Fragmented bond
Chapter 1

The tops of the trees formed a blanket of varying shades of blues and greens as I flew over them. My powerful wings propelled me forward, bringing me closer to home as I passed through the rippling black barrier that ran from the ground to the sky. Before I crossed through the barrier, it had been midday in the Death mage lands, with the three white suns brightening the sky. But now that I was in Summoner lands, it was night. The air was still hot even without the suns, and had I been in human form, I would’ve been sweating up a storm. At least I had a reprieve from the suns. Even my dragon was miserable in this heat.

We had five lands separated by the veils in our realm, and none of them were in sync when it came to the time of day or the number of suns and moons in each land. This made it confusing when traveling between them, especially since the days in the Death mage lands were twice as long as the Summoner’s lands.

Our lands were in the stages of early evening, the two suns having recently vanished from the sky, only to be replaced by our blue moon that was bigger than the two orange suns combined. The sky was a dark indigo and was different from the pastel blue that was present during the day.

As I neared an opening big enough for my dragon to easily land, I began my descent. My dragon’s warring emotions melded with mine as our minds were practically meshed like they usually were when I was shifted. While she couldn’t speak actual words in my mind, I felt all of her emotions and knew what they meant. Tonight she was feeling the typical joy and the freedom we always felt when flying and stretching out our wings. Unfortunately, the peace she felt was tainted with disappointment.

All we seemed to discover lately was disappointment.

As soon as I landed, I pulled back on the energy from my dragon, and she retreated to where she normally resided in the center of my chest. Heat-tinged magic washed over my body as the change took hold, and I shifted back into human form. There was the initial pain from my snapping bones as they reformed, but it was nowhere near as agonizing as it had been the first time I shifted when I was three. After over thirty-two years of shifting, the process was now seamless and barely hurt. Maybe I had also gotten used to the pain and knew what to expect.

Once I was standing on two legs, I tapped the black colored metallic bracelet—which was magicked to disappear when I shifted—and my clothes reappeared. I didn’t often use it since the bracelet drew from my energy whenever I used it. But it came in handy when traveling between the lands in dragon form, that way I didn’t have to wander around naked.

My clothes were simple, the shorts and the shirt were one piece. The sides tied together on either side of my breasts, waist, and hips. While it took a few extra seconds to tie it together when dressing, the ties made them easy to remove, allowing me to shift within seconds.

I wasn’t alone out here and at first, I was on high alert until I caught a scent I knew all too well. “Didn’t Dad teach you not to sneak up on a dragon?” I called out to my younger sister Aeliana, but I usually called her Liana or Lee.

“Where were you?” She asked instead of answering my joking question. Her musical voice held notes of worry along with exasperation. She came into view a few seconds later and her face matched the worry in her voice. Her yellow-green eyes glowed in the darkness as she appraised me.

I held back the urge to shift around, both because of her scrutinizing stare and how I’d rather not have this conversation. Knowing her the way I did, I knew she wouldn’t be too pleased when she found out where I’d been. No one would be, but I was becoming desperate.

Liana crossed her arms, tapping her foot as she impatiently waited for my response, and she wouldn’t take no for an answer. Nor would she allow me to evade it. She was as fiery as her bright orange hair would suggest.

Releasing a long breath, I knew it was best to get this over with. “I was visiting the Blood mage lands and had my blood tested to see if maybe the problem is physical rather than emotional,” I spoke the words in a rush, but based on her slack-jawed expression and gasp, she understood every word.

“Thea,” Liana finally choked out, her eyes looking like they were ready to pop out of her head.

“I’m not stupid, I was careful. I watched her the entire time and made sure she didn’t ingest any of my blood,” I quickly explained before I started getting lectured by my little sister. Well, baby sister since she was half a head taller than me, not that it was hard.

Liana was silent for several long seconds, appearing at a loss for words for once.

“Why would you do something so fucking stupid? I don’t care if you watched her; some of those blood mages can be sneaky bastards and know how to use sleight of hand to steal your blood. With our royal blood, it’s all the more appealing for them to steal.”

To my utter embarrassment, the back of my throat and eyes burned with the telltale signal that I was about to cry. It came on so quickly that I was unable to stop the rush of tears as they slid down my cheeks. A sob built in my throat and once again I was unable to hold it back. I pressed my hands against my face to hide my irrational reaction, even though I doubted Liana missed it. Dammit. This was the second time in two days that I cried like this.

Liana immediately reacted and pulled me into a hug. The wild and untamed presence of her leopard was soothing to me and my dragon. As was her familiar scent and the way she patted my back. “Honey, what’s going on with you? Has something else happened, or is this all about Lukas?”

Another sob shook my chest at the mention of my fated mate. Several months ago, I met my fated mate. While I was initially overjoyed at having found the one the fates deemed my perfect match, I was now frustrated like no other. When I felt the beginnings of the bond, I hadn’t realized how much pain and frustration this damn thing would bring. It had been months and the bond had barely progressed.

For fated mate couples, their souls were tied together by the cord of the fates. When each partner was born, the cord was tied to their souls and would only appear if the bond was activated—there were plenty who never met their fated mate. The bond was mysterious and activated due to multiple varying scenarios.

For Lukas and me, it appeared after the first time we had sex, but we were the lucky ones, or so I originally thought.

For many fated mate couples, the bond was complete within a month—some it only took a week—but with us that hadn’t been the case. I rarely ever felt the cord, and I’d never felt the warmth in my chest that other couples felt. No matter what I did, and I did a lot, the bond was a stagnant asshole, refusing to budge. If I was being honest, it started to feel like it was declining. Last night, I almost swore I felt a crack in the already weak bond.

“Still nothing?” Liana guessed as she rubbed my back in soothing circles.

“He refuses to touch me anymore,” I finally choked out, sobbing even harder into her shoulder.

This past week when I saw Lukas—which I rarely did—he barely touched me, keeping his distance. Last night when I tried to initiate sex since I missed him, and I thought it would be a way to bridge the growing distance between us, he flat-out turned me down. He said he wasn’t in the mood, and then left even though he promised to stay the night.

It had been over a week and he wasn’t in the mood?

My one friend who had a fated mate had sex often, like at least every other day. I knew I shouldn’t compare our mating to others, but I couldn’t help it. We were summoners, driven by our animal’s instincts. It was why we were so protective of our mates, and why the men were typically overly dominant. So for him to turn me down after over a week of not having sex, it just didn’t make sense. Not only that, but it was insulting and wounded my pride, making me wonder what was wrong with me, hence why I ended up crying when he left.

“Is it me? Am I the problem in this relationship?” I couldn’t help but think this. I’d never heard of any fated mate couples having these kinds of problems. Which was why I was desperate enough to start branching out, looking for my own answers.

Liana pulled away, keeping a hold of my shoulders as she locked her inscrutable gaze on me. “You listen to me, you are not the problem here. You have gone above and beyond, doing more than he deserves. If anyone is at fault, it’s him. He’s been doing the bare minimum. He hasn’t been showing any interest in furthering your bond.

“When was the last time he joined you on your trips? I can tell you, never. What kind of piece of shit man lets his mate go into other lands alone? It’s despicable. He should be insisting on joining you to keep you safe, even if you can take care of yourself. Your mate should care for your safety.”

We’d had this argument many times over and my next words were a part of the script at this point. “He just doesn’t see the point in wasting his time seeking outside help to develop our bond.” My words sounded wooden, lacking the conviction I used to have.

Letting out a sigh mixed with a groan, Liana looked up at the bright moon as if it would give her the patience to not replace Lukas and beat him senseless. “Are you sure about this bond? Are you sure this is what you truly want? All it’s brought you so far is pain, suffering, and a mate who makes you cry.” Her voice was gentle like she was speaking to a startled animal.

“Of course,” I said, hastily wiping away the remnants of my tears as if I could pretend this moment of weakness never happened. “The unfulfilled bond is the problem, once it’s complete everything will sort itself out, you’ll see.”

Liana bit her lip, clearly wanting to argue, but she held her tongue and nodded. “I hope you’re right about this.”

I knew I was being naive, but I couldn’t stop the futile hope. My dragon had been pushing me hard lately to fulfill the bond, and her growing frustration and confusion were compounding with mine. Which was probably why I’d been irrational, over-emotional, and desperate in my search lately.

It could’ve also been from the Great Heat, many swore the heat wave made some of us act crazy. Whatever the case, I wouldn’t stop my quest to figure out the problem. I just had to trust that this was meant to be.

I mean, why else would the fates pair me with Lukas if he wasn’t meant to be my mate?