The laugh faded from her eyes. "The second woman, Imogen, her death was completely preventable. My boss at the time prevented me from helping her and possibly saving her life. If that wasn't bad enough, that man is now second-in-charge of the whole DDA." Her brow furrowed. "If he takes over, it'll be bad news for your clan."

He squeezed his female. "Give a dragon-shifter some credit. I do have a trick or two up my sleeve. The DDA might be powerful now, but with Melanie Hall-MacLeod's help, that might soon change."

"What?"

Bram hadn't planned on telling Evie about Mel's plans, but talking with her was easy, especially as his dragon kept sending thoughts of trust to him. "Melanie is writing a book about dragon-shifters to help sway public opinion. Come to think of it, the female has all kinds of ideas of how to improve our image."

"So Melanie is your PR expert?"

He smiled. "I hadn't thought of it in that light, but aye, I think you're right."

The sadness faded from his female's eyes and was replaced with a hint of determination. "Then I think I should help her. If she's good at marketing, then combining that with my insider knowledge about the DDA and British law, we'll become unstoppable."

He could see the wheels turning in her head. But as much as he loved how Evie had moved on from her sadness, he didn't have much time before Mel and Samira would come and take Evie away to prepare her for tonight's dinner.

Just thinking about Evie leaving their side made his dragon snarl. Before she leaves, ask her. Stop waiting. She is right for us. The clan must know she is ours.

Then fucking tell me why you're so certain.

No. You feel it too. Trust that feeling. Ask her.

Only because of the female at his side did Bram resist growling. He did want to keep Evie as his female, but his dragon's sudden secretive nature was driving him mental.

His inner beast growled and Bram decided enough was enough. Fine. I will ask her. Now, shut it so I can concentrate.

And just like that, his dragon faded to the back of his mind.

Bloody beast.

Moving a hand to Evie's cheek, he said, "That's a possibility, but it's completely up to Melanie. The book is her pet project." Evie opened her mouth and he moved his fingers to her lips. "We can discuss it later. Right now, I need to tell you about this evening. Especially since Melanie and the other human mated to a dragon-shifter, Samira, will be here soon to fetch you."

Evie moved her lips against his fingers, reminding him of just how soft they were. "If you're expecting me to speak, then remove your bloody fingers from my mouth."

He was tempted to remove his fingers and shut her up by kissing her, but he hadn't lied before. There wasn't time. Not even his still-hard cock lying against his belly would convince him to fuck up the event this evening. "Just listen first. Tonight is a special dinner honoring Finlay Stewart as our guest. Attire is meant to be formal. While you no doubt know what the traditional clothing looks like, Mel and Samira will help you look your best. Everyone will be watching you tonight."

She frowned and mumbled against his fingers. "Care to tell me why?"

Removing his fingers, he placed a finger under her chin. "Because I want my clan to know that you're mine."

Her breath hitched and a feeling of smugness came over him. His dragon hummed. See? She wants us too.

She hasn't said yes yet, you bloody beast.

She will.

Evie pushed half-up and looked down at him. "Is this a firm 'Yes, I'm going to take you on as my mate' or another half-arsed way to string me along?"

Calm her fears. Leave no doubts.

Sometimes, Bram wished he could just let his dragon talk instead of conveying the beast's messages. Still, he agreed with him this time. The thought of her walking away from him and leaving with Finn in a few days caused a surge of jealousy to shoot through his body.

Bram rolled on top of Evie, pinning her body to the bed, and leaned in until he was a hairbreadth away from her lips. "Evie Marshall, I want you as my mate." Remembering her request from this morning, he tacked on, "Will you allow me to walk in to the great hall with you on my arm? I can make the announcement tomorrow, as I don't want to take the focus away from Finn, no matter how much I wish I could just kick the bastard to the side and bring you into the limelight."

Evie's eyes searched his. "Are you being serious? I don't want to get my hopes up only to have them dashed later when we have another row."

He moved one hand between them and gripped her breast possessively. Evie sucked in a breath as he said, "You are mine, Evie Marshall, and one day you'll admit as much."

His dragon hummed. Yes, yes, she is ours. Always. We need her.

Needing was the last word he wanted to hear right now since his cock was currently cushioned between him and Evie's round, soft stomach. Every instinct he possessed urged him to thrust into the female and make her scream.

Yes, yes, fuck her. If we do it quickly, we have enough time.

But she said only once.

Then ask.

Gritting his teeth, Bram forced himself to ask a different question. "Will you accompany me and agree to be my mate?"

The human stared at him silently. With each passing second, his dragon pushed harder to take control. Don't lose her. Make her say yes.

Evie's London tones snapped him from his mind. "As long as you plan to protect me, then yes, I'll accompany you and be your mate."

Joy rushed through his body and he lowered his head to kiss her.

The kiss wasn't meant to be gentle, and he immediately thrust his tongue into her mouth. As he licked and explored every inch of her hot, sweet mouth, he pinched her nipple and reveled in the vibrations of her moan both in his mouth and from the contact against her chest.

Now, now, do it now. We must fuck her and brand our scent more. Don't let the leader take her.

Only because of years of practice did Bram resist his dragon's commands. Breaking the kiss, he whispered, "Please, Evie, let me take you from behind quickly or my beast will break free and take you every which way until he's sated. I want that, too, but I can't risk the alliance."

Evie was having trouble thinking. Between the fit dragonman's muscled body lying on top of her to his recent domination of her mouth, her lady parts were very much screaming for attention. Somewhere in the back of her mind, she was glad he'd asked her to be his mate. But as Bram asked to fuck her to calm his dragon, any rational thoughts vanished. All she could think about was the cock currently pressing against her. "Then take me, dragonman. Doggy-style-or is it dragon-style?-is one of my favorite positions."

With a roar, Bram rose off her body, flipped her over, and lifted her hips before he thrust his long, hard cock into her. Evie gripped the sheets and raised her arse. As if signaling to start, Bram pounded into her, no holds barred.

The speed, combined with how his hard cock was hitting her at just the right angle, made her moan. The sensation was in that wonderful place on the border of pleasure and pain.

Then her dragonman picked up his pace and she cried out with each thrust. She'd never had a man so completely fill her, let alone fuck her as if this were their last moment on Earth. Sometimes she appreciated special attention to her clit, but at the moment, the sheer power and animalistic nature of Bram's movements was bringing her close to the edge.

Then he roared and stilled. She felt him orgasm inside her, and pleasure instantly coursed through her body as her pussy started to spasm in time with her clit. Each hot jet inside her brought another orgasm, until she lost all rational thought.

Only when she felt Bram lean over her back and kiss her shoulder did she come down from her high. His arms were tenderly wrapped around her, the hair from his arms and chest tickling her skin. His voice was low and husky as he whispered into her ear, "Thank you."

Her brain took a second to make a coherent thought before she said, "Mr. Dragon Leader is thanking me? That's new."

His chuckle vibrated against her back. "Don't get too used to it. I only bring out the 't' word on special occasions."

Evie laughed. Bram rose upward, but took her with him until she was leaning back against his chest. She looked into his very human-looking eyes. "Is your dragon doing better now?"

Hugging her tightly, he nodded. "I don't know what's gotten into him. He hasn't been this out of control since I was barely an adult. It's almost as if..."

I was his true mate.

Evie pushed that thought aside. There was no way she could be. According to her testing as a teenager, she couldn't have dragon-shifter children. True mates always reproduced. Always.

Or, so went every documented case she'd studied over the years.

Bram nuzzled the side of her neck and she focused on the here and now. She didn't need to be his true mate to enjoy the man at her back. She was about to ask when Melanie and Samira were due to arrive when he cursed and said, "They're knocking on the door. You need to go."

Snuggling against his hard chest, she murmured, "I don't want to."

Her dragonman chuckled. "So have my sex skills graduated from 'nice' to something much more now? So much so that you can't bear to leave my side?"

She tried to frown, but failed. "Remind me not to compliment you too often or you will become unbearable."

He grinned. "You haven't seen anything yet, lass."

As she smiled widely, a mobile phone rang. Bram sighed. "That would be Melanie. We can talk later, lass. Once I find out information from Kai, I'll let you know if you're in any danger. That'll have to be at the dinner in the great hall, provided we can find a secure place to talk."

He moved away and pulled out from her. She turned around and he cupped her face with his warm hands. "I can't wait to see you kitted out in dragon-shifter attire, Evie. It might just drive my dragon crazy again."

She smiled as he placed a gentle kiss on her lips. Then he pulled away and reached for his jeans. "Hurry, lass. Once Melanie has a task, she's determined to see it through. She'll drag you half-naked through the community if that's what it takes."

Standing on the floor, she looked at Bram's light blue eyes. "Just one question: is being your mate-to-be a secret?"

"Melanie and Samira are fine, but don't go spreading it around yet. If there's a traitor in the clan, I don't want them to hurt you to get at me."

After nodding, Evie took one last look at her future mate and headed for the bathroom, unsure of what the next few hours would bring.

End Part Two *~*~*~*

PART THREE.

Chapter One.

Bram Moore-Llewellyn sat at his desk. For the last half hour, he'd discussed with Kai, his head Protector, about Evie's theory concerning Neil Westhaven slowly killing Caitriona Belmont with dragon-shifter hormones. With the facts laid out and them both in agreement, he asked, "A theory is great, but we need proof. Has anyone formerly related to Neil done anything out of the ordinary?"

Kai tapped the fingers of his right hand against his leg for a few seconds and stopped. "Yes. I hadn't thought anything of it at the time, but it could be relevant now. Olivia Harris left early this morning, carrying a large suitcase to the landing and take-off area before shifting and gripping the item in her talons. She had a pass to visit the clan in Wales, so the Protector on duty thought nothing of it. In retrospect, she's visited the Welsh clan a few times over the last few months. She might be meeting with Neil."

Olivia had once upon a time been Neil Westhaven's female, but they separated six months before Bram had chosen a male for their next human sacrifice. He had thought assigning Neil to Caitriona would be a good way for his clan member to purge Olivia out of his system. "Find out where she went. It should be easy enough to determine if she went south to Wales or elsewhere, especially since red dragons are the rarest kind. Reach out to our contacts within the human communities to help discover her flight path."

"Nikki has been in charge of reaching out to our human contacts. I'll ask her to do it as soon as we're done here."

Bram nodded. "Good. However, I hope she's done by this evening for the special dinner. I need someone to watch Evie if I'm called away."

"I'll watch the human if that happens. As much as I don't want to go to the dinner and want to focus solely on rooting out more information, Finlay Stewart might take offense at the absence of Stonefire's head Protector."

At the mention of Finn's name, his dragon growled inside his head. When will he be gone? He prevents too many things from happening. First, declaring our mate to the clan. Second, finding the threats to our future mate.

We need his alliance. He will leave tomorrow. Be patient. Will you allow Kai to watch Evie?

Yes. He knows the identity of his mate. Why he ignores her, I don't understand.

Leave it be. It's his choice.

With a grunt, his dragon faded to the back of his mind, allowing Bram to focus on Kai. "Thanks for offering. You're one of the few males both me and my dragon will allow near Evie." Kai nodded. With Evie's safety taken care of, he moved to the next item on his list. "Right then, before I dismiss you to do your magic, there's one more thing I want to put into motion."

"What?"

"I want someone focused on questioning the dragon hunter we have in custody. If Olivia and Neil are leaking information, and who the hell knows what else, he may be able to confirm it. You and I have a lot on our plates already. Is there anyone amongst the Protectors you trust to handle the prisoner?"

"Zain would be a good fit. He's a newer Protector, but his performance is nearly as good as mine."

The corner of Bram's lips ticked up. "I didn't think anyone could be as good as you, not even me."

Despite his attempt to lighten the mood, Kai's face remained serious. "If you didn't have all of your clan leader duties, I'm sure you'd have enough time to train and surpass me. Frankly, the amount of paperwork involved with your job makes me break out in a sweat."

Bram full-on smiled. "It's not so bad." He crossed his arms over his chest. "Now, tell me why you'd pick Zain, and convince me to trust him."

"He's dedicated, carries out even the most menial tasks I've assigned him without complaint, and not even my most thorough background check could find anything suspicious. Add that to his experience of working with the human intelligence collection assets division of the armed forces a few years ago, and he's our best chance at not only finding out about the attacks, but why the dragon hunter let slip he knew Evie Marshall."

Yes, find out why. We must protect our female. Bram sent thoughts of silence before he replied, "The dragon hunter mentioning Evie by name worried me before, but knowing Neil may be involved, worries me further. Still, as much as I want to know the connection, why should we trust Zain?"

"I believe in him. He has no family apart from the clan as a whole. He'll do anything to protect us."

His head Protector may only be thirty years old, but he acted far older on most days. Bram's inner beast piped in. Zain is good. I never get a bad feeling from him. If Kai trusts him, we should too.

While not the most fact-based endorsement, he treasured his dragon's intuition. "Right, then involve Zain, but slowly. Have him interrogate the dragon hunter and see what he can find. If he's successful, then share a little more until you feel confident sharing everything. I also want him to keep us both updated every hour, even if it's just with a text message saying he's found nothing new."

Kai nodded. "We have two hours before the clan gathers for the dinner in the great hall. It's enough time for me to fill in Zain and have him start his interrogation."

"Good. Once that's set up, make sure to escort Evie, Melanie, and Samira to the great hall. I need to meet with Arabella right before the dinner starts, which means I can't do it myself. I don't want to take any chances with their safety. If anything were to happen to the three human females on my land, the human media would soon rustle up a witch hunt against us."

The other male stood up. "Anything else?"

"Just be careful. Olivia is our main suspect for betrayal, but there could be other traitors in our midst. I'm not the only one with someone to protect."

"I'll do my job as I always do."