Page 5 of The Gold Dragon Prince
“Yes, but there’s no need to worry your pretty head about all that,” Gildur smiled.
I narrowed my eyes and stepped away from him as the dance ended. He looked confused.
“Do you know,” I said, “I think Iwillworry my head over it. I think I’d rather worry my head than spend time dancing with an alpha who thinks he’s better than everyone else.”
“I didn’t say?—”
“I think I’ll find my friends so we can continue our exciting conversation about missing ogres,” I said, then bowed to him. “Good day, Prince Gildur.”
“But I wasn’t finished?—”
I turned away from him and headed to the edge of the pavilion, where my friends were watching with looks of awe. A clever smile touched my lips. I liked Gildur. I liked him a lot. But I wasn’t the sort to fall all over myself to give an arrogant alpha what he wanted, even if he was my fated mate. If Prince Gildur wanted to woo and win me, he was more than welcome to try.
Chapter
Two
Gildur
Putting the work I did for Mother above my own wants and desires had never been a problem. Especially when something as potentially volatile as a rebellion among some of her subjects was in the air. I’d always relished my unique position as one of Mother’s most subtle and trusted operatives, quietly finding a place for myself in the inner circle of those who sought to undermine her gentle rule and exposing their treachery for what it was.
I was brilliant at what I did, and I rarely made a misstep. I was Mother’s golden boy.
That all changed the night I met Selle, my fated mate.
I sat at my usual table in the castle’s vast library, a dozen books arranged in front of me. I’d been researching the various capabilities and limitations of whisper sorceryfor my most recent mission. I’d just about figured out my plan of attack, how I intended to quell the potential rebellion from one of Mother’s craftier subjects who had dreams of supplanting her. I’d almost figured out how the man who was helping her had slipped from the cruel world into the magical world as well.
But instead of compiling my notes and drafting a plan of action, I found myself staring out the massive picture window and down the hill to the dancing pavilion. The pavilion looked entirely different in daylight than it had the other night, when I’d made my first visit there in ages only to clap eyes on the omega I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt I’d spend the rest of my life with.
Prince Selle. He was beautiful, he was clever, and he was spirited. He was everything. A month ago, I’d teased Rufus mercilessly about finding his fated mate and falling for him with lightning speed, then behaving in typical ruby fashion by rushing to claim what was his. I wasn’t laughing at my brother now, though.
I needed to claim my omega mate as fast as possible. That single-minded thought filled my mind more than ways to counteract whisper magic or how many accidental doors between worlds were known to have been created. All I could think about was the way I’d blown my first chance with Selle by doing what gold dragons had done from the beginning of time and assuming everyone wanted me and would do anything to have me.
I knew Selle wanted me. Even now, when he was back in his cruel world and I was buried in research at the castle in the magical world, I could feel the gossamer threads of our bond. Fated mates began the bonding process from first touch, and although what I shared with Sellewas spidersilk-thin at the moment, it was as if Selle already had me caught in his web.
“I don’t believe I’ve ever seen you look this dreamy before,” my brother Diamant chuckled, startling me out of my thoughts, as he strode into the library.
“I’m not dreamy,” I lied, closing the book in front of me with my pen between the pages to mark my place. “I’m…I’m thinking about the latest mission Mother has sent me on.”
Diamant laughed like he didn’t believe me and helped himself to a seat at the table where I worked. “A likely story,” he said, shaking his head.
“And just why would I be telling stories?” I asked, leaning back and pretending utter casualness.
Diamant grinned, his teeth dragon-like, even though he was fully in his human form. Some things couldn’t be completely concealed, no matter how benign our human forms were. “Azurus tells me you met your fated mate at the ball the other night,” he said, eyes glinting with humor.
“What if I did?” I asked, shrugging one shoulder.
Diamant laughed. “You can’t fool me, brother,” he said. “You’ve been waiting centuries for your fated mate. I know you. Your heart has wanted nothing more than to find him at last and make a family with him.”
“Isn’t that what all dragonkind wants?” I asked, playing down my desires. “You want the same thing.”
“Yes, I do,” Diamant said. “And as soon as the time is right, I plan to claim my fated mate, whether he’s ready for me or not.”
I couldn’t help but grin. Dragons were voracious when it came to claiming what we wanted. Rufus had almost been brutal with his mate, but as the mate of a ruby, Tovey had apparently welcomed it.
Selle didn’t seem like the sort who would like to be forcibly claimed, even if the forcing bit was an illusion. It struck me that Selle would want to be wooed. He needed to be charmed and seduced and almost tricked into giving in to his dragon mate nature.
Those were perfect personality traits for the mate of a gold. Gold was all about seduction and wooing.
