Page 66 of The Breeding Cave

CHAPTER SIXTY-SIX

LUCIANO

Weapons clinked together as I walked through the cave to where I had left Yeosin—a private sector of the mountain where we could spend time together tonight. Warriors nodded to me while contemplating our battle plans for tomorrow with each other.

“Luciano,” Gideon called, standing with the Colossals and chatting with Ruby.

More like flirting , but I wasn’t complaining. Got them both out of my relationship.

I peered down the cave and grimaced, really wanting to spend more time with Yeosin, but she needed rest. So, I returned my attention to my brother and started his way. He had been right this entire time.

“How’s Yeosin?” he asked, brows furrowed.

“Good.”

“Come on. That’s all you’re going to give me?” he asked.

After blowing out a breath, I nodded. “She’s doing much better. Thank you for telling me what we had to do in order to bring her back to life. I owe you my life, brother. I wouldn’t be here right now if it wasn’t for you.”

To my surprise, Gideon’s expression softened. “You don’t owe me anything.”

I glanced between him and Ruby. “I see you’ve met …”

Ruby stared up at Gideon, her cheeks pink. “A couple minutes ago.”

“Does this mean that you and Yeosin …” I asked Gideon.

“I realized that I am connected with her,” Gideon said. “But only because we’re both phoenixes. Not because she is my mate. She may be part of the prophecy, but maybe she’s not. Maybe that prophecy is just bullshit.”

I sure hope so because I won’t let Yeosin mate with anyone else.

“The Colossals,” I said to Ruby. “How are they?”

Ruby glanced behind her at her friends that I had gotten off on the wrong foot with one too many times. I had thrown so many accusations their way because my mate was in danger, but they didn’t deserve it.

Or maybe they did. They’d prove their loyalty tomorrow.

“We have some people stationed around the mountain, keeping watch for the dragons. We all agree that most of us need rest before we attack tomorrow morning. We will defeat them for good this time.”

“The dragons won’t know what hit them,” Gideon said to her, “with your power.”

Ruby giggled softly to herself, one hand over her mouth. “You think?”

I raised my brows and took that as my cue to find my way back to my mate. After saying good night to some pack members, I walked through the cave to one of the back rooms, where Yeosin’s scent became stronger and stronger.

“There you are,” she murmured from the bed. “Everything okay?”

My pack had been living here for years, and one of the members had given us permission to sleep in their room tonight. He had been a bit too excited to prove himself as a needed beast.

“We’re ready for tomorrow,” I said, lying down beside her.

She nestled against me. “Then let’s enjoy tonight.”

I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her closer to me, listening to the steady rhythm of her heartbeat.

Tomorrow, we would fight the Dragon Clan with two phoenixes, a group of Colossals, and a pack of beasts.

Tomorrow, we would fight for our future, for our family.

Mouth on her mark, I kissed it softly. Still, I couldn’t believe that Yeosin was here with me again, along with our baby. She was alive after I had lost her, not once, but twice. I’d thought she was dead; I’d been willing to kill myself to find her in another life.

I closed my eyes, tears sliding down my cheeks. “When you died … I thought …”

“I know,” she whispered, drawing her hands through my hair. “You don’t have to relive it.”

She took my hand and placed it on her growing belly bump. Somehow, it had grown since she had made it back. I didn’t want her to come with us tomorrow, in case the dragons targeted our baby, but I knew we needed her.

Tomorrow, I had to trust her to be strong and smart, and I did.

“She’s going to be a phoenix too, isn’t she?” I hummed. “Strong like her mama.”

“She’ll be the first to be born as one.” Yeosin beamed.

“How do you know that?”

“When I was dead, someone told me,” she said. “Another phoenix trapped in the dungeon of the Dragon Clan. She showed me the horrors that the dragons have put the phoenixes through.”

“Who was it?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, but she was”—she smiled softly—“really pretty and sweet.”

I kissed her on the forehead. “Just like you.”

Like she had when we first met the night at The Breeding Cave, Yeosin blushed and shuffled in the bed nervously. I tugged her closer to me and pressed my lips to her temple, then her cheek, then her lips.

“We’ll free her tomorrow,” I said. “We’ll free all of them.”