“Pray to you? Are you some kind of water god?” she asked, a teasing tone in her voice.
I couldn’t respond at first, too focused on choosing my words carefully so she wouldn’t fear me.
I took a long breath before I confessed, “I saved you in this form. Do you remember?”
Memories of her almost drowning in the lake snuck into my head, and then her rescue in my water dragon form came to theforefront again.
“You… were the dragon?”
I nodded hesitantly, trying to analyze her feelings and emotions, to sense if she was afraid or relieved knowing it was me.
I could sense a deep sorrow, an overwhelming feeling of despair, and also joy that she found her guardian… the dragonwhosaved her. The tears began to flow uncontrollably down her beautiful face. I wanted to calm her, to embrace her in my arms and hold her, but I knew it wasn’t my place. Not yet.
“Baby, it’s…” Xavier touched her arm. He was just as hesitant as me right now.
The cruel irony of being mated to someone was that even the deepest bond couldn’t shield you from doubt and sadness. Sometimes, the connection made everything feel even more intense. One wrong word, one misunderstanding, could leave you both bleeding.
“Don’t touch me. Please,” she said quietly.
Xavier’s hand froze mid-reaching her. His face didn’t change much, but his eyes betrayed everything. The hurt in them was unmistakable. Still, he respected her boundary, withdrawing without protest. I’ve never seen my friend so vulnerable. I’ve never seen avampireso vulnerable before…
She turned away slightly, as if the situation had become too much to bear. I could feel it radiating off her… the panic, the confusion, the weight of everything that had just come to light. She wasn’t angry.She was too overwhelmed.
“I just… I need to leave,” she murmured, voice trembling, like she was trying to outrun her own heart.
“No,” Xavier said, the word firm, too sharp, too fast.
She blinked, startled. “Excuse me?”
It hit her like a slap. Not the word itself, but the way he said it as if her pain wasn’t enough of a reason. As if needing space wassomething she wasn’t allowed to want.
“We are not going to do that. You belong to me. If you don’t feel well, I’m the one that’s there for you. I won’t leave you alone,” Xavier clarified and gripped her by the waist to bring her body closer to his.
My inner dragon trembled, driven by jealousy and the need to claim her for myself.
I watched her expression shift… but it wasn’t anger… it felt more like loneliness and the fear of being rejected by the ones she loved.
Gwendolyn had seemed too desperate to find solid ground in a world that kept shifting under her feet, a world that found her strange. And despite being surrounded by the men fate had bound her to, she still felt so unsure of herself. And I needed to understand what had happened in the world she came from… which made her believe she wasn’t good enough.
Just like I had for so many years. When my mother had to keep me hidden from my father’s wrath.
She wasn’t just my mate.
She was my mirror.
Chapter 18
Damien was the dragon. The one who had saved me from the Lake of the Sirens, the one whose presence had made me feel safe. The same man I had danced with at the Midsummer Masquerade Ball. The same one whose touch had haunted me ever since, even when I didn’t know his name.
That’s why his presence felt so familiar to me. I had met him before. I just hadn’t realized who he was. That it was Damien beneath the shell of the sea dragon who saved me.
“Now tell her,” Xavier said suddenly, snapping me back to the present.
I turned to him. “Tell… tell me what? What should Damien tell me, Xavier?” I couldn’t hide the confusion in my tone.
My gaze shifted back to Damien, studying every angle of his face. There was something in his eyes that made my breath catch. The way his scar curved along the eye, shimmering a silver-blue, just like the color of his dragon…
My heart raced. Why was I starting to feel this way?
