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She better fucking be, I thought. Not because I wanted to control her, but the thought of someone else having her… I couldn’t even let the thought finish without scales pushing through my skin.
“I’m not near the academy,” I said. “I was supposed to be gone for a few days, but I’m going to head back now. Call me the second you find anything else and text me from your phone. If you take Dawsyn’s and she returns, she won’t be able to call any of us.”
“Good idea,” she replied. “I’ll get back to you soon.”
I ended the call and let out a guttural roar into the cab of the truck while squeezing the steering wheel.
“Damn it,” I snarled. “If this is the universe telling me that I need to choose between Dawsyn and saving my realm, I fucking choose her. I’ll choose her every damned time. Now, give her back to me!”
Several deep breaths later, I didn’t feel even the slightest bit better, but that didn’t mean I could sit there and stew.
I pulled the truck back onto the highway and cut across the grassy center divider to turn back around.
I’d find my mate, figure out what the fuck happened to our bond, and burn anyone to ash that was responsible.
There was no fucking doubt about that. Not anymore. Dawsyn was my life now. Everything else meant nothing to me without her.
ChapterTwo
DAWSYN
Icouldn’t stop pawing at my chest. The emptiness there was slowly killing me, taking away all my rage and replacing it with a soul-deep sorrow. Not feeling Cillian inside me was unnatural, even if we’d only had the connection for two weeks.
He’d been mine. I never should have thought I’d be better off without him. This had to be the Moon Goddess punishing me for trying to reject the mate bond she’d gifted me with.
Your reluctance wouldn’t have changed our scenario, my wolf said compassionately.Even if you’d accepted him right away, without having completed the bond, something you shouldn’t have felt rushed to do, we’d still have ended up right here.
While I knew she was right—technically—it was hard to relieve myself of the guilt coursing through me. Though, just because I thought I deserved this sort of heart-shattering pain didn’t mean I was giving up.
I still had hope that Cillian would find me in Drago. He’d figure out I was there and wouldn’t give up on getting me back. Once we were back together, I had faith that we could stop Knox from doing whatever he thought he was going to do.
Yet…Cillian didn’t even know his brother existed. Though that was a problem, I had to worry about it later. Right then, I needed to focus on River. I’d traded everything for my best friend’s life, and it was time to make sure Knox kept up with his end of our deal.
The sinister dragon shifter drove us to an empty house in the first town south of the academy. It was a single-story, grey, nondescript home. No flowers, no grass. Essentially, no life anywhere.
Except for inside.
I could scent River as soon as Knox pulled up in front of the house, but I had a feeling that was because my best friend had been bleeding for some time, which had my own blood boiling.
I was out of the car first and storming toward the front. Just as I lifted my foot to kick the door in, Knox clicked his tongue at me.
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he warned.
“And why the fuck not?” I countered without turning back toward him.
“You certainly have a mouth on you.”
My body shuddered just hearing the smirk in his words.
He continued, “There’s a warlock inside that house, and if I don’t enter first, he’s going to hurt you to the point you wish you were dead. Only, you won’t die. I won’t let that happen. At least, not until you’ve served your purpose.”
I clenched my hands at my sides and stepped back to wait for the psychotic dragon to go through the door first.
My desperation to get eyes on River and make sure he was going to be okay would not be the thing that got him killed. Not after all I’d sacrificed.
The mere thought of what I’d done had my heart splintering, feeling as if tiny shards were coursing through my veins, slicing me a million times over.
Cillian.
