Page 62 of Brutal Alpha Dragon

As the fire on my back dies out, Lily is knocked out of her captor’s claws. She falls down toward me—but not without hitting against the railings of the balcony. Panic sets in when a crack of ribs fills my eardrums. I’m not fast enough to catch her, only in time to grab her before she falls all the way down.

And when she’s in my arms, she’s out cold. Lying unconsciously, her body limp as I hold her.

Chapter 26 - Lily

Falling again…

That’s the last thing I remember before everything goes black.

When I open my eyes, I’m on a field of luscious greenery surrounded by the vivid colors of the flowers in the garden, the flowers that I’d been longing to pick with my own hand. To feel the gorgeous stems between my fingers and savor the scent permeating from the petals.

“Hi, Lily,” comes Draco’s voice, gentler than I remember his voice ever being. My lips automatically turn up in a pleasant smile as I turn around to find him standing between a rose bush and cyan-colored flowers that mimic sunflowers.

“Hi,” I respond, my voice carried by a sudden, soft gust of wind that billows my hair out to one side. Like a veil of brown, it’s translucent enough to still see the vast array of colors surrounding us in the meadow.

The warmth of the sun’s rays kisses my cheek on one side. But it’s not nearly what I truly crave. It’s Draco’s lips that I need.

His amber eyes are magnified by the brilliant morning sun, inviting me to witness his soul's language. A language I seem to understand, even though its words are just the silence that stretches around me and envelopes me in its warm embrace.

Taking a step forward, Draco mirrors my actions as he comes closer. Closing the distance between us, I feel myself melting just from his presence alone.

And when his arms fold around me and whisk me into the solitude they provide, I sigh with contentment.

“We’re here at last,” he says, but I catch onto how his words mean so much more than just the surface of where we’re standing.

We’re finally here… At the precipice of a new beginning. A place where I’ve come to realize that my hero dons ruby crystals and walks on webbed claws. He flies through the air and carries me with him, and I get to see the world because of that.

I wasn’t looking for a savior. I didn’t need saving. Yet, it’s in his arms that I feel authentically me. Like I’ve been waiting all my life to come home. Home was never a place, but a being so extraordinarily powerful, that I feel empowered just by being around him.

“We are, aren’t we?” I smile as I lift my cheek from where it’s pressed to his chest. He’s staring into my face with adoration extending into how he cradles my cheek and smiles back at me.

Something about this moment feels perfect. I feel perfect—something I’ve never felt before. I’ve always felt out of place, a misfit amongst my peers. Even in my family, I felt the need to constantly fight to earn my place amongst them. I always needed to go the extra mile.

And right now, I can just be me. Careless and reckless, clumsy and without the answers to everything.

“I know it took some time…” he begins as he strokes my cheek with the pad of his thumb. “... But I’ve come to realize how important you are to me.”

I didn’t know how much I needed to hear those until they’d left his lips. I lose the air in my lungs as my heart skips a beat. Fluttering my eyelids at him, I suddenly want to pinch myself as if I’m dreaming.

“Draco—” I’m about to say how much he means to me, when he presses a finger to my lips to stop me from speaking.

He clearly has no idea what that single digit against my lips does to me. What havoc it wreaks in my core…

“I’m sorry that I didn’t get to you in time,” he apologizes sullenly.

“What do you mean?” I frown, the tender moment lost as panic begins to rear its ugly head. Its unwelcome talons claw to the top of my throat, and I gulp.

“The fall, Lily,” he whispers remorsefully. “Don’t you remember?”

As my brows pull tautly into a frown, I notice the sun’s light dissipating. Turning my face, I see dark smoke clouding our surroundings, stealing the beauty of the meadow on Aurora Island.

And stealing the peace I felt before.

***

Opening my eyes, I find myself in a very well-lit room. Blinking to adjust my vision to the onset of the bright lights, I can barely move.

“Wh-what?” I mutter to myself as I take a look around. My arms are on either side of me, resting on a white sheet covering my body. A slow beeping is the only sound I can hear.

---