Chapter 7
Aleric
Iwas trying to figure out the group of omegas that were on my back.
They had all been chained after being taken, but there wasn’t another dragon in the castle.
In fact, every person I’d encountered and killed had been human, except the one that had been with Feiedrich.
I wasn’t quite sure what he’d been, but he’d succumbed to my dragon’s fire just as Feiedrich had.
But why take the omegas in the first place?
It pleased my dragon to have our mate close by.
I could feel his dragon just barely out of reach, but he was weak and tired.
I would take care of that. One of the first things I was going to do when we landed was hunt for my mate.
I would see he was given everything he and the others needed in order to regain their strength.
I flew harder than I myself probably should have after such a long flight with minimal stops across the ocean, but I needed to get my mate and the others to safety.
When the sky started to lighten, I finally saw the ocean glittering in the distance.
I spotted another group of trees, these much smaller than the ones I’d landed at near Feiedrich’s castle, and flew down to them.
We would have to stop here for now. Once they’d all been fed, we could carry on by foot, but flying now was no longer safe.
I circled above the trees, finding an opening large enough for me to land, diving down to it, and landing, mindful of my precious cargo.
The others slid off my back, all falling to the ground.
I looked back at them and sniffed to see that they were well enough to leave behind while I hunted.
It would have to be a quick hunt, and I was not sure what I would be able to find with such short time constraints.
Once I deemed them well enough to leave, I took to the sky again, looking for anything I could bring to the group to feed them.
I found a river to the east and dove down when I found a school of fish swimming upstream.
With a quick swoop down, I came away with a mouthful of fish and turned back to the group I now felt responsible for.
The sun had just peeked above the horizon when I landed in the small clearing. The others had moved over to the side, near the tree line, but at least this time, they had waited on me. I deposited the fish on the grass, then called for my other half.
I stretched out my back after I completed my shift, then looked around for the others. The tree line they were in was much farther away in this form, and now I was not so sure of our safety in the middle of this small patch of trees.
When the others saw what I’d brought, their eyes widened. “Are those for us?”
“Yes. We need to eat before we continue on. There is a river not far from here. After we eat, I will take you there so you can all clean up, and then we will continue on to your village if you wish.”
They all looked as if they were too tired to walk far though. I hoped getting some nourishment into them would help, but perhaps we would be better to wait until nightfall again.
“We need to make a fire to cook the fish,” my mate said.
I agreed. Although in my dragon scales I did not mind eating uncooked fish, in this form, I did not care for the taste.
I couldn’t risk using my dragon’s fire to cook the fish, for it could possibly catch the grass and would cause a great deal of destruction.
When my mate handed me my satchel, I thanked him before I opened it and took out a pair of trousers. I pulled them and a shirt on, then carried it with me toward the closest tree line. I had a feeling we would be resting before carrying on further.
We found enough branches and logs on the ground to start a fire that would be able to cook the fish.
“We need to bring the fish to us. If we put them on sticks, we can carry them all at once,” I told them.
They nodded, quickly grabbing a pair of smaller, low-hanging branches off the trees.
The four of them went back into the clearing, and when I was certain they would be safe, I knelt to ready the fire.
I stacked the wood and made stands for the fish to cook. I would shift to cook the fish and start the fire, but the four with me would need the heat it would provide to help them regain their own temperatures.
Once they were back with the fish and had them hung across the pile of branches, I pulled my shirt off once more.
“What are you doing?” Wilhelm asked me.
“I am going to shift to not only start the fire so you can warm up but to cook the fish faster. Would you like to eat now or later after the fish slowly cooks over the fire?”
I stopped, my shirt in my hands in front of me.
“Now, please,” Konrad said. The others quickly agreed.
I nodded and took my trousers off, handing them and the shirt to Konrad and once more calling for my dragon.
He was tired and could go for a long rest, but I asked this once more of him.
He came easily enough, and after I scented our mate again, I turned to the fish that were on sticks hanging over the circle of firewood.
With a quick exhale, I had the fire started and the fish well on their way to being ready to eat. Another small burst of fire into the secure area and the fish were ready. I shifted back and was met by Konrad holding out my clothing.
“How do you shift so quickly and so often?”
“I have always been able to shift effortlessly. Does your shift not work as well?” I looked at the others while pulling my trousers back on.
I was tempted to leave the shirt off with the way Konrad was staring at my chest, but now was not the time to initiate anything.
I wanted my mate, but it was something I wished to have privacy for.
Even I wasn’t so heartless as to push for something that I was certain my mate was not ready for.
He’d spent an unknown amount of time chained to a wall in Feiedrich’s castle.
Now was not the time to discuss claiming.
“Our dragons do not come nearly as fast as yours,” Lukas said. I pulled my shirt over my head and held out my arm, gesturing for Konrad to join the others, who had sat down, circling around the fire.
“I do not know why your shift is difficult for you. Both of my fathers change into their scales just as quickly as I do.” I sat down with the others, reaching for a stick that had cooked fish hanging on it.
It seemed as if the others were not going to help themselves, so I would initiate it for them.
The fish were hot and smelled delicious.
“Perhaps some larger leaves to place them on? I have a dagger in my satchel we can use to cut the meat from the bones.”
Wilhelm jumped up, rushing over to the nearest tree and pulling down several leaves before he quickly returned. I placed a fish on each leaf in front of them, then went digging for the dagger. I handed it to Konrad first, earning a small smile from him.
“There are at least two each, and although I know that is not nearly enough to fill a dragon, I do not wish for you to become ill from eating too much too soon. I am guessing you were not fed regularly?”
“Only once a day, and even then, it was not nearly enough to allow us to keep our strength,” Konrad said quietly.
I growled, low in my chest. If Feiedrich was not already dead, I would go back and kill him again.
“You are all omegas,” I stated. They froze, looking at me. This was not a secret. Any shifter would be able to scent what they were. “I am just trying to figure out why he would have taken you specifically. Were you together when you were kidnapped?”
“Not exactly. We were all in our village, but I was at Elias’s house, sleeping,” Konrad told me.
That could mean anything. But if there were others in their homes, why were they not taken as well? Perhaps they were, and these four just did not know it.
“You said your village did not have a name, that you were farmers who raised animals. Do you stay in one place, or do you move around?”
Realization hit at once. If their village moved around to remain hidden after several of them went missing, it would be expected that the rest of the village moved in order to ensure the safety of the others.
“Can we start looking where they last were?” Elias asked. He seemed to be the youngest. If not, he seemed to be the most sheltered.
“We will. I will stay with you until I have you back safely with your families. If we cannot find the village, you are welcome to come with me across the ocean to the mountain my parents have claimed. It is beautiful there, and we do not have to worry about being seen in our scales.” I thought about it for a moment.
“Sadly, it is just the three of us there. That is the extent of our thunder at the moment.”
There was a quiet gasp to my right, and I met my mate’s gaze and wondered.
“You are my mate, Konrad. I desire to claim you, but I understand if you do not wish to accept my claim. I would like to return across the ocean and will ask that you join me. That will take you away from your family. They, too, are welcome if they want.”
“He’s not denying your claim,” Lukas said, pushing Konrad’s shoulder, causing my mate to fall toward me. I caught him, grinning down at those icy-blue eyes.
“Hello, mate,” I said quietly.
“Umm…hi. I want that.”
I smiled. I was tempted to lean in and get a taste of my adorable mate, but I would wait. Now was still not the time or the place to take such liberties.
“I want that as well. We will discuss it after we locate your village. But now, you need to eat and regain your strength.”
“Can I ask you a question, Aleric?” Wilhelm asked.
“You can.”
“Your dragon is larger. Bigger than even the alphas in our village.”