Page 90 of His Greatest Treasure

Our mate’s voice was so sweet and pure. It made us want to keep him, protect him. All we wanted was for him to be safe. Why did this man keep trying to hurt him?

Thoughts slowly filtered into our brain.

Distantly, we heard a familiar voice. “Keep talking to him, Blaze Fire. He’s new to shifting and seeing you hurt has brought him close toruith. Talk to him, reassure him you are alive and well.”

Our little mate’s voice became a constant caress against us.

“Alfie, don’t get hurt, please. I’m fine, you know. I’m safe. You can come back to me, I want you to. You can shift back and I’ll protect you.”

We glanced over to him. Our bond shone bright between us and I could see the love that made it sparkle, and the very faint thread of fear.

We would protect him. And our clan standing beside him. Their bonds were wrapped around our mate as our clan tried to keep him safe. One woman was standing to his left, the rest of the clan to his right, and he was encircled by their bonds, safe in the silvery web.

We looked harder. Just for a second.

The bonds we had with each of them were bright and strong and protective. But there were other bonds, and they pulsed with icy fear. Those bonds fanned out from the man before the border, and we could see now that he was drawing their power through those bonds.

Another spell struck us in the chest, and we whined with the pain. The man was getting stronger, drawing power from those around him. Drawing power fromourclan.

We roared. Those people were ours to protect and we would.

Flame burst out of our mouth and shot in a thin stream across to the man. He flung a shield spell in front of him, holding our fire at bay. It hissed and crackled as it struck the ice, but our flame didn’t get as far as the man.

Another dagger of ice embedded into our shoulder. Each one stung and we wanted to dodge them but we were afraid that, if they shot past us, they might hit one of our clan. We’d rather they hit us. We could take them. We would stop the man from throwing them.

“I love you, my darling. Come back to me and stop getting hurt, please. I don’t like you getting hurt.”

One of our clan spoke, a middle-aged man.

“He must fight, Blaze Fire. If he is to take his place, he must fight.”

The words meant more to us than they had. I could tell who was speaking. There was my mate, Blaze, and the middle-aged man was Uncle George.

I processed that, and took stock of my body. I was big. I was a dragon. The spells embedded in my flesh were cold and sharp but they were not fatal.I could keep fighting. I’d keep fighting until Lord Somerville stopped harming me, stopped threatening what was mine.

With my thoughts suddenly clearer, I looked around me again. My anger burned inside me but it was deeper inside, somewhere quieter. Lord Somerville was drawing power from my clan, using it against me.

I reached out along my bonds, touching every member of my clan. My bonds were strong and unbreakable. They were stronger than his.

That realisation was all I needed.

It was easy to wrap, my bonds around those cold, greedy bonds and strangle them. I stopped the power being drained from my clan, one at a time. And, with every source of power I cut off, the man grew weaker.

He flung another spell. This one barely penetrated my scales.

I saw the realisation on his face. He knew he had no reservoir of power to draw on, and he knew I was responsible.

There was nothing else he could do. He shifted.

His dragon burst out, filling my vision with its large, silver body. It roared as it emerged, and it promised me a fight.

I kept my bonds secure around his, and all he had to fight with was his teeth and his claws. The dragon launched itself at me, and I was too slow to move. It landed with its teeth sunk deep into my throat and its front claws scratching at my sides.

The instinct I’d tamped down upon in order to think clearly came rushing back to the surface. Thought faded once again and we fought. My dragon and I worked as one, with only our combined instinct.

We slashed with our claws and bit and snapped, we were scratched in return and we slid on the damp grass as it became slick with blood. Below our feet, the grass tore and the earth churned.

Time lost all meaning and all we knew was the pounding of our heart, the dragon attacking us and the fragile little people behind us. We wanted to keep them safe.

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