Chapter Ten

MAGNUS HAD NEVER wanted anything more than he wanted to sink deep inside Zoey. To see the same pleasure on her face, he'd seen countless times since she had permitted him to make love to her.

To impregnate her.

Because as much as they both wanted this, getting pregnant was most certainly at the epicenter of what their inner beasts craved. While he was surprisingly ready for it, he feared she couldn't see clearly since she was in heat. He didn't want her to have any regrets despite how much he was ready to risk having another child.

How much he wanted that offspring to be hers.

Theirs.

So, despite it being the hardest thing he'd ever done, he kissed her one last time and pulled on every ounce of dragon strength he could muster to chant her asleep, never more thankful when her lips softened beneath his, and she drifted off.

Before he lost the will to pull away, he chanted himself back into clothing, made sure she had plenty of warm furs over her, and returned to the fire, but not before he gazed at her lovely face a moment longer. He cursed himself for not watching her delicate features blossom into sensual pleasure one more time. The sort of pleasure they would enjoy together as he buried himself inside her.

"Hell," he cursed under his breath, pouring a fresh ale. The gods' light shimmering blue across the night sky vanished behind clouds, thunder rumbled, and icy snow spit.

"You always do this, cousin," Zane, of all people, echoed from the past, shaking his head at Magnus as they sat together as teenagers at the top of the Keep and looked down at the young female dragons swooping below them, showing off their wings and flying abilities. He'd made a motion as if reaching out and seizing something while winking at a female who flew by incredibly close. "You always hesitate when you should take." He had grinned at Magnus. "Take when they're more than willing to give."

"Give when they barely understand what they are giving," he had countered, frustrated because he wanted to be more like Zane but kept, as his cousin said, hesitating. "Do you not worry about that?" He'd frowned and shaken his head. "Do you not worry their dragon halves are too hormonal? That we take what is not ours simply because they—"

"Are you listening to yourself?" Zane had snorted. "I do not take anything any more than you would. I lust as I should. Lust as all dragons do. Rut as all dragons should."

"And what of offspring?" he'd wondered. "Are you not worried that—"

"I worry about nothing," Zane had grunted. "If one of them bears my offspring, then they are privileged. If I acknowledge that offspring, they are more privileged still."

Zane had said nothing more but shifted into a dragon and flew after some random female who had tempted him. Oddly, his callousness that day birthed the first nugget of disrespect Magnus had ever felt for his cousin.

Because, in truth, he'd thought highly of Zane before that.

Now here Magnus sat, grateful for that moment even as he hated it. Thankful he and Zane had fallen apart because he could only imagine what kind of monster his cousin had gone on to become. How much more callous he'd grown.

Then again, they'd all seen just how callous Zane was these days, hadn't they? Magnus had seen it when he and Zane fell apart over the Keep, and now his true nature was coming out more than ever.

"Or," a feminine voice whispered on the wind yet roared within a crack of thunder that reverberated through the cave, "you are too blind to see things clearly."

He grabbed his axe and stood guard over Zoey, eyeing the cave warily, but saw nothing. Sensed nothing. Yet he had heard her. Felt her.

"Rune?" He frowned and kept eyeing everything carefully. "Is that you?"

Because Rune could sound like anyone. Smell like anyone.

"Feel like anyone,"whispered through his mind. "Feel like her..."

Though he couldn't see her, he knew it was Rune. Knew with sudden, perfect clarity the smiles she'd given him in their youth had led him to this moment. The way she'd looked at him every so often. Even the way she had smelled on occasion. A new smell. One he'd thought had just been her transitioning into adulthood like the rest of them.

"Such a sweet smell, though," he whispered, breathing deeply. He caught Rune's scent swirling around the cave for a second, only to realize it wasn't Rune at all. He looked at the woman sleeping peacefully on the bed, with her nose buried in his fur cloak.

It was Zoey's scent.

It always had been.

One way or another, all along, Rune had been leading him back to his mate. Led him to a woman who had meant so very much to him. A great love. He was certain of it because he had felt it so clearly when he'd kissed Zoey for the first time, brought her pleasure, and watched her let go in his arms.

Although he should have returned to his chair and kept his distance once he sensed it was Rune, he refused to be anywhere but watching over Zoey with his weapon drawn. Refused to risk being wrong and allowing anyone to harm her. So, he stood guard until she finally stirred from the slumber he'd cast over her and opened her eyes. Where he'd thought she would think she'd simply fallen asleep the night before, he should have known better.

"Have you been standing there all night?" she asked sleepily, blinking against the dim light of a stormy morning. Confusion knit her brow, and disappointment edged her voice when she noted she was dressed again. "Better still, why did you stop what we were about to do?"

"I stopped because I felt you needed to better understand it." Confident she was safe now, he manifested food and drink on the table. "Come break your fast. We leave soon."

"Are you sure?" Zoey frowned at the wind-driven snowfall. "It looks pretty bad out there."

"Not as bad as it will become." He gestured at the food. "Eat, woman, so we might travel where the stones mean to lead us."

"So, we're back to woman," she said softly, "when mere hours ago I was your min lille droning." Her eyes narrowed on him. "I can't figure out if the endearment, because it was that when you called me your little queen, was from our past life or something you hoped for in this one."

He liked her forthrightness despite himself, so he answered her in kind.

"I suspect a bit of both," he revealed. "As I'm certain I wanted you as mine in our last life every bit as much as I intend to make you my queen in this one."

"Yet you ultimately pushed me away last night," she reminded.

He couldn't help but notice she wrapped his fur cloak around her before she sat down beside the food.

"Again, why is that?" she wondered, eyeing him.

"You know full well why."

"Do I?" She shook her head and considered him. "Because I generally don't ask questions to which I already know the answer."

"Then let me make things clear." He looked her in the eyes because this was the sort of discussion that warranted it. Especially now they were no longer in the heat of the moment, and she was thinking clearly. "If we lie together and I impregnate you, which I don't doubt I will, my dragon will not let yours go, and you will, whether you like it or not, become min lille droning. My queen and mate always."

When her pupils flared and her cheeks pinkened at the promise she no doubt heard in his tone, he knew she finally understood just how serious he was—that he meant every word and would carry it through.

"And here you didn't like how Zane once treated women," she murmured, surprising him at how much of his thoughts she was catching now, even while sleeping.

"I didn't," he confirmed. "And I wouldn't treat you like I suspect he would if he were in my position." He poured water into her cup and gave her a pointed look. "If you were pregnant with my offspring, you would be treated like the queen you were. With the respect and honor you deserve."

"And if I weren't pregnant?" she wondered.

While pleased she asked because it implied she'd given it some thought, he kept his expression neutral. "You would be treated the same. Treated like I expect all females in my kingdom to be treated. Like family. One of ours."

"Is that what you call the women sleeping with your warriors?" She arched her eyebrow. "Family?"

"Of course." He put some meat on her plate and urged her to eat. "What else would they be?"

"I think we both know what some might consider them."

"Ah," he murmured, understanding what she'd surmised. "You think them whores, but they are not." He shook his head. "They are not forced, nor do they earn their keep by enjoying the males. They lay with them because they enjoy it." He offered her a crooked smile. "Surely you saw they were well satisfied?"

She gave no answer to that, but he sensed she believed him, and she was glad to hear it. In turn, he, too, needed to hear that she understood how things would be.

"So now you see why I didn't take you when I wanted to?" Craved it like nothing else. "You truly understand what it means if you take me betwixt your thighs? The risks involved. Because they are very real when it comes to my inner beast." He shook his head once. "He will not let you go if you carry his offspring. It would be unnatural in every sense of the word."

"And what of your human half?" she asked softly, her gaze still on him despite him sensing she was tempted to avoid it. "Would you let me go or force me to stay against my will?"

"It wouldn't matter, as my dragon's will would be stronger than my human's."

She considered him another long moment before she said what she needed to say. What he knew she truly wanted to understand.

"Because so few offspring are being born nowadays?" she said, her voice still gentle. "Or because your dragon refuses to lose another child?"

"Both," he replied honestly, not shying away from her steady gaze. "And if I were to be honest if my human could overpower my inner beast when it came to potential offspring, there is no length I wouldn't go to convince you to stay." He thought about it a moment. "Yet in the end, I would not want you by my side if you didn't want to be there...if it were forced."

And he had a feeling that sensation would only grow the more they recalled their previous life. The more they remembered how much they had clearly cared for each other.

They talked about other things after that, basic everyday things about life in this era, but he knew her thoughts rarely strayed from what her beast wanted from his. From the simmering desire between them that grew stronger by the moment to the friendship that seemed to be blossoming. Something she touched on as they prepared to leave.

"I don't think this camaraderie we're finding together is new," she said softly as she returned his fur cloak to him, and he wrapped hers more securely around her. "I think...know, we were the best of friends in that life. I was closer to you than anyone else before it became something more..." She pressed her lips together, clearly fighting back emotion as she rested her hand on his chest, and her gaze rose to his face. "I wouldn't have been so angry at you if I didn't care so deeply. Would not have feared for your life in my nightmare..."

It took more strength than he thought himself capable of not to pull her into his arms right then and there. Kiss her senseless until she spread her thighs for him again. Welcomed him into her body. Wanted to bear his children. Wanted to stand by him always and be his queen.

"We should go," he managed, his voice hoarse even to his own ears. "Because the weather will worsen, and we should be near my father's kingdom before it does."

"Of course," she murmured, yet didn't step away. Rather, their gazes lingered on one another as they both recalled the night before. The intense sensations they could pull from one another. Because even though he hadn't found his peak, he had still found a great deal of pleasure in her pleasure. In her taste on his tongue. In the sound of her groans.

In fact, he recalled everything so vividly, he lowered his lips to hers and would have kissed her again, most certainly would have taken her back to bed, had Rafe not cleared his throat from the doorway.

"Sorry, cousin." Rafe glanced from the snowy weather to Magnus and Zoey apologetically. "I fear we must leave sooner rather than later."

"Can't you just chant us there?" Zoey wondered, frowning.

"I can chant us to the edge of the Forest of Memories, but it is unwise to chant us directly into the Forest as it's generally smarter to let the woodland take you where it will."

"That sounds rather ominous," she replied, glancing at Magnus in thanks when he chanted her into even sturdier fur-lined winter boots than she already wore.

"It can be ominous," Rafe acknowledged, slipping his hand into Quinn's and gazing at her with adoration when she joined him at the entryway. "But typically, it"s well worth it."

Magnus could only hope, even as he dreaded what they might witness in the spot where his wife and daughter had been slain. Their loss was something he'd done well to overcome and set aside, yet now he feared old wounds would be reopened. Had to be reopened to truly help him overcome what had happened.

"Remember, you won't be alone,"Zoey said gently into his mind as they joined the others. "All of us will be right there with you. Family who clearly loves you a great deal." She surprised him when she slipped her hand into his and glanced at him with reassurance. With a level of emotion he hadn't expected. "And me....I'll be there."

When she trailed off, he knew her inner beast felt his loss every bit as much as he did. Knew she braced herself for what they might see just as much as him.

As it turned out, Rafe ended up chanting all seven of them to a portion of his land that bordered the Forest relatively close to where the event had happened. They would still have to walk a ways, but not as far as he'd thought.

Not nearly as far when it became clear the Forest had been waiting for them.

Moreover, it had waited to reveal heartbreaking memories along with a truth he never could have imagined.