Page 122 of Anaki

He didn’t even want to call me mama anymore. He said since he feels like he has grown up so much, he wanted to call me Madre now.

Oh, Goddess!

I drew in a shaky breath, trying to steady myself as Bones continued talking about how baffling my symptoms were to him. Anaki was instantly by my side, his presence a force of nature as his scent filled the room. My head instinctively sought refuge on his shoulder, pressing into him with a desperate need for comfort. As if his very essence could ward off the spiraling thoughts of my son growing up too fast because of the world we were a part of now.

Bones pulled away the glasses that sat on top of his nose and gave me a concerned look. “Is it something I said? I’m sorry, I don’t have a lot of information about your condition and what is coming. I’ve asked Bram to give me as many text books as he could about dragon anatomy, there just isn’t a lot—”

Anaki shook his head. “No, it’s not that. She’s worried about Luis.”

Bones stared at the door where Luis had left minutes ago. “Ah.” He pulled up the rolling stool from behind him and sat down next to the exam table. “I’m going to tell you something right now, Elena. Your son is strong. Even though I am weak, with no wolf to help me, I can tell he is meant todo great things. Your Abuela told me so.”

I sniffed and nodded in reply.

“He has an old soul.” He laced his hands together. “Luis will grow up well around people like us. He was born in the right family and will be raised by the right mom and dad. You have done nothing wrong, you’ve done everything right.”

Anaki reached out and put his hand on Bones’ shoulder. Bones flinched.

“Not gonna hit ya,” Anaki chuckled. “I’ll leave that up to everyone else. You’re a good wolf. Thank you.”

Bones studied Anaki intently, caught between a desire to smile and what appeared to be the need to remain cautious. “I do what I can. Now…” Bones stood and cleared his throat. “What I need you both to be aware of, what I have learned about dragons, is that your shift will take time. You are lucky you didn’t force a shift. A wolf forced to shift was dangerous, a forced dragon shifting, I would think, would be fatal. You need time alone. Your dragon, Anaki, should help coax Elena’s.”

Anaki stood up tall and straightened his back.

“Does this mean he will need to speak to her?”

Bones leaned on the counter and crossed his arms. “After seeing what our alpha’s lycan did for our Luna, I believe that to be the case. Locke said it was like two separate parts of him. He could command the pack, while his wolf took charge and helped Emm shift.”

My heart pounded. Emm forced shifting? “Is she okay? Why did she have to force a shift?”

Bones rubbed the back of his neck. “It was required to form the pack. She had to be of equal power as the Alpha, and Locke is a special wolf, well, Lycan. Can walk on two legs, speak through his muzzle. Not just a wolf. Emm had to skip from being a human to Lycan to create the pack and the link. She went through a lot of pain to do that.”

I gasped. “How is she? Can I see her?”

I was worried about Luis, and I hadn’t even seen or heard from her. Locke was keeping her away from me, and I hadn’t had my phone!

“Our Luna is fine. Alpha is taking good care of her. She is very depressed and needs time alone. The mind-link is a mess right now, as you can imagine. How are you both doing with that, by the way?” Bones picked up his tablet again and began typing again.

I leaned into Anaki, and he hopped onto the exam table. “Dragons never had one. I don’t know what’s normal. Sometimes there is static, and sometimes, I’ll hear Elena’s thoughts, or see her past when I don’t want to. I try not to listen or watch past memories.”

Bones hummed. “Yes, dragons didn’t have that sort of communication. You had emotional connections. Since you are able to speak with your dragon, and he with you, you can dig through each other’s memories now. You will both need to set boundaries with each other, along with the link, and when you want to read each other’s thoughts.”

I bit my lip and buried my face into Anaki’s chest.

Bones chuckled. “I’m guessing you both have already done something I don’t need to know about.”

Anaki coughed into his fist. “I can’t answer that.”

“Oh gods, are you reading our thoughts right now?” I slapped my hand over my mouth.

Bones laughed sadly. “No, I do not have a link. I am still not technically part of the pack.”

I sat up straight. “But why? I thought with Locke and Emm doing all that stuff, you would automatically be in the pack?”

Anaki’s fingers ran through my hair. “Doesn’t work that way, love. His wolf is weak. He needs him to help establish a link. His wolf is too far gone. We need to get him his mate.”

Again, I felt my eyes filling with tears. “Let’s go then. Let’s go through the town and find some women he can meet. We can’t just sit here.” I went to stand up, and my medical gown rode up to the top of my thighs. Anaki pulled me back onto the table, and a growl escaped his throat.

“Hold on there, you aren’t going anywhere.” Anaki bit down on my shoulder.

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