Page 28 of The Power of a Myth

The witch then turned her attention to Brayden.

“Learn from Molly, Brayden. You have the same power in you. Your destiny is to help Selene control what she’s about to become. It’s also the reason for the biggest secret I know.”

Before anyone could say anything else, they disappeared from the ruins of the Glacial Blood mansion.

Chapter Fourteen

Hayden finished getting himself dressed, having destroyed his previous clothes when he shifted. He observed Molly the entire time. She walked around looking at the various inscriptions on the wall of the multi-shifter’s cave.

Ethern, Brayden, and Jessica had disappeared to check on Emma, Selene, and the cubs. Eventually, she turned around to face him. Hayden was tired—his body ached from the tension of trying to change back. He had to be near her and pulled her close to him again.

“I have a lot of explaining to do.” He stroked his hand over her now gray hair. He remembered the vibrant chestnut color it had once been.

“It’s been a lifetime, Hayden. What prevented you from contacting me?” Molly looked up at him. She still had tears wetting the edges of her vision.

“A higher calling,” Hayden replied.

It angered Molly, and she pulled away from him with a look of frustration on her face.

“I’m sick of that phrase. It’s all that’s echoed in my mind since the boy said it to me after you died.” Molly settled against a rock and placed her head in her hands.

“The boy?” Hayden didn’t understand.

Molly looked up at him. “When you died, I didn’t want to face it at first. I went into the jungle and shifted. I ran as fast as I could to the village where you’d died. I smelled you everywhere—it was so intoxicating. I saw where the blood had left your body. I cried, and then he appeared.”

“A young Vietnamese boy?” Hayden realized who Molly meant. The boy who’d guided Hayden. It would be right he helped Molly as well.

“Yes, he told me you were safe and not suffering. That you had a higher calling, but I’d see you again one day. I just didn’t realize how long it would take for that to happen. Fifty-two years. You became a shifter like me, Hayden. Why didn’t you tell me? That’s what hurts the most.”

Hayden made his way to where Molly was sitting. He held his hand out to her. The second he did, the scales fluttered over his arm. His control was wavering today with the emotions coursing through his body. Molly reached out and touched his arm. It was all he needed to put the dragon inside him back to sleep.

“I wanted to, every day. When I found out you’d lost your leg, they had to knock me out for a few years. I went crazy.”

“I don’t understand. Who’s they? Why couldn’t you see me?”

“Because of my dragon.”

“You need to explain more,” Molly demanded.

“When I died, the boy was there to guide me. Just before I was killed, he told me it would only hurt for a few moments. I knew then it was a trap and ran out to save my men. I was shot in the chest. My human form had no chance of survival. I died with your name on my breath, but my vision was focused on a man who stood next to the boy. The next thing I knew, I woke in this very cave. The boy was here and the man as well. He introduced himself as Caleb and brought me via teleportation to a cave in Siberia. Inside he showed me dragon bones and explained that as a new shifter with the touch of no other animals I was destined to control the power of the dragon. It’s a powerful, mythological creature that’s almost impossible to control. That’s why no other dragon shifters exist in this realm because if a shifter’s dragon can’t be tamed, they could destroy everything with just one breath.”

“The way you did Samuel?” Molly queried.

“Yes, dragon fire is the most powerful element in the world.”

“But that doesn’t explain why you couldn’t tell me?”

“I made the decision to touch the bones because of the chance I’d been given to have a second life and because I didn’t want a war that could end up harming you.”

Molly stroked her hand down his arm. He turned his hand around and wrapped his fingers around hers.

“You can only change into a dragon?”

“Yes, I’ve managed to avoid collecting any other powers because it would be too much for me. The power of the dragon is insane. I controlled it for a few short moments when I first turned, but I quickly realized I couldn’t control it properly. I knew I couldn’t be out in public, and I couldn’t be with you until I knew I was safe. I was a danger to too many people. Shifters and humans alike.”

“So you hid away?” Molly pulled his hand to settle it in her lap.

“I had no choice. I lost my life as a human to become a dragon shifter, but I had to disappear from the supernatural world as well. I was an experiment gone wrong to most people. I was hidden in the lowest dungeons in the Reichstag. Eventually, Caleb passed away and the young boy, having completed his duty, decided to live quietly in the human world, so Ethern took over my safekeeping. All the while, he helped me learn about the power of my dragon. It’s only in the last year I’ve managed to control it completely. Well, so I thought. My emotions are a bit intense at the moment, and it’s left me volatile. I’ve thought about you every day. I had Ethern watch out for you. I never stopped loving you, Molly. I’m just sorry I couldn’t get control of the beast within me quicker. Actually, I wish I’d said no and come running straight back to you. I could have touched you and become a puma. We could have had a life together.”

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