Emma thought her life ended when her own pack pushed her off a cliff for being a useless wolfless omega.
Marcus kissed her forehead that morning and warned her to stay close to the group because the northern woods were dangerous.
Now she lay in a ravine with a broken leg watching the sun sink below the treeline.
The only danger had been the people she called family.
They pushed her.
All of them.
Even Sarah her so-called best friend who couldn’t look at her as Marcus gave the order.
She’s dead weight he announced to the council.
An omega who can’t shift who can’t contribute.
She’s draining our resources.
Resources.
That was what she had become.
Not Emma.
Not the girl who healed their children with herbs who kept their histories who loved them despite being different.
Just dead weight.
The fall should have killed her.
The snap of her leg echoed through the ravine like a gunshot and she screamed until her throat bled.
But they had already gone.
She heard their paws thundering away.
Felt the pack bond severing like a rope fraying thread by thread until there was nothing left but empty air where family used to be.
She was going to die here.
No food.
No water nearby.
A leg bent at an angle that made her stomach turn.
Night was coming.
The northern woods belonged to something else after dark.
Temperature dropped faSt. She dragged herself against a boulder every movement sending white-hot agony through her leg.
Her fingers were already numb.
Her lips tasted like copper and dirt.
Close your eyes.
That was when she felt it.
Impossible.
Searing heat rolling over her in waves.
Her eyes snapped open and she forgot how to breathe.
A dragon.
An actual honest-to-God dragon stood at the edge of the ravine staring down at her with eyes like molten gold.
Scales the color of midnight shimmered in the dying light.
Wings that could blot out the moon folded against a body that was all muscle and ancient power.
Please she whispered though she didn’t know what she was asking for.
The dragon’s head tilted almost curious.
Then it began to shrink.
Bones cracked and reshaped.
Scales melted into skin.
Wings folded into the broad shoulders of a man who definitely shouldn’t exiSt. He was naked of course.
That was how shifting worked.
But she barely noticed because his face was stopping her heart.
Sharp jaw dusted with stubble.
Dark hair that fell into those impossible golden eyes.
A body covered in scars that told stories of survival.
And he was walking down into the ravine.
Heard you wolf he said and his voice was gravel and smoke.
You’re dying.
Thanks for the update.
Even now sarcasm was her defense mechanism.
Are you here to help or just watch?
Something flickered across his face.
Surprise maybe.
Your pack left you.
It’s not a question but she answered anyway.
Yeah they’re not big on charity cases.
He crouched in front of her and she caught his scent.
Pine and ash and something wild that made her broken omega instincts sit up and pay attention.
This close she could see the gold in his eyes wasn’t just color.
It was actual light burning from somewhere deep inside.
You’re not a shifter he observed.
Thanks for pointing that out too.
You’re really on a roll with the obvious tonight.
His lips twitched almost a smile.
You’re injured and you’re mouthing off.
We’re both having a weird day.
This time he did smile and it transformed his entire face.
He looked younger less like death walking.
I’m going to touch you now.
It will hurt.
Everything already hurts.
What’s a little more?
His hands were on her leg and it wasn’t pain.
It was fire.
Literal fire burning through her veins.
And she was screaming again but this time something was happening.
The bone was moving snapping back into place with a sound that was going to haunt her nightmares.
The swelling was going down.
The pain was fading.
When he pulled away her leg was straight still bruised still tender but whole.
What?
How did you?
Dragon fire he said.
It heals among other things.
He stood offering her his hand.
She took his hand because what else was she going to do?
And the moment their skin touched the world exploded.
Not literally but something inside her tore open.
And she felt it.
The bond.
The mating bond snapping into place with the inevitability of gravity tying her to this stranger this impossible man who was supposedly the last of his kind.
His eyes went wide.
He felt it too.
No he breathed taking a step back.
No that’s not that can’t.
What the hell was that?
My heart is trying to escape my cheSt. We can’t.
He’s shaking his head looking at her like she’s a bomb about to explode.
You’re a wolf.
I’m This doesn’t happen.
Our kinds don’t mate.
Well apparently someone forgot to tell our biology that.
He ran a hand through his hair and she noticed his hand was trembling.
This ancient powerful creature was scared of her of this.
I’m Kale he finally said.
Emma.
Emma.
He tasted her name like wine.
This is a problem.
Yeah I’m getting that impression.
Your pack will come back for you.
It’s her turn to laugh bitter and sharp.
No they won’t.
That’s kind of the whole point of abandoning someone to die.
When they realize you’re alive they won’t care.
I’m not pack anymore.
They made that clear.
Kale studied her for a long moment.
And I feel the weight of centuries in that gaze.
You have nowhere to go.
Nope.
No one to protect you.
Just me myself and my sparkling personality.
And now you’re mated to the last dragon shifter in existence which makes you a target for every hunter collector and council in the supernatural world.
Is this supposed to be a pep talk because you’re really bad at it.
That almost smile again.
Come with me.
Where?
My territory.
It’s not far.
He glanced at the darkening sky.
The woods aren’t safe after dark.
Things hunt here.
Worse things than wolves or dragons.
And I should trust you because?
Kale looked at her.
Really looked at her and she saw something raw in his expression.
Because I’m your mate now.
Whether I like it or not whether you like it or not that bond he touches his cheSt. It means I’ll die before I let anything hurt you.
That’s not a choice.
That’s just what is.
She should have been terrified.
She should have run.
But her pack threw her away like trash.
And this stranger this mythical impossible stranger just healed her and claimed her and was offering sanctuary when she had nothing left.
Okay she heard herself say.
Okay.
He nodded once then shifted again.
The transformation was quicker this time almost casual.
The dragon lowered itself.
And she realized what he was offering.
You want me to ride you?
That’s not We just met.
The bond doesn’t mean the dragon huffs and smoke curls from its nostrils.
Even in this form she could feel his exasperation through the bond.
Fine.
Fine.
She climbed onto his back settling between his shoulder blades where the scales were smootheSt. But if you drop me the bond won’t protect you from my fury.
She felt the rumble of his laughter through his entire body.
Then his wings snapped open and they were launching into the air and she was flying.
She was flying on the back of a dragon who just became her mate leaving behind the pack that wanted her dead.
Heading toward a future she couldn’t begin to imagine.
Her scream echoed across the mountains.
But this time it wasn’t pain.
It was freedom.
Kale’s territory turned out to be a cave system built into the side of a mountain.
But calling it a cave was like calling a mansion a house.
These weren’t crude holes in the rock.
They were chambers carved and shaped over centuries with smooth walls and natural skylights that let in moonbeaMs. Phosphorescent moss provided soft light.
And there was actual furniture.
Rough-hewn but comfortable.
You live here?
She breathed turning in a slow circle.
Alone for the last 60 years.
Kale’s human again.
Now dressed in worn leather pants he pulled from a cheSt. Before that my clan lived here.
All of us.
What happened to them?
His jaw tightened.
Hunters.
The Council of Supernatural Order decided dragons were too dangerous to coexist with other shifters.
Too powerful.
So they hired hunters silver bullets for the wolves iron for the fae and dragon’s bane for us.
He touches a scar on his cheSt. I survived because I was young small enough to hide while they slaughtered my family.
The pain in his voice made her chest ache.
Kale don’t.
He held up a hand.
I’ve had decades to make peace with it.
Doesn’t mean I trust easily.
Doesn’t mean I ever planned to.
He gestured between them.
This taking on a broken omega with a death wish.
You don’t have a death wish.
He studied her with those unsettling golden eyes.
You have a survival wish.
There’s a difference.
No one had ever seen her that clearly before.
It was uncomfortable and comforting at the same time.
Why didn’t you shift?
He asked suddenly.
When your pack turned on you.
Why didn’t you fight?
The old shame rose hot and familiar.
Because I can’t.
I’m what they call a null.
Born to shifters but unable to shift myself.
No wolf form no pack magic just human.
Useless.
Not useless.
Kale crossed the space between them in three strides.
That bond we feel it only forms between true mates compatible souls.
If you were useless the bond wouldn’t exiSt. Maybe your dragon is broken too.
He laughed sharp and surprising.
Maybe but I don’t think so.
His hand came up hesitated then tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.
The touch sent sparks across her skin.
The bond is already pulling at me wanting to protect you provide for you keep you close.
That’s probably just dragon instincts you know hoarding treasure and all that.
You think you’re treasure?
I think I’m a liability you got stuck with.
Kale’s expression softened.
My kind mate once.
One time one mate for our entire lives.
When they die we don’t survive long after.
The bond is everything.
His thumb brushed her cheekbone.
So no Emma you’re not a liability.
You’re the only thing in this world that could make me vulnerable.
That terrifies me.
But it also means you’re the most valuable thing in my existence.
She didn’t know what to say to that.
How do you respond when someone tells you you’re their everything before you’ve even shared a meal?
I should clean up she managed.
I probably smell like fear and ravine.
There’s a hot spring in the back chamber.
I’ll bring you clothes.
The hot spring was heaven.
Natural mineral water heated by volcanic activity deep in the mountain.
Surrounded by more of that glowing moss she sank into it with a groan letting the heat work through her battered muscles.
Her leg was healed but still tender.
The bruises fading to green and yellow.
She was alive against all odds.
She was alive and mated to a dragon.
The insanity of it hit her all at once and she laughed until she cried.
The sound echoing off the stone walls.
When she emerged dressed in clothes that were definitely Kale’s the shirt hung to her knees.
She found him cooking.
Actually cooking over a fire pit with a grate.
The smell made her stomach growl loud enough to echo.
When did you last eat?
He asked without turning around.
Yesterday morning maybe.
He muttered something in a language she didn’t recognize.
Probably ancient dragon cursing and dished up two plates of what looked like rabbit stew with wild herbs.
We eat in silence for a while.
She was too hungry for conversation and he seemed content to watch her with that intense focus.
Dragons probably evolved for hunting.
So I finally say wiping my mouth.
What happens now?
Now we figure out how to survive this.
Kale leaned back against the wall.
The bond will strengthen over the next few days.
You’ll start feeling my emotions.
I’ll sense when you’re in danger.
Eventually it will be uncomfortable to be apart.
How romantic.
It’s not meant to be romantic.
It’s meant to be permanent.
His eyes find hers.
I need you to understand something.
Your old pack might not want you but there are others who will.
Dragons are thought to be extinct.
If word gets out that one survived and that he’s mated we’ll have every supernatural faction in North America hunting us.
Why?
Dragon blood is valuable.
Our scales can be forged into unbreakable armor.
Our fire can power magical artifacts.
Our hearts he pauses our hearts when consumed fresh supposedly grant the eater our strength and longevity.
The stew turns to ash in her mouth.
That’s barbaric.
That’s survival.
The strong prey on the weak.
Always have.
You’re not weak.
No but I am alone.
And now I have something to lose.
His gaze is heavy with meaning.
You.
The weight of responsibility settles on her shoulders.
She didn’t ask for this.
She didn’t ask to be abandoned or bonded or suddenly valuable.
But here she was.
Teach me she heard herself say.
Teach me what?
How to fight?
How to survive?
You said I’m not useless so prove it.
Make me useful.
Kale’s eyes light with something like respect.
You want to train?
I want to make sure I’m never weak enough to be thrown away again.
He’s quiet for a long moment studying her.
Then he nods.
We start tomorrow but tonight you reSt. Your body has been through trauma.
He shows her to a sleeping chamber his chamber she realizes with a bed piled with furs and a view of the stars through a natural skylight.
Where will you sleep?
She asks.
I’ll keep watch.
Kale you don’t have to.
Yes I do.
His voice is soft but firm.
The bond is new.
My dragon is demanding I stay close.
Make sure you’re safe.
Sleeping in the same room while you’re vulnerable would be difficult.
Understanding dawned.
Oh.
Right.
He almost smiled.
Dragons aren’t known for their restraint.
Give me a few days to adjuSt. I should be insulted.
Instead she was oddly touched that he was trying to be respectful despite what must be overwhelming instinct.
Thank you she said quietly.
For saving me for bringing me here for not treating me like dead weight.
Kale stepped closer and his hand cupped her face with surprising gentleness.
You were never dead weight Emma.
Your pack was just too blind to see what you’re worth.
Then he’s gone leaving her alone with her racing heart and the feeling of his touch still burning on her skin.
She crawled into his bed surrounded by his scent and fell asleep wondering how her life became a fairy tale she never asked for but also wondering if maybe just maybe this was the beginning of something better than what she loSt. She woke to the smell of smoke and coffee.
An odd combination that somehow worked.
Morning light streamed through the skylight painting everything gold.
For a moment she forgot where she was.
Then the bond pulsed warm in her chest and she remembered everything.
Dragon.
No going back.
She found Kale outside on a stone ledge that overlooked a valley of endless foreSt. He was shirtless going through what looked like a fighting form.
Fluid movements that were part martial art part dance.
His muscles rippled under scarred skin.
And she tried very hard not to stare.
Fail completely.
You’re awake he said without turning around.
How did you?
The bond.
I felt you wake.
He finished his form and faced her barely winded.
How do you feel?
Honestly confused overwhelmed terrified hopeful but she went with hungry.
That almost smile.
I brought back deer.
Can you cook?
Can I cook?
I practically ran the pack kitchen.
Someone had to make sure those idiots didn’t survive on raw meat alone.
Good.
You cook I’ll clean the kill.
Fair trade.
They fell into an easy rhythm.
He brought her the prepared meat and she worked magic with the herbs growing wild around the cave mouth.
Rosemary thyme wild garlic.
Soon the smell of roasting venison filled the air and Kale watched her with undisguised fascination.
What?
She asked self-conscious.
You make it look like art.
The way you move tastes adjuSt. My mother used to cook like that.
Like it meant something.
The past tense landed heavy between them.
Tell me about her.
He was quiet for so long she thought he wouldn’t answer.
Then.
She was fierce.
A warrior before she was a mother.
But she could also be gentle.
She used to sing old dragon songs while she cooked.
His voice roughened.
I haven’t heard those songs in 60 years.
I’m sorry.
Don’t be.
Pain means they mattered.
That they were real.
He stood abruptly.
Eat.
Then we train.
Training with a dragon shifter was nothing like training with wolves.
Wolves taught through pack mentality.
Group drills.
Establishing hierarchy.
Learning your place.
Kale taught like she was the only student in the world who mattered because right now she was.
Wolves rely on their shift their pack bonds their numbers he explained circling her on the training ledge.
You have none of that.
So we build different strengths.
Speed over power.
Strategy over brute force.
Survival over victory.
Inspiring pep talk.
I’m not here to inspire you.
I’m here to keep you alive.
He tossed her a wooden staff.
Defend yourself.
She barely caught it before he was attacking.
Not his dragon form.
That would be overkill.
But his human form was dangerous enough.
He moved like water like wind like nothing she had ever seen.
His staff cracked against hers and the impact rattled her bones.
Too slow he said striking again.
You’re thinking don’t think react.
Easy for him to say.
He had centuries of practice.
She got three minutes and growing panic.
His staff swept her legs out from under her.
She hit the stone hard enough to knock the wind from her lungs.
Again he said offering his hand.
They went again and again and again.
Each time she lasted maybe five seconds longer before ending up on her back bruised and frustrated.
I can’t do this she gasped after the dozenth fall.
You’re right.
You can’t.
He pulled her up roughly.
That Emma the one who believed what her pack said about her she can’t.
She’s too busy proving them right.
He got in her face gold eyes blazing.
But the Emma who survived a forty-foot fall who mouthed off to a dragon instead of cowering.
She can do anything.
That’s not.
Stop thinking.
He shoved the staff back in her hands.
Stop doubting.
Move.
He attacked and something in her snapped.
Not broke.
Snapped into place.
She wasn’t thinking about forms or technique or keeping up.
She was just moving.
The staff became an extension of her arMs. When he struck high she ducked low.
When he swept left she rolled right.
She didn’t win but she didn’t lose as fast either.
Better Kale said and the approval in his voice warmed her more than it should.
Again.
They trained until her muscles screamed until sweat stung her eyes and her hands blistered.
Until the sun started sinking toward the horizon and every part of her hurt.
Enough.
Kale finally said.
You did well.
I got my ass kicked for six hours straight.
Yes but you got up every time.
He offered her water from a canteen.
That’s what matters.
Not winning.
Getting up.
She drank deeply then splashed some on her overheated face.
Is this what you did after your clan died?
You just got up.
I didn’t have a choice.
Dragons mate once.
My parents were bonded.
When my father died my mother he trailed off but she understood.
She held on long enough to hide me to make sure I survived.
Then she let go.
God Kale.
It was a long time ago but the pain in his eyes said otherwise.
The point is I survived because I had to.
You’ll survive because you choose to.
That’s stronger.
She didn’t feel strong.
She felt like a mess of bruises and doubts.
But she nodded anyway.
That night she was too sore to do more than collapse.
Kale brought her salve that smelled like mint and magic and his hands were surprisingly gentle as he rubbed it into her worst bruises.
This will help he murmured.
Are all dragons this nice to their accidental mates?
I don’t know.
You’re the only one I’ve got.
His hand lingered on her shoulder.
The bond is getting stronger.
Can you feel it?
It’s like a golden thread connecting us humming with warmth and awareness.
I know he’s concerned without him saying so.
Know he’s fighting the urge to pull her closer.
Yeah she whispered.
I feel it.
It will keep growing.
In a few days we’ll be able to share emotions completely.
Eventually thoughts.
That sounds invasive.
It is but it also means you’ll never be truly alone again.
His thumb traced small circles on her skin.
For someone who was abandoned maybe that’s not the worst thing.
He was right.
The idea of that kind of connection of never being invisible again was terrifying and wonderful in equal measure.
What if I’m not enough?
The question slipped out before she could stop it.
What if you get stuck with me and realize you deserved better?
Kale’s hand tightened on her shoulder.
Emma look at me.
She did.
And the intensity in his golden eyes stole her breath.
I’ve been alone for 60 years.
Watching the world change.
Watching other shifters find mates build families create lives while I hid in a cave waiting to be the last dragon to ever exiSt. I’d accepted that loneliness as my fate.
His other hand cupped her face.
Then you fell into my territory.
Broken and abandoned and so damn defiant.
I couldn’t look away.
The bond chose you.
My dragon chose you.
And maybe I’m starting to choose you too Emma.
So stop asking if you’re enough.
You’re everything.
The only question is whether I’m enough for you.
Before she could think better of it she leaned forward and kissed him.
It wasn’t graceful.
Their noses bumped and she probably tasted like sweat and venison.
But his lips were warm and his hand slid into her hair.
And the bond flared so bright she saw stars behind her closed eyes.
When they broke apart they were both shaking.
That was he started.
A mistake?
No.
His forehead rested against hers.
Inevitable.
Three days passed in a blur of training talking and learning to live with the bond.
Kale taught her to fight with knives to read the forest to move silently.
She taught him that coffee existed and was superior to his bitter herb tea that laughing didn’t make him weak and that he had been alone too long.
The bond was a constant presence now.
She felt his moods like weather patterns the calm focus when he hunted the fierce protectiveness when she was out of sight the simmering heat when they were close.
He felt her determination her growing confidence and embarrassingly her increasing attraction to him.
They didn’t talk about the kiss but they didn’t need to.
It was there in every shared glance every accidental touch every night when he stopped at her doorway like he was fighting the urge to stay.
On the fourth morning everything changed.
She was gathering herbs near the forest edge when the bond suddenly screamed danger.
Not words just pure primal alarm flooding through her.
Kale’s alarm.
Run.
She found him in dragon form on the main ledge wings spread in threat display.
Below in the valley were riders at least a dozen armed with weapons that gleamed silver in the morning sun.
Hunters.
Well well a voice called up amplified by magic.
The rumors were true.
The last dragon really does still exiSt. A woman rode forward tall blonde wearing armor that had seen real combat.
Something about her made her skin crawl.
And he’s got himself a little pet she continued her gaze finding Emma.
How adorable.
Tell me dragon.
Does she know what you are?
What you’ve done?
Kale’s growl shook the mountain.
No.
Let me educate her.
The woman’s smile was poison.
Your mate there.
He’s not just the last dragon.
He’s the last dragon because he killed the others.
Liar.
Emma shouted before she could stop herself.
Am I?
Ask him about the fall of the dragon clan.
Ask him who betrayed them to the hunters.
She paused for effect.
Ask him about the gold he took in exchange for his family’s location.
The world tilted.
She looked at Kale and through the bond she felt.
Guilt.
Old buried festering guilt.
Kale.
Her voice broke on his name.
The dragon shifted became the man and his face was devastated.
Emma it’s not.
She’s twisting the truth.
But there was truth to twiSt. Her heart was breaking all over again.
Isn’t there?
They were going to find us anyway he said desperately.
The hunters had us surrounded.
I was sixteen Emma.
They caught me tortured me and said if I didn’t tell them where the clan gathered for the full moon they’d kill me slowly and find them anyway.
So you told them?
I told them.
His voice cracked.
I thought I was saving them.
I thought if I gave them the location they’d let me go and I could warn everyone.
But they kept me chained.
Made me watch through a window while they slaughtered my entire clan.
Men women children everyone I loved.
Tears streamed down his face and through the bond she felt sixty years of self-hatred of survivor’s guilt of believing he deserved to die but being too cowardly to do it.
The gold was planted on me he continued to make it look like betrayal instead of torture so the other shifter communities would blame me instead of the hunters and it worked.
I’ve been alone ever since because I deserve to be alone.
The woman below laughed.
Touching story doesn’t change the facts.
You led hunters to your family.
You’re the last dragon because of your own weakness.
And now history repeats because we followed you here little omega.
We’ve been tracking you since your pack so kindly reported an abandoned wolf in the northern woods.
My pack.
They sold her out even in death.
We weren’t sure what we’d find the hunter continued.
But a dragon and freshly mated.
This is beyond our wildest hopes.
She raised her hand and her people aimed crossbows.
You can come quietly or we can take you in pieces.
Dragon parts sell for just as much either way.
Kale shifted back to dragon form placing himself between her and the hunters.
Through the bond his message was clear.
Run please Emma run.
But she had been running her whole life.
From her pack’s expectations from her own self-doubt from connection because she was afraid of being hurt.
She was done running.
Kale she said quietly.
You know those dragon fire healing powers you have?
His massive head turned slightly toward her.
Can you do that in reverse?
Make fire that hurts instead of heals.
A low rumble that might be a chuckle through the bond.
Yes.
Then stop protecting me and start fighting.
I didn’t train for four days to be dead weight again.
She felt his surprise his fear his desperate love through the bond.
And yes it was love now.
Raw and new and terrifying but also his pride.
The dragon roared.
And it wasn’t surrender.
It was a declaration of war.
Take them the hunter screamed.
All hell broke loose.
Kale launched into the air wings creating winds that knocked three riders from their horses.
Fire bloomed from his jaws.
Not the healing gold fire but red-orange destruction.
The hunter woman rolled aside barely avoiding being cooked in her armor.
An arrow flew past her head.
She dropped grabbed the knife Kale made her carry and came up throwing.
It took one hunter in the shoulder.
Not lethal but enough to make him drop his crossbow.
The second one was smarter more cautious.
They circled each other.
Then Kale landed between them his tail whipping around to send the hunter flying.
Through the bond behind you.
She spun blocked a strike from hunter number three.
He was stronger his blade knocking hers away.
For a moment she was defenseless.
Then Kale was there in human form catching the hunter’s sword with his bare hand.
His skin smoked but didn’t break.
Dragon scales beneath human flesh.
He ripped the sword away and punched the hunter hard enough to drop him cold.
You’re insane he told her breathing hard.
Learned from the beSt. Below the lead hunter was rallying her forces.
Dragon’s bane arrows now.
Dragon’s bane the poison that killed Kale’s family.
We need to go she said urgently.
Kale we can’t win this.
I’m not running again.
His eyes were wild.
I’m not losing someone else I love because I was too weak to fight.
You’re not weak.
You’re smart.
Fighting isn’t always the answer.
She grabbed his face making him look at her.
Listen to me.
You survived once by being clever.
Do it again.
We survive together or not at all.
The bond pulsed between them and she felt his decision before he made it.
Hold on he growled shifting again.
She scrambled onto his back as arrows whistled past them.
One grazed his wing and she felt his pain through the bond like it was her own.
They launched into the air.
Kale’s wings beat hard carrying them up and away from the cave from his home of sixty years.
She looked back and saw the hunters flooding into the caves tearing apart the only sanctuary he had.
I’m sorry she whispered against his scales through the bond.
Don’t be.
Home is just a place.
You’re what matters.
They flew for hours past the northern woods over mountains she didn’t recognize until the sun set and Kale finally landed in a dense forest clearing.
He shifted back immediately checking her for injuries.
I’m fine she assured him.
You’re the one who got shot.
It’s already healing.
But she could see the wound in his shoulder.
Smell the wrong scent of dragon’s bane working through his system.
He swayed slightly.
Kale she said panic flooding through her.
I’m fine.
Just need to.
He collapsed.
Panic flooded through her.
Through the bond she felt his pain.
His system trying to fight the poison.
No no no.
She caught him before he hit the ground completely.
Don’t you dare die on me.
We did not just escape for you to die in a random foreSt. His eyes fluttered open.
Emma run.
If the poison takes me you can still still what?
Go back to the pack that abandoned me.
Become a lone wolf with no protection and a target on my back.
I’m crying now pressing my hands to his wound uselessly.
You’re my mate you idiot.
The bond goes both ways.
I’m not leaving.
Stubborn he murmured but there was a faint smile.
You have no idea.
She didn’t know what she was doing but the bond was there glowing between them.
And she remembered what Kale said about dragon fire.
It heals.
What if the bond could carry that healing?
What if she could give back what he gave her?
She closed her eyes and reached for the bond.
Not just feeling it but pulling on it drawing it tight between them.
She imagined pushing her strength into him.
Her determination her absolute refusal to let him die.
Emma what are you?
Heat bloomed in her cheSt. Not painful but intense like swallowing sunlight.
It flowed down her arms into her hands into his wound.
Through her closed eyelids she saw gold light.
Kale gasped.
The dragon’s bane poison burned away under the bond’s power.
It wasn’t his dragon fire.
It was something else.
Something that came from them being connected from two people refusing to let go.
When she opened her eyes his wound was closed.
Still scarred but no longer bleeding poison.
How did you?
Kale stared at her in wonder.
I don’t know.
I just couldn’t.
I couldn’t lose you too.
He pulled her down to him kissing her like she was oxygen and he had been drowning.
It was desperate and grateful and full of everything they hadn’t said yet.
When they finally broke apart they were both shaking.
We can’t go back to the cave he said finally.
They’ll be watching it waiting.
Then where do we go?
Kale looked up at the stars thinking.
There are other dragons.
Were other dragons.
If any survived like I did they’d be in hiding.
If we could find them we’d have allies.
We’d have family.
His hand found hers.
I’ve heard rumors over the years.
Sightings that were always dismissed.
A dragon in the Canadian Rockies.
Another in the Himalayas.
They might be nothing or they might be everything.
She squeezed his hand.
Let’s find out.
He looked at her really looked at her and through the bond she felt his awe.
You should hate me for what I did for what I am.
What you are is someone who survived an impossible situation and has spent sixty years punishing himself for it.
You were a child Kale.
A child who was tortured and manipulated.
She picked up his face.
What I should do is hate the hunters who broke you.
Not you.
But you.
I could never hate you.
I don’t deserve you.
Lucky for you I don’t care what you deserve.
I care about what you choose.
And you chose to save me.
Over and over you chose me.
Always.
He breathed.
I’ll always choose you.
They stayed there in the forest holding each other while the bond settled into something deeper than instinct something like choice like love.
Tomorrow they would start searching.
They would hunt for lost dragons and dodge hunters and figure out how to survive in a world that wanted them dead.
But tonight they had each other.
And somehow impossibly that was enough.
Traveling with a dragon shifter was weird.
They moved at night.
Kale flying them over territories in his dragon form while she clung to his back like a deranged bat.
During the day they rested in caves abandoned buildings anywhere that offered shelter from prying eyes.
They were heading north to Canada chasing a rumor Kale heard fifteen years ago about a dragon sighting in the Rockies.
It was thin evidence but it was all they had.
She had gotten better at reading the bond.
She knew when Kale was hungry tired or stressed.
He knew when she was scared which was more often than she’d like to admit.
Being hunted did that to a person.
They stopped at a small town to resupply.
Kale went in human form trying to look normal in worn jeans and a leather jacket.
She waited outside watching the streets nervously.
That was when she saw her.
Sarah her former best friend from the pack.
She was coming out of a coffee shop laughing with another wolf.
She recognized Marcus’s brother Cole.
Her heart stopped.
She should hide.
She should run.
But before she could move Sarah saw her.
Her face went white.
Emma.
Sarah.
Her voice was ice.
She approached slowly like Emma was a wild animal that might bolt.
Emma oh my god you’re alive.
We thought Marcus said you were dead.
Marcus pushed me off a cliff.
So yeah I can see why he’d think that.
She flinched.
I’m so sorry.
I should have stopped him.
I should have.
You were there Sarah.
You watched them do it.
Old pain surged up.
You were my best friend.
I know.
Tears filled her eyes.
I know.
And I hate myself for it.
Marcus said it was pack law that the council decided.
The council decided I was disposable.
And you all agreed.
Cole joined them.
His expression guilty.
Emma listen.
Things have changed.
Marcus is dead.
That stopped her cold.
What?
Three days after after what happened to you.
The pack was attacked hunters.
They took out half the pack before we drove them off.
He swallowed hard.
Marcus fought them and loSt. The pack is scattered now.
Broken.
She should have felt vindicated.
Instead she just felt numb.
Good.
It’s not good Sarah said desperately.
We’re vulnerable.
We and the hunters Emma they’re looking for you.
They came to our territory asking about the abandoned omega who was last seen in the northern woods.
They said you’re traveling with something valuable.
My blood ran cold.
What did you tell them?
Nothing.
We don’t know anything but they’re offering money Emma.
Serious money.
And some of the pack.
She trailed off but Emma understood.
Some of the pack would sell her out for survival.
You need to run Cole said urgently.
Get as far from here as possible.
I’m handling it.
How?
You’re alone.
Powerless.
She’s not alone.
Kale appeared beside her so quietly even she didn’t sense him coming.
He was wearing his try-to-look-harmless face but his eyes were pure predator.
Sarah and Cole took an instinctive step back.
Their wolves recognizing danger even if they didn’t understand why.
Who the hell are you?
Cole demanded.
Someone who values Emma more in one day than her pack did in twenty-three years.
Kale’s hand found hers.
We’re leaving now.
Wait.
Sarah grabbed her arm.
Emma please.
I know I don’t deserve your forgiveness but I need you to know I never stopped caring about you.
I was a coward.
I chose pack over you and I’ll regret it for the rest of my life.
She looked at her really looked at her.
She was thinner sadder marked by the same violence that scattered her pack.
Part of her wanted to forgive her.
Part of her wanted to rage.
She did neither.
I hope you find what you’re looking for she told her.
A pack that’s actually worth the loyalty you give it.
Then Kale and she walked away leaving her old life standing on a street corner crying.
You okay?
He asked when they were out of sight.
Not even a little bit.
The bond pulsed with his concern.
But I will be.
That night they didn’t fly.
They found a motel room on the edge of town.
The kind that took cash and didn’t ask questions.
Kale checked every window every door.
His dragon paranoia in full effect.
We’re safe she told him.
We’re never safe.
But he relaxed slightly sitting on the bed with a weary sigh.
Seeing your old pack.
Was it hard?
Yes.
Well I don’t know.
Marcus is dead.
Pack is broken.
I should feel something about that right?
Justice or satisfaction or something?
What do you feel?
Empty.
Like that part of my life happened to someone else.
She leaned against his shoulder.
Is that wrong?
No.
That’s survival.
You’ve moved past them.
That’s healthy.
Have you moved past your clan?
He was quiet for a long moment.
I’m trying.
Meeting you helped.
The bond helped but some wounds don’t heal completely.
We just learn to live with the scars.
She took his hand tracing the scars on his knuckles.
Will you tell me about them?
Your family?
Not how they died but how they lived.
Kale looked surprised then soft.
My father was huge even for a dragon.
He used to let me ride on his back when I was young teaching me to fly.
My mother sang constantly.
Old songs new songs made-up songs about whatever she was doing.
My sister was only eight when he paused composing himself.
She wanted to be a healer.
She was always bringing home injured birds and trying to fix them with her fire.
She sounds wonderful.
They all were.
And I cost them their lives.
No.
She turned to face him.
Hunters cost them their lives.
You were a victim too Kale.
A child who was tortured and used.
She picked up his face.
What I should do is hate the hunters who broke you.
Not you.
But you.
I could never hate you.
I don’t deserve you.
Lucky for you I don’t care what you deserve.
I care about what you choose.
And you chose to save me.
Over and over you chose me.
Always.
He breathed.
I’ll always choose you.
They stayed there in the forest holding each other while the bond settled into something deeper than instinct something like choice like love.
Tomorrow they would start searching.
They would hunt for lost dragons and dodge hunters and figure out how to survive in a world that wanted them dead.
But tonight they had each other.
And somehow impossibly that was enough.
