Farron'S Rebellious Mate (English Edition) (Lords of Arr'Carthian 2.5) (4 page)

“No!” Kordan interrupted. “You haven’t …”

“It was the only chance,” Farron said defensively.

“Do you wish to tell me that we have a young clueless woman who – even if she don’t want – is irrevocably bond to you and who will soon … turn into a dragon herself?”

“That is pretty much … true, General,” Farron confirmed.

“Damn!” Kordan growled and scratched his spiky short blond hair. An expression of helplessness showed on the normally expressionless face of the General.

“You see … it’s inevitable that I take her with me,” Farron put in. “She needs me, to survive the first shifting.”

The General nodded grimly.

“I’ll talk to my mate, what we have to do. Don’t tell Jenny yet. – How long … until the first …?”

“Six, maybe seven days.”

“Then we still have some time. Get back to work and I will speak to my mate.”

Kordan

Quietly cussing under his breath, Kordan hurried through the corridors back to Lory’s quarters. That was really screwed up. Lory would be mad as hell, that a woman would be forced into a bond without her consent. He knew how earth women felt about that. Sighing he entered his room.

Lory sat with three women in the living area and turned to look at him. A smile crossed her face.

“Did you forget something? Or why else are you back already?”

Kordan had just started his shift when Farron came to him. He shook his head grimly.

“We need to talk. – in private!”

“Sorry girls,” Lory said to her friends. “I have to talk to my mate. See you later?”

The women rose and said goodbye. Kordan waited impatiently until all had left the room.

“What is so urgent?” Lory asked, looking at him with concern. “Judging by your face – nothing good.”

Kordan shook his head and sighed.

“We have a serious problem and you will not like the only solution to it,” he began and sat down across from Lory.

His mate frowned and gave him a suspicious glance.

“What is it? Spill!”

Kordan took a deep breath and clutched the armrests of his chair with his fingers.

“You know …,” he began warily. “… that we would usually never force a woman to mate with any of our men …”

Lory’s eyes hardened as she crossed her arms over her chest.

“Continue!”

Kordan cleared his throat.

“There has been an unpleasant incident. Rodriff tried to harm Jenny and – thank goddess – Farron came onto the scene and managed to take Rodriff out. He had …”

“What?” Lory interrupted and starred at him horrified. “You mean, Rodriff tried to – rape her?”

Kordan explained the whole situation to his mate and ended: “Now you see, Jenny was close to death and the only chance for Farron to save her was …”

“Was what?” Lory put in sharply.

“He … I mean, his dragon … He healed her with his essence.”

“And what is that supposed to mean? What are you getting at? He saved her and healed her – when will you get to the part that I won’t like?”

“Well, you don’t know much about the Moliwe – the dragon shifters. A Moliwe can heal his mate by injecting his essence. I don’t know how …”

“But Jenny isn’t Farron’s mate, is she? How then …?”

“I don’t know why – normally the healing only works between mates – but fact is that it DID work! Jenny was as good as dead and after the bite – perfectly healed!”

“Where is the catch? You said, I would not like it, what you had to tell me. SO? Where is the problem? Does Farron refuse to let her go? Do we have to protect her from him?”

“It’s terribly complicated,” Kordan sighed. “Usually a Moliwe only bites his mate to heal her or during mating sex. The same serum that can heal also seals the bond. Jenny and Farron are practically mated. I can’t deny him his mate. That is …”

“We will not hand her over to a guy she don’t want to be with!” Lory interrupted furiously. “She was unconscious and could neither agree or disagree. Farron will have to let her go, if she doesn’t want him. She …”
 

“She will turn into a dragon!” Kordan said equally furious. “She nee…”

“WHAT?!” Lory shouted and jumped out of her chair. She looked at him with anger and disbelief. “She will …
what
?”

She is mated to a Moliwe – a dragon shifter! She will become a dragon shifter as well! We must allow Farron to stand by her side when … when it happens.”

“We will not let her down,” Lory said. “We can be there for her. We …”

“Are you an expert in this field?” Kordan interrupted sharply. “Do you have ANY experience with shifting? Can you really help her when you haven’t the slightest idea about these things?”

“Why, no … but …”

“No buts! In this case you’ll not have it your way, Lory! I was hoping that you could help me find the best way in dealing with … this. We must convince Jenny to go with Farron. She’ll have to – there is no question about it!”
 

Lory pressed her lips together, looking at him disapprovingly. It was obvious that she didn’t like the whole thing, just as Kordan had feared. Sighing, he stroke over his blond hair.

“Okay! On one condition!” Lory said after a while.

“And that would be?”

“Jenny isn’t going alone! I’ll go with her!”

“You’ll not! Somebody …”

“I GO!”

“Don’t always cut me off,” Kordan said quietly, but with a warning undertone. “What I wanted to say is, that somebody else can go with her. Mia is her friend. She was interested in Rodriff and is probably as chocked about all this. She and Jenny can help each other.”

Jenny

Jenny was still troubled by the events. First she was nearly raped and close to death and then the strange encounter with the dragon …

It knocked.

“Yes?” She put on – what she hoped to be a collected look on her face. She didn’t want anybody to see, how shaken she was.

“Open!” A familiar voice said and the door opened.

What did Lory want from her? Did she hear what happened to her? She didn’t tell anybody and had gone straight to her room. Mia, the poor thing, also was clueless about the death of her admirer. She hadn’t been here when Jenny came back.

“Hi Jenny,” Lory greeted, carefully studying her. “How are you?”

“Go-od!” Jenny folded her hands in her lap, to hide her trembling fingers.

“May I sit down?” Lory asked and Jenny nodded.

“Where is Mia?” Lory wanted to know.

“I’ve no idea. Haven’t seen her since I got up today.

“Good. Maybe it’s better, to talk to you first,” Lory replied and sat down. “I’ve heard what happened. I’m so sorry that you had to go through that. Such behavior is totally foreign for a Carthian. “It …”

“How do you know about that? I have told nobody.”

“From your rescuer of course. Far…”

“Who … who is it? I don’t even know, who … rescued me.”

“Farron! – I thought, you would know,” Lory answered and looked at her with a strange expression. “What exactly
can
you remember?”

Jenny took a deep breath, nervously kneading her fingers.

“I found the room when I was exploring. Then, suddenly, Rodriff was there and attacked me. I tried to defend myself, but he knocked me out. When I came ‘round, he was trying to undress me. I screamed and fought him …”

Jenny was shaking by the memory. Lory bends towards her and put a hand on her arm, comfortingly.

“He … he put his hand around … around my neck and … and strangled me. It was horrible. I thought I would die. I was barely conscious, when somebody took Rodriff off me. My vision was blurred. I couldn’t really see anything. Everything was only shadowy. The rescuer – Farron – and Rodriff fought, then I was out. I don’t know how long, but when … when I came ‘round …” She shook her head disbelievingly when the memory of the dragon came back to mind. “I saw something … Probably the lack of oxygen was the cause.”

“What did you see?” Lory wanted to know.

“A … a dragon!”

Jenny looked at Lory. Would the former FBI agent now think her crazy?

“Like I said, the lack of oxygen probably gave me hallo…”

“No, you saw right!” Lory interrupted her. “Farron is a dragon shifter. He, or better his dragon, was it who rescued you.”

“You’re kidding me, right?” Jenny put in disbelievingly.

Lory shook her head.

“No. It’s the truth. And that’s why I’m here. I must … Well – I have to tell you something that could sound – shocking.”

“More shocking than a dragon shifter?”

Lory nodded dead serious and licked her lip, before she continued: “When Farron took out Rodriff, you were as good as dead. If he had tried to get you to the medicine ward, you wouldn’t have made it. He had only one chance to save you. He …”

Jenny waited impatiently for Lory to continue.

“What? – What did he do to save me and what is so shocking about it?”

“He, or better: his dragon, injected you with his essence. This saved you, but – it also triggered something in you.”

“What? Am I … allergic to that stuff? Will I die?”

Lory shook her head.

“No. Nothing like that. But the act made you … Well, you’re now … Farron’s mate!”

“WHAT?” Jenny yelled bewildered. Her heart pounded hard in her suddenly to small chest. “What’s that supposed to mean? I can’t be his mate. I can’t be anybody’s mate! You promised me that nobody would ever force me into a relationship! You … you …”

“Please calm down! It’s true! We said that and under normal circumstances it would be so. Nobody could foresee this. Farron didn’t make you his mate on purpose. He … he did it to save you. Otherwise you would be dead by now!”
 

“What … what are you planning now? First, Rodriff tried to rape me, then Farron saved me that HE can rape me?”

‘Honestly, girl? Would rape be necessary? The way, you reacted to his kiss …’
, a voice in her head taunted.

“Farron would never harm you,” Lory assured her. “You will have to go with him, but he won’t touch you, if you don’t permit it. And we want Mia to go with you. That way you’re not alone. – And there is … something else …”

“Something ELSE? – What the fuck now? How much worse can this become?” Jenny yelled beside herself. She jumped off her chair and paced the room. Finally she stopped in front of Lory, starring at her.

“The essence, Farron’s dragon injected, will change you – not permanently – You … you can learn to control the change.”

Jenny believed herself stuck in a nightmare. Fear and disbelief filled her heart.

“What changes?” She asked high-pitched.

“You will turn … turn into a dragon. A dragon shifter!”

Jenny felt sick and dizzy. She dropped into her chair.

“… with you? – Jenny! Hey! – JENNY!” Lory’s voice reached her through the fog of her mind. Then she heard her speak to somebody else. Perhaps she talked to her mate by her communicator.

Jenny’s thoughts run wild. She felt like, stuck in a vacuum. She lost the sense for her surroundings and time. At some point, somebody picked her up. Voices swirled around her, but she didn’t understand a word of it. A sharp pinching pain in her upper arm, then everything went black.

Jenny dreamed about a dragon. He had white scales on his whole body except his back – there they were red. For some reason the beast seemed familiar. It was like she would know him. It couldn’t be Farron. She could clearly picture his dragon before her eyes. No! This dragon from her dream was somebody else. Could it …? – No! That couldn’t be! – Or could it? Could it be that she saw herself – her own dragon – in her dream? Would she look like that after her transformation?

Then the dream changed and became something different altogether. Farron – not his dragon – held her in his arms and kissed her. Dream-Jenny not only let him – she responded to his kiss with passion. Heat spread from her lower regions to her nipples, which stiffened and started to ache. Farron picked her up and carried her to a big bed, gently laying her down. Dream-Jenny whimpered in protest when he stepped back from the bed to look at her. Then he began to undress without turning his gaze from her. Dream-Jenny looked at him greedily, wanted to stroke over his muscular chest down to his six-pack and to the waistband of his kilt-like skirt, which he by now started to take off. Not only Scots seemed to keep to the tradition of not wearing any underwear beneath their kilt. Farron, too, was naked under the skirt. The sight of his big – fully erect cock – made her ache in all the good ways. She wanted to feel him inside her. She didn’t even wonder why she reacted to him that way, when she thought of herself as asexual for so long. She anticipated the moment, when Farron would join her on the bed and take her, but the dream ended when a voice reached her in her slumber.
 

“… I wished there had been another option.”

“She’ll need some time to get over this, but someday she will understand and be grateful that you saved her.”

Farron

“Shouldn’t she be awake by now?” Farron asked, worried.

“She had to go through a lot,” the healer explained. “Give her time!”

“I didn’t want it this way,” Farron said and clasping his hands to his face. “Yes – I wanted her – but I didn’t want it to be like this. I wanted it to be her choice. I … I wanted to win her love and trust. – Now she will hate me, because I bound her to me and …”

“You did what was necessary to save her. She would be dead now, if you, or your dragon, would not have done what had to be done,” Kordan tried to reassure him. “The more I think about it – I would have done the same, if it where Lory. I would rather have her hate me, than let her die.”

“You’re right,” Farron agreed quietly. “But I wished there had been another option.”

“She’ll need some time to get over this, but someday she will understand and be grateful that you saved her.”

“I hope you’re right.”

“I am right!” Kordan assured. “You’ll see. She only needs some …”

A groan let Kordan stop mid-sentence.
 

“She comes ‘round!” Farron said. His heart suddenly raced and he waited that his mate opened her eyes. What would she do? Would she be frightened? Angry? Would she give him hell, because he did what had to be done?