18. THIRTEEN

THIRTEEN

Rowan

"Yes,Iknow,”I grumbled to Drecken over the tablet as I looked over yet another student complaint over the hierarchy and bullying. There was an actual war happening in Kalista against both the dragons and the humans, and I have students bullying other students. This world wasn’t ready for equality, even though it desperately deserved it.

I exhaled and smoke billowed from my mouth and nose.

“The backlash about abolishing the hierarchy is less than I was expecting,” Drecken said offhandedly.

My eyebrows rose. “Really? Because it’s more than I was expecting.”

“That’s because you are a firedrake, and supernaturals don’t usually show you their true nature due to trying to get on your good side.”

“And yet that is another issue with the hierarchy.”

“Yes, a hierarchy that is no longer in effect.” Drecken clicked his tongue.

“For the best,” I reminded my old friend. “Any luck tracking down the human facility in the south?”

“At this point, I’m thinking the human woman lied because there is nothing in the south.”

“Damien found humans in the south and slaughtered them. They refused to tell him where the facility was, but they didn’t say there wasn’t a facility.”

“And he didn’t take them in for questioning, why?”

“Because he got impatient.” I snorted.

“Lovely,” he said dryly. “What are you going to do about the dragon that reached out to you in Blezen?”

I heaved another breath, gripping the sphere and watching my magic circle in it as explosions let off in the ball. “He’s planning to take his mate and flee when Roak and a few others leave for the academy today. They plan to seek refuge with you and the council.”

“Very well. We’ll be expecting them.”

“Thank you.”

“No thanks needed. I still can’t believe that they have gotten away with this for so long.” His voice leaked anger. Drecken was one of the first friends I’d told my story to, so he was well aware of everything.

“Tell me about it,” I muttered, swallowing down the hatred that I felt for the majority of the dragons who lived in Blezen.

“How is your mate?”

I grunted, running my free hand through my hair. “The dark magic is definitely having an effect on her.”

“Keep us updated. Ted wants you to bring her in to visit so he can see what he can do to help. I’ll be there to see the dark magic as well.”

“Appreciate it.” I sighed, reaching up and scratching the back of my neck as I caught a scent. “I gotta go. Someone’s at the door.”

“Watch your anger,” he teased as I hung up the tablet.

“Come in,” I said, and Blair opened the door.

“The dragons are approaching.”

I stood up from my chair and stormed out of the room with Blair on my tail.

As soon as we exited Arcane Hall, I could see the ward’s magic rippling overhead, near the Bestial Forest.

“Wren!” Kian’s voice was filled with worry as anger enveloped Wren’s bond.

I turned to see my mate storming toward the same area we were going to with Kian chasing after her.

My heart froze before Damien stepped out of the shadows and swirled his shadow tendrils all around her, holding her tight.

She just flickered to her incorporeal form and kept going, and we all picked up our pace until we matched her strides.

“Little bird, watch what you’re doing or you will be at my mercy later,” Damien snarled.

“You know I enjoy being at your mercy,” she spat. “Nothing’s going to stop me from giving those creeps a piece of my mind.” She pointed toward the edge of the wards.

“Fledgling, calm down, please.” My voice wobbled, and a hint of fear leaked from me to her.

“Rowan, I—” She whirled around, and her gaze softened as I reached out and gripped her hand.

“Come with us, but please, you need to watch your anger.”

“Don’t I usually tell you that?” She placed her other hand on her hip and tore her eyes from me.

We continued our trek toward the edge of the wards where Roak and his dragons stood at the other side.

“Dismantling the hierarchy, really, Rowan?” Roak seethed, his eyes blazing with fury.

The other dragons with him were in their dragon forms, pawing at the wards with no luck at bringing them down.

“We have about ten dragon scales and three drake scales holding up the wards. You aren’t going to break it down,” I told him, squeezing Wren’s hand tighter.

I was afraid she’d rush after them with her temper.

Roak shot me a cruel smile. “If I wanted to take down the wards, I would call my backup. Now, why are you and your council of lower supernaturals taking down the hierarchy?”

“Because we’re all on the same team. We have no need to be segregated further.” I lifted my head up and stared him down. Grayson formed out of a puddle of goo next to him.

“Yes, well clearly not everything is going your way. Is it?” Roak’s gaze snapped to Wren, whose chest puffed out under his gaze.

“It’s not going your way either,” she snapped at him, and his brows rose as Grayson chuckled.

“I love what the dark magic has done to you. I’ve been watching you, my rejected mate.” Grayson’s voice had grown darker, more disembodied than normal.

“Yes, and unlike my shadow demon mate, I hate it when you watch me.” She rolled her eyes with a huff, and Damien stifled a chuckle.

“She’s kind of hot like this,” he mumbled to Kian, who blushed feverishly.

The smile on Grayson’s face faded into a grimace. “Once you allow the dark magic to spread, you’ll come crawling back to me.”

“I’ll come crawling to nobody.” She narrowed her eyes at him before sweeping over Damien, Kian, and me. “Except maybe for my mates.”

I stiffened as a black curtain of hate lowered over Roak’s eyes before he trained that stare at me. “I trust you got my note about the supernatural relic being found by the humans?”

“What about it?”

He smiled wide, and the hate dissipated. “Looks like you and I might want to join forces to take down the humans.”

Scales formed over my arms before Wren slipped her hand out of mine and gripped my arm tightly.

I turned to look at her, and the scales receded. “I refuse an alliance with the dragons. You stand for too much that we stand against.”

“I’m tired of this shit. Just kill him,” Grayson snapped, going for the wards, but Roak raised a hand that stopped him in his tracks.

They locked gazes. Both of them predatory, both refusing to back down.

Scales grew over Roak’s arms, and Grayson’s arms turned black and dripped goo before he stepped back and bowed his head.

“Very well, but you’re going to have to choose one of these days,” Grayson told him.

Roak’s gaze met mine, and a flicker of regret flashed in them. “Not today. Rowan will side with us. I raised him, after all.”

My fury sparked again before Wren tightened her grip and stepped in front of me, pressing a few kisses to my chest. “Don’t let them get to you.”

“Fledgling, thank you,” I murmured, my heart slamming in my chest.

A startled, painful gasp slipped past her lips as she whirled back around, her back hitting my chest as she stared at Grayson, snarling.

“Wren, sweetheart, breathe.” Kian took a hesitant step toward her.

Her entire arm with the dark magic grew darker as Grayson’s frown turned into a smirk. The dark magical energy within her seemed to swell and reach out toward Grayson.

Damien snarled, his shadows whipping around all of us.

“Stop,” Blair said in a soft voice before turning and walking away. “Wren will be fine now.”

The tension in Wren’s body lifted as a blue butterfly flapped its wings and landed on her nose. She held up her arm, and the blackness subsided back into her veins as she watched the butterfly fly back into the Bestial Forest.

“This discussion isn’t over, Rowan. I will have you back on our side,” Roak said, oblivious to whatever was happening between Wren and Grayson.

“You can go to hell!”

“We’ll see you soon.” Disappointment overtook his expression before he shifted into his dragon form and launched himself into the sky.

Grayson dissipated into nothing as the rest of the dragons took off into the sky, away from the academy, and more importantly, away from my mate—who still had her gaze locked on where the blue butterfly went into the forest.

She stumbled forward a bit. “I want to go for a walk.”

Damien and Kian stepped forward, no doubt set on denying her what she wanted, but that never seemed to turn out well with her.

“How about you go for a ride instead?” I crossed my arms.

“A ride?” She tilted her head back at me, curiosity flickering through the bond.

It was different to see how she held absolutely no fear in front of the dragons or Grayson, but I knew it had to be the dark magic’s influence. How could evil be afraid when evil’s sole purpose was to cause chaos?

“I’ll shift and take you for a ride.”

A slow smile spread over her lips as she nodded. “I’ve never ridden you in that form before.”

Kian choked on a breath as Damien chuckled, and a smirk came over my face.

“I didn’t know you were one to make innuendos.”

“Yeah, well, neither did I,” she murmured. “Go ahead and shift.”

I obliged, letting fire scald my insides as I took the form of my firedrake.

Damien gripped Wren’s neck and kissed her lips before Kian pulled her into a long embrace. Damien’s telekinesis picked Wren up and floated her up until she landed safely on my back.

I snorted my appreciation, smoke blowing out of my nose and covering both him and Kian.

“Have fun.” Kian fanned the smoke away as he coughed.

Damien flashed a devilish smirk as I took off into the air, feeling her small hands gripping my scales.

The warm summer breeze brushed over us as I soared through the air. We circled the academy a few times before I flew toward the Bestial Forest, enjoying the spread of my wings.

It was the time to take my mate somewhere special, somewhere enchanted that I had made just for me.

I dropped down in the forest into a huge clearing that was enchanted for those who didn’t know that location existed. It was from Tabitha and Blair. A gift to me when I was stressed out a couple of years back. They wanted to give me a space to shift or to just be alone and not work. I didn’t come here enough, but I was too overworked.

Bowing my head down, Wren slid down my neck and planted her feet on the ground as she glanced around.

I shifted into my regular form, and Wren’s gaze slid down my body. “You should shift in front of me more often.”

My fledgling had a lot of dark magic within her, too dark for her. Black veins stood out in contrast against the pale skin of her arm, and I frowned.

“We’ll see. How was it?”

Her smile grew. “It was amazing. Freeing, really… What is this place? I’ve never been here before, and I’ve pretty much been all over this forest.”

“It’s an enchanted clearing. No one can wander here without knowing the exact location.”

“You have so many flowers circling it.” Her eyes widened as she took in the scenery.

The flowers were always in full bloom around this area, and it was big enough for a house or a cabin but not big enough to take up too much of the forest.

“I want to make a promise to you.” Moving forward, I cupped her face in my hands, making her focus on me. “I want to promise that I’ll build us a home here. For all of us. And we are going to be happy and at peace as soon as this war is over. I promise you this.”

“Rowan…” Her voice cracked as a surge of emotion flooded our bond. “Neither of us had a peaceful childhood.” She grabbed my wrists and squeezed, keeping my hands against her cheeks. “I would like nothing more for our life to be peaceful. You deserve it after everything. We’ve all been through a lot. All of us deserve something like that, and I know you will make it happen. I love you.”

I dipped my head and pushed my lips to hers, but she took over quickly, moving my hands to her waist and circling her arms around my neck. I gripped her ass and let her wind her legs around my waist.

Her pheromones exploded around us, and my cock poked in the one place I needed it to go.

“Inside me now,” she gasped the words between kisses.

I nudged her panties to the side under her skirt and entered her with one solid thrust. “You’re so ready for me, fledgling. Soaking my cock, ready for my seed.”

She cried out, her head falling back as ecstasy took over her face. “Rowan, yes!”

As her walls adjusted and her body shivered, I kept my hands on her hips, watching entranced as her hair spilled back, the sunlight shining off of it as I moved her up and down my shaft as her body clamped down on it.

“Rowan,” she moaned, moving her head up to meet my gaze. Her breasts bounced as the sensation between us built.

Her pheromones coaxed us both towards the release, and my fire danced across her skin, burning her clothes into nothing before circling around her nipples, making them red. Her body quivered until her release toppled over the edge into a soul wrenching satisfaction that rippled to me.

“Mine,” I snarled, wanting my cum so deep inside her it stayed there for days. My cock branded her inside as my fire danced around the tip, down the shaft, and focused on her clit and nipples.

We were on the same sensational wavelength, within the enchanted clearing where we would eventually make our home.

“Yours!” She let out a whimper before a scream tore out of her throat. Her body convulsed as I shot my seed inside of her, moving her up and down on my shaft a few more times until her body trembled with over-stimulation.

“Thank you.” She panted, moving her arm up so we could watch the dark veins recede to where it only took up half of her arm. “I will never get over how well my body adjusts to you.”

I dropped, my knees hitting the ground as I lowered her to the ground underneath me, still settled inside of her. “Sleep, fledgling. You need rest more than anything.”

“So do you.” She kissed my lips before pulling me into her neck and ran her fingers through my hair. For once, I let everything outside go, not thinking about anything but my mate underneath me.