No, she is not sick at all.
She is transforming into a dragon.
The alpha dragon that I felt nearing, the one Zaeyr had felt as well. It was not this Kaos from another tribe; it was Milaye. She is the alpha closing in on us. She is becoming one of us.
A scream rips from her throat, and I tighten my hold. Her back arches, and a loud cracking fills my ears. Zaeyr stops next to me and sets Milaye’s tail in the sand beside her.
It burst from her backside just as we decided to leave, because with it, dragon fire began escaping from her lungs. She bathed the ceiling of her hut in flames that seemed to never end, and by the time it did, the tribe was in chaos, and I was covered in blood and soot.
Milaye’s screams have been unending since. Her mouth still smolders, the flames returning at random.
“I need to go back,” Zaeyr says quickly, rising to his feet. “They will need my help putting out the fire.”
“Go.” I lay Milaye’s convulsing body down.
“I will be back soon.”
Milaye writhes and anything else Zaeyr says is lost. He worries for his mate and younglings, and that is an honorable thing to do. Though he laid his hands on Milaye, I do not loathe him as much as before. He stopped my female’s sisters from gutting me.
He and his bonded, Aida, have offered my mate and me a haven. One for her to transform in, one that contains me while I watch over her.
I pet my human’s beautiful hair back.
Milaye’s eyes snap open.
“Human?” I grab her to me. Her gaze fixates on mine. Her mouth strains open into a silent scream. Sharp, pointy teeth have replaced her blunt human ones. She coughs and chokes and spits out a fallen tooth.
Fear and pain etch her face. My chest squeezes. I would do anything to take the pain from her.
“Mate,” I say as calmly as possible. I am not calm at all.
Tears well in her eyes.
“It is okay,” I say.
Her mouth moves but no words come out.
“Let it happen, little human. Do not fight it. Fighting will only make it worse.” I wipe away the tears falling down her cheeks. Her head drops back and cracking sounds fill the air again. Something wet and slick pushes against my arm. Laying Milaye on the sand, I discover that a wing burst from her back.
She screams, curling her legs into herself. “Drazak,” she whimpers. The sound is meek but I am so relieved that she speaks.
I take her wing and spread it out. It grows and grows. The other pops out with another shriek. Dewy and wet, the wings straighten, shedding a glistening filminess. Stunning white hide appears between the shimmering gold joints. They fold and open, and when they expand again, they are bigger and longer than before.
In awe, I stare at my female’s coloring.
It is not like mine at all, it is light itself, borne of sunshine. My throat tightens in wonder. What kind of dragon is my female? If she is not of me?
“Drazak,” she groans, tears streaming from her eyes. “It hurts…”
I caress her face. “I know, little femdragon. I would take it from you if I could.” I would take the pain a hundred times over and more. “If it pulls you under, let it. I will be here.”
Her mouth purses, and she shuts her eyes tightly. I lean in and press my brow to hers, giving her the darkness from my jewel. She opens her eyes.
They are no longer dark, but metallic gold. They shine like the stars at night.
I whisper my lips along her cheek when a burst of air rushes over me. It swirls in ever-quickening gusts, and when I pull back, Milaye is staring at me, her body expanding.
Bright light explodes from within her, and her scream assails the air, morphing into a rumbling, heightening roar. I wince, blinded. Something hot pushes against my side, and I fall back, tumbling over and onto Milaye’s wing. It rises under me. Through our bond, chaotic shocks of energy grapple me. It is a power I had long forgotten. A dragon’s power.
The birth of an alpha.
Milaye’s soul invades mine, taking it over. Her roar grows louder, stronger, overpowering the cracking of her bones and shredding of her human skin. I peer through my fingers, forcing myself to look though it burns my eyes.
Her human body is gone.
All that remains is her glorious new one. I sit upon my knees. The light fades.
Feathers cover her back, reaching over the tops of her flapping wings. Each wave of them sends my hair flying in the air. Like her wings, her body is pearly white and rimmed with gold, accented with crevasses of amber red veins. She is covered in soft-looking scales from her long neck, down to the tip of her coiling tail. Tufts of gold and dark red feathers sprout out the end of it.
Where I have two arrow-pointed tails, Milaye has the power of one. I long to curl mine with hers.
Her dragon is lovely and soft, and everything that would make a male alpha dragon envious and desperate to bear young with her. I stand, covetous, ready to defend my right to be with her.
Milaye turns to me. Her golden eyes enrapture mine, and love explodes my heart. I am torn asunder by the mere sight of her.
“Mate,” I say in reverence. “You let me in.”
“Mate,” she rumbles back, speaking in my ancient dragon tongue.
Pride swells. Excitement builds. She lowers her head, and I lay my hand on her snout. Gold dust sticks to my palms. Rays of golden sunshine streak across her form, and darkness floods from my jewel to eat it up. The light is balanced between us. Never have I heard
