Page 122 of Destined By Dragonblood
Sadness seeped into my chest, and I whimpered, pressing a hand against my breast.
Vanni wrapped his arms around me, his own hurt mingling with mine and causing tears to well in my eyes.
“What is this place?” I croaked through the thickness in my throat.
“Maybe a mausoleum? But those aren’t urns.”
I had the sense Vanni was onto something. The three orbs at the room’s center drew my attention. One gray, one blue, one…golden.
“They’re scales,” I breathed.
Touch.
Our feet moved us forward, hands outstretched as our inner beasts demanded.
Chapter 36
Dolyn
I landed near the rented SUV that still sat half-buried in fresh snow, a bag of clothing clutched in my claws. The mountain in front of me called out, urging me to return, submit to my alpha, and accept my place in attempting to repopulate the human world with Blood Born dragon shifters.
But responsibilities needed looking after first.
I’d taken care of Ashley’s abuser, the largest and most important requirement for moving forward, but smaller details needed attending to.
My beastly form snorted at my human half, well aware of why I made him procrastinate.
Fear being the deciding factor, what Father had told me no royal Blood Born ever experienced. But I’d been hampered by the emotion my entire life, even though I attempted to smother it. Now, I acknowledged something I’d once seen as an imperfection but realized acted as another instinct to help protect our human half.
I’d always needed to be in control of things around me to be comfortable, and my relationships with Vanni and Ashley were no different. Once I completed the tasks before me and set things in order, I would feel free to take my place as beta.
A steady stream of dragon fire melted the snow around the vehicle Vanni had gotten from the airport and cleared the road they’d taken deeper into the wilderness to find me. Once shifted into my human form and dressed in the clothing I’d brought along, I pulled the agreement paperwork from the glove compartment and drove toward civilization.
Every mile into Idaho and away from my mates heightened the ache in my chest, but I pressed on. The cloaked flight back to Jackson Hole from the car rental place eased my breathing, but I wasn’t yet done. I followed residual hints of Vanni’s musk and Ashley’s sweetness to the tiny hotel they had stayed in while searching for me, melted the lock to gain entry, and crashed on the bed they’d shared. The scent of cum covered the bedding and made my mouth water.
Need.
I ignored the beast and nuzzled into Vanni’s pillow while clutching Ashley’s tight.
One last night of putting off my destiny, and I would accept my fate.
I dreamed of my mates, of our coming together with the intense fire Dakota’s vision had shown me. Being surrounded by my two lovers, the bond forging our hearts and minds together, flooded me with desperate need. I woke hard and aching but saved my release for the only two on earth who deserved my touch and pleasure.
I checked out of the motel room, their two suitcases they’d left behind in their search of me in hand.
Once away from human eyes, I shimmered out of existence and shifted. The flap of my wings blew the snow beneath me out in a swirling eddy, but I didn’t waste longer than necessary watching it spin as though a tornado had rippled over the small stretch of land south of town.
I set my gaze on my mountain, on the cloaked door of my home I could easily make out with my dragon sight. The sense of drawing closer to my mates caused my skin to tingle and insides to quiver.
Would they be too angry with me for abandoning them a second time that they refused our bond? Had I hurt them with my remarks to the point they would deny what had been destined by fate?
My throat tightened, but I didn’t push against the rising fear. I also refused to berate myself as I once would have done for choosing a wrong decision in my selfishness. Allowing forgiveness to myself didn’t lessen my anxiety, but I finally felt as though I’d done something right. Self-care, Elijah would have called it.
Shifting back on the veranda, I hastened to press my hand against the front door. Stepping inside soothed like a warm blanket, a mother’s caress to the forehead.
The scent of my mates, one soft and sweet, the other musky and similar to the brimstone far below the living quarters of our cavern, slid over me, tightening my groin and causing my mouth to water.
Yessss.
