Page 79 of A Dragon's Miracle (Fires of Fate)
Finn
Istill couldn't believeRyan was actually letting me do this, but here we were, on the roof of the hospital, under a sky full of stars, about to go through with a bonding ritual. After Ryan had given me his okay, I'd spent all the rest of the day copying the runes I needed on paper over and over again, just to make sure I wasn't going to mess this up. I'd always sucked at reading or writing ancient runes, and the ritual required a couple of them, but I was reasonably confident now.
I had to be. I mean, these runes were going to go on Ryan's skin. How crappy would it be if I misspelled my claim on him?
Deep breaths, Finn. You got this.
“You seem nervous,” Ryan said, picking up on my fidgeting.
“I don't want to make a mistake.”
He gave me a kiss. “I'm sure you'll do fine. Just tell me what I have to do.”
Right. I'd heard all about this from Zed. I only needed to recall it correctly. “I need you to sit with your back to me. And you can't be wearing anything on your back.” But that wasn't too much of a problem, because the hospital gown kept his back side exposed.
Ryan knelt on the roof and shrugged the thin clothing off his shoulders. “Like this?”
I nodded. “That should work. Now you just need to keep sitting there and, uh, not panic.”
“Why would I panic? I know a few omegas who've gone through with this, and they seem fine.”
“I guess you're right. Youwillbe fine. I just don't really like this procedure.”
He laughed a little. “You were the one who pushed for this.”
“I want to be bonded,” I clarified. “Doesn't mean I like the ritual.”
“Okay, I get it. Then let's just do this quickly.”
“Alright.” I took a deep breath and shifted. As soon as scales covered my body and I saw the world through a dragon's eyes, I felt more confident about what I was going to do. This part of me had been waiting forever to establish this bond. I breathed in the crisp night air, settled in behind the omega I was going to claim as my fated mate, and I began.
Carefully, I pressed one of my claws to the skin on Ryan's back, just below the top of his shoulder, and carved the first of the runes into him. In the back of my mind, the more human part of me recoiled at the sight of Ryan's blood. The fact that I had to hurt the man I loved was what made me uncomfortable about this ritual, but Ryan didn't seem bothered. He sat still, trusting me, and so I continued.
All in all, it probably didn't take me longer than ten minutes to write all the runes in a neat line on Ryan's back.
“Are you okay?” I asked, removing my claw from him.
He craned his neck to look at me with a smile. “I'm fine. Almost done, right? Finish it.”
I closed my eyes, inhaled deeply, and did as instructed--I finished the ritual by exhaling and dousing Ryan in my fire to cauterize the wounds. My instincts told me that it was the right thing to do, but that didn't keep part of me from panicking internally all the same. Humans weren't immune to fire the waywewere. Fire could burn Ryan. What if I'd burned Ryan?
I couldn't look until I felt his presence in front of me without seeing him. He was okay. He was... maybe a little tired, but happy--and positively radiating love and affection.
I opened my eyes again. “Wow,” I whispered, looking at him. “Do you feel that? I canfeelyou!” It was completely amazing, like I had a second heart beating in my chest. I shifted back and found that the feeling was just as intense in human form as it was in dragon form. I liked that.
Ryan grinned at me. “I like to feel how happy you are. It's like your energy is all bubbly.” He laughed a little. “It's very you.”
That statement made me laugh too. “I'm bubbly?”
He shook his head. “I don't really know how to describe it. But I like it. I want you to always be happy.”
“So you can feel my bubbles?”
He made to stand and I helped him up. “You're silly.”
I showed him my tongue to prove his point. “It's why you love me.”
He chuckled and threw his arms around my neck. “That's only one of the many reasons I love you, silly.” He leaned in to kiss me and I rested my hands on either side of his baby bump, feeling all that love he talked about wash over me.
I was the luckiest dragon alive.
