Page 49 of Sanctuary with a Dragon
“It’s probably because you became a shifter in youradult years. I can make you something else to eat,” Roarke offered, moving to the edge of the couch as if to get up. “Or I can get something delivered from one of my restaurants for you? Anything you want.”
“Ooooh, take that offer, Everly. The food at his restaurants is divine!” Emrie said in sweet appreciation of her mate’s restaurants. She pulled out her phone, frowned at the dead screen, then stole her mate’s phone from his pocket and looked up at me, waiting for me to give her the go-ahead to dial.
Instead, I sat down again, feeling suddenly awkward to be the main focus of the room.
“Uhh, I think…” I stammered, but Alaric saved me from what I’m sure would have been an embarrassing fumble of words by leaning in and kissing my forehead.
“I’ll go get you something,” he whispered. As he rose and left, he shot a hard glance toward Alpha Riggs and Roarke—one I thought meantstay away from my mate until I get back—but Elandor corrected my misconception, telling me it actually meant:Protect my mate with your life, or I will end yours.
Dragon shifters were really intense.
I could see that same intensity in Roarke, and I, not at all scientifically, concluded that it must be a universal dragon-shifter trait.
After Alaric left, the room grew quiet again. I fiddled with the hem of my shirt, trying desperately to come up with a topic of conversation that wasn’t Everly-themed. “So, Emrie, you fix thingsfor a living? I saw you’re working on King Draven and Consort Mia’s library. I peeked inside, and it looks like it’s coming along really nicely.”
Emrie lit up and nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, I do. I normally make things in my shop attached to our house, but I had to take a break from that to focus full-time on the library.”
“It’s massive. I don’t know how you’re doing all of that yourself.”
She shook her head. “Oh, I don’t. I have a few people I’ve hired to work with me. I couldn’t have gotten that massive chandelier up by myself,” she said with a laugh.
Yeah, probably not. That thing had been huge.
“And you, Roarke. How many restaurants do you own?”
“Four—all love letters to Emrie, although it took her forever to realize it,” he teased.
I laughed when she blushed and leaned into him, hiding her cheeks. I’d been right—Emrie was really shy. My heart warmed again. She was trying so hard to make me feel comfortable when she was probably struggling just as much as I was.
I tilted my head in confusion. “Love letters?”
His lips curved in a smile. “Properly, they are namedCor Meum, Guadium Meum, Mea Flamma, and Passio Animae Meae—orMy Heart, My Joy, My Eternal Flame, and Passion of My Soul.”
“That’s really sweet.” I paused. “She didn’t realize?”
“Well, to be fair, his first restaurant had already been built long before we even met. But we did meet because of the restaurant. I told him of a conversation I’d overheard from one of his employees while I’d been having dinner. The employee was planning to steal from Roarke. How was I supposed to know the name of that restaurant—even before we’d met properly—was also meant for me?” she asked with a shrug and a slight smile.
“It was for my future mate, which ended up being you,” Roarke said softly.
“Yes, but you didn’t know that at the time,” Emrie shot back with sass, and Roarke laughed and kissed the tip of her nose.
I don’t know what pulled my eyes in his direction. No, I did know. It had something to do with my dreamscape abilities, though I wasn’t sure how when I wasn’t in the dreamscape. Still, I felt a spasm of pain coming from Alpha Riggs. The room became surreal and slightly misty, like it sometimes did in dreams, and when I turned to Alpha Riggs, a golden, glowing string led from him to me. The string was hard to ignore, but I didn’t panic, because I was sure it had something to do with my burgeoning abilities. I would ask Elandor and Alaric when I got the chance.
So, I tried to ignore the bizarre atmospheric oddities for the moment and took a second glance at the Alpha. There was pain in his eyes as he looked at Emrie and Roarke. I felt instinctively that it wasn’t jealousy.
It was intense loneliness—a loneliness so all-encompassing that I could tell he was literally in physical pain. My heart broke at the naked pain, but I felt like I was the only one in the room who could see it.
Why was I the only one who could see it?
I was so heartbroken that Elandor must have felt it, because he reached out to me.
What’s wrong?
Alpha Riggs… he’s in a lot of pain.
Elandor skimmed my thoughts, then sighed.
Alaric and I are also concerned. He’s an unusually strong alpha. We think because of that, the absence of a mate weighs more heavily on him than some.
