a heated look my father’s way, and I suddenly got the impression he meant more than just how he liked his hot beverages. Ew, barf. I did not want to think about my fathers doing that.
“Now, what can I help you with?” Father asked, giving me a nudge.
“Well…” I wasn’t sure what I wanted to say exactly, but the way my father was waiting, I had a feeling he would simply remain silent until I worked it all out in my head. “I ran into Gabriel.”
“Ah. The lunch,” he said.
“Yes. The lunch.”
Father stroked his trimmed beard, mulling over what to tell me. “I don’t think it would kill you to go to lunch.” I had expected him to say as much. But he continued. “Be open-minded, be polite, and then, if there’s no spark, be honest and tell him to move along.”
My jaw dropped. “But—”
“But nothing,” he interrupted my argument. “I was older than you by several years by the time I had my first heat, and I was already with your dad. You likely have time yet before you have to worry about being mated. No need to rush.”
My dragon rumbled deep in my chest. He disagreed, there was most certainly a need to rush… straight back to Shaw—but I didn’t think that was what my father meant.
Father put a hand on my arm, and the heat of his palm seeped through my shirtsleeve. “Son, I know the kind of pressure you must be feeling since that useless Law of Old was unearthed, but you’re putting too much importance on it.”
“Father, if I don’t find a mate in time for my heat, our entire family will lose the throne. That would be a lot of pressure for anyone.”
“Agreed. But what I’m saying is… does that law matter?” His words hovered in the air between us. Was he saying what I thought he was saying?
The kitchen door swung open, and Dad came in carrying a tray. The smell of the bitter coffee centered my frazzled nerves as he placed the tray on the table in front of me. He then nestled himself in on the couch on the other side of me, wrapping a comforting arm around me.
He propped his chin on my shoulder, and I tilted my own head to rest on his. “You are our son,” he whispered close to my ear. Of course he’d heard our conversation, shifter hearing and all. “The happiness of our children is the only thing that matters. If you told us you didn’t want to be king, we would find a way. And no one can fault you for not wanting to settle for anything less than true love.”
I felt loved and safe here, sandwiched between my fathers, but there was still a chill deep in my gut that no heat could melt, not even my dragon’s fire.
I knew my parents meant what they said. They would sacrifice everything for my happiness, my future. But was that something I was willing to subject on not just my family but the entire population of Montipan? They needed a good and fair king, one who would fund the schools’ art programs, who would support the local bakery when the owner died.
If I didn’t do my duty and ascend to the throne… we would have no control over what kind of king would come next. Was that a risk I was willing to take?
My dragon was silent for once, but I heard an echo of Shaw’s name… and Mate.
Ten
Shaw
“What are you doing up?” I asked as my sister joined me in the bakery. It was barely three. She still had a few hours to sleep before school started, and given she’d still been wide awake working on her paper when I went to sleep, she had to be exhausted.
“I was up.” She grabbed an apron off the hook. “I figured I might as well make my famous lemon crinkles.”
I’d hardly call them famous, but I wouldn’t turn one down. They were delicious.
“I’d appreciate that.” I poured in the last of the water I was adding to the mixing bowl and set the pitcher on the counter. I double-checked to make sure I hadn’t forgotten anything in my exhausted haze and raised the bowl to the beater with the crank and turned it on.
“I already have the muffins poured and ready to bake, today’s bread is kneading in the two main mixers, and the ingredients for the scones are ready for when a mixer is open.”