Page 127 of His Greatest Treasure

Their eyes flickered to his neck where my mark was visible, and I puffed up proudly again.

“Pleased to meet you.”

They each nodded at Blaze but didn’t shake his hand. That made me frown and I shrank down again to my human form.

A little distracted part of my brain noted that I was getting better at that, shifting between forms.

“Don’t you like my mate?” I asked.

“I’m sure he’s delightful, Lord Somerville.”

“I prefer being called Alfie in private. Why didn’t you shake hands?”

“It is not proper to shake hands with a newly-mated dragon’s mate. Not to mention dangerous to do so.”

“Oh! Are you sure? Because everyone else hugged Blaze.”

“They are your clan.”

It was a simple statement but it made my dragon snort inside me again, threatening to break out again.

“You’remy clan,” I said, and the sound growled out and reverberated around the room. I ruined the effect by adding, “Oops.”

“We were… unsure whether we would be welcomed back,” said Glenwise.

So far, Rhod hadn’t spoken at all. He was standing against Glenwise’s side, their arms pressed firmly together. It looked a little bit like the way Blaze pressed against me.

“You’re my clan,” I repeated, and was disappointed that my dragon didn’t sound in my voice again. “You are coming back, aren’t you?”

To my horror, Glenwise hesitated before answering.

“Our circumstances have changed.”

“How so?”

Was it me or was my voice too high-pitched? I tried to clear my throat.

“Rhod and I are mated.”

“Oh, that explains your bond. It was always strong. Are you fated mates?”

“Yes.”

“Is that why you left?”

“Yes.”

“Well… are you coming back?”

They studied me and I wanted to say whatever it was that would make them agree to come back. My dragon wanted to protect them. Our bonds shonewith protection. I wanted to give them that. It was my right. They weremyfamily.

As I looked, I saw that they still had their bonds with the rest of the clan. Two of the only people who had bonds with everyone. And, now I looked harder, now my dragon allowed me to see bonds clearer, I noticed that they had bonds with all of the sprites, too.

“You can choose a new room, if you like,” I said. For some reason, that seemed to be the best thing I could offer.

“We… have a new clan.”

“But you came back! Why would you come back if you didn’t want to be part of my clan any longer?”

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