She had heard the basics before, but now that she’d passed all of the tests, panic squeezed her heart. As much as she wanted to save her brother—and she would save him—being assigned to have sex with an unknown male dragon-shifter was more than a little scary. Especially since many human women died in the process of birthing half dragon-shifter babies.
If the death-by-baby aspect wasn’t bad enough, she was putting her life on hold to do this. Mel was one thesis away from earning her PhD in Social Anthropology. If she became pregnant and survived the delivery, she wasn’t sure she could just give up the child and walk away. Most of the women sacrifices who lived past the delivery did abandon their children, but no matter how different the dragon-shifters were from humans, Mel wouldn’t be one of them. Family meant everything to her.
And if she didn’t give up her child, she would have to give up her dreams in order to spend the rest of her life with Clan Stonefire.
She took a deep breath and remembered her brother Oliver, pale and thin in his sickbed, and her worry dissipated to a manageable level. Even if she became a mother before she’d planned, she would do it three times over to give Oliver a chance to see past his fifteenth birthday.
Still, she wasn’t about to pass up this opportunity to ask some questions. The dragon-shifters were extremely private, rarely sharing anything that happened on their land with the public. “I understand consenting to sexual activity, as my main purpose is to help repopulate the dragon-shifters, but what guarantees are in place to ensure I’m not abused or neglected?”
The man leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers in front of him. “I understand your concern, but the UK Department of Dragon Affairs conducts routine inspections and interviews. Childbearing-related mortality aside, over the last ten years, only one sacrifice has ever reported harsh treatment out of hundreds.”
With colossal effort, she managed not to think about her fifty-fifty chance of surviving childbirth. “And what about my friends and family? Can I communicate with them?”
“Communication is forbidden for the first six weeks. After that, it is entirely up to your assigned male as to whether you can communicate or not. From experience, the women who made the greatest effort to conceive were awarded the most privileges.”
Right. So if she became a sex goddess, she could talk with her family. How she was going to accomplish that since her previous boyfriends had told her she was “good enough” but never fantastic, she had no idea. But she would cross that bridge when she came to it. “And lastly, when will my brother receive his treatment and when will I leave for the dragons’ compound?”
“Once our legal representative has gone through the contract with you and it’s been signed and witnessed, a copy will be sent to Clan Stonefire. They should approve it within a matter of days and deliver the vial of dragon’s blood to your brother’s physician. Normally, you’d be expected to arrive within a week. However, in the case of dying relatives, you’re given two weeks to set your affairs in order and to be assured that your brother is recovering. Our office will notify you of the particulars within the next five days.”
The man picked up a pen and signed something inside the manila folder on his desk. He picked up a piece of paper and held it out to her. “Since you’ve had a rational conversation without breaking down or bursting into tears, I think you’re mentally sound enough to be sacrificed. If you have no further questions, you can proceed to the legal department.”
Even at this late stage of the application process, she now understood how some candidates might be scared off. Hearing about no communication with the outside world as well as how giving birth to a half-dragon baby might kill you was a lot to take in. But Melanie wasn’t doing this for herself. Oliver had had a shitty last few years fighting off cancer only to beat it and end up with a drug-resistant infection that was slowly killing him.
Her funny, clever brother deserved a chance to live and enjoy life.
She reached out and took the paper. She said, “Thank you. I’m still interested. Please tell me where the legal department is located, and I’ll go there straightaway.”
He gave her the directions. Mel thanked the man before leaving his office and making the necessary turns. As she approached the last turn, she glanced down at the paper in her hands. Toward the bottom of the sheet, the man had checked “approved” and signed his name. Seeing it in black and white made her stomach flip.
In less than two weeks, she would go to live with the dragon-shifters and be expected to have sex with one of their males.
She took a deep breath and pushed back the sense of panic. While she didn’t know how her assigned dragonman would treat her, there was one thing she had to look forward to—the men were rumored to be fit and muscled. For once in her life, Melanie would get to sleep with a strong, hot man. She only hoped he wouldn’t be a complete bastard.
~~~