Nevertheless, my inner beast had been able to cast her under my spell, allowing me not only to move closer to her without her being aware but encouraging her to enjoy the whisky in hopes it would loosen her tongue.
And it was.
I pushed her to explain why she thought it would be odd for me to shift for the first time as a boy in the woodland during weather much like this.
Truth told, ithadbeen strange, but how could she possibly know that?
“I’m just surprised you would shift alone in the woodland,” she explained, clearly speculating, yet far too accurate, “Because I can’t help but wonder why your parents wouldn’t want to be there when you shifted for the very first time.” She swallowed hard, as if fighting back emotions, and continued. “Assuming youwerealone, of course.”
“I was,” I said instinctively. My reason for being in the woodland that night was my best-kept secret. I kept my eyes locked with hers because that seemed to be the key to pulling her inner beast to mine, even without my dragon eyes surfacing. “Yet you are right to think it should have been otherwise.”
Right, because MacLeods usuallydidshift for the first time with their kin. It was a bonding experience for dragons I’d stolen from my family, but it couldn’t be helped. Not when the little girl I had befriended wandered out into the dangerous, stormy night all by herself, determined to find a certain mushroom to make a magical potion for me because I had been unwell.
“’Twill be just the thing to make ye feel better,” Elowyn had said, as she snuck out the back of the castle despite the approaching storm. “But it must be picked this verra night for the woodland creatures will consume it within the next day or two and ‘twill be impossible to get again for quite some time.”
I had tried to stop her because, truly, it was just a case of the sniffles, but she was determined to make me feel better, so off she went with me in tow because I refused to let her go alone.
In the end, it turned out I was right to think so, considering a sizeable boar came from out of nowhere and charged at her once we reached the forest beyond the castle. Despite my young age, I could usually sense impending danger. But that night, between the rain, thunder, and my worry about keepingElowyn safe while she picked mushrooms beneath an old elm tree, I didn’t sense anything until it was nearly too late.
“Why do it, then?” Ellie asked softly, bringing me back to the present. “Why shift alone in the woods on a stormy night?”
I blinked, confused, unsure of when I had looked away from her and gazed into the fire, only to discover she was gone when I looked back. I leapt to my feet and withdrew my sword, determined to race into the night and protect her, but I realized pretty quickly there was no need. Not when I found her toward the back of the cave, tucked under furs, seemingly sound asleep.
Baffled by the strange time lapse, I slowly sheathed the Viking blade, of all things, still wondering why it mysteriously appeared at my side earlier. I could only assume it was meant to ensure Ellie’s safety since she seemed so determined to sacrifice herself. Yet somehow, as I drifted closer and gazed at her beautiful face caught in slumber, I feared the blade was determined to do far more than that, just as it had for my brethren and fated mates.
I assumed,hoped, I wouldn't be pulled into the pact because my heart would only ever belong to Elowyn, but it seemed I had been given no choice.
While I knew I should rouse her awake and demand answers about what just happened, somehow I sensed her inner beast, or perhaps even her witch, had outsmarted me and found a way to ensorcel me even as I had ensorcelled it. Better still, it,she, had found a way to avoid the conversation, and I wasn’t sure why.
Even so, the longer I watched her, the more my need to rouse her seeped away, leaving only the need to protect her. I chanted the fire closer, covered her with another layer of fur, and settled halfway between her and the cave entrance, determined to protect her and escort her home as I had sworn to do.
Used to days without sleep while skirmishing at the border, I did just that, wondering at the oddities of the evening. Morespecifically, at her and what little she had shared tonight, trying to sift through what I’d gleaned. I could safely say it had not been nearly enough.
And I wanted to know more.
I hated I felt that way because of Elowyn, but I did, and fiercely. There was great unrest in my dragon, which had become increasingly apparent tonight as it used magic it had never employed before to alert my human half.
I needed to pay attention.
That’s the only way to put it because I had this overwhelming feeling of doom as the night wore on, and I was acutely aware of the sound of Ellie’s soft breathing despite the booming thunder and driving rain. Acutely aware of every little movement, even if it was but a shift of her leg or a murmur of her plush lips because she talked in her sleep, saying words I couldn’t quite catch. Words that kept my inner beast at attention as if it understood every last one and listened closely, bringing my mind back to the first time I shifted.
“Ye need to listen to me closely,” Elowyn had said softly, looking more enchanting than ever in my dragon sight as I flailed around, confused. I’d been a little boy moments ago, but when the boar charged her, something inside me had changed, and now I wasn’t myself at all.
“’Tis all right, my friend,” Elowyn went on, smiling at me when I sensed she should be frightened. “Ye scared off the boar and protected me, so ye are a true hero and defender.” Her tone softened as I blinked and tried to focus on her in my wobbly state because I couldn’t quite seem to find my footing. “And ye are the most handsome yet ferocious dragon I have ever seen.”
I’d never, not for a second, forgotten that moment. Not only because I had shifted for the first time but because I’d done it with her. She was the first person I saw through my dragon eyes. The first person to see my great beast, however small he’d beenat the time. It didn’t matter because she made me feel mighty and impressive and a true hero, making my first shift truly memorable and giving me great confidence.
She had, essentially, made me into the dragon I was today.
That continued over the years when we snuck off together and I shifted just for her, so she could be part of a world that wasn’t hers. Not really. She was a MacLeod but possessed no dragon blood, so there was always a barrier between us. One we tried our best to push past because we were the closest of friends. She would often give me advice despite not being a dragon, so that helped bridge the gap some, and I had loved her for it.
Yet she would never truly be a dragon, and it cost her dearly years later, when she lost her life. To this day, we weren’t sure who attacked her and several other lasses while they were collecting herbs, only it appeared to be a band of them, and they were ruthless. Had she been half dragon, it never would have happened, but alas, she wasn’t, and I wasn’t there to protect her.
Determined not to think about that awful day and the fate of my beloved, I pushed the memories aside and focused on my surroundings, trying my best to keep my eyes off of Ellie, but it was difficult. Fortunately, dawn came soon enough, and Adlin appeared, urging me to join him at the cave entrance so we wouldn’t wake her.
“She sleeps comfortably here, given she’s from the twenty-first century, does she not?” I remarked softly. The storm had passed, but chilly wind still gusted, and my breath came out in foggy puffs, hinting at upcoming snow.
“’Twould seem so,” he agreed. “But then, she is used to the woodland by the sounds of it.”
