Ryn

Chapter Twelve

Bloodshed is Our way of life. There is no escaping it. We fight and die. There is no greater honor.

This is Our Law.

~ From The Dragonling Grimoire

"Do you have your sword?" Alek asked, helping me lace up my armor. Hardly a week had passed and already the Ryns - including me and Dmitri - were getting ready to ship off to the northern border. Alek was staying behind, but, as he told me several times, he didn't like it. He apparently decided to try and deter me from going by acting like a mother hen.

I rolled my eyes and took one of Alek's hands in both of mine. "Babe. I'm fine." He gave me a long, worried look before sighing in defeat and kissing my forehead.

"Fine. Stay safe." Alek pulled his hand away from me and helped me to my feet. "Remember, aim for under their armpit."

"Alek," I groaned, giving him a small glare, "I know how to do this. I've only been fighting for all my life." He just gave me a cheeky smile and worked on buckling my bracers on.

"I know, I can't help myself. I was your teacher not too long ago." Alek ran a teasing hand down my back. "Though I could still teach you some things." He practically purred the words in my ear.

I snorted at Alek's comment and tried to stretch out, hating how the armor restricted my movement. It wasn't even necessary, but, according to Dmitri, "it looked good." Personally, I found it a waste of time and metal. Alek, however, found a completely new use for it.

Reaching around my waist, my new mate curled his arms around me and pulled me close to his side as he laughed. With the extra weight, I had a hard time getting back on my feet. "You jackass!" Still, I couldn't help laughing while I said it. When Alek played around, he was actually gentle and sweet, a far cry from the roughhousing Dmitri and I did.

Even while the idea of war lingered in my mind, I couldn't help but spend a large portion of time comparing Alek and Dmitri. Alek was clever and showed his affection in soft kisses and cuddling while Dmitri preferred to show his love behind closed doors and act more like a friend than a lover in public.

Yet, I mused as I laughingly escaped Alek's grasp and fled across the room, both of my mates had a sharp tongue and unforgiving temper. They had gotten into more arguments than I cared to count over the past week. I didn't mind so much anymore - a few talks with Jordan and his sister, Catherine, assured me it was normal for my mates to fight - but I did try to keep the peace as much as I could.

Unless I wanted to torture them. If I did, I would make them both sleep in my room at the same time. It drove them insane, particularly because neither of them wanted to have sex while the other was in the room.