She mentally growled. Stop it.
Why? It’s just a memory. And one that you’re enjoying.
It’s just a reminder of what I can’t have.
Not true. The rules apply to mating a male. But if you never mated him, then you could remain leader.
She missed a step but quickly recovered. I’m not sure why you never mentioned that before.
Because no male was worthy.
We don’t even know Caruso.
There’s something about him that tells me he could be. Any male who stands up to protect their mother from harm deserves a chance.
That’s only a guess. We don’t know for certain what he did.
Still, it’s enough for me. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to enjoy this memory a few more times before we have to talk with Killian.
Gritting her teeth, Teagan picked up her pace. She may not be able to stop her beast—she needed her too much to try to imprison her—but the quicker she arrived at Killian’s office, the quicker her dragon would stop with the taunting.
Because, yes, she was attracted to Aaron. His broad back and defined muscles weren’t anything unusual when it came to a dragon-shifter Protector. Still, she’d never wanted anyone to pull her close and hold her with said muscles before.
When he wasn’t arguing or pissing her off, Aaron almost seemed nice.
Well, more than nice.
But her stealing away another Stonefire clan member wasn’t an option, even if she’d joked about it with Bram. Not that she’d give in to her beast in the first place. Since she’d never bring a child into the world with a possible war brewing, having a family might never be in her future.
They arrived at Killian’s door. She knocked and entered without waiting for an answer.
As usual, her younger brother sat in front of a laptop, frowning at something. “What now?” she asked.
His green eyes met her own. “When you have a second, you need to look at the bank accounts. Something is off.”
“Off as in by a few cents or off as in thousands of euros?”
“Somewhere in between.”
She waved a hand in the air. “And? What else can you tell me?”
“Let me look again, and you do the same. Then we can discuss it in detail.”
Teagan should be used to his thoroughness. However, sometimes she wished he’d just make a guess and start from there.
“Okay.” She parked her arse on the corner of his desk and changed topics. “I’m handing Caruso over to you.”
He nodded. “We worked together once before. He’s skilled.”
“I don’t want him idle, so push him. Maybe include some extra training exercises.”
Killian raised his brows. “He’s not a novice. Treating him as such might be unwise.”
“I don’t plan to treat him as a novice, but I just want to keep him busy. It’ll help him get to know the clan better as well. It’s been a long time since we’ve had two English dragon-shifters on our land as guests. However, if things go well with Bram, they might be a common sight. I need to dispel mistrust sooner rather than later.”
“I will use him, but in strategic assignments and as a mentor. Revelin Collins could do with an older, firmer hand.”
“Just be careful. Rev has a wee temper. I don’t need a fistfight—or worse, a dragon fight—to break out.”