Page 57 of Under the Dragon's Spell
He nodded, but his face fell.
"What's wrong?"
"I'm not sure that I want big. It's just… this is cozy. It seems perfect for a small family. I don't want to live in a house that's so big I can go all day without seeing you or the kids."
"Oh, that's not going to happen. You're going to see a lot of me." I leaned in to kiss him. He was so cute with his nesting instincts and if this was what he wanted… "I can buy this for you."Anything you want. Just get through this pregnancy okay.
His eyes lit up and my heart pounded almost painfully in my chest.
By the Gods, I needed him to be okay.
So after I got him settled inside, I went to see my mother.
The manor was a good distance away from the house I'd just decided to buy, but I liked it that way, and with my wings, I could still make the trip in a short amount of time. I landed in front of the gates and strode inside without ringing the door. I had a key, after all.
Paul met me at the front door.
"Your mother is awaiting you inside," he told me with an expression that was almost sympathetic, as if I was still a little boy about to be scolded, but those days were over. I wasn't surprised that my mother had known I was coming. The lady had her eyes everywhere.
As per usual, I found her in her favorite sitting room—this manor had three for differing occasions.
"Tyrel," she greeted me. "How nice of you to pay your old mother a visit."
"Don't start like that. You know well why I sent you back home alone."
She raised her chin up high. "I know not what you think of me, son. I only urged you to make a better decision. It's what every parent wants for their child."
"Then you will understand that I want my child to live."
She narrowed her eyes at me. "Please, Tyrel. That's more than a child. That's a contract binding you to that human. He's not going to be any different than your father."
"I don't know what you mean by that."
She looked out the window, then back at me, as if she wasn't sure how much to tell me. With a sigh, she started to speak. "Not everything you've heard about fated mates was a fairy tale."
"Are you saying they exist?"
"I'm saying there's a good reason people nowadays pretend they don't."
"And what would that be?"
"If you truly want to know, why don't you go ask your father?" Mother shook his head. "He's the one who figured it out. He and his endless research…"
"You know I'm never going to talk to him. Not after the way he left you—left us."
"Perhaps that's for the better, but I'm not going to tell you."
"You simply don't want me to know. Why?"
She looked at her tea, ignoring me as if I wasn't in the room. She did this every time she didn't want to answer one of my questions. But I truly wasn't a little boy anymore, and she wasn't going to get away with it.
"Mother…" My voice was threateningly low.
Her eyes snapped back to me. "What is it that you want, Tyrel? Can you not see that I'm trying to protect you?"
"There's clearly something you can't see, and that is that if you touch my mate, or my children, I'm going to spend the rest of my life making you regret that decision."
"Are you threatening me?"
