Carissa gave Alex a surprised look.
He gave her back a shrug. “We haven’t had much time to talk about it.”
A wry smile slipped across Carissa’s face. “I suspect you haven’t.” Drawing in another long breath, Carissa let it out slowly and focused on Terra.
Terra held her breath as she waited for the woman to go on.
“Well, to start, male dragons mate for life.”
This Terra remembered from her talk with Alex, but something caught her attention. “Male dragons?”
Carissa nodded. “Only male dragons are driven to mate for life. Once they find a mate, they will devote the rest of their life to making her happy. On the other hand, female dragons are not driven to take a permanent mate. Females are driven to take the best male for their future brood.” A smile spread across her face. “Knowing that their female may find a better mate makes most male dragons very fussy over their chosen mates.”
Terra thought about that for a second. “But wouldn’t that cause problems?”
Kyle let out a bark of laughter, but it didn’t hold any joy in it.
“Yes,” Carissa nodded her head. “It’s been known to cause a few issues.”
“Bloody wars,” Kyle muttered angrily.
Carissa shot her brother a piercing glance. “But that was a long time ago.” She turned her attention back to Terra. “Back when the survival of the species depended on who had the strongest blood. Nowadays, dragons tend to stick with their chosen mates by bonding.”
“Bonding?” Terra asked.
“It’s when a dragon gives a piece of themselves to their mate,” Carissa explained. “It’s a complicated process, but it’s usually done by sharing a scale. I can tell you, it’s not a very pleasant experience, but it joins the two mates together for life. It also allows a human mate to share some of the powers of their dragon mate. Like their longevity.”
That made sense! That’s why Alex’s dragon had seen her as a potential mate despite her being human. Terra glanced over her shoulder to the man holding her. He had offered up his scale to help fix her condition, but that would leave them as a bonded pair, together until death. Was he doing it because that was what he wanted? Or was he offering himself as penance for leaving her unprotected? Terra focused back on Carissa. “And what if I refuse?”
Alex drew in a sharp breath and squeezed her tighter.
Carissa raised an eyebrow at Terra. “Besides shattering the heart of the man who’s spent the last three days by your side?” She shrugged. “You would remain as you are—broken until we could find a way to either remove the dragon or heal it.” An amused grin crept across her face. “At least you would have company in your stay.”
Terra peeked over her shoulder at Alex. He had a grim-but-determined expression on his face. Yes, no matter what her answer was, he would stay with her. Warmth washed through her. The dragon inside of her liked the idea of being bonded with Alex. She closed her eyes and relaxed in his arms to think. Before everything had gone to pot, he had been interested in her as a mate. So much so that he’d been fighting with his dragon. She drew in a deep breath as she made her decision. It didn’t matter what reason he had for offering himself up, his dragon had chosen her well before things had gone bad. She opened her eyes and grinned at Carissa.
“I’m already scared; I might as well be Terra Fied.”
“Terrified?” Carissa asked, alarmed.
Terra laughed softly. “I’ll take the scale.” She paused and looked back at Alex. “That is, if you’ll have me.”
“Yes,” Alex answered without pause of thought. He dropped his face to her shoulder and purred out a word. “Mine!”
Carissa laughed. “Then let me find a knife.”
Michael pulled a pearl handled switchblade from his pocket and held it out.
“Always the Boy Scout,” Carissa teased as she took the knife.
Michael shrugged and stepped back away from the bed.
“Now,” Carissa turned her attention back to the bed, “we need a scale.”
Alex nodded. “Right.”
Terra turned just in time to watch scales shimmer over him as he shifted to his lesser form. He had been amazing before, but now, with her vision still messed up, he was dazzling. His scales caught the light and threw it out in rainbow hues. Her breath caught as he circled around her to lie in her lap. His tail wrapped up around her other side and draped across her legs.
Carissa laughed at him. “You couldn’t get rid of him if you wanted.”
Alex rumbled his annoyance with the woman, but he turned a sparkling eye to Terra. “Pick whichever one you like.”
Terra stared at him, awed. He had chirped and squeaked at her, but she’d understood what he’d said. How? The dragon curled inside of her answered with a soft purr. Terra looked up at Carissa but couldn’t find the words to express what she was feeling.
“Pick a scale,” Carissa prompted her.
Nodding, Terra turned her attention to the dragon in her lap. Running her fingers over his glittering hide, she looked for just the right one. She petted him, feeling the ridges in his scales. When her fingers ran over a larger scale on his shoulder, the dragon inside of her gurgled.
“This one.” She touched the scale again.
Carissa looked at the scale. “Good choice.”
Kyle made an agreeing noise and stepped back out of Carissa’s way.
Walking around the end of the bed, Carissa came up to stand next to Terra. Her hand came down to rest on Alex’s shoulder just above the scale Terra had chosen. “Now comes the hard part.”
Using the tip of the knife, Carissa wiggled the blade under the edge of the scale. She chanted softly as she worked.
Alex hissed and kneaded the bed with his claws as Carissa cut the scale from his shoulder.
Carissa grimaced as she pulled the scale free, and blood gushed from the wound. “Sorry,” she said as she tried to press on the wound. “I had to take more than normal.”
“I got it,” Terra said as she covered the hole in Alex’s shoulder and applied pressure. Magic tingled across her skin as she brushed against Carissa and the loosened scale.
“Thanks,” Carissa said as she pulled back, leaving Terra holding the wound. “Um, I’m sorry, but this is going to hurt.”
Terra nodded and bit down, waiting for the bite of the knife. It hurt as it went in, but the sharp edge slipped through the skin over her shoulder blade with ease. A tingle of magic washed over her as Carissa slipped the scale into the open cut. It hurt a little bit, but that was nothing compared to the burn that raced through her system as the scale settled into place. Terra screamed and collapsed forwards onto Alex as her world shattered apart.
Alex kneaded the bed as the point of the knife slipped under his scale. God, that hurt! He had heard that the sharing of scales was a painful experience, but he never expected to feel it clear to his soul. But then again, he would give up a thousand scales for Terra. The fact that she nearly refused him tore at his heart. Alex breathed through the pain and thought about her reaction. She had asked the same question when he had told her to refuse him at the hotel. The ache in his heart eased. She wasn’t refusing him; she was checking all of her options and their consequences before making an informed decision. A wise choice. That, Alex could respect. One needed to know all the options when making a choice that would change one’s life forever.
Her play on words floated back to him, and he smiled inwardly. Carissa had totally missed the reference. Terrified. Terra Fied. Even faced with an unknown future, she took the time to stop and crack a joke. It showed she had an indomitable spirit—something she was going to need in the coming months as she learned a new way of life.