I found her 35
1758 Words
Chapter 35
Dragon King
The photo in my hand was worn at the edges, like the past had tried to erase her more than once. Her smile was still there though.
Still mine. Still my mate. I pressed my thumb over her face, jaw tightening as the memories tried to claw their way through the years I’d buried them under duty and rage. They told me she was gone. They told me rogues took her, sold her, used her. Told me a thousand different endings so I wouldn’t go tearing the world apart looking for a truth I might not survive. And still… I kept listening.
Because one thing never changed. There was a daughter.
A child I was never allowed to hold. Never allowed to even know until whispers started crawling back to me like smoke on wind, stories of a girl with too much fire for her size, too much fight for her age. A girl raised by wolves who were never meant to have her, who still gave her something the world tried to deny her anyway.
Survival. I exhaled slowly, the heat under my skin rising in a way that had nothing to do with the room.
Alpha Sam. The name tasted wrong in my mouth.
“If he thinks he can take her,” I muttered, voice low enough that only the shadows in the room heard me, “he doesn’t understand what he’s standing in front of.”
My claws flexed once, just once, before I forced my hand to still.
Because rage wasn’t going to help her. Not yet. Not if she didn’t even know what she was walking into. What she was. What she wasn’t told she was. A dragon bloodline doesn’t stay hidden forever. It answers to pressure. To danger. To Pain. And if she’s already been hunted this long… then someone, somewhere, has been watching her light flicker and decided it was theirs to snuff out.
That thought made something cold settle in my chest. Not anger.
Resolve. I set the photo down carefully, like it might break if I held it too long.
“I don’t need permission anymore,” I said quietly to the empty room. “I just need a path to her.”
Outside, the wind shifted against the tower windows, like the world itself had heard me. And far below, in lands I hadn’t touched in years, I started gathering names. Not armies. Not yet. Just answers.
My guard came into my office. I had him watching her for a while today to see if anything happened. He came into the room huffing and puffing like he was running for his life. His face was red, and it looked like his arm was already healing. He must have gotten himself into some trouble, so I asked him,
“Alright Samuel, what happened today? Why does your arm look like it's healing? What trouble did you run into today? I gave you one simple task, and you come back in here looking like your life depended on it.”
“I’m sorry, sir. I was watching her. She was at the ticket booth today at her job, but I wasn’t the only one watching her. Rogues were there as well. I was going to handle it, but her mate showed up and threatened them to leave her alone. It turns out that Alpha Sam people has people watching her, and her mate is about to go off the deep end. Not to mention, I haven’t seen marks on their necks yet, so they haven’t marked each other.
“And well… he thought I was a rogue. I tried to run, but he grabbed my arm demanding answers. So I told him the truth. I told him the Dragon King wanted me to watch her. He thought I was lying, so he broke my arm and told me if he ever saw me around the movie theater again, he would kill me.”
So her mate is protective of her. Good. I’m glad about that, but it doesn’t mean he has the right to go crazy on my guards. Sighing, I told him,
“Go to the healer and have them set your arm the right way before it heals wrong. I will figure something else out.”
He bowed his head to me, then went to the healer’s chambers. I sat back in my chair.
Her mate is strong, I’ll give him that. I need to meet him. We need to talk and see what he wants with my daughter.
The Dragon King’s jaw tightened as the door closed behind Samuel, the room falling silent except for the crackling fire in the corner of his office. He tapped his claws against the armrest of his chair slowly, thinking over every word Samuel had said.
“So, the boy has a temper,” he muttered to himself.
His dragon shifted beneath his skin, amused.
“He broke our guard’s arm for watching his mate. I would have done worse.”
The Dragon King huffed softly at that.
‘Perhaps. But reckless anger can become dangerous if left unchecked.’
He stood from his chair and walked toward the large window overlooking the kingdom below. His golden eyes narrowed as he stared into the distance.
This Alpha Maddox clearly cared about his daughter. Protective. Territorial. Strong enough to frighten rogues away without even fighting them. Strong enough to break Samuel’s arm like it was nothing.
That alone was impressive. But strength was not enough for his daughter. He needed to know the male’s intentions. Was this simply mate-bond possessiveness? Or did the Alpha truly love her?
There was a difference.
A knock sounded at the door before one of his advisors stepped inside carefully.
“Your Majesty?”
“Send word to Alpha Maddox,” the Dragon King ordered without turning around. “Tell him I wish to meet.”
The advisor hesitated nervously. “Should I send guards with the message, sire?”
The Dragon King smirked faintly.
“If the stories are true, guards would only insult him.”
The advisor swallowed hard and nodded quickly before leaving.
Once alone again, the Dragon King crossed his arms behind his back.
“If he wishes to stand beside my daughter,” he murmured quietly, “then he will stand before me first.”
M with me, it would only had made things worse,
Sammy -
I knew he was just trying to help me, but this is way to much, for years i have protected myself, i have killed a few rogues, stabbed someone in the head for following me, i knew how to protect myself, I didn't need protection, I told him to just go home and i'll see him in the morning, I needed to let sal out so Once when i got home, i didn't even go into the house, i shifted into wolf sal letting her take control,
She ran for hours hunting down a few rabbits then ran some more, she was having so much fun, i had forgotten how fun it was to just let her out to do her thing, once she was done running around and hunting down other animals just for fun, she was ready to head back home, so once we got to the cabin i shifted back to my human got dressed then went inside the house, i was exhausted, walking into the kitchen to get something to drink before bed, i saw a note on the kitchen table,
i took a look at it, rolling my eyes it was from Maddox, how in the world did he get inside, it only said,
“I'm sorry, I'll see you in the morning,” that was it nothing else, I don't even know I want this bond, i liked him but im not sure, i feel like its going to fast, im just confused,
“Just give him a chance, you will see you can trust him,”
“I doubt that Sal, but yeah im giving him a chance, i told him to come over in the morning,”
“We wll see, just talk to him tell him how you feel, he will listen,”
“I doubt it, but we will see, let's get to bed, I'm exhausted, tomorrow is another day. lets see what he has to say once he is over here
Maddox -
I barely slept that night, every time i closed my eyes all i could think about was the look on her face when i pushed too hard, my wolf wouldn’t shut up either,
“You scared her,”
‘I know that,” I growled tossing my arm over my face,
“You’re trying to claim her life before she even lets you into it,”
That one hit harder than I wanted to admit. I knew Sammy could protect herself, hell i had seen it with my own eyes, she was stronger than most wolves i had ever met, but that didn’t stop the fear that crawled under my skin every time she walked away from me alone. The thought of something happening to her made my chest feel tight. By sunrise I had already been awake for hours.
I grabbed coffee and headed to her cabin earlier than I probably should have, but I couldn't help it. I needed to see her, needed to make sure she was still talking to me after yesterday.
When I pulled up outside, I noticed fresh paw prints around the side of the cabin and smirked a little.
“She ran last night,” King said proudly.
"Yeah… probably needed space because of me.”
I got out quietly, walking up to the porch with the coffee carrier in one hand. I raised my fist to knock but froze when I heard movement inside. My wolf instantly settled.
“She’s okay.”
A second later the door opened before I even had the chance to knock. And there she was. Messy hair, oversized shirt, sleepy eyes, and still somehow the prettiest thing I had ever seen.For a second neither of us said anything.Then i held up the coffee awkwardly.
“Peace offering?” I asked carefully.
King was laughing in the back of my head.
“You look terrified.”
‘I am terrified.’
Because somehow this tiny angry woman could kill rogues, stab men in the head, and still be the one thing capable of completely wrecking me.
- Writer
