She’s not our mate.I dig my fingers into the bark of a nearby pine.She can’t be.
The dragon doesn’t argue. It doesn’t need to. We both know the truth.
I scent them before I see them.
Sulfur. Rot. The unmistakable stench of a rogue who’s been living on stolen kills and festering hatred.
My entire body goes rigid.
There. Moving through the trees. A rogue dragon in human form, scarred and lean, his movements careful. Hunting. He’s not looking at me.
He’s looking at her.
The dragon explodes against my control.
THREAT. KILL. PROTECT MATE.
I’m moving before conscious thought catches up. Down the ridge. Through the trees. Every step fighting the shift that claws at my bones, demanding release.
Not yet. Can’t shift yet. Have to get her clear first.
The rogue reaches the clearing before I do.
He steps out of the trees twenty feet from where Selene kneels, his lips peeling back from teeth that are already too sharp, too pointed. “Fire-Bringer.” His voice is a rasp, damaged from too many shifts, too little control. “You’ll come with me.”
Selene’s head snaps up. She’s on her feet in an instant, knife drawn, body coiled. “Hard pass.”
The rogue laughs—an ugly sound. “Wasn’t asking.”
I crash through the tree line.
The rogue whirls, his eyes widening as he recognizes me. “Guardian King.”
I don’t answer. I’m across the clearing in three strides, shoving Selene behind me, positioning my body between her and the threat. My vision sharpens. Colors brighten. The dragon is so close to the surface, I can feel scales threatening to erupt along my spine.
“Stay behind me.” My voice comes out wrong—deeper, rougher, barely human.
“What—”
“Do not move.” I shove her toward the massive oak at the clearing’s edge. “Stay here.”
“But what are you?—”
“STAY!”
The command carries every ounce of authority I possess. Inhuman. Undeniable. She freezes mid-step, her breath catching, her eyes going wide.
The rogue grins, baring those too-sharp teeth. “Fire-Bringer will come with me, Guardian King. Our master wants to meet her.”
“Your master can burn.”
“Bold words.” He starts to shift, his body twisting, bones cracking. “Let’s see if you can back them up.”
I stop fighting.
The shift tears through me—violent, magnificent, every nerve screaming as my body breaks and reforms. Muscles expand. Bones lengthen. Scales erupt from skin, bronze-gold armor spreading across my flesh. My jaw cracks, reshapes, fills with teeth designed to rend and tear. Wings rip free from my back, membrane stretching, spanning forty feet of lethal grace.
The pain is exquisite. The release even better.
