His Breath of Fire

Chapter Three

    “Mom, are you here?”

    “I’m in the kitchen, honey!” her voice calls, and I follow the sound as I approach the kitchen.  She was wandering around, silver hair pulled into a loose bun at the base of her neck, loose strands hanging to frame her delicate face. “How was your first day?”

    “It was fine,” I commented, wondering how I’m going to bring up everything I was pondering today. “Why did you choose this town, Mom?”

    My mother tensed, body frozen as she looked at me from where she stood.  One thought that came to my mind was that my mother knew that my mate was here and she moved us here for the chance for us to meet. I don’t know if that’s entirely true and I didn’t want to come into this conversation with doubt in my mind but I also needed to know the truth.

    Another power I’ve gained from being part dragon is the ability to see people’s auras. I can control how and when I see it and it helps when dealing with confrontation. Right now, my mother’s aura has dulled to a gray color, meaning guilt. So she either knew my mate was here or there was another, more selfish reason she chose this place for our next home.

    “Okay, I know you’re reading my aura,” she comments, motioning towards the dining room table. “Sit down, I’ll tell you everything.” I walk over to the table and sit down, watching my mother expectantly. 

    “There is a specific reason I chose this town to move to, but not for the reason you may think,” she starts, and I quirk an eyebrow as I wait for her to continue. Taking a deep breath she says, “I had a vision four weeks ago, where I saw us here, living peacefully. However, there was another person with us.”

    I blink in surprise, and lean forward in my chair. “A mate?”

    “Yes,” she smiles, tears forming in her eyes. “Tiamat and the Moon Goddess have gifted me with a second-chance mate.”

    My mouth drops, and I take a second to process her words. Tiamat is the mother of all dragons and is rumored to still be alive today, hidden from those who are trying to exterminate the dragon species. It is said that Tiamat assigns dragons their mates, seeing that she is part of their creation, and knows who is best fit for each other. The Moon Goddess does the same for wolves, choosing a mate for their wolf that is perfect for them in every way. The thought crossed my mind that my mate would need to pass the standards of both goddesses as well—but wait. “Your mate is another wolf?”

    “Yes,” she answers, chewing on her lip as she disappears into her mind.

    “Are you afraid he’ll react the same way as my father?”

    “Terrified,” she nervously laughs, wringing her hands together. “But you know that in order to get a second-chance mate that they must be deemed worthy.”

    “So he’s lost a mate?”

    My mother nods, tilting her head as she thinks back to her vision. “He lost her four years ago and has been keeping a strong face for his son, the future Beta of the pack.”

    I grimace when that means I’ll be getting a step-brother. “We’ll see if he’s worthy of knowing our secret. We don’t have to tell him until you’re certain he will react the way a mate should. We can tell him together.  You’re not in this alone anymore.”

    “Thank you, honey,” she smiles at me. “I could tell something else is bothering you. Care to tell me?”

    “I…” I trailed off, not sure how to form the right words. It would make sense that my mother and I would find our mates—well possible mate for me—in the same pack. It’s one of the largest and strongest ones in the United States, which would make sense for us to hide out near them. My father should be too frightened to come close to them without strong evidence my mother and I are here. I still don’t know for sure if my father knows I exist, but I suspect he does. That’s got to be why my father is still chasing us after all these years. The first known dragon-wolf hybrid? Talk about power. Plus, I’m the ultimate weapon. I get the best of both worlds and so far not really any of the cons but I’ll figure out those as I actually find my mate.

    “I think I know who my mate is,” I finish, looking down at my hands.

    “You think?” My mother probes, confusion evident in her voice.

    “Well, I haven’t officially met him yet. He’s the future Alpha of this pack, and has been gone on a training trip in order to gain more knowledge on how to lead a pack of this size,” I inform her.

    “How would you know he’s your mate without touching him or smelling his scent? Did you have a vision?”

    “No,” I answer, biting my lip as I contemplate how to tell her. Saying it out loud makes me feel like I’m crazy, but being the first of my kind, there's no guarantee on how my mate bond will come to. “Someone showed me a picture of him and I just immediately felt drawn to him. Blaidd started howling and jumping around and even Blaise became intrigued, paying more attention at the mention of him.”

    “He hasn’t been to school yet?”

    “No, from what I hear he returns in a day or so,” I answer.

    “We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. He may not be your mate, but you won’t know until you meet face to face. He could just be the first guy that’s actually caught your attention,” my mother supplies, though I can tell she doesn’t even believe her words. 

    Smiling at my mother, I continue to talk to her for a little before excusing myself to go upstairs and do the little homework that was assigned to us on our first day. 

    As I worked I let my mind wander. How will my mother meet her new mate? Will she let it happen naturally or try to find him and meet him sooner? What will that mean for the both of us? Will we move into the pack house? If that’s the case, then I will definitely find out if Easton is my mate. But do I want him to be my mate? Do I even want a mate? I know I said I’d reject my mate for my mother, but if she’s taking another mate, would it really be so wrong for me to have my own?

    From what I’ve gathered, being so fully consumed with another, to desire, crave, fulfill another’s needs is very tempting. But how different will it be for me since I’m technically two species? What normalities will I have from both species, and what could go wrong since I’m a hybrid? It’s all very confusing, but the only way for me to know is to find my mate and give the bond a chance.

    Sounds simple right?

    After a while I got ready for bed, humming a song stuck in my head, before falling into a restless sleep filled with hazel eyes.