“I have to get down there,” he rumbled, furiously. “Look at what is going on! She should be in bed, not standing in front of hundreds of angry humans.”
Sasha shook her head, gripping his hand tightly. “If you need to get down there, you should, but I can’t return with you.”
“Why not? You just said you needed to return. I will be at your side.”
“No,” she shook her head. “I have to go alone.”
His eyes swam as he looked at her. The idea was beyond comprehension. He had only just introduced her to his world. He was not about to let her go so easily.
“If I return with you, they’ll say I’m brainwashed or something,” she murmured softly. “I have to show up of my own will. Alone.”
Alone. What a horrid word. Once the Knowing had commenced, it wasn’t a word either of them should ever entertain. He shook his head, and his throat squeezed tightly.
“No,” he grumbled stubbornly.
Sasha rubbed his arm. “It’s the only way. Look at the people. They’re howling for your blood. You think the Preor can handle this, but trust me, no one can handle the rage of an unrestrained mob.”
Whelon shook his head once more, trying to understand. It was as if the rational parts of his mind were being rewritten by the feral thoughts of his dragon. He reached out for common sense, but it fled on a wave of loss.
“I cannot be parted from you,” he admitted simply.
She shook her head and stroked his face as she peered into his eyes. “I love you.” Her voice was so soft, but Whelon heard her words clearly. His heartbeat stuttered as if it too heard her message. “But I’m going.” The words were hard, her eyes unwavering and steadfast.
“We’ll go, too!” Carla made a supreme effort to joist herself off the couch but tumbled back again.
“No, no.” Sasha stood and waved her hands. “I appreciate the support, but in my mother’s eyes, you’ll be contaminated, too. If I appear with you guys, she’ll say you’re influencing me.”
Whelon struggled with himself. His dragon coiled inside him, an endless expanse of black scales. For the first time in his life, it was as if the beast did not fit inside him. The beautiful moment of his two-legged form blending into his dragon shape had been bent and twisted. Instead of operating as one entity, it now felt as if they were at war.
“I will… I will let you go.” Spitting the words out was a struggle, as if they tore at his chest and scraped his throat. Sasha turned and smiled at him, and he could tell she hadn’t truly been waiting for his permission.
Is this why other Preor warriors are always walking around clutching their heads as if they are mad?
That one look from his mate made him realize that whatever control he thought he might have over his life was now gone. He would never be sure of anything ever again, not with those deep blue eyes teasing him every day for the rest of his years.
Sasha squeezed his hands. “I’ll be back. Or I’ll meet you down there. I know you have duties at the tower and your new clinic needs you.” She smiled and leaned in for a quick kiss. “It won’t be long.”
Then she turned and left the room, the soft murmur of Penelope’s voice guiding Sasha back to the shuttle bay—away from him. Remaining still and allowing her to leave was agony. Dawn quickly sat at his side, rubbing his back with her gentle touch. All the muscles in his back had turned into a savage knot with Sasha’s departure, but he soon relaxed under Dawn’s expert hand.
“It’s okay,” she soothed him. He could easily argue that nothing was okay, but he would not snap at the Heart Master in training. She only meant to help and he could not deny that her presence comforted him. “You know, Whelon, the Preor did promise to stop kidnapping women.”
“Kidnap! I did not—”
“You kind of mirrored Kozav’s actions,” Grace informed him in a gentle tone. “Although, he really did take me without consent. You at least asked Sasha. The circumstances just look really bad.”
Whelon winced, the lack of his mate a sharp and keen agony.
“Honestly, Whelon, I thought you had more tact.” Penelope’s teasing poked at him like physical fingers.
He heard their words but did not understand them. Not truly. He could not steal his mate… He could not abduct her. Such a thing was not possible. They were meant to be.
“Whelon!” Dawn cried out with alarm.
He could not look up. All he could do was remain motionless, his head in his hands. He knew scales now decorated his forearms, the dark symbols of his inner beast pushing to the fore. He felt his fingernails sharpening and coming to deadly points against his skull as his dragon asserted control.
“Get Yazen!” Dawn ordered Penelope. “I’m trying to calm his dragon, but I can’t hold him. We need a sedative!”
The rest of her words were lost to Whelon as he descended into the deepest reaches of his mind. The situation he found himself in was unacceptable. Something as flimsy as human opinion could not keep him from his mate. It was preposterous.
A dragon could not understand human thoughts, so it did not. Whelon struggled with control over his beast, hoping Yazen would come soon and alleviate his burden before…
Before Whelon lost all control and destroyed everyone around him.
Chapter Twenty-One
Sasha wondered how she would get to the shuttle bay and who exactly would return her to Earth when she was enveloped in a shimmering curtain of light.
“I can teleport you easily enough,”
