Page 3 of Emerald Waves
My clan was right. I was useless as a dragon and now even more so as an omega. I’d failed the goddess, my clan, and worst of all, myself.
A feeble breeze ran through my hair. Light, airy and carried with it the hint of a familiar scent. Parchment paper, quill ink, and salt water. Was this how it felt to pass over to the other side? Completely at peace, filled with a sense of calm like everything will be alright.
Will those on the other side welcome or shun me as the bodies on this plane had. Either way, I was about to find out. I shot out a quick prayer to the goddess herself that it would be a better life for me. After all the physical and emotional abuse that I’d suffered, barely surviving this one, I more than deserved it.
Love.
That was all I ever wanted. To be loved and accepted, no matter how broken I was.
Failure.
That’s all anyone will remember me as. It’s all I ever was.
Memories flashed through my mind’s eye, both good and bad, though mostly the latter. Naked and beaten by the elders as they cast me out when I didn’t shift. Thirteen and alone. Neither of my parents fought to save me. Had Larkin not found me on the side of the road when he had, I’d have died from my injuries. Now, he was another on the long list of those I’d disappointed.
Please Goddess, take me now, I cried out. But did she hear me? Would she grant me that last single wish and allow me to pass with the fractured shred of dignity I had left?
“You’re not going anywhere, Emerson.”
Great. Even she didn’t want me. So where does that leave me? In between worlds? A lost soul wandering through the afterlife with no direction, just as alone as I had been in this one?
My dragon would never be though. Once I died it would be rid of this feeble body that never harnessed nor accepted it for the regal beast it was. A body unable to grant it the freedom it desired. Trapped.
I’m sorry I wasn’t enough.
Would my dragon accept my apology and forgive me for my faults? Would it remember me in the afterlife? Or would it too be thankful I was gone.
“You’re enough, Emerson. I’m sorry I was so blinded by rage.”
You’re forgiven, dragon. You didn’t choose me, and I wouldn’t have either.
“Fate paired us, Emerson, and for whatever reason they had we’re meant to be mates.”
How can one be the mate of their own dragon?
None of the archives provided so much as a hint of that possibility. There was so much left to learn that I’d now never be privy to. What a shame.
“Please, fight the fever, Emerson. I promise to do better by you.”
That voice, so familiar. This was the first time my dragon actually spoke to me. How could that be? But where had I heard this voice before. Had my dragon spoken and I’d not listened? No wonder it hated me as it did.
A gentle press of lips to my forehead as my eyes fought to open. Had my dragon left my body? A final glimpse was all I needed so I could see it for the first time. Then I’d pass quietly into whatever realm the Goddess felt I was worthy of. Only it wasn’t my dragon who was there.
“C-Caro?”
“Yes. Your body is wracked with fever. Raven is here, doing her best, but without your dragon your system is in for one hell of a fight.”
“There is one way, brother. You know this.”
Ionus was here too?
“Am I, am I dead?” Did we all die? Had the earth exploded? And how in the world did I make it upstairs and into my own bed.
“No, Emerson,” Alex stepped forward. “You’re not dead, but you did scare the shit out of us. Caro found you. Raven is doing her best to heal you now. It would be easier with…”
I knew what he’d say next. “If my dragon hadn’t rejected me.”
“I’ve not rejected you.” Caro’s harsh voice came through loud and clear.
