10. Chapter 10
ten
T he sharp pain of Ares’ dragon teeth sinks into my skin. My lips part in a cry that dies in my throat, fire sparking and roaring through me as Ares marks me as his. His dragon soul is fierce and dominant, claiming mine.
My eyes fly open as I find Ethan’s. His hands dig into Ares’ arms as he tries to pull him off me, but it’s too late.
The fire blazing through me simmers down into cold numbness. My strength is sapped with each passing second, realizing fully that Ares took my choice away, claimed me without my consent .
“Ares,” I breathe.
He pulls away with a grunt, my blood staining his lips as a shiver runs through his body. He slowly moves off me, his chest heavily rising and falling as he stares down at me. “I had to do it.”
My anger sparks as I glare up at him with teary eyes. My chest tightens, cutting off my breath. “It wasn’t your choice! It was mine!”
“She’s right,” Ethan says with a light growl in his voice.
Ares narrows his eyes and crosses his arms, standing tall and sturdy. “I told both of you that I wouldn’t share. Rodi is mine. She was always mine.”
My fingers curl into fists as I face Ares, not feeling even a tremor of fear. He may be the Aetherion of dragons, but he had no right taking my choice away from me. No right at all.
“I’m not yours! Just because you marked me doesn’t mean you own me. It means nothing when it’s not done out of love!” I snap at Ares, my face starting to turn a furious shade of red as venom flows through my words.
I then realize that I’m still bare, and I shove him aside to hunt down my clothes.
“You told her that she’d have a choice!” Ethan shouts at Ares, their angry voices filling the bathroom. “This will only push her away!”
Ares shakes his head, his teeth baring. “It won’t! She’ll realize that this is the way things need to be. She will understand that with time, this is the only way to keep her safe.”
The possessiveness in his tone chills me to my core. He’s so sure that I belong to him, but why?
“It’s her life!” Ethan spits out as the two get closer to one another, their bodies tensing in preparation for a fight.
“Stop it!” I yell, placing a hand on each of their chests, pushing them away from each other before they can tear each other to pieces.
Frustrated huffs break from them as they still glare at each other.
“I’m leaving,” I say as I turn to leave the room .
Ethan fixes Ares with one more hard look. “She’s ours , Ares. You should accept that, or you’ll lose her forever.”
Something flashes in Ares’ eyes, and he reaches out and grabs my hand to keep me from leaving his room. “You’re staying here.”
A scoff falls from my lips as I rip my hand free from his. “Where? In the bedroom you’ve torn to shreds? No, thank you. Besides, I don’t want to be near you right now.”
I whip around and walk out of Ares’ bedroom, hearing Ethan trail me until we reach the stairway.
Ethan takes the lead, placing his hand on my back to guide me to his room. “I know you’re upset, but I don’t want you to be alone right now, not when your mark isn’t fully healed.”
I merely nod and follow him into his room, sinking down on the corner of the bed as he shuts the door. My eyes trail him, noticing the weight on his shoulders and the frown on his face. “I didn’t expect Ares to do that.”
Ethan nods and turns away from me, rubbing the back of his neck. “I’ve known him even longer, and I’m just as shocked. Even if you chose him over me, I’d be content to know that you made that call. Not someone else.”
I don’t even know what to do now that I’ve been marked. Was I selfish, na?ve to think I could have it all? But how could I not when I had this glimpse of both of them, this love that I never had before?
“What did he mean that this was the only way to keep me safe?” I ask.
Ethan shrugs and sighs. “How much do you know about shifters and riders?”
“Not much.” I pause. “Maybe nothing. I only know about mates, but that’s it.”
The fresh mark on my neck burns, and I gently run my fingers over it, feeling the blood dripping down my neck .
He scratches the back of his head. “Well, Ares is stronger than me, and in a fight or war, he won’t die that easily.”
My eyes snap at his. “But what does that have to do with anything?”
His brows knit. “If a dragon shifter dies, their mate, their rider, dies as well.”
I blink. “What?”
“Even without the mark, if Ares would die, you would too.”
I blink. “But that doesn’t change now with a mark. Even without yours, I would still follow you if you died, right?”
He shrugs. “Yes and no. It’s a bit vague when it comes to multiple mates. Ares and I actually believe that because you don’t recognize either of us as your mate, you would be safe even if you choose one and the other dies.”
I cup his face as a soft smile plays on my lips. His words spiral inside my head as I try to understand everything. “What else?”
He chuckles. “Rodi, riders have years and years of training, making sure they know the ins and outs about all the different dragons and the abilities that come with them.”
Abilities? “What’s yours?”
“I’m a blue scale, as you know. But I’m called an Azure Morpholith.”
“And that is?”
“I can change size. You saw my true form, but I can morph to as small as a cat and as big as Ares.”
“A cat?” I joke.
His fingers rake through his hair. “Yes, or something else.”
My eyes travel over his body, wondering. “Can you also do it in human form?”
He shrugs. “Well, I can partially shift. Easier than Ares. So, I can have my wings in this form.”
My lips curve. “Can you show me? ”
His gaze snaps to mine as a grin tugs on his lips. “Now?”
I bite my bottom lip as I nod, excited to see all he can do and even more trilled to get the hell out of here. To escape what has happened, bury it deep inside me, and just pretend for a little while that it didn’t happen.
His fingers intertwine with mine as he leads me outside.
“How can you know what kind of ability a dragon has?” I ask.
He pulls me closer, his gaze lingering on my fresh mark. “Because of the scales, the colors, the hues that shine through.”
I hum. “So, there are a lot of dragons with your abilities?”
He chuckles and shakes his head. “Mine only shows itself within my bloodline. There are other kinds of blues, but those dragons don’t have the same abilities.”
“And yellows, greens, every color?”
He nods. “Yellow dragons are pretty common, but those who have a certain shimmer, making them appear gold, are very rare.”
“The other colors?”
“Every color, yes… Well, except the Vermyllion Drakes—the reds. Those are extinct.”
My brows tug together. “How did that happen?”
“There isn’t much known, but they once ruled the dragon lands on the other side of the Dragonspire Mountains, the realm of Nythralia, until a great war in which they were all killed.”
I frown as I listen to him. There’s so much that I didn’t know, and I can only imagine how much I still don’t know. “That’s terrible.”
Ethan nods in agreement as we trudge across the grass to get out of sight from everyone. “The history of dragons is certainly complicated. There’s a lot of war and bloodshed involved. Everyone wants power. ”
“Do you want power?” I ask as he leads me through the trees in the same direction we’ve gone in before. I pitch a quick look behind me to see the buildings start to shrink as we move farther and farther away from them.
“Not in the way you think,” Ethan says. “I want to be able to protect those I care about. Like you and Ares.”
My stomach flips as our eyes briefly meet. “And what about Ares? What does he use his power for?”
“Respect and protection, but you’ll have to ask him one day,” Ethan says before breaking through the tree line to reach the same clearing we’ve been in before.
There’s a lot that I want to ask Ares if he chooses to fully open up to me. But for now, my attention is on Ethan as he turns to face me. Tension crackles in the air as Ethan smiles at me with an eager look on his face.
My gaze never leaves Ethan’s as he takes off his cloak and shirt, letting the sunlight bask over his slightly tanned skin.
His eyes glimmer, morphing to his dragon’s, and with a roll of his shoulders, his dragon wings expand.
My lips part, a silent gasp leaving me as the blue wings span wider. With a burst, his feet leave the ground.
“That’s amazing,” I say in awe as he edges closer.
“I can change the size of other parts of my body too,” he teases.
I gulp as a blush rises, realizing what he means with that. He doesn’t wait for an answer as he discards his pants and completes the shift into his dragon form.
Steam leaves his big, scaly nostrils as he nudges me softly, and his body changes with every breath, becoming smaller, until he’s no bigger than a horse .
I laugh and move closer. “This isn’t a cat,” I joke. He lowers his shoulders, and with a slight jump, I take my seat, feeling him becoming bigger beneath me.
My hands grip onto his shoulders as he pushes off the ground. His wings move with such force that my hair blows back.
The further we fly from Slatebane estate, the brighter my new mark burns. I clasp my hand over it as a gasp leaves me.
“Ethan,” I groan, shifting in my seat as my gaze blurs. Fire engulfs me the next second, tickling my skin, and before I realize what is happening, I’m falling.
Roars echo in the sky as the wind gushes past me. My stomach coils as I see two dragons swirling around each other, teeth clashing, claws slicing, and then I realize what’s happening.
The black scales, the gold that shines within.
Ares.
The blue dragon vanishes in a blink and reappears a second later, but now behind the black dragon.
But as they are becoming smaller, I scream at the top of my lungs while I fall further away.
Both their heads snap toward me, and their wings fold in, almost vanishing against their bodies as they dive down.
Tears brim my eyes as they come closer. Ares hooks his claws under my body and his wings expand in a blink.
My back arches, and my breath catches as I grab him tighter. My skin tingles, and sparks erupt as he flies me to the ground and releases his grip. Carefully, he nudges me up to my feet with his nose before he cowers back.
Ethan’s blue dragon lands beside him, and I almost forget what they did as I’m mesmerized by Ares’ dragon .
The deep black scales glimmer in gold as he towers over the blue dragon. Even with his head held low, he’s a beast, a force I never thought I would see.
I shake my head, my stance steadying as I find my voice again.
“You fucking asshole!” I screech, pointing at Ares. “First you mark me and then you make me fall. What the fuck is wrong with you!”
He blinks at me, and then I realize my words. My hands itch with the need to clasp them over my mouth, but it’s too late now and I’m done. I can’t let him walk over me because he’s the Aetherion.
He’s my mate. He’s supposed to keep me safe.
The blue dragon makes a sound that almost sounds like a soft laugh, and my piercing stare finds him. “You! You dropped me!”
The sound fades, and he slowly lowers his head.
I point at Ares again. “You are so concerned with my safety that you almost killed me yourself!”
He quickly morphs back into his human form and moves closer as I stumble back.
“You were too far away. I thought he was taking you from me,” he says. I hold up my hand, stopping him from coming closer.
“I can go wherever I like. I’m not yours. This mark means nothing. I’m not a prize you can claim and keep.” I toss my hands in the air as my anger rises higher, boiling from the inside, pushing away the ranks between us, not caring what the consequences might be.
Because I have no idea how this all works or what I am now since he marked me.
“I do love you,” he quickly says.
“How can you? You just met me, and if you did, you wouldn’t have taken my choice away. You would’ve accepted that I have two mates!”
“I don’t share,” he grits, his jaw tensing as he glances at Ethan .
“And I don’t care! Ethan isn’t going anywhere. Deal with it!”
Crossing my arms with a huff, I wait for another word from them, but it doesn’t come.
With a shake of my head, I stomp back to the stone structure. Stupid mates.
I hear another shift behind me and heavy footsteps running closer. “I like this side of you,” Ethan whispers as he trails behind me.
“Don’t push it. I’m mad at you too,” I snap back, earning a soft chuckle from Ares, and I can’t help the smile that tugs on my lips.
I shouldn’t feel like this, feel stronger than I am. But maybe falling from a dragon does that. It peels away the layers of doubt and leaves me bare and without fear.
Or perhaps it’s because now I know I don’t need to hide. I don’t need to pretend and fear that I’ll get slapped around for stepping out of line.