Page 57 of Her Silent Knight

Kaede nodded. With Rhen holding the sheet in front of him, Kaede shifted. He kept his roars to himself. He didn’t want the kids to know how much shifting pained him. It would get better in time, once his body got back used to changing. The kids shouted his name as he morphed from dragon to man.

“Kaede, Kaede, Kaede, Kaede,” they chanted excitedly.

“Looks like you’re a hero to those brats,” Rhen drawled.

Not a hero. A protector. He and his crew kept them safe. He wished those in the village could all come through the gate and enter the compound. Because of past transgressions, they were forced to reside in the village outside the compound.

Silvia was there because she once tried to murder the mate of his friend and team member. Jenna, the bothersome succubus, was there because she’d kept attempting to seduce males and females who were already mated.

That made them uncomfortable. There had been plenty of others who weren’t mated who she could’ve slept with. Yet, she targeted those who were taken. For that, she’d been banished to the village.

The children growing up there were free to play in the compound during the day. However, the sins of their parents prevented them from living within the safety of the gate. Those were the leader of the compound’s rules.

Kaede may not agree with all the rules. But he wasn’t the leader of the compound. He was, however, the leader of the patrol. And he made sure there was someone standing guard and watching over the villagers at all times. Mainly, for the sake of the children.

“That shit looks like it hurts,” Rhen said, once Kaede was eye level with him again.

“Drop the sheet,” Jenna yelled.

“Shush, hussy,” Silvia chastised her. Kaede gave her the usual glare before snatching the sheet from Rhen and wrapping it around himself.

“Kids go inside now,” Silvia shouted. “There’s nothing to see here. I need to talk to Kaede. Run along now.”

The children looked like they wanted to protest, but they knew better than to disobey Aunt Silvie, as they all referred to her. Sheet tied around his waist, Kaede approached Silvia. Jenna just couldn’t keep silent.

“That sheet is covering you up, but it can’t hide that bulge.” Jenna bit her bottom lip.

What bulge? He wasn’t hard. That was just his size. She couldn’t see his dick and that was all that mattered. It seemed he would have to do something about her now that he’d found his treasure. Kaede walked over to Silvia and stretched his arms out.

“You really did it Kaede. You really found your mate.” Silvia smiled at him as she placed his treasure in his arms. “That vamp said you could talk.”

“Name’s Rhen. I told you this many times over the years.”

Silvia rolled her eyes at Rhen before returning her gray eyes to him. “Why haven’t you said anything?”

With his mate finally in his arms, he could now speak. “I can only speak when I’m touching her.”

“Not true,” Rhen shouted. “Tell her the one word you can say when you’re not touching her.”

Why was he still there?

“You can say one word when you’re not touching her?”

“It appears so.”

“What’s the word?”

“Mine.”

A huge grin spread across Silvia’s face. “How romantic!”

Kaede chuckled.

“Are you blushing?” Silvia pinched his cheeks. “You are. You are blushing. Kaede, I’m so happy for you. I can’t wait for my Raul to return home from The Shedding. One more month and I get to see his handsome face again.”

“Hey,” Rhen shouted from behind him. “Won’t you feel weird being so old while he looks like he’s in his twenties again?”

Silvia sighed and opened her mouth to speak.