S.E.Smith

He glided over the edge of the cliff. His powerful wings folded and he dropped down next to Theron and shifted to his two-legged form. He raised a trembling hand to touch his friend and comrade. Grief unlike anything he had ever known surged through him, encasing his heart as if in the same stone that had transformed his people. Tilting his head back, Drago released a roar of rage that spread across the Seven Kingdoms. Each ruler sensed the void and knew that while the Great Battle between them was over, a far deadlier war was about to begin. Fear reached out, wrapping its greedy hands around the hearts and souls of the other inhabitants, then the world stilled when the sound of Drago’s roar faded to a deafening silence.

He’s so beautiful, she thought in awe.
Her eyes glowed with delight as she ran her gaze over the silky scales covering his head. His brow was high, with two large ridges curving around his eyes. Thick, long lashes lay against the smooth, black scales like twin crescent moons. A series of ridges ran down his face to the narrow tip that made up his nose

Drago’s lips curled upward in a wicked grin. “No, by kissing you,” he replied, reaching for her and pulling her into his arms.
“Holy shi….”
The rest of her words were cut off when he lowered his head and captured her lips. Drago felt the swift connection between them. He had heard tales of such a thing – a dragon knowing when he had found his mate by the threads of his magic reaching out to wrap around the female. He could feel Carly's threads connecting with his, sealing both of their fates. For the first time in years, Drago felt the warmth of another’s touch and he wasn’t about to let it disappear.

This soft, warm thief was now tied to him by the ancient creed of the dragon – what a dragon claimed, he kept – and Drago had claimed Carly. Whether she understood the implications of that or not did not concern him. She would understand it soon enough.

you are mine. I will always know where you are.”
The spell he wove with his words wrapped around Carly’s sleeping form. Drago could see the red fire threads of the dragon spell settling over Carly’s body before fading. Satisfied that she was locked to him, Drago’s eyelids slowly lowered,

He was Zoran Reykill, leader of the Valdier. He was the most powerful of his kind, matched only by his brothers

Abby’s breath caught in her throat as she watched the gold bands slowly slide up her arms. When she pulled back, two thin, intricately designed gold bands were attached to her wrists like gold wrist cuffs. Abby stared at them, marveling at their beauty, as she ran her fingers over first one, then the other

Zoran growled again as he watched her pull up. The dragon inside him roared for him to claim her, to put his mark on her

In Abby’s case, it was even more potent, because not only had he chosen her as his mate, but so had his symbiot, and from the feel of it, his dragon. This was very rare. As the ruler of his people, he would be expected to produce many heirs, and only in a union where he, his dragon, and his symbiot accepted the female would this happen.

Zoran ran his hand through his hair frustrated. He wanted to explain why he wouldn’t change, but there was no way to do so where she could understand. He had six more days before his brothers arrived and could have a translator implanted into Abby so they could communicate. This was driving him crazy. There was so much he wanted to ask her, so much he wanted to tell her and yet he couldn’