Natalia:“You want me to do what?” I asked Crystal who was expanding in size.“You are going to get on top of me. I am your dragon and you’re going to need to learn how to trust me” she said, motioning for me to get on top of her. She lowered her head for me to get on top, and looking back at my husband, he smiled and nodded, encouraging me. “You could easily drop me…”“And you could use wind to levitate your body” she said, stopping me “look, Natalia, I am your guardian, I am literally there to protect you; therefore, I won’t be harming you on purpose. If anything, I would be dying if you died. If I died, you would be losing your powers and a part of yourself, but your advantage, as a human, you would still be alive”“Crystal, I don’t want you putting that as an option. What happened with others would not be repeated with me; therefore, I don’t want you thinking that it would. But what I am more concerned about is the height and the fact that I am not experienced in what I’d be doin

Natalia:It was a while into the night when Crystal decided to make an appearance. Her eyes avoided mine as she landed on the ground in front of us.I knew that she was still angry after our earlier fight; however, I was not going to please her over something that the two of us knew was a risk for her. I did not want to be put in a position where I would have to make such a difficult choice, because like my father, I would choose my mate over myself any day.“I do hope that you’re ready”“I am not, but we have no other choice than to try” I said, making the temperature drop around me as I started floating. Blake, who was standing one step behind me, crossed his arms over his chest, and I was thankful that we were already entering winter; otherwise, after Crystal’s little stunt earlier on the military base, and this drop, people would really think that Earth was being invaded by aliens.“Natalia, hold the temperature now, I will be casting the light. It would be a little hectic for you

Natalia:“Blake, you know that the last thing I want to do is see the man” I said, walking through the forest alongside my husband who had his arm around my waist, pulling me toward the empty arena where we knew that he was waiting for our presence.The forest moving to clear the path for our arrival told us that he was waiting for us to come, and knowing that he was, I got more annoyed with each step I took.“Baby girl, I know that you don’t want this, but what better chance do we have? If Drake is playing a nasty game, then we have to be prepared. I don’t know if anyone out there is against your grandfather and wants you as dead as they want him; therefore, I want you to at least be prepared for what we’re going to face. Yes, I know that it would be hard, and yes, I know that you are still angry with him; but we don’t know the whole story, we don’t know what kind of pressure he was also under, and no, I am not defending him, I am just stating facts” Blake said as we reached the empt

Natalia:My head throbbed as I opened my eyes.My heart ached, and looking around the room, I couldn’t help the tears that fell from my eyes as I recalled what my grandfather, Alexander, told me.The risk that I was putting everyone through, my mate, and even my dragon…I understood now why my father chose to let his powers go. The man was fighting to protect himself and his kids. It was also why he fought to keep me hidden, and when he gave me to an orphanage, something must have been wrong if he did so. My heart ached, and sitting up, I looked at Crystal who was curled up by the fireplace. My little dragon must have been worried sick about what was to come, especially after what we heard and after our argument at home. “You don’t need to be scared, Crystal” I said, assuring her. My dragon jumped upon hearing my voice, and turning to look at me, I could swear that she took a step back despite me not moving from my place.“It was how he made him freeze before” she said, looking down

Natalia:“Nat, baby, are you sure that your back is okay? There’s still a bruise on it…”“I’m fine, Blake. It hurts, yes, but I have no better option right now, I want to be out of here as soon as I can” I said, stopping my husband as he watched me put my shirt on. He sighed but nodded, knowing that at this moment, I was right. The two of us wanted nothing more than to get out of this place, and no one could really blame us for that. We’ve been here for less than a day, and yet, here we were, already injured. “Alright, but you need to promise me that you won’t start another argument with Alexander. The last thing we need is him attacking you again, because believe me, I will be ripping his head off his shoulders” Blake said, making me laugh. I knew that it took everything in him to stay under control the other night, and that controlling his wolf was a lot harder than we ever thought that it would be. However, it was a funny game of life. Sometimes, we didn’t get to do what we wante