Victoria replied, "Oh, that's right. All dragon siblings participate in the lottery."
Gaby bobbed her head. "Yep, that's why I owed my brother a huge favor for going through with it. But I'm guessing it's repaid now that he has you."
Victoria's cheek heated. She murmured, "You can tell I'm his true mate?"
"I wish I was that good. But, alas, no. The clan leader let me and my parents know that Jose found his true mate. That way, we could prepare you a better welcome and all."
Jose walked over to Victoria and pulled her against his side. "I was going to bring her by the house a little later. At least let me show Tori her new home before you start your interrogations."
Gaby put up her hands. "Okay. Geez, you don't have to bite off my head, brother." Gaby looked back at Victoria. "I'll see you later today, probably at dinner. My mom is working on quite the feast. And if I were you, I'd make sure to wear some looser clothing because she'll keep feeding you until you're about to puke."
Jose turned him and Victoria a fraction more away from Gaby. "Then we need to go and make sure her luggage arrived to heed your advice, Gaby."
With that, Jose guided his mate away. Behind them, Gaby shouted, "I love you too, brother!"
He sighed, and Victoria snorted. "I like your sister."
"And that's what scares me," he muttered.
"So we're going to dinner at your parents' house tonight then?"
"I know it's really soon and while I can put them off if need be, they'll just find a way to accidentally drop by. A dinner, to meet them all at once, might be the best route."
Victoria shook her head. "No, it's okay. I'd rather get it out of the way if I'm honest. The sooner I know how people view a human living here, the better I can make plans on how to adapt."
His female was truly remarkable, ready to fight her own battles to be accepted. "You don't have to make all of the adjustments. If Wes's plans go the way he wants, there will be more humans living here in the coming years. And the more accepting PineRock is with you, the easier it'll be to entice others."
"Entice, huh? Given that two hundred women showed up to that hotel ballroom merely for the chance to have at you, I think it wouldn't be that hard."
Jose shook his head. "There's a difference between those who want to brag they've fucked a dragon-shifter and those who truly want to get to know us and stay."
Victoria tilted her head. "I'll admit I don't know as much as I should about humans living with dragon clans, but there are a number of other clans nearby, right? Are there humans there? I only ask because I'd like the chance to talk to them and maybe learn."
He sighed. "We haven't been as close as we could have been with the other three dragon clans in the greater Tahoe area. But if anyone would know about humans living with dragon mates on StoneRiver, SkyTree, or StrongFalls, it would be Cris. The Protectors, at least, talk with one another out of necessity to keep this territory safe. You can ask her when you see her in an hour or so."
"Maybe."
He didn't like the uncertainty in Victoria's tone. "Look, Cris can appear over the top at first, but she loves the clan with all she has. As long as you don't question her being head Protector—she gets a shit time of it because she's female—then she might warm up to you."
"So if female head Protectors are rare, are there ever any female clan leaders?"
His mate was a curious thing, and he hoped to indulge her often. "There's at least one I know of, in Ireland. And a recent pair—one female and one male—took control of a clan in England and are leading it together. But I only know of those two instances because of reports in the media and online. Many clans are still secretive, especially to outsiders. Hell, there's not even a meeting place—online or in real life—for clan leaders to share information."
Only in recent years had Jose even really thought about it all. For as long as he could remember, clans kept to themselves. Then that human female in England had published her book about dragon-shifters, and things had begun to change.
>
His dragon spoke up. But you can't be mad about it. That book brought us our Tori.
True. I do wish I had more answers for our mate, though. While I'm sure she can win over Gaby, it's going to take time for the others to accept her. And while I want to think we are enough for her, she may get lonely without female friends.
Don't make such gloomy predictions. Our mate is smart and determined. I'm sure she'll figure it out.
I hope so, dragon. I hope so.
The small cabin meant for Victoria came into view, and he focused on his mate and how she'd react, nothing else. He gestured ahead. "That's to be yours—although I still say ours."
She grinned as she took it in. "It's so cute, and truly a cabin, not like the other ginormous place."