For the Love of Her Dragon (17 page)

“I
blame this on your human side. If your father had been a wizard none of this
would have happened.”

Kyra
had heard enough, and if her years on her own had taught her one thing, it was
that she did not have to listen to anything she didn’t want to hear. She calmly
stood, walked across to her mother and spoke in the calmest voice she could
muster, “Mother, my human side is all that has stopped me from smacking you across
the face more times than I’d like to admit.”
Calysta
gasped and feigned fear.

“And
that human side you like to criticize is the only reason I was chosen by the
Universe to have a dragon shifter as a mate, or did that little fact slip your
mind?” She paused to see if her mother would at least try to deny what Kyra was
saying, but true to form,
Calysta
just sat looking
regal.

“No,
I’m sure it didn’t since that was all that really mattered. Admit it Mother,
you had always suspected that I would be the one. I would even go so far as to
say that the chance at having a dragon shifter as a son-in-law was the only
reason you were ever with my father. Goddess knows you couldn’t have what you
wanted without a little human in the mix.”

Finally
Calysta
started to speak but Kyra was too angry and
still had things she needed to say. “Don’t Mother, just don’t. I’m talking and
for once you’re going to listen. You came to my home uninvited, and did not
even have the decency to ask me how I was. Twenty-five years, Mother…twenty-five
years and not even a fucking hug or ‘how are you’ or a ‘you look well’? Just
some shit about bringing the mountain to Mohammed?” Kyra knew she was screaming
and could not have cared less.

“It
was always about that damn Prophecy. It was never about me.” She paused in an
effort to control her temper, but nothing short of throwing her mother out on
her ear was going to help.

“Tell
me, Mother, why are you here?
Really.
Not some bullshit reason you think
I’ll buy but the Goddess honest truth. You know I never found the Prophecy. You
also have always known where I was or at least the general vicinity, you are
after all
Calysta
St Croix. So what is it Mother,
what do you want after all these years?”

“I
only wanted to see if you were alright. No matter what you think of me, Kyra, I
am your mother and I do worry about you. I admit I kept tabs on you but I gave
you your space. I let you do whatever it was that you thought you needed to do,
but now I think it is time that we come together as a family again.”

Kyra
knew she was lying, knew it like she knew the back of her own hand, and she
knew that she should keep her close just to keep an eye on her, but in that
moment it was either make her mother leave or run the risk of snatching every
last strand of hair from her head. So she did the only thing she could think
of, she marched over to the door, threw it open, looked her mother right in the
eyes and said the words she had longed to say for more years than she could
remember, “Leave Mother, just go. I do not want to see you or talk to you and
as for coming together as a family…I have a new family so there is really no
reason for us to see one another again,”

“Now,
Kyra, you listen to me,”
Calysta’s
voice rose with
every syllable, but Kyra was not moved.

“No,
Mother, you listen to me…get out.” The last two words were whispered with all
the venom Kyra could stir up.

Calysta
stood in front of Kyra for just a second before storming out and getting into
the backseat of her Mercedes, complete with driver. Kyra slammed the door but
not before she caught sight of Royce standing at the end of her walk with a
bunch of flowers in his hand.
Great! Just fucking great!
she
thought as the slam of the door shook the frame. And if
all of that wasn’t enough, she still had not had her coffee.

~
~
~
~
~
~
~

After
a serious internal debate, Royce had decided that confronting his brothers
about their conversation, especially
Rian’s
ominous
comment, would only lead to a discussion he was neither ready for nor wanted to
have. He appeared in the kitchen like nothing was wrong, had breakfast with his
brothers, and finally escaped by telling them he needed to talk to the other
men...which wasn’t a complete lie.

Royce
showed up at Devon’s with the full intention of feeling him out for information
about Kyra. He knew his friend had taken his request to watch over his mate
very seriously and that they had formed a quick friendship that Royce envied
more than he was willing to admit.

Devon
answered the door with a smile and a knowing look that had Royce laughing out
loud. He realized it had been a while since he had truly laughed without the
aid of alcohol and felt like a tiny piece of the boulder he was carrying on his
shoulders had been lifted. “I guess you know why I’m here?” Was all he had to
say before Devon clapped him on the shoulder and invited him in.

“Yeah.
Honestly, I’m surprised it took you this long.” Devon chuckled. “You want some
coffee?”

“Yeah,
thanks.” Standing in Devon’s kitchen, he was suddenly struck with an incredible
sense of unease, and realized for the first time in a really long time that he
was
nervous
.

His
incredibly perceptive friend noticed, too. Handing him his coffee, Devon got right
to it, “So what are you
gonna
do, Bro?”

“Well,”
Royce chuckled. “I have no idea.” Unable to stand still, he began to pace the
length of the long galley kitchen, his long legs eating up the distance in only
five steps before he had to turn and retrace his steps. “I
fucked
up
,
Dev. I mean
fucked up
on a royal level, and I have no clue what to do to
make her see that I’m sorry and that I’ve changed. I mean, don’t get me wrong,
I’m still a work in progress, but I now know that she has an iron will and the
inner strength of a Titan.
Hell,
she makes me look like a lightweight
and we all know I have some seriously strong convictions. But her determination
to do what is right and keep her magic as white as possible is a living force
within her.”

Devon
nodded his head while Royce continued to pace and ramble, everything he had
been thinking for the last week and a half pouring from him. “Our bond is
growing. I know I kick started it on the ridge that morning, but I’m shocked at
how strong it’s getting in such a short amount of time. I thought with the lack
of contact it would fade, but it’s the opposite. There are times I can feel her
thinking about me and
damn man
, it makes my freaking day, and then I
remember that she hates the very air I breathe and well…you know…”

He
felt like he was a young man again, trying to ask a girl out for the first
time, only this time it wasn’t a trip to a barn raising…it was for
all
eternity
. Devon stood looking thoughtful as Royce continued on, “I know I
have to talk to her, but how? She avoids me like the plague and looks at me
like I’m wanted for mass murder.”

Devon
barked a laugh, which surprisingly made Royce feel better. He stopped pacing
and stood across from his longtime friend. “Dude, she does
not
think you
have the plague and as for how she looks at you…well, I think you might be
projecting your fears about her anger just a bit.” He held up his hand
indicating with his thumb and forefinger just a little bit, and then threw his
arms wide open. Both men laughed long and hard, a much needed respite from the
worry Royce had been spreading while he spoke.

As
their levity wound down, Royce grabbed the mug of coffee Devon had poured and
headed out the back door to the patio. He sat on one of the large wooden chairs
he remembered watching Devon construct, sand, and stain years ago, and thought
about all he had experienced and all that was still to come. Deciding to share
something he hadn’t told anyone, he sighed, “My mother spoke to me the other
day.”

“I’m
not surprised,” Devon answered, only confirming what Royce had always known,
his friend was the most accepting and spiritual of all his brethren.

“Yeah,
she told me to get my ass in gear and do whatever it took to win Kyra back.” He
looked out over Devon’s well-manicured lawn, not really seeing anything, but
looking for answers in the landscape.

“She’s
right
ya
’ know? Kyra has already started falling in
love with you. I can see it as plain as day. Don’t get me wrong, she’s fighting
it. She’s still hurt and really not sure she can ever trust you, but she can’t
help what she feels. Kyra is magical, Bro,
seriously magical,
and Earth
witches have their crap to deal with regarding mates and forever and
everything. Did you know that she has a tattoo on her right hip that is a damn
near exact match for yours?”

Before
the last word was all the way out of Devon’s mouth, Royce was standing
toe-to-toe with his friend, barely containing his rage and snarling, “
How
the
fuck
do you know she has a tattoo
anywhere
on her body?”

Devon
grinned and that only caused Royce to push his chest against his brethren’s, an
act of aggression among dragons. “Touch a nerve there,
old man
?”

His
friend took a step back and it was all Royce could do not to step right back up
to him. Grinning, Devon said, “She told me about it. Explained how she’s known
since her fiftieth birthday that she was to be mated to a dragon shifter. That
the mark appears like once every thousand years or so to a white witch the
Goddess deems worthy of the honor, and that her mom, the leader of their coven,
went
ape shit
when she showed her and tried to run her life, hence the
reason she’s on her own.

“She
also said that a couple days after the mark appeared she had a crazy dream, and
when she woke up she thought she was losing her mind, because she knew all
these new words she’d never heard before. It wasn’t until Lance said one of
them to Sam that she realized, she knew what it was. She understands the
language of our ancestors.”

If
possible, Royce felt even worse. Kyra had been deemed worthy by the Goddess
herself and fashioned by the Universe just for him and he had pissed all over
it by being a dick. To top it off, he had just acted like a total asshole to
one of his best friends…
way to go, loser
, ran through his head. “Shit, I
really am the lowest form of life. I’m sorry, man. What the
hell
am I
gonna
do, Dev?”

“You’re
gonna
do what men have been doing since the dawn of
time…you’re going to grovel, my friend. Beg like your life depends on it
because, let’s face it….
it does
.”

Royce
knew Devon was right but he had no clue how to go about it. He was the one that
had been doling out advice for most of his life. He’d never had to think about
what he would do if the shoe was on the other foot, and now faced with a mess
bigger than anything he had ever counseled anyone on, he was lost. His next
thought spurred him to action,
but
I’ll be damned if I give up
.

“Thank
you, Dev. I’m going over there right now. I’ll camp out on her front porch if I
have to.”

He
headed out the door and Devon’s parting words of advice made him smile, “Take
flowers, women love flowers.”

He
ran into the Town Square, as Rayne’s mate had named the commerce center of
their lair, and grabbed the biggest, most beautiful bunch of fresh cut flowers
he could find. Wasting no time, he walked as fast as his long legs would carry
him. It was time he and Kyra talked, time to resolve their issues and get on
with their lives. If she would only listen to him, he knew he could show her
that he had changed and that all he wanted was to share his life with her. The
slamming of her front door and the look on the woman’s face that exited stopped
him dead in his tracks.
Maybe now is not the best time
, he thought.

Royce
stared at the door that had just been slammed and then looked at the tail lights
of the car making its way out of the lair and wondered what the hell had just
happened. Unsure what to do, he walked towards the door, hoping a brilliant
idea would just come to him. By the time he stepped onto her porch no such idea
had occurred, and he had reached the point of no return, so he did the only
thing he could do…he knocked. Waiting to the count of twenty and deciding Kyra
was not going to answer, he stepped back and looked around her tiny porch. Not
wanting to show up at the training pit with a bundle of flowers, he was just
about to lay them on the porch swing when the door creaked open and Kyra looked
around the corner.

Her
face was flushed with anger and her eyes looked everywhere but at him, but he
could still see the fire burning in them. He knew he should have apologized for
the intrusion and walked away, but his feet refused to move and his heart was
screaming to stay. Not to mention the thousand pound beast with whom he
shared his very soul that was doing everything but blowing smoke to let him
know that they
needed
their mate.

She
spoke, and he let her voice just roll over him, “Did you need something?”