The lights blinked as dust fell from the ceiling and cables shook, probably a result of something heavy falling on the roof. Dom blinked a couple of times to bring his eyes to focus. He could feel surges of adrenaline that he hadn't felt in a few days. His body was repairing itself and pushing him into the fight-or-flight response. Something was different, there were noises in the usually silent room, where only Y's mockery used to be heard whenever Dom became even the slightest conscious. This time, though it felt like he was alone and there seemed to be a battle of sorts going on outside. 'Had the final war already begun?', Dom thought to himself and tried to pick his battered body from the bloody steel operation table on which he had been lying for who knows how long. As soon as his bare feet touched the cold floor and tried to carry his body's weight, the first thing he heard was a screech. A maddening screech that he knew too well and wanted to never have heard again. The secon
Bright white light in the eyes, the sand-paper-ish throat, and an aching body were the first things Iris felt when she regained consciousness from her eternal dark nightmare of isolation in mind and nothingness. Mesmerizing brown eyes looking directly into his steely ones and the fading of everything in the world other than them were the first things Dom noticed when he regained consciousness from his overdose of magical potions when dueling with Y. Elijah and Dom needed immediate medical attention as they returned from the successful rescue mission, Dom more than Elijah. Just like the immediate medical attention Freddie and Iris had needed when they had returned from the island. Freddie had reached around twilight time and the first thing he did was follow his Alpha's orders to seek the Mage Master and hand him the antidote before collapsing. Everyone knew Dom would want to be there for his mate's waking but there wasn't enough time to wait for his arrival. So Master Aikis prepared
The sun shone so brightly, the cool Hawaiian breeze rustled the tree leaves and iced fresh fruit drinks were simply the cherry on top. One week ago, Dom gave official orders for the wedding rituals to begin after the official announcement of his wedding, which was supposed to span over a whole month. They needed to get it all done and over with because when Freddie had led a team back to Y's island to scavenge what was left and get a better idea of what he had been doing for centuries, he revealed that Y, as expected, hadn't died of the wound Dom had given him and had succeeded to escape along with most of the valuable stuff. This meant Y was at large and very vengeful. No one could predict what was going on in that psychopath's head but they knew that since his plan of killing Dom and Iris didn't go as planned, he was doubtlessly quite vindictive and malicious. They decided to tighten the security and quicken the wedding, thus quickening their crowning. Thus they had mutually decid
Iris sat re-thinking about her conversation with Lily, just a few hours ago, that had brought her to Dom's room that night. "Nobody's going to tell you anything, Iris, no matter how hard you try!" said Lily to Iris that evening as a troubled Iris was walking barefoot on the beach sand. Iris sighed, "What am I supposed to do? Lily, I am so confused, and seriously, I am a little hurt! Why won't anybody just tell me the whole truth? I am not made of clay, I won't crumble under the weight of the truth! I have survived Y. There isn't much else that can faze me anymore. And I believe the truth is what I deserve at this point. I mean, I am about to be a member of this family. How am I supposed to be a part of this family whose members don't even trust me with the truth? I feel like an outsider with all these secrets." Lily nodded understandingly and rubbed her back in a soothing manner, just like her therapist used to do when Lily felt chaotic due to her un-synced Dragon. "I know how you
~ Trigger Warning! ~ The following chapter consists of mentions of attempted rape. Reader discretion is recommended. Dom had remained silent for a while now and Iris thought maybe he had gone back to sleep but found him staring at nothing on the dragon-painted ceiling. She tried again, with a different approach, "The first time he had gotten me banished from the sacred temple, he was not content with my simple banishment. Like banishment wasn't enough of a punishment in his eyes, so he had me found, lured, and captured in such a way that no one suspected him for over a century, and by that time there was no one to put him in his place. I-uh, I spent the next eight, nine decades in magically-fortified-cemented walls built for animals, on an operation table being cut open daily and injected with so many potions and chemicals. For the first couple of decades, they would take me from my cell to the operation theatre and back once they were done with me for the time being, but then the
"You are not fat, but this dress makes you look like it." "Lily! This is the eighth dress that you are finding fault in." "You don't get married every day! Now, go back and try the chiffon one." Iris rolled her eyes but took the ninth wedding dress Lily was holding out for her to go and try out. She never really had friends, so little things were so uncommon for her. Ever since Lily and Sussane came into her life, Iris realized what it meant to be a girl. Before, she had neither time nor money to enjoy life. Now, she had friends to go shopping with and an Alpha's credit card to spoil her. The feeling of doing something for herself, simply for the sake of it, was exhilarating. That was the only reason why she hadn't whined as much as she was suffering due to shopping with Lily and Sussane wasn't much help either, as she sat munching fries and giggling now and then at the two girls bickering over dresses. Lily seemed over-excited, which Iris believed was because her brother was fina
Dom and Iris walked out of the bakery hand-in-hand with soft smiles decorating their faces and bright, uncertain eyes full of hope. But that is not how the cake-tasting experience had started with the cake expert, Miss Kate's untimely blunder of reminding them of Dom and Freya's wedding celebrations. Dom simply wanted to leave, the wound of Freya's death was still fresh in his memory as his nightmares contained the view of Freya's distorted monsteroid form falling into the ocean never to rise again, and Iris had to convince Dom to keep up the plan for the day with a heavy-heart of her own because unknown to Dom, she was well-aware of the reason behind his over-reaction. And as sad as it was for Dom, deep in his heart, he was aware that Freya had finally been relieved of her misery. Dom's cowardice in not being able to kill her had put her through over ten centuries. Finally, it was decided after many discrete apologies by the staff that the owner and head-baker, an aged dragon-shif
The wet sand felt soothing to their feet as Dom and Iris silently walked side-by-side barefoot along the Hawaiian beach.They had spent the last couple of hours successfully avoiding the rest of the family and the island inhabitants. Huge stones isolated the area from the rest of the island, and that is how they preferred it. They had spent the whole time talking about nothing, successfully avoiding any and every serious topic that could ruin the mood. They had seen the jaw-dropping sunset and shared a bunch of loving kisses now and then.Now darkness had enveloped them and their superhuman sight helped them to see where an average human couldn't. They had decided to head to a small place for dinner and enjoy the peace till it lasted, since from tomorrow they were supposed to be surrounded by wedding planners and lots of other stuff that needed choosing, designing, and preparing.Many parts of the rituals and ceremony were supposed to be handled by them personally, such as the wedding
Hello, my beautiful escapists who kept up with my shenanigans throughout the ups and downs of this book. First things first, I love you all. I feel so lucky to have found this platform and through this all of you. I love the comments and I hope you weren't bored with my author notes. Multiple TV shows, novels, and movies came together in my head every night, and I created Iris. Through her I created Dominic and you guys know the rest. I have two news to share with yall. The first one is about this book. I am delighted and proud to tell you guys that 'Under the Dragon's Protection' is available on A****n Kindle. I have ordered my author's copy of the paperback for this book. Unfortunately, for some unknown reason, A****n is unable to ship to Pakistan to my remote location in the middle of Thal, the second largest desert in my country. So, I have sought the help of an abroad friend to get it for me and then send it to me by post. The whole procedure will take more than a couple of
Marie had wanted to be the first one to see the Sun on the first day of the year. She had convinced her parents to fly her to the East coast of Japan to stand on the highest point and catch the first rays of the first Sun of the year. They had reached there a day earlier, and Marie was determined to stay awake the whole night, countdown to midnight, and then watch the sunrise before sleeping. Iris was sure she wouldn't make it past ten, but she still promised her daughter not to force her bedtime and in case she does fall asleep, to wake her up before midnight and sunrise. * Dom walked from behind Iris, who was leaning slightly on the balcony railing deep in thought, the mug of tea brewed from local Japanese herbs forgotten in her hands. "Penny for your thoughts, Little Wolf?" Dom whispered close to her ear and took pleasure as her body reacted to his voice. Iris turned around slightly, placing the mug on the nearby table as Dom placed his hands on the railing behind her, envelo
"Daddy, watch out!" But before Dom could duck, a ball of snow flew into his face and then Iris' laugh rang through the chilly morning. "My turn!" Dom laughed louder wiping his face and threatening, "Now, watch out!" He threw the two balls of snow in his big hands, one at each of his girls. Purposefully missing his daughter, making her sweet laugh ring in the crisp morning air. "Mommy, I need more!" Little Marie called out, making Iris temporarily lose concentration and head towards her daughter to create a bunch of little snowballs for her to throw. That's when Dom sneaked behind his wife and masterfully pulled back her neckline to drop a handful of ice down her back, making her shriek and run inside, "Dom! You'll pay for this." "You wanna make snow angels?" Dom offered his daughter who still stood bewildered at what had happened and why had mommy suddenly stopped helping her make more snowballs. She nodded enthusiastically and laid on the snow as Dom joined her and the two str
"Dom, she is too young for this. Wait a few more years." Iris laughed as she read a book and kept watch on baby Marie while her father was doing things nobody expected him to. Ever since the war had been won and peace had been settled. Dominic and Iris chose a secluded place untouched by war or any bad memories, a small cottage beside a private white beach in Brazil, to raise their daughter. Of course, there were times when they had to fly or teleport to a meeting halfway across the world when Freddie or Nora needed them to be present. The Alpha King and Queen could simply not vanish with the little princess. The secret perfectly up-to-date with technology and the magic, basement of the cottage was an example of how Dom and Iris were working from home while giving Marie the childhood that neither of them had. They had settled into this new routine of mundane chores which meant everything to the couple who had seen and suffered so much in their millennia-long lives. Dom had changed
[The semi-smut scene of the patch-up in the cave.] This was the first time a man had looked at her with this hunger and not to harm her but with a need to love her. That was all the motivation either of them needed because they didn't know who began it but with another loud thunder, they were on each other. More like Dom was hoisting Iris by her thighs as she had jumped on him and wrapped her legs around his torso. The patch-up makeout was intense as they kissed each other wanting to drown in the other. Their tongues danced to the wild rhythms of their hearts as their combined shadow danced with fire on the cave walls on the music of the magical storm that was raging outside. Once their lips were kiss-swollen and their lungs could not take the lack of oxygen anymore, they unwillingly separated. But Dom had had enough of staying away and the factors that were trying to pull them apart, so he headed for an attack of kisses and nibbles on her neck making it hard for her to control her
[Dom's dream from the Med-Bay bed after getting rescued from Y's Island and recovering.] Dom outlined the edge of her black lace panties with his teeth as Iris couldn't help but squirm under his ministrations, making Dom stop and look up from his position between her legs and say in his deep sensual voice, "Little wolf, if you don't stay place, these lace panties are not going anywhere tonight!" Iris looked at him doubtfully, "You don't mean that!" Dom sat up straight, revealing his tanned chest that flowed down to his smooth torso ornamented by rigid eight-pack abs and that sexy v-line that made Iris drool. "Try me!" He challenged and Iris was quick to give in, not only because she knew he would do as he said but also because she was too eager to avoid delay. She wanted him and she wanted him soon, so she huffed making her naked breasts jiggle. "Fine!" Dom's bulge in his trousers got more obvious at the show of her hot body lying almost naked on his bed waiting for him to do
Implied Smut. The salty water washed its foam around their feet as their eyes gazed at the mesmerizing sunset. After an exquisite lunch, Iris found herself being led out of the house by Dom and towards the beach. The weather wasn't particularly sunny, but it was perfectly cloudy enough to walk in the not-so-hot sand barefoot and roam around without sunglasses or hats. The salty sea wind blew through their hair and clothes, and Iris felt a sense of euphoria she had always yearned for. Dom couldn't help himself but keep his eyes fixated on his mate. Lady luck had smiled on him, and he couldn't be more grateful. He wanted to provide her with everything she had been missing for centuries. They kept walking silently on the beach, savoring each other's company and the gorgeous beach around them. No exchange of words was needed. Somewhere along the walk, Dom's hand found Iris subtly. She didn't pull it away, relishing in the little skin-on-skin contact they were allowed before the rituals
It is said that there are two parts of war. The battlefield and the aftermath. The battle was won. The cost came in the aftermath. Dom along with his family and those of the deceased was the first one to enter the Shifter Cemetery. It was the huge ground where all the shifters who lost their lives to Y's madness were buried after the war. Those who had been recognizable had tombstones, the rest got collective plates with lists of names of those lost in war. There was an empty grave for the innocent Isabella, about whose whereabouts no one had any idea. But Freddie deserved a place to mourn, and Isabella deserved to be remembered like the rest of the innocent victims. Liliana's body had been recovered, but it would've been unfair to all those who died fighting Waai if she had been buried in their ranks. So Dom had placed her in the backyard of his private mansion, where only the close family would be able to visit and remember. Iris still hadn't been able to entirely move past the
[Warning: This chapter contains an account of childbirth. Readers are advised to proceed with caution.] Dominic walked haphazardly through the emergency field hospital that had been set up by the witches to help the wounded in the war. "We need more people, just give the order and the women can come to aid." Nathaniel was trying to keep up with Dom's pace and convince him. "I cannot allow them to be on the battlefield when I promised their men that their women, children, and elderly would be safe at all costs." Dom looked around at his people, some lying motionless on the makeshift cots with missing limbs, some lying on the ground groaning because there was nowhere else to go, awaiting medical and magical help. "I am not asking you to order them to be here or break your promise. Just give the women a choice. Let the ones who volunteer come and help us get these brave people back on their feet. The war isn't over just because Waai is dead." Nathanial was persistent. Dom suddenly st