Dragon Scorned

13. Tate

Leaving River was one of the hardest things I’ve had to do in a long ass time, but when I got that text, I had no choice.

I pulled in front of our two-story house, immediately spotting Knox on the front porch waiting for me.

We have known each other for as long as I can remember. My parents disappeared when Ryker and I were thirteen, and Knox took us in. He was only twenty-five and had to completely change his bachelor lifestyle overnight.

He was my dad”s best friend, and it made sense since we didn’t have any other close family.

It was rocky in the beginning, we were not easy on Knox, Ryker was especially hard on him growing up.

Then the hunters took Ryker when we were seventeen, and everything changed.

It”s been three years since I’ve seen my twin. We have been searching for him every day since we got word that he escaped Moonbeam.

Putting the car in park and shutting it off, I climbed out and headed up the steps.

I took Knox’s outstretched hand, pulling him in for a hug, slapping my other hand on his back.

When we separated, I saw the mix of emotions on his face, hesitance being the most prominent one.

“Is he inside?” I asked him, still in shock from his text.

“Yes, but be careful, Tate. He”s not the same person we lost three years ago,” Knox told me before stepping aside and letting me enter the house first.

I opened the door, looking around, hesitating only a moment before stepping inside.

“He”s in the living room,” Knox said, before closing the door behind us.

I turned down the hallway and headed into the living room. My breath caught in my throat when my eyes landed on him sitting in the chair, staring out the window into the backyard. He looked so different, yet still the same. I was reminded of him every time I looked in the mirror, pain squeezing my heart every day he was gone.

“Ryker,” I said on a shaky exhale.

His eyes turned to meet mine at the sound of his name. My gaze zeroed in on the scar across the left side of his face. It started right above his eyebrow, going through his eye, and ending on his cheek.

His left eye was completely gold underneath the scar.

“What did they do to you?” I asked him as I took a seat on the couch across from him. Knox sat down on my left side, his arm brushing against me.

Ryker”s eyes shot to the connection, and I shifted slightly away from him.

“Don’t you two look cozy. What? I get kidnapped, and you decide to play perfect fucking family while I was going through hell.” He spat, looking back up to meet my eyes.

“Ryker, we never stopped looking for you. We hunted down every lead, followed every breadcrumb.” I told him.

“Every time we got our hands on a hunter, they bit down on a cyanide capsule, killing themselves, before we could question them.” Knox chimed in.

“I swear to you, brother. We looked for you every fucking day and night. Even when the trail ran cold, we kept looking.” I told him, begging him to believe us.

Something shifted in his gold-green eyes, and for a moment, I thought I broke through to him, then it was gone, anger back in its place.

“Well, you found me, and now I’m trapped in this fucking house all over again.” He said in a flat tone, turning to look back out the window.

“I know it”s not ideal, but I have a witch that can morph your looks just enough so you can attend Willow Hollow University with Tate,” Knox told him. “Only the ones you choose will be able to see the real you. Everyone else will see what we make you into. It will change your features just enough that we can pass you off as a cousin of Tate’s.”

Ryker turned back to face us, a longing look in his eyes. “We can give it a go, but I’m not changing my name.”

“Well, I can’t sign you up as Ryker Stonewell. The alarms would go off as soon as I submit the paperwork,” Knox said, silver swirling in his eyes at my brother”s stubbornness.

“What if we do Ryder? This way, it doesn”t raise any questions, and it”s still similar to Ryker,” I asked him, trying to diffuse the situation.

“Fine,” Ryker snapped.

“Okay then, I’ll go file the paperwork right now, and you’ll be good to start tomorrow. I’m going to put you in all of Tate’s classes.” Knox said before standing up and making his way to his office, leaving me and my brother alone.

“Ryker, what did they do to you in there?” I asked, begging my brother to tell me.

The silence stretched on, when I was sure he wasn”t going to answer me I went to get up to leave. Ryker spoke up then and I sat back down to listen to his story.

“It’s worse than anyone knows. They don”t just perform tests on you. They push you to your breaking point over and over again. It’s only when you finally break, when you give up and don’t want to live any longer. That’s when the real horror starts,” He said, bringing his eyes up to meet mine.

I sucked in a breath at the pain in his mix-matched eyes. There was so much agony in his depths that my soul cried for him. I wish more than anything it was me instead of him. I wish I could take some of that pain from him.

I stayed silent, waiting for him to continue.

“They make you fight each other to see what race is superior. The shifters have to shift repeatedly until they are collapsing from exhaustion. The witches have to cast until they are completely drained. They starve the vampires to see how long they can last until bloodlust completely takes over. They kill the phoenixes every time they are reborn, trying to see if they truly have an unlimited number of lives.” He told me, the gold swirling in his one green eye the more he talked.

“Ryker, I’m so sorry,” I told him, not knowing what else to say.

Pain squeezed my heart as he told me everything that went on behind Moonbeams doors. They were so secretive, no one really knew what went on, and hearing it first-hand I understand why. People would riot against them if they truly knew what they were doing.

“They are also experimenting on us, along with humans.” He told me, and my veins turned to ice.

“What do you mean? What kind of experiments?” My voice was shaky as I asked. I’m not sure if it was from fear, anger, or a mix of the two.

Knox walked back into the room, speaking up before my brother could answer me.

“Tate, you need to watch what he tells you. If you and River complete the bond, she could dive into your mind and expose your secrets. I think it would be best to learn how to block before Ryker tells you anything else.”

Ryker’s gaze snapped to mine, a low grow leaving him. “You found a mate?”

Knox once again spoke up before I could answer him, “Technically, you both found a mate. Since you two are twins, I would be surprised if River wasn’t also your mate, Ryker.”

My eyes shot up in surprise. I didn”t even think about the fact that River might also belong to my brother.

Ryker’s eyes turned completely gold before he shot up out of the chair, running to the back door. He barely made it out of the house before his beast took over. The green dragon that was a mirror image of my own took off into the sky, disappearing into the clouds.

“Ryker,” I called after him, but he kept flying before I finally lost sight of him.

“He will be fine, Tate. I already had a witch conceal him when he first arrived. I could tell his dragon was close to the surface and that he would need to let him out sooner or later.” Knox said, placing a hand on my shoulder.

I nodded at him before closing the door and sitting back on the couch. Knox sat down beside me, releasing a long breath.

“What do we do now?” I asked him.

So much was going on in my mind that I didn’t know how to calm the storm. I looked up to Knox for guidance. He has been my confidant since Ryker was kidnapped, and our relationship shifted.

Call it shared grief if you want, but one day we crossed the line and never looked back, until River.

Now, I was fighting my feelings for Knox to stay faithful to River.

“Let me help,” Knox said, bringing his hand up to my shoulder.

I turned my back to him, allowing him to work his magic into my tight muscles.

“I’m working with Miss. Moonstone once a week to teach her about her dragon,” he said, kneading my shoulders.

“Why didn’t she just ask me to teach her?” The question flew out of my mouth before I could stop it.

“Maybe because I’m a professor, and she would feel more comfortable learning from me,” Knox said in a harsh tone.

My body stiffened, and his hands stopped moving. I turned to look at him, needing to tell him about River.

“Knox, she’s a galaxy dragon. I stopped her from asking you about them in class the other day when you didn’t show a picture of one. No one can know. It’s already bad enough she”s a female dragon. If they find out she’s the last galaxy dragon…” I trailed off, not wanting to finish the statement.

“If they find out there will be an even bigger target on her back.” He finished for me.

Unease swirled in my gut at the thought of more threats to my mate.

“It’ll be okay. I will help you protect her. I won”t let anything happen to your mate.” Knox said, placing his forehead against mine.

It was so easy to fall back into the comfort of him, allowing him close to me, letting him in.

I pushed him away, ashamed at how easy it was to fall back into him. It felt wrong; felt like I was somehow cheating on River.

“Knox…we can’t,” I told him, sorrow lacing my voice.

“I know.” He looked at me, sadness filling his eyes, matching the pain I felt.

The door banged open, and I jumped as Ryker walked in.

“Hope I’m not interrupting anything,” he said, his eyes bouncing between me and Knox. Suspicion filling his features.

“No, I was just telling Tate you”re all set to start tomorrow. The witch will be here in the morning to morph your features,” Knox said, before standing up and leaving the room.

He gave me one last longing look before walking into his bedroom, leaving me alone once again with Ryker.

“What’s going on between you two?” Ryker asked, pulling on a pair of sweatpants that were sitting by the door.

“Nothing,” I said, way too fast.

He raised his brow at me, “You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to, but don’t lie to me. We have never lied to each other before; don’t start now.”

“You”re right, it’s just complicated…and now there”s River. I just don’t know how to deal with it all,” I told him honestly.

Something in his expression shifted. He looked almost softer.

“Tell me about her.”

My eyes lit up. I could talk about my mate all day.

“She is absolutely amazing. The most beautiful woman I’ve ever laid my eyes on. She doesn”t trust people easily, so I’m still working on earning her trust. Ooh, and her dragon is breathtaking, she”s a galaxy dragon and is magnificent,” I told him, imagining River in my mind. I could talk about her all day long and never get tired.

“I can’t wait to meet her,” he said, a mischievous glint in his eyes.

“Ryker,” I warned.

“Relax brother. I won’t do anything to your mate,” he told me, a wicked smile on his lips.

“I’m serious, she”s feisty. She won”t put up with your shit.” I laughed, thinking about River laying into him.

“Challenge accepted,” he said before walking out of the room, heading into his bedroom.

“Ryker, I’m serious,” I called to him as he slammed his door.

I shook my head, as I walked toward my room, that brother of mine is going to get into some serious trouble.

I lay in my bed, pulling out my phone to text River and see if she was okay. My chest squeezed as I thought about how I left things earlier. I hated being away from her. The further I was, the more aggravated my dragon became.

Me

How are you feeling? Want me to come back over?

Little Minx

No. I’m fine, and perfectly capable of sleeping on my own. I don’t need a babysitter, beastly.

I chuckled at her attempted insult; she was doing a shit job of trying to push me away. I was slowly breaking down her hard exterior.

Me

If you want me to sleep with you little minx, just say the word. I will have you coming so hard you see stars.

Little Minx

That is not what I meant and you know it.

Me

Do I, though? You do keep throwing yourself at me every time you see me.

Little Minx

Goodnight Tate.

A smile crossed my face, she could play hard to get all she wants but I would eventually make her mine. The fates have deemed it so.

Me

I’ll have coffee ready for you at our first class, little minx. Sleep well.

I set my alarm earlier than normal so I could swing by the coffee shop before classes. Maybe I would even pick her up some pastries.

I would convince her to give me a shot one way or another, and coffee and snacks were a good place to start.

I set my phone on the nightstand, pulling my blankets up as it dinged again. A smile crossed my face, wondering what River had to say. Only when I picked up my phone, it wasn”t River who texted me.

Knox

I think she would understand if you talked to her. Plenty of mates have relationships on the side with others.

Me

My devotion is to her. I thought you understood?

Knox

I just don’t understand why you won’t talk to her about it.

Me

I’ll think about it, but River comes first. Always.

Knox

That’s all I ask of you. Just talk to her and see how she feels.

I tossed my phone after reading his last message. My emotions all over the place. I still cared deeply for Knox. He was the one person who kept me from falling apart when Ryker left, but then I found my mate.

I hated casting him aside, but he would do the same thing to me if he found his mate.

When the fates showed you your person, you didn’t go against them.

I lay in bed, tossing and turning for hours, my mind clouded with all the different feelings.

I knew one thing for sure, though: I needed to tell River.

How did I expect her to trust me when I was keeping so many secrets from her?

So, first thing tomorrow, I was going to tell her about my confusing relationship with Knox.

I could give her that small piece of me I was keeping from her, because there was absolutely no way I could tell her about Ryker. At least not yet, not until we can keep him safe from Moonbeam Incorporated.

The less people that know about him, the better.