25. Blaze

Blaze

The scene of the Plasma dragon holding her own against four other dragons made Blaze want to mark Kaida immediately. The fact that they were in their dragon forms allowed him to push that thought into the back of his mind. There was no chance in hell he would admit that he felt the pull to Kaida. That was not an option. He would not allow himself to fall for someone who could leave the island at any given time.

Because I am not delusional. Pretty Boy will be back for her. A Fated Mate is more powerful than a Chosen Mate. He needs her to rule.

When hearing multiple reports of five dragons attacking each other in the sky, Blaze knew it was her. How could it not be? She had destroyed the small town that was being built on the peninsula since there had been an uptick of people coming to the island as the rejection ritual became more popular. Blaze never told the others that was his plan with the buildings. It made sense to turn it into something they could use since no one went out that way.

All four of them were together when they heard the news. Esen spoke to them about talking with Kaida and her running off on him. Blaze laughed in his face when he heard. They all were pining for her. They should have known she would eventually say no to one of them. Or at least thought it was too much and took off. He thought it would have been to both Arlo and Esen, so it was a surprise that it was just Esen that she did this to.

None of the others wanted Kaida to fight alone. After her tussle with the Dark Dimension, her temper seemed short. As an Ember dragon, Blaze had a lot of experience with having a short fuse. Some days were better than others. However, there was no mention of Plasmas having the same issue at all. Hearing that Kaida was unable to keep her temper in check and even control over her dragon was more than enough reason to stay away from her.

Not like I haven’t run into this kind of shit with females. All of them seem to have a way of letting their emotions get the better of them. That’s why I chose none of them to be my mate. Not worth it.

Blaze watched the other three roar and threaten the other dragons with their magic swirling around them until the four of them left. Blaze would have preferred to let Kaida sort this out by herself while they watched from the sidelines. Instead, it seemed as though everyone else disagreed. Esen followed the dragons back toward town. Blaze could see that he had a shield made from his Breeze magic to push them to move in case they decided to say, "fuck this," and come back around to attack again. Considering all four of them were here and Kaida, for that matter, these dragons wouldn’t have stood a chance. Seeing them fly away with their tails tucked between their legs told him they felt the same way.

Blaze growled when Beckett shifted back into human midair and left his wings out to keep him hovering in front of Kaida. Seeing her dragon immediately look at ease twisted his gut. It wasn’t fair that they could get so close so fast. Blaze didn’t have a damn chance to pull Beckett away from how tight she twisted her web around his friend. Seeing the mark on the Plasma dragon’s neck that signified their bond made Blaze snarl. There was no chance at all of breaking her hold on him either. Not with that mark on her neck.

This blows.

"Let’s land and talk this out," Beckett soothed Kaida and pointed at the ground below.

Blaze saw her dragon lift her jowls to bear her teeth at him. The chuckle that rose into his throat at the sight of her being defiant was hilarious.

These three think that they can tame her. There’s not a chance in hell that they will be able to. Even if they all mated with her, it wouldn’t be enough. She’s too fucking powerful for that to work.

"Kaida, I’m not mad," Beckett said, looking around, "We aren’t mad. From what we heard; they started this nonsense. You were trying to defend yourself. There is no shame in that."

Blaze snarled. There was shame in that. None of these people knew that she was superior to them. The only way that would happen is if they would announce Kaida to the island as the princess and that they were all her mates. Then, the people would recognize her as an authority.

I’m not fucking doing that.

Beckett shot him a look, and Blaze growled back at him. He only came to see if the dragons got the jump on Kaida and were winning. That would have been a sight to see. He already knew the four of them could get the better of her. They did that time on that beach, and she was weak.

That was before her dragon emerged, you imbecile.

Shut the fuck up. You’re wrong. If she was powerful like everyone said she is, then she could have fought us before her dragon emerged.

Do you choose to believe lies to save your pride?

Fuck off.

Choose what you want to believe. She is our mate. Can’t you feel us weakening because our bond is not solidified?

No. You’re delusional.

I think you are ridiculous for fighting this. She could make you more powerful than you could have ever imagined. You are pushing her away because you never wanted a mate. The Great Dragon decided that you did.

I don’t need some female telling me what to do or making me soft.

She would make you stronger. Not softer.

So, you say. I see how my dad is around my mother. He is not the man he could be without her keeping him balanced.

Would you rather remain unbalanced because you don’t want to experience love?

Blaze ignored the dragon. He didn’t know what he was talking about. Blaze knew that if he remained mateless, he would still have the entire island under his reign. He didn’t need a mate to keep everyone in check. He already managed that without one.

He noticed that everyone was flying toward the ground now. If he wanted to, he could just fly back to the house. The idea of leaving Kaida put a strain on his heart. He didn’t want to leave her in case other morons decided they wanted to attack her and circled back around. With Esen’s golden yellow dragon flying down toward the ground, too, that meant the others could if they really wanted.

Ugh. I might as well, just in case. They ambush everyone, and they might not get the upper hand.

The moment his giant paws hit the ground; Blaze shifted into his human form. The others did as well. Blaze was surprised to see Kaida shifting as easily as she did. He remembered hearing that she had some trouble with it. It looked like she found her footing and could shift back and forth more comfortably.

That was fast. A week, and she is already mastering that? Normally, it takes people a few weeks before it comes naturally.

And yet you want to believe she will drag you down.

Blaze ignored his dragon again and leaned back on a tree. They were on the outskirts of town. The peninsula was a good ten miles or so away from them. This was the thick forest that people sometimes came down to and trained. The thicket of trees gave coverage so magic could be thrown in complete disorder and still could confuse the opponents. From time to time, Blaze and the other princes would host a series of games to train the newly emerged folks with their magic. Each of them would pick teams and play capture the flag. All magic allowed. It was a lot of fun.

Kaida stood with her arms over her chest. Blaze could see her bottom lip slightly protruding, and he couldn’t help but smirk. She was pissed. If he opened the bond up to her, he probably could figure out why he went through it. Instead, he guessed that it was because they came to her rescue.

"Well, did you want to give us the rundown of what happened?"

Kaida scoffed. "I was minding my business when those assholes showed up and started attacking me. I was hit with magic and chased until we got here. Then they used their magic some more and had cyclones and waterspouts caging me in. Spouts were where the water was, and cyclones were where the ground was. I was boxed in. So, I fought back. I was handling it just fine until you showed up."

Yep, she’s pissed. She wanted to handle those guys herself.

Something about knowing that she wanted to hold her own made him go hard. Blaze found himself adjusting his pants so no one could see. The last thing he needed was for them to catch on to how he felt about her. He needed time to bury it, so he didn’t feel this way around her.

"It was four against one, Kaida. A lot could happen in those kinds of odds." Beckett’s voice had restraint. He wanted to snap at her but did not.

See, he is growing soft.

"I was managing just fine. I don’t have a scratch on me. I believe they do. I could have won that fight on my own. My dragon and I agreed only to subdue them. You think I would have been like I was earlier, but I wasn’t."

"Do you think that you have that kind of control? You are new to this and think your dragon wouldn’t have wanted to keep going in that fight?"

Blaze’s bluntness did not go unnoticed. Everyone looked over at him. Kaida’s face was angry red, and Blaze smiled back at her. These were questions she should be able to answer. It’s not like she didn’t know what she was, and everything was new to her.

Kaida’s eyes narrowed at him, "I know for a damn fact that my dragon was not planning to do more than knock them unconscious or get them to back down. When they did not back down, we continued to pursue. I only did what I had to so they would fly off and away from me."

"You can’t even control your dragon not to attack a fellow townsperson just because they pissed you off. That isn’t control, Cupcake."

Kaida sucked on her teeth, and her nostrils flared. Blaze could feel that he was getting to her. He just wondered how much further he needed to go to make her lose control.

"Believe what you will. My dragon may have just emerged, and I have had a few bad moments. However, that does not mean that I cannot gain control. During that fight, she was listening to me. We were working as one. That’s why they were not piles of ash by the time you four showed up."

"I’m going to agree with her, Blaze. That is more control than she did have even down at the shop. You’re purposely trying to piss her off, and she is not falling for it."

Blaze shot Arlo a look, and his friend only glared back. His point was not getting across that she did not have control. They wouldn’t have had to come out here to save four dragons from her wrath if she did.

"I guess you all are just accepting everything she does in hopes to get your dick sucked. Strong strategy, but I don’t think it’s worth it."

"Shut up. It’s not like your dragon isn’t pining for her. Or even you. You are fighting this for no damn reason. It will cause your dragon to lose its control and go feral."

Esen standing up to Blaze was something that he thought would never happen. He wasn’t that kind of guy. Yet here Esen was, saying whatever he wanted to Blaze.

"Whatever. Make sure she doesn’t break any more shit or end up putting one of our people on a pyre."

Blaze sprouted his wings and took off before they could say anything else. Quite frankly, he didn’t want to hear it.

Next time, I’ll just let them handle this shit on their own.