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Nadia hurried away and the front door closed with a resounding thud. A long silence passed between Katerina and me.
“How have you been?” I asked, wanting to fill the silence.
“Confused,” she said. She stared down at me from where she stood. Why wouldn’t she sit? Her arms were folded across her chest in a less than inviting stance. “It’s a lot, you know. Having you turn into a...a...”
“Dragon?” I supplied.
She nodded. “Yeah, that thing. It would have been nice to have a gentle introduction to the idea.”
“I agree. That’s what I had wanted to give you. It’s why I’d tried to leave before you could see me change.” I gazed down at my hands and sighed. “For that, I apologize. I should have had better control. I was too excited. After so long of wondering if I had...no, hoping I had...a fated mate. At long last, you were there. The one thing I’d dreamed of.”
“See, that’s the part I think is shit,” she said. “There’s no wayI’mthe girl you’d been dreaming about.”
Why did she always doubt me? “I’m not lying.”
“Explain it to me better, please. All of it. Nothing about this makes any sense.”
“Sit,” I said. “Please. I think it’ll be easier to listen.”
She huffed and rolled her eyes but did what I said. “Fine.”
Without her looming over me, I felt more confident. Where to begin, though? “You’ve seen that I can turn into a dragon. I think that part doesn’t need to be talked about in any more detail.”
“Not exactly,” she said. “There’s a lot about it I don’t understand, though. How? Why? And where were we exactly, for that matter? How different is your home from here?”
Her questions helped guide me with what to answer first. “The how and why are the same, I suppose. I’m a shifter. It’s what we do. We can change into the creature of our bloodline. In my case, that’s a dragon. There are others. Bears, wolves, just about any animal, to be honest. We live with both human instincts and those of our animal form. Dragons are by far the most regal and sentient of the bunch, in my opinion.”
“I can see that,” she said. “And the why you change is just...because that’s what you do?”
“Yes. It’s just what we do.” I ran my hands over my jeans, my nerves slowly starting to fade. Her decreasing hostility gave me hope. “As for where...we were staying in my brother’s castle on the other side of the veil. Over there, my kind are normal.”
I gazed over at her. Our eyes met, and my heart fluttered in my chest. “Over in my realm, our territories are divided by kingdoms much like the world you live in. Unlike your world, there are still kings to rule them. My brother, Damon, is one of those kings.”
She blinked. “So you’re a prince?”
“No.” I said. “We’re half-brothers. Same father, different mothers. My mother, who I share with Dymitri, was not the queen. When my father passed on, Damon took over to rule the kingdom. However, I don’t have any birthright to the throne. Damon is gracious and has said Dymitri and I are welcome on his lands. A stark change from my father’s attitude toward us.”
“Your dad didn’t want you around?” She gasped. “Are you serious?”
“Yes.” I shifted in my chair, not liking to dwell on this part of my story. It was the part that had kept me away from her, after all.
I cleared my throat before she could say more. “Anyway, I have slowly accepted my brother Damon’s hospitality. We are dragons of the north. He seems to think all of us should work as a unit to bring the kingdom back together. My father wasn’t the best of rulers, as I’m sure you can imagine.”
Katerina nodded slowly. “My sisters mentioned something about soul mates?”
“Fated mates,” I clarified. “We call them fated mates. Every shifter is born with one. You are the other half of my soul. When we are together, we feel whole because those souls are bonded as one at last.”
“If that’s the case, why did Nadia say you thought she was your fated mate?” Her gaze narrowed. “I know you said a witch told you, but that feels awfully convenient for an out. How do I know you’re not just using that as an excuse?”
I wanted to know who had hurt her so badly to make her distrust me so deeply. “Marienne can see things others can’t because of her magic. She is a sorceress and if you would like to meet her, we could organize a trip to her castle. But her magic isn’t completely reliable. What she’d told me was that my fated mate was Sarah’s sister. I made the mistake of assuming it was Nadia, however, the moment I laid eyes on your younger sister, I knew she wasn’t the one. Everyone else told me to give it time and the instinct would kick in once she awakened from her injuries. It never did. My gut was right. She wasn’t the one. I didn’t even try to pursue her.”
I had to make that last part clear.
“So, you just... knew? The moment you saw her?” Katerina asked. “And when you saw me, you did? How does that work?”
“The dragon inside of me recognized the other half of my soul instantly,” I explained. “That’s how I knew Nadia wasn’t the one despite everyone’s insistence. Initially, I thought that Marienne’s magic had been wrong. That there was no hope for me. Part of me thought...” I swallowed, unsure if I wanted to confess the words. But to gain more of Katerina’s trust, I had to show her all of me. “Part of me thought that perhaps I didn’t have a fated mate at all. That I was impossible to love.”
Katerina’s frown deepened. “Why would your mind ever go there?”
