Theo
Theo headed to his study and sat behind his desk. He leaned back in his chair and ran his fingers through his hair. This was certainly an unexpected complication in his life. He had almost forgotten about that necklace and his vow from so long ago.
Once again, his mind returned to the day that Savannah gave it to him. It was his most prized possession. So, it had only been fitting that when he made his vow to Gemma’s great-grandfather that the necklace would be the object that sealed his vow.
Then, out of nowhere, Gemma showed up wearing the necklace, the great-granddaughter of someone he had made a promise to.
Why now?
She presented an interesting problem. If he tried to protect her against the wolf pack, then it would mean war. However, breaking his vow would bring great shame, not only to him but to the dragon clan.
A vow was as sacred to a dragon as the reverse scale that every dragon had. There was no way he could break his sacred vow, but he was stuck on how he could help.
If he helped her on his own, he would be greatly outnumbered. The wolf pack she belonged to was huge. One on one, or even several on one, he could take them. However, there was enough of them that if they attacked him all at once, not only would he be killed, but then Gemma would be sacrificed.
The idea that her pack would want to sacrifice her in such a brutal way ignited his wrath just the same as someone pressing his reverse scale would do. She was a small, beautiful woman. She had the courage of a thousand dragons, which he admired.
He would have probably tried to find a way to help her even if it wasn’t for his vow. Either way, though, he had to come up with a plan.
Theo thought about going to his clan, explaining the situation to them and asking for help. However, the dragons tended to stay out of other shifters’ business. Vow or not, they would likely refuse to help. It would, after all, create a war between the dragon and the wolf clans.
Theo groaned out loud to himself. He was sure that it rattled every tree on the mountain.
His phone rang, startling him out of his reverie. Germaine was on the line.
“Hey, man, are you awake and alive?” Germaine asked.
“I must be since I answered the phone,” Theo said dryly.
“I don’t know. It could be your ghost doing tricks,” Germaine said.
Theo closed his eyes and shook his head. “All the unemployed comedians in this world, and you think you have to be funny,” he said.
“Someone has to. I’m calling to see who your date is for the event.”
“I wasn’t planning on taking—” Theo started, then remembered. He groaned for the second time in five minutes.
“For this ritual, you know everyone is supposed to bring a date. Especially someone as important as you. You don’t really think the elders are going to let you get away showing up solo?” Germaine asked.
“What are they going to do. Put me to death?”
“Worse,” Germaine said. “Theycould choose someone for you to spend the evening with.”
Theo had to agree that would be a fate worse than death.
“Why do you ask? Do you have a homely cousin I could take, and we could just say that we realized we weren’t meant to be mates after all, and we broke off our engagement?” Theo asked.
“Something like that,” Germaine said. “I don’t think she’s homely. Just not pretty. But she does have a good personality.”
“Does she come with a bag over her head?” Theo asked.
Germaine laughed. “She’s not that bad. And she really is a sweetheart.”
Theo sat upright. He tried to keep his voice steady, so he wouldn’t give anything away.
“Actually, you are a good friend for trying to help me, but I won’t need a date. I have one,” Theo said.
“No way,” Germaine said incredulously. “You don’t even know any females. You are planning on taking a female, aren’t you?”
