~30~

I wake and immediately call out, "Kesar!"

"I'm here, Jose," he whispers behind me. I relax, seeing we were in his room. "Are you hungry?"

I nod and I feel him get up. My heart races, but he comes around and lifts me into his arms. We go to his kitchen and he sets me down on the counter. "Switch?" I ask.

Kesar looks at me, eyes turning amber. "Dead."

I nod as he finds food and begins to cook. He finishes ten minutes later and we go to the table, eating hot dogs. I eat slowly, glancing around every now and then, unable to stop.

"Jose?" I look at Kesar. "We need to go see Nallu."

I frown.

Kesar sighs and moves my plate away, pulling me closer. "I think Gideon hurt you more than I thought."

I whimper, look away. "No."

"No what?"

"No Nallu."

"Jose, I'll stay with you. But he might have torn something inside."

I shake my head. "No!" When he goes to say something, I push away and walk over to the sink, staring down at the metal with blurry eyes.

"Jose?"

"Hurt," I gasp, feeling my chest clench at the thought of opening up like that again.

"Will you listen to me?"

I nod, feel arms wrap around me gently.

"If we don't do this, you'll hurt longer. You could hurt for a long time. You could bleed."

I stiffen.

He goes still.

I gulp audibly and try to breathe. "Jose bleed some. All life."

"I'm not talking about that," he says. "This could be all the time, not just sometimes."

I close my eyes, scared. "Kesar! No, please! No!"

He kisses me, lifts me up and Carrie's me to bed. I cry, holding onto him for dear life.

The next day, I end up going with him to see Nallu. He doesn't immediately let the nurse close though, instead stands in front of me. "I will be here the whole time," he whispers. "You can claw at me and scream if it hurts. Just let her look."

I nod. He helps me to the bathroom where I put on a gown then back to the bed. I lay down and look at Kesar, focusing on his strength.

"Hurry," he said and leans down so we're nose to nose. Behind him, his wings flare, creating a green wall that closes us in, alone. "Put your feet on the bed," he whispers.

I do as he says, feeling one wing, fascinated.

"Now spread then."

I look at him, whimper but obey.

He smiles. "When we're done, and after you rest, I have something for us to do."

I feel fingers on my thighs and shut my eyes right, Gideon playing in my head. "No!" I cry softly.

"Jose, look at me."

I open and see Kesar. "Jose…" I think. "Scared."

He nods. "I am too. I'm terrified, Jose."

Something cold enters and I begin to squirm.

"Look at me," Kesar reminds.

"Hurt!"

"I know. But she's almost done."

"No!"

"Jose, can you tell me about the thing you wanted when I first left?"

I think, relaxing. "Dragon. Kesar dragon."

He smiled again. "I have one."

I look at him, then look around. "Dragon?"

He chuckles and brings a dragon toy up for me to see. It looked just like him, green with amber eyes. "You have to smile," he says when I reach for it.

I frown.

Kesar chuckles again as I feel Nallu go away. "That's not a smile, Jose."

"Jose dragon!" I say, scowling at him.

"Smile, then you can have it." When I don't, he raises a brow.

Then his wings fold and Otreg is beside my bed, grinning at me. "Remember how I said you can't call male dragons pretty?"

I nod.

"Call him a daisy and see what he does."

"Daisy?"

"Not me! Kesar!"

I look to Kesar. "Daisy flower?"

"Yes, daisies are flowers," he confirms, smiling at me.

"Kesar no daisy. Otreg confused."

Kesar now laughs. Otreg grumbles. Kesar leans down and kisses me. "Otreg is confused."

"Thelia help Otreg?"

He laughs more. "Does he need her help?"

"Yes."

Now he kisses my lips. "Then I'll ask her."

I touch my lips in awe. "Kesar kiss Jose!" I say with a gasp.

He watches me. "Do you not like it?"

"More?"

He leans down and does it again. I smile, liking it. A dragon is in my lap. I grab it and inhale, smelling Kesar on it. "Jose like." I look at him. "Kesar like?"

He laughs and Carrie's me to bed where I fall asleep with toy Kesar in my arms and male Kesar holding me.

That night, Kesar leads me out of the castle, keeping one arm around my waist as we walk. He leads me down a few streets before coming up to a house. I look at it, furrowing my brows.looking at Kesar, I say, "Home family?"

He grins. "You'll see."

Then the door opens and there are two people I vaguely recognize. I turn back to Kesar. "Who?"

"This is Byrvo and his mate. You ended up here one night."

I widen my eyes and nod. "Jose run? Kesar find Jose. Talk Switch attack?"

He nods. "They kept you safe," he says, kissing my head.

I look to the couple and wave. "Jose happy."

The male grunted and the female pulled us inside where we had a dinner and where I found out this was Atuss's parents. When Atuss finally appeared, I ran over and hugged him, happy to see him.

After we talked for a while, Kesar took me to a big square where people were dancing. I saw Thelia and Zargis, both slowly swaying to the music.

I point. "Jose?"

Kesar shook his head and took my hand, leading over and resting both his hands on my waist, swaying as I wrapped my arms around his neck. "Jose?"

I look up at him and tilt my head.

"Do you know how Zargis and Thelia are mates?"

"Thelia talk Jose Zargis love Thelia."

Kesar nods.

I frown, glancing at my friend. "No Jose."

"Yes Jose," Kesar whispered.

I shake my head. "No. Jose no. Jose no want black. No want grey. No want blue. Jose want one." I look down, swallowing a lump. "Jose no have."

"Jose?"

I now look up at Kesar, and see his frown. "True?" I ask.

"Jose, I was stupid."

I scowl.

He laughs, kissing me. "I'm serious. Everyone told me that my mate was right in front of me, but I've been blind to see her."

I stop swaying, looking around for the female. "Who?"

Kesar pulled me back to him, but I shook my head, feeling about to cry. "Jose, no one else here is my mate. I already have her. Right here in my arms."

"No!" I cry. "No! Kesar lie! Jose no mate! No!"

He makes me look at him. "Who told you that?"

I look away, to Thelia.

"Did she say you weren't my mate?"

"Talk Kesar mate have. No talk who."

"But she didn't say it wasn't you?"

I shook my head, then look at him. "No female mate? Kesar mate Jose?"

"Only Jose," he whispered.

I blink. "No Cam? No Sayma?"

He scowled. "Ew!"

I smiled and hugged him.

He hugged back. "Only Jose," he whispered again.

For the rest of the night, we danced. And while I still didn't truly believe Kesar, I didn't want to hurt him. So I let him convince me. I remembered how Thelia and Zargis acted with each other and thought it was possible. I didn't want to be wrong.