“Hey, you know what I think we should do?”
“What?” I said, my voice thick from all the crying.
“I think we should take that trip. We can go to Costa Rica and hang out on the beach, explore the jungles, and drink pina coladas.”
I snorted with derision. “Oh, please. Mom only offered that so I wouldn’t ruin Freddy’s wedding by showing up. You know that.”
“I do,” she said, “but just because a gift was given with ill intent doesn’t mean you can’t still use it. When’s the last time we went on a big trip?”
For a few seconds I thought back on it, and realized it had been years.
“It must have been when we went to Paris for my twenty-first birthday,” I said, taking the napkin from her and cleaning my own face.
“Exactly.” She lifted an eyebrow suggestively. “And if you wanted to take someone else, I wouldn’t be offended.”
“Someone else?” I said. “Who the hell else would I bring? You’re the only person I’m close to, Delphine.”
“Hmph,” she said, ushering me back to my seat. “Maybe. Though, I’m not sure I buy this whole story about where you were this weekend. You can tell me. If you’ve got some guy on the hook, I’d absolutely love to see you head off on some romantic getaway with him. You deserve it.”
Her words struck me hard, and my imagination flooded my brain with images. Aurelius, in a speedo, muscled and lean body coated with sunscreen, handing me a cocktail, a knowing grin on his lips, my face reflected in his sunglasses. Aurelius, slowly slipping my bathing suit off my shoulders?-
I shook my head to clear away the fantasies and laughed, though it sounded forced.
“Oh, please,” I said, unable to meet her eyes. “There’s nobody. Seriously.”
“Uh huh,” she said, eyeing me up and down with a coy smile on her face. “Is that why you were wearing high-end clothes I’ve never seen before when you came down?”
“Uh…well…uh, I went shopping,” I managed. “I decide to treat myself.”
“Sure,” Delphine said, her eyes crinkling together mischievously. “And that scent I caught on you while we were hugging? That alpha male scent?”
My heart thudded in my chest loud enough I thought she might actually be able to hear it across the table. Heat flashed across my cheeks and chest.
“You’ve been gone a few days, and you just happen to smell like a hot guy?” Delphine said. She then tilted her head upward as if thinking. “A hot guy who smells…different. A strange scent for an alpha wolf.”
“Okay, okay, I’ll think about it,” I said, desperate to get her off topic. “The trip. I’ll think about it.”
Delphine’s face brightened. She looked truly happy.
“Oh, good. I really think it will be good for you,” she said, and began to devour her salad. “It can be just you and me, or it can be you and any new friends you may have made.”
Ignoring that last bit, I took a piece of bread and looked at Delphine across the table.
“Thank you. For everything.”
“It’s my job to help you out. To make you happy when you’re down. It’s what I live for,” the older woman said.
I smiled, my heart bursting with love for her. As I started to eat, I decided it was best not to tell her about my time with the dragon shifters. I didn’t want her to know that the few short hours I’d spent there had made me feel more like a shifter than I ever had before.
When I’d walked the halls and grounds with Aurelius, I’d felt alive in a way I couldn’t even describe. They hadn’t treated me differently because I couldn’t shift. They’d accepted me. I’d dreamed of being accepted like that, yet it hadn’t come from my own people. It had come from the leaders of our rivals.
For well over a decade, Delphine had done her best to give me a home here in this city, to make me whole and happy in my exile. Yet, I’d found peace and happiness in the one place I was never meant to be.
In the house of a dragon.
AURELIUS
Over a dozen memos and reports were spread out on my desk, each one about our family’s magical wellspring. It was nowhere near as big as the one up north, but still significant. The problem was, if we used it too much, the magic would be depleted to an extent we couldn’t allow. It was partly why our partnership with the Hikshil tribe was necessary and important.
Even the Hikshil tribe couldn’t replenish the magic. Not really. Rumor was they were somehow tied to shifters, dragons in particular. My grandfather had told me once that if dragons ceased to exist, the wellsprings would dry up immediately. He’d said that our race simply being on Earth would keep some of the springs active, regardless of what the humans did.
The wellsprings had formed eons ago, when humans had barely learned to scratch crude markings on cave walls, and were filled with the ancient magic of the earth itself. No one quite knew the origins of it, but what we knew for certain was that the world had at one time been much more magical. Creatures of night, dream, and legend had walked the land. The wellsprings fed the genetics and ancient spells that had created shifters. From the moment humans began to form their own magic with technology, it had begun to deplete. First fire, then the wheel, and after that, an entire litany of advancements that caused the magic to fade. Whether or not my grandfather had been right, all we could do was protect what was left and be good stewards of the gift the world had given us. Hopefully, the wellsprings wouldn’t cease to exist completely.
“Your Highness?”
I glanced up to see Titus standing at the door.
“Yes, Titus?”
“We’ve received word from the Hikshil tribe. You asked to be notified the moment we heard.”
Straightening my chair, I nodded. It was as though fate had heard my thundering thoughts and sent a message. “What did they say?”
“They say they accept. They will be here, and they’ve agreed to tour our wellspring. They’ll notify us when they find a date that works with their schedule.”
“Yes,” I grunted, pumping a fist in victory. “This is great, Titus. Does my father know?”
“Yes, Highness. He was the first to be told.”
“Fantastic. Thank you, Titus.”
He bowed as he left, and I basked in the good news. I’d first mentioned the matriarchs of the tribe visiting during my ambassadorial trip. Having them here as honored guests and showing them our wellspring was sure to strengthen the bonds between us even more. There had been rumors for years that the Laurents and other wolf families had been trying to make inroads with the Hikshil as well as other minor fae tribes. The last thing we needed was them turning their backs on us for a better deal with the wolves.
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