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But there was no choice. To refuse meant to turn his back on his brothers, the Invicta, and the boy he was only beginning to fully realize was truly his son.
Frost-covered lichen crunched beneath his feet as he walked, and the dragon wailed in his chest.
He had not felt this bereft when the Invicta took him from his childhood home. It made no sense. She was just a girl.
But he knew that wasn’t true, not really.
Even without the pull of the mate bond, he knew she was more than that. The bravery she had shown coming here, and the compassion she extended to every other being they encountered, in spite of the harshness of her own circumstances spoke volumes about the kind of person she was.
Ella was here, mourning the loss of the sister she had raised, yet she had opened her heart to Bo so fully.
And to me.
The thought hurt his heart as well as his body. It hurt the man in ways the dragon couldn’t fathom.
Claim her, the dragon demanded. All this can be solved if you claim her now.
He gazed out over the island and the land beyond. Other than a few hills in the background where the solar cells and wind turbines stood, the world was all a plain, flat moss-green.
Even the cold wind lacked scent. There was no ocean to add layers of salt and sea creatures.
And practically speaking, there was no saloon, and no house of pleasures to take the dangerous edge off his hunger, not even another bachelor to commiserate with, and be a friend.
Except for the man who would surely claim Ella’s hand, if Jhon did nothing.
Claim her before he can, the dragon shrieked, sending Jhon’s head pounding.
But that was not the answer, it could not be. It was not his duty.
He walked on, searching for an answer that would not come.
* * *
When the first rays of morning light began to glow, and the harsh shadows cast by 0-dette faded over the horizon, he finally knew what had to be done.
Pain lashed at his heart, and the only thing keeping him going was the knowledge that there was no other option.
He sensed that his mate had awoken, so he slipped onto the porch, tapping once on the front door before entering, so as not to startle her.
Perhaps it was because of his decision that he could see her beauty with perfect clarity now.
As she looked up at him from where she prepared the morning coffee, he could clearly see that what he had thought of as plain brown hair was lustrous. Her delicate frame told the tale of a woman who had gone without, so that her siblings could eat. And a world of hope illuminated her eyes, so that they were as bright and blue as a pair of glittering high-mass stars.
“Jhon,” she said softly, standing.
Bo slept on her shoulder, his chubby face so relaxed and happy. And who could blame the boy? Was there a sweeter place in the whole sector than in her arms?
“I have to go,” he told her, clenching his jaw against the pain of it.
“Why?” she asked him simply.
“I can’t keep my hands off you for twenty years,” he told her honestly. “It is torture to do it for a day. And even if I succeed somehow, I can’t watch you be claimed by another.”
“I don’t want him,” she said softly. “I want you.”
Her words cut him open inside.
“I cannot be yours,” he told her, his voice breaking. “I am going back to the town to send a message to my commander. Another guard will come for Bo, one who will not be distracted from his duty, as I have been.”
