He unclenched his hand and said, “Well, certain dragons are submissive, while others are dominant. Our inner beasts are a lot like animals in that respect. The more dominant ones have cores of steel. Not only that, they have stubbornness and both an inner and outer strength.”
That description fit Tristan to a T.
“So how can Bram’s dragon help Arabella’s?”
“Her dragon was dominant, once upon a time. These days, it’s like a ghost. Arabella has convinced her dragon to hide in fear, so when a strong one gives an order, hers will most likely comply.”
She frowned. “But she didn’t listen to you. And while I’m not an expert, you seem pretty dominant to me.”
He smiled. “I guess I should take ‘pretty dominant’ as a compliment.”
As much as she really wanted to, she resisted the urge to stick out her tongue at him. The asshole version of Tristan could return at any time, and she didn’t want to provoke him unnecessarily. For now, she was going to push her luck and ask another question. “So is that why Bram is clan leader? Because of his dominance?”
Tristan’s eyes moved to look at the hills and mountains in the distance. “Partly. In addition to his dragon’s strength, he’s a brilliant fit for the job because of his ability to be patient one minute and then stern the next. I don’t think I’ve seen Bram lose his head since he was a teenager. He has massive amounts of control, more than I could ever hope to achieve.”
She fought a smile at his admission of a fault. “How was he chosen?”
Tristan looked back at her and raised an eyebrow. “Inquisitive one, aren’t you?” She shrugged and he chuckled again. “Fine. I’ll humor your anthropologist’s curiosity for a little longer.”
Before she could think about it, she said in a dry voice, “Don’t strain yourself on my account.”
He chuckled and Mel loved the fact she could make him laugh. But as quickly as it had come, his laugh and smile were gone. She would definitely need to find a way to bring it back again. She might just make it her own personal challenge.
She nearly faltered at that thought. Since when did she care about making Tristan smile?
Luckily, Tristan’s deep voice stopped her from thinking too hard on that question. He said, “When the clan leadership trials opened up right before our last leader retired, the interested dragonmen and women had to pass a series of obstacles in their dragon forms.”
“So, like a display of skills, to prove to the clan the dragon-shifter could take care of them.”
“Yes. The very last trial is the most important because it tests how well a dragon-shifter can keep control over their dragon when in dragon-form.” He looked over at her. “Under pressure, it’s easy to let the dragon-half take control and lose your humanity.”
Melanie was hungry for more information. “So how do they test that?”
Tristan silently stared, his deep brown eyes assessing her. For a second, she thought he wasn’t going to answer. Then he said, “Several clan members attack a candidate, but not before chasing him or her and then playing a series of mind tricks. The test last three days, and it can be quite brutal.”
“But necessary.”
He gave a look of surprise. “Yes.”
She smiled at catching him off guard. She explained, “I’ve studied what little I could find about the dragons and their history, and a weak leader would be the death of a clan. You’re human, but you’re also part dragon. The dragon side needs to do what’s necessary to protect those they love.”
“And it’s not always neat and pretty. I would do whatever was necessary to protect our child, even fight a dragon to the death.” He stopped walking and faced her. “While I hope it doesn’t come to that, does the idea of me doing what’s necessary scare you?”
She stopped and looked up into his deep brown eyes. Her gut told her that her answer would be important to her future; mainly, if she would have one with Tristan as maybe something more or not.
Suddenly, the thought of never feeling Tristan’s body against hers or to never again argue or stand toe-to-toe with him caused her heart to ache. Whenever she was with this dragonman, she finally felt like herself. No pretense, no putting on her mask, just her. She’d never even felt that way with her own parents.
Add that to what she’d learned of his past on top of his trust in her by introducing her to his sister, Mel decided that if she wasn’t careful, she might even come to love him.
But since today was the first time he’d been civil, she was getting her hopes up a little too early. Regardless, she would be honest. “Sometimes, yes, your dragon-half scares me.” Seeing his face become shuttered, she crossed the few steps between them and placed a hand on his chest. “But I sort of like it when your dragon comes to the forefront. It’s a part of who you are, Tristan, and I don’t want you to hide it from me. Ever.”