Fire's Embrace [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 6] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) (2 page)

Behind them, Alwyn saw Rachen’s twin, Karein, appear on the cliffside. He looked worried for about ten seconds, until he spotted Alwyn and Rachen together. For a few moments, he just watched him, with an expression that could have meant anything at all. He said nothing, just nodded at Alwyn and returned to the palace.

“You gotta love my brother,” Rachen said. “He certainly knows where he’s not wanted.”

“Will you tell him about this?” Alwyn couldn’t help but ask. Rachen had a strange relationship with his brother. On one side, he still held a degree of resentment toward Karein, one he only allowed Alwyn to see. Even so, he was very close to Karein. Alwyn couldn’t imagine him not wanting to share something like this with his twin.

“We don’t know what this is just yet,” Rachen replied. “I want us to look into it a little first.”

Alwyn just gaped at him. “You mean you believe me? I don’t even believe myself.”

“I admit that I’m not sure what to make of what you said,” Rachen replied. “But I do know one thing. Whatever doubt lingers in your heart, it’s hurting you. We’ll find out the truth, whatever it might be. On my part, I know you wouldn’t do such a thing. Someone hurt Elina, and you have some sort of connection to it. We just have to find out what it is.”

In his heart, Alwyn knew where to start. It wasn’t even difficult at all. “I think I can guess where to begin looking for answers. With my…” He hesitated and stopped himself before uttering the word
father
. “With Ferradul Cyraltin.”

* * * *

Rachen couldn’t say he was exactly surprised by Alwyn’s suggestion. He knew Ferradul Cyraltin could inflict severe mental trauma on people. In fact, he had already done so once, with Rachen’s own sister, Akara.

Even so, he barely suppressed a wince upon hearing the phrase from Alwyn’s mouth. It wasn’t that he feared Ferradul. He didn’t. However, if the Great Krite had indeed been the one to murder Elina Eretar, he’d basically gone against the treaty with Ornoz. His actions would reflect upon Alwyn.

Unless…Rachen mused over what Alwyn had said. He had no idea how he was supposed to take his mate’s claim that he wasn’t really Alwyn. It might be just a feeling, but if there was any way to persuade his family that the claim held some truth, it could sway them when Ferradul’s deeds were revealed. Because Rachen had no doubt that they would be. In fact, he suspected his brother might have wanted to approach him for exactly that reason.

“Don’t mention that either,” he told Alwyn, “not just yet. Let me speak to Karein first. Perhaps I can get buy us some time to investigate your gut feeling.”

His mind was already working a million miles an hour. All he had to do was to convince his brothers to allow him and Alwyn to leave Draechenburg. He would try approaching them normally first, and, if all else failed, he would just take Alwyn and go.

Alwyn met his gaze with dark, fathomless eyes. “Are you sure about this, Rachen? I don’t want you to be hurt because of me.”

Rachen strongly suspected that Alwyn wasn’t referring to any potential danger from Rachen’s brothers, but rather, to Alwyn himself. “I’m more than sure,” he said. “Now come on. Let’s go inside. If we stay here for much longer, people will start getting suspicious.”

Alwyn nodded, although he still didn’t look convinced. If anything, he seemed frustrated. Nevertheless, he released Rachen from his arms and pulled away.

The gesture wasn’t purely physical. In fact, Alwyn appeared to become increasingly uncomfortable, fidgeting like he wanted to run. It was so very strange. Toward the beginning of their relationship, Alwyn had been the one to approach Rachen. His overtures might have been shy, but he’d sought Rachen out. Rachen had kind of gotten used to the thought that Alwyn would always be there for him. It had never occurred to him that Alwyn’s behavior would make a complete one-eighty.

This feeling was clearly more serious than Alwyn had let on. Perhaps that was the gist of it, the fact that Alwyn couldn’t convey the full extent of his fears. Following his instincts, Rachen took Alwyn’s hand and kissed the other man’s knuckles. “Don’t be afraid,” he said. “Whether you’re a sprite or not, whether you’re Alwyn or not, I don’t care. You’re still my mate.”

Alwyn stared at him. It was the first time Rachen had said those words to him. He’d always felt undeserving of claiming Alwyn, and had hesitated innumerable times before he could approach his mate with his confession.

The beautiful young man looked at him with such longing that Rachen’s heart threatened to burst into flames. Alwyn’s eyes conjured countless images in Rachen’s mind, and he could so clearly see their bodies entwined, writhing together, sweaty, hot, lustful, and oh, so good. Alwyn licked his lips, his gaze going from Rachen’s own eyes, to his mouth and lower down. Rachen’s element—his original one, not the powers he’d stolen from Karein—responded to it as if it was a physical caress. A small blaze erupted in Rachen’s palm, engulfing both their hands into fire.

Both of them yelped at the same time. Rachen quickly let go, in a panic. “I’m so sorry,” he said. “I didn’t mean to hurt you.”

“You didn’t,” Alwyn rushed to assure him. Indeed, when Rachen looked at Alwyn’s hand, he found the skin there unmarred and unblemished. He heaved a sigh of relief. If that didn’t prove they were mates, nothing did.

Nevertheless, Alwyn’s voice was husky and pained. Rachen would have thought that he’d hurt the sprite in some other way, except his senses took in Alwyn’s arousal. Alwyn smelled like hibiscus, cinnamon, and desire. The scent engulfed him like an intoxicating perfume, an opiate Rachen couldn’t hope to free himself from. He inhaled deeply, wishing he could bottle up the aroma for those nights he was forced to spend all alone.

Then again, if he had it his way, he would never have to do that again. He could draw Alwyn into his bed. Overlords only knew they’d waited long enough. The more Rachen thought about it, the more convinced he became that he needed to claim his mate.

His dragon was roaring approvingly, and even Rachen’s rational side was screaming,
“Finally.”
This wasn’t the exactly the best place to do this, but Rachen didn’t care. Pulling Alwyn into his arms again, he asked, “Will you be mine, baby? Will you be my mate?”

He licked Alwyn’s neck, groaning as his mate’s flavor exploded over his taste buds. Overlords, he could only imagine how it would feel to suck Alwyn’s dick or thrust his tongue into Alwyn’s sweet little ass. Unable to hold back, Rachen reached down and squeezed Alwyn’s cheeks into his palms. That ass had tormented him for months. Alwyn still wore his sprite-style garments that hid more than draechen clothes did, but even so, nothing could hide Alwyn’s beautiful, tempting body.

He nibbled on Alwyn’s earlobe, his arousal soaring as Alwyn shuddered in pleasure. “Be mine,” he repeated. “I want you so much, no matter what.”

For a few moments, it seemed like Alwyn would agree. He leaned against Rachen’s chest and tilted his head, offering himself to Rachen, wordlessly agreeing to his request. Rachen was just about to take his mate in his arms and carry him toward their quarters, but then, Alwyn tensed and forced his way out of Rachen’s embrace, shaking his head. “I…We shouldn’t. If I truly did something…You deserve better.”

Rachen cursed himself and his luck. If he’d only gotten his head out of his ass earlier, they wouldn’t have been in this dilemma in the first place. Rachen would’ve been Alwyn’s mate, and he would have sensed what Alwyn had in the throne room. In fact, Alwyn would have been by his side, a member of the Tersain family, like Sari and Talrasar.

It was too late for regrets now. Rachen had to respect Alwyn’s desires. “All right,” he replied. He pressed a kiss to Alwyn’s forehead. “We’ll do it your way. Always.”

“Thank you.” Alwyn shot him a tremulous smile. “Besides, I don’t want you to claim me out of…well, out of pity.”

Rachen’s mind just about went blank at that. He would have laughed if the entire thing hadn’t simply crushed any ability to react. Sadly, Alwyn took his silence as confirmation of that insane idea. “I don’t want you to go against your heart for my benefit,” he added

This time, Rachen couldn’t help it. He burst into bitter chuckles. “Oh, baby. I’ve been going against my heart for months now. I’m so in love with you that sometimes, it feels like I can’t breathe. Just…don’t worry about it right now, all right? Let’s take everything one step at a time.”

Alwyn looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t. In the end, Alwyn was right. Now was not the time to jump in bed together and make rushed decisions. There was too much at stake, too many things that could go wrong. True, being mates could have helped them. It might have even kept Alwyn safe from any consequences that could appear from Ferradul’s potential involvement in this entire debacle. After all, if Rachen claimed him, Alwyn would be a Tersain.

Nevertheless, Rachen had to respect Alwyn’s decision. They had to bond because they felt it in their hearts, not for other reasons.

Forcing a smile, Rachen leashed his protesting dragon. He’d waited for months. He could wait for as long as Alwyn needed. They’d come up with a different solution for their problem.

“Just trust me,” he told Alwyn. “I won’t let anyone hurt you.”

“I do trust you,” Alwyn replied almost inaudibly. “It’s myself I don’t have any faith in.”

Rachen didn’t know how to address that, so he didn’t. Instead, he just took his mate’s hand and guided him inside. Somehow, he would show Alwyn that he needed to believe in himself, and in their bond. He was sure of it.

Rachen left Alwyn in his quarters and decided to address the matter with the same person who’d sought him out. Out of their family, Karein was naturally the closest one to him. He was also likely to understand Rachen’s plea for help. Then again, so would Hareem and Kaelezrin, since both had gone through the unpleasant experience of having their mates threatened by factors beyond their control.

Still, Rachen knew Karein. He
had been
Karein for a long time, and when he looked in the mirror, at times, it was Karein’s reflection he saw. Only the red streaks in his hair and the flecks of red in his pupils told him different, or rather, only the way Alwyn’s presence reached out to him.

It wasn’t very late, but Rachen knew where Karein was most likely to be. He headed directly toward the quarters his brother shared with Sari. He reached his destination in record time and knocked at the door.

For a few moments, nothing happened. Rachen knocked again, probably a little harder than he should have. Finally, a noise sounded inside, like someone was coming. Seconds later, Karein opened the door, almost ripping it off the hinges in the process. “What?”

Karein was completely naked and smelled like Sari and sex. A few months ago, Rachen would have actually felt jealous because Karein had Sari. He still did, but for a different reason. Now, it wasn’t Sari that Rachen wanted, but a mate bond like Karein and Sari shared, one Rachen could have with Alwyn.

“My apologies,” he said. “I didn’t mean to interrupt.” He was actually tempted to emphasize that normally, Sari was much noisier, but he doubted his brother would appreciate the reminder. Judging by Karein’s expression, it was entirely possible that Sari had had his mouth full when Rachen had knocked.

“It’s okay,” Karein replied, wiping his sweaty brow. A pair of pants landed on his head, tossed from inside the room. Karein grumbled as he grabbed the garment and pulled it on. Well, shit. Interrupting his brother during coitus wasn’t likely to put Karein in a very good mood.

“Come on in,” Karein said, wordlessly gesturing him inside. “I have a feeling I know what you want to discuss.”

Rachen wordlessly followed his brother inside. Karein closed the door behind them and gestured for Rachen to sit down. Rachen wordlessly plopped down on the couch, and Karein joined him shortly after that.

“Have you spoken with Hareem and Kael?” he asked.

Rachen shook his head. “I came to you first. Did you three discuss it?”

“Yes.” Karein took a deep breath, as if bracing himself for something. “Given what Talrasar said, Elina Eretar’s death could have had natural causes, but such cases are extremely rare. It takes an extraordinary illness to cause a fire dragon’s blood to scorch her brain like that. Considering that she’d moments earlier offered to exchange information for leniency, we can’t rule out the concern that she was murdered by powerful magic. Most likely a sprite. Alwyn is one of the few non-draechen who were at the ceremony, and he had the means to kill Elina Eretar. Understand, we don’t actually think he’s guilty, but we have to take into account every possibility.”

Rachen buried his claws into the couch and focused on calming down. “He didn’t do anything,” he said. “Why would he? It makes no sense. Ivenia and Ornoz have a tentative treaty now. Alwyn has been with us for months and helped us with the Ancient Horror. The fact that he’s here isn’t proof that he actually hurt anyone.”

“No, it isn’t,” Karein answered. “Everything is very circumstantial right now. It certainly seems like a sprite power killed her, but it could have very easily been something else. But my gut tells me there’s something there.”

Rachen would have told his brother that he didn’t give a fuck about his gut, but Karein was on his side. “There’s no proof that he’s involved,” he said again.