I hope Cedric and Ishir get to Tana before their baby is born.
I have never felt fear like I feel right now. It’s not fear for myself. It’s fear for my unborn son. They have kept me strapped here, on this bed for days, weeks, months. I have no idea. There are no windows in this place. I have no idea what time of day it is, if a day has passed or if the time is moving more slowly than I realize. Troy’s chief laboratory technician comes in several times a day to draw fluids. I don’t care what they take from me, but the first time they stuck the needle into my stomach, I began thrashing, my fire burning off the paralytic. Troy was quick to inject me with whatever knocks me out and when I woke, I saw the bruises covering my stomach. I have no idea what they did, but my son hasn’t been moving in my stomach. I’m terrified that he’s dead. When the chief technician comes back in, I snarl at him. “What did you do to my son?” He ignores me at first, then turns to draw more blood, or whatever from me. “I asked you a question.” When he still doesn’t an
Kenna has been inconsolable. I’m not much better. We’ve gone out every day, flying as long as Kenna can before resting at night. There’s no sign of her. Through the bond, I have moments where I can feel her for a short period of time. That is usually followed by pain and anger before the tether to the bond weakens and I can barely feel it. It’s making me crazy. I know Troy is hurting her, I know she and my son are at risk, but I can’t find her. The only thing keeping me sane is that I know she’s alive. I would never have guessed that I’d appreciate Avani and his help, but he’s been great. He helps to calm Kenna when she starts to get out of control and he is there, quietly letting us grieve, helping us to search every day. It’s later than usual this morning when we get up. We were out late last night trying to find Tana, thinking we’d found something. Ishir had given us some intel that we had followed up on, but it wasn’t Tana. It did look like an old laboratory, maybe a place they
I knew Avani was injured. Kaylani and I had seen the harpoon puncture his wing, but he had ripped the launcher apart before pulling the harpoon out of his wing with his mouth. His strength and willpower to continue were impressive. Kaylani had wanted to go to assist him, but before she could hand my brother to me, Avani was back to fighting. Instead, she had pushed her healing into me. As a dragon, another dragon can heal me. My brother isn’t a dragon. We can smell that he got my father’s Lycan gene. That’s why my father or I had to heal him. We share the same fire that he would have because of our mother. So, when my father says he wants to go attack the hunters, I’m back to full strength. My fire is burning in my gut at what they did to my mother and my brother. My father runs up my wing and grabs hold of a back ridge. “Let’s go.” He calls and I lift off the ground. I roar to Avani that we’re coming. I see another harpoon launcher being rolled out to where Avani is. I blow my fir
I wake, jolting up out of bed. I’m ready to fight, to get myself and my son away from these monsters. "Shhh, I’m here. You’re safe. You’re at home, you and Liekki.” I feel Cedric’s arms wrap around me. I turn, curling up against him, letting him comfort me. He kisses the top of my head, his hands running up and down my back. “Is he okay? Liekki?” “Yes. Jena and Palila have been wonderful.” I have to smile at that. “They helped me a lot when I first had Kenna. I had no idea what to do with a human child. They taught me how to nurse, how to change a diaper, how to be a good parent. Seriously, without them, I don’t know what I would have done.” “How are you feeling?” He asks me. I take inventory of my body. “Weak. Why am I weak?” I ask him. “You lost a lot of blood, Tana. Both Kenna and I had to heal you. Plus I have no idea what they injected you with.” I hear him swallow hard. “I almost lost you.” I wrap my arms around him more tightly. "I'm right here." I tell him, holding ont
When Tana and Kenna get back, they have Ishir with them. At first, when I see someone riding on the back of one of them, I feel a wave of jealousy rush over me. MY dragon! ‘He’s on Kenna’s back, not mine.’ I hear Tana’s voice flit through the mind link. ‘You are my rider, and only you can give permission for anyone else to ride on my back.’ When they land, she shifts and walks right over to me. “I don’t know why I felt that flash of jealousy. I know you’re my mate, I….” “It’s because you’re my rider. Dragons are possessive of what is theirs, so are Lycans. Put the two together and….” I pull her to me, kissing her fiercely for understanding me. When I pull away, I turn her toward the changing rooms that are now complete. “Go get dressed before you see exactly what a possessive Dragon-riding Lycan looks like.” I nudge her toward the changing rooms, smacking her ass as she walks away. She turns, looking over her shoulder at me, giving me a sexy look that only a dragon can, her eyes
After kissing Liekki and Cedric goodbye, I shift and lower my wing for Bastian to climb up. I watch as he kisses a tearful Jena before awkwardly climbing up my wing. “Goddess, Cedric makes it look so easy.” Bastian says. “He was meant to be a dragon rider, you weren’t.” I say and Cedric chuckles. “What did she say?” Bastian asks. “She said to hold on tight.” Cedric tells him instead. I chuckle as I lift off. Bastian is even worse than Ishir. He’s wobbling all over the place and I’m terrified he’s going to fall off me. “Next time, I’m carrying you in my claw.” I grumble and Kenna chuckles in the air beside me. “You know I can’t understand you.” Bastian yells as Ishir barks at Kenna. “I’ve told your mother, that’s very uncomfortable when you do that Kenna.” My daughter and I share a knowing look. We fly as close as we dare to the arena before landing. Once Bastian and Ishir are off our backs, we shift. Both of us use our human voices to send our dragon call. As we wait for Kayla
When Tana and Kenna arrive back at the pack, it doesn’t take long for news to spread that we have two additional dragons on our pack lands. The warriors with missing mates all came rushing to ask about it. We are meeting in my office when they find us. “Alpha, did you find them?” “Have a seat.” I tell them as they come in. “Just tell us.” Another demands, causing me to growl a warning at him. Tana steps up to him. “All of you, have a seat. We have much to discuss and not much time to do it. Any time wasted arguing is time that we should be planning how to rescue your mates and pups.” They all walk in and sit, but they are restless. “So, you did find them?” “Yes, your mates and your pups are all alive.” Ishir tells them. Almost as one, I see their noses go up as they sniff the air. “This is Ishir. He’s a tiger and was in the arena with me and Tana. You can trust him. This,” I point to Avani, “is Avani, the earth dragon. And this,” I point to Kaylani, “is Kaylani, the water dra
The next morning, we’re all up early. The pack is split in half, half coming to attack the arena and the other half staying to protect the pack and pack lands. Kenna and I shift, and Cedric and Ishir grab their bags of grenades. Cedric has his sword thrown across his back as he puts the harness on me. He grabs his bag then walks up my wing, getting himself settled on my back. The pack members coming with us shift, grabbing their bags and begin running to the arena. Once Cedric makes sure everyone is shifted and on their way, he gives Kenna the signal and she lifts into the air. Once they are far enough away, I lift up and we begin making our way to the arena. About halfway there, we meet up with Avani and Kaylani. I notice the Avani has a female on his back. I’m surprised, but I don’t have time to wonder about it. We lift up higher into the air so that we can see the arena from high above the clouds. We watch for Cedric’s pack and when we see them getting closer, he gives the signal.