"What the fuck?" Kaine shrieks and I double over laughing, clutching my aching stomach. He looks at me with panic in his eyes. "Please tell me you can fix this?"
I look at the black splotches appearing on his hands and then at his face again and I can't stop laughing.
"Syrra!" he shouts, his voice going higher.
"Alright alright," I snort. I mutter a few words under my breath and wave my hand. The spots start to fade and Kaine sighs loudly.
"Holy crap this is terrifying," he mumbles. He sits across from me, both of us on the marble floor of the palace.
I grin. "Yeah, you mess up one word and you get a disease instead of a cloud," I chuckle.
"Are there any spells that aren't in Latin? Mine's not exactly very good," he murmurs.
"Yeah there are quite a few, most of them just aren't very powerful or exciting," I shrug.
"Do you think there are any I could do?" he asks.
I think for a moment, chewing on my lip. "Hold on a minute
"Kaine am I your mate?" she repeats firmly.I swallow hard. "Yes.""Well that explains a lot," she mutters then makes a face. "Actually, it explains everything.""I'm sorry I didn't tell you! I didn't want you to think I only liked you because of the mate bond—I've literally had a crush on you since I was 14 and my mom first told me about you."Her eyebrow shoots up. "You've had a crush on me since you were 14? That's what? Two years before you even met me?"I clear my throat and stare at the floor. "Uh yeah kinda.""I didn't realize I was that famous.""Syrra, literally every single wolf in that pack has heard stories of you—I'm pretty sure every creature in the world has heard of you," I snort."Well in that case you should feel pretty damn special that you get me as your mate," she smirks, and my eyes go wide."Wait so you're not mad or gonna reject me or something?"She frowns. "No of course not, w
I stand completely surrounded by guards, my face burning under their harsh gazes. I try to ignore the way they nudge each other but then I overhear a few words and wince."That's enough!" A booming voice growls.I glance up at Queen Zari. Her eyes are flaming red as she glares down at us. "Ash come with me please," she says, her voice instantly softer.I start to head up the stairs with a small sigh."—dragon hunting filth,"someone spits, and I flinch."What did I just say?" Queen Zari snarls, suddenly in the guard's face.He whimpers slightly and backs off, casting his gaze to the floor. "Please forgive me," he murmurs.She waves her hand. "Get out of here," she snaps.The guards vanish in seconds, leaving me alone with the Queen. She sighs heavily, turning to me. "I'm sorry Ash, they're still stuck in the past, they don't know how to move on," she says.I nod slowly. "It's fine, I don't blame them.
I seriously don't know what to do. They're hidden beneath the blanket, but I can't stop seeing the scars. There werehundreds―literallyhundreds―completely covering his back and shoulders and arms.He just looked so broken when I tried to help and that's not something I've ever had to deal with before.How do you help someone that doesn't think they have a chance?He has probably never had anyone be kind to him other than your mother, maybe he truly believes what others say about him?Azazel offers.That's absolutely awful, he must feel so alone.Well you should get to know him then and try to help him out, plus he is really cute,my dragon murmurs.I look at Ash again and realize she's right. He is really cute."Hey Ash?" I say quietly.He lifts his head slightly to look at me. "What?""I'm sorry for pushing you before. I just really want t
"—they're truly remarkable creatures. If I could be anything, I think I'd want to be an angel.""See I'd want to be a mermaid.""You mean a merman?" she snorts.I make a face. "A merman fine whatever, I think being able to breathe under water and having the ability to explore the deep sea and literally go where others can't would be absolutely amazing," I mutter.She smiles and nods absentmindedly. "Yeah that would be pretty amazing, but I'd still rather be an angel," she chuckles.My eyebrows furrow. "Okay why though?""Well one because they can fly—which you can already do so no wonder you'd rather be amermaid. But also, because they are some of the fiercest warriors I've ever seen. I've never met one in person, but I've seen them hundreds of times in my parent's memories—""Wait your parent'smemories?"She nods. "Yeah have you ever read that book series the humans are obsessed
He lets out a low growl and suddenly I'm on my back in the dirt. My sword has disappeared, but I don't care.Kaine looms over me, his eyes flaring gold. "You are such a tease you know that?" he growls."I know," I grin.He leans down to capture my lips in his. They're soft and warm. My hands make their way to his hair where I tug slightly, smirking at his growl.He pulls away and starts taking off his armor. I reach down to unlace my own. I sit up and Kaine helps me pull it over my head. I giggle as he tosses it aside with a dramatic flourish.I snap my fingers and the rest of both of our armor is gone. Kaine glances down at himself wearing nothing but boxers before shaking his head at me. "You have to teach me that little trick," he murmurs, pulling me closer.I straddle his lap with a small grin. He watches me with his golden eyes and my breath catches in my throat when he bites his lip. His fingers trace up and down my spine and I shiver.
The trees fly past me in a blur. I can feel the wind in my fur and my tongue lolls out the side of my mouth.I spot the red tape finally and dig my claws into the dirt, pushing myself to go even faster. I sprint across the red line taped onto the ground with a small yip.I trot around the clearing, relishing the ache in my legs and the burning in my lungs. I pant heavily as I walk towards Angel and Zella sitting at a table talking.I shift as I walk up and pull on the shorts and sports bra, they toss me. Angel is grinning widely, but Zella just glares at me through narrowed eyes. "You beat the record," Angel tells me."Fuck yes!" I shout, jumping up and down and pumping my arms in the air.Zella growls under her breath. "Do you know how long it took me to make that record?Four years," she grumbles.Angel shakes her head a little and playfully nudges her mate. "Hey but you trained the warrior that beat it in less than a month,"
"Are you sure you're okay?""Yeah I'm fine, let's go.""No, you're not you're bleeding again. Ash stop, we're taking a break.""No I'm fine let's keep―fuck!"I swear under my breath. "We're taking a break," I growl.He nods, clutching at his side. "Yeah okay," he mutters, his face twisted in pain.I help him over to a tree where he collapses against the trunk. "This trip is going to take forever; your mother is probably worried sick―""Ash I'm not going to leave you here," I growl.He snorts. "Your mother made me promise to travel with you and make sure you were safe so if you showed up by yourself, she'd have my head for sure. No, I was going to say we should send a hawk to let her know what happened."My eyebrows furrow. "A hawk? They still use those?""The witches do sometimes but not really anymore. I have one because your mother gave it to me. It was hers but she wanted to make sure nothing happened to me whi
The water laps against my body and it makes my wounds sting, but I ignore the pain. I focus only on the sounds of the moving water and my heartbeat.Thump thump. Thump thump. Thump thump.Slow and steady for the first time in years.Where is Jaxon?my dragon asks.I listen closer and hear a second heartbeat along with faint scratching noises.Somewhere in the trees it sounds like.What's he doing?I sigh. I lift my head up and open my eyes. My eyebrows knit together in confusion as I look up at the sky.He's drawing?Aw he's an artist, just like you!Cassie chuckles.I am not an artist,I scoff.That's what all artists say. Queen Zari seemed to think you have talent."Ash are you okay?" Jaxon's voice brings me out of the conversation with my dragon.A cloud of steam surrounds me, and I take a deep breath. I pull m