Page 34 of Sanctuary with a Dragon
He wasn’t all black. Toward the tips of his scales was a deep purple. His eyes were huge and a deep-green with gold tints in them. He had spikes along his spine. His huge wings, which were curled up beneath him, were mostly black with deep-purple at the outer edges. In short, he looked like the Dragon King. He was nobility personified.
I gaped at him. “You’re... beautiful.”
He thrummed in pleasure. “Thank you, dear one. You’re beautiful as well.”
I ducked my head shyly. I couldn’t remember the last time someone had called me beautiful. It had probably been my Gran who had told me that last, and that had been many years ago.
“Thank you,” I said quietly.
“Come, cuddle up beside me. Let us rest together.” His nose twitched. “Unless you have another question for me?”
I couldn’t look at him as I asked. I just skated my open palm against the grass, letting it tickle my hand. “Are you sure I’m your and Alaric’s mate?” I whispered.
Elandor lowered his head so that it was level with my body. His gaze was intent and kind. “I am sure.” He sighed and the hot air gusted all around me, smelling like a campfire. “I know it’s difficult. You are not a shifter, not truly. You don’t have our instincts. It must seem like a very foreign concept to you.”
I made a face.
“It’s not?” he asked.
I shrugged. “Humans have... books and movies. Some of them paranormal. It’s not an unheard of concept among humans. I’ve personally read many paranormal romance books. I inherited them from my Gran. She used to read them voraciously.” I tilted my head up. “She’s known about your world for a long time, but she never told me. Not until the night before I changed.”
He thrummed in thought. “So, you’re saying that it’s not too terrible a concept for you?”
I shrugged. “Not too terrible,” I agreed. In fact, kind of nice... I wasn’t sure how I felt about the concept of having a mate yet. It was too new. But with time... Love didn’t seem impossible. Alaric seemed like a good person.
“Elandor, can you explain the bond between you and Alaric?”
He thrummed in thought for a minute. “The best way to explain it is that we share a link. While I can think and feel independently, most often we think and feel as one.”
I pulled a few wildflowers and twisted them together to make a crown. I understood what he was saying, I think, but I was still confused about one concept. “Your and Alaric’s feelings for me, are they independent of each other?”
“No... and yes.” He laughed at the confused frown I shot at him. “Our feelings mostly align with one another’s. To such an extent that we often can’t tell where one of us begins and the other ends. We, over the long years that we have been alive, have truly become one. But, Alaric still has fears and thoughts and desires that are his own, just as I have my own. At times, it makes it difficult to understand, even between us. For example, I often want raw meat, but Alaric doesn’t like raw meat, and yet...” He smirked.
“Alaric craves raw meat sometimes.” I finished for him.
He nodded, chuffing. “But he can’t eat it, therefore I can’t eat it, because we are one.”
“But you’re not right now?”
Elandor looked thoughtful. “No, and I imagine Alaric is probably very worried right now. You yanked me out of him, separating us to bring me here.”
I winced, feeling awful for the worry I was causing Alaric.“I didn’t mean to,” I said quietly. “I’m sorry.”
He thrummed peace to me again. “He will survive. I have enjoyed meeting you.” He looked like he wanted to say something more, but chose not to.
“Sooo, let me see if I’m understanding this correctly.”I felt terrible that I had stolen Elandor from Alaric, but he was here now, and Ihadwanted the chance to talk with him. I didn’t want to pass up this opportunity. Besides, I needed clarification for something.
“If Alaric and I get together, and I’m holding his hand?—“
“It will feel like you’re holding my hand,” he said gently.
I sat back, stunned. Iknewthat was how it worked, and yet... Fantasy and reality were different most of the time. Weren’t they?
“Does that mean, that every shifter relationship is between three people?” I wondered aloud.
He thrummed in thought. “Often four. Shifters tend to have other shifters as their mate. But you have to remember, even though we can be independent of each other, we are most often one with one another. So, in one sense, yes, it might seem a little crowded in the relationship. But in another,” he shrugged, “it’s not crowded at all. I would just explain it as dual beings that are completely aligned in thought and feeling.”
“That makes your feelings very strong, I think,” I murmured thoughtfully.
