POV: KAEL'S
I smelled the blood before I saw it.
Dragon blood. My dragons.
I shot through the sky faster, my massive wings cutting through clouds. Below me, the mountain pass where Theron was escorting my bride twisted like a dark snake.
And surrounding the carriage—wolf shifters. At least twenty of them.
Someone had sent assassins to kill her before she even reached my kingdom.
Rage burned hotter than dragonfire in my chest.
*Mine,* my dragon roared inside me. *They touch what's MINE.*
I didn't question the feeling. Didn't stop to think why I cared about a human princess I'd never met. My dragon knew. Something about her was important.
I dove.
The wolves looked up too late. I opened my jaws and released fire—not to kill, but to scatter. Flames erupted between the shifters and the carriage, a wall of heat and light.
The wolves yelped and scrambled back.
I landed hard, the ground shaking under my weight. In my dragon form, I was massive—black scales, wings that could block out the sun, claws that could tear through stone. Eight hundred years of power compressed into muscle and magic and rage.
The wolves froze.
Smart. Running would've been smarter.
I shifted back to human form in a ripple of gold light. The magic cost me—everything cost me these days—but I couldn't show weakness. Not now.
"Leave," I said quietly. My voice still carried the dragon's rumble. "Or burn."
The largest wolf—a shifter with gray fur and scars—bared his teeth. "The human princess dies tonight, Dragon King. Our master commands it."
"Your master is a fool." I took one step forward. Just one. "And you're dead."
I moved faster than human eyes could follow. My hand closed around the gray wolf's throat before he could shift. I lifted him off the ground, his paws scrambling uselessly.
"Who sent you?" My fingers tightened. "Who wants her dead?"
The wolf's eyes bulged. He couldn't speak, couldn't breathe.
Behind me, Theron's voice called out. "Kael, the princess—"
I dropped the wolf and spun around.
She stood by the carriage, frozen in place. Small. Delicate. Human.
And staring at me with the biggest green eyes I'd ever seen.
Even from here, I could hear her heartbeat. Racing. Terrified. She thought I was going to kill her too.
Something in my chest twisted.
Before I could speak, the gray wolf lunged at her from behind.
My dragon exploded out. I shifted mid-leap, catching the wolf in my jaws. I bit down once—hard—and threw his body into the trees.
The other wolves ran.
Good. I would've killed them all if they'd stayed.
I shifted back to human form, breathing hard. The magic drain was worse this time. My vision blurred for a second. I couldn't let her see weakness. Couldn't let anyone see.
The curse was killing me. Killing all of us. Every day, a little more magic bled away.
I straightened and walked toward her.
She didn't run. Points for courage.
Up close, she was... unexpected. Auburn hair that caught the dying sunlight. A face that wasn't traditionally beautiful but interesting. And those eyes—they looked at me like I was a puzzle she was trying to solve.
Not fear. Not exactly. Something else.
"Princess Elara." My voice came out rougher than I intended. "Welcome to the North."
She curtsied, which was ridiculous considering I'd just killed someone in front of her. "Your Majesty. Thank you for... for saving us."
Her voice shook. But she held my gaze.
Brave little thing.
"Someone doesn't want you to reach Shadowpeak." I studied her face for lies. For hidden plots. For anything that explained why assassins were hunting her. "Do you know who?"
"No." She swallowed hard. "I don't know why anyone would want me dead."
Truth. I could always tell when humans lied—their heartbeats changed. But hers stayed steady.
Either she was telling the truth, or she was the best liar I'd ever met.
"Get back in the carriage," I said. "I'll fly overhead until we reach the citadel."
"You're coming with us?" Something flickered in her eyes. Relief? Fear? I couldn't tell.
"Someone just tried to murder my bride. Yes, I'm coming."
I turned away before she could respond. Before I could stare at her any longer and try to figure out why my dragon was so interested in a fragile human girl.
---
We reached Shadowpeak Citadel as the moon rose.
From the air, I watched her emerge from the carriage. Watched her tilt her head back to stare at my fortress—obsidian towers carved into the mountain, dragons perched on every spire, magic humming through the walls.
She looked so small against all that power.
So breakable.
I landed in the courtyard and shifted back. This time, the magic drain hit harder. My knees almost buckled. I caught myself on a pillar, pretending to examine the stone.
"Kael." Theron appeared beside me, his voice low. "You're getting worse."
"I'm fine."
"You're dying. We're all dying." His purple eyes held worry. "If she's not your mate—"
"Then we keep looking." I pushed off the pillar, forcing my body to obey. "I'm not giving up."
But I was lying. After eight hundred years of searching, hope was a luxury I couldn't afford.
The curse had started five centuries ago. A human princess I'd trusted—a woman I'd almost loved—had betrayed me. She'd used dark magic to poison the bond between my people and our power. Slowly, generation by generation, we'd been dying.
Only finding my fated mate could break it.
I'd searched everywhere. Tested every possibility. Nothing worked.
This human princess was my last chance. The seers had been certain—she was the one.
But looking at her now, fragile and terrified and so very human, I felt nothing. No bond. No connection. No fate clicking into place.
She was just another human. Just another failure.
"Bring her to the throne room," I told Theron. "I'll meet her there."
I walked away before I could see the disappointment in his eyes.
---
In my private chambers, I collapsed against the wall.
My dragon whimpered inside me—actually whimpered. Like a wounded animal. The curse was in my blood now, eating away at the magic that kept me alive.
I had maybe a year left. Two if I was lucky.
And if I died, my kingdom died with me.
"You can't give up." I said it out loud, trying to convince myself. "She might still be the one. The bond might develop. The seers might be right."
But I'd stopped believing in seers and fate and hope a long time ago.
I pushed off the wall and changed into formal clothes. If I was going to meet my maybe-mate, I should at least look like a king and not a dying dragon.
The throne room was packed when I entered. My entire court had gathered—dragons, fae, witches, warriors. Everyone wanted to see the human bride.
Everyone wanted to see if she'd save us.
She stood in the center of the room, alone. Theron and Lyra flanked her, but she might as well have been surrounded by wolves again. The court stared at her with hunger and hope and suspicion.
I walked to my throne and sat, letting the moment stretch. Letting her feel the weight of every eye.
Then I spoke. "Princess Elara of Veridia. Do you know why you're here?"
"To marry you, Your Majesty." Her voice carried, stronger than I expected. "To create an alliance between our kingdoms."
"Wrong." I leaned forward. "You're here because my kingdom is dying. A curse from five hundred years ago is killing us. The only way to break it is for me to find my fated mate." I let that sink in. "My seers believe you might be her."
Her face went pale. "And... if I'm not?"
"Then you'll be a political bride. Nothing more." I watched her carefully. "But if you're lying to me—if you're here to betray me like the last human princess—I'll burn your kingdom to ash. Every city. Every village. Every person you've ever known."
It wasn't a threat. It was a promise.
She didn't flinch. "I'm not here to betray you."
"We'll see."
I stood and walked down the steps toward her. The court held its breath.
Up close, I could see her pulse jumping in her throat. Could smell her fear and something else—something I couldn't identify. Something that made my dragon stir with interest.
"Give me your hand," I commanded.
She hesitated, then extended her hand. It trembled slightly.
I took it.
Nothing happened. No spark. No bond. No fate.
Just a human hand in mine.
Disappointment crashed through me, but I kept my face blank.
"Tomorrow, your training begins," I said. "You'll learn our customs. Our language. Our ways. If you survive three months, we'll marry."
"And if I don't survive?"
I almost smiled. "Then I keep looking for my mate."
I released her hand and turned away. The audience was over.
But as I walked toward the door, Lyra's voice stopped me cold.
"Your Majesty, wait. There's something wrong with her."
I spun around. "Explain."
Lyra stepped forward, her amber eyes glowing with magic. "I've been studying her since we picked her up. Her scent. Her energy. Something's... off."
"Off how?"
"She smells like old magic. Dragon magic. But that's impossible—humans can't carry dragon magic unless—" Lyra's eyes went wide. "Unless they're dragon tamers."
The room erupted in gasps and whispers.
Dragon tamers had been extinct for two hundred years. They were humans with the rare ability to bond with dragons, to calm us, to command our magic.
The last one had died protecting dragon eggs from human hunters.
I looked at Elara. She stared at Lyra with complete confusion. She had no idea what we were talking about.
"Test her," I ordered.
Lyra pulled out a dragon scale—one of mine, from my last shed. "Touch it."
Elara reached out hesitantly and placed her palm on the scale.
For a moment, nothing happened.
Then the scale began to glow. Soft gold light pulsed under her hand.
And Elara screamed.
She jerked back, but I caught her before she fell. Her palm was burned—a perfect pattern of scales seared into her skin.
"Impossible," Theron breathed.
But as I watched, the burn healed. In seconds, her skin was smooth again.
Except for a faint golden pattern that remained. Like a tattoo. Like a mark.
Like a bond.
Elara stared at her hand, her face white with shock. "What... what just happened?"
I couldn't speak. Couldn't think. Because my dragon was roaring inside me with one word:
*MINE.*
Not as a mate. As something else. Something older. Something I didn't understand.
"Your Majesty," Lyra whispered, her voice shaking. "She's a dragon tamer. The bloodline isn't extinct. It's been hiding."
I looked at Elara—this small, fragile, terrified human girl.
And realized she was either my salvation or my destruction.
Maybe both.