Chapter Thirteen
The Bond Sealed
Acheron
She shifted.
My mate, my soft, terrified, hidden omega, shifted.And she did so beautifully.Gods help anyone who stands against her now.
I’ve seen war.I’ve burned kingdoms.But I have never seen anything more beautiful than Zahara rising from the ashes with pink scales and spread wings, power pouring off her in waves, her dragon glorious and real.She defended herself beautifully and even though I wish she had never been placed in this situation, I couldn’t be prouder of her.
My mate.
Mine.
So very fucking mine.
We don’t go home right away.She’s too raw and vulnerable.The first shift is like rebirth ...and rebirth demands blood, fire, and rest, away from the world.
I carry her from the warehouse to the secure high-rise I keep for emergencies.No staff.No interference.Just us.Just her.
She sleeps for hours in my bed, curled around the last remnants of smoke that cling to her frame and deepen her scent, her body tangled in silk and the echoes of power.
I watch her the entire time.Not just as a lover.Not just as a mate.But as a dragon and the king of his empire admiring his queen.And as a dragon whose future just changed forever.
When she stirs, she’s soft again.The Zaraha I met that first time with nerves shimmering underneath her skin.Blinking up at me with green eyes and uncertainty.
I lean over her, my hand sliding up her thigh beneath the sheets.“You came back to me.”
She nods, throat working.“I think I was always coming back to you.”
Gods, she doesn’t know what that does to me.The bond between us pulses, but it’s not finished.Not yet.There’s still one thing missing.She hasn’t marked me.Her dragon hasn’t returned the claim.And until she does, I’ll never truly be hers.
I push the sheets off her body and devour her with my hungry gaze.She’s already bare, warm from sleep and radiant in the morning light.I drag my hand slowly down her side, watching her eyes flutter closed.
“I want you to finish it,” I whisper.
She swallows.“The bond?”
I nod, licking my lips as I run my finger along the seam of her wet pussy.
