Page 53 of Red Fury (The Dragon Tributes #8)
The idiot actually thought that he, prince of fire, would lower himself and take part in such a hunt? For a human? Hardly a prize. It was absurd.
“Where will we find these females?” Blaze asked.
“The vampires advertised in the local newspapers, and females came flocking in droves. We, however, do not possess such luxuries. We need to remain hidden. Humans are not permitted to find out about our existence. We were all but wiped out by the humans two centuries ago and our numbers were strong back then. Humans have always feared us, and rightly so.” He looked thoughtful for a moment.
“We may be much stronger but they outnumber us by at least a hundred thousand to one. In today’s age, they have weapons of far greater power. We would be doomed. Back to my original question, where will we find these females?”
Granite smiled. “We’ll simply take them.”
“No.” Blaze shook his head. “We’re not animals. We’re not in the business of kidnapping females.”
“Granite is right,” Thunder said. “We have no other option but to take some of these human females. I’ve had scouts on the lookout for the right ones. Young, strong, fertile and—”
“No!” Blaze hit his fist against the table. “How will it look when human females suddenly start to go missing? Aside from the implications, it wouldn’t be right. We are an honor-bound species, we don’t steal females.”
“What if the females were in need of rescuing? What if they were lonely, hungry, destitute? We can save the females, offer them a better life and in the process, we can save ourselves as well.”
“It’s walking a fine line. Just because someone is desperate and lonely, may not mean that they want to become the mate of a dragon shifter. I don’t like it.”
The water king shifted in his chair. “It’s not ideal,” Torrent conceded. “Though dragon shifters have everything a female could want. We offer them good lives. Females beg me to take them with me when I return from a stag run. It is the same every time without fail.”
Granite shrugged. “Maybe we should forget about the hunt and bring females back with us who express an interest in becoming a shifter mate.” He raised his brows.
“We’ve discussed this at length,” Thunder retorted.
Coal felt irritated at this statement. Proof that the three kings had met privately to discuss this. Why the need for all the secrecy?
The air king narrowed his eyes. “It would not work. Males would fight over females. How would we decide who is eligible to take a human mate? It would be difficult to regulate. A good number of human females would go missing and this would draw attention. What if a female was deceptive and left a mate and children behind? It could be disastrous.”
“Your last two points are probably the biggest concerns.” Blaze looked thoughtful for a second. “It’s a worry regardless of how we proceed.”
“Not if we only take females who are destitute,” Thunder said. “My tribe has already earmarked numerous females. None of them have family or even many friends. They would be perfect candidates.”
“Perfect candidates to abduct?” Blaze sounded exasperated. “Listen to yourself,” he rumbled.
“To be rescued!” Thunder’s booming voice filled the room.
“Let’s just say that I agree to this hair-brained scheme.
I’m not agreeing , I’m just giving the whole thing some thought.
” He sucked in a breath. “Females would need to be in a bad way and in need of saving. They would need to have everything explained to them and would need to be treated with respect and kindness at all times. Even if a male wins one of these females fair and square, he may not force himself on her. Any male found to be forcing a female will pay with his life. The human would need to agree to being mated and later impregnated. She would need to be a willing participant at all times.”
“Females will be afraid initially. It’s a given.” Granite took another swallow of wine.
“If a female doesn’t want to be with a male, no matter how hard he tries to win her …” Blaze narrowed his eyes. “Then she will be allowed to leave, to return to her old life.”
“No,” the air king snapped. “She would be able to reveal our existence.”
“Let’s hope that our males are capable of winning the hearts of these females.
” Blaze smiled. “To be honest though, I don’t like the idea in general, whether they can make them fall for them or not.
The bloodlines have to be considered. I’m not ready to commit to a yes to such a widespread mating of human females. ”
“It’s not their hearts that we’re interested in.” Thunder smiled even wider.
“Females are emotional, humans are so much worse. That’s why I’m infinitely glad I’m not taking a human mate. Thunder,” he looked the male head-on. “Bring your sisters when you return tomorrow. I would like to meet with them. I hope that one of them will agree to become my mate.”
Thunder’s face clouded. He looked both angry and nervous. By the sheen of sweat on his brow and his suddenly pale complexion, Coal would definitely say that he was nervous. “I was very angry when I found out about your sister’s pregnancy.”
“As was I.” Blaze didn’t take his eyes off the male for a second.
Their sister, Ruby had been promised to the air king.
The deal was that Thunder would take Ruby and in return, Blaze could choose a fertile air princess to mate with.
Unfortunately, Ruby had other plans and had become pregnant with a vampire male’s child.
They were mated and happy but things were clearly still heated between the fire and air kingdoms. Thunder had not been happy about the news.
The male in question leaned forward. “I may have made some rash decisions, but you can’t blame me.” Thunder’s eyes were wide and he spoke too quickly.
Oh no.
Coal could sense that whatever Thunder was about to say was not going to be good.
Blaze nodded, urging the other king to continue.
“I gave my sisters to the earth and the water princes, it …” No wonder the second princes were in attendance. No damned wonder. Coal clenched his hands into fists.
Blaze slowly stood up. The tic was back and with a vengeance. Blaze banged his hands on the table. “You did what?” His voice was low and deep.