Chapter 48
Klauth
I feel like I am in the middle of one of those scary movies Mina and Balor like watching, the kind where the protagonist knows something terrible is lurking just out of sight.
The fine hairs stand on the back of my neck as I walk through the lower part of the nest, each step echoing hollowly in the stone corridors.
Something is happening, and my dragon’s senses are on high alert.
Every instinct screaming that something fundamental has shifted in the carefully balanced world of our sanctuary.
I step into the war room on the first floor and I find Balor sprawled out with just a blanket over his hips, the fabric barely covering his crotch.
His shirt is missing, and the room reeks of sex and pheromones, the musky scent so thick I can taste it on my tongue, making my nostrils flare involuntarily.
The air is heavy with the aftermath of passion, carrying undertones of basilisk musk and something distinctly feminine that makes my pulse quicken.
Moving closer, I notice that the back of the couch bears cuts in the leather from talons, deep gouges that speak of desperate passion and barely controlled dragon strength.
Maybe Mina needed to blow off steam? Maybe she was riled up from something that made her angry?
The thought sends a spike of concern through me, but you can never tell with our young mate her emotions are as changeable as storm winds.
I shrug my shoulders and blow it off, though the unease in my gut refuses to dissipate.
Looking at the calendar on my desk blotter, we have a full five to six weeks before Mina goes into heat again, so we’re safe—or so I think.
I look down at the missives left on my desk; the parchment crisp beneath my fingertips, and the one I’ve been waiting for has arrived, its official seal bearing the mark of the temple.
Ripping it open with perhaps more force than necessary, I pull the letter out, the paper rustling in the sudden silence.
The priestesses from the temple of Tiamat have recalled all the elders.
They are under investigation into the deaths of thousands of females over the years, the weight of that number settling like lead in my stomach.
From what the missive says, they did not okay the change in protection of the females, their authority undermined by those who would see our kind diminished.
A satisfied smile crosses my lips as I look down the list of charges that are being brought against the old elders, each accusation a minor victory for justice long delayed. It’s about time.
Things concerning the temples are run differently now than they were when I was younger.
Progress finally replacing the calcified traditions that have cost us so much.
Now it seems like the new priestesses will fight the old ways to protect the females on the continent, their courage giving me hope for the future.
The priestesses from the temple of Bahamut are helping me push reform and protections for females, their combined efforts creating change I never thought I’d live to see.
I finish up with what paperwork I have to do before heading outside to see how the training is going.
That creeping feeling moving up the back of my neck is back, and it is followed up with a chill down my spine that makes me shiver despite the warmth.
The sensation is like ice water being poured directly onto my nervous system, making every nerve ending sing with alarm.
Shaking my head, I step out into the mid-afternoon sun, the warmth welcome after being underground for most of the morning.
The heat soaks into my skin, chasing away some of the chill, but not the underlying sense of wrongness that continues to plague me.
Slowly I turn, looking around, trying to pinpoint where whatever it is that’s making me feel so damn uncomfortable is hiding.
“What’s wrong?” Leander walks up and rests a hand on my shoulder, his touch warm and steadying through the fabric of my shirt.
“Not sure. Something doesn’t feel right.” I scan my surroundings, looking for anything out of place, every shadow is a suspect, every sound magnified in my heightened state of awareness.
Leander shrugs, and we walk towards the training fields, our boots crunching softly on the gravel path.
“I don’t feel anything,” he says softly and looks around, his prey animal instincts apparently at ease.
“I mean, I’m a prey animal surrounded by predators.
Nothing feels off to me.” He smiles, and we get to where Abraxis and Thauglor are sparring with some of the young males, the sound of clashing weapons and shouted instructions filling the air.
I watch them go blow for blow with the new trainees, and they’ve come a long way, their movements more fluid and confident than when they first arrived.
Reaching up, I rub the back of my neck, trying to get that creeping feeling to subside, the skin there hypersensitive to my touch.
Whatever it is, I’m almost concerned that it’s making me react like this, my usually reliable instincts sending confusing signals.
“What’s the matter?” Callan asks as he looks around slowly, his griffon senses apparently picking up on my unease.
“I’m not sure. Something doesn’t feel right.” I huff out a breath as I look around again, frustration building with each passing moment. Not knowing what’s wrong is killing me, the uncertainty gnawing at my nerves like acid.
“Oh, I don’t feel anything off.” Callan shrugs his shoulders, then walks away, leaving me alone with my inexplicable anxiety.
“What in Bahamut’s name is going on? Am I going nuts?
” Shaking my head, I walk away from the others, and that chill down my spine gets worse, the cold sensation spreading outward like frost forming on glass.
If I don’t figure this out soon, I’m going to lose my mind, the constant state of alert wearing on my already frayed nerves.
Mina drops out of the tree in front of me and almost scares me half to death, her sudden appearance making my heart leap into my throat.
“Hello, my treasure,” Mina purrs softly, and her eyes glow softly as she tilts her head looking at me, the luminescence more pronounced than usual, almost hypnotic in its intensity.
The feeling of imminent danger intensifies every instinct screaming at me that something monumental is about to happen.
Instincts be damned, I grab Mina and start running with her in my arms. Her body is warm and pliant against mine, but there’s something different about her scent, something that makes my dragon roar to attention.
When we reach the open field, I shift, bones cracking and reforming with familiar pain, and take flight with her in my talons, her weight negligible compared to my dragon’s strength.
Every beat of my wings carries us miles away, the landscape blurring beneath us as I follow some primal imperative I don’t fully understand.
But for whatever reason, the feeling has not gone away, continuing to drive me forward with relentless urgency.
I fly out over the ocean and head to the little island I used to go to think, the salt spray from the waves below misting my scales as we descend.
When I land, I shift back; the transformation accompanied by the usual disorientation as my senses readjust to human form and release Mina onto the white sand beach.
The sand is warm beneath my bare feet, fine and soft between my toes, while the sound of waves lapping at the shore creates a rhythmic backdrop for the moment.
Mina walks to the edge of the water and stares out over the waves, her silhouette graceful against the endless blue horizon. I step up behind my mate, and that feeling of something being wrong intensifies, though now it’s colored with anticipation rather than dread.
“Mina...” I whisper as I kiss just under her ear, and her scent hits me like a freight train, rich and intoxicating with new undertones that make my mouth water and my pulse race.
Carefully, I lift her hair, the silken strands slipping through my fingers like liquid moonlight, and see the magenta of her scales gleaming in the afternoon sunlight.
The sight stops my heart for a full beat before it resumes at double time. She’s in heat, and that’s what my instincts have been screaming about all day.
Slowly she turns and looks up at me, her eyes all dragon as she stares at me, the golden depths swirling with ancient fire. “I choose you, Klauth.” She kisses me under my jaw, her lips soft and warm against my skin, and I purr deeply for her, the sound rumbling from somewhere deep in my chest.
“Do you mean it?” I lean down and kiss her lips softly, tasting the sweetness of her mouth and the promise of what’s to come.
“I mean it. I’ve been tracking you since after I spent time with Balor this morning.
” Her fingers find their way to the buttons on my shirt and pop the top few slowly, each small sound unnaturally loud in the relative quiet of our private beach.
I watch as each button comes undone, my heart speeding up with each inch of skin she reveals.
I feel my heartbeat thundering in my ears.
For once in my long existence, I am speechless, struck dumb by the magnitude of what she’s offering me.
Her eyes are focused on the buttons, then on the path her hands take sliding up my chest, the sensation of her fingertips against my skin like electricity.
The feel of her skin against mine is like the first time all over again, that perfect combination of silk and heat that sets my nerves ablaze.
Her skin feels like warm silk sliding over mine as she cups my shoulders and slides my shirt down my arms, the fabric whispering as it falls to the sand.
I’m rooted to the spot, paralyzed by want and ancient protocol.