Someday, dragon king, you will be mine. Someday, I will end you.

We made it back alive, though – as my triad always does. That fight is in the past now.

Haleon stands silent as a leap-wolf waiting to spring and checks on Brigg. Good. The mushroom paste calms the mind, but too much and you’ll never awaken. Brigg will recover in a deep sleep. His aura is peaceful in my mind, barely there but strengthening by the hour. Our mountain home will be safe for him.

Brigg’s pride and joy, his thick gold chain – the one that he forged to mark the day we first protected our tribe from the Scorp attack and earned our first tattoos, is lying near him. It’s warped from the flames, broken into two, but the rare gold is still valuable.

“Brigg will forgive us. We must sell his chain… We must be able to speak with Aubrey,”I telepath to Haleon, not wanting to wake Brigg or Aubrey with the sound of my voice.

Haleon looks at the gold chain with regret. Forged a hundred years ago, when Brigg found a rare deposit of gold after an earthquake near our tribal home, we mined it for days. Women and children came to watch as we laid claim to the vein of gold. Though we were barely more than children, the tribe allowed us to mine it by the right of first find.

Then, when the men of tribe were out hunting, the Scorps came.

They’d never ventured so close to our home before, and we had no way of expecting them. Haleon, Brigg and I killed them as a triad - protecting the women and children of our tribe, and bringing the venom glands of our conquered enemies back to the tribal elders. That act earned us our first ink. We became marked that day – true men of the Scorp-Blood tribe.

Brigg forged that chain to honor the battle; and he’s never been without it since.

Haleon nods. We both know how much the chain means to Brigg, but wehaveto be able to speak to our mate sooner than she can learn our language. There’s only one man who holds a God-Amulet in our tribe, powered by the same Orbs that energize our weapons. Reep is an older man who has long lusted after Brigg’s chain. The amulet, powered by the same God-substance that controls our weapons, allows any man or human woman to speak with someone who doesn’t understand their language. Reep claims the amulet allows him to speak even to animals – although not a man in the tribe believes him.

We need to speak to Aubrey.

Not tomorrow, or next week.Today.

Our God, the great Orb that we sacrifice offerings to, allows us to claim our mates. But the Orb does not keep them here. Aubrey will be offered chances to go back to her old life – portals opening to let her decide her own fate.Wemust convince her to stay before she takes the chance to go.

It’s tempting to simply tie her up – tomakeher stay. But that way will never end in love.

For a singledaywith the amulet, Reep will charge us Brigg’s most treasured possession.

I step carefully to the chain, picking up the warped pieces and feeling the hefty metal. I only hope Aubrey will appreciate Brigg’s sacrifice. We need the Amulet of Speaking badly. The Orb-God may give us access to our mates, but our God is a capricious one. Each woman will getmanychances to go back to their old world; and it is the duty of an Aurelian to claim her so fully she gives up everything in her past life for a new future as a fated mate.

There are a few warrior triads who’ve lost women this way. Some treated their mates too harshly, or – if you believe the older men of the tribe – sometimes not harshly enough.

Those who fail to keep their mates?

I shudder at the thought. It’s a great dishonor. Those who lose their mates often go off into solitude, regrouping and dealing with the loss in isolation from the tribe.

Even with the offering of another great sacrifice, the Orb-God rarely gives second chances. It takes a long time to regain your reputation when you demonstrate that you can’t even hold onto the woman you fought for, killed for, and perhaps nearly died for.

If I can only speak to Aubrey, I know she’ll understand.

Iknowthat in our coupling shefelther purpose, and her destiny to bear our children. To be protected, ravished, and worshipped by us for the rest of her long, long life.

And yet, I must explain it with my words as well as my body. I must be able to tell her what I feel deep in my heart and soul – how, unlike many in my tribe, I’ll never take another woman for as long as I live. How Iachefor her – so deeply that burns my soul.

“Let us leave before we wake her,”telepaths Haleon. I nod. It’s dangerous outside, and it’s better to move in twos and threes. A mountain lion, starved and desperate, may attack a single Aurelian warrior. It is rare for them to try anything against two of them.

I give a last, longing look at Aubrey – cementing her features in my mind so deeply that they’ll never go away. I’ll remember every inch of her skin in this moment, for all eternity. Every strand of her hair, every subtle movement as she breathes in and out...

Haleon and I leave our cavern, pushing the boulder aside. We could easily use the lever system of a log to make it move quicker, but we both relish the visceral feeling ofpushingthat huge, heavy rock aside with all our might.

The instant I leave the cavern, I feel loss. I hate to be away from Aubrey now that I’ve finally found her.

The long walk back to the jungle, where my tribe resides, will take most of the day. In the underground caverns there, older Aurelians, human women, and unmarked boys play and learn. Very few warrior triads stay there – most preferring solitude like us. Aurelians must earn their own way. Yet, these caverns are where our current chief resides with his harem. It’s also where Reep holds the Amulet of Speaking, so it’s where we must voyage.

I take a last look back at our own cave.

All I have to do is get this amulet – just for a single day – and she’ll never leave us.