shelter and choose to leave?” She sounds hopeful.
His gaze mutes when he looks at her. “Leave? No, I will not leave, not yet,” he says. “But make no mistake, human, your daughter owes me a great debt. One night of shelter does not begin to cover what she has stolen from me.”
Mother’s mouth purses. “Go, Aida. Talk to them. They’re waiting. Your father is waiting. I will stay here with—what do you call yourself, male?” she asks.
The light briefly returns to his eyes. “Zaeyr,” he announces, straightening.
“Zaeyr,” I whisper. He turns to face me, flashing me a look of ferocious desire. Zaeyr. I like it. I like it so much more than any other male name I’ve ever heard. “Wait here,” I say quickly. “I’ll be right back.”
I’m forced to bear the weight of his heavy stare before I turn and duck through the tent entrance. A sliver of coldness runs through me as I walk to the central fire and face the two men and two old females before me.
Nata and Drea are the last of the grandmothers. Nata is a great-aunt to me, my oldest living relative since my grandmother passed away years ago. Stagie and Tabach are the last of the old men.
Though Tabach is my father, he is twice the age of my mother. His first mate could not conceive children, and after many years of failure, Tabach mated my mother, Shyn, when she came of age, producing me and my sister, who she raised with the tribe’s help. They do not live together, but they are amicable. Mother takes care of him in the elder huts where he now resides.
There are two other males in the tribe, but while they are far from young, they are not considered elders. Milaye’s father and another, each produced only female children. Oled, Nata’s son (and one of the very few males born here in the last generations) was sent to Shell Rock many, many years ago to keep the bloodlines pure. Shell Rock is where Leith was born and his elder sister, my best friend Issa, will one day become matriarch.
“Sit, Aida,” Nata tells me. I drop to my knees with a winded sigh. I’m too tired to care about anything except what they say and getting back to Zaeyr. Nata’s brow furrows, and she hands me a loaf of bread and cheese. I bite into it with gusto. “You know why you’re here,” she asks.
I swallow. “Yes.”
“You brought a strange male into our caves,” Tabach says. “A male with substantial life-threatening wounds we’ve been told.”
I set the bread down. “He’s healing. His wounds are almost gone now. He’s awake.”
The elders glance at each other. “How?”
But before I can answer, they argue.
“Is it true he’s a dragon transformed? Are the rumors true? Awake you say?”
Nata quips. “Dragons haven’t been seen in these lands since before I was born!”
“If he’s a dragon, will he harm us?” Drea’s croaky voice stops the others.
Holding up my hand, I try to answer, but Tabach levels me with a look. My father and I don’t speak often; in fact, he’s only a father to me in name. But when we do talk, I’m intimidated.
He may be old, but he’s still strong, and his voice still holds that strength.
“Daughter, did you encounter a dragon in the storm and touch him?” he asks.
“Yes, I did.”
Silence descends as their gazes fall on me with wonder.
“What happened?” Nata inquires.
Inhaling, I tell my father and the others what happened, starting from the bridge to the dragons clashing on the beach… But after that, I keep some of the details to myself. They don’t need to know about the overwhelming sensations I get whenever Zaeyr and I touch. Or my obsession with him that only grows and grows…
Even now, with thick hides and yards between us, I feel him as if he’s sitting beside me. I know he’s not, but I’m colder now sitting next to a fire then when my body was warm next to his.
The elders glance between each other again.
Father faces me. “The messenger that came from the north mentioned a bond… Have you… are you bonded?” he trails off.
Flushing, my chest tightens. “I-I don’t know.” I don’t want to tell them. I can’t lie, though. If I mate Zaeyr—which almost already happened—they’ll all know that there is something between us. “There’s something, something that happens when I’m near him.” I gulp.
Nata squints. “Which is?”
“My body grows very warm and comforted in his presence.” It’s not