Page 174 of Smoke and Lure

Although happy for her friend, Kai still struggled with her inadequacies.

Am I enough?It wasn’t the first time those secret thoughts flooded her mind.While alone with her guardian daily, she let the thoughts out.Aodh was usually a reasonable distance away from the heart of their territory, doing drills, and she didn’t fear him overhearing them.

However, she knew she still had to be careful because if she wasn’t paying attention to the humming of warmth that was always subtle underneath her skin when her mate-husband was near, he could catch the thread of her thoughts.

Because she wasn’t a Drahk, she had no power or ability to keep him out of her mind.She was just thankful that he respected her enough to erect a veil between them to allow her some autonomy.

The man was remarkable.

Am I enough?She hated the doubts that constantly haunted her since seeing Avalore in the smoke-filled chamber with the precious scale marking beginning to pepper her body.However, the closer Kai got to the end of her pregnancy, the harder it was to stave off the thoughts and contain her anxiety about her loss.

“If I wasn’t going to keep the ability, why even allow me a taste of them?”Kai stared up through the canopy of treetops, feeling safe enough to release the words where no one was around to hear them.

She noted the cloudless sky, which was bluer today than days before.Everyone in the territory was talking about how the purple hue that had been a constant reminder of the damage to the Earth's atmosphere was receding more and more each day.

Kai exhaled.“Let it go, Kai.Aodh loves you no matter your aptitudes.The Drahk have accepted you and will continue to accept you.”

It was the mantra she repeated to herself to combat her uncommon self-deprecating thoughts.

She turned back in the direction she’d come and realized she had gone further than she intended.Because she’d been trying to outrun her wayward thoughts, she’d mistakenly let her feet carry her far along a path.

Avalore may already be at her place, and Ladon would be looking for her.Aodh would be upset that she’d gone off without her guard.He’d told her about the mutant-like human her ex-government had dropped off to the council.The scientists weren’t only experimenting with Dispatch women, but men, too.

She was troubled, but not a fool.The human government had shown the preternatural council that it could not be trusted.It was why there was always a guard assigned to her when she was outside of their home.

Snap.

Kai froze.Her heart lost a beat, only to restart and raise every hair on her body.Something was off, not right.

Her unborn child allowed her to recognize every Drahk in the territory.She could even feel their presence when they were near—literally, the dragons within each shifter reached out to her baby within her, the Mckenna’s offspring a magnet of comfort and assurance for them.

However, right then, she did not experience an overwhelming sense of connection with whatever was in the forest with her.

She tried to tell herself that maybe a goat had escaped from the pen, a secure livestock enclosure where multiple Drahk workers managed their breeding and upkeep.

However, her reassurance didn’t stop her from placing a hand on the hilt of her long sword strapped to her expansive waist as she pivoted to determine what was behind her.

Run!

Her mind screamed the single word, but the sight of the six-foot abomination before her, with its long, matted, stringy red hair, broad-scaled upper body, thick arms that extended into talon-like fingers, as it stood on odd, furry hindlegs stunned her, and caused her feet growing roots into the soil.

It’s one of them.

“Rrrrrrrrrr!”Spittle came flying out with the raucous roar as every blade-like tooth gleamed in the sunlight from the bearish muzzle in the center of its face.Its beady red eyes locked onto her with a horrific glare.

Bloodlust.If this thing got its hand on her, it would rip her apart and devour her one vicious bite after another until there was nothing left.

“What the hell, have they unleashed on the world?”Kai took a step back.She wasn’t stupid.There wasn’t any way she could fight this grotesque thing, not even with her sword skills.

It grumbled mindlessly, and the sound seemed contrived, just as its body seemed piecemealed from the most beastly parts of the various shifters.

She took another tentative step back, as its sharp eyes watched her.With a burst of energy and self-preservation, Kai turned and ran.Arms and legs pumping, sword in hand, she moved as fast as her legs and belly would allow and headed back to the territory's center.

Then she heard the heavy pounding of feet behind her, in front of her, all around her, like a drummer's symphony.Every time one of her feet struck the ground, she felt the powerful vibrations getting closer.

Would the Drahks dashing through the forest manage to get to her before the hellacious thing did?

“Kai.Kai!”Avalore’s high-pitched voice lashed out toward her through the dense trees.

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