Lars

Being a dragon of a certain age relieves him of the need to constantly be on the lookout for a possible mate. It is seldom that a male past 100 cycles finds his mate and rarer still that the couple decides or is able to grow the bond successfully between them. Maybe because they are both already settled into their own lives so firmly that sharing everything is more of a challenge. That is what he has heard from others and told himself to make himself accept the grim reality.

It never made the loneliness easier to bear, or the lack of acceptance in a clan more palatable. A mate might have given one of the territory dragons he had known a reason to offer him a permanent place in their territory, then again, he would not have wanted his mate to share his life of exile.

Whether his possible mates had died or found better partners did not matter, Lars was alone. He would stay alone, unless he was accepted into a clan. But it had to be a clan that followed the rules. He represented the council, the planet itself,  and he could not overlook twisted thinking and actions.

While he might be forced to abandon the dream of a mate, someone to share his most intimate moments, thoughts and feelings, a clan was still a possibility. Wasn’t is?