Dragon Mate

Mate

"What if I told you I was a dragon, and you were my mate?" The man watched her face as he spoke, taking in every detail as if he would memorize her.

"I'd say your insane, and that still doesn't explain how I could go back and relive my life." Ailia rolled her eyes. "Oh I see, I told you my life story and you think this is how you are going to get into my pants. Very smooth." Ailia stood to leave. The man made no move to stop her. As Ailia went to walk away, she couldn't seem to make her feet move.

"Okay. So you're a dragon and my mate. What does that have to do with reliving my life?" Ailia spilled back onto the seat leaning forward across the table. The man smiled at her knowingly.

"My name is Egan, by the way. Egan Malestorm." He reached his hand across the table to shake hers. Ailia was embarrassed at that moment. She'd been so caught up in her life that she'd never introduced herself or gotten his name.

"Sorry. I just talked your ear off without telling you my name, didn't I? Ailia. Ailia Morgan." She shook his hand. "Now tell me what you being a dragon and my mate has to do with reliving my life. There is no logical connection there. If your trying to get into my pants, there has to be an easier way to go about it that makes sense."

"Well, it goes like this. I, as a dragon, can live for a very long time. Hundreds of years really. The oldest dragon known in history was over 1-200 years old. My mate is human. They are all human. It is thought that the reason for this is to keep the dragon population grounded and in balance with the world. We are powerful and could cause a lot of destruction if we wanted to, but why would we if we could hurt our mates or mates of other dragons? We never know when we will meet our mates. We aren't like werewolves in the sense that when we reach a certain age we can find our mates. We can go hundreds of years before meeting them. And because our mates are human, they could have a whole life lived before we ever find them. Families of their own, though no kids. Dragon mates cannot have children with anyone but their dragon. It is always a miscarriage without explanation. No one knows why. Something about their DNA but science hasn't caught up enough with it yet." Ailia took this all in. There was a ring of truth to his words but it was so outrageous. How could she believe it? And had he said werewolves? Everyone knew they were just a myth, right? But he pushed on.

"What if a dragon met his mate at the end of his life? He wouldn't have time to make a family with her. And what if she was already married like you? What then? That is where this power comes into play. You, as the mate, can choose to go back, relive your life with all the memories and experiences from this life still in tact as if it was a dream. You can make different choices and when you become a legal adult- 18 here in the USA- we can meet in that life and you can take your rightful place by my side."

Ailia considered his words carefully. He was a dragon and her mate? Could she relive her life? Make different choices? It seemed too convenient. And what if he was some horrible man? Would she be stuck with him?

"What if I don't want to take my place by your side? What if I just want to live my life again but do it without you?"

"I can't force you to be with me. But let me ask you this- have you really felt complete in this life? Or have you always felt as though there was something missing?"

To be honest, Ailia had felt a sense as if she was meant for something more for as long as she could remember. She had chalked it up to ambition and loneliness. But what if he was what she'd been looking for...

"What is the catch?"

"No catch. All it would cost is a kiss. A single kiss and you hit the restart button."

"Just one kiss?"

Egan nodded at Ailia as she considered this. Finally, she leaned forward and closed her eyes, as if to say "okay. Let's do this."

She heard him whisper softly "I'll see you soon." His lips brushed hers and the world dropped away.

Suddenly it was dark, she was tiny, and being squeezed hard on all sides through a space that was much too small for her tiny body into the harsh light of the hospital and the hands of the doctor helping her mother bring her into the world.