Page 126 of His Greatest Treasure

“Alfie, Alfie, quickly! They’re here!”

“Blaze, are you alright? Are you hurt?”

I was trying to look at him and check him for injuries and make sense of what he was saying all at once, but he was dragging me along and almost bouncing with excitement.

He just kept repeating, “They’re here.”

“Who’s here?”

“Rhod and Glenwise. They’re back.”

I stopped walking, stunned.

“They’re back? You mean they’re here, right now?”

“Yes, my darling.”

“But… how? Who found them?”

“Mrs. Wilson found them. She knows an awful lot, you know. Come on.”

I let him drag me and, as I went, I pulled up the bonds I had with both Glenwise and Rhod. We rushed into the grand hall, which is where they’d gone for some reason. That seemed strange to me, since the grand hall was mostly used for guests and when our territory had been attacked.

“What are they doing in the grand hall?”

“Glimmer took them there.”

We entered the large room through the double doors and I was so relieved to see them there that I couldn’t control myself.

My clan. My clan were back. They were safe.

All of the fears I’d had about them being out there alone, living in ditches and eating out of bins, fighting for their lives against witches and shifters andridire, suddenly vanished and I thought I’d burst into tears with how glad I was to have them back.

My dragon had other ideas, though.

It pushed up inside of me so quickly that I couldn’t stop it. I was filled and filled and then, suddenly, it wasn’t breaking out of me any more, itwasme.

There was a ripping sound and I shifted, shedding my clothes around me.

My dragon wanted to see our clan with its own eyes and I didn’t mind that. It seemed sensible, actually. I could see differently like that, in different hues, and our bonds looked different, too. I circled them, studying them from every angle, trying to identify injury or illness.

The most noticeable thing about them was the bond that shone between them. It was strong and so pretty. It practically sparkled with love.

Glimmer was standing beside them and he grinned.

“Pretty cool, huh?”

Glenwise, always stoical no matter what, said, “He is smaller than Alexander but he has not yet finished growing.”

Rhod was staring at me with huge eyes and I wondered if he was too young to have known Alexander. I might be the first golden dragon he’d ever seen.

For some reason, that made me proud and I paraded round a bit longer to let them admire me. I wasn’t normally vain. I didn’t normally think about the way I looked at all, in fact, but today I wanted my clan to admire me. Then they’d decide to stay.

When I was finished circling them, I nuzzled Blaze’s temple, sniffing at him and ruffling his hair with my breath.

He giggled and tried to straighten his hair.

“I’ve heard a lot about you,” he said to Glenwise. “I’m Blaze, Alfie’s mate.”

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