going to find answers 16
772 Words
Chapter 16
Joy POV
I couldn’t shake the feeling. No matter how hard I tried to push it away, it clung to me like a shadow I couldn’t outrun. I had felt it yesterday when I first saw them… that pull. That unnatural, undeniable pull. It wasn’t normal. It couldn’t be. I paced back and forth in my room, my arms crossed tightly over my chest as my dragon stirred restlessly beneath my skin. “”You felt it too,”” she whispered.
“I know I did,” I muttered under my breath, running a hand through my hair. I had been around mate bonds my whole life. I knew what they felt like, the intensity, the connection, the way it wrapped around your soul and refused to let go. But that? That was something else entirely.
“They’re babies,” I said aloud, trying to ground myself in logic.
“That’s not how this works.” But even as I said it, doubt crept in.
Because of what I felt… what I saw… didn’t lie. When their eyes met, something had shifted. It was brief, so brief anyone else might have missed it, but I didn’t. The air had changed, thickened, like the world itself paused for a second. And then there was the energy.
I stopped pacing, my breath catching slightly as the memory replayed in my mind. It had been subtle, but it was there, something ancient, something powerful… something that didn’t belong to newborns. A knock at my door pulled me from my thoughts.
“Joy?”
Randy.
“Come in,” I called, though my voice came out more distracted than I intended. The door opened, and he stepped inside, his eyes immediately locking onto mine. He could always read me too easily.
“You’re still thinking about it,” he said, closing the door behind him.
“That obvious?” I huffed, though there was no humor in it.
“Yes,” he said simply, walking closer. “You haven’t stopped since yesterday.”
I turned away from him, shaking my head. “Something’s wrong, Randy.”
He didn’t answer right away, and that alone made my chest tighten.
“You felt it too,” I said, turning back to face him.,
He hesitated. That was all the answer I needed.
“It wasn’t just me,” I whispered.
Randy exhaled slowly, rubbing the back of his neck. “I felt… something,” he admitted. “But I don’t know what it means.”
“It means this isn’t normal,” I snapped, more sharply than I intended. I took a breath, forcing myself to calm down. “That wasn’t just some random energy. That was… a connection.”
“A mate bond?” he asked carefully.
I shook my head immediately. “No. It can’t be. They’re too young. That’s not how mate bonds work, and you know it.”
“Then what is it?” he pressed.
I opened my mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Because I didn’t know. And that scared me more than anything.
“I think…” I hesitated, the thought forming slowly, uneasily. “I think it’s something older than that.”
Randy frowned. “Older?”
“Like… before mate bonds,” I said quietly. “Like something tied to bloodlines… or power.” The room went still.
“That’s not possible,” he said, but there was uncertainty in his voice now.
“Isn’t it?” I shot back. “We don’t know everything, Randy. There are things the elders don’t talk about. Things that were buried for a reason.”
“And you think this is one of them?” he asked.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “But I’m going to find out.”
Before he could stop me, I turned and grabbed my jacket. “Joy,,” he started.
“I’m going to the archives,” I cut him off. “If there’s anything, anything at all, about this, it’ll be there.”
“And if Drago finds out you’re digging into something like this without telling him?” Randy warned. I paused at the door, my hand tightening on the handle.
“He already thinks I’m overreacting,” I said quietly. “I’m not going to him with guesses.”
I glanced back at Randy, my expression hardening..“I’m going to him with answers.” And with that, I walked out. Because one thing was becoming very clear… Whatever was happening between those babies..It wasn’t normal. And deep down, I had a feeling…
It wasn’t safe either.
- Writer
