Dragon 4 Chapter 11

“So, am I your latest suspect?” Tyrande asked. She seemed to have recovered from the previous night. She was wearing a beautiful silver dress as she sat in the room with me.

“Actually, I’m fairly certain of your alibi last night. This is mostly an excuse to check in with you to see how you are doing.” I had been interviewing guests on the island since we’d ended the conclave. So far, I had found no leads, but we were slogging down the list of suspects. The party had been in full swing, making it easier.

Tyrande cocked an eyebrow as she stared at me. “Check in on me? I thought I made myself clear last night. You should be interested in my sister.” Tyrande pursed her lips.

“What if I told you that Morgana could create a passageway between Philly and Sentarshaden?” I baited the conversation. The sisters had their own obligations and a tight bond that was holding them back.

Tyrande stilled for a moment before her eyes lifted to meet mine. “She would? That would be a huge undertaking.” Her eyes began swirling brightly with her sudden shift in mood.

I nodded.

They had been clear that staying in Sentarshaden was important to them. They had responsibilities, and a large part of their identity was tied to Sentarshaden. “Last night helped me understand what you both need. If you live in Switzerland, then we’ll just need to make it easier for us to travel back and forth.”

Tyrande let out a heavy sigh. “Still, I would like you to pursue my sister over me. I have a small army of male suitors back home. Yev is a different story. Now that it is out that she is a dragon, no one seems interested.”

“Really? Why would everyone lose interest?” That definitely wasn’t what I’d expected. When the para news came out and trumpeted my identity as a dragon, suitors had flocked to me. We were at the top of the paranormal food chain. And she was still everything she had been before that, a beautiful, kind woman who was a princess to the high elves.

“She intimidates them.” Tyrande shook her head in exasperation. “They are a bunch of pansies. Like they think she’ll eat them.”

I was in full agreement, with the pansy part, not the Yev having a meaty late-night snack. “What a bunch of idiots. Yev is incredible. It’s entirely their loss if their ego keeps them from going after her. Hell, they should get their heads checked. Yev is down right drop dead gorgeous on top of being a wonderful woman in all regards.”

Tyrande grinned from ear to ear, and her eyes shifted behind me. I turned my head to follow what had her attention.

Yev was standing there in the doorway, beaming at hearing my praise.

I wondered if Tyrande had timed that. But I would have said it all to Yev as well.

“I didn’t know you were there, but I meant what I said.” I told her.

Yev’s mouth opened and closed several times without words coming out as her cheeks turned increasingly red. The blush even began creeping down her neck to her chest.

“I think you broke her.” Tyrande laughed.

Yev startled at Tyrande’s words. “It did not.” Yev demanded. “And if that’s what you really think, then put your money where your mouth is.” Yev got up in my face.

“Okay.” I grabbed her by the shoulder and leaned into her, closing my eyes and pushing my lips forward.

It was just the smallest of pecks on her lips, because she was frozen like a deer in headlights.

As soon as I pulled away from her, she began sputtering and making nonsensical noises while her hands flailed, lightly smacking my chest at moments. “You can’t just do that. You have to-you have to warn a girl.”

I enjoyed watching her devolve into a bumbling mess. And Tyrande seemed to think it was hilarious as well.

Tyrande bent over, howling with laughter at Yev’s reaction. “You just-and then you-oh God sister, that was hilarious.” Tyrande mimed Yev’s reactions rather than describe them.

And just like that, I was forgotten. Yev whirled on her sister, her fiery nature returning to her. “It’s not funny! There was no warning. I would like to see you do better.”

I wasn’t sure I liked where this was going, but I wasn’t about to interrupt the two sisters.

Tyrande stood up promptly and grabbed me by the front of my shirt, pulling me to kiss her.

Unlike Yev’s passive kiss, Tyrande’s was the complete opposite. She was filled with passion. She pressed her lips to mine and her tongue came barging into my mouth, chasing my own.

“Enough. Enough! You’ve made your point.” Yev pushed her way between us, pulling the two of us apart.

Tyrande moved back just slightly, licking her lips and staring at me hungrily.

Damn, the older sister had some sexual energy built up in her.

I looked between them, glad that we’d at least pushed through whatever had been holding each of them back. Nothing like a little sibling spat to break the ice.

“If we are both going to pursue him, we need to establish some ground rules.” Yev declared.

I raised an eyebrow at Yev’s proclamation. “What if I don’t like rules?”

“If you’re going to pick one of us, we need to establish rules for what’s allowed and not allowed. I want to make sure we don’t cross any boundaries.” Yev gave her sister a meaningful look.

Tryande was about to give a rebuttal when I jumped back in.

“Yev, you must have missed the part where I told your sister Morgana can create a portal between Philly and Sentarshaden. You can both stay in Sentarshaden; you don’t have to decide who comes with me and who remains to fulfill the duties as a princess.”

Hope sparkled in Yev’s eyes as I continued. “I’m comfortable with you living in Switzerland. As long as I’m able to get to you, should there be an issue.” A growl punctuated the end of my statement, my possessive dragon nature making itself known.

Yev’s mouth was wide as she looked up at me with enormous eyes. “Really?”

“Really sister. We don’t have to fight over him. But if we did, I would certainly win.” Tryande nudged her sister in the side.

Yev nodded with a thoughtful expression, seeming to have not processed her sister’s words. “Then if you don’t have to choose one of us, there’s less of a rush. I would like to do this properly. You will take me on a date.” There was a firmness in Yev’s tone that brooked no argument.

And I loved the idea of taking each of them out on a date. “Your wish is my command, milady.” I did an exaggerated bow.

“Me too.” Tyrande spoke out, and I chuckled.

“I assumed you’d want to be dated as well. I’m happy to take this slower and build a relationship with each of you separately. Just because I have multiple lovers does not mean I should give any of you any less time.” I made the promise, wanting to reassure both of them.

Yev stood biting her lip, her face still swirling through thoughts. I waited for her to speak, but she just kept chewing on her lip.

When she still said nothing, I tried to give her a soft nudge. “What’s on your mind, Yev?”

She hesitated only for another moment before speaking her mind. “What about the other dragons?”

Before giving her an honest answer, I paused. This wasn’t an easy subject. “I have a role to play, Yev.” Stressed, I found my fingers running through my hair. “I have been asked to help restore the red, the golden, and the silver lines of dragons. And ideally help build the others to fuller numbers as well.”

Whether I liked it or not, I had that obligation. Especially with the silver. I had made a promise to Servile, and I intended to keep it.

But I still had options. While mating with other dragons would certainly increase the likelihood of dragon children, I could accomplish it in other ways. As I understood it, if a dragon mates with any other species, there was a 50-50 chance of either species.

Which, in general, were pretty good odds, but there were also complications with bearing a dragon child for non dragons though. Many species, especially something as weak as humans, were unable to bear dragon children due to the mana it would draw during the pregnancy. Their bodies weren’t created to handle it.

Similarly, it was also a considerable strain on species such as elves or werewolves to bear a dragon child. For a duration of the pregnancy, they would be essentially normal as the dragon child consumed all the mana within their bodies.

Yev struggled with what she was trying to say. “I know you have the obligation. And it’s not that I want to stop you from that obligation.” She fidgeted with her hair, twisting the golden strands around each other and not meeting my eyes.

“It’s just that, if I’m your first dragon mate, then I want some sort of authority.” She looked up and met my eyes shyly, unsure if I was going to agree or if I would call her ridiculous.

Instead, I shrugged. “That might even be preferable.” I smiled at her. “We all know there’s going to be a couple of bags of crazy out there.” I gestured over to where I knew some of the conclave was gathering.

“That’s putting it nicely.” Tyrande muttered.

“Then there is the other thing.” Yev looked around awkwardly, as if trying to determine if anyone was listening.

I wasn’t sure what she meant. “What thing?”

Rather than say it aloud, Yev held up her arm and shifted it to green scales and then pointed at me. “From everything I’ve learned, you shouldn’t have that.”

It was Tyrande’s turn to look confused as she looked between Yev’s scales and me. “You aren’t supposed to have scales? I thought all dragons had scales.”

I understood Yev’s discretion and appreciated it. “All dragons have scales; they’re just different colors.” I held out my arm for Tyrande, shifting it to be covered with gold scales. “I am the heir to Bahamut. That means that I can take on any chromatic color.”

With my statement, I let my scales shift to silver and then to bronze. Meeting her eyes, I broke the rules and shifted them green. “Supposedly the heir Tiamat should have the ability to shift their scales any colors of the chromatic dragons.”

Tyrande opened her mouth, but Yev clamped her hand over it and shook her head. “That he is the heir of Bahamut means there should also be an heir of Tiamat at the same time.” Yev stared hard at her sister as a silent message passed between them.

“Yes. And as legend goes, it is considered disastrous to the world should Tiamat and Bahamut ever unite.” I gestured to myself and rolled my eyes.

Tyrande nodded her head slowly. “That makes sense. Thank you for telling me.” There was significance in her tone beyond the casual words. She understood what it potentially meant.

While nobody was in the room with us, supernatural hearing could be powerful. We couldn’t be sure nobody was listening somewhere else in the tower.

“You’re welcome. I’m giving you my trust right now; no one outside of my mates and you two are aware.” I trusted the Highaen sisters with my secret.

Both of their faces showed the gravity of my secret.

Appreciating Yev’s discretion, I leaned over and gave her a kiss on the forehead, once again causing a blush to spread across her face.

I winked at Tyrande before straightening and looking toward the conclave. “I need to get going and check in on the two different investigations.”

“Is there anything we can do to help?” Tyrande asked.

I thought about it for a moment, realizing there was something that would help. “The injured black dragon that crashed at Brom’s Dubai palace claims she was shot at by fighter jets. I’m not sure if your mother would have any way to determine who might have attacked the dragon, but if she did, it would be helpful.”

Yev hesitated. “What exactly are you going to do to them?”

I laughed. “Nothing terrible. I have no interest in starting a war with humans. But I do want to scrub this data from their files. The dragon said that her illusion was shattered. I want to understand if it was done on purpose by humans.”

Both of them understood the implications. Whether on purpose or on accident, if humans somehow detected and destroyed her illusion, it was technology that would be dangerous in a confrontation between humanity and the paranormal.

To most of the paranormal community, humans finding out about us was the equivalent of the bogeyman.

It didn’t help that the church had launched attacks during the 17th century and devastated the paranormal population. Though it was led by the angels, it had made the paranormal perception of humans even worse.

No one here wanted to see a repeat of that, certainly not with modern weapons.

Both of the sisters nodded firmly. “You have our word. We will put the full strength of the Highaen behind getting your answers. This isn’t just a problem for the dragons if what she said is true. It could mean disaster for all paranormals. I guarantee you my family will be invested in identifying which country recently encountered a dragon.” Tyrande replied.

Yev’s mouth quirked up as she suppressed a laugh. “Though our mother is going to think you are nothing but trouble.”

“Trouble is my middle name, didn’t you know?” I joked, giving them each one more smile before turning and heading out of the room to go deal with my other problems.

I smiled to myself as I walked. That talk had gone about as well as I’d hoped. After some of their complex emotions yesterday, I’d been a little nervous that there would be complications.

And I wasn’t sure how they were going to feel about both dating me, but I was happy that they were less interested in splitting up. I’d build a relationship with each of them, and we would take it from there.

As I walked toward the room of dragon women, I realized that I totally had a type. I liked women who had their own amazing attributes outside of me, but added to my overall family.

They couldn’t be weak and dependent on me. My mates were all wonderful, powerful women in their own rights.

With my thoughts on my women, I pulled out my phone and called Kelly. It only rang twice before her peppy voice picked up on the other end.

“Zach, is everything all right?” Kelly sounded out of breath, like she had sprinted to the phone.

“Yeah, there’s always some trouble it seems, but all in all it’s going well. I’ve figured out my role here and I think I’m doing it right. I just wanted to hear your voice.”

Kelly made an adorable sound on the other end of the phone. “I miss you too, handsome.”

I went to say something else, realizing what I said didn’t really matter. There was no reason I had called. I really just wanted to hear more of her voice. “I miss you too. How is the pack?”

There was a loud noise somewhere in the background before Kelly swore and muffled the phone while she shouted at someone in the background. “Stay put or I’ll make it so much worse.”

Her voice was louder when she spoke into it again. “Sorry, that was pack business. I have thirty pregnant bitches and an entire football team of betas. And those betas are horny and far too excited to get the remainder of my girls knocked up.” She let out an exasperated sigh.

“Now, if I remember things correctly, you’re the one who put all of this into motion. Regretting it yet?” I teased her.

I could practically hear Kelly roll her eyes. “This was important for me to remain alpha of the pack. And it was important for all of them. But I’ll admit, we might have overdone it. It certainly didn’t help that the boys realized the potion gave them a rock-hard dick that could go all night.”

“I’m surprised how quickly they got over the ingredients when you told them.” It had been my pleasure to be there when Kelly told them the key ingredient for the potion had been my seed.

She’d done it after a few of them had made off with half a barrel of the stuff and she was trying to get it back.

A few of them had completely freaked out. One dude even puked on the spot. But within what felt like only an hour, they had all come to terms with the source of the potion and decided it was well worth the side effects.

We never got the remainder of the barrel, but from there the pregnancies spiked.

I had heard some of them whisper that this stuff made them larger with repeated usage. I wasn’t in a position to confirm or deny it, but I’d heard that a lot of players had overdosed over the next week and caused an enormous problem for Kelly.

“At least it’s under control now.” Kelly breathed a sigh of relief. “The girls are the ones controlling the supply for their partner. Since instigating that, we’ve only had a few problems where they got overeager, but that was the bitch’s own fault.”

“Yeah, I don’t want to hear those stories.” I’d been called in once to pull a beta aside and keep him from doing something he’d regret. I didn’t want to do that again. “How is everything else?”

I heard Kelly sit down on the leather couch in the pack house, and I could feel the smile as she spoke. “You know, school’s the same old, same old. My PT professor is being a dick again. Just because I’m a cheerleader, he treats me like I must have cotton fluff between my ears.”

Ducking into a room I passed, I made myself comfortable as well, enjoying the time with Kelly before I had to get back into responsibilities. “What an ass. When I get back, do you want me to teach him how wrong he is?”

She chortled. “No, you don’t need to go intimidate my teachers. Brute.”

“But I’m your brute.” I added a little playful growl as she giggled in return.