Page 25

EMME

T alon slammed his hand against the bars of his cell and I jerked out of Slade’s hold, taking two steps back. Slade didn’t follow, and when our gazes met, I was relieved to see he was calm and contained once more.

“Why haven’t you bonded with her?” Talon demanded, his unbroken arm wrapped around the bars. “Your beast is raging at your denial of the connection.”

Slade’s expression softened as he stared at me, only to harden when he turned to Talon: “My dragon isn’t stable enough to bond.

” Even as honest as he was, it surprised me that he would reveal that weakness to his enemy.

“There’s a disconnect between us and I worry that if I tangibly tie myself to Emmeline, and one day lose myself to the dragon, I’ll take her down with me. ”

I was aware of Slade’s issues, and with the ghost of his touch still branded on my body, it hurt to know that we might never have more than this.

“My dragon’s the same,” Talon said casually, as if he didn’t care. “But he’s more stable with Emme. She’s an omega, and their literal role is to calm and power alphas. In whatever means we need.”

He wasn’t technically wrong, but the way he said it instantly reminded me of Blaine and Fletcher.

“My role is not to power you, asshole,” I snapped, wishing I was close enough to kick his broken arm. “My energy and essence is mine alone. If I chose to share it, that’s one thing, but when you speak about taking what’s yours then you’re out of line, and I’ll have no part in it.”

Talon tilted his head, and it was so reminiscent of Slade that it almost derailed my angry tangent. “Why would you not want to share with your mates?”

I snorted. “Reverse psychology won’t work on me, dickhead.

I would share with my mates in a life-or-death situation, as I have already proven, but as you are all arguably more powerful than me to start with, there’s no logical reason I should just share with you on the regular.

Especially when I’ve lived through the damage it can do long term to a beast and essence.

There’s a risk that I’d lose my wolf completely and end up broken and wishing for death. ”

Slade’s low, menacing growls indicated his dragon remained close to the surface.

When he pressed his hand to the middle of my back, his heat caressing my spine, I barely contained my groan.

“Emme will never share her essence again,” he said, his tone making it clear he’d kill anyone who tried to make me.

“Not even to save one of our lives. We have no idea what we’re messing with here, and until we know for sure the long-term consequences, we’re not risking her.

” He pinned the other dragon with a hard stare.

“If you cared about her or felt the true pull of a scent match, you wouldn’t want that for her either.

You’d want to do anything to keep her safe and healthy. ”

Talon’s expression now held a hint of confusion, and I decided to take advantage of that by asking our most pressing questions.

“How are you and Slade related? You look almost identical, which has me thinking you have the same parents? Or are from the same nest? I don’t know how it works for dragons. ”

“Dragons have nests,” Slade confirmed, his hand falling away from my back, and I tried not to mourn the loss. “I’ve never met any other dragons to know if we all look the same.”

Talon snorted, and I debated breaking his other arm. For funsies. “We don’t all look the same. Alpha has many old photos and books depicting our kind. We come in all shapes, sizes, colors, and facial features.”

“Except you two are exactly alike,” I reiterated.

His smile held an edge of menace. “Ah, yes. Well, I don’t know everything, but I did overhear Alpha discuss us a few times. When he spoke about his other family.”

I remained quiet, leaving him to continue. He just stared pointedly at me, his unbroken arm through the bars.

Fuck a duck . He’d stated his terms earlier, and I wasn’t fulfilling them.

“You going to be okay, big guy?” I asked Slade, unmoving yet as I really didn’t need another dragon brawl. “He’s not asking for anything I’m unwilling to give.”

Slade’s exhalation held frustration, but he didn’t stop me. “Fine, but if he tries anything other than holding your damn hand I will break his neck next. Which will require a much longer recovery.”

If Talon’s amused expression was any indication, he wasn’t worried.

I stepped closer, and shadowed by his huge form against the bars, I felt small and oddly vulnerable.

When our hands touched, my wolf perked up her head and growled mate , and it might have been a coincidence, but that was the exact moment the darkness in Talon’s eyes brightened to highlight the bisects of green in them.

“You smell like chocolate and honey,” he murmured, tilting his head to examine me. “Why is the scent stronger now than when you were in the bunker?”

Annoyed by the nerves sprinkling my stomach, my words came out rougher: “My wolf was broken and hiding while you held me captive.” I breathed through my mouth to ease the thrall of the scent, but like with the rest of my pack, it had very little effect.

“Being without my bonded mates forced my wolf to retreat and protect me, which was why I couldn’t strongly scent you either. ”

Slade sounded reluctant as hell when he added, “Technically, this is the first time you’ve properly been together without outside forces impacting your beast and scents.”

Yep, if we discounted those few seconds in the desert before Talon was knocked out.

Talon’s hold on my hand tightened, and his usual hard expression eased. I was briefly met with what I could only liken to anime style heart eyes . “You are perfect,” he whispered. “I’ve waited a long time for my mate.”

“She’s not fucking yours,” Slade reminded him with a snap.

Talon ignored him, stroking his thumb over the fleshy heel of my palm. “We will rule by Alpha’s side.”

Annnd the moment was broken. “Nope. I will never side with Fletcher Davenport.” I hoped he knew by how firm my tone was, that this was a hard line for me.

“His views of the future, and how he’s choosing to get there, doesn’t align with my values.

I’d die before I side with him. Talon, please understand how serious I am about that.

I. Will. Die. First. And you will have no mate. ”

My statement was met with a dual set of snarls, so loud they echoed off the thick stone walls until it felt like the ground trembled.

“You hitched yourself to the wrong omega,” I informed him sadly, ignoring their fury. “I’m not pliable and easily manipulated from my morals. What Fletcher did to my mom broke and reformed me, and I will no longer bend for an alpha with evil intentions.”

The stroke of his thumb stopped, but Talon hung on every word, his stare unwavering.

“Think about what side of history you want to be on,” I said, softening my tone. “But first, please tell me everything you know about Slade and you.”

Talon’s eyes darted briefly between me and the other dragon in the room, and I could feel his confusion. “All I know is that when the egg hatched, there were two of us. Dragon lore calls that?—

“ Salatrina .”

I swung my gaze to Slade, only to find him staring at Talon.

“You… you’ve heard of this before?” I asked, looking between them both. “You both came from the same egg?”

Slade nodded, looking like he’d seen a ghost. “Yes. It’s a rare phenomenon that was mentioned maybe three times in the books and lore I’ve managed to procure about my kind.

It depicts twin souls born to a single egg, who are connected in a way that defies the normal.

That’s all I really know, and to be honest, I assumed it was a myth. ”

Talon resumed his stroke on my hand, sending unwanted butterflies through my stomach. “Alpha said there are none left alive who truly know about our abilities, but that he believes we’re joined in a connection that goes beyond normal quintets.”

I thought over the implications of this and came to only one conclusion “This has to be the reason you’re my scent match too. You and Slade were literally born in the same egg, as if you’re two sides of a single coin. A yin and yang.”

Slade, who had finally recovered from his shock, scoffed like he’d rather get run over by a truck than claim Talon as the other half of his soul.

Talon, on the other hand, sent his brother a stare that was filled with longing, before it was just as quickly masked.

“This pack life is not for me,” he finally said, the life fading in his eyes.

“I have a duty. I’ve been well trained to complete my duty.

Alpha Fletcher will come for us soon, and then he’ll return the packs to their former glory.

He’ll stand as the true alpha of the American shifters, and you all can either get in line or die under his rule. ”

That was the moment we lost him again, just when I felt like we were close to getting through to him. His unwavering loyalty to an alpha who most certainly didn’t deserve it was frustrating as hell, but I forced myself to understand. Fletcher was all Talon had ever known.

Maybe with time we could show him what a true family looked like.

The battle ahead of us had exhaustion pressing on me, and I hoped tonight I’d actually sleep.

“What was your normal day with Fletcher like?” I asked, shifting closer until our scents mingled.

“If you weren’t out fighting or killing for him, what did you do?

Did he treat you well? Did you have family dinners?

Family games nights? Watch television together? ”

He blinked, his brows bunching. “I sat in my room until I was called for a mission. I had a gym to work out, and food was delivered once a day for me to consume in my beast form.”

Slade’s scent washed in from behind me, as he moved closer, and I wondered if he was feeling a draw to Talon too.

“That’s not how you treat a shifter you care about.

Or one who is family,” I said, needing him to understand the truth.

“In this pack, they spend quality time together. They joke and tease and have each others’ back.

They eat meals together, work together, race their cars, and show up to support their sports teams. They protect each other.

You don’t have to be alone all the time, sitting and waiting for your next mission to get attention.

” I lifted my free hand and placed it against Talon’s chest, and his expression shuttered until I had no idea what he was thinking.

Despite everything he’d put me through, I wasn’t immune to this shifter, but for either of us to ever move past the forced bonding, we both had to face up to the reality: Fletcher was an evil fuck, and we were true mates.

There was also the fact that I wasn’t the only victim here, which Slade and the rest of our pack needed to accept, so we could claim our only possible future.

Forming a sextet.