Page 50 of Smoke and Lure

Those thoughts helped some to place her desire on simmer.“If our parents had known, wouldn’t they have left some hint or something tangible that this all was true?”

“You would think so.”She felt the tension in Chanin’s body wrapped around hers, but thankfully, he kept his hands on semi-neutral territory, her waist, and the curve of her hip.

She didn’t have any answers and wouldn’t until she was able to speak to her sister.

Another older male she didn’t recognize finished speaking and moved back into the circle as Aodh guided Kai to the front of the gathering.Standing before his people, Aodh tilted Kai’s face and kissed her lightly.He then held Kai’s gaze for a moment as if communicating something to her privately before he stepped away, blending back into the crowd.

Morlie could sense her sister’s nervousness when Kai wrung her hands before her swollen belly.Kai’s gaze seemed to skid around the people before her but not settle on anyone for too long.

Kai cleared her throat.“First off, I’d like to say how grateful I am for you all aiding and accepting me into your Thunder and as Aodh’s mate.You all were there for not only me but my sister.”

Morlie watched the Drahks confirm her sister’s words with smiles and nods.

“I have been thinking of this moment all day,” Kai continued.“Of the words I could say to fill in the cavernous valley inside of me that I have felt since I learned about my ancestors and discovered who and what I am.However, focusing on the gulf of sadness and loss of time and memories only served to diminish the gift I have been given in establishing a restoration to Drago’s line.My family line.To try and decipher the thoughts and plans of the Great Spirit and why it took so long for Drago not only to know he still had a family but to see them...it only stands to neglect my gratefulness of the situation.Drago, the greatest of my uncles, lived a life long enough for us to meet.For us to spend his last moments together.”

Kai placed a hand over her heart as tears cascaded down her face.

Morlie’s chest ached as she watched the pain etched on her sister's face and saw the shudders in her body even as Kai continued to execute a compelling stance.

“My heart is heavy and full.”Kai’s voice wavered.“In my life, I have only witnessed two miracles.My sister healed from a devastating disease that robbed us of our parents.”She inhaled a shaky breath as she glanced over her shoulder toward the massive white form.“And witnessing Drago take his last breath and the majesty of his final flight.”

Morlie watched Kai meet Aodh’s gaze as if her sister needed to connect with her mate to strengthen her.“As Drago’s family, I release him to the bosom of the Great Spirit who gave him his first blistering breath.”

Even if Morlie didn’t understand how they were linked to the dead Drahk, it didn’t stop her from being proud of her big sister.Yes, Kai may have started shaky and unsure, but in the end, her sister’s voice rang out loud and formidable.Kai appeared every bit the mate of a powerful leader.

“Apophis,” Aodh called out to a man, a head shorter and with broad shoulders, narrower than most Drahk.

The man had long, blond hair with silver streaks and wore a calf-length white tunic over wide-leg white pants.Unlike the others, his feet were bare.That eccentricity didn’t detract from the fact that the man was still a dragon-shifter, the scale lines visible between the vee of his tunic and covering his forearms below the three-quarter sleeves.

Apophis stood beside Aodh; however, he did not face the crowd but the dead dragon on the heap, holding his hands wide.

Morlie realized the man’s gesture must have been a signal because all those gathered in the clearing moved and seemed to take up positions around the massive dragon, creating a large circle behind the hand-sized rocks.Kai stepped up beside Aodh, and he linked their hands together.

Once everyone stood in place, the shoeless Drahk began still in a language Morlie could understand, “From dust, we are created.Through flame, we are born.By fire, we are forged.And by ash, we return to the Great Spirit.”

When the man, who seemed to be a spiritual leader, lowered his hands, an audible sound like a powerful force of wind being pulled through a long, rough cave tunnel followed.A whooshing caused the very air around them to vibrate, leaves and branches to tremble, and all in attendance released a torrent of flames at the ice-white form.The large blaze illuminated the area and flooded it with warmth as it roared and licked high into the sky.

She stood astounded by the appearance of every displayed lined scale on the Drahks’ skin, shining brilliant white, matching the luminous flames flickering in their eyes.

Morlie gasped, and a shiver ran through her as Chanin tensed beside her.She could hear the low murmur of the detail behind them in the woods.It was an astonishing sight to behold, even as a bystander.She’d seen Tana and Eilidh throw a small flame here and there in the suite for her fireplace or bath water, but observing the Drahk as a collective create a blaze was shocking and more than a little intimidating.

However, Morlie had no fear that if anything went wrong, the male beside her would not hesitate to protect her.As if Chanin heard her thoughts or wasn’t a fan of the fire show, he released a low growl and shifted so that his shoulder was slightly in front of her.

Everyone but Kai continued to breathe fire for a few minutes before the space in the center of the circle, which had once held a lifeless dragon and a big pile of timber, was only ash, decimated in a single breath.

“I thought dragons were resistant to fire,” she whispered to Chanin.

“Typically, they are.”

Once the deed was done, the crowd stepped away from the ring of stone but didn’t immediately disperse.Instead, it seemed as if they were moving to gather again.

“As entertaining and informative as this has been, I don’t see why we had to come bear witness to it,” Morlie grumbled as she glanced down at the clothing she and Chanin wore, not of their choosing.“And it doesn’t make sense that we are dressed for an occasion we couldn’t even attend.”

Chanin caressed the small of her back.“Agreed.With all the questions this has incited, it would have been better for Aodh to arrange a time for you and your sister to meet.”

Morlie shrugged, more than a little irritated.She gripped the ring around her neck and squeezed it.She never missed her parents more than she did right now.Usually, Kai helped fill the void and kept the ache of missing them at bay.However, the valley between her and her sister right now seemed cavernous.

“Yes.Aodh said she would need me with her tonight.However, I don’t think Kai,” who she saw talking and standing with a lovely, stately woman with salt-and-pepper tresses piled high on her head, standing beside the man resembling Aodh.With the older female’s striking resemblance to Liekki and Eilidh, Morlie figured it was Mckenna’s parents.“...needs my support right now—”

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