Page 37 of The Alliance

It hadn’t taken much effort to make the switch of regarding Alfie as our elder. I’d been brought up with the notion that the old Lord Somerville’s sons were the most important in the clan, and my dragon had always wanted to protect Alfie, in its way.

That felt weird now, because it both wanted to protect Alfie and also… expected him to protectus.

I smoothed my hair down and rubbed my face, trying to make myself presentable. Then I stepped out from behind my mate with as much dignity as I could muster.

Alfie blurted out, “Oh, Rhod, I didn’t see you there. Although it makes sense you’d be here, I suppose, unless Glenwise came down to the beach on his own. Was he showing you the ocean? It’s loud, isn’tit?”

I laid a hand on Glenwise’s long neck, feeling the solid scales beneath my palm. Partly to reassure him, partly to ground myself. I liked his solid presence.

“Yes, Glenwise wanted to show me the ocean. It was beautiful in the starlight and we stayed late. I must have fallen asleep.”

Alfie nodded, not finding that strange. Beside him, his mate was looking at me with kindness, which I appreciated. Blaze was a sweet soul, and I liked him. I’d actually got to know him quite well while we’d been talking about the running of the Somerville castle. He’d wanted to know a few things and I’d spent several afternoons showing him around. He was quiet and kind and he didn’t scare me with his presence.

My eyes went automatically to thecuraidhwho were standing beside Morgan and Seren. They were so big. My dragon moved uneasily inside me.

It wasn’t trying to get out, just twitchy and nervous. I didn’t get the jolt of warning that I was in danger, but I got the impression that my dragon was ready to respond if it did feel that sudden premonition that we’d be harmed.

Glenwise took a step forward, and somehow ended up mostly blocking my view. I couldn’t help the smile that pulled at my lips.

“It’s okay,” I murmured to my mate. “They can come down and join us. If you want them to.”

Glenwise gave that rumble again, and Alfie apparently understood it the same way I did because his face broke into a smile and he said, “I’m glad you’re here. Morgan’s been telling me about the sand for ages and I wanted us all to get a chance to— eeeigh!”

He broke off his sentence with a high-pitched scream as he took his first step onto the sand and his foot sank into the softness of it.

My heart leapt up into my throat for a second before realising that it was just Alfie being dramatic and he wasn’t being eaten or anything, and then I took some calming breaths to get my heart rate back to where it should be.

Glenwise pressed his large shoulder against mine and my heart stopped hammering.

We watched Alfie take his first steps on the beach like he was a baby deer, floundering and gangly legged.

Considering I’d seen him in his dragon form, and he looked truly magnificent, it was jarring to see him unstable and looking so young.

It wasn’tbad, though.

I’d assumed that the fear that had filled me at the thought of Lord Somerville was normal, that it was there because my elder was powerful and my dragon needed his approval. When Alfie had become our elder, I’d waited and waited for that feeling of fear to slide into my stomach and stay there. It hadn’t.

I wasn’t afraid of Alfie. And this was part of the reason why. He looked so very young and human as he laughed, gaining confidence on the new terrain. He turned and held out his hand to his mate, who took it and stepped tentatively after him.

The mingled pride and pity in Glenwise’s scent was familiar. He’d smelled just like that when I’d seen the ocean for the first time last night. He was proud of his clan elder, but Glenwise more than any of us knew just how small our world had become. Just how restricted our lives had been. He’d had freedoms we’d never had, and while he might not think much of stepping onto the beach, it was new and exciting to me and Alfie.

I moved closer to him, pressing my body back against the crook between my mate’s shoulder and his neck. He somehow seemed to surround me, even as we stood there and watched Alfie start to run. He and Seren raced down to the water and splashed around, and Blaze and Morgan looked on with satisfied smiles.

The twocuraidhlooked happy, too. As I looked, the little group huddled closer together, their arms brushing, smiling at each other. The Hoskins dragons might be bigger and dark-haired but they had the same expressions of love on their faces as everyone else. Okay, so maybe they were a bit like family after all.

I took a step towards Blaze, who was giggling at Alfie’s antics in the shallows of the water. Glenwise stepped close behind me, looming over me protectively. Blaze turned towards us, his eyes alight with laughter, and held out his hand to me. I took it, and suddenly we were part of their little group, all bumping shoulders and smiling at our elder and his cousin as they splashed each other. Even Glenwise’s scent gradually became calm and amused. I breathed it in and leaned back against him, knowing he would be there. He always was.

Chapter 14

Kingsley

Seren had come back from the beach at lunchtime, shining with joy and boundless energy. “Dane’s training Alfie this afternoon so I’ve got time to show you round,” he said to Glimmer. As he spoke, he leaned closer and wrapped his arm around Glimmer’s neck.

Glimmer let him. Their hands were all over each other.

Not in a sexual way, obviously. I knew that. They were cousins, for a start. And Glimmer wasmymate.

Even so, I could see straight away that he’d missed his cousin. Seren was a ball of energy and Glimmer looked more animated around him.

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