Chapter 5 - Felix

Eight Years Ago

Something about the quaint town has me mesmerized. Perhaps it's because I've traveled so much that bustling cities no longer pique my interest.

I'd choose a quiet town that reminds me of Aurora Island any day. I guess I'm feeling a little homesick. That tends to happen when you're away from home for almost three years.

Gazing at the empty bar, a lilting smile spreads across my face. If Charlottesville is the last stop on my itinerary, I've chosen it well. I'll spend a few days strolling across the town, meeting the street vendors and getting a fix on their native offerings, then head back home.

It's nice to enjoy the stillness while soaking up my experiences of the last couple of years.

"What can I get you, Sir?" a delicate voice asks from behind me, prompting me to turn back to the bar counter.

As soon as I look up, the wind is knocked right out of my chest. My jaw drops, eyes meeting a fresh pair of golden depths that hypnotize me.

I'm not the only one stunned. The young woman behind the counter forgets how to breathe. Or blink, for that matter. It's almost as if she's seen a ghost, except her lightly tanned plump cheeks become rosy.

"Wh—what can I get you?" she manages to ask despite the tremble in her voice.

Gulping hard, I reluctantly tear my gaze away when my eyes land on her heart-shaped lips.

Beautiful.

She's probably the most beautiful woman I've ever seen. A work of art, even with her hair in a tight bun and dressed in her uniform. Wow. I never thought a human could be as flawless as she is.

When I notice the way her bottom lip trembles, it reminds me that I can't just sit there and ogle her beauty. Blinking again, I snap out of my daze and mutter, "Whiskey on the rocks, please."

The young woman nods sheepishly before turning around to fix my order. I'm barely interested in the drink when it arrives, instead trying to figure out why she appeals to me so intensely.

"Sierra…" I read off the nametag on her shirt.

She smiles shyly, averting her gaze as if she's too shy to speak.

That's my cue to make my introduction. I open my mouth to speak again, but I'm interrupted when somebody else calls her name.

"Get over here!" A man appears from the back of the bar, his brows furrowed angrily with his hands planted on his hips.

He looks like he's about to scold her. Sierra seems to know it, too, her shoulders slouching as she drags her feet to the back.

I can't help but wonder what's going on, trying hard to eavesdrop from where I'm seated when the two disappear through a door. I hang back, though I can't hear anything.

Next thing, the young woman flashes out from the room in tears, flinging the towel on the counter before rushing through the front door.

I think she might have just been fired from her job. I've seen enough of the mortal world to understand how things work around here. It's not my first time traveling, though. Five hundred years ago, things were… different.

Carts were used instead of cars and carriages for limousines, and the buildings weren't as tall as they are now. People were different, too—humanity was more forgiving back then.

I'm not sure if I can ignore what just happened. I've seen worse and chose to only be a spectator. As a dragon shifter, we're not allowed to intercept silly fights. But what just happened feels more than just a silly fight. It feels personal, even if I can't figure out why I feel personally attacked.

Leaving my drink behind, I make my way out of the bar. It's not like the alcohol would have had any effect on me. I simply ordered it just to stick around for the woman. Drawn to her, it's outside I'm drawn to—to the alley beside the bar where I can hear her crying.

"Sierra…?" I call out gently, whispering so that I don't alarm her. She sniffs when she hears my voice, wiping fervently at the tears on her face.

"What do you want?" she asks coldly.

I know that's my cue to leave. To act as if I witnessed nothing and walk away unscathed. Yet, the chords of my heart pull as if I've just been strummed. I can't walk away—I don't want to. I need to know that she's alright.

"Is everything okay?" I press gently, cautiously stepping out of the brightness of the streetlight and into the dark alley. She tenses up, gulping as she stares at my face blankly.

"Everything's fine," she says, a frown knitting her brows. "Why did you follow me?"

"I—I don't know," I admit tentatively. "You rushed out of the bar, and I wanted to, erm—order another drink."

Sierra tilts her head to one side, her frown deepening. "I was only gone for a minute. You couldn't have finished your drink so quickly."

The way she gauges me speculatively has my heart racing in my chest. Gulping, I decided to quit the act and just be honest. "I was genuinely concerned, okay? Did something happen?"

Sierra drops her bold stance and sighs, shoulders drooping bashfully. "I just lost my job." When she looks up again, the tears have returned to her eyes.

I suddenly feel compelled to wrap her in my arms, the intense desire throwing all caution to the wind. I take a step forward, and when she doesn't recoil, I do exactly that.

She doesn't flinch from the sudden immersion of my hug, permitting me to keep holding her. There's just something about this woman that's softened me enough to provide her with the comfort she needs at this time. I don't know who she is, except for her name. Yet, I feel like I've known her my whole life.

"I needed this job," she weeps, fully succumbing to the comfort. "I can't go back. I just can't."

"Shhh…" I cajole, leaning back to stare into the soft golden depths of her eyes. They're so sad, dampened by her plight. "It's gonna be okay. You'll find another job."

She bats her eyelids at me, lashes fluttering like a butterfly's wings. "I will?"

"Of course you will," I assure her, reaching up and wiping the tears from her cheeks. "I'll help you find another job," I decide on the spot, realizing I've just changed my plans. I won't be going back home anytime soon. Something tells me this woman needs me, and I'll stay around in the mortal world for a little longer.

"Why are you so kind to me?" she asks with a firm frown.

I click my tongue. "I think the world needs kindness. I'm just doing what I can."

"Thank you," the pretty woman smiles, her eyes finally lighting up with the glow I'd seen before. I return the smile, pleasantly surprised when she sinks into my hug again.

"Are you my guardian angel?" she asks as she nuzzles her face against my chest.

"No…" I whisper at the top of her head, inhaling the scent of her floral shampoo. This is probably the strangest encounter I've had with a human. At the same time, it's the most familiar one. "... But I think you might be mine."

***

I feel empty right now. Emptier than I've ever felt before. Even emptier than I felt when I left Sierra in the mortal world to give her a chance of a real life.

She's right here, on the other side of those glass doors, yet she's a million miles away.

She hates me; I can see that. I expected nothing less than her hatred if I ever saw her again. That's why I never went back. I am a coward who left her without a word because I thought that things wouldn't work out between us.

This time around, she won't let me near her. She won't let me offer her comfort so easily. I only have myself to blame. But then again, I didn't think the woman I was meant to have as a mate would be her.

Fate? Does it exist? The way it did when I met Sierra in Charlottesville? To her, I was the guardian angel she needed to find direction when she left her home in Louisa. She needed my voice of reason to nudge her in the direction of her dreams.

Now, I've probably just crushed them.

The urge to go ahead and enter the room and show her that I never stopped loving her is intense. My heart won't let me follow through with what my mind demands. I'll probably just make things worse. I can't afford that. Not until I figure out what to do.

Brother Felix… It's Aragon through a mind link. I have Diego Alverez in custody. We're in the dungeon.

I'll be there in a sec.

I inhale sharply, the remnants of Sierra's sweet scent lingering in the air of the balcony. I'll take what I can get since I don't deserve any of it anyway. With one last glance at the bedroom door, I turn toward the island and step up on the rail to flash out in dragon form.

I'm angry and torn all at once, lifting my head toward the clouds to roar out a cloud of fire as a way to blow off some steam. The raging emotions blur my vision as I make my way to the dungeon behind the mountains.

I slow down and land near the entrance, where Aragon is meeting me outside.

He shakes his head, eyes weary. "That fucker doesn't stop talking," he huffs.

Chuckling without humor, I pat my brother on the shoulder to thank him for the help. "I'll take it from here. Thanks, Bro."

"Get yourself some earplugs," Aragon muses before setting off in a jog.

The dungeon's entrance is at the base of the mountain, a cave-turned-bunker with a steel door that only opens up with face recognition. I take a deep breath before turning to the surveillance camera, the thud of the doors unlocking, echoing along the outskirts of the island.

Once inside, the doors shut before Diego opens his mouth.

"Hey! You! Let me out of here!"

"Not so fast, Diego Alvarez," I say calmly, casually strolling toward the cell where his knuckles are paled from gripping the bars. The stout man with gray hair and bags under his eyes has sweat beading his forehead as if he ran a few miles.

He'd probably given Aragon a hard time. Luckily, he wasn't with me for the flight. With the way I'm feeling toward him, I'd have conveniently let him accidentally slip from my grip.

"We had an agreement, Diego," I remind him as I pace the stone floor outside his cell.

"I stuck to my agreement, Se?or ," he says quickly. "My daughter was right there, in my house. I go outside, but dios mio ! When I come back, she's gone. Desaparecida."

Unable to control myself, I let out a sardonic chuckle as I glared at the shorter man. His eyes go wide when I'm face to face with him, and I know I've frightened him. There's something else that flashes past his eyes, almost like recognition. It's a whole array of dreadful emotions that flash there. He should be afraid.

"Quit the bullshit, Diego," I warn him sturdily. "I know what you're all about, and I know that you kidnapped your own daughter."

Diego relents and hangs his head in shame. "I had no choice."

"So you lied to the Dragon Council and told them she agreed. All because of money?" I frown, knowing that the price of his silence was only worth half of what he'd been offered. The other half was for his daughter, on the condition that she agreed to this.

Poor Sierra…

Diego shakes his head with remorse flashing in his eyes. "Not for money, weredragon. I wanted to see my daughter happy again."

I pause in my stroll, stopping to let his admission sink in. This is Sierra's father, after all—the one she'd run away from almost nine years ago. The man who made her life a living hell, which led her to Charlottesville all by herself, without two pennies to rub together. All in the pursuit of freedom.

He wanted to see her happy?

I snap around at Diego, glowering. "You wanted to see her happy by forcing her to an island full of dragon shifters where she'll become my mate?"

"Yes, I—"

"Bullshit!" I call him out again, pointing a finger between his eyes. "She was happy, and you ripped that from her! You stole your own daughter's life!"

The only consolation in this situation is that I am the dragon shifter she's supposed to be with. I know who this man really is behind these bars. I've heard all about him, and I don't believe a word he says. Bullshitter!

"No, I was trying to give her one," Diego says sadly, hanging his head again. "My daughter's been through a lot. Her life wasn't always easy, especially when her boyfriend left her."

"B-boyfriend?" I inquire with a raised brow. Internally, my heart sank with the thought of another man in her life. I don't blame her. I'd always hoped she had moved on and found her happiness in the mortal world. I didn't know back then that the world of dragon shifters would open its doors to humans. "Don't tell me she was in a relationship, and we have more damage control to do!"

Diego puts his hands up in a show of surrender. "No, weredragon. I can assure you there's no one. There hasn't been anyone for seven years." He sighs and drops his arms to his sides.

"S-seven years?" The rage subsidies as I'm faced with the daunting truth. I was the boyfriend seven years ago. Did she not move on?

"She didn't move on from that," Diego goes on as if answering the question in my mind. "She deserves to have a family of her own. But I couldn't tell her that. She wouldn't listen."

My ears start to pound, blood rushing to my racing heart as I realize the extent of what Diego has just told me. Sierra hadn't moved on from me. Had I impacted her life so intensely that she couldn't move on and be with another man?

"She really loved me…" I mutter under my breath, turning toward the castle despite being unable to see it from here. I can picture it clearly in my mind. I see Sierra's face as she weeps behind that wall because she's seen my face again.

If she loved me as dearly, it means she's hurting right now. She must have thought she'd never see my face again—wished for it, even. Now she's faced with the truth of who I am, as well as the memories buried, like mine.

I have to fix this. I'd been hanging onto the memory of her so passionately without realizing that she would do the same. Now that she's here, thanks to fate, I have a second chance at making things right with her.

She'll fall into my arms again. As soon as I explained everything to her.