Page 4 of Protecting His Treasure

“Come on, dragon. Tell me. I can handle it.”

“Honestly, I don’t know. The ritual isn’t passed down from one generation to the next. It’s already inside of us. Our dragon instinctively knows what to do? For that reason, my father didn’t tell me much about. He only told me that my dragon would know what to do.”

“So, you know nothing about what will happen during our first full moon together?” She was growing nervous.

“What I do know is that during our first full moon together, I won’t be myself. I won’t be able to control what I do.”

“Because your dragon will be the one in control?”

Kaede nodded.

“Wow.” She had to admit, she was a little more nervous about it now.

“No matter what,” Kaede told her. “I know my dragon won’t hurt you.”

“I know he won’t either. I’m just trying to imagine what having him be in total control of you will look like.” Her imagination began to run wild. “Please tell me I don’t have to sleep with your actual dragon? I know I’m a bad chick and all, but this pussy cannot handle dragon dick.”

“No.” Kaede laughed. “Dragon dick?” He laughed harder. “You say the craziest things, Treasure.”

“I’m just saying. Anything else, I can handle. Dragon dick, that’s something else.” That’s a whole other ball game. And she wasn’t interested in that sport.

Chuckling, Kaede told her, “Go to sleep. We will worry about the full moon later.”

Another yawn escaped her. “Okay, dragon.”

It wasn’t long before her eyes grew heavy. With his arms wrapped around her, she drifted off to sleep while listening to the sound of his breathing. Wrapped up in each other was how they spent the next few weeks. A few people came by and knocked on their door. Per her dragon’s orders, they ignored them all.

The only thing that mattered right now was the two of them. She knew Kaede wanted to keep her all to himself. They were in their honeymoon phase. But that wasn’t the only reason he was keeping her locked up inside their cabin. He was trying to shield her from any outside news. Soon the shit would hit the fan.

Before then, he wanted to spend as much quiet time with her as possible. He didn’t want her to know about the dangers that were lurking about. He didn’t tell her that himself. She’d overheard him talking outside their house with one of his friends. He knew she wouldn’t shy away from a fight.

So, he was attempting to protect her from it for as long as he could. In a way, that was kind of romantic. Most independent women would get pissed off about that. Not her. She thought it was cute. He knew he couldn’t stop her from fighting this battle with him. But, her big hunk of a dragon wanted to protect her for as long as he could.

The old her wouldn’t have found his actions romantic or cute. She would’ve thought they were chauvinistic and backward. But the old her hadn’t had a mate. She was slowly coming to realize that having a mate changed the way you thought. It changed the way you saw the world, the way you saw yourself.

Even though she was a badass witch who could hold her own, it was still her mate’s duty to protect her. No different than how her dad would do anything to keep her mom safe. And her mom was one of the baddest witches she knew. Her mom didn’t need a protector. Thinking about her dad as a protector reminded her of a time when he’d protected her mom from rogue warlock.

The man was someone who’d been rejected from their coven because of his dark practices. Her mother had been one of the witches who’d reported him to the council. He waited a year and then came looking for her mother. He’d somehow gotten past the wards that protected their home and broken in.

That night, her mother hid in the bedroom with her and her sister while her dad battled the warlock. Sin had only been twelve at the time. She remembered asking her mother why she didn’t go help dad. Her mother told her that she’d tried and her dad told her to come into the room and watch over them.

That had blown Sin’s mind. Why would her mom hide with the kids? Her mom was a fighter. Her curious nature prompted her to ask her mother that question. Her mother’s response hadn’t made sense to a twelve-year-old Sin who’d been eager to escape her coven and live her own life.

Now, it made much more sense to her. Her mother had told her, “Sometimes you have to let a man be a man. It doesn’t make you less of a woman, less of a warrior. It simply makes you an understanding woman, an understanding warrior. Every brave soldier has a general. Your father is the general. He guards my front. I protect his back. We’re a team.”

Those words made complete sense to now. Kaede’s attempt to shield her from the dangers that were coming was no different than how her uncles would do anything to keep her aunts’ safe. Likewise, her mom and aunts would do anything to protect their partners also. Mates were supposed to keep each other safe.

Her dragon was simply doing his duty. She couldn’t be mad at him for that. So, for a while, she’d let him attempt to shield her from the dangers of this world. They were on their honeymoon, technically. There was no harm in spending quality time with her mate. Since they were still in the honeymoon phase, everyone left them alone.

Kaede only left the house to get food and go to meetings with his team to be updated on any activity from The Deciders. The Deciders tried to contact Kaede. They wanted to know why he hadn’t completed his task and turned her over to them yet. They gave him one week to turn her over, or he would be added to their kill list.

According to Kaede, they normally only gave you three days. I guess I should feel special because they gave me more days. Kaede let them know that he didn’t need more time. She was pretty sure they were pissed off when he told them he’d never turn his mate over to them. Shortly after that, the compound was attacked.

The creature they sent was an amateur. Nachik and Lee handled that situation before it could escalate. But Sin knew something big was coming. The Deciders had to be furious that their goons hadn’t succeeded. Which meant they’d soon send bigger, stronger creatures to hunt them.

Sin had always been able to sense danger. And she felt like something dark and dangerous was heading their way. They were ready. And for that reason, she tried not to let that feeling steal her daily joy. Every night, she lay in bed and listened to her mate tell her stories about his past, about his family and his culture.

He was hella old. But not older than some people she’d met here. He wouldn’t tell her about his parents. He just said they died on the day he was banished to the Frostlands. She could tell it hurt for him to talk about it. So, she didn’t pressure him. Neither did he pressure her to talk about the house in the Frozen Region that she used to frequent.

Though they were officially together now, it would be a while before they told each other everything. And that was okay. They had forever together. Kaede told her that he would find a way for them to leave this place. She told him she would be looking for a way too. She couldn’t tell him about Winter or about the way she communicated with her family.

That wasn’t her secret to reveal. Winter made her promise not to tell anyone. Though Sin was loyal to her mate, she was also loyal to her friends. However, the next time she saw Winter, she did plan to ask if she could tell Kaede about the mirror that allowed her to communicate with her family.

She wanted to give him that gift also. He’d been trapped on this plane for sixty years. He deserved a chance to check in on his family, to let them know he was still alive. Until Winter gave her permission, she would have to remain tightlipped about it. She hated keeping it from him.

One day, she’d reveal it all. One day. Just not right now. Right now, before the shit hit the fan, she wanted to get to know her mate better. She wanted to love on him and be loved by him. Their days of peace and tranquility were numbered.

Sin had a feeling their happy days would soon take a dark turn.