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Chapter Twenty-Eight

Anaki

O nce I'd poured every ounce of my essence into her, through my bite and my seed, an all-consuming darkness engulfed me.

It felt like mere seconds, just the briefest blink, but when I regained consciousness, I was standing amidst the scorching embrace of the sand, surrounded by warm dunes that were hauntingly familiar, as if they held the echoes of my past.

Dusk was approaching, and the warm sands beneath my feet brought on a nostalgic feeling of a happier time. Few fledglings were to be seen, but I saw enough younger dragons that had yet to find their mates come forth from the water.

Friends whom I had swum with over the years, were filled with happiness, with no care in the world as they playfully slung water into each other’s faces. Nets filled with fish for tonight’s meat, and the mated met on the shore to gather them to scale and prepare for the smoke tents.

My hearts converged, feeling like one giant boulder was in my chest. Why am I here? Why am I back at a place that I had left so long ago ?

I lifted my hand to see if it was real until another person ran right through me. I gasped, watching them run away from me without a care.

“They can’t see me,” I whispered and took a step back into the dune.

“No, they can’t,” A deep, feminine voice called from behind me.

I squeezed my eyes shut and released a ragged, tremulous breath. This was a disaster, an utter nightmare. Either death had claimed me in the throes of mating, or the goddess herself had descended to pronounce my unworthiness to claim Elena.

My hearts pounded, and my hands shook when I clasped them to my chest.

A warm hand grabbed my wrist and pulled it to hold in hers. “You are one of the sweetest of the group, aren’t you, Anaki?”

I finally opened my eyes, but I didn’t dare look upon her.

I didn’t feel worthy to. I knew what she looked like from Journey’s descriptions.

Long white hair, fair skin, a crescent moon on her forehead.

She also said she could come in the form of a dove, but I wasn’t about to ask to see her in that form.

I believed everything Journey said. I believed it with all my hearts, because I knew the truth in what Journey told me. I could detect a lie, not by the way wolves could measure heartbeats, but just by how people talked. I learned quickly after my first mate rejected me.

“Anaki,” she cajoled. “It’s alright, you shouldn’t hang your head in shame. This should be a joyous occasion, hmm?”

I swallowed hard and nodded, my throat tight with emotion.

Joy was a distant memory, overshadowed by the weight of claiming my mate and being dragged back to this place—my so-called home, where shadows of the past lay in wait, eager to haunt me.

Dark memories lurked in every corner, secrets I had not yet unburdened to my mate.

Though I was certain of her acceptance, the guilt gnawed at me, a relentless beast that threatened to consume me the moment I revealed my hidden truths.

“Anaki,” the goddess giggled and tilted up my chin to meet her eyes. “Tender dragon, in order for this bonding to be complete, all secrets must be revealed. Even Locke’s were told to the new Luna.”

I tried to hide my grimace from the beautiful goddess before me, who had graced us all with a new chance at a second mate.

While many blamed her for the problems we all had with the rejections, I did not. Every soul was given a choice, and while our souls were best matched with who she thought we would be with… we could reject the pairing.

Unfortunately, she could not see what would happen when a soul was rejected.

That the person left in the cold without a mate would die.

She wasn’t an all-seeing goddess. That was where everyone blamed her.

Call me an idiot, but after Journey explained it, I didn’t blame the goddess any longer and quickly begged her for a mate for myself.

“I know, I know.” The goddess turned us away from the scene over the lake.

The clan was creating fires, preparing food, and there was not much else to see but laughter and screams of joy.

Not that I didn’t care to see it, it’s just that one terrible memory ruined all the joyful ones.

“Emm did a wonderful job accepting it. She understands Locke and will be capable of keeping him calm.” She tapped her lip.

“However, she will need her sister to help keep her grounded.

While I know Grim will be the pack's beta, Elena will be Emm's right hand and protector.”

I jerked my head toward the goddess, and she smiled. “Yes, Elena will be the one protecting the Luna. Isn’t that a turn of events?” She held out her arm for me to follow, and I did so willingly, as she guided me toward the forest that lay behind the tents.

My footsteps became heavier the more we traveled. My memories came back stronger than they ever had in the dreams .

This was too real.

“I don’t want to be here,” I stated, and put my hands on my knees. “I don’t want to venture into the forest anymore.”

The goddess placed her hands in a praying position and turned back to me. “Your mate has almost completely forgotten the abuse of her past, you know.”

I looked up at her, and my breath came in small pants.

“She doesn’t remember she was beaten, she just remembers she was in an abusive relationship, just like—”

“Journey’s pain,” I grunted and straightened to stand next to her. “Why are you telling me this?”

“Because it will be the same for you, Anaki.

Already, your memories are fading. It will get worse before it gets better.

You do not feel pain because of the rejection; you feel pain because of the lies.

Your strong empathy is something you've likely already discovered. You feel with your heart, your soul. You love everyone in this future pack. You are this club's heart and soul. You see what others don’t.”

My chin wobbled, and I took my hand to rub it to keep it away.

You can’t cry in front of the goddess, you twat.

My dragon grumbled in agreement, and I got the courage to take a couple of steps closer to her.

We traveled deeper into the forest. It was to a secret place where Caelen and I would go.

I winced. How long had it been since I thought of his name? Decades. So many years since I even thought of the name that had haunted me. I referred to him as a they , just a person in time. He no longer existed, so why even think of his name now?

But he was a person. We grew up together in the same clan, which was unheard of.

Dragons were not fertile creatures, and fledglings were few and far between.

One fledgling born every ten to twenty years from a mated pair.

There weren’t many pairs to begin with, and not many fledglings in my time.

We were a small, water dragon tribe, and when Caelen and I were born just a month apart, our parents saw it as a blessing.

Two fledglings to play with one another.

We became close. While we were young, we were the best of friends.

Where one went, the other followed. As we grew older, in our pubescent years, it wasn’t friendship we held for each other, but something deeper.

We had developed feelings. We didn’t know if it was due to lack of females, to hormones, or to the idea of wanting to express ourselves, but we knew we could do nothing about it.

Male to male mated pairs were unheard of, but if the goddess gave it to us, why would it be banned? That was my thinking. That was my hope.

I was more open with my feelings and ideas, hopeful that we were mates. Caelen, not as much.

One evening, long after many had gone to bed, we sat at the shoreline. We often did this, as it was our time alone to contemplate what we wanted to do once we had received our dragons.

We both wanted to travel, beyond the large lake, find larger bodies of water to swim in, and find other clans to speak with. Even dare to find other clans of dragons, such as fire and air.

This night was different. Caelen was distant. He wasn’t laughing, not his usual playful self. Normally, he would have me pinned to the sand and playfully kissing my cheek. This night he was stoic, rigid. Nervous.

His birthday was a week away. I felt it in my bones that he was meant to be mine. I couldn’t be sure, I’ve never had a mate before, but surely he felt something if I felt it, too.

“What if we are mates, Caelen? Wouldn’t that be amazing?

” I laced my hand with his. “Then we wouldn’t have to fight our feelings anymore.

We could go where we want, when we want.

We wouldn’t have to worry about anyone else or what they say.

The goddess put us together, and that is all that matters. ”

Caelen said nothing and stared over the water.

“And we find our own cave together and curl up to stay warm. We wouldn’t have to hide to cuddle.” I snorted out a high-pitched laugh and laid my head on his shoulder.

Caelen brushed me off and stood up.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” I stood up with him and put my hand on his shoulder. “Is something the matter?”

“My birthday is next week.” He rubbed the back of his neck. “Father wants me to go with him to the market.”

I bobbed my head. It was a tradition when you came of age that you get to go to the markets with other shifters to see how to trade. He was old enough to go, so it wasn’t anything out of the ordinary. “That’s great. Are you leaving soon? That’s quite a journey on foot.”

Caelen cleared his throat. “Yeah, tomorrow. Sorry, I didn’t tell you.

” He didn’t look me in the eyes, but Caelen could be like that.

He was shy at times, but only near other shifters if I showed possessiveness.

I understood his request to keep our friendlier side a secret.

Unmated were not to touch anyone but their intended.

Caelen would always sneak into my cave later and curl around me to tell me he was sorry when he had brushed me off in front of others. He was only looking out for us, as he was our protector. He had big feelings now. Especially since his dragon was approaching.

I still had a month to feel mine. I felt possessiveness over him, but Caelen was much stronger than I was. More muscular. He would be a great protector and, most of all, a great mate. I thought he had so much weight on his shoulders .

“Were you worried I would get upset? Is that why you didn’t bring it up?” I asked.

Caelen nodded, still not looking me in the eyes.

“I won’t be able to come by later, we are leaving early.

Before sunrise. I’ll miss you, though.” His cheeks turned pink.

His skin was a beautiful olive, and he had dark hair with salmon-colored streaks running through it. I couldn’t wait to see his dragon.

“I’ll miss you, too.” I smiled widely at him and grabbed his hand. “And if someone else is your mate, I’ll be happy for you. We will still be the best of friends. Alright? I care for you and want you happy.”

Caelen took a deep breath and nodded.

And I meant it. If the goddess gave him to someone else, then I would have been happy.

Jolted from my thoughts when I heard Elena call.

She came out from one of the massive trees that shaded an area almost completely.

Her eyes were wide as she took in the unfamiliar foliage that was vastly different from Earth.

“Anaki?” Her hands intertwined with themselves, knotted around her stomach, while she steadily stepped to the next tree as if to hide herself from anyone else's view.

She was here, in the very heart of my world, where I had spent my formative years.

My throat constricted painfully, parched and raw as I struggled to summon her name.

A surge of panic suffocated my words. I knew the inevitable was upon me.

She was about to uncover everything, and the thought clawed at my insides.

If only I hadn't been so reckless, so consumed by the feverish urgency to claim her, I could have told her all of this. She wouldn’t have to have seen—

“She still would have had to.” The goddess stepped beside me. “In order for her to fully understand what Locke has created, for the broken souls of his club and to help her sister, she needed to see. ”

I gritted my teeth to keep my mouth from biting back. This was just embarrassing.

Elena scanned the forest and, spotting us, her heart raced as she sprinted over. Her plain dark blue dress didn't do justice to her beauty. She quickly embraced me, ignoring the goddess by my side.

“Where are we, and why didn’t you say anything when I called?” Her head darted to the Moon Goddess, her eyes widening. “And who is she… oh.” I watched her eyes widen, and her arms tightened around me. “Is she?”

I nodded. “Yeah, this is the goddess your abuela prayed to.”

“Do I bow, pray, or something?” she whispered to me.

I chuckled. “Probably, but I’m still in shock myself.”

The Moon Goddess smiled and shook her head. “No, let’s forget the formalities. I think there is enough repairing on my part that warrants no formalities.”

Elena tilted her head in question.

The goddess let out a sigh. “While I have given your dragon the ability to speak Anaki, even he could not speak to your mate about the true purpose of the Iron Fang. Instead, he used his tongue for pleasure and not what I had intended him to use it for.”

Both of our faces turned a bright red. Elena buried her face into my chest while I had to regard the goddess with my own.

The Goddess smiled until she laughed and waved her hand. “I understand, you both are caught up in the bond, it is understandable, but now our time is short, and dangers are coming. Now walk with me.”

Elena and I both looked at one another while the goddess gave us her back.

“But we just bonded, aren’t we supposed to be on a honeymoon?” Elena whispered. “Like I’m still sore.”

“I can carry you,” I whispered back .

“But what about round two?”

“Are you coming or not?” The goddess turned with her eyebrow raised.

Elena’s shoulders slumped. “We can do more later. I guess upcoming danger trumps more sex.”