Anila’s POVSomething shifted in the air. When I met up with Xaden for dinner after my classes, he seemed… okay. He didn’t ask me about my time with Harley, but he did ask me if Harley was okay. He’s been worried about Harley, and I could see it in his eyes.I shouldn’t have been surprised because that was his best friend, but it was weird considering I am mated and bonded to Xaden. I would have thought he’d feel jealous after I spent alone time with another man.But he didn’t seem jealous at all.I felt a lightness in my chest as we ate and talked. He looked happy and content as we sat beside one another at the table in the dining hall. I don’t think I had laughed so hard in my life and others around me, including my friends, started to take notice.Xaden wrapped an arm around me and kissed me for the world to see and I was beaming beside him. It seemed that everyone had forgotten about earlier when I showed up at the dining hall fully marked and bound. Now everything was starting to
Xaden’s POVMy phone was ringing, and I frowned when I saw Penny’s name flash across the screen. Penny was Anila’s roommate and she never called me. My heart sank into my stomach and panic soon consumed me as I answered the phone.“Hello?”“Hi, Xaden?” Penny’s voice sounded on the other end.“Yes,” I replied, trying not to sound as panicked as I was.She had to be calling me because of Anila; had something happened?“It’s Penny,” she continued. “I’m calling because Anila isn’t really doing well. I know she’s supposed to shift tonight, but she’s looking incredibly weak and very sick.”My heart shattered hearing this, but I knew Penny was right. The first shift was the worst and took a huge toll on the human body. Her spirit animal is basically being born and a lot of the time that’ll make the human very sick.His bones were probably aching too. That was why I was desperate for her to strengthen her powers and her body. I knew I needed to get her into the forest. She needed to be surrou
Anila’s POVMy mates were standing in a circle staring at me with their mouths hanging open. The pain had finally settled, and I was feeling stronger than ever. I had never felt so energized in all of my life. I wasn’t expecting everything to be so heightened, but I could smell literally everything all at once; I could hear for miles, and I could see 10 times stronger than I ever saw before.I looked down at my body and saw nothing but black fur, which was strange because a moment ago, I saw nothing but white fur. I looked up at the moon and I went to howl again, but it came out a roar instead.What the hell? I thought to myself.When I looked up to see their confused faces, I knew something was very wrong. I wanted to ask them what had happened, but my voice came out as a huff. I obviously couldn’t speak in this form. I wanted to find a creek so I could see my reflection. For a second, I thought maybe my bones reformed wrong.I shuddered at the thought.Did I look like a freak or som
Anila’s POVHarley let me use his oversized shirt to cover my body and I was so grateful that he had the common sense to strip off his clothes before shifting. When we got back to the area we shifted in, most of our clothes were in shredded pieces and I was kind of upset that Xaden hadn’t thought about stripping me sooner, so I didn’t have to lose an entire outfit.I was elated though, and I didn’t really care about the outfit.I had two spirit animals, and I couldn’t believe this. It was weird in my human form because I could feel them inside of me. They were co-existing in my mind and if I really thought about it, could even see them. They were both so beautiful and breathtaking. It was like day and night with one being pure white and the other being completely black.But they both had bright purple eyes and I wasn’t sure what that meant. But they were mine and they were perfect.Once I was in Harley’s shirt and no longer completely naked in front of them all, Xaden wrapped his arms
Anila’s POVI just found a baby dragon!I thought dragons were supposed to be outlawed. At least that’s what everyone else had told me. They said that dragons were incredibly dangerous and that they weren’t allowed. Which was weird to me because I wasn’t exactly sure how they hid dragons from the world. I imagined they must grow huge, and they have wings, so they fly. They also quite clearly breathe fire. I would assume that it’d be impossible to hide an actual grown dragon.But this little thing didn’t look dangerous or even scary; it was actually adorable. Against my better judgment, I reached my hand out to touch the baby dragon. I let my fingers linger around its head for a moment and it sniffed me curiously.Then it moved its scaly head across the palm of my hand, and I gasped at the warmth and affection it clearly had.“Hey there,” I whispered, running my fingers down the length of its back. “Did you just hatch?”I wondered how this little dragon got here. If there was a baby dr
Anila’s POV“Don’t think just because my brother marked you, it means I’m not going to try and get into your pants,” Zach said with a smirk as he pinned me to the ground.Fury boiled through me from his words; how could he be so arrogant?“Mate!” My wolf insisted.I used all of my strength to kick him off me and to my surprise, he actually tumbled backwards.“You can try all you want, Zach,” I said through my teeth. “It won’t change anything.”I could see the irritation on his face, and I wondered if it was because Xaden had marked me, or because Zach couldn’t have his way with me. My mind instantly went to Harley and all the things we’d done together, and I felt a ping of guilt in my chest.“How’d he convince you to do it anyway?”I looked at him, confused.“What do you mean?” I asked.“How did you convince him to mark you?”His question took me aback and I knew I must have looked dumbfounded. Did Zach seriously think I somehow convinced Xaden to mark his claim on me?“I didn’t have
Anila’s PovI didn’t think; as soon as I hung up the phone with Penny, I was running straight for the dorms. My dragon had somehow gotten out of her cage, and she was my responsibility. I needed to protect her. She was probably terrified of the commotion going on and in hiding. It didn’t seem as if others had found her yet because most were evacuating the dormitory.I could hear the fear in everyone’s voices, and I wondered what exactly was going to happen to this dragon once she was found. I couldn’t bear the thought of anything happening to her; she didn’t do anything.At least I didn’t think she did.I was on autopilot, so, I’m not exactly sure how I managed to get through the crowd of students and faculty and got into the school. I think everybody was just so wound up that they didn’t really think about security. But I got inside and weaved through the many students struggling to get out of the door.“Anila!” I heard my name coming from the distance and recognized it right away as
Anila’s POVEscaping the school was exhilarating and by the time we reached the forest, I had tumbled over laughing. I’m not sure what I found so funny, but I couldn’t help myself. My adrenaline was rushing, and I couldn’t hold it in anymore.Zach was also laughing as he looked over his shoulder to make sure we weren’t being followed. He put his hand on my lower back, and I felt my entire body relaxing against his as I looked up at him. My cheeks were flushed, and I couldn’t seem to get that stupid grin off my face.I hated that I was feeling this strongly toward Zach though and despite my wolf insisting that he was my mate, I found myself resisting the pull. But Zach’s warm and very unfamiliar smile seemed to have melted the barrier I wrapped my heart in, and I found myself returning the smile.“What now?” I asked, my voice coming out way breathier than I meant it to.“Now, you should put the dragon back where you found it,” he told me, his gaze softening. “I know it’s hard. But the
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