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As we approached, there was a glow within the trees, moving faster than I could track through the thick foliage with my eyes, going in the opposite direction.
You go toward the noise, I said to Lykem.I’m going to follow whatever that was.
Are you sure we should split up?
I was already turned around before he’d even finished asking the question.
We don’t have a choice.
Whatever was out there had to lead me to the answers I’d been searching for. Someone had escaped, and that meant Dawsyn could as well.
Though, as I caught up with the glow, my entire body filled with fire that powered me forward with an urgency I’d yet to experience.
My dragon nose-dived toward the trees, getting closer to the speeding…wolf. I could scent the wolf shifter, but they didn’t smell like my Dawsyn. Though, that didn’t stop my heart from beating wildly.
A howl cut through the air that quickly turned into a snarl as I got closer. She was running out of the trees and cut right to stay under the foliage. If it wasn’t for the bright glow, I wouldn’t have been able to track her, but I couldn’t take my eyes off the powerful energy I was sensing.
Deciding the only way to get to this wolf was to get ahead of her, I flew past her, working my wings harder than ever before. My dragon form crashed through the branches a few moments later and landed just a few yards in front of the wolf shifter.
Only one look into her golden eyes and I knew this wasn’t some supreme wolf that had been trapped down there with Dawsyn. This was my mate.
Her wolf stopped, chest heaving, then let out a sorrowful howl I couldn’t understand.
I shifted immediately back to my human form and held my hands out. “It’s okay, Dawsyn. I’m not going to hurt you. I want to take you home.”
She whimpered some more, and the glow around her reddish-grey wolf began to die down. I hesitated to step forward. I wasn’t sure where her head was at, and I didn’t want to rush her, but damn it, I was dying inside to hold her again.
Her wolf laid down on the leaf-covered ground, and I held my arm out, palm up and toward her. “I’m going to come closer.”
She whimpered again, head down and eyes averted.
I didn’t understand what I was sensing. Her wolf was putting off vibes of shame, but that made no sense. This wasn’t who Dawsyn was. Not that I’d seen since knowing her, at least.
When I was within reaching distance, I lowered to one knee and lightly placed my hand on her head. The wolf shuddered and half whimpered while groaning.
“It’s okay, Dawsyn,” I promised. “Whatever happened, we’ll work it out together.”
Her head shook, and she jerked back from me.
“If you’d shift back, this would be a lot easier for me to understand,” I said, then added, “but if you’re not comfortable around me, then stay however you’d like. We really should get out of here, though.”
Lykem still wasn’t back from following whatever had caused that rumble. It could have been the dragon shifter I assumed was causing all the mayhem in Drago. Not being there for my friend in case he needed back-up wasn’t sitting right with me, but Dawsyn needed me more.
Whatever had happened to her, she wasn’t okay.
Her wolf finally stood up on four legs, then shimmered briefly before she transformed back to her human self.
My eyes roamed over her face, surprised to see she was clean and put together, but as I took in her clothes, I realized that wasn’t exactly the case.
She was wearing a white dress over the jeans and t-shirt I’d last seen her in, and it was covered in red dirt and ripped in a few places, as if she’d been fighting in it.
I stepped closer, my fingers twitching to hold her. “Dawsyn.”
As I said her name, all the desperation I’d been feeling since the bond had been taken away leaked through the single word.
Her eyes finally met mine and glossed over. I’d never seen my mate vulnerable, but when she leapt into my arms, tears falling down her cheeks and arms wrapped so tightly around me that I could hardly breathe, I knew something had broken her. Or someone. And they were going to die for doing this to her.
I rubbed my hands over her back as her arms and legs clung to me. “It’s okay. I have you.”
