Anila’s POVThe Alpha’s presence clouded the room as Zach and Xaden’s father stood in the center of the vast space. My entire body went rigid as I stared up at the man who looked just like Xaden, except with Zach’s eyes and the same frown lines marring the corners of his lips. He was older; possibly early 50s, but like his sons, he was easy on the eyes.His eyes traveled across the room, landing on Xaden who remained on the bed, a nervous tint in his gaze.“We weren’t expecting you back so soon. I thought you were leading the troops to the North borders for damage control after the attack?” Zach said with a bite.It made me flash my eyes over at him, warning him not to get himself into any trouble. I knew Zach had a strained relationship with his father because of his favoritism towards Xaden, but now was not the time for his daddy issues.“As soon as word got out that Xaden was hurt, I started to travel back,” the Alpha said, narrowing his eyes at Xaden. “Have you lost your mind? Wha
Anila’s POV“You shouldn’t go alone,” Xaden said, a glint of worry in his eyes. “It’s dangerous out there right now. Especially if there is a dragon.“Damien will come with me,” I said, glancing at Damien who nodded; I knew he wanted to leave and get away from the Alpha. “We should get back to school as well,” Damien said. “Principal Rapport mentioned the competition being moved up. Competing schools will be arriving this week and I’d like to make sure Anila is prepared.”They nodded in agreement.“Just leave my pack,” the Alpha said, pointing at the doorway.I heard Zach’s growl from the opposite side of the room, but I didn’t spare him a glance. It would be better if I just left and went to find Jaxon. He needed to answer for himself.I hurried out with Damien behind me.Just as I was about to tell Damien we needed to find Jaxon, he appeared at Damien’s car in the parking lot. It was as if he knew that I needed to see him… I touched the mark on my neck and sighed, he probably did.
Anila’s POVThe dorm was quiet; I knew everyone was most likely getting ready for bed by now.Now, that I had a moment to clear my head and I was back in a familiar setting, I thought about texting Harley to see how Xaden was doing. When I pulled out my phone to check my messages, I saw that I had a missed text from Harley telling me that Xaden is scheduled for discharge by the end of the week.I just had to be a little more patient.I smiled and sent out my own reply which consisted of some emojis as I padded up the stairs and towards my dorm room. Once I reached the door, I shoved my phone into my pocket.“Anila?” Sadie and Sally asked at the same time as I stepped into the dorm room. I froze, not expecting to see everybody all at once, but here they were in the middle of my dorm.Penny gasped and stood to her feet, her eyes wide as she took me in.“You’re back so soon,” Penny breathed. “I thought you’d be gone for a few weeks at least. How’s Xaden?”“He’s better,” I told her as I s
Anila’s POVMy eyes wandered over to Damien periodically as he stood in the center of the dining hall with Sarah. It seemed as if my eyes had a mind of their own because I couldn't bring myself to look away. I wondered how long he had been there before I noticed.I was so busy talking with my friends that I didn’t pick up on his scent right away.Damien’s face went from stoic to a softer expression within minutes.Sarah’s face turned a slight shade of red like she was embarrassed and upset. He put a hand on her shoulder, making my inner animals stir like crazy. I felt uneasy about it too, not wanting to see my mate with another woman. Whatever Damien had said to her made a smile appear on her lips and she gave him a curt nod. He nodded as well and then pointed at an unoccupied table. Sarah tucked a strand of hair behind her ear and sauntered over to the empty table while Damien went to the lunch line alone.“Earth to Anila,” Penny said, waving her hand in front of my face. “Are you
Damien’s POVI’m not known for smiling, but Anila somehow brought that side out of me.She was beautiful, witty, funny, intelligent… strong…I wasn’t sure how much longer I could take not being able to kiss her and touch her. I needed to have her and not just in a dream… I needed the real Anila.She was so warm and smelled so good in my arms; my lips brushed across her hairline like a feather. I don’t even think she felt it, but I could feel her soft hair brushing across my lips and her skin dampened with beads of sweat.Falling on top of me like this was the best thing that could have happened today.I felt myself stiffen in my pants and I silently cursed myself for being so weak.I felt like a teenager.There were so many things I wanted to say to her at this moment, so many questions I had in my mind… I thought about our shared dream and how incredible it was. I wanted to relive that dream…I might have been selfish, but when it came to Anila, I couldn’t help myself. I wanted her t
Anila’s POVDamien looked puzzled by my words.It was bold doing this in the middle of the spellcasting room, knowing that at any moment, anyone could walk in. But I didn’t really care; I wanted to claim and mark my mate, even if he couldn’t claim and mark me.The words of Principal Rapport roamed through my mind. He told me that I needed to mark and mate each of my mates to become my stronger self…“Wouldn’t I have to mark you too?” He asked, his mind lost in thought. “I’m not sure how that would work. I don’t have an inner animal.”I stood on my toes and brushed my lips across his.“Maybe it doesn’t matter,” I told him. “I mean, I can mark you and see if anything happens. The Goddess wouldn’t have made you my mate if we weren’t able to bond fully.”He looked uncertain as he pulled away from me. I tried not to show it on my face, but the sudden rejection hurt. But when I saw the worry on his face, I realized he wasn’t rejecting me, he was afraid that it wouldn’t work and that we woul
Damien’s POVI stared at the mark on Anila’s neck, my eyes wide and confusion flashing over my expression. Anila looked so content; there were beads of blood on her plump lips and it made me want to lick it off. I brushed a strand of fallen hair out of her face as I stepped away from her. We were still in the middle of the spellcasting room in the basement of the academic center. There were no locks on the door so anybody could just walk in and more often than not they did.I wasn’t sure how long we had been like this. We breathed in sync, our bodies coming down from the ultimate high. She was the first to take the initiative and grab her clothes off the ground. I was still stunned by what happened and I stood frozen for a few seconds longer.I actually marked her? How was that possible?This had to have been a dream. I thought maybe I imagined the whole thing, not believing that it could be real. Once she got her jeans on, she grabbed her shirt. She pulled it over her head and then t
Anila’s POVMy excitement boiled over when I saw that Xaden was back at school and he was looking well. I couldn’t help myself; I ran towards him and wrapped both my legs and arms around his body. He wrapped his arms around me as well and held me close to him as he peppered kisses along my jawline.“I was so scared,” I whispered, tears pouring out of my eyes before I could stop them. I hated showing everyone this weakness, but I couldn’t help myself. Not when it came to Xaden, the first boy I had ever truly loved.“Did you think I wouldn’t return to you?” He whispered in return.“Okay, nothing to see here,” I heard Harley saying. “Give us some space guys.”I could hear their upset murmurs, but nobody would go against any of these guys. They all turned and started to talk amongst themselves as they walked back towards the buses to scope out the rest of the competition. The only ones who remained in the crowd were Penny and Becca, who were with me to begin with.“We’ll give you some pri
Anila’s POVI’m not sure how long I had been out, but when I woke up, I was no longer in the burning towns. I was lying in a fairly comfortable bed in a familiar room.“Oh, good. You’re awake,” Nurse Lorelei, the head nurse at Lunar Academy, said with a smile.“I’m back at school?” I whispered, my voice sounding unfamiliar and hoarse. My body was stiff as I attempted to move, but I didn’t feel any actual pain.“You were brought back a few days ago. You were sleeping ever since that battle,” she said sighing. “I heard quite the story about you. I must say, word had gotten around quickly.”My cheeks flushed at her words.Everyone knew what had happened? “Anila,” I heard my name from the doorway as Xaden walked into the room. “We could feel that you were awake through the bond.”I smiled weakly at him an
Anila’s POVEverything around me started to fade away as the battle continued in the sky.It was Ember and me, vs the Alpha King and about 3 of the dragons.The glow of the Dragon Stone was wedged in his chest, pulsating with each beat of his heart. That dragon stone was the reason he was like this… it was the reason all of this was happening in the first place.If only I could get it, I could put an end to all of this.He would be powerless.The King swiped at me with his large claws; he managed to get my arm, and I hissed in pain, grabbing the sore spot on my arm. For a second, I had a moment of panic. When Xaden got scratched by a dragon, it put him in a coma.But when nothing happened, I felt a sense of relief.However, I did almost fall off Ember entirely, but thankfully she prevented me from falling. I did get a good look at the ground though and I saw that people were still being ushered und
Anila’s POVThe house was on fire when I reached it. There was rubble everywhere and something was blocking the front door from opening. I barely recognized the place because of all the ash and rubble that surrounded the yard. I felt no attachment to being back at this house, nor did I feel any remorse over the fact that it was burned to the ground. I didn’t really care about any of that; it was no longer my home.My home was where my mates were and that was the place I longed to be at last.I gave up on the door and tried a window instead. Thankfully, it wasn’t locked, and I was able to get into the dark home. I nearly was choked out by the amount of smoke and soot in the air. Instead of staying in human form, I decided to strip out of my clothes, throwing them outside so I would have them later, and then I shifted into my wolf. Even in my wolf form, it was difficult to breathe, but at least I was lower to the ground my wolf&r
Anila’s POVEmber was going faster than I had ever known her to go. Then again, I’d never ridden on her before because the last time I saw her, she was only a baby. She also knew exactly where she was going without even looking at the other dragons. We weren’t riding with a saddle, which was also weird, but oddly enough, I felt secure on Ember’s bare back.Jaxon sat behind me, his arms wrapped around my waist and my back was pressed into his broad chest, so there was that extra layer of protection as well.“We need to protect the humans because they are defenseless,” I told him; he nodded in agreement.“We should get them under the ground,” he said. “If there are any sewers or anything. It’s safer for them.”I wasn’t going to argue with that; as long as the humans were safe, that was all that mattered. As we neared the human nation, my heart started to sink. I
Anila’s POVWhile I was engulfed in the dark woods, I grabbed my wand out of my boot and cast the spell for light to light the area up so I could see better. I had my wolf and bear sight, but it was still difficult to see the items I was looking for. I wanted to refrain from shifting right now because I wanted my animals to be well-rested and prepared for when I needed them the most.Besides, most of the others hadn’t shifted. Some of the bird shifters did, but aside from that, everyone was wandering around different sections of the forest in their human forms.“Don’t overthink it,” I heard Zach’s voice in my head through our mindlink. I paused at the sound of his voice and looked around, wondering if he was nearby. It made him chuckle which solidified that he could see me.“Where are you?” I asked him out loud.“I’m not near you. I’m still where you left me. But I c
Anila’s POV“The competition is in a couple of hours. What exactly are we going to do with a dragon?” Zach asked. He was now leaning against the wall on the far side of the dorm room, his arms folded around his chest as he watched the dragon intently.“Yeah, what are we doing with it?” Sage asked, narrowing her eyes at me.“Her name is Ember,” I scolded, rolling my eyes as I ran my hands down Ember’s head.“What are we supposed to do?” Penny asked with a timid frown on her lips.I turned towards Ember and pressed my forehead against her as I whispered, “Go find Jaxon.”She closed her eyes, taking in my words, and then without another word she turned towards the window which was still open, and she took off.“Be careful! Don’t be seen!” I whispered-yelled.“This is a really bad idea,” Sage said, folding her arms
Xaden’s POV“What do you think this is about?” Harley asked as we approached the conference hall for Alphas. It was outside of all territories and rarely used except for meetings that included all Alphas for both bear and wolf shifters. We only had a meeting that concerned everyone when it was an emergency.Whatever this was about, I knew that it wasn’t going to be good.“I guess we will find out,” I murmured as we approached the hall that led to the meeting room.“Where the hell have you two been?” My father asked as he stormed towards us. “We had been waiting for you.”“Sorry, Dad. You called when we were at school. Took us some time to get here,” I told him as we went towards the doors together.“This is an emergency, Xaden. You should have run faster in wolf form,” he muttered, then he froze and sniffed the air, narrowing his eyes at me,
Anila’s POV“Holy fuck,” Zach breathed, pushing me the rest of the way into the room and shutting the door behind us. The window was wide open, so I knew the dragon didn’t just walk in through the door.I was too frozen to say or do anything except gawk at the big dragon that sat in the middle of the dormitory. Sage and Becca were on the couch while Sadie and Sally were across the living room, staring at the dragon with big and worried eyes. Penny was the only one who didn’t seem afraid; she was standing closer to the dragon, and she looked a bit sheepish.“I can’t believe you let that thing in here,” Sally said, hiding behind her twin.Penny frowned and folded her arms across her chest.“She was wandering around outside. What was I supposed to do? Let her get hurt? The hunters wouldn’t let her live if they found her.”“Why do we care what happens to a dragon, Pen?” Sally asked, her frown deepening as she glared at Penny from across the room. “She’s a freaking dragon!”“And she’s harm
Anila’s POVI was so exhausted after taking all my mates at once that I nearly passed out after my orgasm. Once they were out of me, they cleaned me up and then cleaned up our mess from the picnic. I used Harley as a bed as I curled up against him, pressing my head against his chest. We were all still naked, except for Damien who had got dressed right after.I thought there would be a bit of awkwardness between them afterward, but there wasn’t. In fact, they all acted as if they were friends for a long time. Even Damien was joining them with some jokes and laughing. I was too tired to engage in conversation and Harley kept his warm arms around my body, pressing me further into him. His fingers traced my spine gently, sending goosebumps around my body.Once everything was clean, Harley stood, lifting me into his arms. We went towards Xaden’s cabin so we could rest for the night. I made it clear that I didn’t want any of my mates to go anywhere else. I needed them tonight because I had