Devoted to the Dragon (The Last Shifters #1)

41. Knox

Chapter 41

Knox

S omeone says my name louder this time. I squeeze my eyes tightly, desperate to hold on to the mossy green forest alive with my dragon’s scent.

My serpent strikes at my cheek, impatient. I attempt sitting up, batting my shadows away, but I’m too dizzy to stay upright.

Randi’s mates are in my face, hovering.

“Where the fuck am I?” I ask, blinking into twin expressions of fear.

“You’re outside of Randi’s nest. You were passed out when Gunnar got to you. It’s your bond,” Fennik says, big palm cupping my face.

He and the younger wolf help me sit. I’m lightheaded, but their weight is grounding, and my shadows openly use their strength. I look myself over and know that whatever happened is not good. My rune is dying, the bond fading.

But the dream? She forgave me in the dream.

Fennik keeps talking, the words fast, but I can’t catch them all.

“Slow down. What do you mean we can’t get to her?”

A burst of fire catches my attention, and I freeze, staring in wonder at the icy flames cutting through the room and my hissing dragon agitatedly flapping her wings behind the fire.

I’m on my feet and trying to get to her before I think. Strong arms hold me back, but I desperately fight against them, pinning both wolves to the stone wall with my shadows.

Our dragon roars.

Without thinking, I drop the wolves, needing to get to her. The fire burns, but I push against it, my shadows searching for a way across the invisible barrier. The acidic taste of the magic hits me, and I’m thrown against the wolves. The three of us land in a heap.

“I think I liked you better passed out, vamps,” the Viking grumbles.

“I’m not a vampire.” I shove the wolf off, my head smarting and my arm burning.

“Have you looked at yourself in the mirror?” he asks.

“There wasn’t one included in the prison package.” I hold my head, wincing as I stare between them. “What the fuck was that?”

The older wolf helps me back up, explaining the last twenty-four hours again: Randi wanting me here, Gunnar finding me, the witch’s warning. Apparently, I missed a lot.

I must have dream-walked to her, which is totally badass. Only my mother can do that shit. My soul was so desperate to see her I’m not surprised though. I’m lucky as fuck that I did because she wants me here. Without that, my ass would be dead.

It takes me a minute to sort through what Fennik’s saying. All the static in my brain makes my thoughts slow. “The barrier… it’s like a test? The final part of bonding a dragon?”

My eyes find her again. Her white wings, the spiked talons sharp, flap in agitation.

What are you playing at, my clever little dragon?

She doesn’t answer me, but her eyes bore into mine, and I swear they urge me closer. I walk to the line, and she meets me there, batting her claw at the barrier. She perches, holding it there like she did in our shared dream.

My heart beats wildly. “What you said in the woods was real?”

Her noble head bows.

I look pointedly at her fierce flames. “Your walls are very firmly up, baby.”

She chuffs. I can’t decide if that’s a dragon’s laugh or if she’s about to roast me.

But if she’s forgiven me and she wants me here, then what is the challenge? Why a barrier? I replay Fennik’s words, her words. Three contenders, one horde. I mull that over, thinking about what she said in our talk in the woods about the territory line.

My serpent reaches for the fire, testing the energy of the magic with its tongue. The magic is strong and intricate. I let the subtleties marinate, studying the blue flames.

It’s a lock. The horde is the key.

“How is a horde different from three?” I muse aloud, puzzling it over.

“It’s one,” the older wolf answers at the same time I figure it out. “Randi needs us unified.”

Yes. A unit. She didn’t call me specifically. She called us .

I focus on my serpent, letting my shadows take over my senses. “It’s an energy lock, though I’ve never seen one used this way. It requires proof of a horde to open.”

Energy locks are how serpents have always made wards. Only certain energy signatures unlock the gate to allow passage, but this one isn’t based on our individual energies.

“Well, that sounds super easy,” Gunnar mumbles.

My laugh escapes as I eye the Viking. The huge, hulking beast of a man is scared, and I want to reassure him for some reason. “I don’t think it will be necessary to harm yourself, little lamb. It’s not a blood sacrifice.”

Gunnar growls. “Call me little lamb again and see how my wolf likes it.”

That only makes me laugh harder. “I bet I could make your wolf like it very much.”

My shadows reach for him, and the Viking shows his teeth.Despite knowing the wolf hits like a truck, his energy reads protective. Gunnar has a warm soul, but his hackles are up with me. It makes me a dick to tease him, but that doesn’t stop me.

“So, what does it require?” Fennik covers his laugh behind a strangled cough, drawing my eyes away from the snarling Viking.

I shrug, though I won’t be surprised if they scoff at what I say. “I’m not an alchemist, but I think Randi wants us to douse the fire by showing we trust one another. Our magical energy has to be connected to open the lock.”

Fennik’s eyes turn to the steely glint of his wolf. “And you know how to do that?”

That is not the question I was expecting. Something has changed. I don’t know if it’s that she has forgiven me, so Fennik has too, but the open hostility is gone. “It’s possible, but I’ve never actually done it. I form small emotional connections. Lust for a night is my specialty.”

“Shocker.” Gunnar rolls his eyes. “If it gets us across the line, I’m in.”

Fennik nods. “Whatever we have to do for her, we will.”

I look between them, confused by their easy agreement. “What you’re asking can’t be undone. Do you get what I’m saying? All three of us will be bound.”

“That’s what a horde is. We have to work together and trust each other. How can we be good mates to her if we don’t?” the older wolf asks.

My eyes find the Viking. “You’re okay with us being tethered?”

Gunnar’s lifted brow and sharp glare seem to throw the question back at me.

I wince, the words falling out before I filter them. “I swear that I’m committed to her and this, but I gotta be honest, my track record sucks.”

The Viking’s lips twitch behind his mother of all beards. “Don’t worry. I’ll kick your ass if you fuck up, vamps.”

“Good. I’ll hold you to it.”

He pulls me in for a complicated bro-dude back-clap hug that rattles my bones. “Do your vampy shit and tether us.”

The edges of the energy fray, and my serpent works them back, coaxing the strands together until the green and amber shimmer with my silver. My energy is fading, and the connection is unstable. In a pop of smoke, the connection breaks.

Gunnar growls in frustration, throwing his hands in the air. “I thought you knew what you were doing.”

Fennik reaches out a steadying hand, helping me stay upright. My cheeks heat, but I force myself to swallow my snarky retort. I’m a lust-eater. What the fuck do I know about soul bonds?

Gunnar gets up, pacing as I try to center myself enough to begin again. It doesn’t help that I can feel my dragon’s eyes on me, her whimpers getting louder. She needs us, and we’re running out of time.

My eyes close, and I visualize the forest, letting myself remember the sound of her tinkling call on the wind. Fennik purrs, and those deep vibrations help me find my breath.

“My wolf thinks we should give her this,” Gunnar’s gruff voice says as he shoves something in my hand.

It’s a glittering red gemstone. I recognize it as one of the memory stones I gave Randi.

“Where did you get this?” I ask, turning the smooth stone over in my hand. It holds the dream I had of the four of us together.

Gunnar shrugs. “It was on the floor right outside her nest.”

“She told me to get those just before her dragon took over after she built her nest. Maybe it’s a clue?” Fennik looks at me, face grave.

I could make a tether with a stone and embed a small essence of our energy in it. That isn’t the same as the coven tether I was trying to make, but it could work as a key, maybe? But, how?

“Okay. New plan,” I say.

I urge the wolves forward and direct them to touch the stone. I add my shadows, letting them bind their two hands. My shadows open, and the two wolves’ energies bursts into life around us in a dizzying show of green and amber.

I focus on plucking a single strand of energy from each wolf. Next, I braid those tiny strands with my silver smoke. It’s unwieldy and powerful, like riding a bucking bronco. The two wolves sense it and push back with their purrs, sending me a boost that melds the connections into a dizzying light strand. The stone’s heart opens, and the energy gets sucked in.

The moment the stone closes, it glows. Red energy pulses, traveling in a blinding burst that turns my vision white. My face tingles along the edges of my scar, then it burns hot and sharp. I can feel the connection between the claw mark and my chest.

The wolves look wide-eyed at each other. I follow their eyes to their brand-new glowing mate runes.

“Holy hash,” Gunnar squeaks. “Is that?—”

“Mating runes,” Fennik says on an awed whisper.

The ripe of their shirts, staring at their marks in wonder. Gunnar makes these hilarious faces but I can’t focus on that. All I see is that like mine, the runes look diseased, the edges around them dark with bruising. At least theirs glow. My rune is all darkness.

That’s when I realize I can feel them. It’s as if two new tethers are braided around my withering mate bond.Consciously or not, they send me light, feeding the bond. My connection to them isn’t a mate bond. It’s something different, like the pack bonds I’ve heard wolves share.

Their light is in my chest and mind, like a link connecting our souls. What I feel makes me realize how lucky I am that these are the men who will love her with me.

Their energy pokes and prods, even as I can feel them sending me strength and healing my body. I don’t hide. I show them my intentions, letting them feel how much I want to make it right.

Gunnar’s meaty fist beats against his chest, and a grin takes over his face. “Holy hash. That shit is wild.” He jumps to his feet, bouncing on his toes as he steps to the line. He’s feeding me energy, but he looks full of it. “We got this! Let’s crush this ice blaster and win our girl.”

He looks like the lead in a trashy sci-fi film, and it’s adorable.

My shadows perk up even though my chest smarts, the rune still looking rough. I feel better than I have since I woke up. Weak as fuck still, but better. Gunnar’s blinding hope and Fennik’s strength fuel that, and I’m grateful they’re here with me. It makes it easier to trust that I won’t keep fucking this up.

Fennik holds out his hand to me, pulling me to my feet. His big body wraps around mine, his voice tight with emotion as he murmurs his thanks in my ear.

“Let’s hope it works,” I say as the three of us crowd the fire line.

I can’t see Randi anymore—she’s too far into her nest. Her cries, however, are getting louder, and my heart aches at the sound.

Fennik looks at the two of us and counts off.

We step into the fire, but the blast doesn’t come. The fire licks the skin without burning. Everything gleams, the world a blinding show of endless ice.

“Now what?”I ask, taking in the magical boundary around us.

The wolves answer me with a sniff, their fangs already dropping. Their sense of smell is better than mine, and whatever they catch a whiff of makes them both wild. Gunnar grabs me as if I weigh nothing, chasing Fennik.

I get it the second her scent hits me. It’s the essence of passion and hunger. She smells needy, the scent laced with a frantic pain. My dick goes hard, and my fangs drop as the dripping honey and juice takes over all logical thought. She is the sweet floral of orange blossoms, citrus tartness, and mint's cool, icy tingle.

And she’s in heat.