Page 97 of The Breeding Cave
Long ago, when I had been cursed to never have a mate again, there was one exception to the curse. I would only be granted a mate who would be shared among the strongest creatures in the forest. Those creatures were named, and a bird of fire was one of them.
All this time, I had thought that it was a fire dragon. That it was Alvin.
Though it was Gideon. It had to be Gideon.
I sank my fingers against Yeosin’s thigh and squeezed. No way was I going to share her, not when she had my baby inside her. I had waited for far too long. I couldn’t have anyone take her away from me.
No fucking way.
The dashboard began blinking with the Low Gas message, and I cursed to myself. I had maybe twenty more miles of gas left. The last thing I wanted was to be stranded in the middle of the forest with a pregnant mate.
So, I pulled off the road and began forging my own path, heading straight toward my old packhouse. If this really was Gideon following after us, he had to know where we were going. And if it wasn’t, then I had the upper hand.
I could kill him if I needed to, and I could prove to Yeosin that he was not to be trusted.
Because years ago, I had buried Gideon with my very two hands underneath our childhood swing set. Either this was a fake Gideon, or he had risen from the dead, or my brother had died and been reborn into the bird of fire who was fated to have my mate.
CHAPTER
FIFTY-THREE
YEOSIN
I chewed on the inside of my cheek as Luciano parked his fancy, sleek car in front of a half-burned-down house.
“This is my old packhouse,” he said, jaw twitching. He peered in the rearview mirror. “The dragons burned it during the war. I don’t come here much anymore, but it is the only place that I can bring you right now, especially with this fucker following us.”
The structure, though ravaged by flames, still had a certain type of … familiarity to it. In its former glory, it must’ve been a homely place, where young beasts ran around with their friends; elders sat around a fire, talking about life; and leaders like Luciano made war plans.
Once Luciano stepped out of the car, he grabbed my hand, his warmth around mine.
“Yeosin,” he murmured, his voice a soft growl that sent shivers down my spine, “this used to be our home. One day, I will rebuild it for you and our family. I don’t care how long it takes. I promise you that our life won’t always be like this.”
I squeezed his hand and stepped into the house. What had it looked like before the dragons ruined it? The walls were now crumbled, blackened by fire. The roof had caved in several places, leaving only ash.
Still, somehow, I knew that it had once been beautiful.
“I can’t believe they did this,” I whispered, clenching my fists.
I knew that they had. I knew they were capable. And part of me knew they would happily cause this destruction.
But how could anyone want destruction and death like this? What had caused the dragons to hate the beasts this much? Why had the war begun again? And why weren’t the dragons satisfied that they had killed almost every one of them?
While I might’ve been born human, I was becoming more beast every day, and these ruins were a part of our history. The dragons had stolen something precious from us, and I couldn’t stand the thought of them going unpunished.
“I won’t let them get away with this,” I growled, canines lengthening.
We walked through the ruins, Luciano pointing out where the dining hall used to be, the grand staircase that had once led to the upper floors, and the courtyard where pack members would gather for celebrations.
I tried to picture it all, imagining the laughter and the sense of community that had once thrived here. But it was hard, especially when Luciano was looking over his shoulder, waiting for Gideon to walk in because he was definitely here with us now.
“It must’ve been beautiful,” I said.
“It will be again,” Luciano said, tugging me behind him in the kitchen that led out into the backyard. He turned toward the door we had entered, his body tensing. “If you’re going to follow us, you might as well show yourself, Gideon.”
Gideon emerged from the other room, his gaze cast on the ground. Usually, he wasn’t so submissive, so saddened. I had only seen the nice but stern part of Gideon a handful of times at the coffee shop.
But he looked … almost sad here.
