Chapter 120

Jaxon’s POV

“What you’re doing isn’t right, Jaxon,” Angelica cried, tears streaming down her cheeks as she stared up at me.

I ran my fingers down the purple scales of Sapphire, one of the elder dragons. Using Sapphire was the best-case scenario because she was the oldest and no longer as strong as the others. She wouldn’t cause as much damage as the younger dragons would. She hadn’t been out of the Dragon Stables in years though. She mainly kept to herself and nurtured the other dragons. She doesn’t fly often and only steps out of the stables when necessary. She was terrified, not knowing what was going on, but knowing we were leaving the underground valley.

Angelica never showed fear like this before and I knew what I was doing was wrong, but it had to be done.

“I don’t have a choice,” I told her, my hands tightening around the reins of the dragon.

“You always have a choice,” she told me, rushing around me to look me in the face. “You can tell him no. You can tell him that you aren’t giving him a dragon.”

“And if I don’t, he will use that Dragon Stone to destroy us. You know he has that power as long as he has the stone,” I snapped, my eyes glowing purple which made her stand down almost immediately. She would be stupid to go against me right now.

“You are the Dragon King,” she reminded me. “You can get that stone back. Why haven’t you already? He has to have something else against you and not just the stone, Jaxon. Please, tell me what it is, and we can figure it out together!”

I turned my look at her, my eyes hooded. There was so much I wished I could tell her, but I couldn’t. If she knew the truth, her trust in me would disappear. I couldn’t lose the trust of my most trusted ally and admittedly, friend.

I hated that she was right though; he did have something over me. He had the secret I held close to my heart at a young age. The day that I first got my inner dragon. I didn’t think it was going to be possible for me to get my dragon because I wasn’t a full shifter. My father was a Dragon Shifter, amongst the first to exist in our world. But my mother… she wasn’t a shifter. She was a human.

She didn’t ask for what had happened to her… it was my fault her life was taken so soon. It was regret that would sit with me for the rest of my life.

Alpha King Edmond knew what had happened that night because he was there. He saw what I had done, and he used it against me to get what he wanted. He knew if the others found out what I had done, they would no longer trust me enough to follow me. Without them, I am nothing. But there was more to it… he doesn’t just have the Dragon Stone, which can be used to not only control the dragons but destroy them as well, he has my mother’s urn.

The urn that holds the proof of that night.

“Jaxon…” Angelica pleaded as she put a hand on my arm. “Sacrificing our dragons is not the way.”

“It’s only one and she’s old anyway,” I said, my eyes shifted to the ground.

Angelica sucked in a sharp breath as she stared at me wide-eyed. It was as if I had slapped her.

“Our dragons are our family. It’s because of them that we are here,” she told me, her voice coming out hoarse. “We need to unite and stand up to him—”

“And we will,” I said, my eyes blazing with fury, making her flinch as she took a step away from me. “But not now. Now, I need to get Sapphire to the Alpha and act as if I am on his side. Then, when the time is right, we will strike. We will take back the stone and get our revenge. I won’t let him take things too far. You have my word, Angelica. For right now, I need you to trust me…”

Her eyes were wide still but she pinched her lips together and gave me a short nod. I looked up at Sapphire who had a worried look in her own eyes, her ears tucked low on her head, and she was looking around at her surroundings wildly. I kept a hold of the rope that kept her to my side, keeping her from flying off or sprinting away.

Angelica reached her hand up and touched the side of Sapphire's face, her fingers trembling as tears made their way down her flushed cheeks.

“It’s going to be okay, Old Girl,” Angelica whispered. “Our king won’t let anything happen to you.”

My body was tense, and I swallowed hard, my Adam’s Apple moving slightly.

“I’ll return,” I told her and then I pulled Sapphire along with me, my heart in my throat and my pride buried deep in the ground.

…..

Anila’s POV

I burst through the doors of the infirmary and my footsteps halted when I saw that Xaden was awake and smiling. He was speaking to the doctor, and he looked so much better than he had when we left him a little while ago. Damien was leaning against the far side of the wall, his arms folded across his chest, and he was watching the exchange between Damien and the doctor.

“Are you sure you are feeling well, Alpha?” The doctor was asking him.

“As good as new, Doc,” Xaden said with a bright smile, which made my heart skip a beat.

“I’m glad to hear that. You gave everyone quite the fright,” the doctor said, running his fingers through his hair. “If we hadn’t gotten you that potion by tonight… there was a large chance you wouldn’t have ever woken up.”

“But it didn’t come to that,” Xaden told him. “I was saved and I’m not going to take that second chance for granted.”

The doctor let out a laugh and put his hand on Xaden’s shoulder, giving it a tight squeeze.

Xaden’s eyes found mine and an even bigger smile spread across his lips. I could barely contain myself as I ran towards his bed, tears springing free from my eyes as I wrapped my arms around him and crawled into the bed beside him.

He wrapped me in his arms and buried his face in the nape of my neck, inhaling deeply.

“I’ve missed you so much,” I whispered, my voice cracking slightly.

“I’m here now,” he whispered in return. “I’m never leaving you again. I promise…”

I peeked up at him, tears clinging to my long lashes.

“I’m not letting you leave me again,” I told him. “You had us scared to death.”

As if realizing we weren’t the only ones in the room, he lifted his gaze to look around at the others who were standing nearby. Harley was standing closer, with a faint smile on his lips. He looked relieved and it warmed my heart knowing they were still close after everything we’d been through. Zach was further away with his hands shoved into his pockets, but he no longer had the pissed-off expression he’d been sporting all day. Damien looked more awkward than anything and he remained against the wall with his arms folded across his chest.

“I hope you gents have been behaving yourself in my absence,” Xaden said, a teasing hint in his tone; but I also knew his words held seriousness to it as well.

“A lot has happened,” Harley admitted. “But we are glad that you are back. Anila is right; you had us all worried.”

Xaden outstretched his fist to Harley and they fist-bumped.

Xaden’s eyes found Zach’s across the room, and he narrowed his eyes.

“Zach…” Xaden said, his tone almost fatherly like he was about to scold his son for something. Zach’s gaze lifted and he stared at Xaden.

Zach stared at him for a moment longer before the corner of his lips tipped into a smile.

“Welcome back, Sleeping Beauty,” Zach said, pushing himself off the back wall and strolling towards Xaden.

“Miss me?” Xaden, his own lips tipping into a smirk.

“Something like that,” Zach said. He stopped only an inch from Xaden’s bed and to my surprise, Zach put his hand on Xaden’s shoulder. “Don’t do that again, Brother.”

“Do what?” Xaden asked, raising his brows.

“Put yourself in that position. If you hadn’t approached him—”

“Zach!” I snapped, my eyes narrowing at him.

“No, he’s right,” Xaden said, holding me even tighter against his chest. “I shouldn’t have been so careless. But at least now we know that the Alpha King can turn into a dragon. He’s more dangerous than we thought, and we need to be careful of him. This could have happened to any of us…. This could have happened to Anila.”

“But it didn’t,” Harley reminded us before Zach was sent over the edge again. “That’s all that matters right now. Anila is safe and Xaden is okay.”

I nodded in agreement, but Zach scoffed and folded his arms across his chest.

“How safe is she though? She’s betrothed to the Dragon King,” Zach muttered. “She can’t be in more danger than that.”

“Perhaps we should give him a chance to explain himself. I mean, he did save Xaden after all,” Damien surprised me by saying, turning everyone’s attention to him.

“Damien…” Xaden said, cocking his head to the side. “I wasn’t expecting you to be here. Should I be honored for the visit?”

“I’m obviously not here for you,” Damien shot back. He then glanced at me and then back at Xaden. “But I’m glad you aren’t dead. I don’t think any amount of mates could make that okay for Anila.”

I buried my face in Xaden’s chest, not wanting to think about something so horrific happening to him. He kissed the side of my temple and ran his fingers through my hair as if he couldn’t get enough of touching me. Warmth spread throughout my entire body from his touch.

“Why should we give him a chance?” Zach asked. “He’s dangerous.”

“We don’t know that…” Damien protested, surprising me once again. “I found out information about him these last couple of days from Anila that I didn’t know before. Maybe we had him wrong from the beginning.”

“Or perhaps you are wrong!” A voice said from the entryway of the infirmary room. I lifted my head to see a giant man standing at the doorway. Zach stepped away from him, his eyes shifted to the ground.

“Father,” he murmured.

I swallowed as the Alpha of the Bloodmoon pack stepped into the room; his aura was so overpowering that I nearly fell to the ground before him. I found myself pulling away from Xaden without realizing it, though, Xaden was holding onto me tightly, keeping me from going anywhere.

“I wouldn’t have believed it if I didn’t see it with my own eyes,” the Alpha said, his tone growly as he stared amongst those of us in the room. “Someone wants to explain to me why I just saw a dragonfly over my pack!?”