Page 9 of Kidnapped Plus-Size Mate (Aurora Dragon Island #5)

I let out the breath I’d been holding in only when I was in the hallway.

Behind me, Camilla’s sob is audible, paining me with the urge to go back in there and comfort her.

She won’t let me give her what she needs. I know that. I saw the look of terror in her eyes when she demanded I don’t go any closer to her. But her panic became alarming when she threatened to jump from the balcony.

She’s too frantic right now, out of her mind, with the expected shock of seeing me in dragon form.

It’s not like I’d been planning for this to happen. I didn’t expect Rakon to come in and disrupt my initial plan of wooing Camilla before I revealed my identity to her.

I just saved her, but she doesn’t seem to understand that I’m protecting her by keeping her on the island. Protecting her from Rakon, who seems adamant about getting back at me for what happened in the past.

Closing my eyes and sighing discontentedly, I touch the gravelly scar on my cheek that serves as a reminder that I’d been hurt in the fight. I fought for her, to protect her, but right now, all I can do is listen to the sounds of her crying in the background, my fists curling at my sides out of frustration.

If only she wasn’t so sensitive right now, I’d burst into the guest bedroom on the eleventh floor of the Aurora Island castle, grab her into my arms, and soothe her shock away.

Ironically, I’m the one to be blamed for the magnitude of her current state. I also look like the bad guy now that I’ve locked her away so she doesn’t make another attempt on her own life.

There's no denying it.

The Vulkan brothers have rotten luck when it comes to meeting their human mates.

I thought I was the family’s only hope to follow protocol and do the right thing. But I couldn’t just leave her in the mortal world once she learned about my true identity.

I couldn’t leave her out in the world, exposed to the likes of Rakon Hawke.

It all makes sense now—why my brothers couldn’t stop themselves from picking up their mates and flying them to the island.

I always thought it was a bad idea. But the only thing that’s worse than kidnapping our mates, is leaving them in the mortal world, vulnerable to the dangers that lurk there. The dangers that always seem to weasel their way into the lives of the human women meant to fulfill the prophecy of the Cube of Knowledge.

Fated mates.

This is what it means for us. The Vulkan brothers have been ordained by the gods to protect the human women, who will soon receive the gift of immortality when they’re ripe with dragonspirit children.

It was the dragon side of me that gave me the strength to get back on my feet and send Rakon off the cliff when I knew his intentions to get back at me for the past.

That’s the reason he snatched Camilla out from under my nose in that alley. I knew from the moment I met him at the Dragon Ball that he was looking to stir up the animosity from before.

He has a personal vendetta against me, and my mate isn’t safe in the mortal world.

Her seething anger will soon be diffused when she calms down. I know that much. I need to give her some time to do just that and take care of the situation we face.

As each step I take away from the bedroom door builds my regret, I force myself to the elevator to take me down to Father’s study. As soon as we arrived on the island, I’d laid a passed-out Camilla on the bed in the bedroom beside mine and called my father in.

He needs to know what happened, even if his disappointment fills me with dread.

***

“So, he pretended to be there to check up on your progress?” Father asks, his fingers steepled in front of him as he stares at me through the slitted jets of his narrowed eyes of contemplation.

I feel like I’m facing my judgment day, and wish that my brothers were here to give me support before I’m convicted of my crimes and sent to the chopping block.

Nothing could be worse than keeping me away from my mate for three months. Now that she’s here, on the island, I can’t imagine what form of punishment I might face.

It’s not like I had a choice. I can only hope that the Council sees that.

Right now, it’s as if my father can hardly see that through the glaze of disappointment in his eyes. I’d been building up the courage to face him, anticipating that awful look. But now that it’s here, I feel too ashamed to be facing him.

“At first I thought that’s why he was there,” I explain, keeping my head down and staring at the pencil stand on Father’s desk. “But when he left, Draco confirmed that no Council member had set out to check up on me.”

“Of course, not,” Father concedes. “He should not have been there at all. Everything was going according to plan…” he sighs his irritation, and I look up to find him leaning back in his chair as he stares blankly past my shoulder.

“Father, I am truly sorry for what I did,” I apologize remorsefully, hanging my head in shame. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

“You did the right thing, Son,” he commends, and a wave of relief washes over me when I lift my eyes to find him smiling at me.

Was that pride that flickered in his eyes?

“I did?” My brows furrow as Father rises to his feet and rounds the desk. He places a hand on my shoulder and nods.

“I wouldn’t have expected you to leave her in the mortal world when Rakon kidnapped her. Though…” He crosses his arms and frowns. “... I don’t understand why he’d do what he did.”

“He wants revenge, Father. You know what happened back then.”

“It was years ago,” Father huffs and shakes his head, his eyes returning to mine with confusion. “What happened in the past doesn’t warrant going after your mate. He knows that better than any other dragon shifter. He’s on the Council.”

“Maybe it’s something he can’t get over,” I shrug.

Father continues to shake his head as he crosses the room to the bar. He seems to be in deep thought as he pours himself a drink, then turns and chugs it down in one go.

“I always suspected something was wrong with that boy…” he laments despondently. “He was always too aggressive, but I thought he’d be wise enough to honor the human mating process.”

“This is personal, I’m afraid,” I implored. “I didn’t think it would come back to bite me on the ass.”

“We’ll get to the bottom of this, and put an end to this disaster once and for all,” Father assures me, but not without a fleeting hint of regret flashing through his eyes.

Back when the fight between Rakon and I broke out in the Dragon Council’s School for Young Dragons, the relationship between the Aurora Dragons and Fire Force had become strained. The two dragon shifter clans out of the four had become enemies, and my father had to take matters into his own hands to end the animosity between the two clans.

Just as he will have to do damage control now. I hate that, once again, I’m the reason for his stress when he should be on an island in the Bahamas enjoying some much-needed time away from Dragon Council duties with my mother.

Pursing my lips into a firm line, I wait with bated breath for the next steps.

They come when Father squares his shoulders, peeling himself from the bar. “We’ll have to call a meeting with the elders of the Council before we decide what to do about Rakon’s behavior. His personal vendettas shouldn’t disrupt our current plans to reveal our existence to the humans. Did anyone see you?”

“At least he was smart enough to take the fight to the mountains,” I tell Father. “He used the cloak of invisibility to fly out there when he captured Camilla in the alley.”

Father sighs his relief. “Good. It still doesn’t excuse what he did. But if I call the entire Council up for a meeting, he’s bound to attend. We’ll keep this amongst the elders, and discuss a way forward.”

“Thank you, Father,” I bid with a respectful nod. “This is more than I’m deserving of.”

“What makes you think you did anything wrong?” he raises an expectant brow.

When I shrug, his frown slips off as he chuckles with recognition. “Oh, I see… You thought I’d be as unforgiving as your mate currently is…”

“Yeah… Something like that,” I chuckle nervously. “She’s in a bad state right now.”

“Go,” Father encourages with a nod toward the study door. “Take care of your affairs, while I tend to this one. You have nothing to worry about. You did nothing wrong.”

***

When I thought I was fearful of telling my father what happened and facing the consequences of kidnapping my mate to the island, I was wrong.

It wasn’t the consequences of not being able to follow through with protocol that had fear clambering through my throat like bile.

It was the consequence of the act in itself that had me hesitating outside the guest bedroom door with a tray of food in my trembling hand. I catch the apple as it rolls off the corner thanks to my quick reflexes, but the innate power of my inner dragon can’t be relied on now.

Camilla hates me, for obvious reasons. I’d kidnapped her to the island, and now I have to face her wrath. I can only hope that she’s calmed down enough by now so that I might speak to her and tell her the truth.

When I’ve finally built up enough courage to proceed, I quietly unlock the door and take a deep breath before stepping over the threshold. To my relief, Camilla is sound asleep on the bed, her eyes puffy from all the crying. A pang of guilt grips my heart, spurring my steps as I pad across the room and set the tray on her nightstand. When I straighten up, the guilt that gnaws on my conscience has me tentatively reaching out to tuck a curl behind her ear.

That same guilt has me drawing my hand back with a reluctant sigh, just in time for Camilla to open her eyes and throw instant daggers at me.

“I brought you something to eat,” I say, flicking my gaze to the nightstand when I feel too ashamed to look at her.

“I’m not hungry,” she says flatly as she shuffles on the bed. I take a step back to allow her enough space to stand up, but she crosses her arms and remains planted on the bed.

An awkward silence stretches around us like a dark cloud of seething rage. I can feel her anger pulsing as if it’s my own heartbeat. I clear my throat, but Camilla doesn’t stop glaring at me through patronizing slits of golden eyes.

“You should probably eat, Camilla.”

“Don’t you dare say my name, Sterling,” she grates through gritted teeth.

Damn.

I didn’t think she had it in her to be so feisty. In all the time I spent watching her from the sidelines and joining her groups of tours, I didn’t think she was anything but soft and sweet.

Even that kiss…

Gods, no! I shouldn’t allow my mind to drift in that direction. Reeling back from my thoughts, I sigh and remove myself from her vexed proximity, heading to the sliding door that leads to the balcony.

With a deliberate flick of my wrist, I remove the dark cloud that shrouds the glass, unveiling the night sky decorated with glowing stars.

“That’s better,” I muse as I turn around and offer her a nervous half-smile. “Now you’ll be able to see the island.”

“Am I supposed to thank you?” she scoffs, turning her face with deliberate intent, her arms still crossed.

“No, Camilla. I don’t need you to thank me for anything,” I whisper earnestly. “I just need you to know that you’re safe here.”

Camilla scoffs again. Her unwillingness to look at me has me crossing the room to stand before her.

“It shouldn’t be this way, Camilla,” I gulp.

When she lifts her eyes to mine, there’s a flicker of hope that she might hear me out. But when she rises abruptly to her feet and staggers, I’m about to reach out to steady her when her hand comes flying up between us to stop me.

“I don’t care about anything you have to say, Sterling,” she counters. “I just want to go home.”

“About that…” I wince remorsefully. “My name isn’t Sterling. It’s—”

“So, you lied to me about your name?!” she cuts in angrily, her eyes widening with horror.

Sighing defeatedly, I hand my head again. “Well, I couldn’t just tell you outright that I’m a dragon…”

“So, you are a dragon?” she laments, prompting me to frown with confusion.

Did she doubt what she saw earlier today?

“You—you tricked me?” she chuckles sardonically. “Why am I not surprised?!”

“I didn’t mean to trick you,” I say as I warily reach out toward her face.

She quickly slaps my wrist away, the brief physical touch making it impossible to ignore the inevitable pull toward her when a flicker of electric current shoots through my arm.

“No!” she exclaims. “Don’t touch me!”

Pulling my hand back, my heart seems to drop to the soles of my feet. Being rejected like this isn’t something I imagined would happen.

Least of all after everything that happened between Camilla and me.

“Camilla, please hear me out,” I attempt to console her with a gentle tone, but it doesn’t work when she grabs the mug of steaming chamomile tea and flings it at my face.

I flinch when boiling liquid hits my face. It’s like it’s not enough that I suffered second-degree burns thanks to Rakon’s attack. The heat of the tea isn’t as burning hot as a dragon’s fire, but it’s enough to stir my inner dragon’s irritation.

I turn to her, my inner dragon rumbling in my chest with a growl.

“Will you stop this?” I ask calmly, even though my inner dragon is fuming right now. With my fists curled at my sides, I fight the urge to grab her in my arms and remind her of our undeniable attraction by crushing my lips to hers.

Did she forget what that felt like? Does she not care?

“No!” she bites back in a bitter tone I didn’t even know she possessed. “I won’t stop until you take me home!”

“That’s not possible!” I roar, my inner dragon taking over now. “Do you have a fucking death wish, huh? Out there, you’re in danger! Get that into your fucking head!”

She flinches and gasps as if my nasty words physically scorched her. The look of dread in her eyes is a painful realization that I can’t take those words back. She recoils, her shoulders curling into herself as she turns her face to the floor.

Filled with deep regret, I can only spin on my heels and bolt for the door. With fiery rage simmering inside me, I need to get out to calm down.

When I’m at the door, the last stroke of compassion I have for either of us comes rolling off my tongue when I barely glance over my shoulder and say, “My real name is Stryker.” before leaving the room and locking the door behind him.