Ronyn grins, brushing hair from my eyes. “It was. Lesson one: Your body is capable ofinfinitepleasure.”
Darial kisses my forehead. “And we intend to teach you again and again and again.”
“Maybe tomorrow,” I murmur against his throat.
His golden scales fade slowly back into skin as his heartbeat steadies beneath my hands. My eyelids grow heavy, satisfaction settling deep in my bones. I fight sleep for a moment longer, wanting to linger in this fragile happiness, wrapped in the lingering scent of fire and intimacy. Somewhere in the quiet afterglow, I understand that nothing about me is the same anymore, and for the first time in my life, I welcome the change completely.
My dragons climb onto the bed around me, naked and replete, sighing in contentment.
I can live this life. I can be the woman who belongs at the center of three loving dragon mates. All my past hardships seem far away, softened by their love. I reach out to each of them, wanting them to know how much they matter to me.
Sleep lowers a dark curtain, bringing with it rest. But then my mind is filled with sounds and images. A woman crying out. Men shouting. Growls and snarls. A child crying.
And a name that tears through time and space, yanking at my heart so hard, I whimper.
Ahya.
22
DARIAL
Aura startles us with a cry I have never heard from her before, sharp enough to cut through the night. I draw her close, tense and alert, reaching to comfort her, but she is already upright, with the furs gathered around her. Her eyes are wide and unfocused, rimmed with tears. Her lips move, whispering words I cannot discern.
“Aura.” I brush damp hair from her cheek. “What is it? What’s wrong?”
She doesn’t respond. Instead, she scrambles from the bed, breathing in ragged bursts. Her hands tremble as she searches for her clothes, muttering the same words repeatedly.
Ronyn is already standing, weapon in hand, eyes intense. Kelan blinks, dazed from sleep, his wings emerging behind him in confusion.
“Aura,” I say more firmly this time, stepping in front of her. I catch her by the shoulders. “Talk to me. What happened?”
Her gaze finally meets mine, and for a moment, it is like looking into another world.
“It was her,” she says, monotone. Her voice is hoarse and raw. “My daughter. My child. She—she was crying. She showed me things. Terrible things. Something’s wrong. I felt it.”
“A dream,” Kelan says quietly from behind me. “You’ve been through a lot. The pursuit. The magic—”
“No!” she shouts, her voice breaking the tension between us. The runes on her ribs flicker with energy, and the sharp scent of lightning fills the air.
I hold her closer as she sobs into my shoulder.
“Iknowwhat I saw… what I felt, Darial,” she says, her voice cracking. “She was terrified. Her panic was inside my bones. It wasn’t a dream, it wasreal.I think she sent me a vision of her reality.”
I nod, holding her as her tears soak my skin. Her heartbeat pounds against my chest. I cannot claim to understand that connection. I'm not a parent, or even a human. But she had magic in her veins, and perhaps her child does as well. I believe her.
Ronyn exhales slowly, tension in his jaw. “She was with the wolves. You think something’s happened?”
“Iknowsomething’s happened,” Aura chokes out. “We have to go. We have to go now.”
I meet Kelan’s gaze. Without words, we agree on our next steps. We move together, determined to ease our mate’s distress.
Ronyn grabs his knife, securing it loosely to his ankle, leaving space for the shift. Kelan disappears into the next room to gather the cloth we carry for when we return to human form. I help Aura pull on warmer clothes, wrappingher in furs even as her fingers shake. She doesn’t speak again, but the air around her is thick with anxiety.
Within minutes, we are airborne again.
This time, I carry Aura. She trembles in my arms but does holds back her tears. She stares into the darkness, her eyes intense against her pale face.
Wind tears passed us as we cut through the night sky. The moon hangs high and merciless, spilling silver light across the snow-covered landscape below, turning the world sharp and crystalline. The flight to Blackwood Forest is quiet, almost deceptively so, yet unease coils low in my chest. My thoughts circle the possibilities we haven’t spoken aloud. Dragons aren’t creatures prone to fear, but when it comes to Aura, something perilously close to it shadows every beat of my wings.
