Anila POVIt took me a while to get any sleep. I tossed and turned restlessly thinking about what I had seen in the mirror.I had freaking purple eyes!How was that even possible?Xaden had told me that the color of our eyes represents what we will be when we shift. He told me that wolf eyes turn yellow and bear eyes turn red. Everyone else varies depending on their inner animal. So, what did that make me?
Anila POVIt was so sudden, and out of the blue that Xaden had to blink a few times to even process what I said. Then his brows furrowed, and that desire that was soaking his features evaporated in guarded skepticism.My chest tightened at the look, and it confirmed that what I had seen last night was… not normal. Not even by abnormal standards.“What?” Even his voice was taut.“When I got back to my dorm this morning, I took a shower
Anila POVGreat. My first impression and I was already screwing up. When I looked up at Xaden, his eyes were glowing yellow. But when he blinked, they were back to normal. I knew his wolf was agitated from the interruption, but I needed Xaden to leave so I could go to my class and try to recover the little bit of reputation I was trying to obtain.He ran his fingers through his black hair and gave Professor Santina a sheepish grin.“Sorry, Professor. It was my fault,” he said, clearing his throat. “I’ll leave her to your care
Harley’s POVI smelled her before I actually saw her entering the classroom. I wasn’t sure how I missed her on the list of students, but I somehow didn’t know she was going to be attending this class until it was too late.I made it a point to avoid her for most of the day. When I saw her crowded in the elevator with Xaden and Zach, I took the stairs out of respect. But my inner bear was furious for not shoving us into the elevator and hogging her for ourselves.Staying away from her was the hardest thing I ever had to do in my entire life, and I fought in an entire war.My stomach had been turned into a knot for most of the day, but I fought hard to ignore the sensation, not wanting my emotions to be evident on my face.“Earth to Harles,” my friend, Anthony, said, furrowing his brows together as he stared at me across the lunch table.I had been watching Anila from across the room as she sat closely beside Xaden. She kept stealing glances at him and smiled her bright and beautiful sm
Anila POVDespite the tightness in my stomach, courtesy of my awkward encounter with Harley last period, I stretched my back and arms before attempting to lift off the ground once more. The power enveloped me like I was dipped into a warm bath, and my body lifted into the air slightly. Much less than my first attempt. Not to mention the strain being harder to control this time around. My feet landed on the ground, and I sighed. Xaden stood at attention ahead of me, a few strands of hair lifting in the light breeze as he gave me a court nod.“Again.”I took a deep breath and rose from the grass again.The power returned, but the lift was simply… not there. I chewed my lip—I knew why that was the case, but I couldn’t exactly explain to Xaden, my boyfriend, that I was distracted because of Harley. I wondered briefly if Xaden knew that Harley was the professor's aide in one of my classes. I mean, he was Xaden’s best friend after all.Would that have come up in a conversation between the
Anila’s POVI was too exhausted to even touch dinner after the day I had just had. Not only was Harley the teacher's aide in my geography class, but Zach was my partner in my combat class. How was I going to survive this semester?I played with the food on my plate as Penny talked our ears off about how incredible her night was and how excited she was for combat. Apparently, she really liked her partner.I was glad that my roommate had a better day than I did; it’s not that my day was bad, I got to spend time with Xaden, and I enjoyed most of my classes. But I couldn’t believe what I was facing in these classes, not to mention my eyes turning purple.I knew this school had a huge library though and Xaden promised we could check it out and see if we could find any information containing the purple eyes.The next night went basically the same. I was able to get to the school store and got most of my books and supplies for each class.After breakfast, we went to class, drowning myself in
Anila POVSitting in Principal Rapport's office was a first for me. I’d half expected tall bookshelves and weird mysterious baubles, like how Professor Howl kept his classroom. Maybe a bronze statue, or a medal signifying some kind of service or power.Maybe that was a bit…judgmental of me, to assume anything.But who doesn’t? And moreover, it didn’t change my surprise when I came and walked into the room. The first thing I smelled was earth, followed closely by the refreshing scent of life.Plants on top of plants on top of plants—not that I didn’t like plants, of course. They are beautiful and produce oxygen which we need—but I didn’t take Rapport to be a… plants kind of guy.But here he was, pruning one of his bushes before getting started. His entire office was stuffed with greenery, it was all along the walls and crowded the windows. It even hung from the ceiling, and as I took a deep lung-stretching breath, I felt so calm by their presence.Vines crawl up posts and droop from th
Anila POVI sulked the entire way to the bookstore.I knew I was being pathetic.My own behavior was making me annoyed, but no matter how I tried to ignore it, push it away, or bury it with delicious thoughts of what I was going to make Xaden do later, it was still there.Persistent. Painful. Annoying.Shadowing every action and thought, a layer of possessiveness that not only shouldn’t even be there but grew worse every time that image of Zach whispering sweet nothings to that woman pinned beneath him rose to mind.She wasn’t even that pretty.Ugh no, that’s a lie, she was fucking strikingly beautiful.Stop it, Anila. It didn’t matter what, or who, Zach did.I shook my head to quiet the thoughts. I was in a relationship with someone I was starting to… truly love, with my whole being. It was the first time I had openly admitted that I might actually be falling in love with Xaden.Something warm and fluttering, new and beautiful. Something I wanted to experience to the fullest.I hadn
Jaxon’s POVI stared in amazement as Anila nurtured the baby dragon as if it were second nature. I knew Emily was impressed too; the only ones who were able to communicate and bond with dragons were dragon masters, but Anila wasn’t a dragon master. At least not yet, but the way she cared for Ember as if she was her own child, did something to my insides that I didn’t particularly like.I never wanted to have real feelings for Anila. I recognized her as my mate when I first saw her in the forest and despite the fact that she has other mates in the mix, I knew exactly what she was to me. I saw her as an opportunity
Anila’s POV“Dragons?” I asked, my eyes wide as I stared up at Jaxon.He cocked his head at me.“This is Dragon Valley,” he reminded me. “Of course, there are dragons here.”“Well, yeah. I guess I kind of assumed you allowed them to go free,” I confessed, biting my lower lip in embarrassment. But it was strange that they’d keep dragons locked away in stables like horses.
Anila’s POV “I’m sorry, I don’t think I heard you correctly,” I said, gawking at Jaxon, my jaw nearly hitting the ground. “Did you just say you want me to be your queen?”“That’s right,” he said, entwining his fingers together. “My people expect me to rule over them with a queen by my side. I assured them infinite protection since the last Dragon King screwed them over and the only way I can ensure that protection is if I give my people an heir.”“An heir
Anila’s POV“He’s here,” I whispered, staring at the shadows. They followed my gaze to the shadowy region; Zach furrowing his brows together.“In the shadows?” Zach asked, looking at me like I had just lost my mind.I nodded.“Yes,” I answered. “He’s hiding himself.”“He’s being a fucking coward is what he&rsq
Anila’s POV“What do you mean you know the dragon king?” Harley asked all their eyes on me completely now.My cheeks flushed.“He’s kind of my fifth mate…” I admitted, biting my lower lip and anticipating some lash-back. But they all just stared at me with their mouths hanging open.“Your 5(th) mate is the dragon king?” Damien asked, finally finding his mate. “Are you sure about that?”I nodded.“Yes,” I told him. “I’m sure about it just as sure as I am that the four of you are my mates.”Damien shuffled awkwardly in his shoes and glanced at the ground. Zach and Harley exchanged a look before looking at Xaden who appeared frozen in place as he stared at me.“And you’ve spoken to him?” Xaden asked, his voice coming out softly.I nodded again.“Yes,” I answered. Then I looked at Zach, meeting his eyes. “That baby dragon that I found. Jaxon came to retrieve her. That’s why she went missing.”He nodded in understanding.“What baby dragon?” Xaden asked, looking between Zach and me.“It’s a
Anila’s POVWhen I got back to the clinic, both Harley and Zach were watching me warily. I’m not sure what to say to them or how to explain to them what I was going to have to do. My stomach was in a complete knot but I was doing this for Xaden. They had to understand that.“Are you okay?” Harley asked, watching me carefully.“Yeah,” I lied, trying to force a smile as I sat back at Xaden’s bedside. “I just needed some air. I’m good now.”I was a coward for not coming out and telling them that I had to leave by sundown tonight with Jaxon. That was his request; that I go back home with him, and only then will he tell me what he wants me to do before he saves Xaden’s life.“You look like you’re about to puke,” Zach points out, his brows furrowed together.“And we can tell that something is wrong with your emotions, Anila,” Harley said, eyeing my face. “Just tell us what’s going on.”“Do you think maybe we can just talk later? I’m kind of tired and I think I just want to close m eyes for
Anila’s POV“It’s you…” I whispered, taking a step back, my heart hammering in my chest.“Like I said, I’m not here to hurt you.” Jaxon emerged from the tree line, and he was walking towards me. I held my breath as I watched him approach me, his hands raised to show that he wasn’t carrying anything. He was completely shirtless, and my mouth dropped at the sight of his body. He had tattoos across his chest and along his shoulders that looked as if they went down his back as well. I knew right away that the tattoos were of dragons, or maybe one really big dragon with little dragons inside of it.Regardless, I found myself drawn to them.He also had a long scar that went across his chest and down his torso, but that didn’t make him any less hot. In fact, it made him look more manly. I swallowed the lump in my throat as Jaxon Develson, the dragon King, stood only inches from me.He had the scent of limes and passionfruit, and it caused my senses to be on high alert. There was no doubt in
Anila’s POVAs soon as I felt Zach’s fangs dig into my soft flesh, it was like a wake-up call. But before I could react, I heard the deep throaty growl of a bear, and I knew Harley had just witnessed this. Zach quickly released me, blood dripping from his lips just as Harley attacked him.A scream escaped my lips as I watched the two fall to the ground. Harley was in his bear form, but Zach shifted back into his wolf form almost immediately and the two began to fight.My fingers shakily went to my neck, and I felt the spot that Zach marked.He actually marked. After he said he wouldn’t do that.I knew that I needed to get out of there. I didn’t stick around to see if the fighting continued; I trusted them to know when to stop. I was furious, and I was hurt, and I was scared. I was scared for Xaden, and I was scared for myself.Zach marked me… without my permission.Anger filled me at the very thought, but it was hard to maintain because my wolf was happy about this.I found my clothes
Zach’s POVThere had been a line that was immediately crossed, and I could see was fucking red. I wanted to rip Harley’s throat out for crossing that line, but I was completely glued to my spot, staring at them like they had both just struck me at the same time.I’m not an idiot, I knew Anila didn’t trust me and I also knew that she blamed me for what happened with Xaden. I knew she would even if it wasn’t my fault. I was the easiest one to blame. My vendetta against Xaden wasn’t a secret and his vendetta against me wasn’t one either. Xaden and I talked a lot during this battle though and we came together with a mutual respect.He made me promise that if anything were to happen to him, I would take care of Anila. He told me to mark her and keep her protected. I didn’t think Harley would swoop in and take her for himself though, especially without speaking to me about it first. He was so hurt and upset that Xaden went ahead and marked Anila without talking to us about it and then he we