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She smiled at her dragon’s eagerness.Me too, dragon. Me too.
* * *
Bronx tappedhis hand against his thigh as he remembered the last time he’d done this.
When he’d mated Edith, it’d been in Bram’s office. It’d been rushed, and there hadn’t been time to organize a big celebration. While it’d been tight to manage it all for today, Bronx had been determined to give Percy the best.
His female had never had a birthday party, Winter Solstice celebration, or any sort of happy event. He wanted their mating to start as he meant to go on, which was giving her everything she’d missed, and for them to make enough good times to replace the horrid ones.
His dragon was still silent, at least until he kissed Percy. It felt wrong not having his dragon present for this, but he’d have to make it up to him later. Percy would officially be his mate before he claimed her.
Violet sidled up to him and whispered, “Are you ready?”
He raised his brows. “Of course I am.” He studied his daughter a second before asking, “You’re truly okay with this?”
Violet huffed. “I’ve said yes a dozen times already, Dad. Percy’s brilliant.” Her voice softened. “And I like knowing you’ll have someone to care for and be cared by once I move out eventually.”
He put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder and squeezed. “Don’t remind me. But no matter how old you are, you’ll always be my little girl.”
She hugged him. “I love you, Dad.” She pulled back. Her eyes caught something over his shoulder, and she gestured with her head. “Now, go get me a new stepmum to conspire with.”
Bronx turned his head and stopped breathing for a few beats.
Percy walked toward the dais, wearing a traditional dragon-shifter dress. She was always beautiful to him, but it was more than that. They’d discussed the option of her wearing a shirt under the dress, if she didn’t want her birthmark showing. However, she wore just the dress, which exposed her arms, neck, and part of her torso. The reddish birthmark covering her neck, one shoulder, and her upper arm was fully visible.
Watching her walk tall toward him, smiling as she did, made him both proud and eager to claim her before some other male tried to.
Brenna and Sarah released Percy into his care, and he offered his hand. As soon as she placed it in his, he leaned over to whisper, “You look gorgeous.”
“Stop it. You can flirt later.”
As they smiled at one another, it was such a contrast to the first time they’d met, back when she’d mostly sat with her legs pulled up, wrapped in her arms, as if trying to make herself invisible.
Something rumbled in his head, and it kicked him into motion. He couldn’t risk his dragon waking up too early.
Once they were on the dais, they each stood to the side of a high, small table that held the mating bands. Bronx had been willing to alter this part, just in case it would make Percy feel as if she were an object again by wearing his name on her arm, but she’d assured him she wanted it. She wanted him.
Even if she hadn’t said she loved him yet, he was determined to woo her until she did.
Once Bram asked for quiet, Bronx took out the smaller silver arm cuff, the one engraved with his name in the old dragon language. “Percy Smith, when you first appeared in my life, I had no idea what was to come. I had been determined to never take a mate again, had resolved myself to being only your teacher, and to help you become the dragon-shifter you were always meant to be before walking away. However, as we spent more time together, shared more secrets, and even endured some ridiculous soap operas to make my daughter happy, I started to want more, so much more, with you.
“And I had no idea if it’d ever happen, especially as all you wanted was your inner dragon and the ability to shift. But somewhere between that first meeting and you agreeing to be my mate, I fell in love with you. Because you’re brave and strong, and the stubbornness that served you so well to survive will probably cause a few hiccups along the way. But I’ll gladly take all of it, all of you, because you are my future, Percy, my second chance. And I hope to spend every day reminding you of how much you mean to me.” He raised the arm cuff. “I stake my claim on you, Percy Smith. Do you accept?”
She nodded, and he slid the band around her upper bicep then traced the engravings a second before lowering his hand.
Percy took out the remaining cuff and never took her gaze from his as she said, “If anyone had asked me even a month ago about taking a mate, I would’ve brushed it off. Not only because I hadn’t known anything about true mates to begin with, but also because I’d been raised to believe that I was less for having a human mother. And then with no inner dragon, I wasn’t even sure I could be called a dragon-shifter. However, it’s because of you that I’ve learned so much, come to accept I am as much a dragon-shifter as anyone, and that there are good people in the world. You make me laugh and smile and enjoy life in a way I’ve never done before. More than that, you taught me that it’s okay to trust, to allow people in, and that I’m worthy of love and being loved.”
She swallowed and paused a second, her pupils flashing, before she continued, “You may have started out as my teacher, Bronx Wells, but you’ve become so much more than that. I want you as my mate, as my best friend, and as my shoulder to lean on when I need it. The road may still be rocky, but I know I can face anything with you by my side. I stake my claim on you, Bronx Wells. Do you accept it?”
“Yes,” he stated clearly.
She smiled, slipped the arm cuff onto his bicep, and then took one of his hands in hers. Bronx leaned down to hug her and nuzzle her neck—he wanted to kiss her but couldn’t yet—and reveled in how she hugged him back.
As soon as they stood tall again, the great hall erupted into cheers, and Percy smiled shyly as she leaned against his side.
He put an arm around her shoulders, and they went to the main floor so they could be congratulated and celebrate with the clan.
And every second, he kept waiting for the chance to sweep his new mate away. When it finally happened, he took her hand and tugged her along, and they half-jogged toward his cottage.
