Page 176 of The Wild Prince’s Favorite (The Dragon Empire Saga #3)

It felt like miles of snow between him and the baby dragon’s wails despite all the men who were also digging around him.

The snow was turning into slush at their feet, slowly licking their ankles, but they didn’t stop.

Finally, Kassein’s fingers grazed something more solid, and he froze. He kept digging more cautiously, and a little bundle of black scales appeared, trapped between two cold, white limbs. His heart stopped.

He forced himself to take one breath in and dug even further, cautiously sweeping the snow off her arms and shoulders.

Finally, her face appeared. Kassein let out a strangled sound.

Her eyes were closed, her expression incredibly serene, like she was sleeping.

He pulled more of the snow that was trapping her, and eventually, her limp body slowly fell into his arms; Alezya didn’t react.

She had never been so pale nor so cold. His hand that was holding her head returned covered in blood, and only then did he notice the gash on her head, the blood soaking her dark hair.

“Call a medic!” Dajan shouted. “C-Commander, is she alive?”

Was she? She looked so pale and so cold, but it took Kassein a second to realize that Alezya had turned white not because of snow or cold but because her entire body was covered in thin white scales.

Every bit of her limbs had turned reptilian, cold and rigid.

He had never seen this amount of scales on someone before.

He forced himself to check her body, his trembling fingers moving very cautiously.

She’d fallen from the same height as her father, but because of the scales, it was hard to assess the damage.

The wound on her head was horrifying, but it was the only obvious one, and the sight of her blood made Kassein sick.

“We should take her to–”

“Don’t touch her,” Kassein growled, his instincts taking over.

He could barely think; the sight of that wound on her head and the stillness of her body was dragging him down into a pit of darkness.

He felt numb and terrified, and nothing but his instincts could make him move at that very moment.

Kassein couldn’t think, he couldn’t formulate a single thought, but he knew he didn’t want anyone touching her.

She was his. It didn’t matter what was left; she was his.

And like a dragon, he guarded his treasure, threatening anyone who came near to take her away from him.

Very slowly and cautiously, moving his arms as little as possible, he gently put her down and lay next to her, his warm and large body shielding hers.

He ignored the voices around them, his confused men, and those who looked with pity in their eyes.

He heard, but he didn’t care what it looked like.

What Alezya looked like. And he didn’t want to think about that. He didn’t want to think about anything.

All he wanted to do was lie there, next to her, and wait. He would wait, no matter how long. He would wait.

“Kassein, what–”

His sister’s voice trailed off as she came to an audible halt somewhere nearby, and gasped.

“Fuck,” she hissed. “Is... Is she...?”

“We don’t know. He-... The Commander wouldn’t let us come near...”

Kiera let out a long exhale.

“...Leave them alone.”

“But–”

“With that wound on her head, it’s either too late, or there’s nothing we can do.

We shouldn’t move her at all. Just... leave them there.

Focus on the tribes and ensuring their surrender.

We’ve got plenty to do already. Report everything to me and the generals.

I need to hear how many men we lost and the state of the medical unit.

Did you round up the surviving tribe leaders?

Make sure Darak’s body is somewhere they can see. ”

“Yes, Your Highness!”

He heard movement, voices, steps, and people busy evacuating the injured, gathering bodies, and looking for whoever was missing, but Kassein didn’t react.

Not even when he heard Tievin nearby assessing the damage and trying to communicate with the tribe leaders.

Not when Kein finally was able to land nearby, after Dajan and his men had spent more time digging and shoveling, until there was enough space for his dragon to land, crawl to Alezya’s other side, and extend a wing to shield them.

All he could hear was Niiru’s faint whining.

The baby dragon kept letting out little wails and sniffing Alezya’s face. It was curled up in her arms, its eyes wide open, glancing at her and Kassein, waiting. Kassein didn’t speak. He was staring at her face too.

He couldn’t tell if she was breathing. He couldn’t know if she was warmer since Kein had landed behind her.

He couldn’t tell if the white scales were fading or still.

He couldn’t know if she was asleep or already gone.

She was too still. They were eerily still compared to everything that was going on around them.

Under Kein’s wing, in the darkness, lying as if they were in a cocoon, shielded from the rest of the world.

“...I need you,” Kassein rasped after a long time had passed, and things had gone quiet around them.

“...I feel like a man with you. A man I want to be. You make me feel strong, yet weak at the same time. You make me want to love and protect. Before you came, there was nothing but chaos in my head.”

He forced himself to breathe as his throat hurt, and his eyes prickled.

“I wanted to die before you came,” he muttered. “I never... I couldn’t forgive what I’d done. I felt like I was living for nothing. For no one. But then, you...”

He swallowed a sob.

“You fought so hard to live, Alezya. You wanted to live. I’d never seen someone as brave as you.

You were hurt, but you were... so, so courageous and so beautiful.

I grew up surrounded by strong people, but I never knew what brave meant until I met you.

I fought to die, and you fought to live.

I’d never met someone as radiant as you, my moonlight.

You shine in the dark, my moonlight. So bright, so blinding. ”

He dared to move, and with trembling fingers, he caressed her pale cheek.

“...I love you,” he whispered. “I love you so much that I can’t go on hating myself. I forget it all when you’re near. You make me want to live and be alive. You make me want to have the world with you.”

He closed his eyes, and very carefully, he moved even closer to lean his forehead against hers.

“You terrify me,” he whispered. “You make me fear a world where you don’t... you don’t...”

He swallowed again, and forced himself to take a shallow, shivering breath in.

“Where you’re not here,” he mumbled, “and I know I’d have to go on without you.

Because I’d have to be there for them. For Lumie.

For all those who need me. You’re the one who made me care, and now, you can’t leave me to.

.. to face it all alone. Please. Please, please, please, my moonlight.

Please wake up. Please come back to me again.

I’ll never let you go ever again. I’ve learned my lesson this time.

I miss your eyes... I miss you. Please. Please. Please, please, please...”

He kept repeating it over and over again, like a quiet, whispered prayer that got lost in the wind. Niiru stopped whining, leaning against Alezya’s chest and closing its tiny eyes.

The hours passed.

The night grew colder as the aftermath of the battle disappeared.

The mud turned solid, and a gentle rain flushed the blood down the rift, washing it all away.

The voices gradually disappeared. The crowd grew distant, except for steps approaching now and then, stopping somewhere nearby, and then leaving again. Then, none was left.

The rift turned quiet as it emptied of all human life. Nothing else moved. It all went away, replaced by the quiet drumming of the rain against rocks, the faint stream of water.

Then, just before dawn, steps were heard again.

The rain had stopped, and the sounds of heavy boots, coming closer, could be heard in faint splashes.

Kassein let out a heavy breath as a large, warm hand landed on his shoulder.

“You did good, son,” a familiar male voice whispered. “Now let me help.”

Only then did Kassein let a sob shake him.