Page 10 of Claimed By the Dragon

He frowned and looked back at Eli. “What do you mean?”

She sat down on the bed, readjusted her hold on Eddie, and replied, “From what I understand, the changing pupils mean you’re talking to your dragon half. But if they don’t change veryoften, there has to be a reason. Not liking your dragon half seems the most obvious answer.”

He shook his head as he took Eli’s hand gently between his fingers. “I don’t dislike him. He’s just…quiet. That happens sometimes, from what little research I could find. But recently, he’s talked more.”

“Why?”

Trahern frowned. “I don’t know.”

Silence fell, and Grace debated asking anything else. She didn’t want to give him the wrong idea, that she wanted to get to know him and maybe become mates in truth.

And yet, they were living together, and Trahern was helping with her children.

It’s better to know as much as you can now, to better plan the future of your boys.After a deep breath, she asked, “Do you never shift into a dragon, then?”

He remained silent for nearly a minute, playing with Eli’s hand, until he finally said, “Only in emergencies, and sometimes not even then.”

“Why?”

He rocked the chair a few times before replying, “To change forms requires being in sync with both halves. It takes tremendous effort to get my dragon to stay awake long enough to do it. I usually have to inject a stimulant designed for inner dragons to shift.”

“Wait, so is it like you’re a diabetic and need insulin? But in this case, you need something to change into your dragon form?”

He finally glanced at her, just for a second, before settling his gaze back on Eli. “Not exactly. I don’t have abnormal levels of anything related to shifting into a dragon. At one point, he spoke more to me. But then…”

His voice trailed off, and Grace leaned forward. She shouldn’t care, and yet, maybe this would help her sons at some point. Yes, that was why she was so interested.

Ignoring the word “liar” running through her head, she asked, “Then what? Something happened.”

“My dragon and I argued.”

“About?”

“Sex,” he stated.

Grace blinked. “Sex? What are you talking about?”

He took a second before he replied, “Touching others is difficult for me. I can do it for short periods, such as during a medical examination. However, the thought of being naked, touching someone for extended periods, let alone sleeping in the same bed repeatedly, makes my skin itch. I tried to endure it once for my dragon. But as soon as the female tried to touch me, I ended up running away, completely naked, through the halls of the clan, and the rumors spread. Soon, everyone inside Snowridge—my former clan—knew what had happened, and it became a joke. I had been a recluse before that incident, but afterward, I rarely ventured out at all. And then…”

Grace tried to wrap her head around everything Trahern had shared. It took everything she had not to point out he was cuddling her son for an extended period and instead focused on what he’d just said. “And what? Clearly, something else happened.”

He rocked, back and forth, for nearly a minute before he finally replied, “My father always had a difficult time with me. My mother died giving birth to me, and my father blamed me for it. Then, when it became apparent that I was…different, he mocked me. And by the time of the botched sexual encounter, he disowned me and left the clan. I don’t know what happened to him, and yet, despite how everyone thought I should feel bad, I was relieved. I could focus solely on my studies and didn’t haveto attempt being a dutiful son to a male who wished I’d never been born.”

And just like that, she started to understand Trahern Lewis a little better.

Trahern continued rocking Eli, even though the baby had fallen asleep, and refused to look up into Grace’s eyes.

There would be pity or disgust or some sort of negative emotion he couldn’t distinguish, anyway.

Although why he’d told her so much, he didn’t know.

His dragon spoke up.She is different.

For the first time in a long time, he actually replied to his beast,Why?

You are drawn to her. You’ll figure it out soon enough.

I don’t like vague statements.