Page 24 of The Ruby Dragon Prince
I glanced back over my shoulder at my brothers. “I am a prince of my father’s realm. I need to stay here and protect my people.”
“We, er, we just overheard a nasty plot our father is hatching with Lord Groswick to make the lives of the farmers miserable and to turn them against each other,” Rumi explained respectfully.
“I have to stay behind and work with my brothers to foil this plot. At least for now,” I added.
Rufus huffed in frustration and rubbed a hand over his face. “I’ve come all this way?—”
He stopped, and his expression shifted, like he was remembering something someone else had once told him.
He huffed again, then said, “Fine. I have to have patience, I know. Others are working to solve this problem as well.”
I was curious about who those others were and how they might help us, but Rufus didn’t give me time to ask questions.
“I’ll return to my kinsmen and consult with them,” he said. “We can come up with a solution together. And then I’ll return for you and bring you home to my lair, where you belong.”
He nodded, and before I could say more or ask what his plan was, he scooped me into his arms and kissed me soundly.
The kiss was so encompassing and so perfect that by the time he put me down, I didn’t have the wherewithal to even remember that I had questions, let alone ask them.
“Until we meet again, keep yourself protected,” Rufus said.
Without further ado, he opened some sort of invisible door in the air, stepped through, and was gone.
I let out a heavy breath, blinking rapidly and wondering what had just happened.
“Your alpha doesn’t waste time, does he,” Leo teased me.
“I think I might need to teach him patience,” I sighed.
As mad as the moment was, I wanted to laugh. Rufus was a beautiful hothead. I was beginning to feel like he needed me to keep him out of trouble.
That would have to wait for later. In that moment, we had to rush back to Papa’s garden as quickly as possible to make it look like we’d stayed where we were put, like dutiful little omegas. We also needed to plan. The farmers of our kingdom needed us, and once they were safe, I would go to my alpha mate and stay with him forever.
Chapter
Seven
Rufus
The second I stepped through my hastily conjured door I thought better of my actions and almost turned back. Patience. I had to learn patience or I would end up in another dungeon cell while my sweet omega had all my magic.
The door was no longer there, of course. Not only did Tovey still have the lion’s share of my magic, whether he knew it or not, I’d overextended myself. Instead of lasting for an hour, as I was certain the door I’d opened in the broom closet had, the one I’d made in the hallway evaporated the instant I was through.
“Dammit!” I roared, startling one of the servants in my mother’s castle, where I’d returned. “Tovey!”
I wasn’t certain whether I was shouting his name as a way to call to him or as a curse. Omega mates were supposed to be sweet and biddable, or so I’d always believed. But even though Tovey had let me catch him and breed him in the forest, he was turning out to be a clever omega with a mind of his own.
If I was honest with myself, I loved that. I loved the idea of having a mate who would keep me on my toes and who was as strong as I was.
Not in that moment, however. The few touches, embraces, and kisses we had shared reminded me that our union had already been fruitful. Within a year, I would be a father and Tovey would be a papa. These things didn’t happen as straightforwardly with dragonkind as they did with humans, though. I needed to find my mate again and bring him back to my lair as soon as possible to complete the breeding, for his own comfort and my peace of mind.
There were things to do first. I glanced around to get my bearings in the castle, and as soon as I figured out where I was, I turned and stormed off toward the family portion of the castle, intent on locating any of my kinsmen as I could. As much as it grated on me, I would need their help if I was ever going to convince Tovey to leave his brothers and take his fated place by my side.
I was lucky to find Emmerich and our eldest brother, Argus, enjoying a light repast together in one of the smaller dining alcoves that looked out over the castle’s enchanted rose garden. Our cousin, Diamant, was there as well, which made me happy. If any of my kinsmen were as hotheaded and prone to action as me, it was Diamant, even if, as a diamond, Diamant preferred pleasure and leisure to fighting.
“Rufus. Have you decided to join the servants, then?” Diament teased me as I walked into the room.
I glanced down at the drab servants’ clothing I still wore, grunted, and without much thought, transformed the clothing into a more suitably noble shirt and breeches with a red waistcoat.
