Sacrificed to the Dragon (15 page)

“And why not? You seem clever, stubborn, and are attractive. You’re a lot like your brother, actually, and if he can find a woman who likes him, I don’t see why you can’t find someone. If it’s a mate you want, you first need to step outside of these walls and talk with people.”

Arabella lost a little of her bravado. “No male would want me.” Mel opened her mouth, but the dragonwoman spoke first. “Don’t try to say otherwise. I hate fake encouragement and pity nearly as much as I hate humans.”

Mel was starting to understand what kept Arabella cooped up inside this house.

Maybe she was crazy, but Mel decided to keep pushing. “Do you think I’m really the type of person who gives fake encouragement? If I only cared about my own skin, I never would’ve goaded a six-foot tall dragonwoman into an argument. So when I give you a compliment, take it. The only reason you think you have no future is because you keep yourself locked up inside this house and in front of a computer. But it’s not protecting you, Arabella. It’s slowly killing you.”

~~~

Tristan couldn’t help but think of how Melanie Hall was bloody fantastic. Even with his sister towering half a foot over her, the human had held her ground and given Arabella an earful.

While he didn’t think Ara would hurt the mother of his child, his dragon was prowling around his mind, telling him to be careful. They needed to protect their human. Compared to the dragonwoman, she was fragile.

Melanie might be physically fragile, but bloody hell, the woman was strong inside. He’d seen a glimpse of it when she argued with him, but seeing it as an observer rather than a participant put things into a whole new perspective.

Then the human mentioned if a woman could like Tristan, then Ara could find someone too. Was she talking about herself?

Not that he had time to dwell on Melanie’s words. Soon her words made Ara’s eyes flash to dragon slits and he blinked. Tristan hadn’t seen that happen in over a decade. Had he been wrong all these years? Was Ara’s dragon-half still inside her somewhere?

When Melanie called Arabella on her shit, Ara’s eyes flashed again and his sister said, “Here you are, all proud of yourself for standing up to me, but you’re no different than the rest. When I met you at the door, you pitied me like all the others. There’s a reason I stay inside this house, and it’s because I don’t want to have to explain myself to people like you. I have a job and help the clan. Your pity, along with everyone else’s, just takes time away from my work.”

Melanie shook her head. “You’re wrong. I didn’t—and don’t—pity you. I felt sad for what had happened to you and the pain you must’ve endured.”

Arabella picked up her laptop. “I don’t know why I bother to argue with you. This is my house.” She looked at Tristan. “I want you two to leave.”

While he was her brother, he had to admire how Melanie was handling the situation. Hell, the human had shown him that Ara’s dragon-half was still there. Maybe it was time to try to push her. After all, Tristan had coddled his sister for too long out of guilt.

Two days ago, he never would’ve believed it, but he was going to side with the human. “No, Ara, unless you agree to come over to my house for dinner in the next few days, and stay for at least two hours, we’re staying the night and will continue to stay the night until you give in.”

He sensed the human’s eyes on him, but he focused one hundred percent on his sister. Ara blinked and said, “What?”

“I’ve recently been told, by more than one person I might add, that I’ve let what happened to Mum take over my life. And I’m finally starting to see how that hatred and pain has damaged far more than me. I’ve tiptoed around you for too long, not wanting to take your issues head on because of guilt. Am I sorry for what happened? Of course. Do I think you should hide away here for the rest of your life? No.” He took a step toward his sister. “While you were arguing with Melanie, I saw your dragon-side surface. Twice.” He took another step toward his sister. “I need to know—have you been lying to me all these years about your beast being silent?”

Ara’s confidence faltered a fraction. “Don’t ask me about that, Tristan.”

He walked until he was standing in front of his sister. Luckily, she didn’t try to run away from him. “It’s all right, Ara. If you have, I forgive you. But if you keep trying to hide your beast, I fear that you’ll go insane. Have you ever shifted because you couldn’t control it over the last decade?”

Fear flashed across his sister’s face. “Yes.”

He put an arm around Ara’s shoulders. “It’s all right, love. We’re part dragon, and it’s only natural.”

Ara shook her head. “No. No, no, no. If I’m in dragon form, then the dragon hunters will find me. I need to stay in human form so I can keep hidden from them.” She looked up at Tristan, her eyes wild and lost to decade-old memories. “I need to push the beast back, deep, deep into my mind. It’s the only way to stay safe.”

Tristan hugged his sister and stroked her hair, trying to decide what to do. Despite his, and others’, recommendations to see Stonefire’s equivalent of a therapist, Ara had always refused.

He glanced over and saw Melanie staring at them. Her eyes were honest and open, and he could swear they mirrored the pain he felt right now for his sister. Recalling how Melanie hadn’t been afraid to address the issue head on, gave Tristan an idea.

Never releasing his hold on his sister, he pulled out his phone with one hand and dialed Bram’s number. When his clan leader picked up, he said, “Bram, Arabella’s on the verge of a breakdown. Because of your dragon’s dominance, you’re the only one she can’t refuse to listen to right now. Will you come to her cottage and see what you can do for her?”

The line was quiet a second and then Bram answered, “I wondered when you would ask me, Tristan. I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

The line clicked off and Tristan guided his sister to the couch.

Chapter Four

Watching Arabella go from the fiery, confident dragonwoman she’d been with her to the barely functioning individual with Tristan made Melanie’s heart ache. To hear that the woman had resisted her dragon-half for nearly a decade made her sadness for Arabella only grow larger.

She wanted to help the dragonwoman, but she knew her intrusion right now would only make matters worse. So, Mel decided to do what her dad always did when there was trouble that required waiting around to solve—she would make some tea.

Since Tristan was preoccupied with holding his sister, Mel went to the room opposite she assumed was the kitchen, opened the door, and discovered she was right. As she put the kettle on and searched through the cupboards for teacups and a teapot, she wondered if Bram could help Tristan’s sister. If Arabella could only get over her trauma and act like she’d done with Mel, the dragonwoman’s personality—especially her stubbornness—would turn everyone’s head in no time. Before long, no one would blink twice at her scars or treat her differently because of them. The question was how to convince Tristan’s sister that it was not only possible, but also easy to let people in to look beyond the surface.

In that moment, Mel decided she would visit Arabella again whether she wanted it or not and work on convincing the other woman of her self-worth. Who knew, maybe someday Tristan’s sister would welcome her into her home as a friend.

Not that it would be easy. But just like seeing Cait give a weak smile had made her heart sing, so would it be to see Arabella strutting around Stonefire’s lands as confident as her brother.

Her motives weren’t entirely selfless, of course. After all, Arabella would be the aunt of her baby, and she very much wanted Arabella to be a part of her child’s life. To do that, Arabella needed to heal.

The kettle clicked off and she put a couple of tea bags into the teapot she’d found in the cupboards before pouring the water. As she let the tea bags steep, she leaned against the counter and tried not to think about the other major thing that had just happened in the other room. Mainly, Tristan’s acknowledgment about his hatred of humans clouding his judgment. Well, it’d been an almost-admission and she’d take it as such.

Between that and the way he’d followed her example of using a direct approach with Arabella rather than dismissing it, a small, very small, part of her started to think she and Tristan might have a chance at a future together. If he could look past the fact she was human and simply try to get to know her, maybe their sexual attraction would become something more. Not that she didn’t love the fact he was attracted to her, but there was more to Melanie Hall than her body or ability to breed children.

She sighed. She needed to be careful about wishing for fairy tale endings because it would be dangerous to hope for too much too soon. They hadn’t even sat down to talk about what would happen with their child.

She placed a hand on her lower belly. Would he try to take him or her away from her? At one time, she might’ve thought so. But after today, she was starting to think differently.

Focus, Hall.
All of that would have to wait because, first things first, she needed to make sure Arabella was okay.

She splashed some milk into the cups before picking up the teapot and pouring the tea. Once they were full, she carefully picked up the mugs and maneuvered them out into the living room. As she set them down on the coffee table in front of the couch, she felt Tristan’s eyes on her. She geared herself up for another possible battle with the dragonman when he surprised her by saying, “Thank you.”

Looking up, her heart skipped a beat at the sincerity in Tristan’s eyes. She wasn’t quite sure what to make of his being nice to her.

However, right now wasn’t the time to press him on it. That conversation was something she’d like to do without his sister present. She would wait until after Bram arrived and she could get him alone.

For now, she acted as if he said thank you to her on a daily basis. “You’re welcome. I didn’t know if you took sugar, so they’re just tea and milk.”

He raised an eyebrow. “For someone with a not-quite British accent, you act British in a pinch.”

Maybe it was selfish, but she very much wanted to have a normal conversation with Tristan without him growling or glaring at her.

She darted her eyes toward the dragonwoman to make sure her condition was unchanged, but Ara was still leaning against Tristan’s shoulders with her eyes closed.

Right. If there was anything else they could do to help Arabella, Tristan would’ve done it already, so she looked back to Tristan’s face and said, “Not that you ever asked, but I’m half British. My mom’s American, and I spent my first eighteen years there.”

“Why did you leave?”

She nearly blinked. Tristan MacLeod was asking her a personal question.

She cleared her throat. “At first, it was to go to university here. But later we found out that my brother had cancer. So my dad transferred us to the UK so we could both be close to his family and to avoid going into medical-related bankruptcy. Americans don’t have a national health service, you know.”

“Dragon’s blood can’t cure cancer. So what happened to your brother?”

She decided not to mention it was in her file and just focus on the fact he wanted to know at all. “Oliver, my brother, finally beat the cancer, but his immune system was shot after the chemotherapy and he contracted a CRE infection. Apparently, it’s resistant to antibiotics.”

He tilted his head. “And that’s when you decided to put yourself up as a sacrifice.”

“Yes. My brother deserved a chance to live, and I had the power to give it to him. Or, at least, try. Sometimes I still don’t believe I’m compatible, let alone that I passed all the tests.”

Tristan studied her a moment and then said, “And what do you think now? Do you regret your choice?”

~~~

Tristan held his breath as he waited for Melanie’s answer. His dragon went quiet as well, more eager than he to hear what the female had to say. She couldn’t leave them. She was strong. She should raise their young. She would be a fierce protector.

Melanie took a sip of her tea and said, “I don’t regret it, but...”

He raised an eyebrow. “But what?”

“I think if you provided the sacrifice candidates with more information ahead of time, then they would be less likely to be scared when they arrive. Knowing about things like the mate frenzy—which I know is rare, but still, it can catch a girl by surprise—and the welcoming ceremony. Stuff like that would’ve helped me set expectations. I might be a bit strong-willed, but to go through what I went through and be an introvert, well, that could crack such a person.”

He couldn’t help but smile. “A ‘bit’ strong-willed? Woman, you nearly put Bram to shame.”

She grinned and his heart skipped a beat at the same time as blood rushed straight to his cock. If it weren’t for Ara needing him right now, he would go over to the human, pin her against the wall, and kiss the ever-loving shit out of her beautiful mouth.

And that was just what his human-half wanted to do with her. His dragon-half was far more interested in caressing her skin, thrusting between her thighs, and making her scream out their name in pleasure. His beast wanted to bury himself in the human to try to forget all about Arabella’s hurt and stress. Yes, they needed to fuck her. That would make them feel better. The sadness would go away.