The Dragon's Fate - Roxie Ray Page 0,17

world doesn’t even know exists? Honey, that little girl hurt you badly, I know. But she wasn’t your destiny. The universe makes no mistakes. You’re taking a huge shit on the blessing of having a fated mate.”

I’d never seen Sammy so worked up before, and I didn’t understand why she was so upset. But then her eyes blackened and almost hardened. It was spooky enough to freeze my blood, and I was a freaking dragon. They looked like two coals.

Her voice dropped low and menacing. “Witches are cursed to be alone. Love and feelings skew our magic. We become irrational.” After she sucked in a shuddering breath, she continued in the creepy, staring way. Almost in a trance, but not quite. “It’s why I try not to stay with a clan too long, to avoid attachments. This clan I’ve been with the longest.”

She looked sad. “I’ve been doing things that go far beyond what a clan’s witch should do because you have become my family. I don’t have a family other than the Bluewater clan. You fools are my brothers, my sisters. I find myself unable to remain neutral when I see you making dumb decisions.”

She narrowed her gaze on me. “I’ve seen two futures for you. If you walk away from Bri, you’re going to regret it. Deeply. I won’t force your hand, but I can’t remain neutral. You’re making a huge mistake.”

Then, Sammy smiled and patted my hand. “The other future…” The sun shone brighter on her face as if the atmosphere knew the other image in her head was idyllic. “It’s so beautiful it makes me envious. But it’s up to you and your decisions on whether that future will happen or if you’ll be empty and in pain for the rest of your life.”

She blinked and her eyes instantly looked like they always had. I began to think I’d imagined her strange look. I didn’t imagine how exhausted she looked. “Are you okay?” I asked. After that show she’d put on, I was afraid to speak loudly.

“I’m sorry I tricked you. There is no magic cure to speed up the breaking of the bond. If you truly intend to push Briana away, just keep doing what you’re doing and brace yourself. It’ll happen on its own, but the pain will be about five times worse than what that potion did to you.”

That was a truly terrifying thought. Almost enough to really make me rethink things. But I wouldn’t take a mate and child just to avoid some pain. I wasn’t that kind of man. I was doing this because it was the right thing to do to avoid emotional turmoil for all of us.

Sammy stood and looked down at me. “I really hope you’ll consider what I’ve said before making a concrete decision.”

I looked away to gather my thoughts and figure out how to put my emotions into words. When I looked back, she was gone. “Okay, then.”

I stood and went upstairs to scarf down some food before going down to cover my bar shift.

After I closed up the bar, I was pretty damn exhausted, but I needed time to fly. I hopped in my truck and headed for clan lands. My head and my heart were locked in a deep battle. Sammy’s words rang in my head, and I couldn’t shake them. Was she right? Maybe I was being a fool to question fate.

My father had run out on my mother, said he was too much of a rolling stone. It had devastated me and my mother, and she’d never truly gotten over it. She’d fallen head over heels in love with him, but he’d never loved her. Or me, apparently. I could count on one hand the number of times I’d seen him after that.

And then just out of high school, I’d gotten one of the girls in the clan pregnant.

I’d been ecstatic. Thrilled! Until she had the baby, and during the surge of hormones after, while I was holding my son, happier than I could remember being in my entire life, she’d dissolved into tears and told me he might not be mine.

We’d done the paternity test and sure enough, he wasn’t. She and her family left town with my son, the boy I still thought of as mine deep down in my heart, and I hadn’t seen them since.

I vowed not to ever get attached to a child again. What business did I have being a father anyway? My dad hadn’t given