Chapter 17 Hello Dragon
Ysara POV
The cabin hummed behind me with life.
Pans clinked. Voices murmured. The low rhythm of them moving together and bickering, like a pack learning its shape. I lingered in the doorway, watching for a second longer than necessary.
Wyatt glanced over his shoulder. “We’re making food.”
I smiled softly. “Of course you are.”
Rafe snorted. “You’re glowing. Go burn it off before you explode.”
Kalesh tilted his head, his eyes sharp. “Please stay inside the wardlines.”
Darken added, dry as ever, “Five minutes. Not thirty.”
I lifted both hands in surrender. “I just need a minute. Woods. Air. Sanity.”
They watched me go with the kind of attention that made my skin prickle. Possession, care and fear. I totally wasn't used to this treatment. Made me feel itchy.
I stepped into the trees and took a deep breath, centering myself. I needed to text Lila and ask about mom. I had four mates. I was a Ravelyn. This was too fucking much. I mean come on.
The forest around the cabin was dense and old, the kind of place where the air felt thicker and heavier, like it remembered things. Pine needles crunched under my boots. Cold air brushed my cheeks. My pulse slowed.
For about ten seconds. Then the pull hit. Not a tug. Not a whisper. A persistent summons. My chest tightened, and my breath caught as something deep inside me leaned forward, curious and hungry. My feet carried me without asking permission, straight toward the wardline.
“Don’t stray,” Kalesh had said.
I always stray.
The wards shimmered faintly ahead, visible only because my eyes were learning how to see magic now. Beyond them, the forest darkened sharply, shadows thickened, and the air was warmer.
And then...He was there. Standing just beyond the wards like the forest had shaped itself into a man and decided to ruin my life. He. Was. Massive. Barely contained power wrapped in beautiful bronze-gold skin. Long black hair falling loose around his shoulders. A muscled chest that immediately made me blush. Wings..actual wings..were half-furled behind him. This...was a fucking MAN.
Gold slitted eyes locked onto mine. The world narrowed to that gaze.
“Oh,” I breathed. “My Gods.”
His jaw flexed. He said nothing. Didn’t move. Didn’t blink. Just watched me like prey and miracle all at once.
“You’re…” I swallowed. “You’re beautiful.”
The word felt inadequate. Insulting, almost.
Something in his expression fractured. Heat rolled off him in waves. I lifted my hand without thinking, and my fingers brushed the ward. The magic sparked.
And then he stepped through it. Just walked straight through like it wasn’t even there. My breath punched out of me. He stopped inches away, his towering presence crushing and intoxicating. Smoke and fire and something ancient filled my lungs. I reached up and touched his jaw. His skin was warm. Alive. Real.
He studied my face for a few moments and then, he swiftly wrapped his large hand in the hair behind my head and firmly guided my face to his. Then he kissed me. It was wild, and unrestrained.
I totally didn’t stop him. Why would I? He was delicious. My hands glided over his firm chest muscles through the patch of hair there. My pulse screamed. His breath ghosted over my throat, and he nipped my ear, and my neck. I was dizzy and breathless. Alive in a way that felt terrifying and right.
A strangled sound ripped through the trees.
“What the fuck Ysa!?”
Wyatt. Rafe. All of them. I pulled back just as Wyatt stormed into view, his eyes blazing silver, with fury and disbelief colliding on his face.
“You’ve been gone thirty minutes,” he snapped. “And you're already making out with a damn dragon?”
I blinked, dazed, still pressed to the massive chest in front of me. “A… dragon?”
The man stiffened. He stepped forward, his wings flaring slightly, and pulled me behind his body like a shield. Didn’t speak. Just claimed space. Rafe was instantly on the offensive, his golden eyes sharp. Kalesh went still, and predatory. Darken’s magic surged, and the air crackled.
“Back away from her,” Wyatt growled.
The dragon turned his head slightly. And roared. The sound shook the trees, rattled the wards, and vibrated straight through my bones.
“MINE.”
Darken stepped forward, his voice calm but deadly. “Yes. But also mine.”
Wyatt didn’t hesitate. “And mine.”
Rafe’s voice layered over his twin’s. “Ours.”
Kalesh’s followed, softer but no less absolute. “She is claimed.”
The dragon looked… confused. His gaze dropped to me, searching. Something inside my chest burned, flared, and surged upward like a crown snapping into place. I stepped out from behind him, and laid my hand against his neck. The heat surged.
When I spoke, the voice that came out wasn’t just mine. “I want to be yours, my dragon,” I said, calm and resonant and terrifyingly certain. “But you must share.”
His breath hitched. My eyes burned.
“I am the last Ravelyn,” I continued. “And we have work to do.”
The forest went silent. The dragon dropped to one knee.
~
Tharion Ashkeld POV
My fire recognized her before thought did.
Axis surged to the front of my mind the moment she spoke the word Ravelyn, his ancient instinct snapping into alignment like a blade finding its sheath.
"Mirror Queen," Axis rumbled. "Heart of many. Crown of balance. Kneel."
My knee hit the earth before pride could argue. The forest bowed with me. Heat rolled through my veins, not rage, not hunger, but something heavier. Purpose. I lowered my head, and my wings folded in tight, dragon and man agreeing on one truth.
“I swear to you,” I said, my voice rough and unused. “My flame. My scale. My life.”
Her hand rested on my neck. Steady and warm. Commanding without force.
“I accept,” she said.
Axis exhaled in relief, a deep rumble that shook my bones. Then, another scent cut through the air. Grease. Salt. Smoke. Food. My stomach growled traitorously. Axis snorted.
"We have just sworn loyalty and you think of meat?"
"We can do both," I shot back.
The others were watching me closely now. The twin suns, gold and silver, bristled but not striking. The shadowed demon stood still, his eyes calculating. The fae hunter prowled like he expected me to bolt. The Ravelyn smiled at me. Gods, that smile. She was the most terrifyingly beautiful creature I had ever laid eyes on.
“They’re making food,” she said gently. “You’re welcome to come inside.”
I hesitated. Territory mattered. Boundaries mattered. Sharing space with other males who had touched her, claimed her, marked her...Axis snarled at the thought.
"Mine," he growled. "She is flame. We keep her."
I took a step forward anyway. Inside the fortress-cabin, the heat changed. Fireplaces crackled. Wards hummed. The place was strong and defensible. A worthy lair I would kill for. The demon watched me. The twins tracked my every move. The hunter fae smelled like he was ready to spring. I ignored them.
I reached for her. Scooped her up without asking. She startled only a little, then laughed softly and settled against my chest like it was the most natural thing in the world.
“Hi,” she said, her breath warm against my throat. I held her tighter. Possession surged hot and fierce. She did not protest. Axis purred.
"Good. Keep."
I sat at the long table with her in my lap, and folded my wings behind me, my eyes never leaving the others as they cooked. I memorized their movements. Their smells. Their threats. The Ravelyn rested her hand over my heart.
“We are safe here,” she said quietly.
“I am rogue,” I replied. “Safe does not exist for me.”
She nodded like she understood far too well. Axis shifted uneasily.
"Why are there so many?"
"She is theirs," I answered. "And ours."
"Wrong," Axis snapped. "A queen does not belong."
I stilled.
She leaned back, meeting my eyes. “You’re confused.”
“Yes,” I admitted.
Her brow softened. “You don’t understand why you have to share.”
Axis bristled. "We do not share flame."
She reached up, and cupped my jaw the way she had in the woods. My thoughts scattered like ash.
“I don’t take away,” she said. “I multiply.”
The words hit something deep. Old. Forgotten.
“I don’t weaken bonds,” she continued. “I anchor them. You don’t lose yourself with me. You become more.”
Axis went quiet. "More flame," he murmured. "More sky."
I swallowed. “I have lived alone for a long time.”
“I know,” she said softly. “You don’t have to anymore.”
The twin with gold eyes snorted from the stove.
“Careful, dragon. She has that effect on people.”
She laughed, bright and unafraid. I watched her eat, watched the others orbit her, and watched the way the air bent subtly around her presence. Power without cruelty. Command without chains.
Axis exhaled slowly. "Perhaps… sharing does not mean loss."
I tightened my arms around her, resting my chin atop her beautiful pastel hair.
“I will learn,” I said. “But I will guard you with fire.”
She smiled, fierce and pleased. “Good. Because things are about to get ugly.”
Axis grinned inside my skull. "Let them come."
The last Ravelyn had chosen me.
And I would rip everyone apart limb by limb and revel in their screams of agony before letting anyone unmake her.
~
Ysara POV
By the time the plates were cleared and the last crumbs vanished, the room had shifted into something quieter. Softer. Firelight flickered across the stone walls, and the shadows stretched long and lazy.
I hadn’t moved. I was still sitting in Tharion’s lap, with his arms wrapped around me like he’d decided this was where I belonged and hadn’t bothered asking permission. Not that I minded.
The others had pulled chairs closer, forming a loose circle around us. Wyatt leaned back with his arms crossed, his eyes sharp but curious. Rafe perched on the arm of the couch, his gaze assessing. Darken lounged like a king who already knew how this conversation would end. Kalesh crouched on the floor, listening with that eerie attentiveness of his.
“So,” Wyatt said finally, breaking the silence. “Rogue dragon doesn’t usually mean ‘voluntary exile.’”
Tharion’s jaw tightened beneath my hand. He didn’t look away from the fire when he spoke.
“Nineteen years ago,” he said, his voice low, rough like stone dragged over stone. “The Scaled Regent ordered a purge.”
The room went very still.
“Lycans,” he continued. “Ravelyns. Any bloodline deemed… destabilizing.”
My breath caught.
Rafe swore softly. “That wasn’t supposed to be real.”
“It was,” Tharion said flatly. “I refused.”
Darken’s expression hardened. “You defied a full draconic council.”
“I burned one of their princes alive,” Tharion replied. “Then I left.”
Silence slammed down like a weight.
“Nineteen years,” Kalesh said quietly. “Alone?”
Tharion nodded once. “By choice. And by necessity.”
Something inside my chest cracked open. Nineteen years. No kin. No touch. No warmth that wasn’t fire or fury.
I turned in his arms and cupped his face before I could stop myself. “You shouldn’t have been alone.”
His eyes snapped to mine, and the gold flared. For a moment, he looked startled.
“I survived,” he said.
“I know,” I whispered. “But you shouldn’t have had to.”
I kissed his cheek. His jaw. The corner of his mouth.
Once. Twice. His breath hitched, a low sound vibrating through his chest. His hold tightened, and his wings shifted behind him with a soft rustle.
“Careful,” Rafe muttered. “He’s vibrating.”
Tharion growled hungrily. His teeth grazed my neck, not quite breaking skin, but enough pressure to make my pulse jump and my breath stutter.
I laughed softly and grabbed his hand, threading our fingers together. “Easy, my dragon.”
Wyatt laughed. "Ysa, dragons aren't known for their... restraint. Be cautious."
My dragon growled softly in my ear, "I will have you screaming my name, my ravelyn queen. I would never harm you."