Dragon Blood

Sixty-Two: A Mating

Skylar stared at herself in the mirror as Greta stood behind her, braiding Skylar's hair unruly red hair. Skylar had been through this with Greta hundreds, maybe thousands, of times, but that was always back at the castle. Now they were in Skylar's room in the Big House, the house that would be her permanent home after tonight.

She looked mostly the same as she always had. Curly, unruly, red hair, blue eyes, round face, but she was a completely different person than she was when she'd left the castle two months ago. She couldn't believe it had only been two months since Draco threatened her life, and only one month since she'd killed him to save Orion. She hadn't killed him herself, Isabel had done that, but Skylar had been the one to give her the final okay. She'd felt nothing but desperation to save Orion as she looked into Draco's eyes. Draco had been the reason her mate was dead, so it was only fitting that his life was traded to bring him back.

The last month had been relatively quiet compared to her first month with the clan. The week after the battle had been the worst. Bodies, dragon and human, littered the valley outside the clan's territory. They had moved their lost comrades, mostly dragons but a few of her father's soldiers as well, back to the Square to give them a proper burial but the rest of the deceased were gathered together and burned. She had wanted to be there, to help clean up the mess that she had started, but Orion forbade it. Even though he was weak after his bout with death he was as demanding and hard-headed as ever, so she didn't have a chance.

Her mother and father had remained among the clan for the last month, but their soldiers, other than her father's knights, had marched home. Her parents wanted to stay with her as long as they could. Even though they hadn't talked about it, it was clear that Skylar would not be returning with them to the castle. She had found where she belonged, and it was here with the dragons and Orion. Surprisingly, both of her fathers had become very good friends. Hal and Kellan had been mistrusting of one another at first because of their possessiveness of Skylar, but once they'd gotten past that, they realized they could work together to bother Orion. Orion had heard every speech about taking care of her, sometimes given by both fathers at the same time, and sometimes they took turns. Skylar loved that her fathers were friends; she felt she was able to keep calling them both her fathers, and the same went for her mothers.

She'd gotten to know Jed better as well. If Olly and Orion were melded into the same person, that would be Jed. He was serious when he needed to be, but he was always quick with a joke. When Cassie disappeared after the battle, the Eastern Clan's Alpha family had been angry and confused by her betrayal, and now her absence. Other than searching for her for a few days, no one really talked more about her. To talk about her would upset Kellan and Penelope even more, and no one wanted to do that. Skylar couldn't say she would be heartbroken if her sister never came back.

Skylar blamed every death on Cassie. Because she had been upset about Orion's rejection, she had lead Draco straight to them. Victoria and Benny almost died, and Orion did die. If it weren't for Isabel and her dark magic, Orion would be lost to them all.

Skylar had been watching Orion like a hawk for the past month, looking for any sign of negative effects from Isabel's spell. He acted no differently, other than that he was stiffer when he walked, and he smiled a lot more. The former could be attributed to nearly being torn in half and then pulled back together with magic, and the latter was entirely because of her. It was his idea to have their mating ceremony so soon after the battle. He didn't want to wait any longer, and he wanted to stop sneaky to and from her room every night. He'd said it as a joke as she nudged him back to his room one morning, but then decided it was a great idea. She'd argued, insisting they should give everyone a chance to recuperate after so much sorry. Of course, he had immediately answered with the point that they should do something positive for everyone.