Page 46 of Sanctuary with a Dragon
A man with caramel skin and warm brown eyes smiled at me. His posture was easy but watchful. “Sorry in advance for Taco. He’s our pet clown. I’m Mateo. Sorry we woke you.”
I ran a hand through my snarled hair and cleared my throat. “No problem. I think I’d already been sleeping for a while. I probably needed to get up anyway.”
Taco plopped into a chair across from me, but Mateo stayed exactly where he was—just inside the massive front door of the lodge.
“Taco,” Mateo warned in a growl.
Taco waved him off. “I’m just going to get to know her. Alpha wouldn’t let us visit yesterday.”
“For good reason, dolt.”
I smiled, already loving the easy banter between them. Was this what it felt like to be part of a clan—or a pack? Warmth curled in my chest at the thought. It felt like a pretty good deal to me, having a built in family.
Alaric entered the living room from the kitchen. He smiled when he saw I was awake, then frowned when he spotted Taco sitting across from me. Mateo chuckleddarkly, muttering under his breath, “I tried to warn him.”
Both shifters lowered their heads when Alaric walked into the room, just as Alpha Riggs had done when he’d met Alaric yesterday. I knew it was a respect thing for their king, but shifters seemed to take it a step further than humans. Their heads stayed bowed until Alaric released them. Then Taco’s head shot up, his shoulders easing, and he was back to looking like a friendly, gray-eyed golden retriever, all smiles and mischief. If he had a tail, it would have been wagging.
I scrunched my nose at Alaric’s scowl. “He’s just being friendly. Stop being a grump.” I patted the spot beside me on the couch. He moved to accept the invitation, then gently drew me against his side and held my hand. Warmth radiated from him, and the faint scent of the campfire scent he gave off tickled my nose.
We seemed to be in sync, and I wasn’t sure how, since we’d only known each other a few weeks.
Alaric stared at Taco as power unfurled in the room again, rolling outward from him like molten heat. It pressed into my bones, coursing through me, and the air thickened with warmth. Every muscle and nerve ending seemed alive with the weight of it, and I shifted slightly, a shiver running through me as the presence settled over the room.
Why does it feel like this this time?
Ah,Elandor replied, his voice echoing gently in mythoughts.I have been respectful of those around us thus far, but this cub in particular needed a demonstration.
Alaric’s presence pressed against me, steady and grounding, like an anchor in the molten heat of his and Elandor’s power. I could feel his pulse through his hand, the warmth of his side against mine, and it steadied me.
I pursed my lips in thought as I noticed the two bear shifters had bowed their heads again, their eyes wide in shock. Taco was practically vibrating. I didn’t think it was from fear, which would be logical, but excitement.
Was heinsane?I wasn’t terrified out of my mind because IknewElandor and Alaric, but if I were just some random person and encountered powerthisoverwhelming... Let’s just say I would be shaking for a whole different reason.
A few moments ticked past, and they still hadn’t raised their heads. Mateo’s head wasn’t bowed as deeply as Taco’s, and I wondered if that meant he had more overall power than Taco, or if Alaric and Elandor were just bringing more power to bear on Taco.
Are you ever going to release them?I asked, growing fidgety.
I don’t think the pup is properly cowed yet,Elandor said,his tone sounding both calm and reasonable.So, no. Not yet.
Elandor!I growled.
He chuckled and he and Alaric immediately reignedin their power once again so it wasn’t filling every crevice of space in the lodge. The heat left my bones, and the heavy tingle in the air diminished.
Taco and Mateo both slumped in relief. Their heads came up and they looked at Alaric with expressions of awe and respect. It was shifter culture, I’d learned, to respect those who had more power than you. Because in shifter culture, the more powerful took care of the less powerful. They didn’t abuse it.
Why didn’t the power affect me as much as it did with Taco and Mateo?I asked Elandor.
You’re our mate. Our power would never make you submit to us. You are our equal.
I snorted in disbelief. Yeah, I was going withnoon that one. I was ordinary, not powerful at all.
Have you forgotten your powers over the dreamspace?
I slumped against Alaric, kneading the ache in my wrists and hands as I thought that over. Alaric immediately took over for me, gently kneading the muscles in both of my hands and wrists with gentle strokes. He invited Mateo to sit across from him, and started quietly talking with both he and Taco. As he did, I started to get a sense of the kind of king Alaric would be.
Alaric was interested in the individual. In who they were, in their thoughts and opinions. In their lives.
He genuinely cared about them.
