Page 23

–Broderick–

“ASPEN IS IN trouble,”

I ground out later that evening.

“There was more to the pact.”

“Aye,”

my mother said softly.

“’Tis the part that offers ye and Aspen hope.”

She set her cup down and eyed me with warning, knowing I wouldn’t like what she had to say.

“And she must see it through, son. If she doesnae and ye do what ye’re thinking of doing right now, ‘twill be hell to pay.”

“I need to save her from them because I dinnae like this one bit.”

I strode for the door, undoubtedly thinking with my heart rather than my head, but there was no hope for it. No stopping it, and it seemed my kin understood because I heard my father curse under his breath before he and Lucas followed me.

“Hear me out, son,”

my father said as he and my cousin strode after me upstairs. I wouldn’t be traveling by horseback when flying was much faster. It was nighttime, so it was easier to hide from human eyes.

“Aspen may not be the one destined for a Sutherland,”

my father went on.

“but if she doesnae find out, ‘twill verra likely cost the lives of so many that depend on ye to protect them. Women, children, and men ye swore to see after when ye became chieftain.”

“And I ken that,”

I replied, having caught more and more via Aspen about this bloody pact.

“’Tis why I’m traveling via my dragon with a few select warriors. ‘Twill be more discreet, and we’ll be there lest Dugal do something unfavorable. Something I suspect is more than likely, given he has no intention of honoring his promise to the king. Especially considering she’s in heat.”

According to the last part of the pact, the only way to know if she was the right witch is if she shifted into her dragon, and it wore the gem seen in her tattoo over her dragon’s heart. There was no reality where Dugal’s beast wouldn’t pounce on Aspen's dragon if it were there. Hell, even if it weren’t, she would be too tempting and vulnerable.

Worse yet, in her new form, she would be unable to fight back and be at his mercy.

If that weren’t daunting enough, rutting in dragon form took a lot of getting used to and wasn’t for all shifters, so it would most definitely traumatize her, and I refused to let that happen, bedamned the ridiculous pact. I would suffer the wrath of the whole of Scotland to keep her from suffering like that.

“I am right there with ye, cousin,”

Lucas said, catching my thoughts and keeping stride.

“She doesnae deserve that, so we will stand together and deal with things as they come.”

Whether or not he would voice his agreement, my father cursed under his breath again before muttering, “As am I.”

“And I, m’laird, we are with ye too,”

said men I hadn’t called to arms alongside the men I had called as I reached the top of my tallest battlement overlooking the sea. I looked at them in thanks, knowing each man didn’t just fight on my behalf but Aspen’s because no woman deserved what she might face at the hands of the Sutherlands.

“’Tis unwise,”

my mother counseled, surprising me when she joined us and didn’t say what I expected her to.

“Yet I will no more let a lass suffer like that than any of ye. Especially not Aspen, who I hope to one day call my daughter.”

She looked in a northerly direction before meeting my eyes again.

“I beg ye to do this right and only if necessary.”

“Aye,”

I agreed, looking at my men.

“That means following orders and not laying waste to the lot of them, as I know some of ye crave. This is to be a measured approach.”

I bit back what I wanted to say and only said what I needed to.

“We will only engage if Dugal goes after Aspen’s dragon.”

I inhaled deeply.

“If it turns out she is destined for him and he doesnae engage her, then we leave in peace, and she becomes his.”

“Aye, m’laird,”

all replied.

Trusting they would heed my orders, I shifted into my dragon and leapt off the battlement, relishing the feel of my strong serpentine body as I swooped over the moonlit sea and headed north. Flapping my wings, I caught an updraft, enjoying the chilled air rushing by me, and shot up over a cloud bank so our approach would be less noticeable.

Lucas’s dark cobalt blue dragon fell in on one side of me, my parents’ beasts on the other, and my men fell in behind us. All the while, I remained acutely aware of Aspen, sensing her inner beast’s interest in my shift. I could only hope it offered her comfort knowing I was nearby. I wasn’t too close to risk the pact yet, but close enough to save her if I needed to.

Seeing through her eyes, I knew they were leading her up to the top of the Sutherland’s tallest battlement, an area large enough that several warriors could join them, no doubt as a measure of protection lest Aspen shift and not handle her dragon well. A flailing dragon could be catastrophic to a castle and its people if not contained, never mind a threat to itself.

“I’m scared, Broderick,”

she whispered into my mind.

“I wouldn’t have been if I were doing this with you, but with them…him…”

“You are doing it with me, lass,”

I assured her, flapping my wings even faster.

“I will be right there with you the whole time. Just focus on my voice, dinnae fear, and embrace your inner dragon, for ‘twill go far smoother that way.”

“How will I shift to begin with, though?”

I heard the frown in her voice.

“It almost sounds like Elspet has some sort of way to force me. Is that possible?”

I was about to say no because I had never heard of such a thing, but my mother broke into the conversation.

“Typically, nay, a dragon cannae be forced to shift against its will, but there is a way if a dragon’s fated mate exists. Not necessarily near them but out there somewhere.”

My mother didn't need to utter another word because I felt it in her thoughts, and a rush of terror spiked through me, prompting me to pump my wings even harder.

“Surely not.”

“Surely not, what?”

Aspen asked, obviously not catching on.

“Broderick?”

she said when I didn’t know how to reply.

“What is it?”

“’Tis…”

How could I possibly tell her they intended to throw her off the battlement in hopes her dragon would take over to save her, but only if she had a fated mate out there somewhere? Because that was what it would take her first shift. How to tell her if, for some reason, neither Dugal nor I were her fated mate, she would plummet to her death unless I got to her fast enough?

“’Tis going to be all right,”

I said, pushing my dragon’s body to the limit to get closer, lest I need to catch her, slipping deeper into my brogue because of my heightened emotions.

“Just concentrate on my voice. Do ye ken? Dinnae focus on fear, only my voice.”

“Okay,”

she replied, clearly starting to sense my dragon’s distress.

“Could you be a little more specific because I’m getting a weird vibe off you.”

She was about to say more when I saw they had reached the top, a spacious area to be sure that could fit several dragons if need be. The wind was gusty enough to rock my dragon here and there but not as strong as it might have been, and for that, I could only be grateful.

The battlement they stood on offered a sizeable drop to the treetops below, but not nearly as far as she would have had if she’d leapt from MacLeod Castle, so there wasn't as much time to shift and save herself. I looked for Flame but saw no sign of him. Why wasn’t he with her? Not that he could do much right now, but still. Biting Elspet’s leg might at least slow her down some.

“How is it again that you’re hoping to get me to shift?”

Aspen asked Elspet and Dugal.

“Because I can’t see how—”

That’s all she got out before Elsbet thrust out her hands and chanted, flinging such a heavy gust of wind at Aspen, she was tossed right over the railing. My heart slammed into my throat because I wasn’t close, nor did I have eyes on her, so I kept talking and dropped altitude.

“Let go of your fear,”

I urged her, feeling the terror surge through her as she plummeted downward.

“See through the eyes of your inner beast and know I’m waiting for you, Aspen. I’m right here and eager to see your beautiful beast, so embrace her and come to me. Be with me.”

She screamed and flailed, fighting the feeling, so I kept encouraging her, speaking not just to her now but back in a life we had forgotten.

“Remember our yesteryear and come be with me again,”

I coaxed.

“Run to me…fly to me, and I will catch you…I will scoop you up all over again.”

I felt her beginning to calm despite the forest racing toward her. Then, I saw through her eyes as they hazed red with her inner beast, and her dragon screamed toward the surface, eager to get to me. Be with me.

“I’m right here,”

I kept saying.

“Waiting for you, my love. Eager to be together like we always should have been. Eager to…”

My internal words trailed off when I felt an incredible surge of energy rush through her and had the pleasure of dropping beneath the clouds just in time to witness her shift for the first time, and it was magnificent.

She was magnificent.

A stunning shade of violet that matched her eyes, she was long, lithe, and perfectly formed from her glorious wings to her spiked tail. Glittering under the fading moonlight, I felt her exaltation as she eased into her serpentine body with such perfect fluidity that being a dragon clearly came naturally.

“Holy…oh my holy wow!”

she exclaimed, her dragon’s internal voice as lovely as her human’s as she flapped her wings once, twice, then swooped up over the treetops seconds before crashing down.

“Keep flapping and let the wind guide you,”

I coaxed.

“Dinnae fight it, just go with it.”

Truthfully, there was no need to tell her what to do because she quickly got the hang of it, gaining altitude as she left the trees behind and soared over the water. Despite how much she reveled in flight, I felt her need to find me and lay eyes on my dragon for the first time.

“Here, lass,”

I said.

“I’m coming in from the south.”

Almost the moment I said it, her gaze turned my way, and I felt the impact of our dragon’s eyes connecting for the first time despite the distance. An intense impact that confirmed she was very much my fated mate. An undeniable connection that was impossible to describe as she banked my way and headed in my direction.

Or at least she tried before Dugal’s massive dragon came out of nowhere and snagged her up, even though she had no red gem over her dragon’s heart, proving it was just as I feared.

He had no intention of honoring the pact.