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ChapterOne
Kane
Inever knew three words could hold so much power, but when Farren looked at us with true fear in her eyes and asked “Who are you?”, it was enough to shatter the world around me. The strong-willed dragon we’d come to know had been reduced to this woman who didn’t recognize her own mates. Her eyes ran over the healer, us, then she finally stopped at West. The moment she saw her father figure, her face transformed with relief. The fact that we terrified her, while he got to be her safe space hit hard even though I knew I shouldn’t let it get to me. This wasn’t her fault.
“Oh, thank the gods. West? What’s going on?” she hissed frantically as she launched herself in his direction. He looked startled, but he managed to catch her in time to save them both from toppling to the floor. The healer frowned at her confusion and started muttering to himself, the words spoken too quietly for me to make them out.
“It’s alright, Farren,” West promised, settling them on the couch, leaving his hand resting on hers to offer comfort. Never in our time here, or in the stories we’d heard, had he been the touchy feely sort. The worry lines etched into the old man’s face were deep, and from the panic behind his expression, I knew he was out of his depth.We all are.
“Who are these people?” As she asked it, I could see her eyes trailing over us, her chest rising and falling with the deep breaths she took to catch our scents. Even if her mind didn’t know us, her instincts and body did, and each inhale lessened a tiny bit of the tension sitting on her shoulders. “I don’t feel right.”
“Let me catch you up,” he said gently. “These four are your mates.” He gave her a minute to absorb that, patting her hand before he took his own deep breath. I knew what was coming next, though I had no idea how she was going to take it. I wished we could ease her into it more, give her a chance to relearn us even the slightest bit first, but time was of the essence, and the moment she calmed enough to take stock of her body’s condition, she would realize that we’d left out something very important. “In fact, there’s something else you need to know. You’re pregnant with their babies.”
“What?” she gasped, her hands immediately dropping to her stomach. Her eyes went wide at the soft swell of her belly. From what Levi had been able to tell us, dragon eggs grew quickly. She’d lay them in mere weeks, and that meant the physical signs of pregnancy, like her growing stomach, would happen much quicker than they did during the human gestation period. “Why can’t I remember?”
“You were attacked,” I supplied, wanting her to focus on me. Maybe a part of me hoped we would make eye contact, and she’d magically become herself again. Of course, reality was never as good as our dreams, and she only looked more startled when something almost… electric passed between us as our eyes met. Farren couldn’t deny our connection even if it scared her. I wouldn’t let her shy away from us in fear. She might have lost her recent memories, but she was stronger than any woman I’d ever known. Hell, at ten years old, she had flown into the world with nothing but a backpack and a prayer to escape certain death. Dragons were hunted, now nearly extinct, and if she hadn’t escaped when she did, the royal line would have fallen with her. Thanks to her, the dragons could have hope for their future. “By an enemy of ours. I’m so sorry, Farren.”
“Mates? How?” she asked, avoiding the apology altogether. That part had me biting back a grin. She was still in there. Only Farren would deflect the moment things get deep.
Niko smiled at that as well. “Thisconversation again.” He chuckled. “Your people were wrong. Levi here is a dragon, but Kane, Avi, and myself are all witches.” He pointed each of us out in turn as he introduced us, and it felt so fucking wrong to be back to the beginning all over again. “Despite that, we’re definitely fated mates, Farren. And, before you argue, fate’s never wrong. Tell me you don’t scent it…feelit.” Anger and frustration started to fill me, but she didn’t need that right now. Avi’s touch helped me swallow it down. Our poor beta was suffering just as much, yet he never faltered when it came to keeping his alphas from losing their shit.
A throat cleared, then the healer took a step closer to us. “This is good news. If her long-term memory is unaffected, then those babies kept a lot more from that monster than we thought,” the healer explained. “Farren, can you tell me the last thing you remember?”
Her eyebrows scrunched as she thought about it, and I could see frustration and desperation warring on her face. I couldn’t imagine how terrifying it would be to wake up one day and have lost months or years of my life. To be told you had mates yet not know their faces at all.
“I remember escaping, finding West, working here…” She growled as she trailed off. “What day is it? Year?” West answered without skipping a beat, not the type to sugarcoat things even in a situation like this one. I respected that about him, and so did she, though hearing the answer had her freaking out all over again. She pushed off the couch and started to pace back and forth, her eyes darting between us. I was glad the dragons had stayed out for now, though I knew they’d be back to check in on her. Their queen was in danger and they were ready to storm the enemy…if we could just fucking find him.
They hadn’t sensed that their queen was in danger when the Arch Mage attacked, and that had them beyond rattled. They should have been connected to her with a bond that would alert them any time she needed help. However, the Arch Mage was skilled in many areas, including barriers, and masking magic was one of his specialties. That was how he’d been able to appear dead and conceal his presence from us. The man was a snake, and this further proved he would stop at nothing to gain power and our silence. We should have realized it was only a matter of time before he got rid of us to keep his secrets from being exposed. A monster like him couldn’t take those risks.
“I’m going back out on patrol,” I announced abruptly. She glanced up at me, startled by my harsh tone. “I’m sorry, Farren. I have to get this extra energy out. My alpha doesn’t like that I can’t touch you or comfort you. We can smell your fear, and I don’t want to overstep and freak you out by letting my instincts get the better of me.”
She nodded. “Thanks. I can respect that, and I appreciate you not being a dick.” Her words made the rest of her mates crack up, which only confused her.
“They’re laughing because when we first met, you thought I was ahugedick,” I explained with an eye roll. Giving her a smile, I added on, “But I’m clearly just misunderstood.”
With that, I gave her one last glance to reassure myself she was truly safe before leaving, Niko following me only a few moments later. I should have known the other alpha wouldn’t let me go far after a big development like this—not on my own, anyway. Given his own instincts, he’d understand my need for some space, but it wasn’t only Farren that we were urged to protect. We looked out for each other, and since he knew that she had her other mates, West, and dragons ready to come forward with just a call, he’d come to make sure that I wasn’t alone.
“What the fuck do we do, Kane?” Our stoic, headstrong, never-afraid-to-take-control leader was askingmefor advice? I was the kick-ass-and-ask-questions-later type, not the figure-shit-out type.
“We’re going to hunt this fucker down,” I said evenly. It wasn’t quite that easy, and we both knew it, but it was what I had to cling to, the only thing keeping me sane at the moment. “I’m going to walk the town again, maybe take a dragon or two with me. He’ll slip up. He’s far too cocky not to.”
“We’re already here,” a gruff voice called out. I was a bit surprised to see that Beau was here since he had been the most against joining this brood. “No one attacks one of our kind like this and gets away with it, especially not our pregnant queen. We won’t be complacent this time around.” I knew he was referring to the fall of the dragons. They were wiped off the map thanks to greedy witches, and they’d been so closed off from the rest of the supernatural world that they hadn’t seen it coming. Honestly, I didn’t care how he’d gotten to this conclusion. I was just glad to have him on board. We’d need all the help we could get to smoke out the rat we were hunting.
“He has to be stopped,” I agreed. “Let’s go. I doubt he’s gone far. He’ll want to be around to watch the chaos unfold.”
“I’m with you,” he promised.
“Wait up,” the healer called out breathlessly, trying to catch up. “I have an idea, but it’s a bit of a stretch. And given your mention of the former Arch Mage, maybe a bit of a sore spot for you?”
“Spit it out,” I demanded. “We’re willing to consider anything at this point.” I just wanted my mate to not stare at me like I was a stranger.
“Well… I’ve heard of this professor at the university. He specializes in memory magic and stabilization. Speaking to him could be our best option. I can’t make the trip since I need to be here to care for her as she heals, not to mention keeping an eye on the eggs, so someone else has to do it.”
“Then we will go,” Niko said simply. “There is no other option.”
“We can’t all leave her,” I argued. He held up a hand to pacify me, meaning he wasn’t finished. I bit back a retort that I’d regret, knowing damn well he didn’t deserve my anger.See… progress.
“It would be foolish to send all of us. I think Levi needs to stay for Farren,” he started, but he was cut off when the other two joined us.
