Strung along - The Dragon shifter's human mate

Oh so royal...

Percy

Something squishy hits the side of my head, and I look up from my textbook with an indignant squeal. “Hey!”

“You’re not even watching,” Lana complains.

“Sorry, I have to finish this.”

Huffing, she leans back against the cushions of her big orange sofa. The material is so fuzzy I will collect lint off my sweatshirt obsessively for days. But even though this thing looks like a hairball, a cat coughed up, it’s more comfortable than any furniture I’ve ever owned. And questionable taste aside, Lana’s apartment is the perfect spot to prep for the upcoming exam and spend time with my friend, who makes study breaks all the more entertaining.

So, I try to focus on the page I’m reading for the fifth time now while ignoring Lana chewing popcorn and commenting on what she’s watching. It sounds so bad, but I didn’t even notice what it was before setting my stuff down and opening the page I’m currently on. We follow our little routine for another 20 minutes, and my eyes are getting increasingly tired by the second. No new information was obtained, though. Great.

“Oh, oh! Those! Those are the kind of t*ts I wanna get.” My friend jumps up and down on the couch, almost hitting my textbook and pointing at the screen. “Just ten more months at Ruby’s, and I can afford them.” Lana winks when I snort in disbelief at her comment. Then her expression turns dreamy, and she looks back at the laptop she put down on her coffee table.

“If they come with the guy that looks at me like that, I’ll pay double.”

“What guy—Jesus!"

Yeah, I should have definitely paid attention before. Hello there!

“What is this?”

“Seriously? I told you twice now.” Lana chuckles, but I don’t look up from the screen

“It’s this podcast I love." Her eyes are still glued to the laptop. "Usually, they put out an audio episode every week, but this week, they came out with a live video. The host, Avery Grambs, is soooo f*cking talented. I think I’ve read every single article she published since college.” While my friend gushes about the pretty redhead with the bright pink headphones sitting to the left in a cozy-looking armchair, my gaze jumps between the couples on screen alternatingly.

The ‘t*ts’ my friend wants to take to her plastic surgeon as an inspo shot belong to a deadly gorgeous brunette with eyes so big and brown she looks like Bambi’s missing mommy. Her tight maroon dress bunches a little around her legs when she moves closer to the man sitting beside her. Ugh! Yep, I’ll take one of those as well. The whole time, while the beauty is talking to Avery animatedly, gesturing wildly, his light green eyes are pinned on her. And the adoration in them, in that small smile when she looks up at him or maybe mentions him? Unhealthy emotions. Really unhealthy ones. Jealousy is the top contender.

He’s built like a professional weight lifter, and when my eyes flit to his hands, they look like he is used to manual labor. But what catches my eye is not the web of scars on the left side of his face that he seemingly tries to turn away from the camera, it’s that his nose and the part around his mouth seem so… familiar.

That feeling intensifies when the second couple on the couch is in view again. The tall blond man looks a little like a more washed-out copy of Mr. ‘I’m infatuated with her.’ His hair is lighter, his eyes almost silver, but the chin and the way his brows crease when he thinks about the question the host must have just asked look the same.

His broad shoulders seem to almost hide the smaller woman next to him. And her folding her light purple sweater over her hands and looking like she wants to be anywhere but in that studio, only make it appear like that was his intention. The woman's pretty olive skin tints pink, and she pushes some of that thick black hair out of her face when Avery directs a question at her.

“HEY!” Lana snaps her fingers in front of my face, and I jolt back a little. Wow, I almost fell off the sofa, trying to lean closer to the laptop.

When I look up, my friend snorts. “Wow. That good, huh? How much do you want to bet you didn’t listen to a word I just said to you.”

“Lana..”

“It’s OK.” She waves it off, waggling her eyebrows. “It’s your first. Hell, I haven’t seen them in a while. How does it feel?”

“Them?” But my friend stuffs a handful of popcorn in her mouth and rambles on. “Honestly, I was waiting for the day those boys were off the market. They keep away from the public as much as possible… well, all except—

“Jordan.” This must be a weird Fata Morgana. My mind instantly goes to guiltily listing all the times I’ve thought about him in the last week, and I shoo those thoughts away as fast as I can. He sits left of the blonde and his partner and just now came into view when the camera panned out. Wait a minute… Holy… They all look like AI-altered versions of him. The guys, I mean. Are they—

“Oh, so you know him? Mmh, didn’t think the oldest Araújo would do it for you, but to each their own.”

"He... was at the club with the band the other night."

Lana's eyes are as big as saucers, and her mouth hangs. It takes her minutes to be able to speak. "W-What?!" I rub a hand over my face avoiding her eyes searing into me. Not really a fan of prolonged eye contact.

"Yeah, 'The scales'? He's their drummer." My friend still seems flabbergasted.

"How does the little human know more about this than me?" She puts on a fake pout. I raise a brow at her. "Maybe I just pay attention."

Lana lets out a chuckle. "Fair point. Guess I was way too into the cute bass player. Hey, maybe Xavier can connect us. Sure, he didn't offer me a ride, but hey... There is always a next time." Damn, I would love her positive outlook on life. Right now, I just want to learn more about them.

"Seriously..." Lana's eyes flit back to the screen where Jordan is talking to the reporter at the moment, shooting her one dorky, insincere smile after the other. "That kind of explains why they never play any of the bigger shifter events or why most of my friends have no idea who they are." My friend leans back, grabbing a handful of popcorn. "Did you know that they used to wear masks up until a few months ago? Jordan being a part of this, actually makes a lot of sense looking back now. I never heard any of the music he allegedly made anywhere and just being a party boy? Seemed to surface-level and boring for someone like him." Talk about parasocial relationships.

“So they’re… like famous?”

Lana looks at me like I grew a second head. And I regret not asking her more questions after I got that file from ‘Stiltzer.’ Sure, I could see that by their assets and estimated net worth, his parents and extended family must be well off and have great connections (going by the countless shots of what I assume was his father at different political events). Still, I didn’t read much more into it. Stupid of me, apparently.

“Yes. You could say that the ROYAL FAMILY is somewhat famous.” One of Lana’s brows is raised in amusement, and she looks at me incredulously. “F*ck, I always forget that you know so little about my world, P.”

“Gee, thanks.”

“You’re welcome. Sooooooo…” My friend snuggles closer, getting her laptop from the coffee table, and as fast as it appears, Jordan’s face freezes and is replaced by a different tap she opens.

“Those very handsome men are the three oldest of our reigning royal couple. They have six kids in—

“Six kids?! What the hell?!”

“Did you see the King? I don’t blame Queen Maeve for hitting that every chance she got.” Lana waggles her eyebrows, and I suppress a gagging sound.

“Ugh, the vivid image of old people dry humping…. I could have done without that.” Throwing her head back laughing, my friend points to the screen. “Who are you calling old?” And she’s right. I rub my eyes for a moment and then check the date on the picture.

“That’s impossible.” They look no older than 35…. Forty with both eyes closed. Jordan is 25, that is- How is that possible?

“Shifters age way slower than your regular human.”

I thought as much when ‘Stiltzer’ tried to put me on the case, but seeing the effects of that gene mutation in full-on living, breathing beings is a completely different thing. I drag my eyes away from the pretty blonde with the messy curls and the tall, broadly smiling man and look up at Lana.

“You said they keep a low profile…" My friend nods. "Then why are they doing a podcast with- ” She closed the tab she showed me the King and Queen’s latest photo in, and I can read the number of active viewers in the corner of the window open with the still-running live video. “F*ck! Lana 205, 000 people are actively watching this!”