I sighed and left him to it, heading back in the shed.
“He’s right,” Ami said, slowly stirring one of the elixirs she’d devised. It was to slow blood loss and had some very interesting components. “We have this handled. You need to reunite with m—” Her voice hitched and she turned to the side to cough into her elbow. She patted her throat. “Sorry, burr in my throat. You need to reunite with the curse holder and free these people.”
I agree, my dragon thought. Claim him. This bullshit with the hot and cold is well beyond old. Claim him, mark him, and imprint. Get that big alpha dick deep inside you.
I rolled my eyes. It had been so nice when she turned her attention, temporarily, to demons and whips. Here we went again with alpha dicks. Next she’d be asking me to get all that jizz so we could get with his child.
You know me so well, she thought.
“He’s busy,” I said, checking the smell on another of Claudile’s elixirs. I tilted my head, catching a fragrance I wasn’t quite expecting. “Is that—”
“He’s probably stalling,” Ami said. “He—men like him, I mean, tend to stall when they know a serious obligation is on the line, and they don’t think they have all it takes. They convince themselves they aren’t good enough. That they aren’t enough, period.”
I didn’t know about men like him in general—was there more than one guy like him? I wasn’t sure the world could handle it—but that did sound like him. He’d worry his kingdom was in ashes. That he still couldn’t protect me. All sorts of crap.
Butterflies swarmed my belly. He was overthinking things, obviously. I’d given myself to the fucking demon king, for the goddess’s sake—nothing else was going to faze me.
I took a moment to look around. Things were in hand for the healers, for the most part. The shifters who were still alive would claw their way back to health, my father included. He had access to his animal now, so he was already slowly improving. My remedy would only speed up his recovery.
I took it off the fire to cool.
Besides, I wasn’t on my own anymore. For the first time I had help outside of my family. I said as much.
“It’ll be good for you to have a community,” Ami said. “To rely on others.”
“Maybe.” I pulled off the apron I’d worn out of habit, revealing a crappy pair of clothes I’d retrieved from the bundle that had been dropped just outside of our entry point. Someone had retrieved it, venturing close enough to hear the faeries and demons through the barrier, still waiting. That was probably a good thing, since if the demons had gotten through, they probably would’ve been killed by accident.
“Or maybe I’ll get bored,” I murmured.
Claudile huffed out a laugh. “Likely.”
I picked up my sword with one hand and went to grab the elixir for my father with the other. Hannon would do what he did best and nurse. It was time I fulfilled my other duty.
More butterflies took flight in my chest, this time accompanied by a low, throbbing burn deep in my core. My heart sped up. I wanted Nyfain now. I wanted our reunion. I wanted to finish what we’d started…and then keep going with it.
“Aren’t you going to wear that?” Ami asked with a note of suspicion in her voice. She probably still half thought I’d stolen it. “Why would you carry it if you could put on the belt?”
“No. After a battle and dealing with demons, he’ll probably have random spurts of rage. The leather belt is getting a little worse for wear, given all it’s been through. I don’t want him to rip it off without thinking.”
“You know him very well,” Ami murmured, and her tone struck me as odd. Kind of whimsical. Like she’d known a man like that once and longed for him.
“Finally,” Dash said as I walked out, taking a quick peek at Father. He had a thick bandage around his neck with no blood running through. He’d be fine, too, thank the goddess for her protection.
No, actually, thank Nyfain for his protection. I’d gotten my family into this mess. Nyfain had nearly sacrificed himself to save them, even though he must’ve known I was coming to get them out.
The heat in my core throbbed harder. I felt his dragon stir, and their answering desire for us. He wouldn’t be able to avoid me forever. He never could resist me for long. I’d never minded the way that truth enraged him.
“Finley.” Weston walked through his smattering of shifters either drinking the elixir or lying back to rest and recuperate. None of them had bothered with the trampled clothes.
I waited for him to reach me, spying Micah heading toward the shed on foot by way of the castle. I didn’t want to see him right now. My core throbbed for Nyfain. I needed to put in the face time with these guys, and probably Tamara and the others—they’d saved us—but…I had to be filthily honest, I wanted to get that big alpha dick up in my cumquat.
My dragon preened. Told you.
Weston stopped in front of me, oozing power and authority and confidence. His presence prickled my skin in not totally unpleasant ways, but this was definitely not a man you wanted behind your back. He could surely be dangerous if he wanted to be. His prowess at keeping his pack in line showed that much.
“Thank you for helping with this, Weston,” I said, keeping eye contact, refusing to be distracted by Nyfain’s pounding desire pumping through the bond. “We were outnumbered even with the help from your pack and the extra dragons. If not for your superb leadership and ferocity, we wouldn’t have been able to pry this kingdom away from Dolion.”
Weston studied me for a moment. “I’m anxious for you to break the curse everyone speaks of. I want my memories of this place back. For the demon king to have such an incredible interest in it, it must have been mighty once. I suspect it will be mighty once again.”
I lightly shook my head and looked at the castle, noticing Micah slowing, stalling, waiting for me.
“I don’t know. We’ve lost so many people. Some were taken, as you know, but I think a great many more were either killed or died from the sickness. I’m not sure we will become much of anything, even if Dolion doesn’t return and finish what he started.”
“About that. Listen, I knew you weren’t like normal dragons when I first saw you in that cage. I’ve come across a lot of dragons in my days, and while some were rougher than others, like those in Vemar and Micah’s villages, they all have a certain pride. A certain sense of superiority. They aren’t easy to work with. They aren’t pack animals, though I now realize they can work together quite well. It’s obvious they don’t much want to work with wolves or other animal shifters.”
I remembered what Nyfain had said about the uselessness of “dogs” and his passing negative comments about bear shifters. He did tend to look down on other shifters. Before, having put dragons on a pedestal most of my life, I might’ve gone along with it. But I felt differently after working with the faeries and the wolves. We were much stronger with them.
“I saw something different in you,” he went on. “As did Calia. We saw the glue that could bring us all together and get us out of that awful place. So did Govam, if I’m honest. What I didn’t see until later was the respect and loyalty you engender in those closest to you. I can see why now. You are willing to sacrifice yourself for the wellbeing of others. You did it for this kingdom, and you did it again after the battle. Instead of getting back to your dragon prince, you came here to help the ailing.” He put his fist to his heart. “You have my loyalty, Finley. You are a friend of my pack. We will always help you in times of need.”