The (Not) Satisfied Dragon - Colette Rhodes Page 0,22
me, focusing on cutting up the meat on his plate.
“What?” I asked, clearing my throat nervously.
Seff glanced sideways at me, a warm glint in his bronze-colored eyes. “The envy is written all over your face, Shira. You have mates who’d do anything to be with you. I thought we’d made that clear, but maybe we’re not doing a good job.”
“You’re Council Enforcers, Seff. You’ve said yourself you want to be Councilors yourselves someday.”
“You don’t want us to be on the Council?” Seff asked, putting his utensils down to look at me, looking confused. “Is that what’s holding you back, because we’ll resign tomorrow if it is, Shira.”
“No! Don’t do that. You all have a bright future ahead of you. I took on some pretty high profile dragons, Seff. I knew when I did it, I'd spend the rest of my life looking over my shoulder.”
“None of us are worried about your past coming out,” Seff scoffed. “We’ll keep you safe, Shira. Never doubt that.”
“You can’t promise that, Seff. Besides, even if my past wasn’t enough of a barrier — which it comfortably is — I’ll still never be the kind of mate whose content to stay in the den. I had a front-row seat to Flight Milain’s life as Councilors. I saw how Odessa would get dressed up to mingle at events. It was one of the few reasons she ever left the den. I don’t want that life.”
Even though the nightmares hadn't disappeared, it was still so much easier to talk about Flight Milain. It helped that my mates had seen the carnage for themselves, and there was no longer any need to be secretive about my past. And Flight Milain didn't seem so all-powerful since I'd seen the life bleed out of them.
“Could you just… Do you think you could come back to the den with me for a little while? Just to talk to us all? I think there are a few things we need to explain as a group.”
I glanced at the door Xander had just floated through, high on the promise of true love and happily ever after.
“I promise you that Xander will know where to find you. We're quite a well-known flight. Though he’ll be distracted for the next few days at least,” Seff chuckled. “What do you say, gorgeous? Give us a chance to win you over?”
It was just a chat, right? I couldn’t very well stay at Fi’s family home forever and I needed to make some decisions about my future. My mates discovering me at Flight Milain’s den and the unexpected emergence of my dragon had been bumps in the road, but maybe they weren't bad bumps.
“I suppose a conversation couldn't hurt.”
Chapter 6
After an extended silent debate between Seff and the flight, they decided the best course of action was for all of them to come collect me, so that it would look like we'd all been out flying together.
In the time it took the others to arrive, Seff and I tidied Fi's family home and locked it all up. I hung the key back around my neck, tucking it under my dress. I wasn't sure if I was going to stay with my mates or not, but I was grateful Fi had given me the use of this place, so I had a backup option. I hoped she was doing okay.
Seff and I waited outside the cottage as four enormous dragons approached, wings beating heavily in the wind. Almost as a response to their presence, gold scales rippled over my arms, catching my attention. They felt odd, but it didn't hurt this time, and I was tempted to give in to the urge to shift, to embrace that heady sense of strength and power. Though it would blow our plans to be discreet entirely out of the water, so I dug my nails into my palms to distract myself.
Seff deftly slid his fingers between mine, loosening the pressure on my palms, and gave me a reprimanding look. I rolled my eyes but tangled our fingers more securely together as my other four mates landed gracefully at the edge of the orchard.
“Who are you going to fly with?” Seff asked as we approached them.
Hiram was out and I wasn't even acknowledging his existence. I'd already flown with Seff and Levi before. That left Oren and Ezra. While Ezra had made some enormous strides, there was still a lot of unresolved tension between us. Oren felt like the safer choice.