Mate To The Dragon
Chapter 18: Daerius

My wolf is growling at me, and I am growling back.

How could you let her go? You had her in your arms! He snarls.

Because she asked me to! If I hadn’t then she would be completely pissed off and there is no way she would ever let that happen again! I spit. I get silence in return.

That’s what I thought, I mutter before ending our connection.

I walk behind Lyza, next to my sister who is smirking widely.

“What?” I snap as she throws me another devious glance.

“Nothing, it’s just it looks like I was right about the dragon, it pissed you off didn’t it?” She sneers, failing to hide her obvious delight.

“She isn’t an ‘it’ and no you weren’t right about her,” I growl and she scoffs with a roll of her eyes.

“But you are pissed? What did she do to make you so upset?”

“Nothing, now shut up before I have you gagged,” I warn with a growl. She laughs.

“Of course you wouldn’t gag me, just have one of the guards do it for you, just like dad always did. Why can’t the werewolf King do things on his own? Why must he have wolves below him do everything?” She growls and I snap.

“Stop,” I command the guards. I snatch a rag from one of them and walk over to my sister, tying it around her mouth.

Well it’s about damn time. I thought you would snap a lot sooner than that, she chuckles through a mindlink.

Shut up! I snarl, blocking her out of my mind.

I growl under my breath, staring at the dirt path we are traveling on. I feel hand on my arm and instantly know who it is from the tingling sensation that moves up my shoulder.

“Lyza,” I mutter, earning a sigh in return.

“I didn’t mean to make you upset,” she says in a small voice. My anger immediately softens.

“I just don’t understand, not too long ago I was being interrogated as your prisoner, and now I wake up to you holding me? What is going on?” She asks.

What should I tell her? I ask my wolf in panic.

The truth! Madox growls.

I can’t do that! That would make her Luna and the pack would never accept her!

“Well you’ve proven to me that you aren’t vicious. Plus you went through a lot yesterday, I just wanted to make sure you’re alright,” I say, only half-lying.

“Oh,” she mutters, her face falling slightly.

Now look what you did! Madox growls.

Shut up! It’s for the best.

She increases her pace and moves to walk ahead of me. It honestly is killing me to push her away like this, especially after I allowed myself to lead her on last night and this morning.

Are you ever planning on telling her that you’re mates? Madox asks. I sigh, glancing at Lyza.

No.

“There it is,” Lyza says. I look up from where I was staring at the ground and my eyes widen.

“You brought us to the Devil’s Circle?” Angel snarls angrily.

Jagged and rocky peaks form a massive circle stretching nearly a hundred miles in diameter. It is home to nearly a dozen active volcanoes and was the birthplace of the first dragons.

“Yeah, this is where I was born,” Lyza says.

“This place is one of the most dangerous in the world! I told she was leading us to our deaths!” Angel growls. I now regret removing her gag.

“Angel I swear, if you don’t stop it with your ridiculous paranoia then I will give you a gag and put a bag over your head,” I snap.

My eyes are no doubt flashing with anger and she reluctantly closes her mouth, glaring at me through narrowed eyes.

“Since it isn’t safe to go at night, we will go first thing in the morning and just camp out by the entrance,” Lyza suggests and I nod in agreement.

“Let’s go then.” We walk the rest of the way down the path until we are less than a quarter of a mile from the jagged peaks.

The darkness glows red with the light from the volcanoes, giving it an eerie feel that puts my wolf on edge. Lyza however, seems to be quite calm and almost content.

“What no fire tonight?” Angel asks sarcastically.

“I think the volcanoes are good enough,” I mutter and she rolls her eyes but stays quiet.

Lyza lays down near me, but deliberately stays a few feet away. I lay down with a small shake of my head. If this is the right thing to do then why does it feel wrong?

I jerk awake to a muffled scream and immediately someone grabs my arm. I snarl and try to move but in less than a second, I am completely immobilized.

Two massive men restrain my arms and lock a strange collar around my neck. There are two sharp spikes sticking out of it, almost touching my throat and I realize they are made of silver.

I see all of my guards, Mykael, and Angel wearing the same, each with a man beside them. The men are extremely tall, with bulging muscles and scarred faces.

The one standing next to Lyza is especially massive. I watch as he restrains her differently. Her wrists are handcuffed behind her back and a chain connecting to her metal collar is attached as well.

“Who are you?” She asks but is quickly silenced by the man’s growl.

“Let’s go,” he says to the others. His voice is deep, with a slight rasp that makes him sound deadly and wise.

I am shoved forward and wince as the silver spikes scrape the skin on my neck. We are all pushed towards the volcanoes and my concern grows.

The entrance to the circle looms over us, a tall tower of rock with a tunnel through it. I feel panic flood my mind for the few moments we walk through the complete darkness.

On the other side, everything glows orange and red, a severe contrast to the black night. Strange rock formations surround us, all leading up to a particularly massive one about a quarter of a mile away.

Then I realize, it isn’t a rock formation, it’s a castle. Someone lives here, someone who is pretending to be a ruler, I think.

The doors to the castle are pulled open by two men in black armor to reveal a palace of red, black, and gold. It looks like fire is creeping up the walls and that the floor is made of glowing embers.

Directly in front of us is a throne, and the man sitting in it has me panicking. He stands as all of us are pushed to our knees.

As he walks closer I can only guess he must be nearly seven feet tall, and be completely made of muscle. He has more scars than all of the men restraining us combined. The worst is one running directly over his eye and down to his jaw.

“Adarath?” Lyza suddenly asks. I see her lift her head to look at him, her eyes widening.

“Is that really you?” She asks, moving to stand. A guard tries to push her down but stops when the man lifts his hand. She stands all the way up and takes a step towards him.

“How do you know King Adarath?” A guard demands, moving towards the man’s side.

“King? Well I simply knew him as Uncle,” she says and my eyes widen in shock. The King’s gaze lights up with recognition and he waves a hand towards Lyza’s guard.

“Unchain her,” he orders. The guard complies and as soon as she is free, she runs to the King.

She throws her arms around his waist and he wraps his around her tightly. He places a kiss on her forehead and I can see tears streaming down Lyza’s cheeks.

“Why are they calling you King?” She asks, stepping away.

“Because I am their leader now,” he explains and a man suddenly walks towards them. He pauses in front of Lyza.

“He is King Adarath, and now that you are home, you will be called Princess Lyza.”