Twilight of Embers (Dragons of Ember Hollow, #1)

by Tessa Hale

“They were murdered.”

“You were alone,” he gritted out. I shrugged. “Aren’t lots of people?” “You shouldn’t have been alone.”

“You’re not going to be alone anymore.”

“It’s why East can be a prick sometimes. He doesn’t like to let himself care about anyone any more than he has to.”

I’d lost track of all the impacts losing my parents had on me.

But it also meant I never missed an opportunity to be grateful for the little things.

“Even the worst things on the planet can still result in good.

“I don’t want to look for the shadows. I already know they’re there.”

There was this tug toward the guy next to me. He felt like safety and comfort…home.

That same phantom wave as when Knox had touched me the first time. My vision tunneled, and darkness tried to swallow me whole.

My mate was over a decade younger than me and so beyond off-limits, it wasn’t even funny. The university had strict rules about fraternizing with students. I’d always thought it was a good rule. Until now.

God, I wanted to touch her. To hold her in my arms and assure her that there wasn’t a damn thing she could do that would make me love her any less.

When our kind found their mate, they had a deeply ingrained need to make sure their mate was safe and cared for. To provide for them in every way imaginable. Food was just the tip of the iceberg.

“I’m a professor here.”

“Not by blood. More by choice. There are five of us that live together. Old family friends. You’ll meet them all.”

Our bond was going to eat this girl alive.

Cáel wasn’t altogether stable. He’d been too broken for that. And I wasn’t sure what a mate bond would do to him. He might gut every man that looked at Hayden. What a hell of a mess that would be to clean up.

He was massive, even taller than the twins, with broad shoulders and a muscled chest. His white-blond hair was long but shaved on the sides. The strands themselves were woven into intricate braids or dreads, and tattoos decorated the sides of his skull. The moment his light blue eyes locked on me, they flashed silver.

“Cáel,” Knox warned.

It was a mix of freshly falling snow and campfire.

“Cáel doesn’t usually touch…anyone,” Knox explained. “He can’t handle the contact.”

“You’re kind of a miracle, Hayden Parrish.”

“You don’t touch any woman without their consent, limp dick.”

I wanted to hunt. To kill.

The shift was pleasure and pain in equal measure, but when you fought it happening, it was only pain.

When people found out the truth, they’d want Hayden for themselves, to use her in any number of ways.

If it was true that Hayden had no clue what she was, then her whole world was about to be ripped apart.

It wouldn’t matter if Hayden never shifted. She’d still be the most important being on the planet to me. But I didn’t think that would be a problem. “I sensed power in her. Immense strength.” Knox’s head jerked in my direction. “You did?” I nodded. “She’s an incredibly powerful dragon. She just doesn’t know it.”

“You’re giving Mr. Grumpy Cat a run for his money.”

“Nothing can happen to you, Little One.”

Only, friendship wasn’t exactly what I felt for Knox. For any of them. I shoved that thought down.

“You belong with us.”

“No one can be in control all the time.” Life just didn’t work out that way.

“Hayden,” he clipped. “Grumpy Cat,” I shot back. His eyebrows flew toward his hairline. “What did you just call me?” I met his stare dead on. “You look like that meme of the cat who’s in a perpetual bad mood.”

Some part of my brain knew it because the man before me was a predator. And the way he was looking at me told me one thing. I was the prey.

I needed to mark her so that the whole world knew she was mine. Mine.

Our mate.

But once we’d all touched her, she would be a ticking time bomb. There would only be so long that her dragon could lie dormant.

“What about you?” she challenged. “Where are you from?” The depths of hell.

Because female dragons were rare. And once the supernatural world knew of Hayden’s existence? They would come for her.

Rare was an understatement. The number of female dragons had dropped to an alarming number. Finding a true mate bond was practically impossible. Most dragon males ended up mating another type of shifter or even a human.

Maddox remained casually calm. That was his gift, staying at ease no matter what shit flew our way. From the dragon council to rival hordes. He never showed a flicker of panic.

“What? You tripped, fell, and landed on her mouth?”

She’ll need touch from us. If she doesn’t get it for too long, she’ll get sick.”

Maybe that made me weak, but I’d always be weak for her.

“Until the bond is complete.”

“Mating fever,” Maddox muttered.

Because I’d bound Hayden to us before anyone was ready, before any of us were prepared.

“You’ve changed everything.”

She was everything.