Chapter 68

Anila’s POV

Harley let me use his oversized shirt to cover my body and I was so grateful that he had the common sense to strip off his clothes before shifting. When we got back to the area we shifted in, most of our clothes were in shredded pieces and I was kind of upset that Xaden hadn’t thought about stripping me sooner, so I didn’t have to lose an entire outfit.

I was elated though, and I didn’t really care about the outfit.

I had two spirit animals, and I couldn’t believe this. It was weird in my human form because I could feel them inside of me. They were co-existing in my mind and if I really thought about it, could even see them. They were both so beautiful and breathtaking. It was like day and night with one being pure white and the other being completely black.

But they both had bright purple eyes and I wasn’t sure what that meant. But they were mine and they were perfect.

Once I was in Harley’s shirt and no longer completely naked in front of them all, Xaden wrapped his arms around me and pulled me close to him.

“Are you okay?” He finally asked, rubbing his hand up and down my back.

I nodded and peeked up at him.

“I’m more than okay,” I admitted.

He kissed the top of my head and we started to walk back towards campus.

“You are probably tired,” Harley said as he zipped his pants. “The first shift takes a lot out of a person.”

I nodded in response.

“It took a lot out of me,” I admitted.

“Mates!” I heard two voices speaking in my mind at the same time making my entire body freeze.

They all looked at me and frowned, except for Zach who was walking way ahead of us and hadn’t noticed we stopped.

“What’s wrong?” Xaden asked.

“I heard voices in my head,” I said, peeking up at him with concern laced in my eyes. “Am I going crazy?”

He relaxed and smiled.

“It’s probably your spirit animal,” he told me. “They can be vocal sometimes.”

My eyes widened; I had no idea they could speak; nobody had prepared me for that.

“It doesn’t always happen,” Harley admitted as if he could read my thoughts. “But there had been some cases that it does.”

“Does your animals speak to you?” I asked them.

“Not usually,” Xaden confessed. “I can feel his emotions and I basically always know what he’s thinking because he’s a part of me. But he doesn’t usually speak with words.”

“Same,” Harley said with a shrug. “Because I know my bear’s thoughts most of the time, it doesn’t really matter.”

“You’ll get used to it. The more you listen to your animals and the more you shift, you’ll start to get to know them. They are a part of you now and their emotions will often come across as your own. You mustn’t mix up the two. Keep your dominance.”

I nodded and we continued to walk towards campus.

“Mine!” My wolf said with finality. I wasn’t sure how I knew it was my wolf, but I somehow knew that was her voice.

“Mate!” My bear said with the same finality as my wolf.

I wondered how long they were going to do that.

By the time we got back to campus, Zach was long gone.

“I have some stuff I need to do,” Harley said.

“Okay,” I said before hugging him. “Thanks for being here with me, Harley.”

He nodded and then exchanged a look with Xaden before he walked away. My bear didn’t like him leaving and whined in my head about it. I had a strong urgency to follow him and pull him away with me, but Xaden soon wrapped his arms around me and my wolf.

I relaxed into him and smiled as he peppered kisses down my neck, sucking on the mark he left on me.

“I love you,” he whispered. “I’m glad you’re okay.”

“Me too,” I admitted. “I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”

“You are stronger than you think,” he told me. “You’ll be able to learn a lot more now that you have your animals.”

I nodded and then he took my hand and started to pull me away.

“Come on, I’ll take you back to your dorm so you can get some rest,” he told me.

“Okay,” I said, my voice coming out sleepily, which made him chuckle.

I was expecting Xaden to just drop me off at my dorm and then walk away, but he didn’t. He walked inside with me, and I was glad to see that Penny wasn’t around. I didn’t want to talk to anybody for the rest of the night because of how tired I was. She saw me at my weakest point, and I knew she’d be worried about me. I felt bad for not eating the soup she had made for me and making her clean the puke out of the bathroom.

Xaden brought me into my room and before I knew what was happening, he was lifting Harley’s shirt over my head and exposing my very naked body. I hadn’t even thought about the fact that Xaden was also naked. It just seemed so normal to me now; I wondered how many people along the way had spotted him in all his glory.

My wolf didn’t like the thought of it; it was a strange feeling. It was like I just knew how she was feeling and the thought of others seeing our mate naked didn’t sit right with her.

Xaden’s lips were on my breasts before I could even grasp what was happening. His tongue twirled around my little pink nipple, hardening it as his teeth grazed it. Heat coursed through my entire body, and I threw my head back as a wave of tingles shot through me. I let out a breathless moan as his arms tightened around me and he started to tease the other nipple.

“Xaden…” I whispered when my body felt like it was on fire.

My wolf was very content with the pleasure I felt from Xaden’s lips. He released my nipple with a pop and then his lips found mine. He kissed me like I was his oxygen. His tongue was in my mouth deeply, taking me for himself and I couldn’t get enough of him.

I wrapped my arms around his neck and pulled myself closer to him. As if he knew exactly what I wanted, he lifted me into his arms and gently laid me on my bed. My legs were wrapped around his waist as he trailed his kisses down the nape of my neck, sucking on the mark. I felt him push inside of me and I let out a heavy moan from the incredible sensation.

I arched my back as he quickened his pace. His lips never left mine as our bodies molded into one.

He moaned my name, and I didn’t care who heard it; I was lost in my mate. I felt my core clenching and tightening around him, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to last much longer.

As he pushed me over the edge of the cliff, and I exploded around him, it didn’t take long for him to reach the edge and jump over to join me.

With a final thrust, he fell on top of me, and we lay together, gasping for breath.

My legs felt like jelly as he pulled out of me. He kissed my forehead and pulled me into his arms, throwing the blanket over us. I kissed his chest lovingly and snuggled against him.

“Get some sleep,” he whispered.

He didn’t have to tell me twice. Soon, I was drifting fast asleep.

…..

I spent a lot of time over the weekend shifting in both forms, getting to know my animals without my mates. Of course, I spent a lot of time with Xaden too and he showed me some of the things I can do in my wolf form. But I somehow knew that if I truly wanted to get to know these animals without any outside influences, I needed to be alone.

I submerged myself in the forest and shifted back and forth between animals for several hours. I spent a lot of time with both and started to understand their personalities a little more. They were one and the same. My wolf might have been a little more arrogant and my bear was extremely loyal and almost fun-loving.

I knew it wouldn’t be long before the sun rose, and I wanted to get back to campus before then. I shifted back into my human form and grabbed the clothes I stripped out of, which remained on the forest ground.

Once I was fully dressed, I was about to start walking back toward campus, but a small hissing cry made me freeze. I wasn’t sure how to explain it, but I somehow knew that I needed to follow the sound. It could have been miles for all I knew; with my heightened senses, the furthest noise sounded as if it was right next to me.

But the cry continued, and I wondered if it was an animal. If it was, it almost sounded like a baby. One thing was certain though, it was defiantly not human.

The sound grew louder the closer it got, and I didn’t stop until it sounded as if I was right next to it. I took a long look around the forest and then my eyes spotted movement in the trunk of a tree.

I went toward the movement and my mouth fell open when I saw a little lizard sitting in the hole of a tree trunk, covered in leaves and dirt. Upon a close look, I saw the light blue shell that was cracked open, and I knew the little lizard had just hatched from that.

My brows pinched when I noticed that it had tiny little wings.

“I had never seen a lizard with wings before,” I said out loud, examining the little creature.

It was a cute little thing with purple scales and bright purple eyes, reminding me of my own when I was in animal form.

It looked up at me as if it was just as curious about me as I was about it. But I didn’t seem frightened, just curious.

“How did you get here?” I asked as if I was expecting it to answer.

Then to my utter shock, it sneezed, and soon, fire was coming out of its mouth.

“Holy shit,” I gasped, jumping away and out of the flames. “You aren’t a lizard… you’re a baby dragon.”