Page 66 of Brutal Alpha Dragon

I take the clipboard and read the results of Doctor Amell's tests on Lily. The last one on the list is a pregnancy test. My head began to pound as I read the word ‘Positive’ beside the test description.

“What about the gift of immortality?” I look up with brows raised expectantly. “Is there any way you can check if her body has accepted that through the conception of my child?”

Saphia Amell seems taken aback by my brutal honesty as she gulps, her eyes going wide. It shouldn’t be a secret now. Not anymore, at least.

But when she shakes her head, I know there isn’t much hope. We’ll never know if Lily has been touched by immortality. And if she hasn’t, the seed I've planted in her will only kill her.

Already, she faces death because of the accident, and now I’ve just made it worse.

Everything around me fades to a blur as I turn on my heel and march toward Lily. Throwing the clipboard over my shoulder, I push past Kairo and stop at the bed.

All around me, voices are blurred into unfathomable ringing noises. Ones I don’t care to pay attention to. Whatever any one of them is saying is pointless in my mind, the only voice that matters is silenced right now.

I reach out to touch Lily’s hand, but then draw my hand back as if I’m too ashamed to go ahead. Too guilty, knowing I’d harmed her myself. I’d poisoned her with my seed, and there’s no going back. Already, she’s knocking on death’s door.

The child growing inside her is bound to make things worse. Take her life sooner.

Take her from me sooner.

***

Present

“Cadmus is dead,” I inform the gathering of the Dragon Council members, along with every member of the Aurora Dragons. I’ve just recounted all that had happened during the unexpected fight.

But this meeting isn’t only to regroup after the war.

I'd called for the members of the clan to be present and gathered in the hall to hear what a grave mistake the council had made.

And what a fatal mistake their Alpha had made, mating with a human.

Father, Nova, and Nimbus exchange glances amongst themselves. Father clears his throat before he speaks.

“We will have to converse with Zark, as he is the Blaze Legion Elder. Now, the question remains of who will take leadership of the Blaze Legion clan.”

I narrow my eyes derisively at my father. “I don’t think it should be left up to the Council to decide who becomes their Alpha now,” I remark scornfully. “After all, the decisions made by the Elders as of late have caused us more trouble than having any benefit to our kind.”

“Draco?” Nimbus stands up, his voice gravelly and commanding. “What is the meaning of this?!” he demands.

I narrow my eyes at the Flame Serpents Elder, fist curling at my sides. The determination of my real reason for this meeting comes to light.

And I am as ready as ever to take them on.

“The meaning of this?” I sneer. “I’ll tell you what the meaning is! The human mating process is a—”

“Success!”

I’m cut off by a familiar voice reverberating off the walls of the grand hall. I hadn’t expected to hear that voice roar as loudly as that single word. The Lily Turner I once knew wouldn’t be brave enough to face a hall of dragons.

Unless…

“Lily…?” I slowly turn around, shocked when I find her standing down the aisle with Kairo by her side. She’s still wearing a hospital gown, but her face glows with life and zest.

It is as if the accident didn’t just happen yesterday.

She meets my eyes and smiles as she begins walking into the hall between the two rows of benches on either side.

“The human mating process has been a success,” she declares, her voice loud enough to carry all the way to the front. She lifts a hand to her belly, the smile widening on her face. “I am Draco Vulkan’s human mate, pregnant with his child!”

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