Page 83 of Anaki

But we all had that. We must show our souls differently on the outside.

“Why are you here?” My dragon puffed up the fins on our back. “Anaki is not present, and you are strangers to me in my territory. My female sleeps. That is the only reason I have spared you.

Sizzle sidled over to the edge of the dimly lit cave, where an old antique desk stood. He carefully picked up a delicate quill, its feather slightly frayed at the edges, and examined it for a moment, the ink glistening on its tip. With a gentle motion, he returned the quill to the glass container filled with rich, deep black ink.

“Oh, so scary.” Sizzle raised his hands in surrender. “Gonna get eaten by the big bad water dragon. Not.” He pulled another cigarette from his cut pocket.

My dragon sneered and pulled one leg from being wrapped around Elena, as if he prepared to strike.

“Truth is, you don’t want to wake up Sleeping Beauty, right there.” Sizzle pointed the cigarette toward Elena, who was in too deep of a sleep for any conversation. “You know we aren’t a threat because you can feel Anaki’s calmness while we are here. He knows we mean no harm. That’s why you haven’t attacked. I had my dragon a long time before I was rejected. So don’t give me this, ‘I’m gonna eat you’ shit. It would hurt Anaki and, in turn, hurt yourself.”

Wow, I guess Sizzle did have a plan walking in here.

Sizzle took out his lighter and flicked the metal piece to light the spark. Once it lit, he took in a deep, long puff. “Fuck, that's good. Alright, Bones. After you, man.” He waved his hand in front of Bones, who was still staring at us in awe.

“Yeah, uh.” Bones cleared his throat. “Right. We have been trying to get ahold of you since yesterday afternoon. The fae saw you running through the forest, knocking over their trees. They spent most of the night putting them back up.”

My dragon opened and closed his mouth in a mocking tone. “My mate ran, and I will fetch her when I please. Are the fae that upset about doing their job?” Our nose buried back into Elena’s hair. He used it as a calming scent to keep his heart from racing and lashing out again.

Sizzle gave a look of disgust and sneered.

“That isn’t all,” Bones said. “Abuela, who is a brilliant woman by the way, also would like Elena to get checked out since… uh, well.” Bones rubbed the back of his neck. “Since you chased her naked… through the woods all day yesterday. That can trigger her disease from being so stressed.”

Our fins unfurled fast along the length of our arms and tail. They may have looked delicate, but they were sharp as blades. As they expanded, our neck elongated, stretching upward with a fluid elegance, making us appeartaller and more majestic.

“Are you saying I do not take care of my female?” Our scaled lips pulled back to show off our menacing teeth.

“You’ve done it now.” Sizzle shook his head. “Now you have a pissed off a lycan and a dragon. You can’t win at all, these past two weeks.” Sizzle shrugged his shoulders and leaned against the cave wall.

“I am not doing anything!” Bones took the cross-over bag that hung over his body. It fell to the ground with a thump. “I am doing my damn job. I am looking out for a bunch of idiots who can’t take care of themselves! Yeah, I do things behind your backs, but it is because you all want to damn die! And you!” Bones pointed to Sizzle and marched toward him. He pulled the cigarette out of his mouth and threw it to the ground. “You are going to ruin your lungs. You will die before you even get your mate.”

Sizzle seethed. “I don’t want one.”

Bones rolled his eyes.I don’t want one.’ He mocked and bobbed his head back and forth. “Fuck off. We all want one. I sped up Locke’s healing to help the club. The only side effects he had to deal with were his memories hitting him like a freight train. I do things for others to help because if I don’t… people die!”

Bones' face flushed a deep crimson, matching the vivid hue of the extra blankets neatly folded at the foot of the bed. Each breath he took was labored and heavy, his chest rising and falling with the effort. The veins in his neck stood out prominently, thick and pulsing.

Bones leaned forward to Sizzle and whispered, “If I don’t take care of the club, who will? Huh? Locke’s a damn psycho. No one knows what he’s gonna do next, what warehouse he’s gonna lead his men into.” Bones stepped away and circled around Sizzle. “Who gets blamed for people getting hurt when things fail? I do. You may not give a shit about our life, but I do. I care about everyone in this club. Does it get noticed?” Bonesshook his head. “Nah, man. It doesn’t. You guys only care when you don’t heal according to plan. May it be too much steroids for Locke to get him better or telling someone you are too far gone for this mission,but go anyway!” He glared our way. “Damned if I do, damned if I don’t.”

Bones stepped away from Sizzle, a look of indifference on his face.

Bones shook his head and ran his hand down his face to pull at his beard. His face returned to his normal color after a long moment of silence.

“Alright, Anaki’s dragon,” Bones scoffed and calmed himself. “I can ask you questions about Elena. I won’t touch her. It would make me feel better if I did. If you don’t want to let me, and be an ass, that’s fine, too. I’ll go on with my day. I ain’t fighting a fucking water lizard.” Bones crossed his arms and leaned on one foot, waiting for a reply.

I tried to force myself through, to talk to Bones. I’d always liked him, never had a problem. Some of the stuff he did I found questionable, but he had the right intentions. With the speech he’d given, I think I liked him ten times more.

My dragon laid our fins down close to our body and stared down at our mate.

“What questions do you have, wolf? I will also answer questions about my species, as well, if you care to know for the future.”

Well, color my shit pink.

Bones’ face softened, and his lips parted. “You’d do that? Why?”

“Because Anaki holds great regard for you. Dare I say, part of the heart that beats for this future pack.”

Out of our peripheral, Sizzle stared at us until he took backward steps out of the tent and to the entrance outside where he waited. We could still hear his heartbeat as he wasn’t far.

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