Arabella waved a hand. “Fine. Go make yourself useful.”
He sighed. “I miss the days when we were conspiring on how to get back at Finn.”
Arabella cracked a smile. “Oh, we’ll have plenty of time for that in the future. Right now, I’m just trying to keep my food down. Finn’s hellspawn likes to make my life uncomfortable. So far, being pregnant is one of my least favorite things in the world.”
“Said with such love, cousin.”
Arabella swatted his arm. “Go outside before I decide to kick your arse.”
Fraser winked. “Anything for my cousin.” He looked back to Holly and nodded. “I’ll see you tonight at dinner, Holly. Just know that I’m the more mature one in the family, so be prepared. It will be an interesting night for sure.”
Arabella rolled her eyes, but before she could castigate him, Fraser fled out the back door. As he surveyed the wildness, he decided to do the work but in his own special way, complete with inappropriate hedge sculptures and the ugliest garden gnomes he could find.
Fraser began pulling out some weeds when his dragon spoke up. Maybe we should spy on the human some more.
I don’t think so. Cleaning up the garden is going to take us a few days. I don’t need any more extra work. We’ll never have the chance to sneak away and have fun if the chores pile up.
But I want to know why she stopped flirting.
I hardly call that flirting, dragon.
She shouldn’t be cold with us.
Fraser stopped pulling a weed and stilled. And why is that?
She should always smile with us. She will be ours soon.
Fraser’s heart skipped a beat. No, she’s Fergus’s sacrifice, not ours. I thought neither you nor I wanted to settle down.
That was before Holly and her honey-colored eyes.
Bloody hell, it couldn’t be true. Tell me you’re joking. She can never be ours.
His beast growled. She will be. Get used to the idea. I will allow her some time to settle in. But after that, I’m going after her.
Fraser tossed aside the weed in his hand and fell back on his bum. Looking up at the window for the spare bedroom Holly would most likely use, a sense of panic came over him. As much as he enjoyed teasing the lass, his dragon had just stolen Fraser’s future from him.
Apparently, if his dragon was correct, Holly was his true mate.
He resisted telling his dragon to stuff it. As long as Fraser didn’t kiss Holly, he could keep away from her. Fergus could have his sacrifice and all could be well with the clan.
Fraser might not have studied the new protocols and guidelines like his brother, but there was one thing that hadn’t changed—if Holly violated the terms of the sacrifice contract, she would go to prison.
And who the hell knew what Finn would do to him.
Standing up, Fraser made a decision. No matter what his dragon threw at him, he would resist the human female. The only way to do that was to keep his distance. He’d just have to think of a good excuse to get out of dinner with his family.
His beast roared inside his head, but Fraser stuffed him into a mental maze. For once, Fraser would deny his dragon.
After all, the last time Fraser had stolen a lass from Fergus, his brother had stopped talking to him for five weeks. If he did it again, Fraser had no idea what would happen. Not to mention there would be hell to pay with Finn. Screwing up Holly’s term on Lochguard might endanger the possibility of future sacrifices.
And Lochguard desperately needed the new blood. Unlike Stonefire, they hadn’t won over any special privileges to mate any human female they wished.
Right, then. As Fraser went back to work pulling weeds, he thought of every reason why he didn’t want a mate.
He’d lose his freedom, for one. And the thought of being a father in less than a year scared the living shit out of him. He might work as an architect and help out with construction, but he was the farthest thing from a responsible adult. He wasn’t about to change for a bloody female, no matter how sweet her eyes.
Yes, all of those reasons would help him stay away from the lass. On top of that, his special closeness with his twin was far more important than having a true mate.