Chapter 27

TWENTY-SEVEN

Zane

I hear my mate's cries beneath the waters, and my heavy eyes open. How long have I been slumbering? Too long , I think.

Shifting, I feel the water, heavy all around me, but there's more too. My many years of sleeping have led to earth covering me, and the natural world taking over. I shake my body, trying to free myself from the earth. It takes effort. It's been too long since I last ate. Too long since I took my human form.

I keep moving until I feel myself tearing free from the earth. My head rises, and I breathe out water. It's as natural to an ice dragon as the air. I shove up from the ground, feeling earth and plants falling back onto the ocean floor all around me. The temptation to go back to sleep is there, but I somehow know that it is again the time of dragons.

And my mate needs me.

The sound of her cries replay in my mind. They were the sounds of true fear. She thought she was dying. Wherever she is, I need to protect her.

Pushing off from the ocean floor, I swim to the surface. It takes a great deal of time. I'd picked a rest place I felt certain I'd be safe in. Suddenly, I'm breathing in air, blinking into the bright day.

Where is she? Where is my mate?

There is icy land not far from me. I shake my wings and free them from the water, then lift into the air and go to the icy earth. Before I even land, I can scent the dragons who were here. There is my mate, although I don't know what name she's going by in this life. There are the two fire dragons who are forever my harem members, a human, and then there is Balor and Than.

This isn't good.

Usually by the time the other dragons awaken, our harem is complete. Our mate is safe, surrounded by her males. But not this time, I guess.

My mate and her fire dragons always start out as humans with no knowledge of our ways. They always need guidance before the dangers of the dragon world come for them. They don't have me this time, so I need to find them. Quickly.

Our mate is one of only a few female dragons. She must be protected at all costs. There has never been a lifetime when Balor and Than have stolen our mate, and it won't happen in this lifetime either.

I just need to find them.