me safe.”

“He was lying to you,” Kitsuki said as gently as he could. “A half-shifter like him cannot form a mating bond on his own or shift into a dragon. It is why he does not have the same markings on his skin as a full shifter. The only shifter traits he has are fangs and claws, accelerated healing, and a prolonged life.”

Auslin’s jaw dropped. “That can’t be true!”

Kitsuki caressed Auslin’s hair. “You know I would not lie to you, dear mate.”

“Why didn’t you say anything about that in the past?”

“I wondered if perhaps things changed in the future, or maybe he had been a special exception. Without knowing definitively, I did not feel I could authoritatively say anything. And if you will forgive me, I did not wish to make you think of your companion when I wanted you to be mine.”

Auslin got up and began pacing. “Why would he lie to me about that? It doesn’t make sense!” His anger echoed through their mating bond. “If I was never in danger of him mating me, whydid he refuse to have sex with me? He’s a terrible person. He should have had no problem going all the way with me. There would have been no consequences for him.”

“I cannot explain his logic. It could have been something Sophina stopped him from doing for our sake. Or perhaps he was more in love with Maseo than he led us to believe.”

“He’s incapable of love.” Auslin ruffled his hair with an irritated huff. “Why would he keep me at an arm’s length to protect me from a dragon he didn’t have?”

Kitsuki got up to embrace Auslin to stop his frantic pacing. “Does it matter now?”

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