AllFreeNovel
Share Us
But I was still distracted by how absolutely delicious he was, though it stood to reason he would be, in a way. He must have been throwing himself at my late uncle to have obtained such favorable—make that ridiculous—terms on his lease. He had obviously thoroughly seduced my uncle and gotten him to sign off on the thing, and now he’d come to try his luck with me.
He was argumentative right off the bat and refused to admit the truth no matter how hard I pressed him. I could soon see I was getting nowhere with him.
On top of that, my brother Kyle was being overly protective toward me, and he and Joshua, my youngest cousin, who also acted as my bodyguards, were growling and anxious. They soon scared the pretty little omega half to death. I suspected their own hormones were raging a bit at the sight of him, so I’d finally had to intervene and send them outside.
I wondered if they were partly reacting to the omega’s strong scent. It must have been his time of month, because the smell was so powerful it was making me weak, even though he should have been on pheromone suppressants, and that shouldn’t have been a problem.
His scent was totally unique too. In fact, I’d never smelled anyone like him before, and it was messing with my head and clouding my thought processes.
It was definitely a sweet odor. It reminded me of cotton candy, and I noticed it the moment I walked in. I even leaned over to take a sniff of him. My brother and my cousin had been staring at him, too, and I wanted to tell them to stop, but I was honestly just too damned fatigued. Since I’d been inside the room, my head had started aching in earnest, and I felt like I might be coming down with a fever. I was even a little dizzy. I wrapped up our meeting as soon as I could, told the omega I’d see him in court and offered to shake his hand just to hurry him along and get him out of the door so I could take a deep breath again.
The second I touched him, I knew. And the top of my damn head almost came off.
This beautiful little omega was my true mate. Myfatedmate, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do about it.
I believe I stumbled backward and shouted at him. I may have flailed my arms a bit. Anyway, the door burst open, and my brother and cousin rushed back inside, looking for the threat. But what the fuck was I supposed to do?
My fated mate—a thing that was exceedingly rare with our kind—was standing in front of me, and I sure as hell wasn’t ready for him. Nor did I want anything to do with him. Not in the least! I didn’t even think I believed in true mates. Not until I touched this beautiful man. I had thought it was all some fairy tale only a few old-fashioned dragons still believed in.
One mate that a dragon would know instantly when they touched them for the first time and never wish to be parted from for the rest of their very long life?Ha!
One true love that a dragon almost literally couldn’t live without?Ridiculous!
It was all so ludicrous, and I wanted no part of any such thing. I didn’t even know this little person standing in my hotel suite, looking up at me in such adorable confusion. He was a stranger to me, a complete unknown. I suspected he had seduced and played my uncle and was trying to play me too. So why did I feel this overpowering urge to take him in my arms and comfort him?
Mates could be Alpha or beta, and sometimes omegas, though male omegas were rare in our world, and thus were especially prized—as good as gold if they were as beautiful as this one was. And we Dragons loved our treasure.
Our mates were our beloved and spoiled spouses, and we only mated once and that was for life. Mates never worked outside the home; theirraison d'êtrewas to bring pleasure to their Dragon. In return, they were well-loved, pampered and jealously guarded.
But a fated or true mate was a whole other level. A true mate exerted undeniably strong influence on their Alpha. Alphas literally weren’t able to be parted from them for long. We could feel their emotions to a great extent and if they were upset, we’d move heaven and earth to make it better for them. They took an enormous amount of care and attention, and I simply wasn’t ready to devote that much time or attention to anyone.
I glanced over at him and saw him looking up at me like he thought I’d lost my mind. He was obviously frightened and began edging toward the door again, so I growled at him to make him stop moving. He wasn’t going anywhere. Damn it, I couldn’t let him leave.
But I still didn’t want or need a mate yet. Especially one who was no doubt a lying little messed-up witch who had deceived my uncle, and who was so damn beautiful it made my teeth ache just to look at him. Why did he have to stand there looking so fucking adorable and so in need of my protection? Why did those trembling lips make me want to wrap my arms around him and take him on my lap to promise him anything to make it all better for him?
The boy stumbled backward when I growled at him, and he tripped over the coffee table, landing on his ass on the rug. Kyle and Josh both went storming over and right up to him, but when they tried to reach for him, I wanted to kill them both.
“Don’t touch him!” I roared.
“Dominic!” Kyle cried out. “What the hell? I was just trying to help him get back to his feet.”
“No!” I roared even louder. “Don’t put your hands on him!”
As they all watched me in amazement, I felt my face flushing. The thought of another Alpha—even my brother—touching him? Gods, it drove me fucking crazy. Even my skin felt prickly and painful like it did when I shifted. I shrugged, mumbling, “Sorry, Kyle. Just don’t—don’t touch him, okay? Please.”
I went over to him myself, ignoring the pain in my chest when he flinched away from me and took his warm, little hand to pull him gently up to his feet. I dropped it again as soon as I could, so I wouldn’t embarrass myself by licking it.
Ireallywanted to, though.
Kyle and Josh, along with Ashworth, my personal assistant, were looking at me with alarm and confusion. Ashworth put a hand on my shoulder, only to have me shrug him off. I was furious for no good reason, except this-this fucking feeling was taking over my entire body and mind. I hated it, and I hated how my Dragon had just barged in, took over my body and started dictating to me about how I should feel. If I didn’t take this omega in my arms soon, my Dragon was going to take over and do it for me.
This omega in front of me—this gorgeous little Wyvern with his ridiculous blond man bun and his long dark eyelashes and that sweet, perfect little face and body—thisboywas my mate. He was mine. It was as simple—and as profound and complicated—as that. And I had no idea what to do about it.
Jax Jordan glanced up at me with trepidation, and I could see the hot blood rushing to stain his cheeks. “What just happened? Are-are you okay?”
“Be quiet!” I shouted at him. “If I want to hear anything from you, I’ll tell you. In the meantime, just be still.”
He gasped and turned bright red. Tears sprang to his eyes, and I was pretty shocked myself. I absolutely had no right to speak to him that way, and I instantly regretted my words. I clapped my hand over my mouth and I could have ripped out my own tongue for speaking to him so harshly, but my Dragon had been riding me hard and I was working to control him.
