Claimed by the Dragons (Alma Venus Shifter Brides 3)

“Okay, so… You and Viggo only talked about his Fyrstur and what you’re going to tell him to convince him to come back to his clan. Nothing else?”

“No.” Delyse sighed deeply. “I don’t think he knows that I… You know, like him. And it’s better this way. It would just make things unnecessarily complicated.” She shrugged again. “It’s not mutual, anyway.”

“How do you know that?”

“I just do. If it were, he would have said something by now, or given me a clue. It’s pretty clear I’m not his type, and even if I were, Viggo is so loyal to his Fyrstur that he’d never do anything that might even rhyme with betrayal. In three days, I will become his Alpha’s bride, and then he’ll be free to find a bride for himself.”

Delyse didn’t add what she was actually thinking. Viggo probably couldn’t wait to deliver her to Eric Drekinn and then come back to Alma Venus, or visit other boarding schools, to find a shifter-bride for himself. The dragon-shifters’ tradition said that the Beta could never take a bride before his Alpha, so Viggo had been waiting for this moment for over 700 years. It was time for him to find his mate and build a family, and no matter how much this reality made her suffer, Delyse knew this was the way things were supposed to be. As a shifter-bride, she wasn’t free to choose. If she were a free woman, maybe she would have found the courage to at least tell him she had always liked him. Scratch that. She had always loved him. She had fallen in love with him the day he had summoned her for the interview. Over the past three years, she had tried to convince herself countless times that the only reason for which she had these feelings for Viggo was that he was the only man who had given her the time of day, who had given her the attention she craved so much. It hadn’t worked. The truth was Delyse was in love with Viggo and there was nothing she could do to change that. All she could hope was for his Fyrstur, her future husband, to be just as strong, kind, and attentive as his Beta. Then, everything would be so much easier: in time, she would fall in love with her husband and forget her infatuation with Viggo.

“It sucks,” Claudia said. “It sucks so much, and I’m sorry.”

“Yeah… me too.”

Claudia hugged her friend again. “It’ll be fine, you’ll see. You deserve to be happy, and you will be. No matter what.”

Delyse smiled. “When did you start seeing into the future?”

“It’s not about seeing into the future, it’s about knowing how awesome you are. And the Universe knows it. Nothing happens by mistake, you know that. Viggo might be handsome and a nice guy all around, but there’s a reason why he’s only the Beta and Eric is his Alpha. If the Beta of Clan Drekinn is the way he is, just imagine the Alpha! The guy must be twice as tall, strong, and handsome.”

Delyse rolled her eyes. “As if these are the things that turn a woman on…”

“Aren’t they?” Claudia furrowed her brows in mock confusion. “What else is there? Kindness? Wit? Loyalty? Mmm… a sense of humor? Who needs that? Just give me a nice piece of hunk, all strong and ripped, and I’m in heaven.”

Delyse laughed wholeheartedly. “Oh, I’m gonna miss you. I’m gonna miss you so much!”

Claudia looked into her friend’s blue eyes. “I’m gonna miss you too, girl.”

***

The conversation had died ten minutes before. Miss Delacroix was behind her desk, busying herself with a couple of files. Viggo was sitting in the leather chair across from her, lost in his own thoughts,

throwing glances out the window or around the office, his right knee moving relentlessly in anticipation and anxiety. While waiting for Delyse to come down with her luggage, they had talked about the usual things: the weather, the latest news, and the changes which seemed to be constantly happening within the Council of the Six Factions since the new Fox Councilor, Blake Sylfur, had taken Jonathan Redfur’s place three years ago. It seemed the world had yet to get over it. Neither Miss Delacroix, nor Viggo wanted to talk about the battle at Alma Venus, so they graciously avoided the topic. The headmistress would have loved to ask him about his Fyrstur, but she had thought better of it. The truth was that she was concerned about Delyse and the new life she was about to start in Norway. Three years ago, she had been relieved that the Beta dragon-shifter had decided to buy Delyse, a Donation and probably the most valuable shifter-bride the boarding school had, for Eric Drekinn. Now, she wasn’t so sure anymore.

Viggo had his own concerns and his own dark thoughts. As he shifted in his seat, trying to make himself more comfortable, he thought of how much he had anticipated this moment: the day he would come at Alma Venus not to spend a couple of hours with Delyse, but to take her out of here, to take her to her new home, where he would see her every day. So many things were about to change. If everything went well, Delyse would convince Eric to return to his clan, and that meant Viggo could finally take a break. Yes, this was the most important thing right now. Viggo sighed and bit the inside of his cheek. Who was he kidding?

Miss Delacroix stood up, excused herself, telling Viggo she had some business with one of the Alma Venus professors, and left the office. She wouldn’t be gone long, and she kindly asked him to wait for her in case Delyse made her appearance. The girl was one of her favorite students, and she couldn’t imagine letting her leave the school without saying goodbye. Viggo smiled and assured her he would do just that, then groaned in relief when the woman left the room. It was as if he couldn’t allow his thoughts to run wildly and freely when someone else was around. It was as if he was afraid that the other person could hear them, or read them on his face. He stood up and started pacing the office.

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.”