The Fire Beneath the Dust
630 Words
Lina POV
The night air clung to my skin—dry, warm, and buzzing with the hum of distant cicadas. Somewhere far beyond the trees, I could hear laughter drifting from the clan house and the occasional crack of wings splitting the wind overhead.
But out here, beneath the Texas stars, it was quiet.
Still.
I stood at the edge of the hill, my bare feet pressed into the dry, cracked earth. The smell of dust and sunbaked cedar curled into my lungs, and for a moment, it felt like something ancient was reaching for me.
Something beneath the soil.
Something that recognized me.
I closed my eyes and tilted my head toward the moon. The wind shifted, tugging at the hem of my blouse, lifting strands of hair from my face.
It called to something inside me.
But I didn’t know if that something was a dragon.
I’d always told myself the shift would come. That I was just late. That the bond had sparked, so surely the change would follow.
But lately… doubt had begun to curl in the corners of my mind like smoke under a locked door.
What if I wasn’t a dragon?
What if I never had been?
I hadn’t dared say the words out loud. Not to Dylan. Not to anyone. Not when the pressure was already suffocating. The elders had stopped looking me in the eye during council meetings. My mate barely tolerated me. And now, with Laura back, glowing like the crown jewel of our bloodline, I felt more invisible than ever.
I rubbed my thumb over the mark on my shoulder.
It didn’t burn. Not even a flicker.
Not dragon. Not Luna. Not enough.
The thought hit like a punch.
“Beautiful night, isn’t it?”
My spine went stiff.
Laura’s voice coiled around me like velvet laced with venom.
I didn’t turn. “Didn’t know you liked the outdoors.”
“I don’t.” She walked up beside me, her heels crunching softly on the gravel path. “But I do enjoy the view.”
I glanced at her from the corner of my eye. Her long auburn hair glowed in the moonlight, and her amber eyes sparkled like firelight. She looked completely at ease. Powerful.
Predatory.
She inhaled slowly, like she was drinking in the moment. “Smells like smoke. Like change.”
“Everything smells like smoke out here,” I muttered.
She smiled, all teeth and charm. “Touchy, touchy. You always were the sensitive one.”
I turned to face her fully, crossing my arms. “What do you want, Laura?”
She feigned innocence. “What makes you think I want anything?”
I just stared.
Laura leaned in slightly, her voice dropping just above a whisper. “Fine. I’ll admit it’s… convenient, my arrival. The timing. The tension.”
Her eyes sparkled.
“And Dylan,” she added, dragging his name like silk. “He looks good. Stronger than I remember. But lonely, don’t you think?”
My stomach twisted.
“You’re not subtle,” I said through clenched teeth.
“No,” she agreed, “but I’m honest. I’ve always believed in going after what I want. And I always get what I want.”
She turned away then, tossing her hair over her shoulder.
“See you inside, sister,” she said sweetly. “Enjoy the stars while you still can.”
And then she was gone, leaving the scent of expensive perfume and slow-burning ambition in her wake.
I stood there for a long time after, the dry air rising around me, brushing my skin like a whisper of things yet to come.
And somewhere deep inside me, something stirred.
Not a dragon.
Not yet.
But something older.
Hotter.
And angry.
- Writer
