Read Online Torn: A Dragon Shifter BBW Menage Serial (Seeking Her Mates Book 1) by Carina Wilder - Free Book Online Page A
Authors: Carina Wilder
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now, and she wore them with as much pride as she did the scales of her flame-coated déor.
It wasn’t long before a servant came to fetch her, telling her that dinner was to be served very soon. Lilliana let out a sigh as though venting any pent-up frustration and moved towards the door. Life was becoming too predictable again; too much like it had always been: following a line of duty, behaving according to her station, smiling for strangers while attempting to charm them. There was in her existence none of the wildness that she so craved, and none of the privacy.
Only thoughts of the forbidden man back in London allowed her any sort of secrecy.
She made her way towards the Great Hall, which was only ever used for occasions such as these. Otherwise her family ate in a much smaller, more secluded space where one father would talk about the troubles up north while the other spoke of the clan’s weekly hunt. In many ways they were like a regular family.
Of course, in many others, they were anything but.
The Hall was as Lily remembered: enormously long and hung with various tapestries, flags and the family crest, which was a relatively new design: a large shield decorated with a painting of a golden dragon with two great wolves on either side, seeming almost to worship the great creature between them. Lily had always liked the image: her fathers in awe of her mother, the dragon queen. She wondered if she could ever live up to that sort of reputation.
She sat next to Rohan, who was already in place at the long wooden table which spanned almost the entire length of the great chamber. He smiled knowingly when they made eye contact. Her brother always knew, like her mother did, what was in her mind.
“Another diplomatic session with a pile of stodgy aristocrats, I think,” he whispered. “I missed these evenings so much while I was away. Wait—no, I didn’t.”
Lily stifled laughter. “I only hope the aristocrats are old and offer our fathers a herd of goats and the heads of our mortal enemies as some sort of offering. That always makes for a fun evening.”
“Fingers crossed for livestock and severed heads then,” said Rohan.
A moment later, a guard at the door announced the visitor who was about to enter the chamber. “Lord Ramsey,” he said, his voice booming throughout the large room of stone and wood.
Lilliana and Rohan stood to greet the guest, as did the rest of the party.
A man came through the door, followed by two armed guards of his own. This in itself revealed that he was significant; most men who had entered the room over the years were alone, or at best accompanied by a wife or one submissive servant.
The guest was tall and broad-shouldered, like the dire wolf leaders. His eyes shone light green against bronzed skin, which made them seem almost to glow, though Lily couldn’t yet manage to make out their colour.
“A dragon, I think,” she murmured to Rohan, stunned at the man’s face.
“Looks like it,” her brother replied. “I hadn’t heard of other dragons in this part of the world—or elsewhere, for that matter. I was always under the impression that Lord Drake’s line—our line, I mean—was the last of them.”
Lily sat down, quietly contemplating the man who was being guided to the opposite side of the table. She found herself working to ensure that her mouth wasn’t gaping open as the servant led him to a seat directly opposite her. This strategic placement of their guest in such close proximity to her seemed almost too deliberate a move; something was up.
Gwynne walked over and stood next to the man in order to introduce him to her children.
“Lord Ramsey, this is Lord Rohan,” she said as her son nodded in greeting. “And this is Lilliana, whom I’ve told you about.”
“Ah, yes,” the man replied. The first words out of him revealed a deep, mature voice, and Lily found herself wondering how old he was. “More beautiful than I’d expected, even. But then,
It wasn’t long before a servant came to fetch her, telling her that dinner was to be served very soon. Lilliana let out a sigh as though venting any pent-up frustration and moved towards the door. Life was becoming too predictable again; too much like it had always been: following a line of duty, behaving according to her station, smiling for strangers while attempting to charm them. There was in her existence none of the wildness that she so craved, and none of the privacy.
Only thoughts of the forbidden man back in London allowed her any sort of secrecy.
She made her way towards the Great Hall, which was only ever used for occasions such as these. Otherwise her family ate in a much smaller, more secluded space where one father would talk about the troubles up north while the other spoke of the clan’s weekly hunt. In many ways they were like a regular family.
Of course, in many others, they were anything but.
The Hall was as Lily remembered: enormously long and hung with various tapestries, flags and the family crest, which was a relatively new design: a large shield decorated with a painting of a golden dragon with two great wolves on either side, seeming almost to worship the great creature between them. Lily had always liked the image: her fathers in awe of her mother, the dragon queen. She wondered if she could ever live up to that sort of reputation.
She sat next to Rohan, who was already in place at the long wooden table which spanned almost the entire length of the great chamber. He smiled knowingly when they made eye contact. Her brother always knew, like her mother did, what was in her mind.
“Another diplomatic session with a pile of stodgy aristocrats, I think,” he whispered. “I missed these evenings so much while I was away. Wait—no, I didn’t.”
Lily stifled laughter. “I only hope the aristocrats are old and offer our fathers a herd of goats and the heads of our mortal enemies as some sort of offering. That always makes for a fun evening.”
“Fingers crossed for livestock and severed heads then,” said Rohan.
A moment later, a guard at the door announced the visitor who was about to enter the chamber. “Lord Ramsey,” he said, his voice booming throughout the large room of stone and wood.
Lilliana and Rohan stood to greet the guest, as did the rest of the party.
A man came through the door, followed by two armed guards of his own. This in itself revealed that he was significant; most men who had entered the room over the years were alone, or at best accompanied by a wife or one submissive servant.
The guest was tall and broad-shouldered, like the dire wolf leaders. His eyes shone light green against bronzed skin, which made them seem almost to glow, though Lily couldn’t yet manage to make out their colour.
“A dragon, I think,” she murmured to Rohan, stunned at the man’s face.
“Looks like it,” her brother replied. “I hadn’t heard of other dragons in this part of the world—or elsewhere, for that matter. I was always under the impression that Lord Drake’s line—our line, I mean—was the last of them.”
Lily sat down, quietly contemplating the man who was being guided to the opposite side of the table. She found herself working to ensure that her mouth wasn’t gaping open as the servant led him to a seat directly opposite her. This strategic placement of their guest in such close proximity to her seemed almost too deliberate a move; something was up.
Gwynne walked over and stood next to the man in order to introduce him to her children.
“Lord Ramsey, this is Lord Rohan,” she said as her son nodded in greeting. “And this is Lilliana, whom I’ve told you about.”
“Ah, yes,” the man replied. The first words out of him revealed a deep, mature voice, and Lily found herself wondering how old he was. “More beautiful than I’d expected, even. But then,
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