Chapter 1: The Man Who Was Supposed to Save Me

_RAVYNNE POV_

I don't want to die tonight. It isn't death that frightens me. It's surviving another Red Moon. I promised Prince Leander I'd be back before sunrise. I'd never broken a promise. Never.

This morning, he'd smiled as he handed me another stack of reports. "Don't disappear on me again, Ravynne."

I'd laughed. "Who's going to clean up your messes if I do?"

"Exactly."

I'd promised I'd return. 'And if tonight went as it always did... If tonight ends the way every Red Moon ends.,' I thought, staring at the rusted chains on the floor, 'I'll break that promise.'

The abandoned tower trembled beneath the wind. Gray stone walls turned crimson in the moonlight streaming through the broken window.

Then fire exploded beneath my ribs. I dropped to my knees. Heat raced through every vein. My vision swam. The stone floor rushed up to meet me as another wave of agony ripped through my chest.

'She is coming.' The dragon stirred inside me. A low growl echoed in the back of my skull. Her consciousness pressed against mine like a second heartbeat.

'Let me out.'

"No..."

'I want to fly.'

"Not tonight."

'You're weak.'

I reached for the iron shackles beside me. My fingers trembled. The chains slipped from my grasp and clattered against the stone.

Clang. The sound echoed through the empty tower.

I forced myself to breathe. Focus. 'You still have time. The chains... you just need to reach the chains.'

I dragged myself across the floor, my palms scraping against ancient stone. Each link of the heavy chain scraped behind me, a sound like teeth grinding.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

My heartbeat matched every sound. 'She is closer.'

'You can't stop me,' the dragon purred.

"I can." I locked the first shackle around my wrist. Click.

Cold iron bit into my skin. Pain flared into my chest. 'That's good. Pain meant I was still myself. For now.'

I forced the second shackle around my ankle and crawled toward the rusted iron ring embedded deep in the tower floor.

'Just a little farther. If I could chain myself... if I could hold on until sunrise... no one else had to die. Not again.'

'But you want to,' the dragon whispered. 'You want to feel the fire in your throat. You want to watch them burn.'

"Shut up."

'Oakhaven.'

The word hit me like a blade between the ribs. Suddenly, I couldn't breathe. The smell of smoke filled my lungs. My vision flickered. Flames. Children screaming. Bodies collapsing beneath black fire. The village I burned seven years ago.

'You didn't mean to do it,' the dragon said, almost gently. 'But it felt good, didn't it?'

"No..."

'It felt GOOD.'

I squeezed my eyes shut. My shaking hands forced the final lock into place.

Click. The sound echoed through the empty tower. I slumped against the stone. My chest heaved. My body was drenched in sweat.

"I did it..."

This time, Leander would never have to look at me with fear. The dragon fell silent. She was not defeated. Just... waiting.

Inside the palace, the emergency alarms echoed through every corridor. Steel doors sealed one after another. Servants hurried toward the underground bunker. Soldiers flooded the courtyard, rifles aimed at the crimson sky. Fighter jets waited on the royal runway, engines humming. If the dragon appeared... they would fire.

Prince Leander barely noticed any of it. His eyes searched every corridor, every shadow. "Has anyone seen Lady Ravynne?"

He didn't get his answer. He clenched his fists. 'She had promised she'd return before sunrise. She never broke her promises. Unless... something had already happened.'

The tower door exploded inward. I flinched as dust and debris rained down around me. Heavy footsteps echoed inside. One step, two, three. Steel whispered from its sheath.

I closed my eyes. 'So this is how I die.'

Strangely, I wasn't disappointed. A hunter's sword was kinder than dragon fire. At least it would be quick. But then I looked up.

A tall man stepped through the dust. He had broad shoulders. His dark hair was messy, but it didn't hide his handsome face. His sword already pointed toward me.

And something inside my chest changed. The fire vanished. The dragon fell silent. For the first time in seven years... I could breathe.

'Mother... You were right. My mate exists.'

The stranger frowned. Confusion crossed his face. He had expected a dragon. Instead... he found a woman chained to the floor.

His sword lowered an inch. "Who are you?" His voice was rough, low. "Where's the dragon?"

I barely heard him. I couldn't stop staring. Every instinct inside me reached toward him. Relief flooded my veins, hot and overwhelming. He's here. He's finally here. He's going to save me from the madness.

"You're real..."

His brow furrowed. "What are you talking about?"

He didn't move. But his grip tightened around the sword. His breathing hitched.

I saw it. He felt it too. He just didn't know why. Then another wave slammed into me. Only this time... it was worse.

My spine arched violently. Pain exploded through every bone. I screamed. The sound tore from my throat, raw and desperate. Black scales pushed through the skin of my forearm. I watched them emerge, slick with blood, curling around my wrist like a living brand.

His eyes widened. "What the hell—"

'Give him to me.'

"No. The dragon..." I gasped. "It's coming."

He stepped back. Wrong direction.

'He already hates us. Let me hate him back.'

"No!" I reached toward him, chains rattling. "Please... don't—"

He stared at the scales spreading across my skin. His sword came back up, pointed at my throat. "No closer."

'Kill him before he kills us.'

"You don't understand."

"I understand enough."

"No." I shook my head desperately. "If you stay there..." Another crack echoed through my body. Another bone snapped. "...I'll kill you."

His grip tightened. "What?"

"The only way..." I stopped. I couldn't ask this.

'You have to,' the dragon whispered. 'He is ours. He will save us.'

'He'll hate me.'

'Then let him hate you. At least you'll be alive.'

Another scream tore through me. Black scales burst across my arm, spreading toward my shoulder. My vision flickered gold. I looked into his eyes. The man fate had chosen to save me.

"The only way..." My voice cracked. "...is if you kiss me."

It caught him off guard. "Have you lost your mind?"

Another scream echoed in my brain. My fingers were becoming claws. I could feel the dragon pressing against the inside of my skull, desperate to break free.

"If you don't..." I looked straight into his eyes, letting him see the terror behind the gold. "...you'll die."

He stared at me like I'd gone insane. "I don't even know your name."

"There isn't time."

Another bone snapped. The dragon roared inside my mind. She wanted out. I felt control slipping away like water through my fingers. "Please..."

He didn't move. There's no more time. The dragon mocked me. With the last shred of control I had, I grabbed the front of his jacket and pulled him down. I kissed him.

For one impossible heartbeat... everything disappeared. The fire. The pain. The dragon. All of it vanished. There was only warmth between us. His body went rigid. His lips were cold against mine.

Then— His fingers loosened around the sword. Steel hit the floor. Clang.

His eyes widened. His hand found my waist. Not because he chose to. Because his body reached for me before his mind could stop it.

His lips moved against mine, tentative and uncertain. And then... deeper.

He kissed me back. Like he'd been searching for me long before he knew my name. Like his soul remembered mine.

The fire inside me disappeared completely. For the first time in my life... I felt whole. I had waited my entire life for this man. Dust drifted from the ceiling. The tower trembled.

Then his eyes dropped to my arm. The dragon mark. Black scales curled around my upper arm, glowing crimson beneath my skin.

His face drained of color. "No..."

The word came out as a whisper. He stumbled backward like my touch had burned him. He shoved me away hardly.

My head slammed against the stone floor. The impact burst white light across my vision. Before I could recover—cold steel pressed against my throat.

His entire body was shaking. He snatched up the fallen sword.

"You're..." His voice cracked. "...the dragon."

The sword trembled so violently I wondered if he'd drop it. Blood slid from my temple. I closed my eyes. Even the dragon had become silence. There it was. The moment I had feared all my life.

"Please..." My throat tightened. "I'm not what you think."

"You burned Oakhaven."

"I never wanted—"

"You murdered my mother."

The words struck harder than the stone floor. His mother. I had killed his mother.

Mother's voice echoed inside my head. "Your mate will calm your fire. He will never fear you."

A broken smile touched my lips. "You were wrong..."

I whispered to a woman who had been dead for years. "He fears me... just like everyone else."

I looked back at the man who had silenced my dragon with a single kiss. The man who had kissed me back like I was his salvation.

"If killing me gives you peace..." My voice trembled. "...then do it."

His sword shook.

"So why can't I?" he whispered.

His free hand pressed against his chest. "What did you do to me?"

"You're..." I smiled through tears. "...my mate."

His breathing stopped. Even the wind outside... seemed to disappear.

"No." Barely a whisper. His face twisted with horror.

"Please—"

"No!"

"I know you felt it."

"I'D RATHER..." His voice broke. He swallowed hard. "I'd rather die..."

The words sounded like they hurt him too. For one impossible heartbeat, I thought he couldn't finish.

"...than spend eternity loving..." His jaw tightened. "...a monster."

Something inside me broke. Not my heart. My entire soul.

The warmth vanished instantly. The dragon screamed louder in agony. She was screaming because I had let her out. My body convulsed. Scales exploded across my skin.

The chains snapped. One after another. The tower shook. Stone walls cracked apart.

His horrified eyes met mine. "What have I done...?"

The fire returned. A hundred times worse. I felt the dragon tearing through me. I felt my humanity crumbling like ash.

"I was happy..." I whispered.

I looked at the man fate had chosen to save me. The man who had just damned us both.

"I wish you'd never found me."

The chains exploded. The last thing I saw... was him raising his sword. Not to protect me. But to kill me.

I'm sorry, Leander. I couldn't keep my promise. Please... don't let me hurt anyone else.

Then black scales swallowed the world.