Page 9 of The Dragon's Stormwoven Bond

“He’s just going to have to accept it,” Valen said.

Relief settled in. If he said anything respecting my father’s opinion on the matter, I’d have cried, only proving the point that I was too young for him. As it was, I was on the verge of tears.

“You’re my mate, Pep. Mine. Our age difference is vast, but it’s not unheard of.”

The very idea of going with Valen to my parents’ house and letting them know who he was to me turned my stomach. I shook my head. There was no way around it, but I wished that we’d had more time together before discovering this truth. Our bond was so new, and as much as I believed his words, when the time came, my father could be very forceful when he wanted to be.

“He’s not going to take it well.” How could he? I was his baby.

“I know that, but he will have to accept it. Do you want me to cancel the dinner? The minute he sees me, he’s going to know.”

Attempting to hide wasn’t the solution, but it sure was tempting.

“You could hide your scent.”

He raised a brow. “Hide my scent? You want me to lie to my friend?”

“You’re not lying. He’s not going to ask if you’re mated, and we just simply won’t say anything.” I hated every single word coming from my lips. “I didn’t plan on being at the dinner anyway.”

I often bowed out when he had friends over. They were always nice enough, but hanging out with your friend’s family changes the dynamic and it always felt more polite not to.

“You weren’t going to meet one of your dad’s oldest friends?”

I bit my lip. “Mom said that you fuck anything that walks.”

Crap. Did I really say that out loud? What was wrong with me.

Valen scoffed, but I could see the hurt on his face. How could he not be. Having someone saying bad things about you to your mate had to sting, even if they didn’t know it was your mate at the time.

“She didn’t mean it like that. She was just exaggerating.” I hoped. “My dad didn’t really say much. He just let us know that we didn’t have to be there.”

“Great. This is what my friend truly thinks of me?” He let out a long sigh. “He didn’t even want his sons to meet me.”

“You said it yourself that you were a bit of a slut.” I just kept on digging. “And I don’t think it was him not wanting us to meet you so much as thinking we might not have anything in common?”

“I’m a mated dragon now. You know that means that you’re the only one for me, right?”

I sat down next to Valen and held his hand. “I do know that. And I do think my father will accept this eventually. It’ll just take him a bit to adjust. Should we wait a few days? Does it have to be today? This is so new, and I want to enjoy our mating without his reaction hanging over our head.”

The logic was flawed. Of course it was going to hang over me now more than if I ripped it off like a band-aid, but I wasn’t ready. I couldn’t risk my father saying harsh things to my mate, not when I’d only just found him.

Valen nodded. “I agree. Let’s just get through today and then we can decide, okay? How exactly is this scent blocking going to work? I’ve never heard of such a thing.”

“I have an identical twin. The only way our parents have ever been able to tell us apart is through scent. We bought a scent-blocking tea years ago from a clan of witches. It’s not technically within the lines of the law…” Oh, the trouble my brother and I would’ve gotten into if we’d been caught.

Valen’s face split into a grin. “Now I’m kind of curious if I would be able to tell you apart. Either way, make me the tea.”

Chapter 6

Valen

I didn’t intend to hide my relationship with Pep from Eryx. He was not only a long-time friend but had been a trusted part of my life for so long. But it wasn’t only up for me to decide, and when it came to his family, I planned to let Pep lead the way.

Reluctantly, I agreed to the scent blocking because this was all happening fast. If my mate needed more time to think and work up the nerve to talk to his parents about it, I would support that. It wasn’t a long-term solution. Heck, it wasn’t a solution at all. It was a delay tactic at best.

I drank my scent-blocking tea, my beast not pleased. He longed for me to announce to the world that Pep was mine. He pushed for me to fly through the air and use our fire to write it in the air for all to see. My beast was ridiculous, but also… I kind of wanted that too.

Eventually, there was no more delaying it. It was time to leave. I gave my mate a long kiss goodbye, before heading toward his home… only when I got there, it wasn’t going to be my mate’s home, it was going to be my long-time friend’s home. I needed to bear that in mind so I didn’t make things more difficult for Pep than they already were.

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