Page 47 of Sanctuary with a Dragon
I slumped back against the couch as Alaric calmly moved to massaging my forearms. He wasn’t making abig deal of it, but I knew that both shifters in the room were aware of the amount of pain I was in. Shifters could smell it in my scent. I felt bad for the discomfort they were surely feeling because of my pain.
I never would have imagined that I would be in this position. It was weighty, the thought of it. I wasn’t naive. Becoming queen would be the most demanding thing I would ever do.
Bar none.
I hadn’t sought this, but Alaric was my mate. No, I couldn’t feel it, but I was beginning to sense it. It wasn’t as instinctual for me as it was for other shifters, but I think a part of me still recognized it.
Because I was not the kind of girl that moved this quickly. The limited experience I’d had with guys had in fact made me want to do the opposite.
I hadn’t realized when I left home as a raven, that I would be changed in more than one way. At the beginning it had been scary, but once I met Alaric and felt safe, I’d started having fun in my raven shifter form, and more recently in my puppy shifter form. But being in those forms, especially in my first days as a raven, I’d realized how vulnerable shifters were.
Not all of us are ginormous dragon shifters. Some of us were itty bitty pudges with fur or feathers, and were basically defenseless.
The strong protected the weak in shifter culture.
And Alaric? He was strong.
Sostrong.
I’d felt the mantle settle heavy upon him in the days after the Everlight Enclave had called him to be Prime. It was invisible to the naked eye, but I knew Alaric felt it, and perhaps knew its heaviness in a way that I couldn’t yet grasp. After all, his lineage was full of kings and queens. He’d grown up this way, and with the knowledge that this responsibility would one day pass to him.
I knew that he hadn’t made the decision to rise to Prime lightly, especially because he was hesitant about how I’d handle it, but I also knew from our conversations that he wanted to do right by shifters.
Allshifters.
The proof was in our own history. He’d waited over a thousand years for me, and yet hadn’t pushed me to be with him in any way. Instead, he’d shown patience and kindness, and I bet If I asked him, he would tell me the choice to accept or reject him would always be mine, but that he’d already accepted me.
I couldn’t imagine waiting a thousand years for someone, and then when they finally showed up, having the strength of will, the moralcharacterto let them walk away if it wasn’t what they wanted.
I was all he got in this life, and he’d waited so patiently.
That was how I knew that he was going to be an excellent king. He cared about the feelings and thoughts of those weaker than him. He wanted to create a safe space where they could thrive. And, fromwhat he’d told me, he wanted to crack down on and imprison those other supernaturals who were abusing the weakest shifters.
How could I say no to him?
Yes, the idea of everything that came with this choice was heavy. The idea of being queen was frankly terrifying to me, but I really wanted to be with Alaric.
I was falling so hard for him.
And I knew... IknewI would be a good queen if given half a chance. I might have health issues, but I was also wise, and kind, and a good person. What I lacked, I would learn, and I would work tirelessly to not only stand by Alaric’s side, but to be the queen that shifters needed.
He would be the power behind the crown, and I would be the heart.
Coming out of my thoughts, I blinked when I realized that Alaric was quietly watching me, and that the room was conspicuously absent of bear shifters.
How long had I been lost in my thoughts?
Alaric’s eyes were burning with Elandor’s presence. He tucked a bit of my dark hair behind my ear, then rested a large hand against the back of my neck, his fingers threading through the hair at my nape.
“May I kiss you?” he hoarsely whispered.
I knew what he was asking. I also knew that he wouldn’t force anything I wasn’t ready for. That he and Elandor would understand if my answer was no. They’d be disappointed, but they’d understand.
I didn’t pull away though.
Instead, I drew in a deep breath for courage, drew strength from the heated tenderness in Alaric’s eyes, and nodded.
He moved cautiously, and carefully. Not like I was fragile, but like I was precious. When his warm lips covered mine, I melted into him, wrapping my arms as far around his shoulders as I could.
