2. Kadia

After a moment’s pause, Beckett spoke again. "You know; I don’t think you should go back to your roommates just yet." Beckett pulled her close to him and looked down into her eyes, finishing his thought, "I think you need a bit of a break after what just happened."

Kaida thought about it for a second and agreed. What happened on the beach was quite intense. For a second there, Kaida thought Blaze would ask her to duel or something. He was far too enraged that her dragon emerged and was told that she would move in.

"Yeah, I can second that. But... what will we do?"

"I have an idea. I hope you agree to it. It is the perfect thing to do."

Kaida raised her eyebrows at him, "Okay?"

Beckett smiled at her and leaned down to give her a soft kiss. It was quick but still made her feel all tingly. It made her wonder if this feeling would ever go away. It was something she always meant to ask her parents about but never did. They had been together for quite some time before they got pregnant with her. However, judging how they still acted as though they were still in their courting days, Kaida assumed that this feeling was here to stay.

"Let’s go fly together," He told her.

Kaida’s eyebrows raised further, "What?"

"Yeah! Let’s fly together. It is a great stress reliever, and it will give you some practice with shifting. It is not going to be easy until you get the hang of it."

Kaida frowned for a moment. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to go flying right now. She wasn’t even sure if she would even be able to shift back into her dragon form. It was difficult just trying to switch to her human form.

Kaida’s breathing came rapidly, and she started to see black dots dance before her eyes. She couldn’t catch her breath at the idea of having to shift again. "I don’t know. What if I can’t shift again? I don’t want to risk being stuck as a dragon or not even being able to shift into my dragon again! I mean...what if it was a fluke?"

Beckett held her close and whispered in her ear, "Shhh, it’ll be okay. It is not as hard as it seems. Everyone has difficulties shifting at first. Take a breath. Nice and deep. Then let it out slowly."

His warm body against hers, and the scent of the ocean breeze filled her nose. Kaida nuzzled herself into the crook of his neck and tried to take deep breaths as he told her to do. It took some time, but she started to feel her heartbeat settle down, the black dots drifted away, and she didn’t feel jittery.

"See, baby. It’ll be okay. I am here, and I will coach you through it."

"What if I get stuck?" she whispered.

"My dragon should be able to pull you back through our bond. You won’t get stuck."

"You said ‘should’," Kaida mumbled into his chest.

Beckett chuckled, and her head bounced gently with the movement, "I promise you won’t get stuck. Isn’t one of your new friends a Witch?"

Kaida looked up at him with her eyebrow cocked, "Yeah? Why?"

"Well, if you get stuck, she would be able to perform a spell or give you a potion to bring you back. Now stop worrying because that won’t happen!"

Kaida sighed and put her head back onto his chest. "Fine."

Beckett laced his fingers through hers and led her back onto the beach. He mentioned that he thought it would be the best place to practice since it was away from everyone and everything. Nothing could get broken, and no one would spook her dragon and cause a meltdown. Literally.

As they stood on the beach, Beckett talked her through the same thing that she did earlier to shift into her human form. Kaida nodded as he went through all the steps, but her stomach tightened at the idea of having to do them again. She wasn’t confident that everything would be fine like Beckett.

The smell of saltwater in the breeze was not a welcoming scent anymore. There had been far too many incidents on the beach for this place to be comforting for Kaida. This time was no better. Beckett wore an encouraging smile as he took a few steps away from her, but that didn’t settle Kaida’s nerves at all. She could hear her heartbeat as it rammed into her chest, her palms slick with sweat, and she shifted uncomfortably from foot to foot as Beckett stared at her.

"Okay. Let’s start with centering yourself. You won’t always have to do this, but it is a great way for you to start when practicing shifting." Beckett’s voice was soothing as he recited things she should do to allow her shift to come easily to her.

The only problem was that she did not think this was as easy as he made it sound.

"Another big thing is just to focus on your dragon within you. She will call to you, almost beg, to be released."

"Like she has been for the last two months? Yeah, yeah, sure, sure."

Beckett chuckled. "Now that she is out, she will definitely beg to come out more."

Kaida made a face that showed that she did not believe a single word Beckett said. He flashed her a smile and then closed his eyes. When he spread his arms outward and took a deep breath, Kaida noticed the shimmering around him. His dragon was showing off by allowing the shift to come slowly. Kaida could feel it through their bond that he was trying to comfort her as well. Only seeing Beckett easily transform into his dragon didn’t comfort her. If anything, it made her feel inadequate since she had no idea how to do this.

Beckett’s gorgeous blue dragon’s form was on the beach, and he let out an obnoxiously loud roar. The waves crashed one after another, growing in height before they did, as the roar filled the area. Kaida couldn’t help but smile. The Tidal dragon’s power was able to pull onto the water with minimal effort. Though she was fairly sure he was also showing off for her.

Come on, I know you can do this. I’m sure she wants to be let loose again after being cooped up for so long—Beckett’s voice inside of her mind.

Kaida jumped at the sound of Beckett’s voice in her head. She wasn’t aware of him being able to talk to her inside of his dragon form. When they completed their bond, she thought she would, but it didn’t seem to happen. After a few seconds, she realized that it was probably due to her dragon emerging.

She focused her thoughts on going to Beckett. Easier said than done, Beck. When his dragon snorted, she knew that it worked.

After shifting herself from foot to foot to find a comfortable way to stand, Kaida took a few deep breaths. As she tried to center herself, her thoughts of getting stuck came to mind again. Kaida groaned and stretched her neck. Then she wiggled her arms and legs to make her feel better. It just felt right to do before taking another few deep breaths and closing her eyes.

Okay, you got this. Just center yourself. Clear your mind. You can do this.

Kaida felt an inkling inside of her chest of the warmth she felt the last time her dragon emerged, but then the flame seemed to blow out. She tilted her head back and groaned again. Beckett’s dragon lowered his head and bumped her in her stomach with his snout. Kaida opened her eyes and smiled at the dragon. His ice-blue eyes gazed into hers and blew out a puff of cold smoke at her.

Kaida laughed and patted his snout, "I know. I’m thinking too much. Right?"

The cold smoke billowed out of his nose, giving Kaida goosebumps from the sudden drop in temperature. His dragon pushed his snout against her again. This time, Kaida wrapped her arms around his snout and blew out a breath onto his blue scales. The dragon grumbled, and Kaida laughed.

"I know. My breath isn’t as cool as yours," she told him as she stood back onto her feet with her mouth open in a silly way.

Beckett’s dragon did not seem as amused as she was at her pun. Kaida giggled at first, then realized that she had done something her father would have done. He was the king of puns. Kaida’s chest tightened.

Ugh, I miss my parents.

We will see them again.

Yeah, I hope so.

We will.

How about we focus on shifting right now?

Kaida got back into her comfortable position and closed her eyes. This time, she focused on her breathing. She counted up to five while she breathed in, then counted backward as she let go of it. It took a bit, but she stared into the darkness and looked for her dragon’s bond. Soon enough, she saw the bright purple flame as it illuminated the darkness. Kaida mentally grabbed onto it and thought of herself transitioning into her dragon form. She felt the power of her dragon cascade through her body and take over. When she opened her eyes, she could see through her dragon’s eyes.

Yes, I did it!

Yes, you did. Now, let’s fly!

With one giant flap of her wings, Kaida’s dragon was in the air. The rush of the air against her scales felt incredible as she soared above the island and the surrounding water. She could smell the moisture in the air before her form glided through a cloud. As she burst out of the other side, droplets of water fell from her scales down below.

Well, look at you go! You certainly seem comfortable up here. Beckett’s voice popped into her mind. With a glance to her right, Beckett’s Tidal dragon form was gliding beside her. He gained some speed, making him get a good distance ahead of them.

Are you racing us?

What if we were?

Unwise decision, pal.

Kaida’s dragon flapped her wings harder than before and was gaining speed. Within two seconds, she was right next to him again. Beckett’s dragon shot upwards and disappeared into the clouds. Kaida’s dragon was right at his heels, following as closely as she could. A shot of water spurted out of nowhere, hitting Kaida’s dragon square in her chest. Her dragon roared, and a crackle of plasma at the tail end made Kaida squirm.

He is our mate. Do not do anything to harm him.

What do you take me for? Why would I do anything to harm him?

What’s with the crackle?

That’s just my roar.

Scary roar, then.

Good. It’ll let people know not to mess with us.

Her dragon dove sideways into a different cloud and changed course again once she was inside it. When she burst from the top and glanced down, the blue dot that was the Tidal dragon was looking to the left of the cloud. He did not realize that her dragon changed course, giving them the advantage. Her dragon tilted downward and flapped her powerful wings. She gained momentum when she tucked her wings in, passing Beckett’s dragon and making him roar.

Race you to the water! Kaida called out to entice him to follow.

They didn’t dare look to see where they were in comparison to them. All she wanted was to reach the water before he did. The air rushed past them as the distance began to close. She could feel the Tidal Dragon’s energy right at her tail. At the very last second, her dragon pulled upward and pushed out her wings to glide on top of the water. Beckett’s dragon submerged into it, causing a wave of water to splash onto her. Kaida laughed but continued her glide around the island. Beckett’s dragon popped up out of the water, with only his neck showing. It made him look like a monster that young kids would joke about seeing when the mist would shroud the water in the early morning.

I won, right? I was the one who actually went into the water, so I got there first.

Kaida’s dragon snorted a purple puff of smoke at him, not a chance. I got there first, but didn’t want to get wet.

You don’t want to get wet? Damn. I was planning to do that when we got back.

If Kaida were in her human form, she would blush. She was still getting used to the idea of having a mate. It hasn’t even been an entire day since Beckett marked her. She had no idea how to talk to Beckett in a sexy way. All the responses she thought of sounded horrible. The worst one was, "Are you planning on peeing on me?" That’s when she decided that just keeping her mouth shut was the best response.

They continued to fly around the island, making two passes before they called it a day. Beckett mentioned eating some food before letting her gather her things from her place. Kaida’s mouth watered at the idea of food and thought it was the perfect plan.

Beckett coached her through shifting back again. His smile was radiant when she was able to do it quicker than she did before. He placed his lips on hers, picked her up by her waist, and swung her around with joy while congratulating her on her first successful shift after her dragon emerged. Then he tucked her into hiding with his arm around her shoulders while they walked back. Kaida wondered how the girls would respond to the news. This all happened so fast, so it was going to be a lot dumped on them at once. Her stomach did a flip at the idea of her friends hating this and trying to talk her out of it.

Wow. This feels like I am telling my parents that I found my first boyfriend. Ugh.