Ashley paused. “You know who your true mate is?”
“Yes. I just found out it’s Brad.”
Ashley clicked her tongue. “No wonder he always stared at you at the bar. Well, the mating will be a fake one—think of it as a kind of green card marriage to stay with the dragons—but it’ll be up to you if you want more than that.” Ashely paused a beat before asking, “Do you want more?”
Tasha bit her lip and took a second before she answered, “I don’t know.”
“Then my advice is to figure that out first. If Brad kisses you, it kicks off a mate-claim frenzy. If you don’t want it, then they’ll have to drug his inner dragon silent and find some place far away to hide you, possibly for years, until his dragon gets over it.”
She blinked. “Wait, what? Does he go crazy or something?”
“Sort of. The human half can usually contain the urge to claim their mate for a while, especially if they’re as strong as Brad. But inner dragons want their true mates desperately, and even more so after the first kiss. We can’t risk you being near him once you two have kissed.”
Just great. Another thing she had to worry about. “On paper, this would all seem really crazy.”
Ashley grunted. “Trust me, I know. You’re in a new world, Tasha. One you’ve only dipped your toe into. But call me anytime, and I mean it, if you need answers. Although I’ll make sure David assigns one or two people to ease you in and help you understand everything, too. Maybe one of the teachers can help with your transition into clan life and give you classes.”
Needing to lighten the mood a little—everything Ashley had revealed was close to overwhelming her—Tasha muttered, “And here I thought I was done with school.”
Ashely chuckled. “Considering how even I don’t know everything about dragon-shifters despite working with ADDA for so long, there is definitely a lot to learn. But you’re smart and quick on your feet—I monitored your bar for months before approaching you with the idea to open it to dragons, remember?—and you’ll do just fine. My only order is to ask for help if you need it. This is a new world for you, and no matter how smart or perceptive you are, you’ll need some assistance.”
That was an understatement if there ever was one. “Oh, I’ll call if I need it. Although asking the dragon-shifters will be a little harder.”
Ashley replied, “They’re a lot like us, and yet different at the same time. Although I would suggest seeing one in their dragon forms soon-ish to help you get used to the idea of dragons flying and landing all around you.”
Tasha hadn’t thought of that. Dragons weren’t allowed to fly over Reno, and she’d only seen a handful in the skies in her entire life. Maybe some people would be scared at seeing a big dragon with its wings spread out behind them, but Tasha was merely curious. Quite a few dragon groupies came to her bar to gawk at the dragonmen and women, and Tasha wondered if their dragon forms was the reason. Well, apart from their hotness, of course. Dragon-shifters tended to win the genetic lottery most of the time. “Okay, I’ll ask to see one then. Thanks, Ashley.”
“No problem, Tasha. You not only allowed dragon-shifters into your bar, you allowed me and Wes to stay when it would’ve been easier to kick us out. We’ll never forget it.”
True, when the League assholes had first tried to force Wes and Ashley to leave, Tasha could’ve ordered them out. Instead, she’d sent Brad to calm the situation and possibly kick out the League instigators. “It was nothing. You two weren’t the ones causing the trouble.”
“Still, it means a lot. Although I’m sorry it brought you to this.” She paused, some muffled sounds appearing in the background, and then came back on the line. “Apparently I’m late for my self-defense lesson and my mate isn’t too happy about it. Still, if you have more questions, let me know. I’ll risk his wrath to answer them.”
Tasha smiled at the image of Ashley chatting on the phone while her tall mate stood behind her, arms crossed, grumbling about her being tardy. “No, no, that’s it for now. I’m sure I’ll have tons of them later.”
“Okay, then we’ll talk again soon. Bye, Tasha.”
“Bye.”
As she ended the call, Tasha put away her phone and let out a sigh.
All of her years of planning, working hard and saving to open her own place were about to go out the window. If she wanted even a chance at a normal life again, she was going to have to mate a dragon-shifter.
Which meant closing down her bar for the foreseeable future and instead switching her focus to learning everything she could about dragon-shifters.
After a few more seconds to try and calm herself—her life was about to change in a huge way, after all—Tasha stood and went to the door. It was time to tell her future fake husband the news.
Chapter Five
About half an hour later, Brad guided Tasha inside his cottage and into the living room.
Ever since she’d said yes to being his mate, everything had passed by in a blur. David saying he’d get things in line with ADDA, how he’d coordinate Tasha’s first lesson with one of the clan teachers, and then David ordering Brad to take the day off to help Tasha adjust and get to know StoneRiver.
With everything going on, he’d barely said more than three sentences to Tasha. But as she sat on the couch and raised her eyebrows at him, he knew they’d finally have a chance to talk alone.
And Brad had no damn idea what to say.
His dragon sighed. Ask her how’s she’s doing or if there’s anything she wants to know. It’s not that hard.
Tasha’s voice prevented Brad from replying to his beast. “The flashing pupils mean your dragon is talking, right? How does that work exactly? No one has explained it as more than dragon-shifters have two personalities inside one head.”
He grunted. “Pretty much. The dragon starts to talk to the human half at six or seven years old. Getting along with the inner beast isn’t always easy, but if you don’t make it work, things can go wrong really fast.”
She frowned. “Wrong how?”
His dragon growled. You’re scaring her.
I doubt it.
Still, Brad sat in the recliner opposite the couch and said, “Well, if an inner dragon goes rogue and takes control, they can cause all kinds of damage. But it’s rare to happen, and it’ll never happen with me.”
The corner of her mouth ticked up. “So sure of that, huh?”
He sat up taller in his chair. “Of course I am. My main job is to protect the clan. A crazy dragon would make that impossible.”
She tilted her head, her hair spilling over her shoulder, and it took everything he had not to reach over and brush it back. Because then he might trace her shoulder, the side of her neck, and finally cup her cheek.
And he most assuredly couldn’t do that. Tasha showed no sign of wanting more than his protection—arousal didn’t equate wanting a future together—and he wasn’t going to assume anything.
Which means I’ll have to be the one to tell you when she’s ready, his dragon stated. Because you never notice anything about females.
Not wanting his beast to rehash discussions about their ex—and how his beast had seen the signs that Amber didn’t love them the same way—Brad focused on Tasha. He cleared his throat. “You clearly have more questions. So ask them.”