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Aaron stood. “Clan leader or not, if you try to pull a prank on me or put me on the spot, I’m going to return the favor when you least expect it.”
Teagan leaned forward and rested her forearms on the desk. He resisted looking at her breasts. “We shall see, Caruso. There’s more to me than you think you know.”
His dragon grunted. I want to know all of it.
He didn’t dignify his beast with a reply. He moved toward the door. “Challenge accepted, Teagan O’Shea. There’s plenty I can do without publicly challenging your leadership.”
Before she could utter another word, he exited her office with a smile. Maybe his time on Glenlough wouldn’t be completely tedious. He could even have a hand in strengthening the alliance. That would award him bonus points back home.
His beast sighed. It wouldn’t be tedious if you kissed her. She could help pass the time.
Teasing her will be enough. I don’t need the complication of a relationship, let alone a mate.
I never said she was our true mate.
He missed a step. The way you’re acting says otherwise.
A dragon can want a female for many reasons.
And what does that mean?
You’ll just have to find out for yourself. Kissing her won’t start a frenzy, so your ‘I don’t want a mate’ excuse is null and void. It’ll be fun to see what you do next.
As his dragon fell silent, Aaron wondered if his beast was jesting him to see if he would kiss Teagan or not. In his experience, a dragon rarely wanted someone so strongly without a true mate pull.
Then he remembered how Stonefire’s head Protector—and Aaron’s boss—Kai Sutherland had mated a human female who wasn’t his true mate. However, if anyone tried to take Jane Hartley from Kai’s side, they would be on the ground and restrained within seconds, if not worse. Kai and Jane’s bond appeared as strong as any of the true mate couples he’d seen. More so in some cases, such as when compared to that of his own parents who had been true mates.
He wondered if Kai’s dragon had wanted Jane desperately, despite her not being his true mate.
Not like Aaron was going to ask him. Talking about females with Kai would be awkward since Kai wasn’t chatty to begin with.
Aaron would just have to forget about his dragon messing with his mind. He had no intention of pursuing any female beyond a quick fuck in the near future.
Besides, there were more important matters to think about, such as if Teagan teased him, then he would be free to give payback, and he’d have to think of something good. No matter what his dragon may say or imply, Aaron wasn’t going to miss his chance to embarrass Glenlough’s leader in an officially approved capacity. Even though it meant donning a smile and charm for a few hours, he looked forward to the evening celebration.
~~~
As the light dimmed and the day turned into evening, Teagan watched as Colm MacDermot spoke with a fifteen-year-old boy named Emmet. Colm was a tall, fair-haired male who was a few years older than Teagan. He taught the older children how to fly and control their beasts, and did especially well with the difficult students.
While she tried her best not to listen, she couldn’t block out Colm’s words. “I know your parents always say that sneaking off the clan’s territory is dangerous. But while I encourage exploration to a point, I agree with your parents right now. You know other clans might attack at any moment, so explain to me why you thought it was okay to sneak off this morning.”
Emmet raised his chin and tried to stand taller. However, he was still a foot shorter than Colm. Teagan bit back a smile, remembering her own bouts of trying to prove herself at fifteen. The boy said, “Gannon suggested I was scared and should go back to the younger class. I couldn’t let him think lesser of me.”
“Aye, and why is that?”
“Because,” Emmet replied, “if I want to be a Protector, I need to be strong.”
“Strength comes in many forms, son. Do you think if someone insinuated Killian was weak for not fighting a bear, that he’d go off and find one to wrestle?” Colm asked.
Emmet frowned. “Of course not. That’s ridiculous.”
“And so is letting one classmate get to you. A Protector focuses their energy on important matters. Accepting every dare isn’t one of them. You’ll lose focus and it’ll consume you. Trust me, my cousin refused to believe he didn’t need to prove himself to anyone who challenged him, and he died before he hit eighteen.”
Emmet’s posture slumped a fraction at Colm’s words. “I forgot about that.”
“Aye, well, you were a young child at the time. So when I say accepting dares and trying to prove yourself to everyone is a waste of time, I mean it. You only need to impress Killian and Teagan if you truly want to be a Protector. That means demonstrating restraint to show off your good judgment.”
Teagan decided that was her cue to break her silence. She strode toward the pair as she said, “He’s right, you know, Emmet. Improve your skills, demonstrate good judgment, and show you can obey orders. That will go a long way toward achieving your dream.”
