He noticed the changes in her body. As if the dragon she took from him healed her in some way. She went from girl to woman overnight. He shook his head. It was all so magical. That was the only way he could explain it. Nothing else made sense. He slid out of her bed and tiptoed out of her room. She needed to sleep. Her body went through a change—a large one at that, and he wasn’t sure how it was going to affect her. He didn’t want to weaken her and if he didn’t leave he would wake her up and take her all over again.
He stood outside of her room and licked his lips before closing the door to get her out of his dragon’s sight.
‘Calm down. She needs rest’ His dragon huffed but he laid down and closed his eyes. Aris felt relaxed and rested. It was almost like he hadn’t been sick.
***
Blane cooked breakfast while the others sat around in various states of waking up. The scent of coffee filled the air overpowering the eggs and bacon.
“We need to soundproof the rooms,” Max grumbled and took a sip of coffee.
Aris smirked. “Sorry.”
“Right.”
“It was quite educational. Things you guys might be interested in learning.
“We don’t want to hear about you and Sophie’s fucking,” Max said on a growl.
Aris ripped him from the chair slamming the cup of coffee to the floor. “Don’t talk like that.”
Max froze and tilted his head. “Sorry, it’s just—we aren’t used to having a woman around. Things are different. Her arousal is driving my dragon nuts.” He coughed. “I just mean it’s making my dragon crave what he can’t have. Females smell so good.”
Aris dropped max to the floor and didn’t bother to help him up. “Well plug your fuckin’ noses then.”
He plopped down on the stool pissed. The way Max talked sometimes really pushed him over the edge, and his dragon didn’t like him talking about Sophie or her arousal at all. Max seemed to understand because he sat next to him, but he held himself lower.
“Really I’m sorry. It’s just different, and for some reason she’s really important to us. Maybe because of what happened last night.”
“They are our leaders, Aris our King and Sophie our queen. We’re going to be bonded to her. But it won’t be in that way, so stop glaring at me,” Blane said as if trying to help explain Max’s rudeness away.
Aris forgot for a moment what had happened. It was all surreal and he was having problems coming to terms with everything he learned. He slapped Max on the back. “Sorry, but things are different now. Sophie is one of us—sort of.”
This gained their interest. Blane brought the platter of food to the table. “You can tell us while we eat.”
He sat at the head of the table and filled his plate. He was famished. All of the energy he’d used in the past 24 hours had taken a lot out of him.
“Well, I know exactly why we are sick now, and I know why it won’t go away until we meet our mate, and if we don’t meet our mate in time we WILL die.”
He laid his fork on the table. “We all know now that we have two dragons inside of us, fighting for dominance.”
The others nodded and urged him on.
“Well it’s not exactly that. One of our dragons, the one we didn’t know about beforehand, well it’s female. And the reason it’s fighting us is because it doesn’t exactly belong to us.” Then. “It belongs to our mate. Sophie took my Golden dragon and she’s different now. She isn’t quite human—yet I don’t think she’s quite dragon either not fully.”
“What do you mean different?” Blane asked.
“Physically she’s changed, and I think inside too. She seems less scared now.” The next part he didn’t really want to share with his brothers but it was important they knew. “Plus her dragon is rather demanding of its sexual needs. It was like we were forced to mate. Last night was about our human sides, it was creating the bond, but today our dragon’s mated. We are fully one now.”
The others stared at him like he was going crazy, but he wasn’t sure how else to explain it. It was the best he had.
“Just be prepared when you meet your mate. And I wonder—for the Halfling’s like us—if only a female human can take on the second dragon, because if we tried to mate with a female dragon—she wouldn’t be able to take on the second dragon. And if I’m right and the second dragon is a female, she wouldn’t accept another female and wouldn’t be able to use her as a ‘host’ so to speak.” Now he was rambling, but the others were listening.
“As crazy as that sounds, it makes sense to me. A woman can bring a man to his knees. That’s why we get sick. It’s a warning that we better find her the other half of herself so she can go home?” Zarin said. It was the first time Aris heard him speak all morning. “Plus I felt a real connection to Sophie yesterday before you even mated. She felt like home, like a piece of my life that I was missing too. That would make sense though right?” He licked the syrup from his lips. “She’s our queen, which means she’s a balance to all of us. Maybe our second dragon sees her as the leader. Maybe that’s why I’m feeling a bit better now?”
Aris shrugged. “Could be. But all I know is, we need to find your mates soon. Our lives literally depend on a human woman.”
The thought of that didn’t bother him so much now than it did before they found Sophie. He wondered just how happy she would be with him once she woke up though. He wasn’t gentle, and now that he had her body he wanted her heart. He had a feeling that was going to take much longer.
Chapter 19
She was ready to go out, that part of her that worried about Ron finding her bubbled just beneath the surface, but she couldn’t live her life in fear. After nearly two weeks he hadn’t showed. She was beginning to think he couldn’t find her after all. She wandered the house. It was so big and full of so much light. She loved it, but she was starting to feel caged in.
Since mating with Aris nearly everything had changed, especially physically. The way she walked was different, and the way she carried herself. No longer did she slouch. Every now and then she found herself hunkered down when one of the guys was talking to her, until the new voice in her head told her not to show them submission. She was their queen. The Golden dragon never let her show the old Sophie’s weakness.
She found them in the den. They were all quiet as if they were meditating until she walked into the room. Then she had four sets of very different eyes on her. She smiled at Aris and sauntered towards her favorite chair and plopped down. “I want to get out of here. I feel—” she paused trying to figure out the correct word. “Anxious. I don’t know what’s wrong.”
“Then we’ll go out. Maybe we will go have dinner or something. It’s been awhile since we went into town together.”
Aris watched her and she shivered trying to keep her emotions under wraps. The others could sense when she was aroused and it was quite embarrassing.
“Yeah because people seem to get freaked out when we are all together,” Ilias said.
Sophie studied him. She realized something was going on with him. She felt it as if she were meant to help him. Her dragon felt very nurturing to the young one though he wasn’t much younger than her. She felt the dragon inside of her was much older. He didn’t meet her gaze, but she felt a strum of energy come to her. But Ilias was stubborn, never wanting to admit his weaknesses. She knew that and she also knew not to ask him outright—at least not in front of the others. She decided she would corner him later and looked away from him so he could calm down. Sophie wasn’t sure if anyone else was aware of the spike in his energy and the sweet scent of worry that surrounded him lately.
When she looked back, Aris watched her. She shrugged. “Sounds good. I’ve spent a better part of my life hiding, and I want to live.”
She hadn’t told them about her past, not really. She hadn’t needed to; each one of them had their own dark past that still haunted them. They were a family of broken misfits. Only the more they bonded the less broken they were. Since t
hey realized she was the key to helping them, and found some much needed answers of their sickness, she’d done her best to bond with all of them hoping it would keep their sickness as bay while they searched for their mates. Not that she knew how that was going to work.
“You have nothing—”
Mid-sentence, Sophie’s eyes rolled back and she settled against the cushion of the chair.
‘He screamed and whimpered against the leather whip. The cold sunk into his bones and he cowered into a ball. Blood slid over his ribs from the new lashes on his back. He tried so hard to be strong, but he was weak. It was no wonder why he was in this dungeon. He was an embarrassment to his kind. That’s what the man—his father always told him.
He said, “You’re lucky I didn’t just kill you. I was supposed to, you know, but I thought if I trained you I could prove to them that you were strong like me. You were my son not some half bastard.”
The boy’s body shook. The words hurt and he knew better than to look his father in the face. He knew better than to let him see the tears.
“Please father, just kill me.” He finally said the words out loud. He was ready to die. He couldn’t take the beatings anymore.
“What did you say?” The man roared. “Look at me when you speak to me, son.” The way he said son with such hatred filled his soul with hate.
So he did look up. He stared the man who had hurt him for 18 long years. He was ready to give his life up. When his eyes meet his fathers for the first time something was different. He saw things differently. Even though it was dark he could see like the sun was shining in on them.
His father stared at him in horror, but he doesn’t know why. He says nothing, only looks at him. “Kill me please.”
“You’re not mine!”
Sophie gasped and her breath refilled her lungs as if she had been underwater too long. Tears slid down her cheeks and she stared at Ilias. No words would come out. She pushed Aris away and jumped from her chair... She promised herself she would never make him feel any kind of weakness but she had to comfort him, the dragon—and the human—agreed. She dropped to her knees in front of Ilias and pulled him to her chest hugging him. At first he was stiff and tense, but after she kissed his fuzzy brown hair it’s as if all the fight left him. He wrapped his arms around her and cried. She rocked him and held him whispering, ‘it’s going to be okay,” over and over again. The others didn’t say a word.
Ilias didn’t let go for long before he pulled away and wiped his face. Right in front of her eyes he fell back into himself and she wanted to scream at herself. She should have waited. She should have approached him alone, but that vision she had—it was of him. He was raised by a dragon, one who had been his father, and one who had tortured him.
He watched her and she could tell he wondered what she saw. She shook her head and tightened her lips hoping he would see that she wasn’t going to tell. One nod in her direction before he bolted from the room let her know he believed her.
***
They finally got out... She had to pry Ilias out of his room, telling him he needed the air. She needed him with her. Something wasn’t right, and being around the young dragon was what she needed. Aris didn’t question her but he did seem a bit miffed when she didn’t want to hold his hand. She couldn’t explain it to him, but her eyes pleaded for him to understand.
They were about to go inside the restaurant when she froze. Someone was watching them. The hairs on the back of her neck stood and her dragon paced inside of her. She gripped Ilias’ hand in hers and spun around.
“What’s wrong—?”
“Shh,” she replied and narrowed her gaze. She squinted into the distance and that’s when she saw him. He was like her, but not. His white eyes lit up the shadows but there was darkness that surrounded him. His lip curled up into a snarl and he narrowed his eyes. He crouched but he was far away. Was he warning her? Of what? She thought back to her vision earlier. He felt full. He felt like kin, yet he didn’t seem to like her much. He felt like the dragon inside of her almost. Did he mean them harm? Her gut told her yes and the dragon inside pushed at the surface as if she wanted to get to him. Then he disappeared. She spun back around when Aris shook her.
“What’s wrong Sophie?”
“Didn’t you see him?”
Chapter 20
“Didn’t you see him?”
Aris didn’t have any idea what she was talking about. One minute they were going to go inside to eat and the next she bolted. When he caught up to her she was looking into the darkness.
She looked around seeming confused. “How did I get here?”
“You ran off.”
“Didn’t you see the other dragon?”
That couldn’t be right. Aris hadn’t sensed another dragon in town—ever. It was why he chose Stratham. He tried to grab her hand but she yanked it back and looked into the darkness.
“He’s not there anymore.” She went as if to walk into the forest, but he pulled her back.
The others had surrounded her. “Maybe we should listen to her. She obviously senses something.”
Aris didn’t want to admit his brother was right. Sophie had been acting strangely since before they left. She had been adamant about going out just as she had been adamant about Ilias going and staying close to her. She acted like a concerned mother keeping her young close.
“Maybe we need to go home?”
Sophie hadn’t looked back at him but she nodded. “Yes, we need to go home.”
Her voice was distant as she kept her eyes in the distance. He was able to tug her with him but she never focused on him. She fully trusted him to lead her while she watched for whatever it was she saw—or thought she saw.
Dinner was a bust, but he drove back home feeling as though he was missing something really important. Sophie was silent and tense. She’d refused to sit in the front opting to sit in the back by the door guarding the others. Ilias was in the back watching her curiously.
***
Sophie felt better to be home. It had been a bad idea to go out other than the fact she knew without a doubt—there was another dragon in town, and he was after Ilias. How she knew she wasn’t sure, but she wouldn’t let anything happen to him. He was hers. She was the queen, the leader of this tribe, and it was her duty to protect them from enemies. The dragon inside of her had been to battle before. She was an old soul. Sophie felt her knowledge like the dragon was feeding it to her slowly to ease her into her duties as queen.
She huddled by the fire and watched the flames. “There is another dragon here. I swear I’m not making it up.”
The others moved on the floor behind her. She felt them circle in around her and Aris was next to her. His body huge compared to her own. She felt at peace being surrounded by them.
“Why is he here?” Aris asked.
“For Ilias.”
The room went dead. She wasn’t even sure any of them breathed. “You know why?”
Aris shook his head. He didn’t know. Ilias hadn’t told anyone the truth. She felt the fear radiating off him as if they would think of him differently. He’d never told the truth.
She twisted her body around to have her back facing the fire. It was warm against her and she felt some comfort. “Ilias, you need to tell them, or at least tell them who would be after you. Why is there a Golden dragon chasing you?”
“I don’t know—” he started but she shook her head.
He sighed. “I wasn’t raised with humans like you all were.”
Sophie nodded urging him on.
“The man who called himself my father—until that last day—raised me, but not in the way you would think.”
It was why she related to him. He lived in a damp darkness just as she had. It all made sense now. She held her hand out to him and he took it. Her connection to him strengthened.
“I was tortured and lived in a dungeon. I never got out, and I was raised knowing I was a dragon. He beat me, whipped me trying to trigger my shift
to prove to the others that I was really his child.” Ilias wiped the stray tears from his eye. “That I was a black dragon. Only when I couldn’t take it anymore, when I did shift my eyes for the first time, they were silver, not gold like his.”
Sophie gripped his hand showing him they were there for him. She noticed the others had moved closer as a show of support to their youngest brother. Aris had told her that he was still basically a baby. He hadn’t even fully shifted fully yet, but he should soon.
“He knew I wasn’t his child. That my ‘whore of a mother’ had an affair with a silver dragon. The thing was, from what he told me as he beat me senseless, my mother was a red dragon, so them being together was against the laws anyway. She was killed after I was born, and he was supposed to kill me, but instead he decided to use me as a way to get revenge against the woman he loved. He had even talked the council into letting him be with her if she ‘proved’ loyal.”
Ilias’ body shook as he squeezed her hand.
“That’s enough; you don’t have to say anymore. But my question is—why do you have a Golden dragon tracking you?”
He shrugged.
Sophie raised a brow. Ilias knew more than what he was telling but his lip trembled. “Go ahead tell us.”
He looked over Sophie’s head as if he couldn’t meet her eyes and he pulled his hand back. “Father always said that it was the Golden dragon’s duty to rid the world of abominations. The one you saw must know I’m still alive and he’s here to kill me.”
Aris roared and stood from the ground. “You are not an abomination.” He paced to the hallway and spun around. “No one is going to die. Sophie must get visions now that she has taken on the Golden dragon, and she must have sensed him because none of us even saw him.”
This was a lot for her to take in. So much responsibility and she’d only been free for two weeks. How was she supposed to protect Ilias and the others if she wasn’t even sure she could protect herself? She nibbled her lip reverting back to her fear.
Saved by Alpha Bear (Paranormal Shifter Romance) (Shadow Claw Book 1) Page 35