Louis made a sound of acknowledgement. “Yes, the dragon young chose to be bonded, but his stipulation was that he would choose the supernatural soul strong enough to house his spirit, one who was worthy. The transformation to dragon shifter would start at conception. He was released, and exactly six months later a child was born, the first dragon shifter, the first supernatural to be dragon mated.”
All of us had moved closer, standing in the shallower water, forming a circle around the storytelling mage.
Braxton was running his hands up and down my bare arms, warming me with his fire. “This is why becoming a dragon shifter is not genetic,” I said. “It’s an anomaly. The soul of a dragon chooses a shifter strong enough to be part of them.”
Louis nodded. “To have your soul be dragon mated is the greatest gift. There are none stronger or more intelligent than the dragons.”
“If this is true, then how do I have a dragon and a wolf soul?” My voice was high, and if I’d been on land I’d be pacing. “How the hell am I possible?”
Chapter 11
My entire body was so tense I felt like I could fracture apart with the smallest of taps. Louis shook his head at me.
“I just don’t know, Jess. It’s almost as if your beast dragon mated to you after you were already developed enough in utero to have claimed your wolf soul. The dragon king did something unnatural to make this happen. Somehow he manipulated a dragon soul. It’s possible that’s why you needed to come here, because the only ones who could truly tell us are the shining ones.”
This was why my dragon and I weren’t as connected as Braxton and his dragon. We’d all been dragon mated the same, but I already had the soul of a wolf inside, so my dragon bond was less complete. I went from tense to breakdown in seconds, my emotions spilling over, sorrow burrowing deep into my heart. I closed my eyes so I could focus internally, so I could see my beautiful dragon.
What did they do to you?
She fluttered her wings at me, those large eyes blinking rapidly. Even if she did remember what had happened to her before we were mated, there was no way for her to tell me.
“I’m not worthy,” I murmured out loud. “She didn’t choose to be dragon mated, she was forced. It’s not right. It’s not right!” My voice was loud, and without thought I was scrambling out of the water.
Everything inside of me screamed at the wrongness of this. A part of me wanted to claw at my own skin, to release the majestic creature who felt like she was meant to be mine but at the same time wasn’t.
Before I could complete my insane breakdown, something changed in the world. An energy infused across the air and the sky darkened. My breathing was ragged as I fought to control the anger and pain lashing at my insides.
I had dealt with fucked up things in my life: my mother disappearing, never knowing my twin, my father’s absence and depression, the dragon mark and the subsequent running for my life, but this was the first time I’d ever felt this out of control. I knew that compared to most, my life was pretty great – I’d always had my pack. Still, I was handling this far worse than I expected. My soul actually cried for my dragon.
Again I tried to shelve my emotional leakage. Whatever entity had disturbed this land was getting closer. Reeling in my emotions felt like an impossible task, and it wasn’t until arms engulfed me from all sides that I managed a slice of clarity. I was surrounded by limbs, energy, warmth, support. My pack. For many moments we did not speak, we just stayed as a single unit and watched the sky as it continued to darken, waiting for the new interference to show itself.
As the boys wrapped themselves and their energy around me, some of the fissures in my heart and soul – which were so much deeper now – started to disappear. The quads’ love and support was a magical putty, easing some of the ache inside.
“I don’t know what I would do without you all.” My voice startled me. It was far huskier than usual.
Arms tightened even further, and a few more of the cracks were healed. The largest cracks could never be fixed – the one which mourned for the soul of my dragon, and for all those marked who had lost so much of themselves.
“You’re worthy, Jess.” Braxton was close to my right ear, his words a balm to my wounds. “No matter what the king did, your soul was always strong enough for a dragon. Think about it, you’re strong enough for two souls to be mated with yours.”
“Exactly, Jess,” Jacob said with a touch of laughter. “Are you starting to agree with me when I say you’re the dragon whisperer? Double dragon mated: Braxton and your own dragon. Nothing unworthy there, babe.”
I don’t know why but I laughed. It wasn’t funny and I was feeling like ass right now, but Jacob just sounded so proud of himself as he tried to cheer me up. It was the perfect thing he could have said, knocking me straight out of my melancholy, reminding me of all the ways I was blessed.
My dragon might not have been destined for me initially, but she had chosen me and I legit loved the heck out of her. Together with my wolf, we were a soul trifecta and we were totally going to kick Larky straight in the balls and then rip his freaking head off.
My wolf and dragon roared in agreeance. As I straightened and pushed my hair back from my face, the quads unwrapped themselves from me. Everyone is entitled to a moment of hitting rock bottom, it’s how we build ourselves back up to be twice as strong, but my moment was over now. Braxton ran a hand across my hair, tangling his fingers through it, as he loved to do.