A sharp pain erupted from my shoulder where her mark was embedded into me, and I recoiled, yanking my fangs from her neck.
She’d bitten over her mark, her canines extended in a way I didn’t know she could do unless she was marking her mates for the first time.
She looked positively feral, but in a beautiful kind of way. Her snout was half-shifted, her ears and tail sprouted as she dug her teeth into my flesh. Our magic swooped around us, and I hissed in pleasurable pain until she pulled her mouth off and blinked up at me with a dazed look over her face.
The warm tingle of my wound healing swept over the mark, and the bond tugged me closer to her, wrapping her in my arms and holding her against my chest tightly.
“I’m sorry. I’ve never had the urge to do that before. Did that hurt?” She breathed slowly, clutching me to her as if she thought I’d leave.
“It did.” I hummed, kissing her head. “But it felt good too. I bite you all the time, so I don’t mind if you bite me every now and then. Just as you’re mine, I’m yours. Don’t forget that.”
“I would never forget it,” she mumbled, pulling back slightly with tears welled up in her eyes. “I can’t control my words or actions lately… It’s kind of scary. Please don’t let me hurt any of you.”
“You wouldn’t hurt us, sweet ruby.”
She let out a dry chuckle before pulling away and hopping off the desk. “I’ve already hurt you, bitten you. I’ve struck Damien with my shadow, and I’ve run from Rowan, ignoring him and making sure to hurt his feelings.Why am I doing these things?” Her chin wobbled, and my heart squeezed in my chest.
I pulled her back in my arms with a sigh. “Oh, Wren. It’s not you. It’s the dark magic’s influence on you.”
“But itisstill me, Alister. I love you. I love all of you, and yet, I’mconstantlyhurting you.” She sniffled against my chest.
“Oh, little bird. You know we love you too,” Damien said as he stepped out of the shadows. Blood splattered his clothes, and his eyes were simmering with anger. His horns and tail were visible, and I could scent humans all over him.
She turned in my arms to see him, and he closed the distance, sandwiching her in between us both and inhaling her scent deeply. “Damien, what happened?”
“Found some humans deep in the south where it’s pretty fucking freezing. No facility, but I bet it’s hidden somehow. I’m getting closer to finding your father, little bird. So don’t fall apart on us yet. Fight the dark magic until we purge it from you, do you understand me?”
“Yes,” she breathed. “I understand.”
I wasn’t sure how long my venom would give her the clarity she needed to speak normally with us, but I’d bite her every time I needed to. I just wanted my mate to be happy. She’d never had the chance in her short life to just live happily, and after all of this mess, I would make damn sure Wren lived the life she deserved.
THIRTEEN
Rowan
"Yes,Iknow,”Igrumbled to Drecken over the tablet as I looked over yet another student complaint over the hierarchy and bullying. There was an actual war happening in Kalista against both the dragons and the humans, and I have students bullying other students. This world wasn't ready for equality, even though it desperately deserved it.
I exhaled and smoke billowed from my mouth and nose.
“The backlash about abolishing the hierarchy is less than I was expecting,” Drecken said offhandedly.
My eyebrows rose. “Really? Because it's more than I was expecting.”
“That's because you are a firedrake, and supernaturals don't usually show you their true nature due to trying to get on your good side.”
“And yet that is another issue with the hierarchy.”
“Yes, a hierarchy that is no longer in effect.” Drecken clicked his tongue.
“For the best,” I reminded my old friend. “Any luck tracking down the human facility in the south?”
“At this point, I'm thinking the human woman lied because there is nothing in the south.”
“Damien found humans in the south and slaughtered them. They refused to tell him where the facility was, but they didn't say there wasn't a facility.”
“And he didn't take them in for questioning, why?”
“Because he got impatient.” I snorted.
