13. Scales Turned to Skin
13
Scales Turned to Skin
T he moment Kenshi had made a run for his fated mate, Ryu had changed into his higher form, knowing it was going to be the only way he would make it to her in time …
The only way he could save her.
It was half-rage and half-fear that made his dragon roar to life, and there wasn’t a single second’s thought before he opened his large serpent-like mouth and devoured Kenshi in a single bite.
Swallowing the traitor to his people whole, with no remorse, caused his rage to calm as fear completely overtook him. Not only did it feel like Eira’s fate depended on him, but the fate of his whole village.
Soaring off the cliff, he could see she had already fallen quite a ways as his beastly head rushed down the cliffside to catch up with her. He was so close as he stretched out his talons toward her. She was about to hit the water, and since he knew what that impact would do to her, his dragon picked up speed as if every one of his ancestors had infused their strength in him, to help him reach her before it was too late …
She closed her eyes to welcome death, but it wasn’t the water from the ocean below that she met, but a claw-like grip at her sides. Her eyes flashed back open at the horror of being held in the clasp of the dragon. It was possibly more frightening than death to be gripped by the massive beast, so she lay limp in fear of any movement causing being ripped to shreds.
Then, finally, she started to hear it. It was like a hum—no … a whisper .
Eira?
Ryu’s voice rang through her head, but that couldn’t be possible.
Eira? Concern had his whisper rising. Eira, are you all right?
With fear still immobilizing her, she barely got her mouth to speak. “R-Ryu?”
At her own voice, it was like she could feel the beast take a deep breath as it began to soar the sky with better ease.
You’re all right , he promised, relief flooding his voice, but Eira couldn’t say the same as she lay in its grasp in pure shock.
At first, she could have sworn this all had to be the worst dream of her life, considering they had been pretty crazy lately. But the longer they flew through the sky, the more she realized it couldn’t possibly be a dream.
I’m going to set you down gently. Be ready.
That meant …
Eira was softly dropped back to the grass of the cliff that she had fallen from just moments ago as the talons gently opened around her.
That means the whispers of the dragon were …
Standing there, she watched as the dragon magically began to shift—gold scales turned to skin, shrinking until he became the length in size of the dragon’s claw, until it fully transformed into a human she recognized. Ryu was, in fact, the beast. The beast that had not only saved her but murdered Kenji in a single bite. The beast that was now walking right toward her.
As soon as Eira went to take a step back, he softly begged, “Please, don’t be frightened, Eira. I would never hurt you. You have to know that by now.”
His words struck her because she knew them to be true, and as she looked down at her feet, she noticed where he had placed her.
In dragon form, he had dropped her closer to where she was free to run down the mountainside, while he landed himself closer to the edge. The fact that he knew she would probably be scared of him and didn’t want her running off the cliff again told her that, along with everything else he had done since the moment they met. But she couldn’t help it. Her mind still felt fear. Especially when she had just witnessed what she had.
“You … you killed him.”
“I had to,” he said, unashamed. “Kenshi would have grabbed you before you fell and, together, you would have fallen twice as fast, and I wouldn’t have been able to save you in time.”
Eira blinked at his honest answer and decided to rephrase her statement, “You ate him.”
“Would you have preferred I breathed fire and possibly burned you alive with him in the process?”
Dumbfounded, she blinked at him again. His brain had clearly considered all the options that hers couldn’t have thought in a million years.
“You can do that?”
“Yes.” Another honest answer. “So, is that I ate him which frightens you or the fact that I can turn into a drago—”
“Both!” Eira shrieked, feeling as if a panic attack could strike her at any moment, but she was … calm ? And even more strangely and possibly worrisome— happy ?
Ryu had come back for her, and as much as her brain still continued to urge her to run for her life, she kept her footing in place as he stepped closer to her. But why was that?
You’re his fated mate.
Some of Kenji’s last few words echoed in her mind, causing her to ask, “Why did he say I am your fated mate?”
Ryu closed the distance between them until he stood only a few inches away. “Because you are.”
“And what is a fated mate?” she dared to ask as he held her gaze so fiercely.
“You were made for me, Eira, and I’ve been—”
Suddenly, Ryu fell to his knees in pain.
“Ryu, what’s wrong?” she asked, falling to the ground with him and looking him over to check for anything visible to cause his pain, but she wouldn’t find it …
It was the invisible string that tied him to his home beginning to sever that caused the excruciating feeling taking over his body. Instinctively, he knew it must mean that only one precious blossom remained.
As he looked at Eira, a tear slipped down his cheek. His dragon form might have touched her, but his human form hadn’t, and only then would the sacred tree stop dying. He was closer than ever to her in this form, but he still didn’t dare to reach out to touch her, knowing exactly what it was going to cost him, his father, and the people of his village. But that was the cost to gain something as precious as the woman before him. Ryu had made a promise to his soulmate , and he planned to keep them in each and every life.