Page 80 of Visions of You
"I want to apologize for what I said last time," she began, surprising Jaron. "I was agitated and worried."
He bit back a retort, recognizing this as an olive branch. For the sake of peace and his mission, he nodded. "I appreciate that."
A soft smile touched her lips, one that almost transported him back to his childhood when he'd still believed his parents loved him. But he quickly pushed the illusion aside.
His mother turned her gaze out the window, the sunlight catching in the rubies she wore around her neck. "People used to tell me I was blessed for having so many children," she said quietly. "It's highly unusual for a dragon couple to have more than one or two at most, yet I bore three sons."
Her focus returned to Jaron, and he could see the weariness in her eyes. "They don't understand how difficult it is to raise so many children." She paused before continuing. "I let you get away with too much because I was focused on your little brothers."
Jaron's jaw tightened. "You let me get away with things because I wasn't important enough to be watched closely. By the time I entered kindergarten and still couldn't breathe fire, I was an embarrassment to you and the rest of the family."
His mother grew quiet, her eyes searching his face for something she seemed unable to find. Finally, she sighed, a heavy sound. "You're right," she said softly. "You weren't what we expected."
Jaron's heart pounded in his chest, a mix of anger and a flicker of hope that maybe, just maybe, she'd acknowledge her arrogance for once.
"In a way," she said, "I always thought the fault lay with myself. Even now, I look at you and I wonder what I could have done differently. Should I have eaten more meat when I was pregnant? Should I have taken better care of my body? Would you have developed your powers if I'd been more attentive when you were a toddler? Are you rebelling because your father and I weren't strict enough?" She shook her head. "I struggle to be fair to you because I see your failings as my own."
The words stung. His mother had never been this honest with him, but the truth wasn't comforting. Jaron wasn't happy to hear that his lack of talent made his mother so miserable that she'd never managed to be a good parent to him.
He stared at her with a raw ache in his chest. The admission felt like a double-edged sword; it explained so much but healed nothing. "That doesn't make it better."
"No, I suppose not." Her gaze flicked away again, looking out over the yard. "In any case, you are not making things better, meeting with all those vampires."
"It's only one vampire."
"Be that as it may," she looked back at him, "you know that reputable dragons don't mix with the likes of vampires. If this is another act of rebellion, what will it take for you to stop?"
Jaron took a deep breath, bracing himself. "I'm not rebelling, Mother. Keegan is my mate."
His mother's eyes narrowed. "Fated mates are the stuff of fairy tales, Jaron. You're too old to believe in such nonsense."
"I know what I feel," Jaron countered firmly. He'd known his mother wouldn't like this news and part of him enjoyed breaking it to her. "I trust my inner dragon on this."
She licked her lips before pointing out, "You've never been very in tune with your dragon."
Jaron's jaw tightened. That was a low blow. After the conversation they'd just had, he'd expected better, but his mother was too set in her ways. Things would always be like this between them. "On this matter, I am in tune with my dragon. If you'd ever found your fated mate, you'd understand."
"If there truly was a fated mate out there for you, he would not be a vampire," she declared. "You're better than that."
Jaron smiled wryly. "I'm not better than Keegan. If you met him you'd see that too. He's powerful in all the ways that I'm not." Maybe that was the way the universe balanced itself out.
"There is no way any child of mine is bound to a vampire," his mother insisted. "You are taking things too far."
"I've already completed the mate bond," Jaron said with some pleasure. "There's no going back now. You need to accept reality."
The color drained from his mother's face. "You did what?"
Jaron held her gaze, refusing to back down. "Keegan and I are bonded for life."
Not the most diplomatic thing he could have said, but he didn't care about being diplomatic just then, he only wanted to see her explode.
His mother's face twisted. "How could you be so reckless?"
"It's not reckless, Mother. It's love. I know that's a foreign concept to you."
"Wait until your father hears about this!"
"Oh? What's he going to do? Disown me? What will the neighbors say about that?"
