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Chapter Forty-Four

Elena

A guttural scream tore from my throat as my chest heaved and expanded grotesquely.

It felt as though my ribcage was shattering from within, each cracking bone a new torment.

I howled, my voice raw and desperate. My spine stretched unbearably, each vertebra popping and snapping as if rebelling against me.

Previously, relief from my heat pain came through orgasms, semen, and Anaki’s touch. But now, I found myself in a state of agony that nothing could alleviate. It felt as if my body was falling apart in the most dreadful way imaginable.

“It’s alright, love, you got this,” Anaki’s soothing voice, meant to be comforting, was anything but.

I snarled, a voice not of my own snapped at the one person who had always been kind.

“I’m sorry!” I cried out, collapsing into the dirt. The earth felt cool against my skin, which was now covered in hardened, light pink scales. The damper the soil, the better it felt, and I found myself inching ever closer to the lake.

Anaki edged closer, disregarding my sharp remarks. Dressed only in his boxer briefs, he reached out to seize my arm. I tried to pull back, but he maintained his grip and drew me into his embrace. “It hurts, love, I know. Just know I’m here.”

I panted heavily, my breath coming in ragged gasps as my body stiffened in his arms, a tension overtaking me.

My legs straightened out with a sudden, uncontrollable force, and before my eyes, they transformed, sprouting sleek, glistening fins.

Blood gushed down my legs in a warm, crimson stream that painted my tanned skin.

I squeezed my eyes shut, overwhelmed by the intensity.

“It’s alright, don’t look. Just stay with me.” Anaki turned my head away.

“This is worse than labor. Oh goddess, fuck! Why does it hurt so bad?” I grabbed onto Anaki’s arm. My fingers had sprouted claws, not of my own volition, and pierced his skin. He didn’t say anything. He only winced as his scales gathered around the wound to try to protect himself.

“It’s almost over. You’ve broken almost every bone, and soon you will shift. I know it’s slow going. You are doing so well. It won’t be like this every time.”

Static fizzled in my head, and I heard Locke’s voice come in, clear as day. “Is she dying? Emm is about to have a damn conniption, and I can’t keep her away for much longer.”

I cried out again when I felt my ass damn near explode, then heard a thump as something hit the ground. When I looked back, a long tail had emerged, pale-pink with a white, feathery fin.

“I just shit out a tail!” I whined.

Anaki held his lips in a pursed, thin line, trying not to laugh. “Let’s get you in the water, it will cool you off, and make this better.”

“Alpha, Elena is fine. She’s in the final stages. I’ll keep you updated. ”

Locke groaned on the other end. “Be quick, my Luna is getting fucking antsy and I can only keep my dick in her mouth for so long to keep her quiet.”

I tried to laugh, but my jaw dislocated, and I winced.

Anaki picked me up. “Easy, easy. That’s it. Let’s get you in the water, and the rest of these clothes off of you.” I closed my eyes again and let him do his will with me.

Anaki ripped the rest of the clothes off me, which were nothing but strips of cloth.

He took me deeper into the water, and my body was almost completely submerged except for my head.

I felt tiny pinpricks over my body as the scales covered me.

Anaki was shifting, too, and I felt his chest rumble in comfort.

Scales’ voice came out, and he hummed. “You’re changing, look. You are no longer my little human.”

As I gazed down at my transformed self, my skin shimmered with a stunning, pale-pink hue that seemed almost otherworldly, interlaced with ethereal, white iridescent tones that danced across the surface like sunlight on water.

My fins, more like delicate, translucent feathers than traditional fins, gracefully extended behind my legs and adorned the top of my tail and its tip, adding an elegant flair to my silhouette.

Although I couldn’t glimpse my own face, the sight of my body was nothing short of breathtaking.

It was a vision of feminine grace and serpentine elegance, as if this exquisite form had been crafted precisely for me, perfectly embodying my essence rather than requiring me to adapt to it.

I swished my tail, and I cut effortlessly through the shimmering water like a blade through silk.

Anaki had released me, and I was now swimming independently, feeling the thrill of freedom coursing through me.

I continued in a graceful circle, observing how my body naturally buoyed and flowed.

Each muscle rippled beneath my skin, scales glinting in the dappled sunlight, and fins fluttering harmoniously, as if I were a part of the water itself.

And most importantly, the pain was gone!

Dios Mio.

“You’re beautiful,” Scales and Anaki said simultaneously.

I stared at them and then touched my face with my webbed, clawed hands.

Could I speak, too? Did I have a voice inside me?

“I…” I said, and then a giggle rose in my throat. “I can talk like this, too?” I sat up and rubbed my chest. I was in control, all of it. “What about… do I have a voice inside me, too? Like you have Scales?”

Anaki swam closer to me. His body circled mine, and he intertwined our tails.

“I’ve spoken to the other mated members about this while you have been sleeping.

There is a pattern with humans that gain animals.

It can take time for them to speak. It is like they are born within you.

They are understanding the world around them.

Give her time, she will speak soon, then she will never shut up. ”

“ Hey,” Scales said. “I am relatively quiet. I only speak when deemed necessary. Like to correct you.”

We both rolled our eyes. Our bodies continued to coil around each other on the surface of the water.

I heard footsteps from the shoreline, and my head perked up. Anaki chuckled and shook his massive head. “I knew they wouldn’t stay away for long.”

When we both turned our heads, there was a small crowd.

Luis, Tajah, Beretta, Bear, Nadia, Locke, and Emmie all stood on the shoreline.

Everyone was smiling, Luis was on his tiptoes with a camera in his hand and Emmie looked like she really had been sucking cock somewhere in the woods; her hair was a mess.

“What… what is going on?” I tilted my head and held onto Anaki tighter .

I hadn’t seen anyone in almost four weeks. It was odd seeing everyone gathered, and to be honest, I was ready to see them, but I wasn’t sure if I was ready to be seen, like this. A dragon.

I wasn’t the same person anymore. I wasn’t a weak, sickly human. I had undergone a change that stretched myself hormonally and physically. I had become extremely possessive since the bonding and the heat, and I couldn’t let Anaki out of my sight for a long while.

I called Luis almost every day after my heat.

We video called constantly, and I missed him so much, but the thought of even my son touching Anaki brought feelings of horrible jealousy.

I would never hurt my son, but it made me feel like a terrible mother that I didn’t want him to be near the only father figure he has never had.

Nadia and Bones’ video called as well, trying to help explain my feelings, that it was normal for shifters to be possessive.

However, they hadn’t had a child before meeting their mate, and while it was normal to be possessive, I shouldn’t have been so possessive as to keep my own child away.

It was a new guilt that I would carry with me for a long time.

Now that I had my dragon, I didn’t feel as possessive. Maybe it was because I felt like I was more of Anaki’s equal, that I was a dragon, and good enough for him.

Which was a silly thought, but… who knew with these dragon’s hormones, thoughts, and desires that ran through me.

“Better now, right?” Anaki rubbed his head close to my cheek. I half purred, half growled as he did so and nodded.

I swallowed heavily. “I was so scared. I don’t know why I was so obsessed with you. I was scared to share you. I felt so—”

Anaki chuckled, a deep, resonant sound that seemed to vibrate the air around us.

His long, serpentine tongue slithered up my neck with a slow, deliberate motion, leaving a trail of warmth in its wake.

“Again, natural. That is why I told you it was best we spend time away from everyone. Now that you have your dragon, things will be much better.”

Luis jumped up and down by the shoreline. “Madre! Hurry up! We need your picture for the bar!”

Anaki perked his head up. “Yes! I can put our picture up on the bar now, just like the other mated couples I have up there.” He pulled me along so I didn’t have to swim. I laughed as he swam so quickly. Waves pushed up onto the shoreline as we crawled up onto the sandy shore.

Anaki nudged me further onto land. “Quickly, come on, love. We have to pose. Luis, get in here. This is a family picture.”

Luis screamed and tried to run over, before Tajah ran forward and grabbed him by the shoulder. “Is that wise?”

I snarled and stood up on two legs. “Give me my son!”

Everyone stood back, and Luis beamed at me. “See, she’s fine.” He moved his shoulder away from Tajah and ran up to me. I lowered myself to all fours, and his little arms tried to wrap around my torso.

“Madre, you have two hearts now. I hear them thumping all crazy!”

I tilted my head and gazed up at Anaki.

He smiled, showing his bright white teeth. “Yes, two now. It’s why your chest hurt so much.” He came closer to me and linked. “I’m so jealous of your hearts right now, because they are pounding inside of you and I’m not.”

I gasped and blinked in surprise.

“You’re terrible.”

Locke cleared his throat. “Smile for the camera.”

Instead of looking straight into the camera, I nuzzled under Anaki’s neck, and he rested his head on mine.