Claimed by the Dragons Read online

  No matter how much he had tried to think of a solution in the past year, the situation couldn’t be helped. He had bought Delyse for two reasons: first, because he wanted to help his friend and ally, Max Blackmane, keep his promise to James Harington, and secondly, because he knew Delyse was the best choice he could have ever made for his Fyrstur. The daughter of the Human Councilor – the only man in the world who was powerful and insane enough to continue his research on cures for shape-shifter venom; one of the few girls who had been donated by their families to boarding schools, in the idea of securing a good marriage with a resourceful Alpha, and an honest alliance between the species; Lily Harington a.k.a. Delyse was, indeed, everything Eric Drekinn needed. The problem was, however, that she was also everything Viggo needed.

  He stopped in front of the window and looked at the beds of flowers and the cobblestone alley which led to the heavy iron gates of the boarding school. In less than an hour, he would be leading the blonde, blue-eyed beauty who had been haunting his dreams through those gates, and he would be taking her far away from this place, but not for himself. Viggo closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

  “This is crazy,” he whispered to himself. “I have to stop thinking about this… About her…”

  But how could he possibly do that, when he would be living with her under the same roof? It was too late now. He had already allowed himself to see Delyse as more than the future bride of his Alpha. He didn’t even know when it happened. He couldn’t say it had been love at first sight, because the first time he saw Delyse, he had been too busy protecting the boarding school from a pack of rogue werewolves and two earths of werefoxes. He had also been too busy making sure her best friend, Avelyn Blackmane, was okay to pay attention to the beautiful creature who had been holding Avelyn’s hand all through the battle. But he had noticed her at the interview. Her nervous laughter when she told him she was actually supposed to be an Aquilae bride, not a Lupi bride, much less a Dracones bride… Her big, bright eyes… The way she threaded her fingers through her long hair when she wasn’t sure what else to say… All these small details had made Viggo’s heart beat faster, and the tips of his fingers tingle with the unexpected need to touch her hair, caress her cheeks, trace the exquisite curve of her full lips before he kissed them. He had felt stupid then, for the first time in his life. He had had to clear his throat, wipe his sweaty hands on his jeans constantly, and shift in his seat in an attempt to find a better position for his growing erection, and all because the sheer presence of the beautiful woman who was going to become Eric Drekinn’s bride drove him insane with lust.

  Viggo’s stomach tightened when he heard the door open and smelled the fruity scent of Delyse’s skin. He took a deep breath, plastered a smile on his lips, and turned around to greet her.

  “Hi,” she said.

  “Well, hello there! I feel like I’ve been waiting here for hours! What took you so long? Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts…”

  “What?!” Delyse left her rather heavy suitcase by the door and stepped closer to him. “No, I just… I had to say goodbye to my roommate, Claudia, and it wasn’t easy. I can’t believe I will probably never see her again.”

  There was sadness in her voice, and Viggo’s heart ached a bit. It was hard for him to understand how he could react so strongly to everything she felt or said. He might have been thousands of years old, but this was incredibly new to him. Or maybe, it wasn’t… He just couldn’t remember when it was the last time he had fallen in love. He didn’t want to think about it. It had ended badly, just like it always ended when it came to dragon-shifters and their brides.

  “I understand,” he said. “We’re in no hurry, so if you need more time…”

  Delyse shook her head vigorously. “No, it will be easier if we just leave.”

  “Miss Delacroix wants to…”

  Viggo didn’t have time to finish his sentence because the headmistress chose that exact moment to enter the office.

  “Delyse, my dear!” Arms spread wide, she stepped closer to Delyse and wrapped her small body in a tight embrace. “I’ve dreaded this moment just as much as I was looking forward to it.”

  Delyse smiled and hugged Miss Delacroix back. Of all the Alma Venus brides, Delyse was probably the only one who had never blamed the headmistress for the education they received here. The middle-aged woman was just doing her job as best as she could. She hadn’t signed the peace treaty, she hadn’t proposed or agreed to the clause which said human brides had to be offered to shape-shifters so they could give them heirs, she was just running a boarding school and offering orphans and abandoned young girls the opportunity to lead a good life in exchange for their freedom of choice. The system wasn’t the best, but people like Monique Delacroix made it work, and that wasn’t an easy job. Sometimes, Delyse couldn’t help but think that the headmistress had been more of a mother to her than Margaret Harington, who had had no objection when her father, Councilor Harington, had suggested they should donate their little girl to a prestigious boarding school. Delyse would never forgive her mother for having abandoned her like that. That was why when Miss Delacroix had taken her in, she had decided to never use her real name again. Lily Harington became Delyse, the future bride of an Alpha shifter who would have enough wealth and power to satisfy her family’s expectations.

  “How are you feeling? You are ready, right?” Miss Delacroix released Delyse and held her at arm’s length to look into the girl’s eyes.

  “As ready as I’ll ever be.”

  The headmistress smoothed down her hair. “Good, good. I always knew you’d do great. You’ve always been so different from the other Alma Venus students. You understand the importance of what we’re doing here.”

  Viggo cleared his throat, getting ready to say something, but then he changed his mind and turned to face the window again. The moment was awkward, and the two women’s conversation was making him feel uncomfortable. Delyse was such a wonderful, special young woman, and she certainly didn’t deserve to be forced to marry someone she had never met, only to make her contribution to the peace between humans and shape-shifters. She could have had a normal life if her parents hadn’t decided to donate her. The thought that he was the one who had bought her and was now about to take her away from the only home she had ever known, made him reconsider every decision the Council of the Six Factions had made after the war.

  Delyse noticed the small change in Viggo’s posture and attitude, and she tried to wave Miss Delacroix off.

  “It’s all right, Miss Delacroix. Everything will be fine, I’m sure of it. This is what I want.”

  “Well then… Do you have everything you need?” She looked over at Delyse’s suitcase and cocked a thin, gray eyebrow. “If you can’t take all your things with you now, I can arrange for the rest to be sent to Norway.”

  “Oh, don’t worry about it! Claudia was more than happy to adopt some of my clothes.”

  The headmistress nodded.

  “Really, I have everything I need,” said Delyse. She stepped away from Miss Delacroix and turned to Viggo. She was nervous and scared beyond belief, but anything was better than this long, painful goodbye. “I’m ready,” she said.

  Viggo knew she was talking to him, so he turned around, nodded, and went to grab her bag.

  “Thank you so much, Miss Delacroix. For everything.” He wasn’t a man of many words, and he surely wasn’t about to thank her for all those times when she had allowed them to spend hours and hours together, talking about the culture and traditions of the dragon-shifters and about Clan Drekinn. He wasn’t about to thank her for giving him the chance to know this young woman better, to fall in love with her when he was supposed to be loyal to his Fyrstur. Such a stupid idea it had been.

  They said their goodbyes, and Delyse followed Viggo out of the office, then out of the building. Claudia was waiting for them at the gate, and before she left Alma Venus for good, Delyse hugged her friend one last time and loo
ked upon the medieval structure of the boarding school over her shoulder. This was it. Her waiting was over. She was finally going to meet her destiny, no matter what it was. Maybe she would fall in love with the mysterious Eric and forget all about Viggo. Maybe she’d despise Eric and dream about Viggo’s soft touch for the rest of her life. Who knew? It was a huge risk. But then again. Everything was.

  CHAPTER TWO

  Clan Drekinn

  Since its very beginnings, Clan Drekinn lived in Norway and had complete control over the Svalbard Archipelago. Svartvinge was the largest island, and it was also the one Eric Drekinn, the Clan’s Fyrstur, had chosen to build his impressive palace. As Delyse learned from Viggo months ago, the name of the island, Svartvinge, meant “black wing” in the dragons’ old language. It made sense, since Eric Drekinn was a black-scaled dragon, and dragons, as a faction, were organized in wings, and then clans. If the main Alpha of a clan had siblings, then each sibling had their own wing under their command, and all the wings united under the effigy of the clan and answered, in the end, to the most powerful Alpha. Eric had no siblings, though. Viggo had told Delyse countless times how much he would have wished for his Fyrstur to have a brother or a sister. The clan would have had more chances to stay afloat when the main Fyrstur succumbed to depression and despair.

  As Viggo offered Delyse his hand to help her step on the private plane’s airstairs, he showed her the tallest glacier on the island, far in the distance.

  “That’s where you’ll meet Eric tomorrow,” he said.

  Delyse nodded. She stole a glance at the icy peak, then focused on descending the airstairs with gracious care. She already knew the only dragon who was asleep under the tallest, most massive glacier on Svartvinge was Eric. The other dragons were hibernating under glaciers and mountains on the other islands of the archipelago. Apparently, the Fyrstur had wanted to be as close to home as possible.

  “Careful now,” said Viggo as he helped her keep her balance on the icy ground.

  Delyse made sure she was secure on her feet, then she let go of his hand. Even through her leather gloves, she could feel the delicious warmth of his fingers. Being so close to him, him touching her ever so gently… it was too much. She had to keep her head clear. She wrapped her coat tighter around her body and watched mesmerized how her breath turned into white vapor the second it left her lips.

  “So cold…”

  Viggo smiled. “Yes, sorry about that. Dragon-shifters love the cold. We’re beings of fire, and if we were to live in a warmer climate, it would simply be too hot for us. You’ll see it’s very warm inside the palace.”

  He led her towards the imposing gates as a human servant picked up her bag and followed them.

  “Clan Drekinn has lived on this island long before the Vikings, and even the Migration Age,” Viggo continued, even though he was sure Delyse already knew everything there was to know about the history of the clan. He just needed to make conversation. Any kind of conversation. Repeating things they had already talked about was better than the tense, awkward silence that usually fell between them, giving his mind the perfect opportunity to create scenarios in which he would take Delyse into his arms, kiss her forehead, her closed eyes, her cheeks, lips, jaw, neck… peel the clothes off her amazing body…

  “This is incredible!”

  Viggo feasted his eyes on her perfect profile as she was studying the complex architecture of her new home.

  “It has gone through countless renovations, as you might imagine,” he said. “Every time, we chose to keep elements of the old styles and add some modern ones, just to remind the members of Clan Drekinn where we came from, where we are now, and that we will live and prosper for years and years to come.”

  “It’s overwhelming…”

  “Wait until you see the inside!”

  He opened the intricately forged iron gate for her, and Delyse stepped on the wide alley which led to the front door. Just as she was getting ready to ask him where everyone else was, she saw two figures waiting for them: a woman and a man.

  “Delyse, this is my sister, Astrid, and our good friend, Finn. Astrid, Finn… meet our future Alpha bride.”

  Delyse smiled and shook their hands.

  “Welcome!” said Astrid.

  Finn only smiled and nodded.

  “Thank you! I hope we can be friends,” said Delyse.

  “Well, I hope so too.” Astrid gave her an even bigger smile. “Otherwise, things could get weird really soon, as we’re the only clan members around. All the other lazy asses are sleeping peacefully on their islands.”

  Then and there, Delyse decided she liked Viggo’s sister. Astrid had long, dark blonde hair, golden eyes, and an amazing body: athletic, with harmonious curves in all the right places. She was, easily, the most beautiful woman Delyse had ever seen.

  Finn was almost as tall as Viggo. He was so bulky that he gave the impression his body was built of stone. Or marble, since his skin was so white. He had light blond hair, lighter than Delyse’s, and his eyebrows and eyelashes were almost invisible, which, strangely enough, didn’t make him look less handsome. There was a sadness to him, though. Delyse could see it in his golden eyes. He seemed tired and bored with life.

  “Let’s go inside,” suggested Astrid. “You poor thing… You’ve been in this freezing cold too long.”

  Viggo had been right, Delyse had to admit. The inside of the palace was even more impressive than the outside. Everything was warm, bright, and colorful, which she realized now was in stark contrast with the outside walls and statues, which did show signs of wear because of the harsh weather.

  “Oh, I’m going to love it here,” she whispered.

  She let Finn take her coat, and her muscles relaxed when the warmth and coziness of the main hall swept into her bones. She jumped in surprise when Astrid took her hand and pulled her towards the main staircase.

  “Come on, let me show you around.” She then turned to Viggo. “Brother, please let the cook know we’ll be ready for dinner in an hour.”

  “Oh, wouldn’t it be too early?” asked Delyse.

  “Nonsense! You must be starving.”

  She couldn’t deny that. She hadn’t eaten much the day before, she had skipped breakfast, and only nibbled on her food on the plane. So, she let Astrid order everyone around and give her a quick tour of the palace. Marble statues of dragons, original paintings which should have probably been in a museum, not in a private collection, rare books, colorful, complex patterns on the marble floors… Everything was absolutely breathtaking. Delyse knew she would probably prefer to take long walks on the maze-like corridors of the palace and admire the art on the walls, than go for even the shortest of strolls outside, in the cold. The landscape the island was offering was bleak, anyway.

  Astrid talked all the time, Delyse barely having the chance to sneak in a comment. They visited the greenhouse, which was more of an interior garden, then they finally went back downstairs, where dinner was waiting. Delyse took a seat between Astrid and Finn, which placed her right across from Viggo. She realized this was the first day she had spent the most time in his presence, and it was also the first time they were having dinner together. Well, not exactly together, since Finn and Astrid were there, as well as a couple of servants, but it was still something new and exciting. She couldn’t help but steal quick, shy glances at him. She loved how he lifted the glass of wine with the tips of his fingers, how he chewed his food silently and carefully. It was stupid, but everything he did was perfect. Delyse could watch him for hours.

  “Oh Lord,” she thought. “This isn’t good.”

  She tried to focus on her food and remember to smile and nod at Astrid to give her the impression she was actually listening. Poor Astrid. Since she was the only woman of Clan Drekinn who was still awake, she was probably bored out of her mind of spending her time with Viggo and Finn. Yes, they would be good friends.

  After dinner, they spent another hour around the fireplace with glasses of wi
ne in their hands. Astrid asked her about Alma Venus, about the other shifter-brides, and about Myrtle Valley. When Delyse started talking about what it was really like to grow up in a boarding school, especially as a Donation, even Finn showed interest and asked her a couple of thoughtful questions. Viggo was silent the entire time. Delyse tried not to lose herself in his beautiful eyes, instead focusing on Astrid and Finn. It was very difficult when the flames in the fireplace danced in his golden orbs, making them look like molten gold. Even when he was so silent and broody, his presence was impossible to ignore. The slightly disheveled blond hair sticking into his eyes, his straight, noble nose, and high cheekbones… Oh, he was so handsome! So unbearably handsome! When they all finished their wine, Delyse sighed and told them she was tired and all she could dream of was a long, hot bath. They retreated into their rooms, and Astrid made sure to squeeze her hand and reassure her that everything would be fine the next day.

  “Eric is a great man, you’ll see,” she told Delyse. “I’ve known him for a long time, and now I know you. Believe me: you were made for each other.”

  Delyse smiled and thanked her. She wasn’t sure if Astrid’s words had given her hope, or crushed her soul a bit. She couldn’t make sense of her feelings anymore.

  ***

  Delyse sighed deeply and gathered her courage to get out of the bathtub. She had been soaking in the hot water for a little over an hour, which was a record even for her. She had already figured out the whole palace had an incredible heating system, but she hadn’t expected it to be hooked up to the bathtub in such a way that it kept the water at a constant temperature. Goodbye frustrating baths during which she had to let some of the water drain so she could add more hot water! This was heaven!