Page 10 of Consorting with Dragons

Whenever my dragon disobeyed, or got into a fight with another male, or did anything I thought made him look less than perfect—which he very nearly was, in my eyes—I felt the same way. As if he were a reflection or an extension of me. I knew from the first time I saw my dragon that he was a spoiled little beauty, who was far too handsome for his own good. He’d need correction and my close, personal attention for the rest of his life. This boy was the same.

I remember a lot of yelling when the Lycan officials took him away from me. It took several of them to hold me back. They finally got through to me by holding onto me and speaking softly and reasonably to me in Lycan. As Lycan males, they were familiar with this kind of behavior, I suppose, and because I was a high-ranking officer on Horvath, they didn’t arrest me like they would have someone else. One of them realized what was happening, and he asked me if this was my mate. I saidyeswith great confidence. He told me over and over again that I was experiencing a mating frenzy, and that I’d hurt the boy if I kept this up.

Hurting him was the last thing I wanted to do. It was totally unacceptable, so I began to fight the urges instead of the officials. I was able to calm down now that he was away from me, and I was no longer touching him. At least enough to let him go and allow the Lycans to take him away after assuring me they would take him to my ship and put the rest of his crew under arrest for the theft.

I managed to get myself under control again while that was going on, and eventually I took my men with me and headed toward my ship. I was met there by a Lycan official, who told me it would be for the best if I left the planet with the boy.

“I put him in the cargo bay, in one of those detention cells you have there. We have decided it’s better not to arrest his entire crew and told that group of men to leave our planet immediately and go home. There was a little trouble with them not wanting to leave the boy, but I told them you were taking him into custody and were leaving to go back to Horvath. They keep yelling at us about his father and his grandfather being kings, but we can’t fully understand them and none of them speak Lycan. We’re just sending them all back home.”

“Good. We’ll be leaving in a few minutes too. I apologize for my behavior,” I said, and we bowed formally to each other.

“It’s nothing we haven’t seen before, General. This mating bond can be the devil. But talk to him once the frenzy passes. He needs to understand what’s happening, because you’re no doubt frightening him.”

“Of course. I will, and I’ll contact his parents right away about a mating contract.”

“Good idea. The sooner, the better. I’ll send you the details we have for him. It seems he is Prince Rylan of Moravia, but I have no idea why he was involved in this theft.”

“I’ll find out. This vetami egg is nearer to hatching than was first reported to us, so I have to get it back home right away. I’ll try to talk to his parents on the way or shortly after we arrive. If any inquiries are made, we’ll be going directly to Horvath.”

“His crew threatened to go to Lycan Command to stop you, but if you leave within the next few minutes, I can tell them that I was too late to interfere with your takeoff. You need to leave, though.”

“Thank you,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “I’ll tell the bridge to prepare for it.”

The official nodded and hurried off the ship as I made the call to the bridge.

I sat in my chair for a few moments and rubbed my hand over my face as I realized I had just acquired a mate, whether I needed one or not. And now I had to figure out what to do with him.

It would take us a full day or so to get home, since we wouldn’t be traveling atthe highest possible spacecraft speed.The technology existed with us, of course, but it was far too expensive to use for short trips like this one and completely unnecessary for them besides. Anyway, I had a small span of time to figure things out and calm things down before we arrived back on Horvath.

First things first, I had to complete the paperwork on the arrest and write a report on what happened to send to the queen. Maybe that would give me time to calm down.

I gathered my thoughts and then began to dictate an account of the incident into my communicator. I wanted badly to put this off and go see the boy, but I needed to make sure I was in the right frame of mind first.

I wondered if he would talk to me. I’d frightened him pretty badly, and I knew he was upset, even if he’d probably never admit it. I wanted to reassure him that he was fine and that no one would harm him. The trouble was that I was fairly sure he wouldn’t listen to a word I had to say. After all, I’d acted like a madman from the first moment he’d seen me. It was that damn mating bond that made animals of us all.

But I had to try. I didn’t like to think about him below decks, being scared and all alone. He wasn’t in any kind of jail cell or detention room, though he must have thought he was. The Lycan official was wrong about that. It was merely a kind of sleeping quarters on that level of the ship for anyone who needed to remain on duty down there overnight. There were two racks in the room, along with a small table and chairs. It was comfortable, if a little plain.

I’d need to talk to him about a mating ceremony right away, if he had any family that would care about his reputation. If he really was a prince, and I had no reason to doubt it, then I was sure they’d insist on a wedding. That was fine with me. Once we found our bond mate, we had to secure them, no matter what, and whether or not we even wanted a marriage. I definitely didn’t, but I knew I didn’t have any choice. It would drive me mad if I had to leave him or stay away from him for any length of time. It was only one of the many things that made this stupid mate bond so complicated. I’d try to negotiate a contract for him, but if his father refused my offer, I’d simply take him anyway and fight anyone who tried to take him away from me again.

This thing was reciprocal after a short time, so he would be just as miserable if his family decided to be stubborn about it. After a few months or maybe a year or so, I could probably let him go if he still wanted to leave and only visit him occasionally. Maybe. We could both go back to our own lives as before. That would be the best-case scenario anyway. Seeing as how I spentvery little time at home, it would be for better for him anyway, if he went back to his own life when I was on duty. So long as he didn’t have any males around him except for his relatives, I should be all right with it. Others who had been cursed with this mating bond had managed to work something out. Surely, I could too.

I glanced at the time on my communicator and was surprised to see how late it was. It had taken me over an hour to finish the report and gather my thoughts. We were by this time well out of Lycan airspace and into open space. I took a deep breath and stood up. I may as well get this thing over with and go down to try and explain to him what had happened. I dreaded the coming interview with every fiber of my being.

Chapter Four

When I used the keypad to open the door, I found the pretty young man sitting with my cape still wrapped around him on one of the racks. He snarled at me as I came in the room, so I stayed near the door, leaning back against it.

“I’m not here to fight you.”

“Well, that will make a nice change,” he said, lifting his stubborn little chin and glaring at me. His extraordinary eyes flashed at me, and the tiny room was filled with his scent. I tried to remember to breathe through my mouth.

“Can you tell me your name?”

“I’m Prince Rylan of Morovia, and you’ve seriously fucked up by kidnapping me like this. And those Lycans have too! My father is a king, you know. He’ll gut you like a fish for taking me like this.”

Did I believe him? Not really, no. Not that I didn’t believe the “gutting” part. From what I knew of kings, I could well believe that. I had no doubt he’d try, if such a person existed. But considering how volatile—and young—he was, what was a king doing by letting him run around stealing dragon eggs anyway? It seemed farfetched to say the least.

“Well, I’m suitably terrified, ‘Prince,’” I replied. “Do you have any way of verifying any of this?”

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