But she is human, not a dragon.
And she is broken.
I drop to one knee beside her without thinking, reaching out, stopping myself a breath from touching her skin.
My claws are violent points, and her flesh is fragile. Her magic flickers in response to my proximity. Her heartbeat is sluggish, and her breathing is shallow, neither of which is a sign of good health. Beneath her frailty, she is powerful to have called us with her magic from so far.
She’s alive, but barely.
Relief overwhelms me, leaving me shaking.
She is ours.
She’s here,I send, my voice rough with awe.And she’s burning out.
Kelan’s presence is next to illuminate the mouth of the cave a heartbeat later, immense even though he’s partially shifted. Darial follows, light spilling in behind him like dawn.
It’s happening. The moment we’ve been waiting for. The ache we’d pushed aside for so long will be eased.
Three dragons.
One female.
We have finally found our mate.
For centuries, we told ourselves hunger was withoutreward, a biological cruelty meant to sharpen us into better warriors. We buried our yearning beneath discipline and duty, convincing ourselves that guarding magic was purpose enough. But the instant my eyes settled on her, an ancient instinct shifted inside my bones. Recognition. A quiet, undeniable alignment of fire and fate.
She is smaller than I imagined and lacks the power of dragonkind, but before I can appreciate finding her, a new truth settles in with startling clarity.
What we once hunted has become what we would now do anything to protect.
4
DARIAL
She looks like she’s already gone.
That’s the first, terrible thought that cuts through me as I cross the threshold of the cave. My dragonfire casts gold light across stone, chasing away the shadows and revealing a small, crumpled woman who lies motionless on the ground, her limbs askew. For a heartbeat, I don’t breathe.
Then Ifeelher.
The timid, barely-there heartbeat that’s so diminished and nothing like the scream of power that dragged us halfway across the territory.
Mate.
Her connection to me snaps into place so fast it makes me stumble. My heartbeat becomes a rapid drum pounding against my chest. I don’t have time to take in the wonder of it before a fresh realization hits.
“She’s burning out.”
Kelan is already moving, his obsidian scales retreating beneath his skin as he shifts closer to human form,command radiating off him. “How bad?”
“Bad enough,” Ronyn answers before I can, his voice rough, as though it has been stripped bare by emotion. He crouches on her other side, his massive frame carefully restrained, as though he’s afraid even his nearby weight might shatter her. “She pushed herself past collapse. Past survival.”
My dragon recoils at the sight of our mate like this. The instinct to gather, to shield, toclaimrises so hard it nearly brings me to my knees.
Mine.
The bond snaps into place with overwhelming clarity. I drop to my knees beside her and slide one arm beneath her shoulders, the other under her knees, lifting her into my lap with care. She weighs almost nothing, and the realization is a knife to the ribs.
