Page 106 of Anaki

“How’s she?” I nodded to the bundle in his arms.

“Her head hurts. Traveling to the place where she was trapped for two years also did a number on her. Beretta said she’ll help with a memory-blocking spell when this is over, but we got other problems.”

I pinched the bridge between my nose. There was always something. “What is it? Is it Idris?”

Bear huffed in annoyance. “Not sure. We got the humans out without a problem. That is what I find strange. Didn’t even see Idris, and the guards were… obtuse. Easy in, easy out. I worry about that, but what I really wanted to tell you is about the head pains. It’s the link trying to get established.”

“Link? What wolves have? That is a mammal thing. Reptiles don’t have those.” Reptiles didn’t have voices, was what it was. We didn’t need to have a link because we were not pack animals. Dragon shifters came together because the human side needed it more.

Bear grunted. “Looks like you’re getting one. You are part of the pack, the Iron Fang. It looks like the goddess is giving everyone one. Don’t look at me for answers. You said you had head pains, so that’s what I’m telling you. I’ve got strict orders to head to the pack house for a big ceremony to speed up the process. Tajah said she is going to shift Emm into a lycan.”

My eyes bugged out of my head.

“Do the fuck what?!”

Bear shook his head in confusion. “That is all I know. The pack is forming, tonight. Any other information, I don’t know. I’ll text you if I get any more info. I will tell you this: be on the lookout for Idris. I got a bad feeling. It would not surprise me if he and his ass hats popped up. I tried talkin’ to Hawke, but he’s in dad mode, worried about his mate and pup feeling pain.”

I ran my hand through my hair. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

I just let Elena and Abuela walk away from the village, and right into the forest where danger could be.

I felt my scales sliding through my skin, my ears elongated, and my fins ripped through the tunic I wore.

Bear stepped back. “I’m gonna go. All mates are required to come.”

I shook my head. “My mate is approaching her heat.” I felt my eyes shift from human to dragon. “No way I’m going down there with a bunch of shifters. We will stay with the fae. You don’t want a feral dragon.”

Bear shook his head quickly. “Nope, don’t want that. I’ll let them know. Elena would be a distraction for Emm anyway.”

I grunted in reply and headed in the direction to go find Elena and Abuela. Watch out Spiderman because my dragon senses are tingling.

Chapter Thirty-Five

Elena

Once I caught up to Abuela, the silence was deafening. I could only hear birds chirping and bugs crawling on the forest floor. That was something I should not have been able to hear, but did anyway. I rubbed my ears, trying to muffle the sounds.

Abuela stepped closer and put her arm around me.

“I see you took your relationship to the next level,” she began. “Tell me about it.”

For the next few minutes, I told her, in not so much detail, how I had come to fall in love with Anaki in a short amount of time, despite fighting it at first. How I met the goddess, how I let the bond happen on its own. All the while, her tight lips turned into a broader smile. It relaxed me, and soon we were walking in an easy stride along the border of the fae territory.

“It’s weird about all of this. It's real.” I waved my hand in front of her. “I can hardly believe it. Still can’t wrap my mind around it, actually.” I did an involuntary skip.

Abuela hummed and stopped before a tree that wasn’t from Earth. Itsbark was light, almost white, with hints of gray that swirled around the knots. This tree had light turquoise leaves, and it immediately made me feel like we were in a fairy world that had no problems in it at all.

“I knew you would accept it, eventually. Both you and Emmie. The bond did that. That is whatshetold me.”

I stepped closer to Abuela, who was running her fingers over the velvet-covered leaves. “The Moon Goddess?”

“Si. She explained a lot to me that night. Over the years, she came to me in many dreams once I made the deal with her.”

My fists were clenched tightly at my sides, my jaw set in a determined line as I turned away from Abuela. The view before me was breathtaking: a deep ravine with thick trees cascading down to a shimmering blue lake. The sun filtering through the leaves created a green and gold haze around us.

“And what exactly did it all entail? This deal.” I knew parts of it. What could a mortal give a goddess?

Abuela came beside me. Her warmth enveloped me even though we didn’t touch. “Once you both fell asleep, and I bared myself to her, she took me to a place inside my mind I have never been to before. The Moon Goddess was there, and explained to me only what I had read and dreamed about was possible: soulmates between humans and supernaturals. She was in the process of fixing her past errors, and she found both your and Emmie’s souls to be the perfect match to two shifters who would work together in a pack.”