Captured By The Dragon
Episode 42

Dylan

I hadn’t felt her in days. It wasn’t as if she was gone, but almost so. Her pain escalated and fell into nothing. The rage I felt from all of it was the only thing that kept me through the never ending battles in this war.

I couldn’t tell if she was dead or on the edge of it. I couldn’t tell if she was in a ditch dying or kept in a basement at some freak’s house and that drove me insane more than anything—not knowing. My mind spun with possible thoughts and each one was even worse than the last.

The rage that mixed with fear and left me unstoppable. A force that made grown men turn and run from me before I reached them. I needed something to take it all out on, and it left me victorious in every battlefield I stepped foot on. I loved when I came face to face with a bigger fool that always underestimated me. Those were my favorite screams.

The war was closer to being closed. I could feel it. The pushback was less than it ever had been and I knew they were starting to become hesitant when they were once confident. I ripped that confidence from them as if it was mine for the taking.

With the image of Patara gone in my mind, I only became more determined to win. If I couldn’t save her, I would save my land. I would clear out the bad name that other shifters had given our land and make it new. I had to make it new, my mother would have wanted that. She would have been proud to see what I fought for.

My villa was filled with the definition of a good time and distractions from war and heart ache—but I only locked myself away in my room until the day came again. I didn’t need the women that clawed at my door waiting for an invitation inside my bed.

I didn’t need them to forget Patara. If I touched them, they would only turn into her and that would make everything worse. No, I didn’t need that sort of distraction. No one in this land or any beyond would taste as good as her—and I didn’t like pretending.

It wasn’t until a week after I stopped feeling Patara that I felt her so intensely that I almost stumbled down the stairs. I caught myself at the second step and doubled over from the pain in my chest.

It was… heart ache? Or something else?

I didn’t give a shit what it was—it was her! She was still alive and now her breathing was steady again. I thought she was gone, I swore something had happened to her and I let that fear and anger drive me into the ground until I almost ruined myself.

“Patara…” I whispered as I clenched my chest. The feeling quickly faded and I normally would have convinced myself I imagined it if I hadn’t almost just fallen down the stairs.

She was out there somewhere…

And she needed me.

I knew she did. I could feel it clear as day.

“Dylan? What the hell are you doing?” Erik said from the bottom of the stairs. He had a half eaten sandwich in his hand and mouth full of food as he looked at me as if I was crazy or in trouble and he didn’t know what to do.

“Do you still have contact with that man that can track down humans in their world?” I asked as I stomped down the stairs and passed him. He followed me into the kitchen.

“I—uh, I guess. I haven’t spoken to him in a long time but yeah, I know how to replace him. Why? Are you still burnt over that human chick?” Erik leaned back against the counter as he watched me.

Erik had been taking good care of the young girl Cindy like I promised Patara. He kept her safe and happy and let her live free as a little girl. Last week, he snapped a man’s neck for making a horrible comment about the young girl and I could only support that sort of action because I would have done that myself if I had heard it.

Erik was becoming soft. He even mentioned how she reminded him of a little sister.

“She needs me. I can feel it.” I grumbled.

Erik rolled his eyes to the ceiling. “Dylan, man—you have to let this go. This girl literally burned down your entire house just to fake her own death and get away from you. I don’t think she wants you to come after her.”

The reminder sent a dark spark of rage through me. “She didn’t do that. I know she didn’t. It was someone else that brought her back there—but I’m not f*****g around, Erik. She needs me.”

Erik gave me a long look that only irritated me more. I didn’t have time for this. I gripped my shirt and pulled it over my head to show him my mark hidden beneath my arm. It mirrored the one on her shoulder. I had to apply it myself after she fell asleep the first night she let me touch her. She didn’t wake once even when I used her hand to trace the dragon.

Erik’s eyes widened. “You didn’t tell me you bound yourself to her, man. That isn’t a joke.”

“I f*****g know that! I feel her through it sometimes. And I just felt her now—she needs me.”

Erik sighed and pushed away from the counter. “Alright. I can get him here by morning. What are you going to do?”

“I just need him to give me her location and I can handle the rest. I’m going to bring her back to me.” I said. Erik scratched his jaw.

“It might need a little more planning than that. I imagine they will have better security on her since she was already taken once. I wouldn’t recommend going alone, Dylan. You know the humans have those special weapons for shifters. One bullet, one stab, will be the end of you.”

“I can handle it.” I said. “I wasted enough time already—she should have been back with me but instead she’s suffering alone.”

“Alright. I’ll get right on it.” He saluted me and backed out of the door, his sandwich long forgotten.

I paced the living room. I knew I couldn’t leave this moment even if I wanted to. I had to do this right—I couldn’t go in there and kill her entire family or something like that. I had to get her out of there and back here before they noticed she was even gone.

How stupid had I been to let her go so long without me? I should have torn through her world the second I found her gone—but no. I tried to convince myself that she wanted to be away from me.

And maybe she didn’t want to be back here with me—but I had to go get my girl before I felt more of her pain.