Hello everyone. It's a bit later than I expected, but Avani's book is here. I hope you like it so far!
I slowly come awake, trying to figure out why nothing feels normal. Suddenly, the memories of being in the hunter’s laboratory jolt me awake and I’m sitting up screaming before I can stop myself. I slap my hand over my mouth as I get my bearings, looking around and realizing I’m no longer in the laboratory. But I’m not at home either. I rub my face, trying to work the cobwebs out of my brain. My home was attacked, my parents were killed, Yhendorn and I were captured and tortured, we escaped, Yhendorn sacrificed himself to save me, ordering me away. I began running and the hunters found me. They chased me for days, never allowing me to rest. I was near exhaustion, ready for death when he arrived. The dragon. I don’t know how I knew he was a dragon, but I’ve never smelled such raw, pure masculinity before. My parents had told me about the dragons, that unlike other supernatural beings, they take on the scent of their element. And he had smelled of evergreens and cinnamon, a delicious
I’ve been searching for two days for the scientist’s laboratory. I’m frustrated because I know I have to be close, but I can’t find it. I keep getting whiffs of a scent, sometimes a supernatural, sometimes a human, sometimes a medicinal scent, but it always blows away on the wind before I can find it. Fortunately, I know someone that can help me. Hopefully, he is close and I can get him here to sniff this place out. I shift, not bothering to get dressed, but grabbing my phone out of the small case I always carry on me. “Avani.” He says. “Ishir. I need your help. Are you at the penthouse by chance?” I ask him, referencing the penthouse in the city where Ishir lives with Tana and Kenna. “I am. Tana has gone to Cedric’s pack lands for the weekend.” “I can be there in a few hours.” “I’ll be waiting.” I hang up. The pain of Tana being mated to the Lycan isn’t as sharp as it used to be. There was a time when I had wanted Tana to accept me as her mate. Her fire and my earth elements c
I follow Kayid as he slinks through the forest. He’s as quiet in his human form as he is in his fox form. I had told him about my brother and he agreed to take me to the hunter’s bunker, laboratory, lair, whatever it is. It’s taken us two days and we still haven’t gotten to where we are going. During this time, I try to learn more about the dragon, but Kayid is surprisingly tight lipped about him. The most I get is that the animals and shifters in the forest predominantly owe their lives to Avani. What he didn’t say, but what I am starting to realize, is that Avani is a loner. It’s hard to have a family or a life if you’re always protecting others in the forest. And it appears that Avani is always helping to protect others. This forest, in particular, has become a hunting ground for the humans that want to experiment on us. It makes me wonder how they heard about my family and how they found us. I also learned about the arenas from Kayid. Hunters aren’t just taking supes for experim
I’m ready when we take the last straps off. So, when the creature lunges at me, I’m prepared. What I’m not prepared for, is for it to beg for death. “Please, kill me.” It says. “What is your name?” The elf asks it, her voice soft, gentle, coaxing. I still don’t know her name and I don’t like it. It turns its strange head to look at her. “Graith. My name is Graith, or it was.” “Your name and who are you haven’t changed Graith.” She says. “Look at me.” He says, spreading his wings and lifting his legs. “Look what they did to me.” He snarls before his voice chokes on his emotions. “I know. I’m sorry that this has been done to you.” He looks down. “You didn’t do it, you have nothing to be sorry for, but you can put me out of my misery.” His voice whistles every time he uses a word that has an ‘s’ in it. It's a loud, sharp sound that makes my ears hurt. “I can’t live like this. I won’t. Where could I even go? No one would take me in.” “I would.” She says and I look up at her shar
The nerve of that dragon. He’s so arrogant, so sure that I need his help. I’d probably be more inclined to let him help me if he didn’t smell so friggin delicious. Every time I get close to him, his scent fills my nose and I feel my body getting all warm and tingly in places I don’t have time to deal with. I need to focus, to find my brother and get him out of whatever hell The Chief has put him in. That poor creature, if they do something like that to Yhendorn…I refused to allow that to happen. When I walk back inside, the sting of antiseptic washes his scent out of my nose and helps me to clear my head. If they brought Yhendorn back inside, then there must be another way out. With the number of supes that they were experimenting on, they had to have trucks somewhere. I walk back in to find Ishir going through the scientists’ paperwork. “What are you looking at?” I ask, stopping momentarily seeing that Kayid is helping him. “I’m getting as much of their information as I can. Any
I want answers and as much as I don’t want this elf figuring out just how much power she can wield over me, I’m also not willing to let her run off by herself, possibly getting captured and put into another arena. "How did you do it?” I ask her. That feeling, the feeling of being drawn into a place of peace and happiness was beautiful. I’ve never felt like that before. “I’m an elf. We are one with nature. I would think, as the earth dragon, that you’d understand that.” She says, moving away from me and looking down the mountain. “Don’t try to escape me, Merethyl. I’ll just pluck you off the side of the mountain and bring you back up here.” “Don’t threaten me, dragon. I have no intention of remaining your prisoner or whatever this is. I need to find my brother.” “And I told you I would help you do that.” “And I told you, I don't need your help.” She says, her hands on her hips as she turns to challenge me face to face. I walk to her, putting my hands on my hips and leaning over
I’ve been with men before, several, but this man, this dragon, is strumming my body like nothing I’ve ever felt before. His clever fingers, his warm breath, even him biting down on my neck has my body craving him, craving more. I feel like he’s putting me in a trance. That is, until he calls me Princess. My reaction is instantaneous. I yank away from him and it’s only when I turn that I realize he was using a pet name, not my title. But now, it’s too late, he’s figured out what I am. I don’t know what he plans to do with me, but I can’t afford to get captured or sold off. I’m the only chance that Yhendorn has, and an elf princess is worth a lot of money to a lot of people. I turn, leaping off the side of the mountain, knowing I can pull on my element to save me. But once again, before I can pull the wind or the earth to me, I hear the whoosh of wings above me, and I’m plucked from the air. In a moment, I’m back at the top of the mountain, only this time, I’m facing Avani in his dra
Never in my long life have I ever met someone as annoying as this elf. Elf princess. Because it wasn’t bad enough that she was an elf who shares my element. Now I find out she’s also a princess who not only wields my element but is most likely as powerful as I am, possibly even more so. It had taken all of my strength to stay in place when she’d thrown that tornado at me. And I know, without a doubt, if she ever tries to claim me, I’m done. There is no chance I’ll defeat her. So, I have to be very careful, making sure she never finds out how to claim a dragon. But even with the fear of being claimed, the mate bond draws me to her. Or maybe it’s just her. I’ve never met someone that is willing to go toe to toe with me. And she just keeps doing it. When she smacked my face, even in my dragon form, showing not a hint of fear, I might have fallen in love with her. She’s perfect. And it’s thoughts like those that will get me claimed. I don’t know why she’s surprised that I want to kill h
After Enki was born, Merethyl and I spent one more week together, letting Merethyl readjust to the loss of dragon DNA in her system. I had noticed it after Gaia’s birth, but I’m noticing it even more now, her body is absorbing dragon DNA every time she gets pregnant. She still had some dragon tendencies after Gaia, and now, after delivering Enki, she has even more. Her ability to cdonnect to me mentally, sift through my memories and thoughts, is nearly as strong as mine. It doesn’t bother me that she has the abilities that she has, it’s more that I’m worried about the long term effect of her body taking on the dragon DNA. Once things are settled with this assassin, I'll be taking her to visit the doctor. When we get back to the elf lands, I know I can’t stay long. I’ve been out of the hunt for two months and Ancalagon is still missing. But, when we arrive and my little girl, now nearly 8 months old, comes toddling out of the castle, her arms raised to me, I refuse to leave without sp
Four months later We still haven’t found Ancalagon. I’ve searched with Avani periodically, but between our daughter needing her mother and my belly starting to grow with our son, I’ve stayed home more than I’ve gone out with him. A few months ago, Ishir started finding shifters that had been murdered. At first, it was a rare occurrence, one in the first month. We assumed that it was some sort of lucky hunter kill. Then there were three more in the month after that, then more. Lately, it feels like Avani and Ishir are finding a dead shifter or supernatural every few days. Not only that, but the ones they are finding now are apex predators or leaders of their supernatural groups. Avani had told me that they had found a high priestess of a coven along with a very powerful warlock. Avani has refused to allow me to leave the pack lands in the last month and has asked Kenna and Bajaro to guard us. Kenna is happy to stay here. She wants to protect her mate, even though Yhendorn doesn’t lik
Being loved and cared for by my mate goes a long way to making me feel better. I’m still distraught, still angry that I can’t find my son, but at least now I feel like I have the strength to start again. I fly Merethyl to Cedric’s pack lands. I already knew that Zephyr wouldn’t be here. She hasn’t stopped and unlike me, she doesn’t have a rider to care for her. I know Mere thinks that Ishir is her mate, but without being claimed, the draw to her son, the need to protect him, will be stronger than the draw to her mate. When we arrive, I pull Mere into my lap. She is all that is keeping me sane, having to be here, listening to this when I should be out searching for my son. I know this meeting is important, but I’m struggling with this feeling of helplessness and weakness. ‘You’re not weak,’ Mere says in my mind. ‘Or helpless, and they may be able to help us. It’s good that we’re here.’ Kaylani begins telling us that the most recent dragons that they have found are hybrids, all of th
Zephyr told us that she had left Ancalagon with the mountain goat shifters, while she went into town. She was oddly vague about where she was or why she was gone, but it doesn’t matter. Ancalagon should have been safe. He’s nearly a year old now. When she had returned, Zephyr said she could smell death and the paralytic. The hunters had killed all the goats and paralyzed Ancalagon so they could take him. Zephyr had been frantically searching for a day, when she finally gave her dragon’s call, knowing she needed help. We began searching immediately, Avani tearing apart every hunter’s lair and laboratory that we could find. He had contacted Ishir to get more intel, but he wasn’t able to tell us much. He gave us a few more laboratories, but most of them had been destroyed when Kaylani, Cedric and Ishir had hunted them down, rescuing the dragons. I had to split my time, hunting for Ancalagon and taking care of my newborn. I love my time with Gaia, but I worry about my mate every moment
I walk Merethyl to the stage that is set up for the event. As his only living relative, she will be leading the coronation ceremony for Yhendorn. She looks gorgeous as always, but dressed as she is right now, the royal blood in her is much more obvious. She was meant to be a queen. I’m just the lucky dragon that gets to claim her as MY queen. She stands beside Yhendorn, who also looks regal in his dress robes. Merethyl begins speaking in elvish. I don’t understand the words, but I understand the intent as I sift through her mind and feel the words she’s speaking. A peace settles over the people, an acceptance of their new King. I look out over the elves, watching as they begin to sing and chant in Elvish. I look behind us at where Kenna is laying, being here for her mate in her dragon form. The air around us begins to feel magical and I look over at Bajaro. She’s holding Gaia and I swear, my daughter looks like she’s paying attention. Maybe she is, both Mere and I have the earth as
After Avani dropped me and Gaia off on the mountain and went to get me some clothes, it wasn’t long before I hear an eagle’s call. I look up to see Shiv and it’s only a moment later when I hear Bajaro in her hyena form and Kayid in his fox form yipping as they run up the side of the mountain. As soon as she gets to the top, Bajaro shifts and walks toward me. “Please tell me you’re going to let me hold that little one.” I walk to her, putting Gaia into her arms. She immediately starts to purr, gently rubbing her face over Gaia’s. “Bajaro, meet Gaia,” I say, stroking my daughter’s hair. “She’s beautiful. She smells like you and the earth dragon,” Bajaro says quietly. I can tell that Avani was right. She will want to be a surrogate mother to Gaia and will protect our daughter with her life. “Speaking of the earth dragon, where is he?” Kayid asks. “He went to get me some clothes.” I say, watching as Bajaro begins humming a strange tune that I’ve never heard. It’s a gentle but hauntin
We stay in our cave for another week after Gaia is born. We carefully take her out every day, making sure she has fresh air. Merethyl lays her in the grass and then will use her element to grow flowers around her. My mate is back to normal now. As much as I loved having her desire for me run as deeply as mine does for her, there’s a reason she’s my mate. I need the balance that she gives me. So, I'm glad she's back to normal again. “We need to head back to the elf lands, love,” I tell her. “I know. I’m just enjoying this time, with only the three of us. But Yhendorn has waited long enough to take over as king and it’s time to introduce our daughter to my family and to your son.” “I wanted to discuss something with you before we return,” I tell her. “What’s that?” “You know that the Chief’s son is still out there. I need to help hunt him now that you’re back to your normal self. I don’t know how you feel about me leaving…” “No! I won’t let you go alone. What if something happened
I love being in our cave of treasures. I can feel the metals singing to me, calling to me. I feel their differences, their density and weight making their song different. The gemstones also have their own feel to them. I’ve found a couple that I like, that seem to speak to me louder than the others. But mostly, I love having my mate here with me. I can’t get enough of him. There will never be enough of him. He is everything, the world is nothing without him, my mind, my body, my soul are incomplete, empty without his touch, his caress, his presence in my mind. I’m just starting to wake when I feel the first pain. I look down, my stomach large and swollen. As I watch, I see the muscles in my stomach contract, sending another shooting pain up my side. I look around. Avani isn’t here. Our child, I need to protect our child. I rub my stomach, cooing at our daughter. I can feel her mental presence in my body. She is agitated and irritable. She wants out. “Not yet, baby girl,” I coo at h
The scent of evergreen and cinnamon fills my nose. I’m so drawn to the scent that I try to burrow myself deeper into the warmth where the scent is emanating. I hear voices, men’s voices, speaking around me. There’s a deep rumbling sound and it reverberates in my body, making me hum. Then I hear a female voice. My eyes flash open and I snarl. “MINE!” I snap at the beautiful woman that is standing too close to my mate. That’s who I smell, who I feel inside me, in my mind, in my soul. My mate. I feel him begin to purr behind me and my body calms, relaxing back against him. His hand touches my face, moving the hair away from me. I lean back against him, rubbing myself against him. “Merethyl, do you know where you are?” “With you, my mate, my love, my life.” “Yes, you are with me. Do you know where WE are?” I open my eyes again and the beautiful woman is still here. I growl at her. “I don’t want your mate, Merethyl. I’m here to help you. Do you know who I am?” “The water dragon.”