Behind Kingdom Walls

Chapter 7

Kathrine

Oliver's words had begun to register in my mind. I knew wolves had mates, but was it possible for interspecies mating? The attraction I felt for him was like no other, it was as if my soul was missing it's other half.

"How is that possible? Dragons don't have mates." Dragons seldom interacted with wolves enough as it was, at least in my kingdom. Olive shrugged. "I'd tell you if I knew. All I know is that my wolf wants to be with you. He enjoys your presence, your sent," he leaned over and nuzzled my neck. "I want to learn everything about you." Oliver gave me a genuine smile. My cheeks warmed as he watched me closely.

"Kathrine, where-" Anthony's voice came from the hallway before stopping in the doorway of the kitchen. The air crackled in electricity as Anthony and Oliver locked eyes.

"Wolf." Anthony growled.

"Dragon." Oliver quirked an eyebrow at him. Oliver rolled his eyes and took another bite of his burrito. My eyes trained on his lips as he licked the sauce off of them. I shifted in my seat, that same familiar heat I felt the first time we were alone together, trailed down my spine to my core. Shaking my head I direct my attention over to Anthony.

"What do you need?" I pressed, keeping my face neutral. Anthony gave another hard glare at Oliver before turning his attention to me.

"You have a meeting scheduled this morning. You also have to meet with the elders to discuss your plans on mating, the problem with the disappearing dragons, and security precautions. I believe it would be best that the wolf remain in his room for the day and Tiffany or Madelyn can bring food up to him." Anthony kept his face neutral as he spoke. It was honestly one of the things that pushed me away from mating him. The lack of expression on his beautiful face was a mood killer for me.

"Meetings?" Oliver whispered from beside me. I gave him a subtle nod as I took one last bite of my food and stood from my seat. "Lead the way oh sour one." I chided. Anthony simply huffed as he turned and began walking down the hallway. I turned back and gave Oliver a quick wink, his face flushed as he buried his face in his hands.

"Is there a reason you are disturbing my down time?" I asked Anthony. He kept his back to me as we walked down the hall to the elevator. "No reason, just want to make sure you don't fall behind." I scoffed. "Sure..."

Three hours flew by as I buried myself in work. I had really missed a lot spending two weeks with that stupid alpha. Groaning, I signed the last paper, finally caught up for the moment I decided I needed to take a walk. Standing up I stretch my wings giving a small flap.

As I walked the halls of my castle I let my mind wander. Why would Oliver's wolf recognize me as his mate? In a way...it made me feel more whole. In the dragon species we don't acknowledge or have assigned mates, we don't have strong reactions like wolves do. I was raised to believe and follow what the elders deemed acceptable, which was to mate with the strongest dragon and prepare my offspring for the throne. I need to see my uncle.

Making up my mind I make my way down the hall towards my private library. My uncle Roy spent most of his time there, he actually didn't mind since he was a bookworm and loved looking after my collections. I arrived at two large oak doors, stepping forward I pushed them open. The scent of new and well preserved books hit my senses forcing a sign of content from my lips.

"If it isn't my favorite niece. I see you've come to visit your poor old uncle." My uncle's deep baritone voice rang throughout the library. I rolled my eyes and chuckled. "I' m your only niece, uncle Roy." A boisterous laugh echoed throughout the chambers pulling a giddy grin onto my lips. My uncle emerged from behind one of the book shelves. His hair greying on the sides was tied back into a low ponytail. His wings are the darkest black of our entire kingdom.

"Now, tell me. How was your trip to the wolves?" He asked, walking forward and offering his hand with a gentle smile. "It was horrible. I swear, some of those alpha's don't know what they are doing." We walked towards the opening that was furnished with plush deep red couches. Taking a seat my uncle smirked at me.

"Tell me the real reason you are here. Surely you're not just here to visit. I did hear Anthony mumbling something about a stupid wolf earlier to." My uncle smirked. I laughed nervously. "Alright, you've caught me. I brought a wolf back with me." I admitted.

"The elder's are not going to like that. What made you do that? You could be possibly putting him in danger." My uncle scolded. Holding my hands up I wait for his rant to finish before speaking again. "He says I'm his mate. Do you know anything about that? For some reason I feel drawn to him, as if everything in my being is screaming at me to claim him as mine." The feeling was indescribable, no matter how much I searched for the words.

"I've heard of this before. Here, come with me." My uncle stood and made his way further into the library after passing a few rows of bookshelves he stopped and made a right walking down the aisle and stopping in front of a row of books. His finger skimmed the spines before stopping at what he was looking for. Pulling the book out he opens it and reads silently before nodding.

"My suspicions are correct." I raised an eyebrow. "Of?" I pressed. "While it isn't common, there have been reports of dragons and wolves mating. Five hundred years ago the ruler before your father forbade other species inside our communities. Many don't speak of it anymore, but mating with wolves was more common than you would think. Those that did not want to part with their wolves left and created their own community." My uncle explained, his face taking on a hardened expression.

"How did it not water down the blood lines?"

"Dragons genes are strong, in turn they can over-take the wolf's genes and produce dragons. The only difference being that they are able to adopt wolf traits such as the sense of smell, telepathic communication with pack members, and depending on the bloodline the ability to shift into a full wolf. Although that's more uncommon." My uncle explained.

"What should I do about Oliver? For once I feel whole, like part of my heart isn't missing." There were more words that would explain how I felt about him, but that would be going into too much detail.

"For now, you need to keep him a secret while you make a decision on what to do. I know the elders would not be pleased to hear about a wolf claiming you as a mate." My uncle's voice held a warning. I trusted my uncle, he's been the only one outside of my guards to show true loyalty. I nodded, accepting his words and letting them drift to the back of my mind but close enough that I'll remember them when I need to.

Footsteps approached and I turned to find a scowling Anthony. "It is time for you meeting with the elders. Did you finish the paperwork I left you?" He asked, his eyes darting between my uncle and I. Rolling my eyes, I nodded. "Nice to see you, Anthony." My uncle bit out with a calm face. These two never got along, my uncle just never seemed to like him.

"Roy." He greeted, his face neutral and unreadable.

"I'll be seeing you, Uncle. Duty calls." I waved my goodbye to my uncle as I followed Anthony out, time to meet with the elder pains.