Chapter 12 - Sierra

Stepping into the courtyard where the sun's penetrating rays are at their brightest, I smile as Kairo approaches me. I'm grateful for her arms of comfort wrapping around me when I need them the most.

I'm still reeling from bumping into Felix in the hallway, disappointment lingering despite my conscious attempts to be unfazed.

Cherry blossoms.

They're my favorite—a fact I was so sure Felix remembered. Kairo told me he'd hand-painted the cherry blossom-bearing-angels in the guest bedroom I occupy.

So why couldn't he pick the flowers for me?

My mental tantrum is unwarranted, considering that he's the same man who broke my heart the first time around. If there's one thing I learned, it's not to have expectations.

He's made no effort to apologize for his wrongs. I can't expect him to pick flowers for me.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Kairo asks gently when she pulls back from the hug. "You don't look so good."

I lift a smile on my face, warming at how unlikely our friendship is. Though I've only known her for a handful of days, Kairo is the female friend I've never had in my life. She can see right through me, prompting tears to pool in my eyes.

"I haven't been completely honest with you," I blurt. I'm afraid that if I'm stuck in my head, I'll only keep the truth hidden again. I haven't been able to speak to anyone about my feelings, and she's the only one who just radiates the comfort and space for me to do that.

Her eyes fill with remorse as she tenderly takes my hands in hers and leads me to the fountain, where we take a seat on the natural marble.

"I'm listening…" she presses with a warmth that has the truth spilling out from me along with a bunch of pent-up tears.

"He hasn't—he hasn't apologized," I choke when I recount everything to Kairo. From the first time I met Felix in Charlottesville to the day he left me and everything in between, I'd told her how he broke my heart.

"Has he addressed the past at all?" Kairo asks, to which I shake my head.

"Hm…" she contemplates with a frown. "That's unlike him."

"Whatever," I sniffle, wiping the back of my hand across my nose. "He won't apologize, so I'll make his life miserable."

Kairo giggles nervously. "Are you sure you want to be his karma?"

"I think that's exactly what I'm here for. Sorry," I grimace.

"He has it coming," she offers with a grin. "I guess he resents himself ‘cause he didn't even tell me about it. I would have slapped him and told him to get it together if he did."

I giggle, feeling like a weight has been lifted thanks to a listening ear. "Life has a way of coming full circle, doesn't it?"

Kairo stops giggling and stares speculatively into my eyes. "How do you feel about him now?"

"I—I don't know," I shrug. "Seeing him again only reminded me of the pain. Blinding pain, and I can't see past that." It's the raw truth of what I've been feeling. Yesterday, for a fleeting moment, I glimpsed the attraction I once felt for him, that mindless attraction that had my arousal flowing just from his presence. Yet, the heartbreak overshadows what I once felt for the man.

Knowing the truth of his identity is a shocker rather than a temptation. However, it makes me wonder if that's the reason why he left—his unwillingness to reveal the truth until he was forced to face me with his authenticity.

"I'm gonna speak to him," Kairo declares as she makes to stand up. I grab her wrist to stop her from leaving, shaking my head.

"Don't," I plead. If he doesn't realize the extent of the hurt he'd caused me, having someone else explain it to him is pointless. It's not like he's incapable of feeling emotions unless his inability to tell me the truth before only attests to the feelings he never had for me.

I gulp hard, the painful realization almost too harsh to swallow.

"He knows what he did; we don't have to tell him," I continue. "It's bad enough that he lied to me before. If he can't take responsibility, then he's not the man I thought he was."

Kairo accepts this with a gentle nod, taking her seat again just as the sounds of indistinct chatter fill the courtyard. I turn my face in the direction of a child's laughter to see a man and woman appearing from the back of the castle. A heavily pregnant woman, the man carrying a dark-haired, creamy-skinned child.

Kairo takes a deep breath as she gives my hand a gentle squeeze. "We have visitors," she says with a smile, leading me to my feet. "Is now a good time?"

"Of course," I assure her, returning her smile. "If he isn't planning on letting me leave just yet, I might as well meet the others."

We face the others just as they approach us, the strawberry-blonde man grinning from ear to ear, his eyes sparkling with jest. The pregnant woman comes skipping forward, cradling her belly with one hand as she flings her arm around me for a hug.

"It's nice to finally meet you, Sierra," she says when she pulls back with a light giggle. "I'm Yazmine. And this is Stryder." She points to the man whose eyes don't stop twinkling as he stretches an arm out.

"Lovely to meet you, Sierra," he says, lifting my hand and placing a chaste kiss on my knuckles. The gesture is kind, and I relish the natural charm he exudes. The weredragons are awfully charismatic, having lived for centuries.

Perhaps that's why I fell in love with Felix so easily. He, too, was as charming as they come. Was it all a lie, a tactic of manipulation to foreshadow what was to come when he flew me out here to demand that I bear his children?

I can't understand it, brushing aside those rueful thoughts to just live in the moment. To be present.

"You're one of the twins, right?" I ask, glancing at Kairo, who nods in agreement. She'd given me a complete run-down of the Vulkan gang and her brothers' respective mates. Turning back to the others, I reach out toward the baby. "And this must be Tyson."

The baby coos when I stroke his cheek, beaming at me with his bright brown eyes.

"He likes you already," Yazmine titters. "It took some time for him to get friendly with me."

Stryder chuckles. "That's because his favorite uncle was your first real friend on the island," he teases.

Yazmine rolls her eyes. "I might exchange that friendship for one with Sierra." She turns to me and winks. "It's not easy being the only other human in this place."

"What about Lily?" I ask with a frown.

"Lily?" Yazmine exchanges a glance with Kairo and rolls her eyes again, this time clicking her tongue. "She's hardly ever around. I think she and Draco are trying for another baby, so they've technically moved to Italy. Even when they're here, they're locked in their bedroom."

The two women share a laugh while I feel the heat in my cheeks rise. Stryder seems to notice, passing Tyson to Kairo and turning to me.

He leans in and whispers, "Yaz wasn't always so forthright until she became pregnant."

Giggling, I whisper back, "It's only hard to get over the fact that you're weredragons."

He leans back and raises a brow. "I'm guessing that's something you haven't gotten over."

I part my lips to say something, the look in his eyes reflecting genuine concern. Perhaps it feels easy to speak to him since Yazmine admitted he was her first real friend on the island. It's a trait he seems to share with Kairo, that aura of comfort and compassion that has me convinced that I was wrong.

Felix is the way he is only because it's his choice. The weredragons aren't a bad lot.

However, I'm interrupted when Felix appears out of nowhere. With his fists curled at his sides, he looms beside Stryder with a menacing presence radiating in the treacherous glint in his eyes. He glares at me, and I swear he just growled from his chest. The gruff sound vibrates in the air, prompting his brother to step back quietly.

"Can we talk?" Felix asks, his voice low and raspy as he doesn't look anywhere but square in my eyes.

Something about his demeanor, tense shoulders, and clenched jaw tells me he's not pleased at all. Almost as if he's upset that I'd been speaking to his brother. He's almost impossible to read, but right now, his irritation is plain to see.

"No," I say, the urge to be defiant and press all his buttons consuming the single word that leaves my lips. I don't plan on making any of this easy for him, considering the heartbreak he caused me. My plan of revenge is working, even when I'm not trying.

"We need to talk," he affirms, tilting his chin to match my defiance.

"There's nothing to speak about, Felix," I reiterate, shaking my head. If this is his idea of an apology, he has another thing coming for him. It's too public, too many ears around to hear everything I want to throw his way.

Though I'm not sure what I was hoping for.

"There is, and you know it."

"It can wait," I tell him, turning toward Kairo for a way out of this. I'm just not ready for the confrontation. I never was. Even if he did apologize, I don't know how I'd take it. I hadn't thought as far as that.

"Kai—Aah!" I shriek with surprise when a pair of hands grab me by the waist, and my feet lose the ground beneath them. It all happens so quickly, unlike the first time I'd been lifted by the weredragon without warning.

The difference is that the first time, I hadn't seen him but felt his presence. This time, it was unexpected, his human hands gripping my waist before he leaped us into the air and transformed into his dragon form to take us higher up.

"Let me go!" I protest, trying to wring myself free and prying his fingers from my waist. Fingers that become brutally scaled, tough and firm, and impossible to peel away. He clutches me tighter, his dragon lips parting to fill the air ahead with a cloud of menacing smoke. As if threatening me to be still.

What the hell is he doing?