Alpha Island: The Dragon's Mate

Chapter 6

SKYLAR

“This island starts to seem smaller and smaller,” I rolled my eyes when Loki walked out of the shadows with hands in his pockets. Wow, I saw him a lot lately! Just how could I fix that?

  “That was quite the show in the dining hall,” he said, keeping his distance and not taking his eyes off me even for a second.

  “Yeah, Deidra is quite the drama queen,” I looked at the lake nervously, but it was too big, and I couldn’t see my mermaid friend anywhere, “What are you doing here?”

  “Looking for you,” he admitted but then added lazily, “And for your friend. She is probably feeling horrible after her little stunt. But I still have to say that she earned my respect with her little trick.”

  “And you like tricks, don’t you?” I shot my eyebrow up at the warlock.

  “Otherwise, Loki wouldn’t be my name,” he chuckled.

  “And it is not your name,” we both heard a resounding metallic voice and turned to see Darren walking towards us.

  Was this lake a popular place or something? Why was everyone suddenly here?

  Yet I couldn’t help but ask, “Do you guys know each other?”

  The dragon frowned and the warlock grinned.

  “Of course, not,” Loki’s expression was saying otherwise. Something was up with those two. “Where would I, a mere warlock, meet an arrogant snobbish dragon? Sorry, Sky, no offence to your kind.”

  “None taken,” I said automatically and bit my lip, watching the damn guy smirk. I really needed to start thinking before talking to people. Dragons were a tough crowd. They didn’t like mixing with others and considered themselves the supreme species, the ones above everyone else…literally and figuratively. There was no way in hell they would let an insult slide like that. 

  Those little details were giving me away, but I kept my face straight under the warlock’s gaze.

  “What a peculiar dragon you are, Skylar!” Loki sneered, “Really not like anyone else!”

  I took my eyes off him and looked at Darren, hoping that he would start talking about something else and save me from this… this… Well, it felt like some kind of a covert interrogation. But only now I noticed that his fists were clenched so hard that his knuckles turned white, and sparks of fire were dancing wildly in his eyes. My lips parted when I looked at him. That fire… it felt so familiar and so welcoming. As if…as if we…

  “Are you seeking death, Loki?” Darren growled loudly and now both of us stared at him with wide eyes, “Why don’t you go and pester someone else. Or brew a potion or two.”

  They glared at each other for quite some time to my horror. Neither dragon nor warlock wanted to lose that staring competition and I was afraid that they would start a fight any minute now. Which was the last thing that I wanted. My aim was to stay low and be quiet, to avoid trouble and be unnoticeable. But my first day here really did not go as planned.

  “Fine!” Loki groaned after a while but then his eyes landed on me again, “See you around, Sky!”

  He turned on his heels and walked away. One problem solved. But another one was still present and drilling a hole in my head with his eyes.

  We stood like that for a while. The silence was getting too awkward. And I almost found an excuse to leave when he pointed at something behind us.

  “There is a bench over there,” a smile touched his lips, “Why don’t we sit down for a little bit?”

  “Rubbing in your little win?” I raised my eyebrow at him. 

  “You are still waiting for your friend, and I am waiting for mine,” he stated, taking my hand and leading me, “Why don’t we keep each other company?”

 It was strange but I did not want to pull it away from him and just followed his lead.

   We sat on a bench under a tree with the best view of the enormous lake. It wasn’t natural, probably, since we were on an island. But with sirens and other sea creatures, a water reserve on the territory of the University was a necessity. That was how they were restoring their magic after being in a human form for too long…

  “Wait,” I turned to Darren all of a sudden, catching his eyes on me, “What do you mean you are waiting for your friend?”

  “After your roommate’s kiss he needed to restore too,” the dragon said but did not really answer my question. It was all a game to him.

  “Is he… flying?” I asked and looked at the sky. It was already dark but if a dragon was flying there, I should be able to see it.

  “No,” the guy chuckled, “Griffin is a sea dragon, remember? He needs water more than he needs the sky.”

 That was when I heard screams coming out from the lake.

  “You!” Deidra screamed, “Stop slithering over me, you snake!”

  At a distance, right in the middle of the lake, we saw a mermaid jumping out of the water and diving back, swearing loudly. All while a huge silver creature followed her every move. It had a longer body, just like a snake but I saw wings as well… Underwater he probably used them as fins.

  “Oh, my god!” I jumped to my feet, but Darren grabbed my hand quickly.

  “Don’t worry, they are just playing,” he snorted.

  “Are you sure that Deidra is?” I looked back at him.

  “She didn’t call for help, did she?” the dragon grinned at me, “And she is not even trying to get out of the lake.”

  I looked again and had to admit that he was right. Because now it seemed like the siren was following the sea dragon, trying to catch the two horns on his head. 

  I only heard snippets of phrases but it seemed like Deidra promised to kill the guy.

  “See?” the guy next to me chuckled, “I told you they are having fun.”

  “Isn’t Griffin angry at Deidra?” I asked the last thing that bothered me, “For that…”

  “Life sucking kiss?” Darren finished for me, “Nope. I think that deep inside he is grateful for her eliminating his competition for him. Not many will risk chasing her now. If you would do something like this, I would be grateful too.”

  “You want me to give you a kiss of death?” I rolled my eyes, but it did not escape me how fire flashed in his at my words.

  “As long as it’s a kiss,” his lips curled into a smile, and I had to turn away since he was devilishly handsome.

  “Look,” I sighed, “You’d better explore your other possibilities on the campus. I am not looking for… anything other than getting my diploma.”

   “I think you have a very wrong idea about me,” he said as we watch the battle at the lake unwrap before our eyes, “I was not looking for anything either. But. I like you. And I am not willing to ignore that because, trust me, Sky, I am not that easily infatuated.”

  “But I stole your heart at the first glance?” I scoffed at him, “Because I am that special? Don’t be ridiculous!”

  “Why is it so ridiculous?” Darren looked at me seriously, “You are beautiful, strong-willed, sharp-tongued, independent… and these are only the things that I noticed on the first day. I will repeat myself and will give you my word so that you know that I am serious about this. I like you, Sky. Not anyone else here, just you.”

  I looked at him with my lips parted and for a second his eyes lingered on them. I was almost expecting him to lean closer to me, but he just sighed heavily and stood up, turning his back to the lake.  Then he took off his jacket and handed it to me.

  “What…”, I mumbled but then saw a very angry Deidra stepping out of the lake, wearing nothing…

  “The water suddenly got cold without you!” Griffin chuckled, swimming around in his human form. He didn’t look weak at all. If anything, he seemed smug.

  I grabbed Darren’s jacket and ran to my roommate to wrap it around her.

  “Are you okay?” I asked the siren and noticed how flushed her cheeks were.

  “Let’s go!” she nodded yet threw one last glance at the guy in the lake.

  And while she was at it, I turned to find Darren watching me.

  “See you tomorrow, Sky!” he waved at me with a smirk on his face, “I’ll save you a seat!”

"Alpha Island: The Dragon's Mate" by Mariona Artwood, exclusively for Stary Ltd (Dreame, Yugto, Ringdom, Dreame U, Suenovela, ч****м).

  Author's Note: Hi, guys! Prepare for the daily update ;) Sky and Ren will take you on a wild ride. And don't forget to check how Ava and Dylan are doing in the sister book "Alpha Island: The Lycan's Mate".