Page 4 of Trial By Fire

“Thank you,” I say to her as I push my arms through the robe and wrap it around my naked body. “How did you know I would come here?” I ask as I get to my feet and follow her as she starts to walk away.

“I don’t really know what brought me here, but I’ve always been able to feel you in here.” She places her hand over her heart and smiles. “I’ve always been able to feel your emotions and know exactly what you need.” She pats my shoulder and stops. “Of course, I jumped out of the bed in a panic as soon as your mates told me you disappeared and said they couldn’t find you.” She smirks, giving me a sideways glance. I look away, not wanting to recount my reason for wanting to be anywhere but our room. I was still upset with them. But how can I stay mad? Especially with the arrival of my fourth mate.

“You teleported, Delia. That is not a power a Dragon usually possesses. You are a conundrum wrapped in an enigma, with a cherry on top.” She laughs and inclines her head toward the palace as we continue to walk.

“So, is this it then?” I ask, wondering if something else will manifest out of nowhere and take me by surprise like it did tonight.

“Honestly, I don’t know anymore. I thought your ability to conjure your fire was a by-product of magical buildup. Now I am not so sure. You’ve Emerged now, so maybe your power will settle. The last thing you need is more surprises,” she says, and I stop our progress, holding my arm out to stop her from walking at the mention of the word surprises. I feel the need to hold nothing back. There have never been any secrets between us, and she will find out soon enough. I am still coming to grips with all of this myself, so my feelings are all over the place. I wrap my arms around myself against the chill of the night air and shift from foot to foot in unease.

“What’s wrong?” She immediately closes the distance between us and places her hands on my shoulders. “Has something else happened?”

“Okay, so I really hope this is it because I don’t think I need any more surprises. I was in the woods, and I came upon a beautiful waterfall. I could hear Torin, Adrian, and Gale looking for me, but out of the blue another man steps out of the trees,” I say to her in one big breath, and her mouth gapes open in shock.

“What? Did he try to hurt you?” she asks in concern.

“Nope. That’s the thing, as soon as I saw him, I knew.” I nod my head in confirmation to myself. Initially, I thought it was my Dragon staking her claim, but I recall my feelings in the clearing, and I know I did as well.

“Knew what?” Aunt Twyla asks.

“He is my fourth mate,” I say confidently. I feel it deep in my heart. I know absolutely nothing about this man, and it’s absurd to jump in feet first, but the deep penetrating connection is there. Besides, isn’t that what I did with the other three?

“How? This is a lot to take in, Delia. Where the hell did he come from? And why didn’t he show himself before? Where is he now?” she asks as she steps away, pacing back and forth before me.

“I left him with the guys on the cliff where I fell.” The mere thought of the push and pull of the current in the dark and murky lake makes me cringe. It was just my luck that I was standing so damn close to the edge that I managed to step back into nothing. That was a major failure on my part, but I guess I can be grateful to the lake. My near-death experience pushed me to Emerge.

“You left him with your mates? Cordelia, they’re Dragons, possessive and territorial, honey.” I can’t help but laugh as she places her hands on her hips and looks up at the sky for answers and possibly help.

“I told them not to kill him. He owes me an explanation, and I can at least listen and hear him out.” She sighs, blowing out a long breath before she looks at me again.

“Well, I don’t know how the King will want to deal with someone new joining us in the palace. He will want to meet this man as well. We can’t be too careful. We know nothing about him. He’s a stranger, and a possible adversary. So please don’t be upset if he’s treated as such initially.” She turns and starts to walk away, and I follow.

“Okay, I guess this is going to be one big family meeting then,” I say as I trudge my bare feet through the grass, realizing then that I have lost my favorite boots at the bottom of the lake.

I loved those boots. The weight of what I’ve already lost is too much to bear. I can’t think about how much more I stand to lose as that thought alone is enough to choke me. I sigh and try not to let this add to my growing list of grief.

CHAPTERTHREE

GALE

Iknew when Cordelia didn’t come back to us that she still needed space. I understand. We messed up. I can’t be upset by the things she said to me earlier. She’s right. I had every opportunity to tell her about our thoughts on why she hadn’t shifted. I deserved her anger. Hell, we all did. I knew this would happen. Miscommunication can cause a rift in the relationship we are trying to build with our beautiful mate. The last thing we need is for her to lose trust in our ability to tell her the truth. I plan on complete honesty from here on out from me. I don’t ever want to see the look of utter disappointment on her face ever again. She needs us. It looks like I will be on my hands and knees once more in apology. That is hardly a hardship in my opinion. My dick stirs in my pants as I think back to earlier, her long leg over my shoulder and my face buried between her legs, hearing her screams and moans of pleasure. I don’t think I will ever get used to the taste of her, the way she sounds, or the feel of her silky skin under my finger.

I groan to myself as we make our way back to the palace. As soon as all three of us touch down in our Dragon forms, Dravyn unfolds from the shadows and turns his back on us, giving us privacy to change. I almost want to walk my naked ass in front of him and give him a show. He can see my ass. That’s how I feel about his untimely arrival. I really wish the fourth mate was imaginary. He literally appeared out of nowhere, pledging his soul to her with undying love in his eyes. Well, he didn’t say any of those things out loud, but I can see it seeping through his pores. Dravyn, or whatever his name is, is not my brother, and I don’t want to share my mate with yet another man.

We quickly dress and march toward the palace with Dravyn trailing behind us. I really don’t feel comfortable with my back turned to him. I don’t care if he spent a few childhood years with Torin. He was Thaddeus’s son, for fuck's sake.

“You know once we get to the front door, you will be taken into custody,” Torin says over his shoulder as we start to walk up the steps toward a side entry.

“I figured as much. Will I be able to see her at least?” Dravyn asks, eliciting a growl from Adrian, who’s been rather well behaved since we were left in the clearing. Guess he doesn’t want to piss Cordelia off any further by going against her wishes and kill him. The first time the fucker actually listens, and I want him to do the complete opposite.

“What makes you think she will want to speak to you?” I know it was a petty question to ask because she had already told him to explain himself to her—I just felt the need to poke him anyway. I don’t want him here. I turn, walking backwards, waiting for his reply, but he smirks and stays silent.

“It’s not like I haven’t been inside this palace for days now. It’s unnecessary to hold me hostage. I had every opportunity to—”

“You had every opportunity to what?” Adrian turns and stalks back toward Dravyn. He stands right in front of him, blocking his progression, and locks eyes with him.

“I think he is saying that he had every opportunity to cause someone harm. But he didn’t,” Torin says, and then sighs. I sneer at him as he attempts to protect his little buddy. Even though there is absolutely nothing little about him. Ugh. I am definitely being a petty and jealous asshole.

“He doesn’t need you speaking for him, do you, Dravyn?” Adrian holds up his hand to stop Torin from speaking further. I stand back and watch the exchange because this could turn into a fight between the two of them very quickly; someone is going to have to stop them from killing each other. I glance over to the cause of their argument, and he is smiling.

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