MATED TO A DRAGON

Chapter 5: Claimed

Winter came early to the mountain.

In three days, the pass to Oakhaven was buried in ten feet of snow. There was no going back now, even if I wanted to. The world below disappeared in white.

I did not mind. I had never been so busy.

Kael taught me to read the old language of dragons. The symbols were not letters, but claw marks that changed meaning depending on how deep they were carved. He taught me how to make the stone move, how to ask the mountain for a door and have it give me one. He taught me that his purr could heal, that when I had a headache from reading, he would lay his great dragon head in my lap and purr until the pain went away.

And he taught me to fly.

Not really. He would shift into his true form and let me climb onto his back, between his wings, where a natural hollow fit a human perfectly. Then he would launch from the peak of Mount Stryga and we would soar.

The first time, I screamed. The second time, I laughed. The third time, I spread my arms and felt like I was a dragon too.

One night, a month after my arrival, we landed on a high ledge that looked over the entire valley. Oakhaven was a tiny cluster of lights far below. From here, it looked peaceful. It looked like a place that did not sacrifice its daughters.

"Do you miss it?" Kael asked. He was in his man-form, his wings still out, wrapped around me to keep me warm against the wind.

"No," I said, and realized it was true. "I miss Tomas. My little brother. But not the rest. Do you ever get angry that they fear you?"

"Every day," he admitted. "But then I remember that fear keeps them away from my hoard. And now, it brought you to me."

He turned me to face him. The wind whipped my hair, which had grown longer. He had taken to braiding it himself, his large hands surprisingly gentle.

"Elara," he said. "Winter is half over. The snows will melt in two months. You must make your choice soon. I am... not a patient dragon when it comes to what is mine."

His eyes glowed in the dark. His scent, smoke and snow, surrounded me.

"I know what it means to be your mate now," I said. "I have read it in the memories. It is not just living long. It is... a bond. A soul bond."

"Yes."

"If I say yes, will I become like you? Will I have scales? Horns?"

He smiled. "You will have a little of me, as I will have a little of you. Your eyes may turn gold when you are angry. My heart, which has been cold for centuries, may beat faster. It is an exchange."

"And will you... will you mark me? Like in the stories?"

In the dragon histories, a mating was sealed with a bite, a claiming mark that never faded.

Kael's eyes dropped to my neck. I saw his teeth sharpen.

"If you want me to," he whispered, his voice rough. "Only if you want me to. Say the word and I will never touch you again as a mate, only as a friend. Say yes, and I will claim you in front of all the memories of my ancestors, so they know you are Mated to a Dragon, and no one will ever dare harm you."

The wind howled. Below us, Oakhaven's lights flickered.

I thought of the silk bindings. I thought of the white flowers for graves. I thought of being third daughter, worthless. I thought of a library with thousands of books and a mountain that made doors for me and a dragon who purred when I was sad and who had been alone for four hundred years.

I reached up and pulled his head down to mine. His horns were warm.

"Yes," I said. "I choose you, Kael. I choose the mountain. I choose to be Mated to a Dragon."

For a second, he did not move, as if he could not believe it.

Then he roared. Not a roar of anger, but a roar of triumph that shook snow from the peaks for miles. In Oakhaven, they must have heard it and thought the monster was angry. They did not know the monster was finally, finally not alone.

He pulled me into his arms, his wings closing around us, creating a warm, dark cocoon against the storm.

"Look at me," he commanded softly.

I looked into his golden eyes.

"My Elara," he whispered. "My mate."

And then he bent his head and kissed me, not a bite, not yet, but a kiss that was all heat and smoke and a promise of forever. His lips were hot, and I tasted ash and honey.

When we broke apart, his eyes were pure gold, his pupils wide.

"The mark can wait until you are ready," he said, breathing hard. "Tonight, just let me hold my mate."

He picked me up as if I weighed nothing and leapt from the ledge. We did not fall. His wings caught the wind and we flew, back to our mountain, back to our library, back to our hoard of memories, where a new memory, our first memory as mated, had just been born.

I was no longer Elara Finch, the sacrifice.

I was Elara, Mated to a Dragon.

And my story was just beginning.

This is not yet the end of the story but still there are more interesting part of the story coming in the next episode of the story, so stay tuned to be story and please stay tuned and enjoy more interesting part.

This story comprises of more than eight episodes which I'm preparing to deliver as soon as possible, be ready for other episodes which is going to soon come which you will enjoy more thanks