Page 6 of The Dragon’s Emberlinked Mate (Dragon Flight Academy #3)

Emmen

Seeing Rhythe broken and battered on the hospital bed was a kind of torture I never wanted to experience again.

It was all I could do to hold it together when he first opened his eyes and spoke.

His voice was broken, his eyes glassy, his skin a tint of yellow that looked more like something out of a sci-fi film than reality.

Holding back the tears that were begging to be set free took so much out of me.

Especially when he told me he was my mate and that he’d known for months. I couldn’t begin to fathom how difficult that must’ve been for him, knowing I existed and keeping himself away. And then hearing I had a date… that had to have broken his heart into a thousand pieces.

Accepting a date wasn’t something I’d been thrilled about doing. It surely wasn’t something I was excited about. And hearing my mate talk about it, trying to disguise his hurt while at the same time giving me the freedom to stay on my current path if that was my desire—that nearly broke me.

We had a lot to talk about, and I had a ton to prove to him, but first he needed to heal. I doubt he understood just how close he came to death with his accident. If I had stopped for coffee along the way or taken my car… I couldn’t allow myself to go down that path.

I hadn’t wanted to leave the hospital with Rhythe still there.

Going so far as the bathroom was challenging.

Not only did I need to be by his side, I needed to hold his hand.

I’d say that was me being selfish or needy, but it was more than that.

As long as he was touching me, my mate was able to sleep peacefully, but if we lost our physical contact while he was sleeping, he became restless.

Until we officially bonded, his dragon wasn’t ever going to be at ease, just as mine wasn’t. With him in the hospital, it was up to me to calm his beast, and I’d do everything in my power to make that happen.

He’d been downgraded to a regular room, no longer in the intensive care unit. If he were human, he’d have been in intensive care for much, much longer. As a dragon, his healing abilities made it so he had returned to almost normal.

It had only been thirty-six hours since he had flown into the cliff wall, and he was ready to be released. Hell, he could even walk around on his own. That didn’t stop everyone from babying him, though. No one had forgotten what it felt like when his pulse had flatlined.

I had a feeling that would live with me forever.

As much as I hated to do so, I had to leave briefly to make sure my home was ready for him. He also wasn’t ready to shift to his dragon form, so I had to make sure there was a way for us to properly get there. I hadn’t left it up for discussion, he was coming home with me.

He was my mate, and I planned to take care of him.

When I first announced it, my mate was still in and out of consciousness.

I wanted his family to know exactly where I stood, not wanting there to be arguments later over it.

It wasn’t a surprise they all agreed. Even his brother, who had offered him a place with him, immediately agreed it was best for us to be together.

That could’ve easily gone the other way.

Rythe had known I was his for months and I’d been in the same space as him and had been clueless.

A parent seeing that as me being unworthy would’ve been reasonable.

But instead, they accepted me completely.

I doubted that would’ve been the case in any other circumstances.

But nearly losing him impacted all of us deeply.

It didn’t take much to get my place ready and bring a car back. If he decided he wanted to change anything, I'd make it happen, but for now, he had a comfy place to sleep, someone preparing all kinds of food for him, and a huge television to binge any movies he might want to see.

Did he even like movies? Maybe he was into video games or possibly books. Heck, for all I knew, he was into painting or Pilates. I knew next to nothing about him, something I planned to remedy quickly.

When I walked back into the hospital, his parents were standing outside his door, whispering to one another.

“Well, I don’t understand why he can’t just come home with us.” I thought we’d worked through this, but I guess not. “It’s not as if he and Commander Emmen are actually mated,” his mom was saying.

“Katrina,” I said.

She turned and faced me, crossing her arms. “I suppose you overheard that.”

I smiled. “I did. And while I understand that you want your son close, surely you understand that my mate cannot be away from me.”

“You can stay at our home as well if you must, but Rhythe should return to his home, the one that he has always known. Not the mansion up on top of that hill where he’s never been.”

“I understand your concern, but as I—”

“Mom!” Rhythe shouted from inside his room. The door flew open. “Emmen is absolutely not coming back to our house and staying in the room that I have lived in my entire life. I’m going back to his house to rest there. It’ll be quiet.”

She rolled her eyes. “Our house isn’t exactly Grand Central Station, right? And what are you doing out of bed? You should be resting.”

“I’m done resting. I’m done letting everyone make decisions for me. I’m an adult. Emmen is my mate. Whether that’s official or not is irrelevant. I’m going to his home… our home.”

The way my heart swelled at hearing this.

“And I don’t appreciate you trying to change this after we already discussed it.”

She sighed, her eyes welling up with tears. “You’re right. Sorry. I just—” Her hand came out, and she brushed a thumb over his cheek. “We almost lost you, dear, and that terrifies me. You and your brother are my last clutch. Now you’re all growing up.”

Rhythe shuffled his feet. “Mom…”

I grabbed the wheelchair that was against the wall and wheeled it toward Rhythe. “I’m pretty sure you have to be in this in order to leave.” I’d seen it on television, so the odds of it being true were fifty-fifty.

Reluctantly, he sat down. “Surely they’re not actually going to make me stay in a chair until I exit the hospital. That’s just a human thing, right?”

One of his doctors came around the corner. “Perhaps it’s just a human thing, but honestly, it’s been so long since I’ve had a shifter admitted for something like you experienced that I don’t know if we have an official protocol.”

Rhythe growled. “Glad I could set some new precedent.”

“Well, you’re the first person I’ve ever seen survive a complete collapse of their chest cavity, so that’s kind of fun. We’ll be talking about you here for a long time. It was an exciting day for us.”

In what world was that fun? There had been exactly zero fun to be had.

Rhythe rolled his eyes. “Glad I could be of service.”

I shuddered as I thought about the way Rhythe’s body had been broken, how it had not been able to knit itself back together in time for his heart to beat.

How if I’d been there as little as two minutes later, he might not be here to be irritated by the doctor’s comments. It had been close, too fucking close.

“That’s enough,” I said. “I assume all the paperwork is done?”

“It is. Rhythe is free to go. I want to have Vexus check up with him in a few days, maybe as early as tomorrow. He’ll report back to me, and if there’s anything we need to keep an eye on, we will. I think it goes without saying that strenuous activity is out of the question, right?”

“Wait, are you saying—” Rhythe squeaked.

I put a hand on his shoulder. “We will be on our best behavior.”

Rhythe crossed his arms over his chest—the same chest that just thirty-six hours ago had collapsed and broken his heart. That was all the reminder I needed that I would be keeping my hands to myself.

“Let’s get you home,” I said. “It’s a long drive to my house.”

“How? I know where it’s at and that’s not far.”

“Indeed, but it’s only accessible via dragon flight and all-terrain vehicles.”

“Oh… I don’t think I can fly yet.”

I kissed the top of his head. “Let me worry about that. I’ve got you, mate.” Always.