Chapter 2: Bound to the Monster

_LEIF's POV_

She screamed. It wasn't the dragon. It was the woman I'd just destroyed.

Pain exploded beneath my ribs so suddenly I staggered backward. 'What the—'

I felt a crushing despair, a haunting terror, and deep within a profound longing. But none of them were mine. My hand flew to my chest. Magic. Her emotions were crashing into mine.

The first chain burst apart. Iron links shot across the floor like shrapnel. Another followed. Then another. Dust rained from the ceiling as the tower trembled around us.

She folded over, both hands clutching her chest. Blood spilled from the corner of her lips.

"I... told you." Her voice came out wrong. Too deep, growling. "Please... run..."

I tightened my grip on the sword. Pointed it at her chest.

Her body arched violently. Bones cracked beneath her skin. I heard them snapping, reshaping, rearranging. Black scales pushed through pale flesh. Her fingers twitched then curled. They became claws.

I circled her slowly. Waiting the dam broken. Hunters didn't rush wounded prey.

"Run..." Her voice barely existed. "...please."

I laughed. It came out bitter, hollow. "Why should I run now that I finally found you? I waited a decade for this."

The sword felt heavier in my hand. Or maybe that was the weight pressing against my chest. The warmth from her kiss still lingered on my lips. 'I hated it.'

"Tonight, it will become the last moment of us. Whether you die in my vengeance or I die in your hunger. There is no other option."

I lunged forward. My sword struck toward her heart. She staggered backward, her eyes filled with fear. Good.

"Fear me. The way my mother feared you."

'Why did saying it feel so hollow?'

I attacked again. She avoided my strike. She dodged. She didn't want to fight back.

'Why wasn't she fighting? Every lesson I'd ever learned about dragons said the same thing. Corner a dragon... and it killed. So why did she keep retreating?'

"Fight me!" I roared. "Don't be such a coward!"

This time my sword found her arm. Blood bloomed immediately. She cried out.

"No! I only want you alive..."

She looked at me like... 'Why is she looking at me like that?'

Something inside my chest twisted violently. "Shut up."

Another scream tore from her throat. The power of it threw me backward. My back hit the stone wall. I stumbled. Pain shot through my shoulders.

Then I saw it. Black claws emerged from her fingers. Her eyes turned gold. In a flash, she moved toward me. Faster than anything human. Her claws aimed at my chest. I swung my sword. But it was too slow. Too late.

Her claws flew toward my heart— And stopped. Right in front of my eyes.

A low growl rumbled from her throat. Her eyes flickered. Gold. Then dark. Gold. Then dark. Her body convulsed. One hand clutched her own wrist. The other fought against it. 'Two creatures fighting inside one body.'

"No..." she gasped. "Please..."

Both hands seized the same wrist. One forcing forward. The other dragging it back. For one impossible second... they fought. Then— She looked straight into my eyes. And drove the claws into her own chest. Blood exploded across her dress.

My eyes widened. The claw that should have gone through my heart... was buried in hers. She gasped. Blood poured between her fingers. Pain stabbed beneath my ribs.

'Impossible. She was the one bleeding.'

Something inside her screamed. The sound of the dragon. It wasn't the roar of a monster. It was the sound of something dying. She stumbled backward. Fell to her knees. Her blood pooled on the stone floor.

'I couldn't move. Why?'

Every hunter instinct told me to strike. The opening was there. Her heart was exposed. One thrust and it would be over.

'But she had the same opening. And she chose herself instead.'

I pressed my palm against my chest. The warmth from the tower was no longer fading. It was bleeding out. Like her.

"No." I shook my head. "You're pretending."

My grip tightened around the sword. "You have to be."

Dragons don't spare people. They don't bleed for hunters. But my body didn't believe me. My sword felt heavier. My arm trembled. 'She's dying.'

"That's what I want."

But my chest felt heavier. I lifted my sword. Pointed it at her. Used it to steady myself as I stood straight.

She looked at me through tears. "I begged you..."

Her voice broke. "...why won't you run?"

She wasn't begging for her life. She was... 'No. That couldn't be right. Dragons didn't protect hunters.'

The pain was there again. The twist in my ribs. The warmth in my chest. It wasn't hers anymore. It was mine.

Another scream ripped from her throat. The dragon mark on her arm pulsed. Black scales spread higher. Up her neck. Across her jaw. She was losing the fight. I smiled. 'Finally.'

She looked at me, her eyes dark and haunted.

"There you are." I lifted my sword. "Monster."

She flinched. 'The woman was gone. At least... that's what I forced myself to believe.'

I dragged the tip of my sword across the stone floor. Step by step. Closing the distance. I looked at her. Blood pouring between her fingers. Scales covering half her body.

She stood up. Her body shook. Blood dripped from her chest. A single tear escaped her eye. But she didn't fight. She turned away.

'No.'

She ran toward the broken window. 'NO!'

"Come back!"

She didn't listen. She jumped into the empty air.

'NO! She wasn't escaping. She was falling. Because of me.'

My heart stopped. I ran after her. Toward the broken window. My breath hitched. My chest rose and fell in panic.

'She's falling. No wings. Nothing. She's going to die.'

"Why isn't she changing?" The words tore from my throat. I didn't realize I was begging.

The wind howled past the broken window. Her body plummeted toward the ground below.

'Shift.'

'Shift!'

'SHIFT!'

I didn't know who I was screaming at anymore. The woman... or the dragon. My hands gripped the stone window frame. I was going to jump after her. I was going to—

'CRACK.'

One wing burst from her back. Her screamed echoed through the red sky.

'CRACK.'

The second wing followed. Her bones snapped and reshaped. Skin tore. Scales exploded across her body. Her spine elongated. Her jaw unhinged.

In no time, she became the dragon. It roared mid-air. Massive wings caught the wind. She didn't fall.

The tension I didn't realize was in my shoulders released. I sagged against the window frame. The breath I hadn't realized I was holding escaped my lungs.

I frowned. 'Why... was I relieved?'

The dragon flew slowly. Higher. Higher. Until it reached the height of the broken window. Where I stood.

Our eyes met. And now, seeing the dragon right in front of me, the memories returned.

My mother's scream echoed in my mind. Fire swallowed our home. Ash fell like snow. Her body crumpled beneath the flames.

The hatred flooded back. I gripped my sword. Pointed it at the beast in the sky.

"Right. Burn me." I challenged the dragon to end it now.

She opened her mouth. Fire gathered in her throat. I tightened my grip on my sword. Pointed it at her heart.

'Do it. Come on. Finish it.'

Then— Instead of fire... I heard a voice.

"Live..." It was her voice.

I froze. 'No. I imagined it.'

Her eyes lingered on mine. For one impossible heartbeat... the dragon was gone. It was just her. The woman who had kissed me. The woman whose kiss still lingered on my lips. The woman I should have hated.

Then she turned away. Her massive body banked toward the sea. Her wings beat once. Twice. Pulling her away from the tower. Away from me.

"NO! COME BACK!" 

The words escaped before I could stop them. I wasn't calling after the dragon. I was calling after her.

"No." I crushed the thought before it could take root. There was only the dragon.

She didn't turn. She kept flying. Farther. Farther.

"Oakhaven!" Panic hit me.

I looked around. My mind made a fast calculation. The stairs would take too long. I couldn't lose her.

I stepped backward. Three steps. Then I ran toward the broken window.

The night air hit me immediately. I moved my feet through suspended air. Reached for the nearest branch from the ancient tree.

'If I fell, I died. If she reached Oakhaven, hundreds died. I couldn't fail.'

My fingers slammed against a thick branch jutting from the tower. The bark tore open my palms. My whole body jerked as my momentum swung me through the air. Pain ripped across my shoulders. Another stabbed through my chest. My vision blurred.

I gritted my teeth. Ignored the pain. Hauled myself onto the branch. Above me, the dragon cried into the night. She was already getting farther away.

"Damn it."

I couldn't let her escape again. I launched myself toward the next branch. The impact rattled every bone in my body. Every jump tore something inside my chest.

The farther she flew... the more unbearable it became. It felt as though something invisible was stretching between us. Ready to snap. But it wasn't exhaustion. It was her.

Every time I pushed myself, the ache grew deeper. Like I was tearing a wound open instead of closing it.

Fourteen years. I'd waited more than a decade for this night. I wouldn't fail now.

The final branch bent beneath my weight. I let go. Dropped the remaining distance. Landed hard on one knee. Pain shot through both legs. I forced myself upright before it could slow me down.

I shoved two fingers between my lips and whistled sharply. A familiar neigh answered from somewhere in the forest. Moments later, Onyx burst through the undergrowth.

He barely slowed. I grabbed the saddle and swung onto his back in one fluid motion. The effort nearly stole the air from my lungs.

I tightened the reins. "Go!"

Onyx exploded forward. Branches lashed across my face as he tore through the forest. Above us, the dragon's silhouette crossed the blood-red moon.

The dragon lurched. One wing dipped. Then another. She wasn't flying anymore. She was barely staying in the air.

Blood fell from the sky. One crimson drop landed on the back of my hand. I wiped it away immediately. It refused to leave.

I smiled. "Run all you want."

I dug my heels into Onyx. "You're dying."