Page 9 of Purple Protector

Birch hugged her, but he couldn’t look away from the dragon on the couch. “Who’s that?” he murmured.

Yarra patted his chest as she leaned away. “I had nothing to do with this.”

Birch groaned. “Seriously?”

“Birch!” Alayna exclaimed, sounding excited but also a bit guilty. She couldn’t look him in the eyes. She knew that he wouldn’t be happy with what she’d done.

He hugged her, dreading what was about to happen. Sure enough, she turned and gestured at the unknown dragon to come closer. “This is Charon,” she explained. “I thought the two of you would hit it off, so I asked them to come for dinner.”

Birch nodded at Charon, but he didn’t go anywhere near them. He didn’t have anything against them—he didn’t know them—but he wasn’t planning on changing that anytime soon.

His mothers always did this. He understood that they wanted him to be happy, but they kept pushing people his way, even though he’d been clear he didn’t want that. He didn’t need to be in a relationship to be happy. He had his friends and his work, his family, and that was enough for now.

He briefly thought of Aaron. He couldn’t help but wonder what his mothers would think of the human if he brought him home. Would they be happy for him, or would they have a problem with the fact that Aaron was human? He didn’t think they would, but he was tempted to ask Aaron to come for dinner just to check.

He wouldn’t do it. It would give his mothers too much ammunition.

“I’ll help in the kitchen,” he said with a tight smile. He strode toward the small room, knowing that both his mothers would follow. Sure enough, he’d barely stepped in and Alayna was on him.

“You could’ve been nicer.”

“Why did you invite them? You know I don’t want to date anyone right now.”

She looked away because she did know that. “I’m sorry. Your mother and I just want you to be happy.”

That was why Birch couldn’t really be angry. Considering everything the clan had gone through with Killian’s father, Birch couldn’t blame his mother for wanting that for him.

He sighed and pulled her into a hug. “I get it, but this isn’t the way to go about it. I don’t need you to play matchmaker.”

“How else are you going to find someone? You’re always working. You’re always stuck in Killian’s office, even during meals. Either that, or you’re in your rooms.”

He briefly thought about Aaron and how they’d met even though, as his mother said, he was always stuck in Killian’s office. He didn’t tell her about him. It would be better if he even stopped thinking about Aaron.

Aaron wasn’t for him. Charon wasn’t, either, but Birch supposed that he could withstand a dinner with them.

He sighed. “It’s the last time,” he warned both his mothers. “Next time I come for dinner and there’s a strange dragon in here, I’m turning around and leaving.”

Alayna spluttered, but Yarra’s expression was serious as she nodded. “I’ll make sure she doesn’t do it again,” she promised.

Birch could only grin at Alayna’s indignant squawk.

Chapter Three

DURING THEIR MEETING, Killian had authorized Aaron to talk to anyone who was willing to talk to him. If he wanted to ask questions, he could, as long as he was polite about it. The thought of going up to dragons he didn’t know was daunting, though. Where was he supposed to start?

He realized that dragons were like humans. He could probably go with hello and introduce himself. He’d never been that good at making friends, though, and he was a disaster in social situations. He always felt awkward and like he couldn’t quite find his place in groups that were already made up. And what was the clan, if not a massive group of friends?

Well, from looking around while eating his meals in the dining hall, he could see that not all dragons were friendly or knew each other. It wasn’t surprising considering the size of the clan, and it made him feel a little better, but not enough to feel good about talking to people out of the blue.

He glanced at the table he’d been keeping an eye on since he’d walked in and had noticed the people sitting there. Killian had mentioned that several humans had moved in with the clan recently, including his consort. Neither of the men at the table was Hedley, so in theory, Aaron could go up to them and talk to them. He wouldn’t dare do that with the king’s consort, but these guys seemed pretty normal.

“I can’t believe they let another one into the clan,” a voice close to Aaron drawled.

He blinked and turned toward the person who’d spoken. The dragon was glaring at him, which instantly created images of him being eaten in his mind. He told himself that whoever this dragon was, they wouldn’t do that in the middle of the dining hall with so many witnesses.

Right?

“Your brother does have a particular fondness for humans,” a second dragon said.

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