CHAPTER TWELVE –Sloan–
CHAPTER TWELVE
–Sloan–
I CAN SAFELY say nothing has ever satisfied or terrified me more than lying with Willow.
Kissing her again after so long, then sinking deep inside her for the first time, was untouchable.
By far the best experience of my life until I felt her inner beast roaring up with her release, and I had no choice but to set her down and step back.
No choice as she shifted into the most beautiful creature I had ever seen.
Yet even as her sparkling amber dragon roared in rage and anguish at the sky, finally free from the cage she’d been trapped in for far too long, my spirits sank as I beheld her in all her glory.
Sorrow, I forced aside when I sensed her dragon ripping away her control as it launched into the air, eager to spread its once-trapped wings.
Terrified I wouldn’t be able to follow her because I had never been able to shift in the Morrow, it seemed my inner beast's fear bypassed all the magic of this place, because with a wee bit of extra effort, I embraced my dragon and raced after her.
She seemed to experience none of the usual awkwardness her first time flying, but exuded pure power and grace as she whipped out over the turbulent sea toward an incoming storm. And I had long learned storms were especially vibrant and unpredictable in the Morrow.
“Willow?” I roared into her mind, speaking the way of dragons. “Can you hear me, lass?”
“I can.” Her inner voice was merely shaky, where most would be screaming in terror.
“She’s got me, Sloan. My dragon’s in full control, and I can’t do a thing about it.
Even worse, she doesn’t give a damn. She’s furious, and I don’t blame her.
” Her tone was genuinely regretful. “It’s a terrible feeling to be caged like this.
To have all your control ripped away.” Then I felt her sadness.
“What I did to her time and time again was horrific, and I did it all to keep her mate away.”
“You didnae know,” I replied, trying to be there for her the best I could because flying into the wind was a struggle, not to mention the strength and speed her immense power gave her, made it hard for me to catch up.
“Because of me, all you knew was heartache. Both of you were there for me when I needed you, and you intended to spend the rest of your lives with me, yet you felt shunned in the end. Rejected. And your human half did all she could, not to hurt her dragon but to escape the heartache.”
“I’m so sorry...I had no idea...” she said softly, not to me, but to her inner beast. Who had to matter more than me, not because she didn’t love me, but because she realized she needed to love her inner beast more. Had to love herself, all of herself, before everything and anyone else.
And it seemed she must have because her dragon slowed and allowed her some control, and I finally caught up to her.
When I fell in beside her and our eyes connected for the first time in this form, I knew her dragon forgave her every bit as much as her human half had forgiven me, and they became one in record time.
“You’re gorgeous, mate,” she murmured, her dragon eyes flaring in approval as she took in my great beast, a pale sage green color the same as my eyes. “Thanks for being here for...us. Both of us.”
“Aye, always,” I replied, yet again admiring her until I had no choice but to be forthright in a way that might terrify her all over again.
Not just her, either, but her dragon. “We need to go back, Willow.” I looked from her chest to her eyes.
“Before ‘tis too late because I dinnae ken what this means.”
“Oh no,” she gasped when she looked at her chest and finally saw what I’d seen when she first shifted. Not an entire blue gem over her dragon’s heart, but half of one. “What is this, Sloan? What—”
That’s all she got out before I was thrust out of the Morrow again because the next thing I knew, I stirred awake on the floor right back where I began in the dank cell in Sutherland Castle’s dungeon.
“Willow?” I leapt to my feet and raced to the barred window, only to find the willow tree gone, and my view blocked by overgrown vegetation. “Talk to me, lass. Where are you?”
“I’m right where you left me, only I’m not in the Morrow anymore, and I see Sutherland Castle ahead,” she returned. “I’d ask where you are, but something tells me my dragon already knows.”
A chill raced down my spine. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, my dragon yanked back control and seems to be in charge because I can’t get her to go anywhere but toward the castle.” Worry was evident in her voice, and I didn’t blame her. “Do you think it’s because of the half gem over her heart? Because she’s trying to get back to Dugal?”
“I couldnae say,” I answered honestly because she would catch it in my thoughts anyway.
White-knuckling the bars, I tried not to imagine what might happen to her because from where I was, I couldn’t shift.
Elspet had ensured it with her blasted magic, making this dungeon especially unfortunate for dragons.
“Whatever happens, ‘twill be all right, lass.
I promise you that. You'll be all right.”
What else could I say with my hands tied like this? Or wings, as it were? All I could do was pray everything I feared didn’t come to pass, because I knew Dugal and what he was capable of. What he would do to her dragon, never mind her human half.
He found pleasure in being savage and ruthless, and something told me, based on his wife’s overly submissive ways, it was very much a part of his lusty appetite.
Worse yet, I already knew he craved intimacy in dragon form because I had seen it firsthand when he thought he might be able to keep Hazel, so I wanted him nowhere near Willow because rutting that way was not for the faint of heart.
“I’m not so sure it’s going to be all right, Sloan,” Willow replied to me as thunder rumbled outside and the wind picked up. “My dragon’s still heading right for the castle.”
“You need to try to steer her away,” I said, but she was unable to hear my words, just like when Willow used to fly planes. Somehow, her dragon was using that ability, and I wasn’t sure what to think of it because why willingly block me? Her mate?
Unless, of course, I wasn’t her mate after all, as the half gem implied.
Even as I thought it, I refused to believe it, grateful I could still see through her mind’s eye like I could when she piloted planes. Or should I say still see through her dragon’s eyes? And it was heading toward Sutherland Castle with alarming speed and aggression.
What was she doing?
Because it didn’t feel like she was giving herself over peacefully.
If anything, as she soared over the outermost battlements with too many guardsmen for my taste watching her, then down over the forest, it felt like the opposite. That’s when I realized, as she moved at breakneck speed, what she intended to do, and there was no time to try and stop her.
Her dragon wasn’t here for Dugal but for me.
“Bloody hell,” I exclaimed, having just enough time to duck into a corner when a spiked tail crashed into a portion of the wall, and it fell along with my inability to shift.
Even though I knew better, because this would bring the wrath of king and country down on me and my clan, there was no stopping my dragon from emerging and chasing after hers, determined to protect its mate until it was safely gone from this place.
If that was even possible, because the chances were slim.
We were on Sutherland territory, trying to flee a castle fiercely protected by their matriarch, her wretched son, and the power they so craved in Willow.
Yet it turned out, Willow was remarkably powerful, too.
Something seen clearly when we launched into the air, and more and more Sutherland dragons came at us, only for the Morrow to envelope us, seeing us safely into the clouds high above.
One moment, they were coming for us.
The next, they could no longer see us.
“My dragon’s still in control,” Willow exclaimed as we flew up into the cloudback and outer edges of the incoming storm, heading for MacLeod Castle, before we shot out of the Morrow into cold, hard reality.
“And however wrong I know it is, I can’t say I hate her for it.
I wish I could because so many lives are at stake, but. ..”
“’Tis all right, lass,” I said, soothing her the best I could when she trailed off because I felt the same way.
“As you would say, we are only human, but the truth is, we are also dragons, and no dragon would let her mate die at Dugal or Elspet’s hands because I have no doubt that was their ultimate plan for me once I’d served my worth.
And no male dragon would allow the woman he loves to suffer at Dugal’s hands, whether she was his fated mate or not, which I know you verra much are mine. ”
“Nevertheless, I wish my inner beast wouldn’t bring this back to your clan.” Emotion thickened her internal voice. “It’s not right to put this on them, Sloan, and we both know it. Not right to spark a war that could hurt so many because I can’t imagine this going any other way.”
Not long after we entered the ever-darkening storm front, a line of MacLeod dragons appeared on the horizon heading in our direction. Not just any dragons, either, but Broderick’s fiercest and in battle formation no less.
“Broderick and Lucas aren’t one of those dragons, are they?” she asked tentatively. “If they were welcoming us back, they would be flying our way, right?”
“Nay, my brethren arenae there,” I confirmed gravely, truthful because she deserved nothing less. “And aye, that doesnae bode well.”
Nor should it if I were to be honest, knowing I would have done the same if I were in their position, given they had been honorable and saw their roles in the pact through.
Yet here I was, the ultimate peacekeeper for the clan, without a doubt bringing the wrath of king and country down on them, risking so many lives.
Even so, I had no choice but to get in a position to defend Willow until my last dying breath, ready to face the consequences. Moreover, I prayed they would spare Willow’s life and keep her safe in the end, when I knew deep down, they could not.