SOVEREIGN: Mating The Dragon

Chapter 19

  ZACK looked up from where he was reading on the sofa as Cheza stepped inside the apartment and shut the door behind her. "How'd it go?" He asked, setting his book aside.

Cheza plopped down on the sofa beside her enforcer. She had gone to the orphanage to inform them of Petra's imminent departure and deliver some more money. "Fine, I assured them they'd continue to receive financial support, but Gaven would be delivering it on my behalf and that they should let him know if they need anything. I also told them we'd bring Petra back from time to time so she can visit her friends" She leaned back and let out a sigh. "A few more days and we should be good to go" She murmured.

Zack frowned, "You feeling okay? You look tired"

Cheza snorted, "I wouldn't know why, not like it's been a rough few days or anything"

Zack hummed. Now that he thought about it she'd seemed more tired than usual the last week or so. He sat up and buried his nose against her neck. "You smell weird"

Cheza raised a brow, "Is that your way of saying I stink?"

"No, that's my way of saying something is off with you" Zack corrected.

Cheza groaned, "Don't say that, we have enough going on already"

Maddox came sauntering out of the bedroom, sweats slung low on his hips and a towel around his neck. He walked into the kitchen and came back with a bottle of something to drink, "Why is Zack snorting you like you bathed in silvervine?" He asked, taking a swig of his drink. Silvervine was an herb that affected dragons the way catnip affected cats.

Cheza shrugged, "Apparently I stink"

Zack gave a long sigh, "I said you smell off, not stink" He corrected. He pressed his hand against her forehead, his frown deeping, "You feel hotter than usual too" He said, perplexed at the sudden change and trying to rack his brain for the possible reasons. "Maddox, come over here and smell her, see if you can figure it out"

Maddox plopped down on the other side and pressed his nose to her neck and took a deep inhale. He pulled back and hummed, "So don't freak out"

Cheza glared at the man, "You do realize telling someone not to freak out is guaranteed to make them freak out"

Maddox shrugged, "Yeah, but considering you aren't going to like what I'm about to say it seemed like the only fair to warn you"

"Just spit it out already," Cheza ordered.

"You're going into heat" Maddox said succinctly.

Cheza tensed, then shook her head "That's impossible, you know I have it blocked" She'd used magik to keep her heats blocked for as long as she could remember.

"Which has been wearing off since the moment you met your true mate" Maddox reminded her.

"Freaking hell, this is not what we need right now" Cheza hissed, mentally berating herself for not remembering or even noticing the block was wearing off. She pinched the bridge of her nose. "How long do you think I have?"

"It's still faint, maybe a day before it hits full on" Maddox guessed.

"Fantastic" Cheza spat sarcastically.

Zack nudged her, "It's not that bad"

Cheza scoffed, "Really, you sure about that, because I'm not, Gladius and I haven't even talked about bonding and now I have to go spring on him that he has to bond with me in the next day or so, yeah, it is that bad"

"You seriously think that's going to be an issue, that man loves you" Maddox scoffed at the mere idea Gladius would refuse to mate with her. Gladius looked at her the same way they all did, as though she was their everything, because she was.