Page 100 of His Greatest Treasure

“Oh, sorry! I didn’t realise. Are you alright? Did I hurt you? Was that weird?”

“It- it was lovely, my darling. I just didn’t want you to burn yourself.”

Alfie raised his hand to study it. The skin was as smooth and pale and unblemished as it ever had been.

“It doesn’t hurt. Are your flames okay?”

My sweet Alfie, whose first concern was always me.

“I’m fine, my darling. Your hand didn’t burn.”

George said, “The golden dragon is special. He doesn’t burn, even in human form.”

That made sense, since Alfie could breathe fire inhis human form.

I saw the blush rise up his cheeks, making them glow a rosy red. It was incredibly cute, and I wanted to smirk at my mate, because I thought I knew what he was thinking. If he couldn’t be burned when he touched my flames, that meant he could reach my wick. The core of me. And the way it had felt to have him touch it was… incredible.

He was planning on doing that again. I couldn’t wait.

Any plans for us to be alone, though, would have to wait.

Alfie’s family were all standing around, and they were all looking to him. He turned around, taking them in, and swallowed. He wasn’t sure what would happen now.

Even though I was still flame, I pressed myself up against my mate. He wouldn’t burn, and I needed to be close to him. I felt him relax as my warmth washed over his skin, knowing I was close.

I wasn’t sure what to do. We all stood, and waited. For Alfie to decide.

Chapter 41

Alfie

Ididn’t know why everyone was looking at me so expectantly. Normally, I’d be blushing and stuttering, hating the attention. This time, though, with Blaze beside me, I managed to stand tall. If nothing else, I needed to make it clear that Blaze was my mate. No matter what happened, they couldn’t stop us being together.

I tried to take his hand but he was still in his flame form, and I just felt the warm flames against my palm. It was almost like holding my hand in front of a fire or sinking into a hot bath. They should have burned me, but they didn’t.

I hadn’t realised I’d been… stroking Blaze’s wick until he’d looked down at me doing it, shock all over his face.

It had felt so nice, though, and I’d needed physical touch. Just to know he was there and alive and safe.

Glimmer distracted me from my train of thought by saying, “Aw, man, I can’t believe I missed you shifting for the first time.”

He stood in the gap in the protections, right on the edge of the territory. He was neither inside nor out.

I looked at him, expecting him to do something. Or say something. After all, he was the Guardian. We needed him to tell us what to do now that our borders weren’t secure.

He met my eyes, and held them for a few seconds. Then he asked, “Am I still banished?”

“My father is dead,” I told him.

“I know. I was askingyou, Lord Somerville.”

“Me?”

I glanced behind me, just to make sure that Glimmer wasn’t talking to someone else. He wasn’t.

“You’re the golden dragon. Even without being the Somerville heir, you’d be elder now. The golden dragon rules the clan.”

“Oh,” I said. I wanted to squirm with discomfort. That sounded like they expected me to be like my father, and I didn’t think I could do that.

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