Dragon Alpha's Special Mate

12. Home

Sophia

I can feel the thinning of the air around me, almost caressing my skin as the light around me brightens. I quickly let Auriel take over when I saw Ax shift into Avian. Wings explode from me, and thankfully, the falling turns to fly as we go through the silky white space. I can see Avian just before flipping over and leading the way.

“Don’t go so fast, love.”

Auriel laughs gently at Avian as she slows, so soon, we’re gliding side by side. It feels easier to fly through whatever this is with Avian next to us. However, as we continue to go deeper into what was previously the dark cliffside, I can feel the air thicken slightly as I get a sense that we’re not alone anymore.

Are we doing it? Are we going to make it to the other side?

The light gets brighter, but as I turn to look over at Avian, I realize M isn’t with him anymore. He must have sacrificed himself for us. He knew we’d take too long to get through, and we’d miss our chance.

Soon, we’re flying straight up, and I can see up at Ax and me together in bed, holding hands.

My parents are there, with a ton of Ax’s family. It felt like months down there, but how long has it been for them? By the look on our family's faces, we’ve been gone for far too long.

They’re sad, but we’re coming! We’re almost there! We’re so close I can almost touch it when I feel a tugging behind us. I look back, but there’s nothing there. It feels like an air current that we have to fight against.

“Push harder!”

Avian’s words ring through my mind as we push harder and harder. But it’s like swimming in quicksand. The more we’re fighting, the more it pulls us down. I try to release any type of magic from within me, like we’ve been practicing down there. Despite the fiery coldness that erupts from within, it does nothing. It fizzles away before it can do anything. I see the swirl of elements leave Avian’s mouth, but it, too, does nothing.

“Stop fighting!”

Auriel quickly says, and I can feel the desperation as Avian watches us relax. He’s a fighter. As our body relaxes, we float closer to ourselves in bed. Avian sees this, and soon, I’m inside my body. I can move my fingers, and when I open my eyes, I look at Ax, relaxing at the sight of him sitting up and awake.

There’s no Zinnalite on our skin anymore; it’s clear and smooth. His arms are around me in a second, and nothing else matters at that moment. We’re home. We made it.

We can hear our families gasp, and as we pull away, Marina is taking a step closer to us as the room erupts in conversations. Malakai is barking orders, but Marina’s eyes are glossy as she gets closer. It’s as if she doesn’t believe we’re awake.

Believe me, I’m as surprised as you are.

I stay holding onto Ax. I don’t think I’ll ever let go again. Just as our hands settle on the bed, the room goes silent, and I feel another presence here. I look over to see M standing there but with his hood down. I’m relieved he made it out okay. We couldn’t have done this without him. I couldn’t be the reason he died.

But I couldn’t help but shrink slightly as he faced us. Though, the cloak that previously hid his face was removed, and I couldn’t help but feel somewhat guilty when I gasped.

His face is very wrinkled, but his eyes. They look ageless and milky white. It’s creepy, really. No wonder he uses a hood.

He smiles as his eyes leave mine, staring off to the side. I turn, looking to see Elle, who I now realize has turned ghost-white under M’s gaze. She stutters, nothing coming out as she takes a step back. I’m forced to look at M as he talks, but it’s clear he’s only talking to Elle.

“There will be balance once again.”

Daemon lunges at M, causing a small shriek to release from my lips. But before he reaches him, M disappears. Daemon practically falls to the ground but catches himself as he looks over at Elle, who’s starting to stutter.

“He’s… He’s back.”

“He helped us out.”

Everyone looks at me except for Elle and Marina, who are making eye contact. I really kind of wish I just kept my mouth shut when their eyes turned on me.

Elle’s eyes seem to roll back as she stumbles away, but she doesn’t have a chance to lose her balance and fall since Daemon is there in an instant, helping to steady her.

“He’s a hero.” My dad says, and I can see the anger in Daemon’s eyes. Who’s M to them?

“How did you do it? Did you see the golden Adonis?”

Ax turns to look at Marina, shaking his head as he answers.

“There was nothing; it was all a black void. M showed us to a cliff that we had to shift through. Looks like he came through with us.”

We all turn toward Elle, who’s whispering, “he’s back,” on repeat, like a broken record.

“Mom? What are you saying?”

Marina goes to sit next to Elle, and as soon as she does, she grips her hands tight. Marina seems to be taken aback a bit as she steps closer to her mom, leaning in to try and understand.

Though Elle’s words come out as a whisper, I can hear her perfectly clearly, as if she’s talking directly to me.

“He got out. He came back. You need to prepare for a war. He’s going to try to take you down. He’ll do it, too. It won’t be the hunters. It’ll be something more. I knew this day would come.”

“What does that mean?”

Ax is getting out of bed to walk toward them, to try and hear them better. But Elle stumbles back and away from him like he had the plague or something. Her lips tremble as she speaks, and I’ve never seen her look so frightened before.

She always seemed so poised and polished. This is nothing like I’m used to.

“He helped you… that means he’s going to help them… There’s always a balance.”

“Who’s going to help with what?”

“HE IS!”

Elle screams, but it’s not her voice. It’s almost strangled and deeper. I’ve heard rumors that sometimes her dragon's voice comes through her. Something about issues with her dragon being separated from her when she was younger.

The room’s silent as Daemon starts to take her away. He’s practically dragging her feet as he takes her away. She needs to rest or something.

Now that she’s gone, Marina turns back to us, sighing and shaking her head. My parents come to me and help me stand up, and I wrap my arms around them when I get my feet under me.

I thought I’d never see them again. Despite how mad they were at me months ago, they seem to be happy I’m here.

“I’m sorry we were gone so long.”

I turn toward Ax as he reaches his hand out to my dad. He takes it, giving him a firm handshake.

“How long were we out for?”

“Quite a few hours. But, if you’re up for it, we can still make your birthday dinner tonight.”

Ax and I both share a look, then keep our mouths shut. It literally felt like months, but it wasn’t. It’s still my birthday. Mom keeps her arm secured around me like she feared she’d never be able to hold her baby girl again.

Dad continues to look at Marina like he doesn’t trust her or something. I hope he doesn’t blame her for this. Even if she and Malakai put Ax at risk to save Malakai, causing our dragons to be so different, I understand it now.

Now that I have Ax as my mate, I know I’d do anything to save him, too.

“Just wait until you’re old enough to really explore how good the mate bond can feel.”

“What does that mean?”

Auriel laughs in my mind but chooses not to answer me. I shake it off as I look back at Ax, who’s hugging Malakai.

“Thank you for getting my son out of there. I owe you one.”

I hide the shock in my face as the freaking Alpha tells me she owes me one. She revolutionized the entire world, and she owes me one?

“He’s my mate. I’d do it again without hesitation.”

She smirks at me and nods like she approves of what I have to say. Either that, or she doesn’t believe that we’re mates. Either way, I’m just glad to be out of that void and back in the real world.