Page 5 of The Eternal Choice

Fuck. Yes, he was right to pull me out of the room to handle this. Tony Mattia is the leader of clan Marshgloom. Their land is near ours and we’ve been at war for as long as I’ve been clan leader. Why? They killed my predecessor.

“Why the fuck is he waiting at the gates when he’s ready to agree to our terms?” I wonder.

Nario shrugs. “Hell if I know, it’s why I thought it was best to get your ass back home.”

I ignore him the rest of the ride and mentally go over the demands we made when Tony reached out a few months ago to negotiate a truce based on a trade our clans had for centuries. Until a member of their clan killed our leader.

My anger spikes to new levels. Between meeting Tony and therefore needing to be separated from my mate is throwing things into overdrive. Not to mention, one of the negotiations was about fostering an arranged marriage for the sake of bloodlines. With this we hope for fertility.

For a few heartbeats my thoughts stray to my fated mate. Unexpected, and such a damn surprise when I scented her fertility. Lilliana being pregnant is a sign things are finally, after many decades, moving in the right direction.

I focus back on the matters at hand. With Nario mentioning Tony will agree to all our demands, I will have to pick three clan members who will go live with the Marshgloom clan. In return we will foster three of their members. I will also have to pick a clan member who will marry one of theirs.

These clan matters were previously discussed with every member, and we’ve taken a vote. The male population is almost ninety percent, and most of the clans have the same issue. Female dragons are rare and while offspring with a fated mate used to be a guarantee, it’s not with an arranged marriage.

Though, the past teaches us that fostering dragons sometimes provides opportunities to find a mate. Arranged marriages force dragons to show dedication, and loyalty to their clan, and our breed. The past has shown it’s fruitful for somearranged marriages, even if it most times stays with one child after decades of trying. This was before the fertility issues.

Due to the incident with Marshgloom, and the fact it was decades concerning the last trade before that, it’s been…fuck, the last time a child was born in our clan was my baby sister, and that was twenty years before our father was killed.

A surge of pride goes through me at the thought of what happened today. The unthinkable happened. Not only did I find my fated mate, I also managed to impregnate her within a few hours. Frenzies often takes days, weeks sometimes. Our chance meeting sure felt like it was meant to be with her fertility timing.

“We’re here,” Nario states, dragging me out of the surge of pleasure I just felt at the reminder of Lilliana.

I glare out the window at Tony’s car. “Drive straight to the conference room.”

Nario gives the order to the driver and a handful of minutes later we’re walking into the conference room. I didn’t wait for Tony to get out. I still despise the fucker and even if trust has to start somewhere, it doesn’t have to be today.

Besides, the contracts aren’t signed yet. A verbal agreement to some of our discussed terms or not, nothing is definite until every detail is discussed and contracts are drawn up and signed.

“Ernestino, good to see you again,” Tony states as he prowls into the room.

I give a grunt and rumble, “Tony.”

It’s the best I can do, besides I don’t need to be polite to this fucker. We just have to stick to the rules, and we’ll have a truce along with hope for a shot at new blood for both our clans.

Tony steps forward and places a pile of papers on the table beside me. “I took the liberty to draw up the official papers so we can put the truce in place today.”

I have no clue why the fucker is grinning ear-to-fucking-ear.

Dismissing the papers he had drawn up, I ask, “Why would you do that if we haven’t agreed on the arranged marriage, and those who will be chosen to foster on each side?”

Tony waves with his hand as if I’m fucking nitpicking. This is about my people. His people. Why the hell is he acting this way?

My anger is overclouding my brain, otherwise I wouldn’t have missed Nario’s smug smile when Tony states, “Your second in command agreed on the phone.”

A throat is cleared and the attention in the room goes to a dragon woman. White hair, white dress, pale skin, light gray eyes that quickly flicker to the ground in a submissive appearance. Her whole stance, though? Doesn’t scream submissive. The way her shoulders are set and how she peeks through her lashes to assess the room makes unease flow through my veins.

Tony’s smile is one filled with satisfaction when he states, “Ernestino, I’d like you to meet my daughter, Naryssa Mattia, your wife-to-be.”

“The fuck she is,” I snarl.

Naryssa’s head shoots up and glares at me for a heartbeat before she throws an angry look at her father and hisses, “What’s going on? Why is he angry and denying me?”

Tony holds a hand out in Naryssa’s direction. “Everything is fine,tesoro.”

My treasure? Dragon women are scarce, but she’s giving me a bad vibe.

“Everything is not fine,” I grit. “I didn’t agree to this.”

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