Page 20 of Guardian's Dilemma

“What type of creature were they?”

“Why? Because if they were a dragon, it doesn’t matter?”

He paused. I got the impression that he was deciding what to say. Eventually, he said, “If they were a dragon, it just goes to prove that you even turn on your own.”

“You can’t have it both ways,” I said. “If we’re evil and killing dragons is a noble thing to do, then I’ve done a noble thing.”

Not thatIsaw it that way, but I wanted to point out the logical flaw in his reasoning. Something about the way he spoke of dragons made me uneasy. If he killed dragons who hurt his coven, that would be ok. We all protected our family, after all. I’d killed two dragons and a bear shifter who’d attacked our territory, and I’d done it without a second’s doubt. But to just hate all dragons indiscriminately? Something wasn’t right about that.

His lip pulled back in a disbelieving half-smile. “You’re not trying to convince me that you killed a dragon because you wanted to rid the world of their evil, are you?”

“No, I killed them because they were t—”

I stumbled over the words. I’d been about to say ‘torturing Seren’ but that would give far too much away. My mate’s scent was getting to me more than I liked if I was making mistakes like that.

I cleared my throat. “Touching my treasure. They were touching my treasure, so I killed them.”

I’d had a lot of help, too, from Dane.

For the first time, I really understood what I’d seen in Dane’s eyes that day. The utter fear. It was beyond anything I’d experienced and I’d seen his soul split open and yawn wide in a cavernous pit, with fear and despair swirling inside. I’d been afraid too, that day. I’d known, even at the time, that I was watching a dragon right on the edge of going intoruith, and there would be no coming back if he did.

“Dragons never care about anything except their treasure. They have no soul.”

My dragon reared up inside me. The way my mate’s eyes flickered to my eyes and the rush of weird feelings in his scent told me that he’d seen my dragon in my eyes.

Well, what did he expect? I’d just found out that my mate had been lied to. I wasn’t happy about that at all.

“We have souls,” I said. I wanted him to know that. He’d need to believe it if he was going to mate me, and my dragon wasn’t prepared to think about the possibility that he wouldn’t do that. I was perfectly happy for the time being to not think about that at all, since that particular path led to madness andruith.

He made a small disbelieving noise in the back of his throat, so quietly that a human wouldn’t have heard it. But I heard.

“We do,” I insisted. “How else do you explain the fact that we get fated mates?”

“Dragons can’t get them.”

“We can.”

The proof? Sitting right in front of me, on my bed, currently glaring daggers at me.

“Dragons never get them. Fated mates are two souls bonding.”

At least he knew what fated mates were. That seemed promising.

“We have them.Ihave one.”

A flare of emotion crossed his features and I smelled a sour, jealous tang in his scent and had to restrain a smile. No matter what he said, and no matter what he thought he knew about dragons, he couldn’t deny one thing: wewerefated mates. His soul knew it, even if he didn’t believe it just yet.

“Who is it?”

I smiled. It was the first genuine smile I’d given in ages. “It’s you. You’re my mate.”

He stared at me blankly for a second and I saw the quickness in his eyes, the sharp, assessing look as he tried to work out whether I was telling the truth. I projected as much certainty as I could.

Slowly, he said, “You actually believe that.”

“Yes.”

“Huh. Will you tell me about it?”

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