Page 37 of A Dragon's Curse

“Abso-fucking-lutely not.” She held a finger up. “On second thought, I could use it to hang your friend from one of those trees by his ankles.”

“I can still hear you,” Lykem whined.

She glanced back at him and winked. “I know.”

“You couldn’t lift my body on your own, even if you got close enough to get the rope around me,” Lykem taunted, and I knew the second the words left his mouth, he was going to regret them.

Dawsyn squared off with him. “Are you sure about that?”

He swallowed thickly. “Yep.”

He wasn’t at all, but before things could escalate, Sereph and Daron joined us with the nets. “Everyone ready?” Sereph asked.

Lykem was the first to turn and move away from the trees to shift. “Been ready.”

This was going to be interesting.

ChapterFourteen

DAWSYN

Cillian wasn’t willing to let my uneasiness with being uncomfortable on his back go. I’d been forced to use the rope and was sure that I’d be embarrassed in front of the other dragons. Yet, as I held the coarse material between my fingers, I was suddenly wondering what else we could do with this rope…

Though, it pained me to admit that Lykem had been right. I felt more comfortable on Cillian’s back when I had something besides his scales to hold on to.

We flew through the sky, but instead of taking in the sights, I took this time to catch up with my wolf given how quiet she’d been.

How are you doing?I asked.

Better, but I can still feel Knox.

Yeah, so could I and I didn’t like it, but there wasn’t anything we could do about that until we saw my parents.

Rejecting mates wasn’t something that happened often. Very few people even knew how it was done. I’d thought I could do it with pure will, but after having a bond actually completed and feeling Knox so deeply rooted in my soul, I knew it wasn’t going to be that simple.

Mom or even GiGi will help, I said.

Then, we can bond with our dragon.

Yes, and not that I’ve changed my mind, but is there reason to rush things?Not that I didn’t want to bond with Cillian, but I wanted the decision to be on our terms and not because we were forced to.

I could hear the eyeroll in her tone.It would prevent any other dragons from making you their mate.

Okay, she had a point.

We’ll figure that out later. One thing at a time. Let’s get these dragons their supplies.

Cillian’s dragon came down for a landing, once again smooth and easy. I released the rope that stayed tied around his neck, then jumped down. By the time my feet were on the ground, Lykem was already waiting for me.

“Ready, Wolf Girl?” he quipped, spreading out the net we’d brought and securing it to Cillian’s back leg.

I turned to Cillian and his neck bent toward me until our heads were just inches apart. “I’ll be right back.”

There was something in his eyes like fear, but it was also mixed with understanding. He knew I was capable, and I was thankful he hadn’t tried to force me to stay behind.

My palm rubbed between his eyes, careful to avoid the sharp horns at the top. “We’ll be quick. I promise,” I said to my mate first, then I turned back to Lykem. “Ready, DragonBoy.”

He smirked, then headed toward an unmarked building.