I planned this strategy as carefully as any military campaign, only for it to fall apart because of traitors within my own kingdom.
How could I have faced either of my fated mates, or attempted to apologize, before I’d first worked out what had gone wrong?
Lies breed within my court, and I have had to tell many myself to survive.
I have become too used to wearing a mask. I had only just learned to remove it to show my consorts the truth of my heart beneath.
But why should they trust me now?
How do they know where the mask ends, and the dragon beneath begins?
On the Shadow Gods, do I?
I slam my fist into the wall, ignoring the pain that cracks through my split knuckles and up my arm.
Blood snakes down the back of my hand. Have I broken it?
When a wave of dizziness hits me, my knees buckle. I stumble to the floor.
My breathing is labored, and I struggle to keep my eyes open.
“I can’t…m-m-mustn’t…she n-needs me.” I drag myself to lean against the wall.
My pheromones are unbalanced without Freya. Her scent is fading from my nest. An Alpha dragon, once bonded, needs to be close to their Omega.
They also have a deep connection to their riders. It is agony to be parted from them.
I set my jaw.
Did Lanlin experience this same agony?
I ignore the strange twinge of…something…that thought gives me. Instead, I focus on holding onto consciousness, at the same time as intently watching the moonlight that bathes the entrance to the cavern.
“Freya,” I whisper.
I’ve worked hard to be ready for tonight.
But how will she react? How will Daire?
The golden walls glisten for a moment, wavering in and out into a swirling void.
I’m losing the connection.
I sink my golden claws into the walls, as if they are not a dreamscape but can be held together by my strength alone.
I battle against another bout of dizziness.
“I am King Aurelius,” I snarl, “and youwillobey me. You are the dream bond that binds three of us by golden fate through our lives and beyond. You will not fail me, until I have seen my Omega who ismygoddess.”
The dreamscape gives a final shimmer, before it solidifies again.
Sweat beads on my forehead. I draw my claws out of the wall, leaving behind deep gouges.
My wings itch beneath the skin on my shoulder blades.
“Thank the Shadow Gods.” Then I look up, and my heart stutters to a stop.
My Spark is standing above me. She is looking around the cave, bewildered.
