30
DARIAL
The cabin is warm and homey, decorated with a woman’s touch, but still as rugged as you’d expect for a log cabin inhabited by wolf shifters.
Tension hangs in the air, thick and uncomfortable.
Nixon stands stiffly, cradling Ahya close. His bruises are darker now, blooming purple across his cheekbone and throat, but wariness rather than pain tightens his jaw.
Reed and Finn flank Scarlet like silent sentries, eyes flicking constantly toward Kelan and Ronyn. Their postures are casual, but their energy isn't.
It’s to be expected.
We have knocked on strangers' doors, asking for their child to help us. We may have rescued them from dangerous beasts, but they know little about us. We are dragons, and they aren't foolish. They understand our power. We could burn this place to the ground with a single breath, and that must sit uneasily on Nixon’s shoulders, no matter how gently we retrieved his people. He is alpha and responsibilityis carried on his shoulders.
Kelan paces, his feet thudding softly on the timber floor. He’s too tightly wound. Ronyn leans against the far wall, arms crossed, teeth clenched. His mood simmers like coals ready to spark. This is our only hope to find Aura, and they doubt it will work.
I step closer, my palms open, offering calm.
“We need your help,” I say evenly.
Nixon’s fingers tighten subtly on the child. “You’re strong,” he says after a beat. “Too strong for me to pretend you aren’t a threat to my family.”
“We love Aura,” I say, maintaining eye contact to build trust. “She is our mate. I know you understand what she means to us. You have a mate of your own.”
Nixon nods, his eyes softening as they drift to Scarlet.
“Our mate is in danger,” I continue. “We have done everything we can to search for her, but to no avail. Our only hope is her connection to Ahya.”
Nixon cups the baby’s small head in his huge, rough palm. “But she is a child.”
“A child with a connection to her birth mother.”
I nod to Scarlet, wanting her to know I understand who she is to Ahya, and that my statement isn't meant to challenge that.
“And if it doesn’t work, how do I know you won’t burn this cabin with everyone in it in your frustration?”
“We don’t harm innocents,” Kelan barks. He isn’t helping anything by using that tone, but he is alpha and he will speak plainly.
Nixon’s eyes drift to his brothers and mate. Scarlet’s eyes glisten with restrained emotion.
I continue, trying to hold this negotiation togetherbefore Kelan or Ronyn begin to make demands. “Ahya… she is connected to Aura despite everything. The child sent her a vision. It is why we came to rescue you from Anatol and his pack. All we want is to find out if Ahya can connect to Aura and show us who is holding her captive. That’s all.”
“Let them,” Scarlet says.
Nixon looks at her sharply, and when she nods once, he exhales and shifts his hold, bringing Ahya close enough for me to touch.
I reach out, brushing a gentle finger over her soft cheek, mesmerized by her likeness to our mate. She blinks her damp lashes and her tiny hands lift.
She touches my temple and then Nixon’s.
Power surges through me like lightning splitting stone.
The room falls away, and the scent of incense curls in my mind.
The sound of voices fills the silence.
And then I see Aura.
