Ashley snorted. “Well, it could be even worse. But in all seriousness, I don’t think you have many options, Tasha. If you stay with a dragon clan, then I can see if ADDA will allow you to run your business from StoneRiver. But that’s about all I can do. I don’t dangle false hope. And once the League sets its sights on you, your life becomes hell.”
While Tasha had suspected everything Ashley had told her, hearing it from her sort-of friend made it all much more real.
Which meant in the end, she had no choice but to stay on StoneRiver and be Brad’s mate.
A mixture of emotions rolled through her, mostly contradictory. How could she be disappointed and anticipate the new path? It made no sense.
Maybe because she was starting to see Brad in a new light. Or maybe she looked forward to the new adventure in a mostly foreign place.
Or maybe she just knew that she couldn’t change her circumstances and had to make the best of it.
Regardless of the true reasons—she could sort that out later—she replied to Ashley, “Then I’ll stay. Just promise me you’ll visit soon. I don’t know if many of my friends will come and set foot on a dragon clan’s land, even if they were allowed.”
“So I’m all you’ve got, huh?” Ashley laughed and then added, “I’ll work on it. My mate is a little protective of me since I’m pregnant now, but I can be persuasive.”
Tasha probably wouldn’t have brought it up by herself, but now that Ashley had mentioned her mate, she dared to ask, “Is it weird being with a dragon-shifter?”
Ashley snorted. “I wish my mate could hear that. But no, it’s not weird. Maybe a little different—you have both the human half and the dragon half to contend with. However, they can be wonderful partners. Well, provided you let them know you want an equal footing, which I sense you want as much as me. Dragonmen and women can be rather protective since they treasure family and clan dearly. So just tread carefully in that department and learn to pick your battles.”
Would Tasha even know what her battles were? Brad wasn’t exactly forthcoming, at least in her experiences to date. “I’ll remember that. Just let me know when you can come visit, okay? I think I need to learn more about true mates, mating, and all of that kind of stuff from another human with experience.”
Ashley paused. “You know who your true mate is?”
“Yes. I just found out it’s Brad.”
Ashley clicked her tongue. “No wonder he always stared at you at the bar. Well, the mating will be a fake one—think of it as a kind of green card marriage to stay with the dragons—but it’ll be up to you if you want more than that.” Ashely paused a beat before asking, “Do you want more?”
Tasha bit her lip and took a second before she answered, “I don’t know.”
“Then my advice is to figure that out first. If Brad kisses you, it kicks off a mate-claim frenzy. If you don’t want it, then they’ll have to drug his inner dragon silent and find some place far away to hide you, possibly for years, until his dragon gets over it.”
She blinked. “Wait, what? Does he go crazy or something?”
“Sort of. The human half can usually contain the urge to claim their mate for a while, especially if they’re as strong as Brad. But inner dragons want their true mates desperately, and even more so after the first kiss. We can’t risk you being near him once you two have kissed.”
Just great. Another thing she had to worry about. “On paper, this would all seem really crazy.”
Ashley grunted. “Trust me, I know. You’re in a new world, Tasha. One you’ve only dipped your toe into. But call me anytime, and I mean it, if you need answers. Although I’ll make sure David assigns one or two people to ease you in and help you understand everything, too. Maybe one of the teachers can help with your transition into clan life and give you classes.”
Needing to lighten the mood a little—everything Ashley had revealed was close to overwhelming her—Tasha muttered, “And here I thought I was done with school.”
Ashely chuckled. “Considering how even I don’t know everything about dragon-shifters despite working with ADDA for so long, there is definitely a lot to learn. But you’re smart and quick on your feet—I monitored your bar for months before approaching you with the idea to open it to dragons, remember?—and you’ll do just fine. My only order is to ask for help if you need it. This is a new world for you, and no matter how smart or perceptive you are, you’ll need some assistance.”
That was an understatement if there ever was one. “Oh, I’ll call if I need it. Although asking the dragon-shifters will be a little harder.”
Ashley replied, “They’re a lot like us, and yet different at the same time. Although I would suggest seeing one in their dragon forms soon-ish to help you get used to the idea of dragons flying and landing all around you.”
Tasha hadn’t thought
of that. Dragons weren’t allowed to fly over Reno, and she’d only seen a handful in the skies in her entire life. Maybe some people would be scared at seeing a big dragon with its wings spread out behind them, but Tasha was merely curious. Quite a few dragon groupies came to her bar to gawk at the dragonmen and women, and Tasha wondered if their dragon forms was the reason. Well, apart from their hotness, of course. Dragon-shifters tended to win the genetic lottery most of the time. “Okay, I’ll ask to see one then. Thanks, Ashley.”
“No problem, Tasha. You not only allowed dragon-shifters into your bar, you allowed me and Wes to stay when it would’ve been easier to kick us out. We’ll never forget it.”
True, when the League assholes had first tried to force Wes and Ashley to leave, Tasha could’ve ordered them out. Instead, she’d sent Brad to calm the situation and possibly kick out the League instigators. “It was nothing. You two weren’t the ones causing the trouble.”
“Still, it means a lot. Although I’m sorry it brought you to this.” She paused, some muffled sounds appearing in the background, and then came back on the line. “Apparently I’m late for my self-defense lesson and my mate isn’t too happy about it. Still, if you have more questions, let me know. I’ll risk his wrath to answer them.”
Tasha smiled at the image of Ashley chatting on the phone while her tall mate stood behind her, arms crossed, grumbling about her being tardy. “No, no, that’s it for now. I’m sure I’ll have tons of them later.”