“What has my grandson done?” Nuka’s grandfather questioned when she stood in front of him.
“Which one? Nuka has got himself into big trouble, but Kas might just have a way to win the war you’ve started. You never learned. War is not the answer. Maybe you should have come to Vietnam with me. You would have seen it for yourself. It was too painful. Take Nuka and leave Kas’ land. We will solve the issue you’ve caused with the humans our own way.”
“Molly?” the twin brother’s grandfather looked at her. “Did you know about the dragon shifter?”
She shook her head.
“No, I didn’t, I was told Hayden was dead, and it broke my heart.” She turned her body to go back to the pack she wanted to be a part of.
“What?”
She pointed her walking stick up at Hayden as he roared again. “Meet the man I fell in love with in Vietnam. He died and was reborn for this moment, and I won’t stop him.” ”
“This is the man you lost?”
“Yes,” she replied. “
“Get us out of here,” Nuka’s grandfather shouted at Ciaran, but it was too late.
Hayden directed his head toward Samuel who was throwing firebombs at him. Molly watched as Hayden inhaled and then expelled a large blast of fire toward Samuel. Nuka, Ciaran, and his grandfather disappeared into thin air, but Samuel couldn’t. He was no longer alive. Hayden had burned him to a pile of ash with his dragon fire.
The magical barrier of protection around Molly disintegrated when Jessica realized the time for worry was over. They may not have destroyed Nuka, but they’d struck another fearsome blow against him.
Hayden roared into the air. His wings flapped, and he lifted up from the ground as the sirens grew louder.
“Change back,” Ethern shouted out. “We need to find Selene. She should be in the multi-shifters’ cave.”
Hayden landed on the ground. He shut his eyes and grunted. Molly could tell he was trying to change back, but the enormity of what he’d become was preventing it. The power of his dragon was colossal. It was fearsome and stronger than any of the shifters present.
“Shit!” Ethern exclaimed.
“What is it?” Molly questioned the man who was previously a multi-shifter.
“There isn’t time to explain, but he can’t change back. He’s rarely transformed into a full dragon because it’s too hard to control. I fear the emotion and killing Samuel has left him unable to control the power. Jessica, we need you to teleport us all out of here.”
The witch stepped forward, but Molly put her arm out to stop her.
“Wait.” Molly used her walking stick to get closer to Hayden. She stood beneath his head and looked up at him. He sat down on the ground and curled his body around her.
“This beats my secret. You just had to get one up on me.” She laughed at him. His bright green eyes looked down on her with great sadness. “You’ve just come back to me. Destiny be damned, Hayden, you fight this like the strong man I know you are. Please.”
She reached out and placed her hand on the tip of the dragon’s nose. She felt the heat of its breath against her palm.
“I never stopped loving you. Please, Hayden, I need you.”
A lone tear tumbled down her cheek. She felt like all she did at the moment was cry. Her emotions were all over the place.
“Please,” she repeated.
Hayden shut his eyes again, and she watched as slowly he returned to his human form.
“It really is you.” She stared up at him.
He pulled her close to him, and she welcomed the feel of being in his arms after so many years of longing.
“We need to go.” Ethern touched her shoulder.
“Molly’s coming with us,” Hayden demanded.
She looked up to where Ethern was standing, and he nodded. “No longer will we keep the two of you apart.”
Brayden walked over to them. “If Selene is where you’re going, then I’m coming as well.”
Brayden held out one of his hands to Hayden to shake. Hayden let go of his full embrace of Molly and started to back away, but Jessica held up her hand to stop him.
“It’s all right, Hayden. It’s safe. Not only did I cast a spell to prevent you and other multi-shifters learning my power, but I’ve also given you the ability to touch again without fear of losing control of your dragon.”
Hayden now offered his hand to Brayden who took it in his. The multi-shifter didn’t feel the power of a snow leopard going through him. Hayden looked over at Jessica and she winked at him.
The witch then turned her attention to Brayden.
“Learn from Molly, Brayden. You have the same power in you. Your destiny is to help Selene control what she’s about to become. It’s also the reason for the biggest secret I know.”
Before anyone could say anything else, they disappeared from the ruins of the Glacial Blood mansion.
Chapter Fourteen
Hayden finished getting himself dressed, having destroyed his previous clothes when he shifted. He observed Molly the entire time. She walked around looking at the various inscriptions on the wall of the multi-shifter’s cave.
Ethern, Brayden, and Jessica had disappeared to check on Emma, Selene, and the cubs. Eventually, she turned around to face him. Hayden was tired—his body ached from the tension of trying to change back. He had to be near her and pulled her close to him again.
“I have a lot of explaining to do.” He stroked his hand over her now gray hair. He remembered the vibrant chestnut color it had once been.
“It’s been a lifetime, Hayden. What prevented you from contacting me?” Molly looked up at him. She still had tears wetting the edges of her vision.
“A higher calling,” Hayden replied.
It angered Molly, and she pulled away from him with a look of frustration on her face.
“I’m sick of that phrase. It’s all that’s echoed in my mind since the boy said it to me after you died.” Molly settled against a rock and placed her head in her hands.
“The boy?” Hayden didn’t understand.
Molly looked up at him. “When you died, I didn’t want to face it at first. I went into the jungle and shifted. I ran as fast as I could to the village where you’d died. I smelled you everywhere—it was so intoxicating. I saw where the blood had left your body. I cried, and then he appeared.”
“A young Vietnamese boy?” Hayden realized who Molly meant. The boy who’d guided Hayden. It would be right he helped Molly as well.
“Yes, he told me you were safe and not suffering. That you had a higher calling, but I’d see you again one day. I just didn’t realize how long it would take for that to happen. Fifty-two years. You became a shifter like me, Hayden. Why didn’t you tell me? That’s what hurts the most.”
Hayden made his way to where Molly was sitting. He held his hand out to her. The second he did, the scales fluttered over his arm. His control was wavering today with the emotions coursing through his body. Molly reached out and touched his arm. It was all he needed to put the dragon inside him back to sleep.
“I wanted to, every day. When I found out you’d lost your leg, they had to knock me out for a few years. I went crazy.”