Grayson dissipated into nothing as the rest of the dragons took off into the sky, away from the academy, and more importantly, away from my mate—who still had her gaze locked on where the blue butterfly went into the forest.
She stumbled forward a bit. “I want to go for a walk.”
Damien and Kian stepped forward, no doubt set on denying her what she wanted, but that never seemed to turn out well with her.
“How about you go for a ride instead?” I crossed my arms.
“A ride?” She tilted her head back at me, curiosity flickering through the bond.
It was different to see how she held absolutely no fear in front of the dragons or Grayson, but I knew it had to be the dark magic’s influence. How could evil be afraid when evil’s sole purpose was to cause chaos?
“I'll shift and take you for a ride.”
A slow smile spread over her lips as she nodded. “I've never ridden you in that form before.”
Kian choked on a breath as Damien chuckled, and a smirk came over my face.
“I didn't know you were one to make innuendos.”
“Yeah, well, neither did I,” she murmured. “Go ahead and shift.”
I obliged, letting fire scald my insides as I took the form of my firedrake.
Damien gripped Wren’s neck and kissed her lips before Kian pulled her into a long embrace. Damien's telekinesis picked Wren up and floated her up until she landed safely on my back.
I snorted my appreciation, smoke blowing out of my nose and covering both him and Kian.
“Have fun.” Kian fanned the smoke away as he coughed.
Damien flashed a devilish smirk as I took off into the air, feeling her small hands gripping my scales.
The warm summer breeze brushed over us as I soared through the air. We circled the academy a few times before I flew toward the Bestial Forest, enjoying the spread of my wings.
It was the time to take my mate somewhere special, somewhere enchanted that I had made just for me.
I dropped down in the forest into a huge clearing that was enchanted for those who didn't know that location existed. It was from Tabitha and Blair. A gift to me when I was stressed out a couple of years back. They wanted to give me a space to shift or to just be alone and not work. I didn't come here enough, but I was too overworked.
Bowing my head down, Wren slid down my neck and planted her feet on the ground as she glanced around.
I shifted into my regular form, and Wren’s gaze slid down my body. “You should shift in front of me more often.”
My fledgling had a lot of dark magic within her, too dark for her. Black veins stood out in contrast against the pale skin of her arm, and I frowned.
“We’ll see. How was it?”
Her smile grew. “It was amazing. Freeing, really… What is this place? I've never been here before, and I've pretty much been all over this forest.”
“It’s an enchanted clearing. No one can wander here without knowing the exact location.”
“You have so many flowers circling it.” Her eyes widened as she took in the scenery.
The flowers were always in full bloom around this area, and it was big enough for a house or a cabin but not big enough to take up too much of the forest.
“I want to make a promise to you.” Moving forward, I cupped her face in my hands, making her focus on me. “I want to promise that I’ll build us a home here. For all of us. And we are going to be happy and at peace as soon as this war is over. I promise you this.”
“Rowan…” Her voice cracked as a surge of emotion flooded our bond. “Neither of us had a peaceful childhood.” She grabbed my wrists and squeezed, keeping my hands against her cheeks. “I would like nothing more for our life to be peaceful. You deserve it after everything. We've all been through a lot. All of us deserve something like that, and I know you will make it happen. I love you.”
I dipped my head and pushed my lips to hers, but she took over quickly, moving my hands to her waist and circling her arms around my neck. I gripped her ass and let her wind her legs around my waist.
