Second Chance with the Dragon King

Chapter Ten

ELIZABETH'S POV

My appetite was long gone. The smell of food still wafted through the halls, but I scarcely noticed now. There was, understandably, too much on my mind to think about going to find it.

What kind of cruel joke is this? I thought irritably. Was I destined to never be rid of Allie? What was the point in me being able to come back if she was here?

"Elizabeth?"

I gasped and whirled. Rígan was walking toward me, confusion on his face.

"Hi," I said in a low voice.

He stopped in front of me and took my hand. I stared down at it. "I'm sorry. I thought you would be sleeping longer. I would not have left. . ."

"Don't worry about it," I replied. "I'm use to waking up early. Luna duties, you know." As soon as I said the words, I wish I hadn't. His eyes hardened into molten rock and his hand squeezed around mine.

"We need to talk."

"Okay."

He led me away. It was silly, and probably stupid, but I liked the way his hand felt around mine. I liked it a lot. His scent was strong, too, a million times better than his pillow. We walked side by side, and I thought again about the night before. The memory made my face go red, and I hoped he didn't notice.

"In here."

He held the door for me. The first thing I saw was the gigantic dark wood desk across the room. Rígan closed the door while I peered around what was obviously a study. The walls had built in shelves that were stacked with books of every size, including a few loose papers shoved haphazardly among them. Another crystal chandelier hung low from the center of the cieling, casting a warm glow over the space and the floor was decorated with a lush green rug. It was cozy.

I turned to face him. "What did you want to talk about?"

He didn't answer. He simply stared at me with a soft smile. I shuffled from one foot to other, and he shook his head.

"I'm sorry," he apologized again. "It's just that. . . you are so beautiful. Especially in this light."

I blushed. "Oh. Thank you," I muttered. What was I supposed to say to that? "So. . ."

"Yes. It's a bit of a delicate conversation. . . where to start?" He seemed to be talking to himself. "I suppose I should start with. . . what happened. . . last night."

There it is. He's going to let me down gently. Why was that so disappointing? It wasn't as if we'd slept together. Not really, anyway. But then I remembered what he'd told Allie, that I was important to him.

"I spoke with Nicholai at breakfast. He gave me the details on how you arrived here. I want to make sure I have this right: you have rejected Alpha Cole?"

I nodded.

"And the bond was broken on both sides?"

"Yes."

Rígan nodded thoughtfully. He moved around me, going to to half-sit on the desk. I turned slowly, waiting, wondering where he was going with this.

"Nicholai told me that you had failed the transformation from human to werewolf."

I gaped at him. "He told you that?"

"He did. Is it the truth?"

"Yes. But why did you—?"

"When you walked through my door last night," he said, cutting me off, "I just about went crazy. I thought I had to be dreaming. But you were there, and you were real. Yet, somehow you don't know me." He frowned, then continued. "There is no easy way to say this, so I will just say it. Elizabeth, you are my mate."

Of all the things I expected him to say, that was not one of them. He stared at me and I stared back. I couldn't think of one thing to say. I searched his absurdly handsome face for some sign that he was joking, but there were none. He was serious. And as that seriousness hit me, the denial rose quickly. Because I couldn't be his mate. There was no way.

"But. . . I. . . you. . ." I stammered, then took a deep breath and let it out through my nose. "I can't be. I don't feel the. . ."

"Bond?"

Beyond words, I just nodded.

"You don't. But I do. I knew from the second I caught your scent." His gaze turned piercing. "There is nothing you feel for me?"

I took an involuntary step back. "What do you mean?"

"I mean, you don't feel any part of the mate bond?"

It took me second through the shock to organize my answer. "I. . . maybe. I caught your scent, too, even though I'm human. I guess I didn't think too much about it, since I'm so used to it. Or I was used to it." I grimaced, but continued. "And when you. . . touch me. . . I feel a spark. Like electricity. Or heat, or maybe both."

Rígan was nodding slowly. "But you do not feel the bond in your soul."

Beneath the exterior, I could see how much my answer meant to him. I didn't want to hurt him. But I had to be honest. So I shook my head. "I'm sorry. I don't."

He sighed and lowered his gaze so I couldn't see them. "Do not apologize. It is not your fault."

Neither of us said anything for several minutes. The air between us felt heavy, and I hated that I couldn't understand the situation. He was claiming to be my mate, but was it possible that he was feeling something that wasn't there? Admittedly, I knew next to nothing about dragons. I opened my mouth and, of course, blurted out the first senseless thing that came to mind.

"Are you sure we're mates? Maybe you made a mistake."

His head snapped up. The way he looked at me made me want to swallow the words back down into the deepest, darkest pits of my stomach, never to see the light of day. I backed up intentionally now, an apology on my lips, but I never got to voice it because he was abruptly in front of me, his face a strange mixture of ferocity and something else that made my insides melt.

"I made no mistake," he said. He took another step toward me; my back hit the wall as I stepped away. His hand came up to cradle my cheek. "Though it is one sided, for now, I recognize you Elizabeth. I can feel the bond in my soul, and my soul is screaming at me to be one with you. As is the beast."

His fingers trailed over my cheek, down my neck and along my collarbone. I shook under his touch. Not from fear—there was no fear in me, only a low burning wave of heat.

"It is no mistake. Anyone else who would have dared lay a hand on me would have paid for it. You coming here was no mistake. Kissing you was no mistake. Everytime I touch you? That is not a mistake." He lowered his face to mine, his lips brushing softly against my skin. "I can feel you, but it is not enough. I want to claim you. It's been driving me insane. You have no how close I came last night. The dragon is not easily tamed."

Again, I spoke without much thought. It was hard to think clearly around him. "Why didn't you?" My voice was shaky.

"I did not think it was appropriate when you obviously did not know who I was to you."

I re-played the events of last night again. Knowing what I knew now—and how could I deny it now? The familiar sparks of the bond tingled where ever he touched— everything that had happened between us took on a different meaning. He'd been hoping that at some point, I would feel what he felt. And even now, I still didn't.

I wanted to know. I needed to know. There were definitely things to think about. Allie, for one, and what her presence in this new life meant for me, and Liam for another. Was our bond truly broken? Is that why I couldn't feel the bond with Rígan? And the biggest question: was this my fate after all? Then why had I been left to die in a dark, cold forest, rejected by the man who was supposed to love me? So many questions and I had no answers. But that wasn't enough to stop me right here, right now.

"I know now," I whispered. I pushed all the doubts, all the insecurities and uncertainties down and locked them away. "So what's stopping you?"