“Did you hear that?” Tori said, grinning over at his mate. “Me being from Finland is more interesting than you being a dragon.”
North barely covered his laugh with a cough as he walked Earl to Alric and Cameron. “Gramps, this is King Alric Burkhard of the Fire Dragon Clan and his consort, Cameron Burkhard.”
Earl straightened and puffed up his chest a little, making North grin. He started to bow, but Alric quickly extended his right hand to his grandpa.
“Mr. Aldridge, it is truly an honor to make your acquaintance and to have you staying in our home. Without your hard work and the knowledge you passed on to your grandson, we might never have found each other. That would have been a profound loss to both dragons and mages.”
“My…well…you’re welcome,” Earl said, stammering a bit. But then, who didn’t when met with Alric’s sincere and regal words. The man was born to be a freaking king.
“And we are very much hoping you’ll choose to stay with us,” Cameron added.
Earl made a slight scoffing noise. “I don’t know. I’m pretty sure I’m too old to be learning magic now.”
“Ha!” Cameron laughed. “I think my grandmother has got you beat by at least ten years and she’s taking lessons with Lisette. You’ll meet her later this evening.”
“Grandmother, huh?”
“Ha Na is pretty amazing. You’ll love her,” North added before nudging Earl down the line. “This is Dieter, the royal advisor, and his mate, Lisette, who is also the head mage and hands down the smartest woman I have ever met.”
Dieter greeted Earl with a bow of his head while Lisette placed a triangular device in the palm of Earl’s extended hand. In an instant, the device flashed a bright green light.
“There,” Lisette announced with a broad smile. “It’s official.”
“What was that?” Earl gasped as she plucked the device back from his hand.
“It’s an Amulet of Noh. It determines whether someone is a mage,” North explained. “Though we all knew it, that proves it. You’re a mage. Now you gotta stay.”
Earl huffed a laugh. “Such cheek. I’ll think about it. Depends on the kind of beer they got in this place.”
“I think we’ve got you covered, Earl. This is Germany after all,” Warin said, extending his hand to North’s grandpa.
“Bah,” Earl scoffed, batting Warin’s hand away before pulling him into a tight hug. “It’s about time I got to meet in person the man who’s made my grandson so damn happy.”
North might have given a little joyful wiggle while blinking away happy tears. Earl and Warin had spent lots of hours talking online over the past year, getting to know each other. Earl might have drilled Warin a little bit on treating North right, not that there had ever been a chance of that not happening. And Warin had taken the warnings in stride, even though he was easily five hundred years older than Gramps.
“Alright, let’s get inside. You dragons might not mind the cold, but this old man has had enough,” Earl shouted as he released Warin.
Laughing, North ushered Gramps into the castle. North was planning to take him straight to his room so he could rest after his long flight from the US and the two-hour drive from Munich to Sonthofen, but he would not be stopped. He exclaimed over the opulent decorations and architecture of the palace. He stopped and eagerly introduced himself to every dragon and mage they encountered. He poked his head into various rooms and demanded to be shown where North was taking his magic lessons.
Two. Hours.
It took North two hours to get his grandpa to his personal suite so he could have a short nap before that evening’s party. North nearly collapsed in his grandpa’s bed but managed to crawl back to the rooms he shared with Warin for a too-short nap in his own bed. Holy crap! How did a sixty-five-year-old man wear him out like that?
Warin was preening. He couldn’t help himself. It wasn’t just him. His dragon was feeling quite proud as they watched their mate moving around the party in the great hall, laughing and talking with everyone. The entire clan was gathered to celebrate their engagement.
They wouldn’t be formally bonded until that summer when they could gather at the mountaintop without standing in several feet of snow.
The ceremony could be done just as easily at the castle, but North was determined to be bonded the same way as Cameron and so many of the other mages—in the mountains where all the dragons could fly freely around them.
Not that Warin could blame him. It was a breathtaking moment.
Of course, North was already breathtaking.
He had found the very best mate. No offense, naturally, to Cameron, Tori, and all the other mage mates. They were wonderful too. But no one was as wonderful as his North. He’d fallen for him so quickly, but in the past year, Warin had been utterly lost in the man as he watched North come out of his shell in the warm, supportive home he’d found in Burkhard Castle. North belonged in Burkhard, and he belonged with Warin.
“If you puff out your chest anymore, you’re going to hurt your back,” Gunter observed dryly.
Wrapping an arm around Gunter’s shoulders, Warin pulled the dragon closer, earning a soft grunt as Gunter stumbled into him. “My good mood cannot be ruined by your grumpiness, librarian.”
“If you wish for me to be less grumpy, maybe you should consider stealing your mate away from Cassie for a dance.” Gunter nodded his head toward the other side of the room where North was listening to Cassie, her arms flying all over the place as she told some story. Gunter added in a low voice, “I heard about the confetti bomb.”
That was a wise idea. He didn’t want to be picking confetti out of his mate later, and he was always happy to have North in his arms.
Giving Gunter’s shoulder one last squeeze, Warin weaved his way across the crowded floor as people danced and laughed. A giant Christmas tree had been erected in one corner and glowed with thousands of twinkling lights. Ornaments of carved wood and blown glass hung from the heavy boughs. Around them, there was more greenery, red ribbons, and sparkling lights to celebrate the holiday season. It was all so beautiful, but none of it compared to his lovely North. His mate was dressed in a sharply tailored, cranberry red suit that perfectly accentuated his lean form. The vest was black with red dragons in flight embroidered across it. His style was always North and it was exquisite.
He snatched up one of North’s empty hands and pulled his mate against him, earning a slightly muffled squeak.
“Would you forgive me, Cassie, if I were to steal my North away? I have been missing him,” Warin politely inquired.
The young woman graced him with a dreamy smile while her eyes darted away, searching the room. Warin had no doubt the mage was suddenly thinking of her own dragon mate, the fierce warrior Sasha.
“That sounds like an excellent idea,” Cassie murmured. She tapped her index finger on her bottom lip and wandered off in search of her missing dragon.
Before North could speak, Warin twirled him out onto the dance floor and pulled him close as they started to slowly sway to the music played by a quartet—three talented dragons and a lovely mage.
“Did you truly miss me, or did you suddenly worry about another confetti explosion?” North asked.