The Dragon Prince's Bride

Book 3: Royal Dragons of Alaska

by Elva Birch

Genres: Alaska; shifter romance; dragon

Synopsis

A dragon's duty

As the oldest daughter of the royal Mo'orea dragon line, Leinani knows her duty, and has made peace with leaving her beloved tropical island behind to become queen of the cold and inhospitable kingdom of Alaska. But fate has considerably different plans...

Prince Tray wants nothing to do with responsibility, and he's just as happy that the Compact, a magical contract that binds the Small Kingdoms Alliance, has tapped someone else to rule; he's perfectly content being the family prankster, playing hockey in the backyard, and raising dogs. But his easy life is turned upside down when Princess Leinani shows up to marry his oldest brother and Tray's dragon recognizes the bride-to-be as his own mate instead.

Denying destiny

Kingdom and family come first; the two nobly agree to stay apart and wait out the temporary mate spell, however long it takes. But a relentless enemy has other plans; captured and unable to shift, Tray and Leinani are forced to work together to try to escape, unravel a mystery, thwart a plot to overthrow The Small Kingdoms...and somehow resist each other.

Set in an alternate world Alaska, where being a prince is more about dogs and dodging chores than it is about crowns and courtesy, THE DRAGON PRINCE'S BRIDE is a steamy, standalone, fast-paced paranormal romance adventure.

Release date: March 29, 2021

Print pages: 237

Sample

“Yes, Mother,” Leinani said. 

She wasn’t actually sure what she was replying to; all of her attention was outside the window, at the snowy landscape flying by outside their car. But ‘Yes, Mother,’ was a safe reply to just about anything.

Leinani wished they were going slower. There was so much to see, and it made her dizzy to watch the strange trees dash by. 

And, to be honest, she was in no hurry to arrive at their destination; these were her last moments of freedom. 

It was so surreal, to be in an arranged marriage, in this day and age. Leinani hadn’t really expected to marry for love, but she’d thought that maybe she wouldn’t have to marry at all. 

As the oldest child of Mo’orea royalty, she had been groomed to rule, and then breathed a sigh of relief when the oldest of her brothers found his mate and was cemented as heir. She didn’t mind being spared the weight of the responsibility, but it left her feeling adrift and directionless. She didn’t envy her brother his happiness, but she sometimes felt wistfully that it would be nice to have a destiny. 

And now, somehow, she did. 

Mo’orea’s ally, Alaska, needed a queen for their eldest son in order to clarify their succession, so here she was, thousands of miles north of her home, rushing to bind herself to a complete stranger with a magical spell. 

She would trade her tropical island home for a palace in the snow, giving up surfing for skiing. It would be an adventure, she told herself. There was a hollow spot inside of her that wanted a purpose, and here it was before her. 

Prince Fask had been kind, in their correspondence, and their conversations on the phone had been reassuring. He was polite, had a sense of humor, and was handsome. She could have done a lot worse.

She was going to marry Fask and be Queen of Alaska at his side. If it wasn’t a fate that she had ever imagined, it certainly wasn’t a future to dread.

Her mother said something else she didn’t catch, and Leinani again said, “Yes, Mother,” and hoped it would suffice.

Angel Hot Springs Resort opened out of the forest around them, a busy little cluster of grand buildings milling with people. Guards at the front gate waved them through.

Leinani took a deep breath and soothed her fluttering nerves. 

Soon, her dragon murmured.

There would be a lengthy ceremony for Toren and Carina’s marriage. Then, a quiet, private activation of the mate bond according to the Compact, the magical contract that dictated the relations of all the Small Kingdoms. Then...

She scratched a little hole in the frost gathering on the window as the car slowly approached the largest building, with its impressively tall double doors. She could probably enter it in her dragon form. 

Here, her dragon said, rising suddenly within her. We are supposed to be here, now.

It was so undeniable, utterly irresistible. Leinani felt a wave of relief crash over her. It felt like everything was happening exactly as it should, and she was, for the first time, completely comfortable with what lay ahead. She was going to meet her mate, and they would marry, and she would be a queen, just as she was meant to be. 

She slipped from the car as soon as it rolled to a stop, smiling at the uniformed guard who took her hand to help her out. The guard was a Native woman with chin tattoos and golden star buttons who didn’t smile back. 

It didn’t dampen Leinani’s relief in the slightest, and she moved forward confidently, not even waiting for her parents behind her. The air was bitingly cold, but the bitter temperature didn’t bother her; it was something else entirely that had Leniani stepping forward as swiftly as she could for the waiting hall.

There, her dragon breathed in her head, leading her unerringly up the steps. Guards saluted and opened one of the double doors at her approach. 

It was warm inside, and icy mist swirled with her into the bright-lit lobby. 

Had they already performed the ceremony? That wasn’t the plan, and she hadn’t thought that was even possible without her participation, but the draw was absolutely unmistakable. She shrugged out of her coat and let them lift it from her, then marched, not through the double doors into the hall where guests were gathering in anticipation of the start of the wedding itself, but to a smaller door through an alcove on the left. 

No one thought to stop her.

Leinani didn’t pause, didn’t hesitate even a moment. She turned to a narrow stairway tucked behind a corner, gathered her tapa cloth skirt into her hands, and was halfway up the flight when a figure appeared at the top, hurrying towards her with the exact same urgency.

They stopped just a step apart, and Leinani, already at a disadvantage due to her shorter stature, had to crane her head awkwardly back to smile up at...him.

It was her husband-to-be. 

She was confident that he would make her happier than she’d ever had any reason to hope she could be, and Leinani couldn’t wait to make him her own. 

There was winter sunlight streaming in through a window to their right, and his dark hair glowed in gold, his face shadowed as he stared down at her. 

Leinani felt giddy, awash with eagerness and delight. Her dragon felt incandescent in her chest, happy, confident, and slightly smug, the way she often was. 

Then he very suddenly sat down, so hard that the stairs trembled, and they were gazing at each other, face to face.

Leinani’s heart dropped from her chest and dismay quenched every ounce of her desire. 

This was unmistakably her mate, but it wasn’t Fask at all.