I wasn't so sure. My vision doubled, then tripled.For a second, I saw the woods in triplicate colors. Ultraviolet halos around every blade of grass, the gold of Chance's skin pulsing in sync with the sunrise. Under that, the heartbeat of the woods. Birds waking, squirrel paws, even the faint, stuttered gallop of a rabbit somewhere on the ridge.
It was insane.
I could smell the wet green of the moss, the sharp acid tang of the fire, the coppery note of my sweat and the iron-rich drip of blood where Chance had bitten me. I could hear the snap of a beetle's jaw, the nervous huff of a deer fifty yards out. Every sense cranked past human, past anything I'd ever imagined.
"Fuck." I whimpered, burying my face in his neck. "What's happening?"
He stroked my hair. "The bond's taking. Let it in. Don't fight."
But I wasn't alone inside my own skull. Not anymore.
Something huge and wild uncurled in my chest, a presence that was mostly heat and claws and wild, rolling laughter.
At first, it felt like panic. Then it felt like power.
Then she spoke, clear as a bell, inside my brain.
Taryn.
That was her name. My dragon. My impossiblefriend. "Her name is Taryn," I said softly. She shimmered, gold and copper, scales flickering along my arms for a second. Bright, iridescent, gone so fast I almost thought I'd imagined it.
But I hadn't. No way.
She danced up my spine, took me for a spin, and the joy, fuck all, the joy! It nearly knocked me over.
Taryn howled her pleasure, loud enough that my physical body arched right off the ground.Mate!She cheered, pride and hunger and love all mashed together.You did it. We did it. He's ours.
Chance held me tighter as my body jerked, rocked by a lightning-bolt pulse of new instinct. My skin crawled in the best way. For a second, I thought I'd double in size, shift right there on the moss.
Taryn laughed again, not mean, just delighted.Don't worry. You're safe. I'm here now. We're strong. Nothing's ever getting to the twins, or him, without going through us.
The words soothed and stung at the same time. I clung to Chance, trying to focus, but it was like trying to steer a speeding car with a slingshot for a steering wheel.
Magic rolled through me in waves. Each time, the world flickered, my arms, my legs, my belly all sparkled with scales, shifting from skin to copper to iridescenceand back. My fingers flexed, nails lengthening, going blunt again. My jaw ached, teeth sharpening and flattening as my body rewrote itself at a cellular level.
Chance didn't give an inch. "You're doing better than anybody I've ever heard of," he muttered, pure pride in his voice. "Let the dragon in. Let her show you what she is."
I did. Fuck it. There was no going back. In for a penny and all that.
The next wave nearly broke me. I saw through my own eyes and Taryn's at the same time. Every ant, every flicker of wings in the canopy, every breath Chance exhaled. I could taste his pheromones in the air, could map the molecules in his sweat. I catalogued every possible threat and dismissed them all, drunk on the knowledge that nobody in the world could touch us.
Taryn reveled in that. Her power licked along my bones, stronger than any spell, any shield. She wanted to fly, to tear down the ridge, to let loose a roar that would tell every hunter on the planet to back the fuck off.
But she was gentle with me. Kind, even.
We're partners. I'm you. You're me. Nothing can break us now.
I laughed. Or maybe I howled, because the trees stirred and birds exploded from the branches overhead.
Chance was grinning with wild pride. He stroked my spine, hands bracing me through the spasms as I settled. "See? You're a natural."
"Is it always like this?" I managed to say through the shakes
"The first time's by far the roughest. You saw how Fifi was. After that, you'll have much more control. You'll be able to shift whenever you want. The girls, they'll see Taryn, too. They'll know you're their mom, but they'll respect the dragon too."
The awe in his voice might've made me cry if I hadn't been so fucking happy.
As the chaos died down, the scales faded, leaving only a shimmer behind, like sunlight had gotten trapped just below the surface. I blinked, tested my fingers. No talons, just me.
