Page 49 of Fated to the Drakarn Commander (Drakarn Mates 4)

"Scout," I echoed, the sound a low growl rumbling from my chest. "Into their hunting grounds. After one of them nearly gutted you. After everything I told you about the dangers."

Vega made a noise of pure frustration. "There's no time! While you two posture?—"

"Vega." Hawk’s command was quiet but absolute, cutting off the other human. She didn’t look away from me. "Give us a moment."

Vega bristled, clearly wanting to argue, but Hawk’s stillness held her. With a final glare poisoned with dislike, she retreated around the bend, out of sight but not, I knew, out of earshot.

Silence descended, heavy and charged. It pulsed between us, thick with unspoken wounds, with anger that felt dangerously close to grief. The stone walls seemed to press closer, amplifying the frantic beat of my own heart against my ribs.

Then, she moved. She did not retreat. She moved toward me.

Two strides. That’s all it took to close the space until mere inches separated us. I could feel the warmth radiating from her skin, smell the unique blend of human and the faint metallic tang of the Scalvaris air clinging to her clothes. That scent … gods, it still undid me.

"I wasn't leaving you," she said, her voice a low vibration, pitched just for me, barely audible above the hum of the geothermal currents below. The words slammed into me, cracking the icy shell of my fury. "I wouldn't. Not like that."

My throat felt constricted, tight as a closing fist. "How can I believe that?" The worders were rough, torn from me.

"Because you know me," she said, her gaze holding mine, fierce and unwavering. "I was going to come find you as soon as I was sure Vega left safely. I wanted to find you before. But I'm being torn in two. I can't leave my people behind, Khorlar. Any more than you could leave yours."

The truth of it stung, a bitter venom. Her loyalty. It was one of the first things that had drawn me, that core of unyielding strength. But seeing it turned away from me, even for a noble cause … it felt like betrayal all the same.

"We do this properly," I snarled, the sound softening despite myself, the anger warring with a desperate need to keep her close, safe. "Together. With warriors. With a plan. Not … this." I waved a hand, dismissing her ill-conceived mission. "This is suicide."

"Speed is crucial," she pressed, sensing the shift in me. "We need search teams. If Kira left—and I think she did, looking for her sister—she'd use the eastern tunnels. They're less watched."

"And if Ignarath took her?" The thought was a knife to the gut. Not for the missing human herself, but for the implications. Escalation. War. And Hawk … Hawk right in the middle of it.

"Then finding her fast is even more critical," she replied, her expression hardening. "We move now, Khorlar. Please."

I looked down at her, this impossible female. She was fragile and fierce, human and yet … mine. She had shattered my world, rearranged my priorities, burrowed under my scales in a way nothing else ever had.

"Together," I repeated, the word a vow, a command. "You stay within my sight. Always."

Relief washed over her face, softening the tense lines around her eyes. "Yes."

I turned, folding my wings tight to navigate the passage. The lingering scent of her fear and determination clung to the air. "Call your friend," I ordered, my voice regaining its edge. "We gather the warriors."

* * *

The muster was a controlled storm of movement and low commands. Darrokar orchestrated the deployment with chilling efficiency. Two teams. Vyne and Selene would lead the search within Scalvaris's labyrinthine lower levels. Zarvash, Ryvik, myself, Hawk, and Vega would take the skies beyond the eastern border with a contingent of young warriors.

"The Ignarath will view this as aggression," Darrokar warned, his voice a low rumble beneath the clang of weapons checks. His obsidian eyes flicked from me to Hawk, standing resolute at my side, strapped into the flight harness. "Exercise caution. Stick to the objective."

I gave a curt nod. "Find the human. Return. Nothing else."

"See that you do, Stone Fist." His gaze lingered on Hawk for a heartbeat longer than necessary, a silent reminder of the precarious balance we maintained. "The Council convenes at dawn. I expect all humans accounted for."

Failure wasn't merely inconvenient; it could shatter the balance of power.

I pushed the political maneuvering aside. It was useless. My focus narrowed to the female beside me. "Ready?" I turned, my claws automatically checking the harness buckles, the tension of the straps across her body. My fingers brushed the worn leather, the brief contact sending a familiar, possessive heat through my veins, momentarily banking the fires of my earlier anger.

"Not my first flight clinging to your grumpy ass," she murmured, the words meant only for me. It was a weak jest, undermined by the worry tightening her eyes.

I growled deep. "Focus,vrakasha. We'll find your friend. Then we address … other matters."

The eastern launch plateau gaped open to the night, a wide shelf carved into the mountain, slick with volcanic glass. I secured Hawk against my chest, her back pressed firmly against me, the harness a tangible link between us. Her muscles were coiled tight, but she leaned into my strength, a silent acknowledgment of trust that eased something brittle inside me.

Zarvash stood poised nearby, Vega similarly secured with a makeshift harness. The bronze warrior’s face was a mask of grim calculation. "Eastern quadrant," he stated, his claw indicating the obsidian plains stretching towards the jagged silhouette of Ignarath territory. "Outer marker first, spiral pattern."

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