Page 49 of Wanderer

“Well, that depends,” Paxton said, a smirk on his face. “Fen or Tatsuya? You’ve got to be one of the dragons my brother mentioned.”

Tatsuya scowled but stayed silent next to Gareth. I really wanted to scold my older brother for teasing his mate. He had no idea how much this meant to Fen.

“Um, I’m Fen.” He pointed to his cousin and ventured closer, his eyes hopeful. “That’s Tatsuya.”

My brother’s face lit up. I knew it! Of course my brother would want such a cool mate! Relief nearly made my knees buckle. “Nice to meet you, Fen. I didn’t think I’d come here to find my brother and then meet my mate.”

My brother and his newfound mate stared at each other with stars in their eyes. It was too sugary sweet for me, but considering I ran away from mine the first time I met him, I was going to give them a pass.

“You don’t want my cousin as a mate,” Tatsuya muttered, looking vexed by the situation. His words, cruel and false, had me on edge.

“Maybe, maybe not,” Pax fired back. “I think that’s up to us to decide, isn’t it?”

“No, really. Ask him why he was on community service.” All eyes went to Fen, who flushed several shades of red. I felt so bad for the guy. Tatsuya was being a total dick and ruining a special moment. For what, I had no clue. “We’re family, Longwei, but you have a lot of growing up to do,” Tatsuya said to his cousin. “You’re irresponsible. Unreliable—”

“I think that’s quite enough,” Paxton barked, immediately coming to his mate’s defense.

“I don’t think it is,” Tatsuya yelled, getting in my brother’s face.

What the actual fuck did he think he was doing? Gareth laid a quelling hand on my arm. “Pax has this. Just wait,” he whispered, his focus on his best friend’s strange fit of anger.

“He flies about as well as a fledgling and has the attention span of one too.” Tatsuya spat, whirling away from Pax. “Do yourself a favor and think it through. The fates are playing jokes on you all here.”

Neither of them had been looking at Fen, so they didn’t catch how crestfallen he was at Tatsuya’s remarks. I wished I’d been able to say something, but I was too tongue-tied over the situation to leap to defend him like Pax had.

Finally, my brain restarted. I couldn’t stand there and say nothing. “Fen has been so great to me while I’ve been here. He’s a good friend already. I think he’d be good for you, Pax.” Fen straightened at the praise. “He doesn’t take things too seriously.” He wilted. Maybe he thought I meant it in a bad way, but it was a great quality. “He knows where the line is and has a great way with people.”

“There’s nothing that says we have to accept the bond.” The man in question finally spoke. “We get free will.” He looked defiant, almost as if he was getting ready to be rejected.

“How about we get to know each other better before we choose either way?” my brother suggested.

I didn’t think that was what Fen wanted to hear. He appeared uncertain before smoothing on a mask of indifference. “We can try that.”

Ugh, this situation was a mess. I hadn’t told Fen much about my brother, so he wouldn’t understand Pax’s reluctance to forge new relationships until his curse could be broken. Pax didn’t know how Fen had been an outcast himself. He didn’t know that while Tatsuya called him cousin, Fen had no family. The only thing Tatsuya and Fen shared was that they were dragons.

The cold was getting to Gareth, so I suggested we move this into town, get Paxton’s van dropped off, and all meet at the diner. I sent a message to Oscar asking him to join us.

Without looking at Tatsuya, Fen shifted back into his dragon form and took to the skies. He didn’t say a word to any of us, and that concerned me. A heavy feeling coiled in my gut.

Tatsuya frowned at his cousin and stepped away from Gareth so he could shift and follow. Once in the air, he put on a burst of speed to catch up with Fen, who seemed to fly even faster to keep space between them.

They were almost over the town when Tatsuya barreled into Fen and nearly took him to the ground. They tussled in the air before Fen shot in the opposite direction, leaving Tatsuya flapping and hovering in the air, watching him fly away.

“Will Fen be okay? And why did that jerk call him Longwei?” Pax asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

I didn’t know how to answer. Gareth sighed. “Longwei is his dragon name. Only other dragons call him that. The situation with Tatsuya is complicated. I know he’s my best friend, but I don’t get in the middle of dragon stuff. They butt heads all the time, and normally it blows over in a few days. It’ll be fine.” He didn’t sound sure of that.

“Hmm,” I hummed noncommittally. I shared a glance with my brother, who appeared to agree with me. “We can call him if he doesn’t show up for dinner,” I said to Paxton.

Gareth went over to the car, leaving me with my brother for a moment. “Maybe being around Tatsuya wouldn’t be for the best right now. Could you give me Fen’s number?”

This sensitive side of my brother was one I hadn’t seen before. The match between him and Fen must have brought out a buried protective instinct. The one he’d had when I was younger, before Boyce tried to sever our bond.

“Okay, I’ll do that, but let’s get out of the cold first. I can’t feel my toes.”

Paxton laughed. The sound was pure and light. “Nah, me neither.”

“Welcome to Greyhaven. All I’ve seen so far is snowy weather, but the people are nice.”