Page 39 of The Alliance

I was turning away when Glimmer grabbed me and pulled me close to him. It felt strange every time he did that, because he manhandled me so easily despite the fact he was shorter than me and slender, delicate and pretty. He crushed me against him and claimed my mouth hard, forcing his tongue between my lips.

I let him kiss me and, okay, that wasn’t exactly a hardship, but I knew if he did it for much longer,I’d change my mind about letting him go and I’d throw him over my shoulder and take him up to our guest bedroom.

With a final bite on his lip, I pulled away and saw with satisfaction that my mate’s lips were red and puffy. It annoyed me that they wouldn’t stay that way. I wanted him to walk around all afternoon, looking like he’d been thoroughly kissed by me.

“Go and enjoy yourself,” I said, and this time when I turned to walk away, he let me.

He did wolf whistle me as I went, and I heard him say, “My mate’s got such a fine ass.”

I grinned as I rounded the corner. Glimmer was ridiculous, but I admit I didn’t hate it when he admired my body.

I kept walking, trudging along the corridor and hearing Seren’s voice fading away as he took Glimmer off wherever they were going.

It wasn’t that I instantly regretted sending my mate and the comfort of his protection away from me, but I did gather my power closer. My senses became sharper as I focused on what was around me. I couldn’t even help it. It was instinct.

I had barely got used to being around so many dragons at the Somerville castle. Being at adifferent castle, with a whole load of different dragons, was testing me.

For so many years, I’d felt a dragon’s presence like a dark spot on the horizon. I’d been told they were evil. That the magic I could feel emanating from them was destructive. It was hard to undo a lifetime’s training in only a few weeks, but I was trying.

I was really trying.

Being around so many dragons, though, was making me tense and nervous, my instincts shriek.

I could sense them nearby. I’d started to get used to being around Glimmer’s family but at least I knew them.Heknew them, and had told me all about them.

He told me stories of how human they were. That his Aunt Isabella pretended she couldn’t understand English, even though she answered questions asked to her in English, only she answered in Italian. That Glenwise always complained when Glimmer needed him to help carry some dead bodies to the incinerator but he always did it and checked Glimmer over to make sure he wasn’t injured. That Rhod always walked round with a clipboard. That Silvia always smelled of paint.

I’d started to get used to those dragons. I’d started to feel their presence without feeling like an evil storm cloud was about to engulf me.

Here, though? There were too many unfamiliar dragons.

My instincts told me that I was under attack. I couldn’t convince myself that my instincts were wrong, either, since I knew – logically – that they saw me as aridire.

The Hoskins clan were wary of me. Their eyes followed me suspiciously. Every mated dragon stepped in front of their mate when I walked past, even if they didn’t realise they were doing it. It was sometimes just the slightest movement, but they were positioning themselves between me and their precious mate.

It made me feel… strange.

I’d spent my life being told that dragons didn’t feel love, and yet that’s what this was. Love. Those dragons wanted to protect the people they loved the most.

I couldn’t blame them for it. Admired them for it, actually.

Only I was constantly aware that they saw me as a threat. I was the enemy.

I walked the long corridor, not sure where to go next. I didn’t want to interrupt Glimmer’s time with his cousin. They hadn’t seen each other in so long, and Glimmer missed Seren more than anyone else. Theydeservedsome time together.

I kept walking.

I did it just to give myself something to do. If I didn’t stay in a room with any of the dragons, I couldn’t frighten them.

It was boring, though. I didn’t want to lay protections in someone else’s territory. The Hoskins elder hadn’t given us permission to do that and it seemed rude. But that meant I couldn’t be useful here. I had no purpose, other than to make sure I didn’t frighten people, and the best way to do that was to not be around them.

So I walked.

I was seriously considering going up to my room and… staying there, bored out of my mind. That’s when someone called my name.

“Kingsley?”

I stepped back a few paces and through the door I’d just passed. John Hoskins, the elder’s mate, was sitting in a large armchair by the fire.

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