Page 109 of Claimed By The Dragon Daddy

I glanced at the door, Sofia’s coo coming from across the hall, so loud she had to be crying, but…it was a happy sound. I frowned. That wasn’t normal.

“How are you feeling?” Evan was looking me over. “Are you in pain?”

“Everything hurts,” I said. “What happened? How am I back here?"

Evan hesitated for a moment. “How much do you remember? We brought you back home a few days ago, but you’ve been unconscious for a week.”

“A week?” I shook my head, the movement making me realize everything felt off. My entire equilibrium was wonky, and I lifted my hand and pressed it to my forehead.

But that movement was off, too, and I ended up hitting myself in the head. Evan looked at me, his mouth tight as he continued to search my face.

My heart thundered as I tried to make sense of the situation. Then my breath caught when something shifted in my chest, like an actual movement. Something fluttering against the walls of my ribcage. My eyes widened in panic, and I shot straight up in bed, my pulse skittering out of control, and I could hear that, too.

“What’s happening to me?” I managed to say, though my throat constricted when his words finally hit home.

Dragon shifter.

I couldn’t breathe. I couldn’t breathe.

“Mariah.” Evan was instantly on his feet beside me, panic on his own face as he tried to soothe me. “It’s okay. You’re okay. Please, just breathe. You need to calm down.”

I did as he said, not really having much of a choice, feeling so out of control that I latched on to his own steady heartbeat—oh, God, I could hear his heartbeat—and tried to match his breaths, inhaling deeply, and exhaling slowly. Yet the terrifying sensation persisted.

“Evan—” I shook uncontrollably. “Something is moving inside of me.”

“That’s your dragon, sweetheart,” he said, his gaze softening slightly as his hand came to my face.

My dragon. I started to hyperventilate again, my eyes darting wildly around the room.

Evan swore. “Mariah, look at me.” His other hand came to my face, forcing me to look at him. “Listen to me, baby. I need you to breathe. Please.”

His sheer concern brought me back from the brink, and I forced everything else from my mind, then stared into his dark eyes and breathed.

After a few moments, my heartbeat slowed, matching the rhythm, further confirmation his words were true. If I could hear his heartbeat, just like he could hear mine, that meant Tomas had succeeded.

I’d been turned into a dragon shifter.

Then it all came crashing down on me, memories flooding my mind, being trapped in a cage, that doctor, the serum, Evan and Sebastian coming to my rescue.

Sebastian. My heart broke all over again as I remembered. I choked on a sob and threw my arms around Evan, burying my face in his chest.

“Easy there,” he said, wincing slightly. “I’m going to have to get used to that. Don’t think you recognize your own strength yet.”

The image of Sebastian dead on the floor was burned into my mind, and I couldn’t hold it together. I didn’t even try.

I cried, letting it all out, my sorrow so overwhelming I nearly forgot the dragon stirring within me, or perhaps I just wasn’t ready to face it yet. I clung to Evan, my tears soaking his shirt.

“I’m so sorry, Evan. Sebastian—” I sobbed.

I felt him shudder beneath me before he pulled back and brushed my tears away. The anguish in his eyes caused my heart to squeeze painfully, and for a moment I thought I might lose it all over again. He had to be devastated.

“Everything is going to be okay.”

But how could it be when Sebastian was gone, and I’d been turned into a dragon? Then it happened again. The stirring in my chest.

I jerked back, but Evan gripped my shoulders. He must have sensed something, or maybe it was written all over my face. “Mariah?”

Somehow, I found the courage to confirm what I already knew while my heart raced. “The serum worked, then.”

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