26. Prologue Hunt

CHAPTER 26

Prologue Hunt

ALARIC KRAUS

Yakuita, Russia

Ice Dragon Fortress

I sit at my crystalline desk reviewing the maps available for the Bering Land Bridge between Siberia and Alaska. According to what Ellis told me previously, Tomas has the Polar Bears wait for Aurora and her troops on the island in the ice bridge center. The Diomede Islands, located in the dead center of the soon-to-be land bridge, seem to be where the attack will occur.

I quickly take out my cell phone and text Alex what I have discovered, so hopefully, he can relay the information to Aurora and her people. Almost immediately, my phone dings, and it's a text back from Alex. He's been in contact with his brothers, who happen to be two of Aurora's mates. They are currently training with Lycans as well as the old Ice Dragon King. Within Alex's compound, he's presently training his people to be ready to join Aurora in her final fight.

I look back through messages I've been exchanging with Alex, and I finally find what I'm looking for. The video in question shows Aurora shifting for the first time in the middle of the arena. I replay the part where her fur and body are blanketed in frost. I watch as the frost crystals form on her coat and on the ground around her. It's truly a vision to behold. The uniqueness of her existence brings a whole new level of wonder to her theatrical display. Aurora appears to be a very proud and dominant female with how she handles herself in the arena. To be quite honest, I've watched this video of her far too many times for it to be considered research anymore. My dragon is beyond obsessed with her and her shifted form. He wants to feel her talons rake across his scales. My dragon wants to bathe her in his frost fire. If I'm to be honest with myself, I want all those things too.

I sigh and close the video, returning my gaze to the maps before me. I have to calculate the distance from the Lycan camp in Ferdig, Montana, to Wales, Alaska. It's approximately twenty-three hundred miles on land. I already know that most of the trip through Alaska will be on foot for them. If they are able to drive or fly, they are looking at about a fifty hour trip just to get to Wales. Sadly, most of the flights will be grounded when they are attempting to travel due to unpredictable weather.

I quickly look through my resources to see if I can somehow send aid to her. My dragon's instinct is pushing me to help and protect her. He wants her for himself. I pause when that revelation is made. Shit ... my dragon has chosen… I breathe deeply before getting up to walk to my balcony. Pushing open the double doors, I step out into the blizzard. Without hesitation, I leap off of my balcony, shift, and take flight. I need to investigate the islands for myself and then meet up with Ellis.

The miles melt away quickly with every beat of my wings. Hundreds of miles of ice and snow separate me from Ellis. I scan the ground and sky around me to make sure I'm not being followed. A couple of hours pass before the Polar Bear Camp becomes visible. Carefully, I land about twenty miles away from the camp and head to the cavern Ellis and I use for our meetings. I shift back to my human form and enter the cave. Quickly, I move to the far back towards my hidden crate and remove spare clothes and my cloned phone. I power up the phone and text Ellis, alerting him of my arrival. Slowly, the clone phone catches up to where my other phone is.

I'm experiencing an emotion I've never dealt with before. It's rather disturbing to think I'm currently feeling anxious. My right hand raises and starts to rub my sternum. Anxiety is something I don't know how to deal with. I am an Ice Dragon Prince—I'm battle proven with many victories under my belt, but I fear failure for once. Shit . I'm actually afraid of something. I ponder this thought for several moments. Eventually, I arrive at the conclusion that I'm not scared of something, but for Aurora. I don't want to lose the princess before I've even met her. I start kicking rocks and ice chunks around the cavern because I can't deal with what I'm feeling. I wouldn't say we hit the end-of-the-world danger level, but inside I feel like my world is in danger of ending. While I have my moment, Ellis arrives and bears witness to my mini flip out.

"Whoa, bro, settle down! What's wrong?" Ellis crosses his thickly muscled arms over his chest, appraising my temperament.

"I'm fine, Ellis, just dealing with some heavy shit." I reach up and run my fingers through my long, blonde hair. After settling myself down, I decide to speak again. "I started calculating the time and distance for the princess to travel. It's a minimum of fifty hours if they can drive and fly to Wales." I begin to draw the map out for Ellis in the snow between us using a stick I found. "We both know in the next couple of days all flights will be grounded until the spring thaw." I look up at Ellis, and I know he can fucking read me like a book. I'm deflecting hardcore, trying not to deal with what I'm feeling at the moment.

"The plan is solid, man, but what's eating at you? You never throw a temper tantrum like you did when I walked in." Ellis cocks his head to the side. He's staring at me with that knowing look. Fucking hell. Maybe I should have just texted him. I begin to pace. Fuck . Dead giveaway that something's bothering me. Quickly, I turn to face Ellis. My eyes are the silver-gold color of my dragon.

"My dragon has chosen." I drop my gaze quickly. Finding a mate is so very rare for a dragon—those picky bastards. I should be elated, be shouting it from the mountain tops. Instead, I feel like a child who got caught with his hand in the cookie jar. Honestly, I feel like a thief because no one else even had the chance to meet the princess, and my dragon has called dibs. Ellis looks frozen in his state of shock. His mouth hangs open and his eyes are wide as he stares at me.

"Hold up! Back that mother fucking train up! Your dragon has chosen? Seriously?" Ellis moves quickly and wraps me up in a tight bro-hug. "Horrible timing, but excellent news, man! I'm so happy for you! Let me guess, the Fire Princess? It's gotta be her, she's got curves for days!" Shaking my head, I place both hands on Ellis's shoulders to get his attention.

"It's none of the females my father has been parading around the castle." I reach over and grab hold of his cell and find the message from Alex, then I fast forward to where Aurora shifts. Understanding flitters across Ellis's face. He watches the full shifting sequence before looking up at me.

"Oh? Oh boy... You can't be serious. For real, bro?" He throws his arms up in the air dramatically. "I mean, she's hot, but she's not a dragon. Your father will have a fucking cow if he finds out! It's bad enough he wants her dead." Ellis stands there shaking his head and even starts pacing. "How loyal are your boys to you?" His eyes lock with mine, searching my face for answers.

"Very loyal. I was planning on tonight's training flight to detour away from our normal route and tell them of my recent development." I walk to the back of the cave to retrieve a skull I had hidden there. It's a skull from a Tizheruk, the snake-like sea creatures that hunt the village fishermen. I stare at my prized possession, then offer it to Ellis. "Please send this to Aurora for me." Ellis takes the skull from me with an odd look on his face.

I shift my left arm to that of my dragon gauntlet, pluck off a single armored scale, and place it on the line where the skull plates meet. "It is of utmost importance that the scale remains with the skull. She'll understand it, trust me," I plead with Ellis for understanding. I hope against all hope that she accepts my prized skull and knows the value of the scale I send her. It's a promise of forever and a far deeper bond than a mate bite could ever create. Scale exchanges between dragons mean forever; this life, and into the great beyond. Ellis's facial expressions clearly convey his dislike of my gift.

"You dragons are fucked up with your customs. What happened to sending girls flowers? Instead, you send her rare ass skulls? No worries, bro, I got you! I'll box this bad boy up and ship it off." Ellis sets the skull down, then takes his phone and texts Alex for the address. A few moments later the reply is received. Ellis fucking smirks at me and screenshots the address. The next thing I know, my phone goes off and it's the screenshot. I nod slowly and stick the message in my hidden folder in my phone. I also move her video and any other photos of her there and delete all my text messages.

"Just let me know if you hear anything. I have a shit ton of arrangements to make." When Ellis's phone goes off again, he bursts out laughing, causing me to look over at him and tilt my head at his reaction.

"Man, you two are perfect together. Sick fucks." Ellis holds up his phone as the video starts playing. Aurora is looking at the bones of her enemies displayed on the walls of her home. She's smiling and laughing—excited, happy, and proud. Apparently she has a lot of dragon tendencies. I must have that love-sick puppy look on my face because Ellis is shaking his head at me. "You've got it bad. Damn, I never thought I'd live long enough to see this day come to pass. I'm gonna jet and get this mailed to your girl. I'll let you know if she sends anything back." One brief bro-hug, and he's off on probably one of the most critical missions I've trusted him with to date.

I turn to leave and stand at the mouth of the cavern. The snow is just starting to fall here, and it's a beautiful sight. I wait long enough for the snow to begin falling harder before I prepare to leave. I shut my spare phone off and leave it and my clothing hidden in the cavern. The snow is cool upon my skin as I walk out far enough to shift back to the form of my dragon. I take flight and decide to follow Ellis for a bit, making sure he's safe. He's heading to the nearest town with a UPS store in it. I can only imagine the look on the poor attendant's face. I circle several times before heading back to my home. There's going to be lonely days and nights ahead of me. My dragon won't let me touch anyone else now; he's chosen, and his word is final. The most frightening part is, I'm actually okay with that.