Page 6 of Dragon Awakened

But he doesn't. He just raises a brow and shifts his gaze back to the door.

It cracks open, and my ribs do, too.

Ember. My mate, the piece of my soul I almost lost. She's standing there, dressed in the only clothes we had, and it doesn't fucking matter. Even in a man's white T-shirt and oversized black sweats, her hair wet and tangled, she's the most beautiful creature I've ever seen.

Our mating bond lights up the inside of my chest. I only have eyes for her, but the brightness in the room is undeniable. She's lighting up Jianyu and Malik, too, and I don't care. As much as Jianyu annoys me and Malik enrages me, being here with them... With her... It feels right.

"Sorry," she says, her voice raw and hoarse. "I just--"

Malik shakes his head. "Take all the time you need, beloved."

"You must be starving," Jianyu observes, finally getting up to guide her toward the cottage's tiny kitchen.

"We don't have much," Malik says. "Obi and Zahra are out scouting for supplies as we speak."

Ember manages a weak smile. "I don't need much."

She meets my gaze, and my stomach drops. There's something she needs.

Something she needs to tell us.

And it's something that none of us wants to hear.

Chapter

Three

EMBER

I'm never going to get used to being pampered like this.

My mates basically bustle me into the kitchen, where they sit me down and present me with coffee, fixed exactly the way I like it, as well as a plate piled with cheese, bread and fruit. I want to make fun of them for telling me they "didn't have much"--this is more than I ever would have expected, back in my aunt's house in Wynrath Crest. But then the scent of the food hits me.

Good lord--when was the last time I ate?

I tear into the bread and shove a piece of cheese into my mouth. They taste like heaven, and the ripe sweetness of a sliced peach is even better. The coffee is rich and bitter, and exactly what my poor, uncaffeinated brain needed.

It's only after I've gobbled down half of the food and demolished the coffee that I feel the weight of three sets of eyes all staring at me.

I glance up, my cheeks heating. I must look like an absolute pig.

But there's no judgment in my mates' eyes.

Rafe, standing by the stove, lifts one corner of his mouth in a smirk and nods toward my plate. "Don't let us stop you."

I set down the hunk of bread I'd been holding halfway to my mouth. Looking around for a napkin, I brush a dusting of crumbs off my shirt. "Sorry. I just--"

"We're glad to see you have an appetite," Jianyu says quietly. He's sitting across from me at the table, and he nudges my knee with his own.

A hint of roughness to his tone, Malik adds, "We're mostly just glad you're here."

Utter sincerity warms our bond, and I flutter inside. My throat catches, a wave of gratitude catching me off guard. My vision threatens to mist over, and I blink rapidly, looking from one man to the next.

Gorgeous, stoic Jianyu. Hot-headed Rafe. Thoughtful, resolute Malik.

These men are my mates, made for me by the gods themselves. They're gorgeous, brilliant, caring. Everything I ever could have asked for.

I was taken by the most dangerous people in the dragon shifter world, and they came for me. They pulled me out of the sea, and flew me to safety. They've seen to my every need.

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