Archer pulled out the blanket he'd packed and laid it on the forest floor. He positioned his bags in a way to surround him while also creating a bit of a pillow. Once in a comfortable position, he laid there and looked up into the trees, wondering if this was what his life would look like. Would he become some recluse in the woods? Was he going to live off the land? Would he ever find a place where he truly belonged?
As sleep claimed him, he could have sworn he heard a voice on the wind.
"Welcome home, darling."
It was a woman's voice in a tone he'd never heard before, and yet it gave him the biggest sense of rightness. Like he had truly found himself.
Sleep claimed him and it was glorious. It was wonderful. The peace that came, and the dreams of him running through the forest happily with others. Their faces were blurred and he couldn't understand what they said, but it was like he had become one of them. He was laughing and smiling, and it was everything he'd ever dreamed of for his life.
He was startled from said dream by a growl. His eyes popped open and he sat up, only to find a wolf crouched at the edge of the clearing he'd lain in.
"Fuck!" he muttered, scrambling to get free of the blanket he had somehow tangled himself in. "Great going, Archer. You'll die because your blanket is holding you hostage."
He needed to run. Needed to move. It was his only chance. He wouldn't win a fight. The wolf wasn't huge, but its canines sure were. When he managed to free himself, he took off. It was only as he sprinted away that he realized his mistake, because predators love to chase and he’d just waved a red flag in front of the wolf.
He barely made it past the clearing before he felt the first snap. Archer turned to look over his should just in time to see jagged teeth sink into skin. He could hear bones cracking and the pain was instant. His body lit with it as if he were being torn from the inside out.
There was more biting and clawing and Archer screamed through every bit of it. It drained him quickly. Exhaustion overtook him and he realized his life was fading away.
He laid there still until the wolf released him and ran away. He didn't know if the beast thought he was dead, or if the chase was simply no longer fun once he didn't fight back. It didn'treally matter. Archer was wounded. He wouldn't be able to walk away from this. There was no running.
As he laid there with the moon glowing in the sky and the stars shining bright above him, he accepted his fate.
CHAPTER 2
Romilly
“Mother, I promise to review the documents in the morning. I cannot take care of it tonight no matter how much you think I should.”
Romilly fought the sigh his body wanted to release. While he normally did as asked, he couldn’t bring himself to that night.
His dragon was restless. Desperately so.
It had started in the early afternoon. One minute he was fine, listening to one of the horde members argue about a new fountain they thought needed to be installed, and the next he was seconds away from a forced shift.
The pointless presentation meant to let the man feel heard droned on far too long. Romilly figured that was reason enough for the animal part of him to rise up.
But now, in the late evening hour, when he should have been long asleep to prepare for the day ahead, he couldn’t fight it anymore. He needed to shift. Needed to hunt.
He needed something.
And whatever it was didn’t lie in the castle walls.
His mother, the former Queen Mira Saint, eyed him with a curious gaze. She wasn’t one to step aside when she felt the need to speak her mind. She was also nosy as could be. There were no secrets between her and the family.
Some might call it a mother’s instinct. Romilly knew the truth.
The great-great grandmother on his mother’s paternal side was a witch. Though the magic was muted, the power his mother had manifested in particularly specific ways.
“You will be careful tonight. No letting loose in a manner that will reveal you. I want to see you at breakfast to discuss whatever is going on.” Her eyes flashed gold, the dragon in her demanding Romilly’s follow suit.
He bowed, both out of respect for his mother, but also to appease her nature. “Will do, mother. Please sleep well. Give father my best.”
She snorted at the suggestion. “That man is already deep in REM sleep. I’m surprised we can’t hear him snoring all the way out here.”
The pair shared a knowing smile. It was no secret the former king was more freight train in sound than human. How his mother managed to sleep in the same room with him still was beyond Romilly’s understanding.
Then again, they were fated mates. He’d deal with anything if he found his.
