Even if I somehow managed to survive for a while through this cruel and inhumane torment, there would be nothing left of me worth surviving. A survival instinct immediately took over, and I knew that I couldn't continue to shrink away from the beast that Sólas was.Death was inevitable, and I refused to go down without a fight. Gripping my wound hard and allowing the pain to keep me focused. I forced myself onto my feet, ignoring the wet fabric that stuck to my leg."No, thank you," I responded almost politely. His cocky attitude stalled."No, thank you," Sólas repeated as if he didn't understand the meaning of the individual words themselves."Yes, I refuse to mate with you or bear your spawn," I clarified. "You are refusing me?" he parroted in disbelief. "I'm sorry. Am I not making it clear enough to you?" I asked, giving him a pretentious smile. My attitude was not lost on him, but he seemed shocked that I would dare to be anything other than humbled or terrified in his presenc
Sólas stood straight, showing off my blood that was already drying on his blue-tinged scales. "Good," he purred and strode out the door without a backward glance. I scooted away until my back was against the wall trying to make myself as small and uninteresting as I could. I curled up into a ball and laid my head on my knees, hiding my face. It was a childish move, the whole "if I can't see you then you can't see me," move, but it was where my mindset was at now. I couldn't move, didn't want to move. I knew deep down that if I moved, Sólas was going to come back and attack me once more. Without even realizing it, my body was shivering in tune with the swirling of my mind. -Mara. - Whispered a voice through the storm in my mind.I shoved it aside, knowing that it wasn't possibly Tohr. I had been hoping he would answer me for days now, there was no way he would do so right now. -Mara, open your mind to me, my little fyre. I am here. Open yourself to your mate. - The voice whispered
At that moment, I couldn't tell which was worse. Sólas willingness to use me to keep his people under his horrific thumb or Caylan's willingness to use me as a tool to begin his civil war. "Neither," I admitted resolutely. "I will not be used in such a manner. I don't care what you wish me for. I want to go home. I want to get back to Tohr and to a place where I am not an object to be used for war or death." "She has that right, Caylan. If we hold her here against her then we will be no better than Sólas," Ka'rina told Caylan. "Oh, I have no intention of making her stay here, little one. I am going to take her out front with the king. Tohr will demand retribution for her and when we lose this war. Sólas will be ousted by the royal decree, and we can start anew," Caylan stated. "Fine," I snapped in irritation. "Just take me to Tohr if that is what you wish to do. However, if you're hoping to start a war using my name, I will not help you in any way." "Can you not see that this is w
It was a bit comforting to know the telepathy didn't cross clan boundaries. With everything else that Sólas had done to, the fact that he couldn't read my mind was a great relief."Worry not," Ka'rina whispered to me. "We are taking you to your people." Ka'rina nodded to Caylan, letting him know that she agreed with whatever he was planning. Caylan's eyes shuttered as he looked behind us. I followed his gaze to see the blue warriors had gathered outside the door, taking up most of the landing at the top of the stairs. They were not drawing weapons, but I could tell by the tension around them they were ready to spring at Caylan's command.The warriors on the stairwell and below were all that were loyal to Sólas. They all stood arrogantly naked and proud, waiting for the blood they wished to spill. Everyone that stood behind us were the ones ready to free themselves of Sólas tyranny. They wore leather armor of blue and silver proudly displaying the colors of their tribes."Please tak
Erik pulled me against his chest and held me close as Treddian planted his feet, then let out a roar before shooting upward with a single hard flap.An accompanying roar went up from the warriors below. Like a choreographed, dance they parted so they could change without hindering each other. Moments after they took to the sky, the Sororians followed their leads. Treddian circled high above the valley just between the cold and the warm layer of air. He made sure to stay just out of range of the fighting yet close enough that he didn't freeze us out. I peeked around his horn, and my attention was immediately captured by the horrific sight. Though the sky was filled with both Golden and Blue Draygons, Tohr and Sólas were easy to spot. Tohr's Draygon shape was one of the largest, and the golden scales glinting the sun off perfectly. Sólas' was not as big as Tohr. Still, he was by no means small. The impacts of their forms against each other let out a sound like the crashing of thunder.
"Wake up, my little fyre, open your beautiful eyes so that I may see them," Tohr's voice roused me. I pushed my eyes open and squinted until he came into view. I smiled softly at his beautiful face that I had missed so much. He had only been gone for a short while; yet even in the short time, I seemed to have forgotten how handsome he was. I loved his eyes; they were always so beautiful and expressive. I couldn't wait to see the love in his eyes as he stared down at me and the happiness that would fill them when I told him that I wanted to be his forever.I opened my mouth to let everything roll out, but he covered it with his finger then replaced that digit with his lips, kissing me deeply. I could feel him marking my soul. His tongue swept inside and played with mine tasting me. I returned his kiss with all the passion and love that I kept inside of me. He moaned almost helplessly as if he understood my unspoken words.-My love. - His voice whispered through my mind. -Please, pleas
He pulled me into his arms, and his lips took mine once more, quelling my protests. His kiss was just as powerful and desperate as before, and I lost myself instantly in it. His fear of what could happen and his horror over what had happened combined and grew into a frenzied need to make sure I was okay. -Home… we need to be home now. - He growled in my head. His arousal and my own raised and clashed until I was beyond anything. Erik cleared his throat loudly, shattering the moment. Okay, well almost anything. We pulled apart and I hid my face in Tohr's neck. I breathed in his musky, masculine scent that was tinged with the smoky smell that always seemed to accompany his transformation.-I love you, Tohr. - I whispered into his mind, unable to hold it in any longer. -I know, little fyre. I heard you. Every time I heard you. You have my heart as well. - He replied. My heart swelled with joy, and I kissed his neck lightly, listening to his breath hitch, then turned to a hungry gro
The clunk of a coffee cup had me lifting my head from my notes that I had been pouring over for days now to no avail. When Erik had originally gone missing, I had found the answer to opening the portal in the dark, dusty library of a rural town in England. However, the notes had, once again, not given me any new information that I could use to reopen the portal before the ten years. That long wait had been extremely difficult. But now, with Tohr and everyone else that I had left behind added to it, the wait was nearly impossible. The last six months had been torture. I felt like a limb had been completely cut off, and just relearning to function was harder than anything else I had ever done.Unable to handle the mass amount of failure that I had achieved trying to find a way to open the portal, I had turned my attention to something else. Retracing our roots to find out if there was a possibility that we could have come from Draygons. My findings were extremely fascinating to me, and I
He squeezed my hand one more time before letting go. It was a small gesture, however with Treddian, who was raised in this world to not show affection to another man's woman or risk death, it was a huge step. I turned my attention to the last two people who stepped up to me and raised my eyebrows when I saw it was Ethallia and Synne. "What is it you need, my ladies?" Tohr asked them gently. "Your Majesty, we wish to plead our loyalty to the Queen, as well. Without her here, our lives would have been very different, and now we would be honored if she would accept them in return," Synne replied softly. "That is not necessary," I replied to them."Your Highness, with all due respect, you gave us our lives back and the courage to take charge of them. There is nothing we want to do more than to pledge them to you," Ethallia countered. I looked to Tohr for help. But he had stepped back and was allowing me to handle this. I stood and walked up to the ladies and took their hands. "Are yo
"Caylan," I called, getting his attention. Caylan turned and his icy blue eyes pierced through me as they started to turn slightly Draygonish. "Please… be patient… this… this is not our way, and she may end up hating you if you push too much," I pleaded with him. Caylan nodded to me. I wasn't sure if it was an agreement or acknowledgment. Either way, I was forced to stand there and watch as Caylan carried my new friend off to his 'Draygon lair'. "She will be fine, Mara. You know as well as I do, my little fyre, that a Draygon will do whatever it takes to make sure his mate gives him their heart," Tohr reminded me. He wrapped his arms around my waist and kissed the top of my head. "Most of all, she is safe and protected." I nodded and sighed heavily, hoping one day she would forgive me for this. I felt as if I had to feed her to the wolves.Before I could contemplate or worry about anything, else Tohr was pulling me towards the front of the hall where the thrones were and had me s
-Little fyre. I am damned proud of you. You fought him with all the fyre inside your soul. Sólas would still be after us no matter what you had done. He is the one to blame for what we are going through right now. - I gave him a small smile and tried to let his words soothe me. "Thank you for warning me," I told Caylan. "I appreciate all that you have done for us." "You do not have to thank me, Your highness. It was the least I could do after everything you both did for my people. I, however, did wish to thank you for bringing our princess back." My eyes widened. "Gabby?" As if my words summoned her, Gabby walked in like the princess she was descended from. She looked around the room. As soon as she spotted us, she made a beeline for the group, and the look on her face was one of anger. "Ohhh hell," I whispered in English. "You!" she snapped at me. "You have been back for how long? And you have not stopped to say hi?" "Gabby, I'm so sorry! I just… Ummm," I floundered for a reas
I turned and grabbed her shoulders. "Even if you weren't mated to my brother and my favorite guard, you would still belong here." The tears Ethallia was holding back burst open and poured down her cheeks. I hugged her again until the sniffing stopped, and I could tell she was feeling better. I caught bits and pieces of her thoughts, and they were just as sweet as her words. I gave her one last strong hug struggling to control my own tears.-You okay, mate? - Tohr asked concerned. -Yes, mate. I am just so happy right now. - I replied, coating my words with the love I felt for him and these people. He sent back his love letting it wash over me. -I'm so glad, my little fyre. Now hurry so I can have you in my arms again. -I laughed slightly and pulled away from Ethallia. "Alright. My own mate seems to be whining cause I'm not close. Can you help me finish this up?" I asked her, pushing at my quickly drying hair. She nodded and pushed me towards the chair. Under her quick and daft fing
I giggled breathlessly yet didn't deny either of his claims. He set me down on my feet, being sure to hold onto me until I was able to stand on my weak knees. With my head cleared of him, I realized that we were still in one of the main hallways to the castle. Anyone could have walked in and seen what we were doing. Tohr chuckled. "I'm pretty sure the whole world heard you coming, mate." His wink on the innuendo, then again knowing him it wasn't an innuendo at all, caused my cheeks to flush, and I smacked his arm. He laughed and pressed a kiss to my nose before pulling me down the hall to our room.When he opened the door, I saw Ethallia and Synne standing there waiting for me. The adjoining door to the bathroom area was open, and I could smell the scented oils they used for the bath. A wide smile crossed my face, and I practically raced to the bathroom. I slammed the door shut on their surprised faces before I jerked the veils off and practically jumped in. The water was a little t
-Green, huh? - I thought with a smile. -So apparently, my mate is a descendant of the Narhas'fa, huh? - I gave him a goofy Draygana grin. -I guess I am. Do you think you can live with that? - He smoothed his hand down my scales sending shivers down my spine. "Yes, my mate. Even if you had never been a Draygon at all I would still love you the same," he admitted before backing away and changing. As his own Draygon was released, he braced his front feet and let out a loud yell calling to his mate. Me. I braced my feet and returned the call. To anyone else, it would have sounded horrifying or scary. However, to us, it was a beautiful ballad. With one hard flap of his wings, he was off into the sky and began to circle the area waiting for me. I watched him for a moment admiring the grace with which he soared through the sky. For such a big creature, Tohr was agile and swift that I loved watching him fly. The need to join him overpowered me until I was shoving off the ground and s
I only looked back up when I knew they were fully changed. Treddian was an enormous Golden Draygon. Beautiful and vibrant, his head sprouted two horns that bent slightly backward but ended with two extremely sharp-looking tips. His back was relatively free of spikes until the very tip of his tail held one deadly-looking spike. I couldn't remember seeing anything like that on Tohr and made a mental note to ask about it. -Treddian's has some Silver Draygon in him. - Tohr explained. -They sport those tiny spikes on their tails and a little mustache that comes out the sides of their nostrils. It is a rare thing nowadays to see a silver Draygon. They were obsessed about only mating with their own kind. As such, they have almost driven themselves to the brink of extinction. - Tohr explained. -I thought you guys only mated with the ones you bond with. But according to Sólas and now these silver Draygons, it seems not necessary. - I asked, suddenly remembering Sólas's words about how that wa
Quiet voices woke me slowly. They sounded close but not close enough for me to make out what they were talking about. However, even those quiet voices were not the reason I had woken up. No, my Draygana insisted that I investigate why voices were disturbing our sanctuary and why our mate was not beside us. I groaned in agitation and tried to quiet her down. -Be still, my mate. It is your brother and his mates who come to check on us and give us an update. - Tohr's voice ran through me like fingers stroking down my spine in comfort. I smiled softly and allowed him to soothe both my Draygana and me. She purred and preened, then dropped away calm now that she knew he was okay. I couldn't help rolling my eyes at her internally, then stretched, allowing myself to wake up a bit more. Realizing I was still naked, I flushed hard and looked around for something to cover myself with. I heard footsteps heading my way, and the search became a bit more frantic, not knowing who it was who would
I heard his growl once more pulled from the depths of him. His Draygon reared his head and pushing Tohr to give in to his mate. "Then you will have me, little fyre," he growled out loud, his voice sending shivers down my spine. He rose above me and locked his eyes with mine. I spread my legs wide, feeling his hard cock pressing just slightly against my dripping wet channel. I winced a little as he began to push in. I was by no means a virgin. However, I was not well experienced either. However, neither one of those men had been anywhere near as big as Tohr. Not to mention they had been a while ago. Despite how turned on I was, it was like he was my first again, and my body was struggling to allow him in. "Relax, sweeting. Your body will let me in. You are made for me," he whispered into my ear. His hands slide down my body finding my nipples and began to play with them once more. The discomfort began to slowly be replaced by pleasure as his fingers pulled and twisted at my nipples.