Page 113 of His Greatest Treasure

Bothcuraidhand Morgan jumped as though they’d been electrocuted. They spun round to see Glimmer standing there, looking far too innocent. I kept my face straight, even though I wanted to laugh.

“What the hell, G, sneak up much?”

Glimmer gave the bigcuraidhan offended look. “Is that the greeting I get, after all this time?”

Seren moved first. He flung himself at Glimmer and hugged him tightly. To my surprise, Glimmerdidn’t flinch away. He was getting used to being touched now, thanks to his mate.

Speaking of Kingsley, I looked around to find him. He was leaning against the doorway, a little smile on his lips. He was enjoying watching his mate. I could smell his satisfaction from here.

And Blaze’s scent. That familiar, sexy woodsmoke scent of him that wound its way into my nostrils.

I reached back behind me, knowing Blaze was right there, and took his hand, drawing him forward. I liked that he stood behind me, using me as a shield when he wanted to, but sometimes he needed to be in front, too. I needed to show him off to my brother.

“Morgan, this is my mate, Blaze Somerville.”

I glanced at Blaze as I said that and, sure enough, saw the flicker of emotion playing over his face that he got every time he heard his full name. He’d never had a family before, and he was overwhelmed and pleased to have one now.

I was going to remind him of it at every opportunity.

And so was my family. All of the matrons in the castle were already besotted with him, even thoughthey’d only just met him. They all moved instinctively to pet him and protect him and make him comfortable.

When it had first happened, I’d felt a jolt of jealously, and I wasn’t sure whether it was because I wanted to be the only one looking after Blaze or whether I was used to being the one looked after. But the jealously had fizzled out almost instantly and I’d enjoyed watching my mate be pampered and fussed over.

It made him happy, and it made the matrons happy, and it made me happy to see it, too.

And, if I were honest, somewhere inside me my dragon felt relieved that they had turned their attention to someone else and I would no longer have to be the baby of the family. Blaze might be older than me, but he was the one who needed looking after. He deserved it.

My brother looked surprised which, in itself, was a surprise. Morgan had always had the most efficient mask and he’d rarely let it drop, even in front of me. To see the surprise on his face was new.

“I didn’t realise you were gay,” he said.

I huffed. “I might not be gay. I’m just notnotgay, that’s all.”

Morgan pulled away from his mate long enough to walk up to Blaze. He held out his hand and Blaze hesitated a moment before shaking it.

“Congratulations on your mating,” he said.

I grabbed Blaze and pulled him back against me.

“I thinkI’m the one you meant to congratulate, Morgan. I got the best mate in the world.”

As I said it, I breathed in his scent, letting it burn around me. Damn, he smelled delicious.

Morgan’s eyes softened. “Yes, congratulations, Alfie. I’m glad you found your mate. You deserve to be happy.”

Seren bounded up to me and grabbed my hand, shaking it. “Congrats, Alfie! You got a great little mate. Hey, didn’t he mark you?”

I blushed and stuttered, “Y-yes, he did. On my chest.”

I suddenly wasn’t sure I wanted people to see that mark. It was beautiful and I was proud to wear it, but it was also mine and Blaze’s and I didn’t want to share it. Not just yet.

Dane, Seren’s mate, spoke in a low voice and I wasn’t sure whether that was just the way he sounded or whether he had his dragon in his throat.

“Seren, you’re not meant to ask personal questions. We’ve been over this.”

He rounded on his mate. “I wanted to know! I can see Alfie’s bite, and it looks very pretty.”

Pride shot through me. It made me slow to react when Seren reached for Blaze’s hand, too, and shook it. I let him.

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