Chapter 3

Iris stood in disbelief looking at her hands and then at the handsomely menacing stranger in her living room who was apparently magic-proof. The look he was giving her told her he had been expecting her reaction and he was enjoying the shock she was in, which too seemed expected. Carlisle's words rang in her head, 'Y' 'send enhanced creatures after you' 'power to kill you, get out of that city.'

That paralleled with the stranger's infuriating smirk standing confidently like he knows what she is and how to tackle her, Iris felt panic rise inside her like never before. She never needed to fear anyone other than her foster brother.

He was the only one stronger than herself with an extreme influence over the supernatural community that very few had. This man's ability to stand smirking against her magic blow meant Carl was right and her brother had succeeded in his mission and the creatures she was being warned about had already found her.

Dom saw the panic in her eyes.

This wasn't what he had planned. Giving her a panic attack was last on his to-do list. His mate was in front of him. He had finally found her. After centuries of waiting, he was finally able to look at her honey eyes and listen to her erratically beating heart. But the moment wasn't as he had imagined it to be.

Wasn't it supposed to be so that both mates were dragon shifters and both felt the heat rising and fire burning in their eyes as they connected for an eternity? Wasn't it supposed to be a dreamy magical experience? Wasn't it expected to be utter bliss to meet The One? So why wasn't his mate like him? Why was this turning into a nightmare? Why was she panicking?

He needed to calm her down, so she would listen to him calmly and accept what had happened and how it happened, and the decision he was about to declare to her. He hadn't expected to walk in, talk, and leave like a delivery guy, but her defensive stature and ready-to-attack pose made the conversation ten-fold difficult. It was getting out of hand and he needed to get control of the situation and steer it in a direction regarding what he had gone there to do. He decided to change tactics.

His demeanor shifted like magic. One second he was an arrogant jerk and the other he had a look of pure understanding and concern. He stepped back to allow her some space, making Iris feel even more confused. What was this stranger up to? She hesitated. He had changed tactics. She understood that much, but what confused her was the question, 'If he was there to kill her on her brother's orders, then why try to converse or calm her down? Why bother?' Unless that is exactly how her brother wanted it, for her to lower her guard and then get removed from this world once and for all.

"I know what you're thinking. It's partially true." He started in a softer tone, one that is used to calm a tantrum-throwing baby.

"O yea? So now you are a telepath too?" Her breathing was hard as she tried to form an escape plan. Death was welcome, but the way it was forced upon her by her brother wasn't.

"I don't need to be a telepath to know what your defensive reaction means." He said, trying to politely motion at her stature. As she overviewed herself, he resumed, "I am not an enemy, love. On the contrary, I am one of the only people on this planet who can protect you against them."

"And do I look like an idiot who'd believe that an apparently magic-proof stranger, who broke into my magically fortified apartment, came not to kill me on my brother's orders but drop some Dahlia's and chocolates?" She almost shouted at him.

"Well, if I knew you liked Dahlia's over roses, I might've, Yes!" He pointed to a pretty bouquet of red and pink mid-bloom roses sitting beside her laptop on a table beside her, his sly smirk reappearing slightly.

"Shut up!" She finally screamed, frustrated, "Just shut up! I don't believe you. And I am gonna kill you and your friend outside my door, one way or another. I am more than just my magic, and plant this bouquet on your graves."

That created another shift in him. Here he was ready to change his attitude, become soft and polite to his mate and there she was announcing a vain threat to kill him. Something snapped inside him. Giving answers can wait. Clearing confusion can wait. No one, not even his wild mate, was allowed to talk like that with him, whether she did it in ignorance or not. He took two large steps in her direction, making her shrink immediately in her respective corner as he told her point-blank,

"Alright. That. Is. Enough!" He was a foot away from her now and her back was touching the wall behind her. He came even closer and putting both hands on the wall beside her head, trapped her to stay put and listen to him.

This new development scared her even more. There had never in her, more than a thousand years of life, been a time when she got cornered by a man stronger than herself, and she didn't know how to get out of there, besides her evil brother and her first love. It had been so long since a man had entered her personal space and caused goosebumps of a strange bliss and not utter terror.

The moment she could feel his heat radiating in waves, she almost lost track of the conversation. He seemed to have strange magnets in his eyes that made sure, despite her fear of him, to not look away. Her mind was screaming at her to get out of there and keep a safe distance between them. He was possibly her murderer. But her body refused to follow, deep down in her heart, somehow she didn't feel as threatened as she should've by her angel of death. So she stayed put.

Dom could see the hesitation in her eyes, the involuntary reaction of her body to the closeness of his. So maybe, she did feel something just not as strongly as a dragon-shifter would've. It was about time his mate showed signs of their mutual bond as he had shown. He told in her ear,

"You are mine, Iris." He realized the moment those words left his mouth, that he should've phrased them better.

Iris had felt contradictory emotions the moment she first caught sight of him. She had felt a strange familiarity but she knew he was a stranger. She felt strangely attached to him though Carl had just been warning her against those who would be sent to finish her off. One moment he was almost flirting with her and then he started to care for her like she was a child and then suddenly he was back to acting like he wanted to make her his.

But the moment those four words left his lips, their bubble burst as she realized a killer would say the same. She had lowered her guard and here he was trapping her between the wall of her apartment and his tall and strong body radiating an abnormal heat and an inviting scent.

Her brain told her to break out of the trance and this time, she did. She kicked him in the groin and as he toppled over she ran to her bedroom. He may be magic-proof, but he was a man in the end. Despite her super speed, she had barely made it to her bedroom door when he had gotten hold of her waist. That shocked her even more. She barely whispered to herself about his speed and recovery in confusion, "How did-"

But he slammed her on her bed and got on top to immobilize her and groaned, "What have I done to make you mistrust me like that?"

He was about to keep that guttural tone until he saw she had tears glistening in her eyes and he could see that fact alone felt embarrassing to her. He resumed in a softer tone as he was still upset, "I brought you flowers, I told you I am not your enemy, I was even ready to give you the answers you needed, so why are you acting like this?"

He felt her stop struggling under him, but instead of understanding, he saw her give up. And soon she had completely blacked out. That confused him as he got up from her form, which felt like tearing one of his limbs from him. That's when he heard from the bedroom door, "I was about to suggest you two take a room already but then I saw those tears and I couldn't help myself."

Dom's right-hand man stood giving a judging stare to Dom and holding a tranquilizer gun in his hand, "Didn't expect the tranquilizer to work this fast though." Dom marched angrily at his friend, "Why would you do that? Freddie, I was getting through to her."

Freddie smirked and put a hand on his Alpha's shoulder, "Whatever you were doing, it wasn't getting through to her." He motioned to the unconscious girl lying on her own bed and said, "Your plan A wasn't working, so I decided to jump to plan B. Weren't we supposed to get her out of here safe, one way or another? She wasn't going to come willingly. This was the only choice."

Then he added, looking sympathetically at his Alpha, "She may not approve of this method now, but one day, she will understand. She is Alpha's mate, your mate! She will come around. Right now we need to leave with her before that bastard brother of hers notices we betrayed his master plan."

Dom nodded and ordered authoritatively, "Get Lady Marie and Susanne to come and gather every belonging of Iris. I will take her to the car. Let's go home." Freddie smiled appreciatively at his alpha, "Yep, let's finally get back home. It's been two hell of weeks we have been through."