Page 5 of The Sapphire Dragon Prince
“But that doesn’t mean he isn’t valiant and capable of great things,” Selle defended him, going to stand by Gildur. “Misha might be gentle, but he’s strong.”
“He is,” Leo agreed. He and Diamant moved closer, as did Tovey and Rufus, Selle and Gildur, until they all stood near the breakfast table. “He’s endured everything the rest of us have from Father over the years and he’s faced it with quiet grace.”
“And yet, now, even here in the magical kingdom, amidst the safety of our castle, he is tormented with nightmares and unable—” I stopped before I said too much. Some things were too intimate to share, even with family.
Because the fact of the matter was that Misha should have gone into heat shortly after the two of us met. It was the way of things with dragons and their fated mates. The bonds that formed in the magical world, particularly with dragonkind, were so potent that they caused omegas to rush into heat as soon as they acknowledged their fated mate.
Misha and I had known we were destined for each other from the moment we met. I’d already suspected, based on the lore of our world, that I would be fated for one of the brothers of the omegas my brothers were fated for. Fated mates within family groups were incredibly common, especially when major events of more than one world drew the alpha and omega pairs together.
Misha’s brothers had all gone into heat shortly after meeting my brothers. Misha should have done the same, but for some reason he hadn’t. There was a great deal of affection between us, yes. My body reacted in all the expected ways to Misha’s beauty and his sweet pea and sugar scent. I wanted him like I’d never wanted another omega before.
But that was as far as things had gone. We’d even kissed a few times, but Misha had not gone into heat. No bond had yet begun to form. And I could do nothing to ease the terror of the nightmares that had Misha in their grip.
And I could already feel my magic draining for lack of a bond with my mate.
“Often, even the strongest among us can reach a point where the horrors and trials they’ve experienced become too much,” Gildur said, unaware of my deeper worries, slipping his arm around Selle’s waist and smiling sadly at him. “Prince Misha has been enduring a great deal for a very long time. It may simply be that it has become too much for him.”
“Clearly it’s become too much,” Leo said, as frustrated as I was. “But what can we do about it?”
Leo looked to me for an answer. They all did.
I blew out a breath and rubbed a hand over my face. “I’ve tried showering Misha with love and attention,” I said. “I believe it helps a little, but it isn’t enough.”
“Maybe he needs to see that we all love him and want him to be happy?” Tovey asked.
“Can’t he see that every day in the way you interact with him?” Rufus asked with a confused look.
“It might take something more,” Tovey speculated.
I tried taking another bite of my pastry, but it still didn’t sit right. It wasn’t as if I needed my magic at full strength in order to digest food, but the drain I was feeling threw everything off. I needed to bond with my mate to feel right again, but bonds couldn’t be forced.
“We need to show him,” I said, scrambling for the only thing I could think of that would make my mate feel well and whole again so that we could bond. I tossed the pastry onto an empty plate. “We need to celebrate all the wonderful things about him and really make him see that we love him and think he’s amazing and strong.”
“How?” Diamant asked, arching one eyebrow at me.
Damned if I knew.
I glanced across the laden breakfast table, and an idea came to me.
“We could turn this breakfast feast into some sort of celebration for him,” I said, moving around the table to see what we had to work with. “We could cheer him up with songs and drink to his good health with the tea I know he likes.”
“Like a birthday party, even though it is not his birthday?” Emmerich asked.
“Yes, something like that,” I went on, reaching for a plate and piling it with some of the pastries I knew were Misha’s favorite. “We’ll sing to him and let him know he’s loved.” And with anyluck, my beautiful mate would feel that love in his soul and it would restore him. With any luck, he would go into heat and we could bond.
“It could work,” Leo said with a small shrug. “Why don’t you go into the garden to fetch him and we’ll set everything up here.”
I nodded. “He has to know that he’s loved if we celebrate him like this.”
Even though I’d said those words, something deep within me wasn’t certain my sweet mate would understand what we were trying to do for him. I’d never seen anyone so sad or so traumatized before, and I wasn’t certain that an impromptu party would make everything better.
Those feelings grew even stronger when I found Misha sitting by the edge of one of the fountain pools in the water garden.
“There you are, love,” I said slowing my steps so I didn’t startle him as I approached.
Misha jumped anyhow and twisted into a defensive position before seeing it was me and relaxing. “Azurus,” he said.
For half a moment, a smile appeared on his face. Then he sighed heavily and glanced back at his reflection in the water.
