Chapter Fourteen

Z ANE WASN'T ENTIRELY sure what Quinn did to Savannah with a mere look, but it was definitely of their inner Valkyries because not just Quinn's and Zoey's skin glowed golden, but Savannah's too. Or at least it tried to, flickering gold here and there before it sputtered out. What she , they , had gleaned from that brief but godly contact, however, did not.

"Not again," Savannah whispered. Thunder rumbled in the distance, and lightning zigzagged across the sky as she rested her hand on her womb and hung her head, grappling with what had just been revealed.

When Quinn met Zoey's and Zane's pained eyes in understanding because they now knew Savannah hadn't just lost a child in this life but the last, he went to scoop her up and carry her away from prying eyes so she could grieve, but she rested a hand on his forearm and shook her head.

"No," she managed hoarsely, trembling ever so slightly. After a moment or two spent collecting herself, she cleared her throat, raised her head, and notched her chin, showing tremendous strength. "Bad things happen to people every day. I'm no different. What's in the past is in the past." She blinked back a flash of moisture, took a solid swig of mead, set the cup down, and looked at everyone with even more admirable strength. "As said before, now's the time to focus and discuss what we remember so we can get out ahead of the evil asshole that's been making everyone's life hell for far too long."

Zane had never been more proud of his mate than he was at that moment. No, that was wrong. He'd been just as proud of her in their last life for remaining so strong despite her horrible situation. For holding her head high rather than scurrying into the shadows every time their master entered his lair. For not cowering in fear despite how much she trembled. While that had infuriated her captor to no end, and she'd suffered the consequences on more than one occasion over the years, she still sat with her head held high every time.

And that had not changed from one life to the next.

Had not changed despite all the pain she'd suffered.

Clearly appreciating her strength as much as he, ?se leaned over and laid her prized dagger on the table in front of Savannah, seething in her vow. "Tell us what you remember. Share with us the wrongs that were done to you and know my blade will be as much at your back as it is Tyr's, my new sister Athena's, King Ulrik's, and Queen Keira's." She narrowed her eyes and nodded once. "Name an enemy, and I will slay them for you." Though Zane and his cousins knew better than to acknowledge it, they were equally shocked by the tears in ?se's eyes. Tears she swiftly blinked away before a sinister smile curled the corner of her mouth. "But first, of course, I will torture them as you see fit."

"Thank you, ?se," Savannah said, showing how quickly she was coming into her own when she slid the blade back to ?se and nodded with approval. "I may hold you to that." The corner of her mouth twitched in return. "Minus the torture, I think." She narrowed her eyes and thought about it. "Or not, depending on what actually happened."

A full grin crept onto ?se's face, and she sheathed her blade. "I am a woman of my word then."

No doubt she was, and he was thankful for it now more than ever. Grateful for the support and loyalty she showed his mate, he nodded once at ?se in thanks when her eyes met his. She, in turn, nodded back, letting him know when her inner beast brushed his dragon within his mind that she was ready to lay their past to rest every bit as much as his cousins. Ready to start anew, and it meant much more than he let on.

"So we talk." Zoey nudged a plate of meat toward Savannah. "And you eat. We all eat."

"We do," Savannah said, reassuring her friends even as they all felt her inner struggle when it came to Zoey. Something she clearly felt the need to address head-on. "You feel it now, too, don't you? The hatred I felt for you in our last life?"

"I do," Zoey said softly, sighing. She looked from Zane to Savannah. "But again, you have to know that—"

"I do," Savannah said just as softly, taking a few solid gulps of mead before going on. "I remember how incredibly happy I was in this new world before it all started falling apart." Her gaze drifted to Zane. "Even as you only ever tried to keep it together."

"Ah," Rafe murmured, seeming to sense it before they said it. "It was foretold in a prophecy." He seemed to search their memories even as they surfaced. "One that foretold true peace would come to this new world when those already here fully accepted Múspellsheimr dragons. And the only way to do that was for the king of the Múspellsheimr dragons to marry a shifter, as was foreseen since they were children, whether they had been on the same world or not."

"But, of course, you became king of our kind." Savannah rested her hand over Zane's on the table and looked at him with unmistakable pride. "Those you brought here already looked up to you, and those already here ended up doing the same because you had a way about you. A fierce need to find peace in this world that had been lacking in our home world and an unquenchable desire to make sure I was safe."

"Even as you did the same for me," he said, remembering how fiercely she had supported him until she lost her offspring. It happened sometimes. Dragons were just as vulnerable as humans. Yet it had flung her into a depression so deep she no longer sought puddles of sunlight but, more often than not, curled up in the dark recesses of their lair. Unsure if he ever wanted to step foot in it again, Zane glanced over his shoulder, knowing it wasn't far from here.

"I was terribly depressed." Savannah struggled to find the words. "It was harder than I would have ever imagined despite how it all began." She inhaled shakily. "Then when..."

He didn't blame her for trailing off because times had become especially difficult after that. Their days of frolicking in the woodland, laughing, and soaring fresh, clean skies had come to an end. Darkness once more descended with the certain knowledge that part of the peace their new world strove for meant him marrying another. Marrying Zoey. A dragon shifter who would help bond the ties needed between species.

"Yet, as we now know, Zane," Zoey said with a sigh, "you wanted it no more than I." She glanced from Magnus to Zane. "Because you loved another as deeply as I did."

"Yet still—" Magnus saw things as clearly as the rest of them and how it paralleled what they dealt with now— "striving for peace is no small thing when you're a leader. It's your responsibility to put others before yourself. Their well-being before your own happiness."

"And I did," Zane said, pushing the words past his lips even as he pulled Savannah as flush against his side as he could, needing her to feel how much he loved her by touch alone. "I would not see the males I'd led here fall back into their old ways because everyone hated them." He ground his teeth and shook his head. "And I would not see the females released from our captor not live a freer, happier life after all they'd suffered." He shook his head. "They did not deserve that."

Silence fell at his vehement words and what they had ultimately meant.

"And I agreed," Savannah said soon after, breaking the uncomfortable moment, however softly. "I might have been heartbroken over my loss and equally heartbroken over losing my mate, but I agreed."

Savannah closed her human eyes for a long moment, coming to grips with that on a deep inhale before she opened her dragon eyes to Zoey. "Yet, despite doing the right thing, I hated you with a passion. Whether you understood it or not, you were taking the last thing that mattered to me in either world away. You were going to take my love away...the one who saved me."

Savannah visibly fought back a sneer before she continued. Clearly summoning all her inner strength, everything in her, she pushed past whatever she'd felt in her last life, letting it go, and rested her arm across the table in Zoey's direction, palm up. "Yet in the end, you found your way back to me in this life and made up for it." Her eyes welled. "Because you have been the very best, most supportive friend a girl could ask for."

"I love you too," Zoey said, tears in her eyes as well when she wrapped arms with Savannah and clasped her arm like he knew they had when they were kids in foster care. "Always and forever."

"Always and forever," Savannah echoed, clasping her arm in return.

They stayed that way for a long moment, sifting through the emotions both lives had thrown their way before they seemed to find not just forgiveness but a true camaraderie. Not only Zoey's skin glowing golden but Savannah's for a solid ten seconds or so before it sputtered out again.

After that, having explored their memories as far as they could, for now, everyone finally took time to eat, drink, talk, and reconnect in a way long lost to them. Every so often, those not there came through telepathically, however choppy, and joined in their conversation. Sometimes Ulrik, other times Keira. Sometimes Tyr, other times Athena. Mea even contributed, every bit as peaceful and loving as he remembered her, quick to forgive him as she'd always been quick to forgive others.

The only people absent from their conversation were Rune and J?rn. Although everybody smiled, laughed, and sometimes grew serious as they recollected the good times they'd shared as children, it wasn't the same without those two.

"Where do you think J?rn is?" Savannah asked when the two of them eventually went their own way after hours of reminiscing. "Because he's clearly part of all this somehow. Clearly still connected to Rune, which would make sense as they obviously love one another."

"I wish I knew." Zane led her down a tunnel to the side of the main cave, following his dragon's instinct to go in that direction. "All I know is, however briefly he touched our minds earlier, it was enough to let everyone know he's not gone...not at all."

"I'm glad to hear it because," she began, trailing off when they arrived at the entrance of a spacious cave with an opening overlooking the sea. This cave had even more shiny mica embedded in the rock, reflecting the flickering torchlight that sparked to life upon their arrival.

"How did I ever forget this place?" she wondered softly, her voice wobbly with emotion as she took in all the glittering mica. More than was likely put there naturally because there was too much of it, creating a mystical feel so very opposite of their home world. "This was our place...one you created for me to help wipe away my past."

"A place we never laid together because I feared harming our offspring," he realized, understanding now...remembering. Her pregnancy hadn't been an easy one, perhaps because of the transition between two worlds, so while he cuddled and comforted her, he never lay with her. After she lost the babe, her depression got in the way, then because of her anger over his arranged marriage, no matter how much she knew it had to happen.

"But all that's behind us now," she murmured, noting the sizable bed covered with plush furs that appeared close enough to the exit to allow a stunning view of the water. She took his hands and walked backward toward the bed without ever losing eye contact. "And nothing is stopping us from doing exactly what we want anymore."

He growled with approval, and his vision hazed red when she chanted away her clothes, climbed onto the bed, and remained on all fours, offering herself up in the best way possible when she widened her knees and lowered to her elbows. If all that wasn't enough, because he'd never seen anything so tempting, she brushed aside her thick mass of curls and looked over her shoulder at him with her dragon eyes flaring in invitation.

This time, he didn't just growl with approval but released a deep dragonly groan of need when she revealed the dainty, studded collar she'd manifested on herself. One he realized was a variation from the one she'd worn when they came to this world in their last life. One she had insisted he create for her because she wanted all other dragons to know she belonged to him.

"And I want that again," she murmured seductively. "Just as I hope you'll wear yours."

He smiled when a black leather strap appeared around his neck. It worked with the tribal gear he already wore and didn't appear to be a collar, but they both knew it was. Both knew it reflected the leather collar his dragon had worn in their last life when alone, letting her know he belonged to her every bit as much as she belonged to him.

He nodded once and accepted her collar, cherished it even, before he chanted away his clothes and pulled her back until her knees were on the edge of the bed. Then he took his time admiring what she displayed so willingly, from her well-rounded ass to the cinch of her waist to the sensual curve of her body as she arched her spine even more, offering her backside up like a tempting, delicious treat.

He wanted to take her mercilessly but knew easing her into just how rough their kind could be was best, so he massaged her backside and rubbed his erection against her hot, wet center, pleased by the way she moaned and moved against him. Eager to feel more of her, he ran one hand along her waist while nipping and licking all the way from her ass to the back of her neck, still rubbing his cock against her until he clamped down with his teeth on the back of her collar and tugged.

" Oh, diablos, eso se siente demasiado bien ," she half muttered, half groaned in Spanish, saying something along the lines of, "hell, that feels too damn good," before she arched sharply, driving his arousal tighter against her soaked flesh, trembled and let go.

Pleased by how intensely she responded, he slowed his movements to a crawl, keeping her climax going while nibbling and flicking his tongue along the sweet, soft skin under her collar. She grasped the fur and kept groaning a slew of muffled things in both Spanish and Portuguese, still moving against him as her body let go.

Beyond desperate, so hard for her, it hurt, he waited for just the right moment, sensing the throb of her inner flesh had eased before he wrapped his fingers around her collar and worked his way into her tight, hot sheath.

Breathing just as heavily as her under the sheer rush they provided each other, he kept hold of her collar but pulled back enough to enjoy the view of entering her. Relished the sight of stretching and filling her in combination with how outstanding it felt. He clenched his jaw and struggled to keep his eyes open at the knee-weakening pleasure rocketing through him.

Though lying together earlier had been better than anything he'd ever experienced, this moment, here in what used to be their lair, brought him back to how terribly he'd wanted her in another life. How many long nights he had lain beside her, wanting to come together as they should. Feel one another's bodies like they should. Love each other not just in heart and soul but in the flesh.

Following his thoughts and feeling the same, Savannah's skin sheened copper with her inner beast as his sheened red. When that happened, the feel of her hot sheath and the collar beneath his fingers, combined with the way she gave herself over when he knew that wasn't easy for her, made his inner beast come out in a way he couldn't control if he tried.

"Zane," she groaned, releasing a throaty purr and low growl of approval when he didn't take her gently anymore but moved faster, harder, thrusting ruthlessly into her.

"My mate..." she groaned hoarsely. " Te amo."

He wasn't sure if it was her finally calling him her mate out loud or saying she loved him, but her words slammed into him so hard he lost his breath for a moment before moving even faster. Took her so roughly that she white-knuckled the furs, gasped, and cried out in pleasure with every thrust.

Never as pleasured or pleased or in love with anyone so completely, he couldn't hold back any longer if he tried. Not when fire raced around his collar as if her dragon ran her tongue under it, and sharp heat shot down his spine, tightening his ballocks so tightly that pain splintered through him. Pain that swiftly turned to sheer ecstasy, bursting through him so powerfully, he slammed into her hard one last time, locked up, and roared his release.

Right there with him, she belted out a strangled cry and clamped down hard before milking him so intensely his pleasure seemed unending as he emptied himself inside her. Unending as gold flickered within her copper before fading away, but not the certain knowledge it left them with.

"Something's changed," she murmured into his mind, unable to speak aloud as he lowered himself over her again, and they remained lost in their release. In the extreme pleasure they found in one another's arms. Pleasure born of two lives and all the time they'd lost together. All the time that should have been theirs.

"Something has changed," he agreed, marveling and enraptured at what he beheld. "Better still, you have changed."