Iniko: A New Beginning

Chapter 4: Brooke

Brooke

I meet my friends, Enya and Aspen, at the cafeteria. Once a week, the three of us get together to catch up. I don’t think I would have survived on my own without the two of them. They took me under their wing, literally and figuratively, and helped me escape from the laboratory, then to survive when we were on our own.

Both of them are mated and have kids now. Enya is mated to Valko, another hybrid and they have a son. Since both Valko and Enya have Lycan DNA as one of their two top hybrid breeds, it’s not surprising that their son is predominantly Lycan. However, Enya is part fire dragon and Valko is part earth dragon. Their son, Conroy, is already showing signs of being a strong, powerful hybrid.

Aspen is mated to Nesterin, an elf. Since Aspen is part earth dragon and elf, their daughter, Cybele, is already very dominant in using her earth element. I’ve seen her throw a tantrum and watched the earth rumble gently under her feet, and she’s barely a toddler.

Since both of their mates love their children as much as my friends do, our weekly breakfast meeting is just the three of us, giving their mates time with their little ones.

Today when I walk up, they are already there. Since they are only two and three years older than I am, they’re very much like older sisters to me. They helped me a lot when I found out my parents were murdered by the scientists who kidnapped me because they didn’t want anyone looking for me. I had once again felt alone in the world, but my friends never left my side.

Now that we’re all adults, it’s a bit different, but I can tell both women still feel protective of me. While I love my family and I know Zephyr and Ishir would do anything for me, it’s nice to know that I have friends who love me enough to shake or burn the world to help if something ever happened to me.

“Hey, beautiful!” Aspen says.

“Hey yourself! You look like you’re glowing!” I say.

She gives me a look, making me think she’s pregnant again. If Nesterin is like the other elves around here, I’m sure she is. They can’t seem to get enough of their mates. Just look at Queen Kenna and King Yhendorn. She’s about ready to pop with their second child, a boy this time.

“Hey, Brooke,” Enya says, hugging me tightly.

“Hi, Enya. It’s good to see you both,” I say.

We’ve just stepped into the cafeteria when I hear a dragon’s roar. A moment later, I hear Cyrene screaming for our mother that something’s wrong with Iniko.

I race out of the cafeteria and outside to the area where Cal’s dragon babies have taken up residence until they shift.

Before I even get there, I hear the horrible sound of bones snapping and I feel more than hear, Iniko crying out in pain.

I find Cyrene who is sobbing as she watches Iniko. I take her hand and watch helplessly as our brother’s bones snap and reconfigure into his human form.

I want to help him, but I don’t know what to do. I remember my first shift. It was horrible. I wouldn’t wish that on anyone, but I also know that there is nothing I can do to make this easier for him. The only thing that helped me was Doc Everett knocking me out. Since Iniko isn’t a hybrid, this should be a normal shift, except Iniko isn’t normal.

No one knows what will happen with him after he shifts. Will he finally regain his memories from his life before now? Will he want Eliane as his mate again? Will the rift between him and Ancalagon start all over again?

I feel a strong arm come around me and I don’t have to look to know that my adoptive father, Ishir, is here. While I would never have chosen the life I have, having Zephyr and Ishir as my adoptive parents has been amazing. They are wonderful people and shifters, and they’ve never once treated me differently than any of their birth children. They love me as if I’m their own.

When I was younger, Ishir used to find me when I’d go hide and cry alone. He would walk up to me in his tiger form, wrap himself around me, and begin purring until I calmed down and fell asleep. Zephyr is much the same. She’s one of the most kind and gentle women I’ve ever met. I know she suffered, we all know what happened to her when Cal was in the laboratory, and then when she realized that Iniko was alive. When you live like we do, you don’t have any secrets.

Well, unless you’re Iniko. He seems to be the only one who doesn’t know what his life was like before he was reborn.

I lean against my father as I watch my brother suffer through his first shift. My mother and Iniko’s father, Avani, have shifted to help him through this first shift. As I watch, I feel the ground shake, and I realize Cal has returned from hunting to be here for Iniko too.

While Cal acts like he’s not worried about what will happen when Iniko shifts, I know he is. Those of us who were here five years ago know the story of what happened between Cal, Eliane, and Iniko. It was a big mess, and even though I was young and struggling with what those scientists did to me, I understood the impact of a dragon who wasn’t mated to someone submitting to them when they were mated to someone else. Those problems were only reinforced when the elves began hunting dragons and forcing them to submit outside the mate bond.

While I watch him, I feel an almost desperate need to help Iniko through his shift. It’s ridiculous when he has his parents, his brother, and his former rider here, crooning to help him. But … he’s my brother. It makes sense that I would want to help him.

Plus, Iniko is the sweetest, kindest dragon alive. He has been ever since he hatched the second time. I didn’t know him in his first life, but as his and Cyrene’s adopted sister, I’ve spent a lot of time with Iniko.

It feels like an eternity before he’s finally in his human form. The other dragons, Cal and Eliane’s brood of dragons, all begin humming. The other dragons around us begin humming as well, as if welcoming him to his new form.

If dad wasn’t here holding me back, I’d probably rush into his arms and hug him.

But I don’t. I’m not even sure that would be acceptable since he’s newly shifted.

When he sits up, panting with the effort of his shift, I gasp, and I’m not the only one.

Iniko looks nothing like the small man he was in his first life. Now, he looks large and muscular, someone who could rival Ancalagon in size and strength.

I watch as Iniko closes his eyes and takes a deep breath of air, then he looks right at me.

“Mate!”

I turn and look behind me, certain he’s looking at someone else. Everyone behind me is staring at me.

Holy s**t! Iniko just called me his mate.