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M orlie gasped as the earth seemed to drop from beneath her feet. Kai was apparently the last relative of the enormous white dragon on a wooden altar. Aodh knew about her and had invited her to come; why would he say that her older sister was one of the last? What about me?

No part of Morlie doubted that she was a mate to the Alpha wolf beside her, but was it possible that she could have both dragon blood and Lupine genetics?

She stared through the trees at the throng of white-garbed Drahk before her.

Some faces were familiar, like Eilidh and her friends, from when she lived among them before she ran to her wolf-shifter mate.

Morlie missed Eilidh and the energy of the all-encompassing joy the dragon female exuded, but with the wolves, she felt connected and not like an outsider they were all entertaining or babysitting.

“I take it you didn’t know of your family’s Drahk connection?” Chanin’s arm tightened around her waist and drew her closer to his side.

His caress and hold had become a natural gesture for them. The Alpha loved touching her whenever she was near. More than ever, she was grateful for his sinewy arm as her knees wobbled, feeling weak as she attempted to process the booming words of the dragon-shifter leader.

“No.” She frowned and shook her head as her mind sifted through every scrap of memory she had, not only of her parents and the things they shared with her and Kai but also everything Kai had filled in once their parents died from the same illness that attempted to claim her life.

Kai had never said she bore a mark like hers on her inner thigh, one placed there by their human government and one that had faded daily since Morlie’s change.

She’d never asked Kai how she was sure Aodh was truly her mate.

Could this obscure Drahk connection have something to do with it? It would help a lot of this make sense.

Morlie couldn’t pull her gaze away from seeing all the people dressed in white, specifically her sister.

Her eyes seemed to hunger for this first glimpse of her big sister.

They’d never been separated longer than a few hours all of Morlie’s life, but now their geographical and emotional distance seemed bigger than the territories they lived in.

“Mom and Dad never shared much beyond their youth with their parents and their lives together before and after the catastrophes.” She thought harder, causing the muscles of her face to scrunch.

“Even in all the fairytales and stories they would tell us, none of them consisted of a dragon carrying off a princess in the end...and they lived happily ever after.”

Chanin pressed his lips to her ear and whispered, “I bet they didn’t envision a big bad wolf, either.”

She laughed and curled against him. “Oh, there were plenty of those, but none that would have allowed me to imagine you.” She nipped at the muscle of his strong jawline.

Chanin growled as he lowered his head and licked along the curve that joined her neck and shoulder, his tongue just catching the edge of his mark on her.

A few dragon-shifters glanced toward the woods briefly before returning their gaze to the older man resembling Aodh, who was speaking.

That sound from her mate and her own need had her rolling her lips in and sinking her teeth into the flesh until she tasted her blood.

Heat furrowed in her belly and spread between her thighs.

It caused her pussy to throb and slicken.

Her nipples tightened to stiff peaks that ached for him to cup, stroke, and suck.

The urge to take his hand and slide it down from her middle and into the waist of her pants until it was settled between her legs, cupping her drenched folds.

She would be able to rock her hips and grind her pulsating clit along his deft, calloused fingers until lightning struck and she came apart in his hand.

Even with their wolf detail settled behind them in the woods and the crowd of Drahk a few hundred feet before them, Morlie’s body was tuned only to Chanin.

However, she knew if she gave in for a moment to the need strumming through her, she’d be on all fours in less than a heartbeat and letting her mate drive his thick cock into her hard and deep until she was screaming her release, again and again.

The clarity of her wolf vision, like her acute hearing, allowed her to pick up every word spoken at the ceremony they watched but were not a part of. Morlie was grateful that no one spoke in Drahk and wondered if it was per Aodh’s request, knowing she and Chanin would be there.

Regardless, she was distracted by her sight, which allowed her to take in everything about the male beside her, her mate.

Even dressed in borrowed clothing from the Drahks like her, a pair of loose-fitting pants and tops, Chanin appeared tall, strong, and proud.

The pale taupe-colored garments, different from what the Alpha wore among his people, could not detract from the fierce Lupine nature.

His long, blond hair created a golden halo around the prominent, angular lines of his features, and his deep-set, intense blue eyes were always a blink away from turning amber.

It was clear he was responding to her desire for him.

Morlie forced her gaze away.

She sucked in a deep breath through her nose that didn’t help because all she could smell was the dark, earthy spice with rich mahogany undertones of Chanin.

However, she fisted her hands at her sides and felt the slice of her sharp nails in her palm.

The pain helped her focus on the control she needed right now, but it was tenuous because her wolf wanted out.

Chanin had told her that the lunar pull was increasing toward what usually would have been a full moon in a day or so, and it would be harder and harder for the Lupine not to be in their natural wolf form.

Loving her new self—body, strength, lust—she reconciled herself with the fact she was now more beast than human.

However, right now was not the time, and she needed to fight the fierce urges and thrumming in her muscles to rut and shift.

Although she didn’t recall closing her lids, she opened them and stared at her sister across the clearing.

Aodh had said Kai would need her tonight, which was why Morlie was here.

Those thoughts helped some to place her desire on simmer. “If our parents had known, wouldn’t they have left some hint or something tangible that this all was true?”

“You would think so.” She felt the tension in Chanin’s body wrapped around hers, but thankfully, he kept his hands on semi-neutral territory, her waist, and the curve of her hip.

She didn’t have any answers and wouldn’t until she was able to speak to her sister.

Another older male she didn’t recognize finished speaking and moved back into the circle as Aodh guided Kai to the front of the gathering.

Standing before his people, Aodh tilted Kai’s face and kissed her lightly.

He then held Kai’s gaze for a moment as if communicating something to her privately before he stepped away, blending back into the crowd.

Morlie could sense her sister’s nervousness when Kai wrung her hands before her swollen belly. Kai’s gaze seemed to skid around the people before her but not settle on anyone for too long.

Kai cleared her throat. “First off, I’d like to say how grateful I am for you all aiding and accepting me into your Thunder and as Aodh’s mate. You all were there for not only me but my sister.”

Morlie watched the Drahks confirm her sister’s words with smiles and nods.

“I have been thinking of this moment all day,” Kai continued.

“Of the words I could say to fill in the cavernous valley inside of me that I have felt since I learned about my ancestors and discovered who and what I am. However, focusing on the gulf of sadness and loss of time and memories only served to diminish the gift I have been given in establishing a restoration to Drago’s line.

My family line. To try and decipher the thoughts and plans of the Great Spirit and why it took so long for Drago not only to know he still had a family but to see them.

..it only stands to neglect my gratefulness of the situation.

Drago, the greatest of my uncles, lived a life long enough for us to meet.

For us to spend his last moments together. ”

Kai placed a hand over her heart as tears cascaded down her face.

Morlie’s chest ached as she watched the pain etched on her sister's face and saw the shudders in her body even as Kai continued to execute a compelling stance.

“My heart is heavy and full.” Kai’s voice wavered.

“In my life, I have only witnessed two miracles. My sister healed from a devastating disease that robbed us of our parents.” She inhaled a shaky breath as she glanced over her shoulder toward the massive white form.

“And witnessing Drago take his last breath and the majesty of his final flight.”

Morlie watched Kai meet Aodh’s gaze as if her sister needed to connect with her mate to strengthen her. “As Drago’s family, I release him to the bosom of the Great Spirit who gave him his first blistering breath.”

Even if Morlie didn’t understand how they were linked to the dead Drahk, it didn’t stop her from being proud of her big sister. Yes, Kai may have started shaky and unsure, but in the end, her sister’s voice rang out loud and formidable. Kai appeared every bit the mate of a powerful leader.

“Apophis,” Aodh called out to a man, a head shorter and with broad shoulders, narrower than most Drahk.

The man had long, blond hair with silver streaks and wore a calf-length white tunic over wide-leg white pants.

Unlike the others, his feet were bare. That eccentricity didn’t detract from the fact that the man was still a dragon-shifter, the scale lines visible between the vee of his tunic and covering his forearms below the three-quarter sleeves.