Legion: Alpha Dragon Shifter Romance (Dragon Rules Series Book 1)

Travel at will and no one will suspect their true agenda.”
“Sort of like a mining company that exports diamonds and precious gems.”
Legion smirked. “Touché.”
Mara huffed. “They copied your business plan; they just chose a different currency.”
Legion nodded. “Dark dragons lose their creativity, but not their intelligence.”
“Not their magic, either,” she whispered.
Legion’s eyes flickered. “No. I wish that were the case, but their magic is stronger rather than weaker.”
“Why is that?”
“Dark magic is very powerful, if you don’t care about the price.”
“I’m afraid to ask what the price of that spell Devlin did to disappear was.”
“It depends on what he did. He may have hidden his presence, but whatever the price, I am sure he used a transference spell to ensure another person paid it.”
Mara sucked in a breath. “You can do that?’
“There is a lot you need to learn, Mara. The sooner we start your education, the safer it is for those around you.”
Mara’s eyes flared. “I would never hurt my friends.”
Legion sat up, appraising her. “Not intentionally, but you wish to lash out at me for a simple observation. One that is complete truth.”
Mara turned away, reading the card. “I’m calling that agent.” She punched in the number.
“Lucy Shomans speaking.”
“Hi Lucy, this is Mara...”
“Mara Krane. Yes, Devlin mentioned you. It’s a pleasure to represent you. I have several galleries willing to show your work...”
Mara hung up. “She makes my skin crawl. She has never met me, yet she has a ton of clients willing to take me. That’s not how the art world works.”
Legion sighed. “She is under Devlin’s influence. She is human, so he used her ambition against her. Sadly, she will pay the price for doing his bidding. As for the skin crawling, that is your magic warning you she is a danger to you, never dismiss such a signal. Your magic will detect even subtle changes in a human’s aura.”
Mara tossed the card in the trash can. “Changes in an aura?’
“When a creature of magic, alters a human, we change them for all time.”
Mara swallowed. “Will bonding change my aura?”
Legion’s lip twitched. “Absolutely.”
“How?”
“It will bond you to me. Your magic intertwined with mine for all time. You will become immortal.”
Mara’s eyes widened. “I won’t die?”
“You can be killed with magic, or by decapitation, but you will not age.”
“If we bond, and your magic is woven with mine, then wouldn’t that mean you would die if I did.”
Legion frowned. “I had hoped you would not focus on that fact.”
Mara crossed her arms. “Bit of a downside, don’t you think? You’re the size of a small country. Your scales are impenetrable, and since you can magic your ass out of danger, you are almost impossible to kill. In comparison, I am not that sturdy. Why would you take that chance?”
Legion’s eyes roamed her body. “Because without you, life itself, is meaningless.”
Mara sighed, looking at the ceiling. “You can’t say things like that. It’s not fair.”
“It is the truth.”
Mara rubbed her forehead. “You are just... so... much.”
“I am perfectly reasonable.”
Mara dropped her hand. “You don’t believe that, do you?”
Legion raised an eyebrow. “Yes. Ask any of my clan members.”
Mara threw her hands in the air. “They will not tell you the truth. They are probably afraid you will sit on them.”
Legion sat back. His forehead creased. “I do not sit on my fellow dragons,” he hissed.
Mara tried not to laugh. She even put her hand over her mouth to stifle the chuckle from escaping her lips.
Legion rose from the bed and stalked her. “You are extremely disrespectful. I may have to punish you.”
His words might have scared her if they didn’t hold such lustful heat when he said them. She was sure his punishment would be pleasureful and looked forward to her penance. Her body reacted to his, heating as her magic rose within her.
He pulled her to him. “I love the feel of your magic against mine.”
She gazed into his gold crystalline eyes. “I thought I was a witch.”
He pulled back. “Because of your family business?”
“No. The store was in my family for generations. To my knowledge, none of my ancestors could do what I could.”
His eyebrow arched. “You had visions as a child?”
“No. I could spin the spoon in my tea as a teenager. Sometimes I could get images of a person who had touched an object.”
Legion frowned. “You should not have had access to that magic until your twenty-third birthday. I assumed it manifested now, as you are only hours from your transition.”
Mara touched his face. “You make it sound like I am turning into a butterfly.”
Legion kissed her. His lips soft against hers. “You are more beautiful than a butterfly. I look forward to you spreading your wings and take your rightful place in the skies.”
Her body couldn’t fly, but her heart could. It soared, weaving its spell around the golden dragon who held her.
Mara lay her head on Legion’s chest. “I have to learn to control this power, don’t I?”
Legion ran a hand down her back. “You say it like it is an unsurmountable burden. Your power, your magic is a gift to both humanity and the dragon species.”
She looked up at him. “Why is it a gift to humanity? If what you say about the price of magic is true, I can’t heal sick children or take away a dying man’s pain.”
Legion ran his fingers over her temple. “You can heal anyone as long as the injury is not mortal. Speeding up a recovery is not altering the natural order of events. You can also remove a dying man’s pain provided you don’t prolong a life span that nature has designated as over.”
“How do you tell the difference?”
“Your magic will tell you. If it exacts a price that is more than exhaustion, then you are entering the realm of dark magic.”
“Do you feel tired after you use your magic?’
Legion sighed. “The reason the mages despised the dragon race is that we have fewer limitations on our magic. We pay a price