Page 12 of Bound to the Dragon (Wild Fated Shifters #3)
BLAZE
O ver the next week, invitations for the second ceremony are sent out discreetly, with a much smaller guest list. It was Madison who suggested we keep the new reception smaller, against my advice.
“That’s not how we do things—” I started to say, but she cut me off, the stress of the ceremony clearly getting to her.
“I don’t care how things are done traditionally!
” she fumed. “The last time you did things ‘the right way,’ you put both packs in danger. Since this is your idea, the least you can do is make some proper adjustments to ensure everyone’s safety this time, or no one is going to come, and this will have all been for nothing. ”
Every word she spoke was the truth, and in the end, I relented and let her do what she wanted.
But I’m not happy about it. I’m not happy with how any of it is going.
Since sealing our bond, our connection is only getting more intense; the need to be with Madison is overtaking me in the worst ways.
Some nights, I wake up with crippling yearning in my entire body that winds me.
It takes everything not to burst down Madison’s suite doors and claim her again and again.
It’s like she’s calling out to me, her voice in my ear, begging me to come.
But I resist it, even if it’s physically painful.
We’re not good together. We only need to mate a few times and produce an heir, not be real lovers, no matter how much my body craves her.
I have no idea how she’s managing to be so stoic and cold when being near her is driving me to the edge.
Lillian visits me daily to give me progress reports on my mate, but they aren’t necessary because I have a pretty good idea how Madison is feeling despite her cool exterior. We’re both miserable.
The assistant knocks on my office door, distracting me from this morning’s agony, and I absently wave her inside.
“What is it?”
“All the invitations to the new ceremony have been sent out. Everything is in order for next month.”
“Half the guests this time?” I grimace as she nods. “Have Vigo come in here when he arrives. I need to discuss security with him.”
“Of course, Alpha.”
As she retreats, I catch a flash of Madison’s dark hair sweeping around the corner.
Before I can stop myself, I find myself chasing after her.
The cloud of gloom hanging over the estate has overtaken us long enough.
How are we going to have a decent ceremony if we’re both mad at each other?
One of us has to be the bigger person here.
“Maddi!”
She stops mid-step and whirls to look at me. “What now, Blaze?” The exasperation in her tone gives me pause, and I almost forget the whole thing.
Pressing my lips together, I suck in air through my nose and approach her. “Look. We can’t live like this.”
She rolls her eyes. “Well, we don’t have much of a choice, do we? You only hear what you want to hear, even when I try to explain myself.”
I’m taken aback by her assessment. “That’s not true!”
She stares at me as if I just proved her point.
My hand reaches up to touch that stray strand of hair that always seems to be falling in her eyes. “There’s always a choice.”
“No, Blaze, not in your world. Your world is always black and white. One way or another. You don’t have a way of seeing things any other way.”
Her eyes half-close as she follows my palm to tuck her hair behind her ear. “That’s not true. I heard what you said about the invitations.”
“Only because I had to force you to see the logic in it. You say I’m the one fighting, but it’s you. You only hear what you want to hear. I don’t see a way forward when you’re so set in your ways.”
I leave my hand on her cheek, and she doesn’t move it. “I do. I can listen more, and so can you. We can work together. Isn’t that what we’ve been preaching to the pack all along?”
“I want that, too.” She lowers her eyes, and my chest tightens.
I bring my lips to Madison’s, and she eagerly returns my kiss, her hands cupping my face. A pleased titter behind us draws us apart, and two staff members flutter by, covering their mouths with embarrassment.
“Excuse us, Alpha, Luna.”
I wait until they pass before I say what’s on my mind.
“It’s better when we’re showing a united front,” I murmur. “It’s better for morale.”
“I don’t want to feel like I have to be careful about everything I do here either, Blaze.”
I pull her back against me, savoring the scent of her hair. She’s making me hard again, and I want to bring her back to my suite, but before I can suggest it, Lillian appears with Vigo at her side.
I stifle a groan. I’d forgotten he was coming. “I’ll meet you in my office.” I nod toward the space and reluctantly release my mate with a sigh. “Will I see you later?”
“I hope so.” She lowers her voice. “Maybe there will be a surprise waiting for you in your suite.”
That gets me aroused again, and this time, I do let the groan escape my lips. “I can’t wait.”
I join my Beta in the office and close the door. We sit, and I get right to it. “We need to discuss stronger safety protocol measures for the ceremony. I find it unbelievable that we still have no inkling of who perpetrated the attack or why or who it was even directed at.”
“There is some talk about a rogue group, tied to no particular pack?—”
I stop him mid-sentence. “I don’t want rumors and innuendos. I need real facts, leaders, and paper trails. I want someone’s head to roll for what happened, the invasion of my privacy, of ruining my mating ceremony. The fact that we have to do it again makes me livid.”
“And we’re working on it, around the clock, Blaze, but we’re out of leads. I don’t know what else to do.”
It’s true. They can’t find what isn’t there, but after almost two weeks, it’s probably safe to say that any evidence from that day is long gone. But that group is still around, lurking in the shadows.
“We have volunteer night guards working around the clock with our regular enforcers.” Vigo is already telling me information I have, but I don’t want to discourage him.
“Good. We’ll keep them in place until at least after the ceremony. Maybe we should add some more enforcers.”
Vigo frowns. “I don’t know. If not for this group, what else would we need them for?”
He has a valid point. Once this group is caught, we’ll have a bunch of extra enforcers lingering around for no good reason, but I’d feel better knowing we have them. Madison’s voice whispers in my ear, “ But are you just adhering to an old way of doing things, or is this necessary?”
“Let me think on it.” At least Madison would approve of that answer, even if it wasn’t a full rejection of the proposal.
“This is none of my business, obviously.”
I lift my eyes and look at Vigo curiously. “What is it?”
“Things are going well with you and Madison now?”
For some reason, his question makes me tense. “Yes. Is there a reason you’re asking it like that?”
Vigo pales. “I’m not asking it any way. I just wanted to know what changed and to know if she made the first move to reconcile or if you approached her.”
The more Vigo asks, the more annoyed I become. “What the hell is this, Vigo?” He raises his hands as if to claim mercy, but I don’t buy it. “You’re asking for a reason. Spill it.”
“I’m still not convinced that Silver Glade isn’t responsible for what happened.”
“Not this again.” I sink back against my chair and rub my temples. “You just said that they seem to be a rogue group. Why don’t you just admit you have no idea what happened, instead of pointing fingers and starting discord among the pack again?”
“My only job is to protect the pack, and you, Blaze. But I still feel like we should proceed with caution when it comes to Madison and the Silver Glade pack. When they come for the ceremony, I think we should do extra checks on them.”
Another image of Madison’s face flashes before me, and I can only imagine what she would say if I suggested doing an extra search of her family and friends. “Absolutely not!”
“She can do the checking. If she really had nothing to do with it, she should want to get to the bottom of it,” my Beta insists.
Another protest springs and dies on my lips in tandem. Between Vigo and Madison, they’re turning me into someone I don’t recognize. The need to put my foot down immediately diminishes with each day.
“Fine,” I relent. “I’ll talk to her about checking her pack. But we will have to make it fair and check our side, too.”
The idea clearly makes him uncomfortable, but Vigo nods in agreement. “All right.”
“Then I might be able to sell the idea to Madison.”
Vigo rises from his chair, his strong fingers curling around the back. “Are you sure you should go through with the ceremony again, Blaze? I can’t help but feel like this is a bad idea.”
This time, I do put my foot down. “The ceremony is happening. Madison and I are getting the reception we deserve after what happened last time. We need to start this mating off properly.”
I don’t add that I can’t shake the feeling that everything had gone downhill because of the disrupted reception in the first place. I don’t necessarily believe in bad luck, but maybe there’s something to it.
Vigo bows his head. “As you wish.”
He sees himself out, and I let him leave, pondering our conversation for a long moment before I rise and leave the room, walking toward the staircase.
The only real thing I’ve been thinking about is the last thing Madison said to me.
I have a surprise waiting for me in my suite, if memory serves me correctly.