Page 14 of Destined Paranormals: Volume One

Mate. If this were true, I would be able to scent my mate, but I was only scenting dragons. Many dragons. What did that mean?

Feiedrich was human, and as far as we knew, he did not know of our existence. I proceeded with caution, stopping at each door to scent what was on the other side. I found the first two had humans behind them and kept walking. I paused at the third door, scenting a dragon behind it. I’d know that sulfur smell anywhere.

Why was there a dragon behind that door? My dragon agreed there was another like us, but it wasn’t the one he was after, so I continued on down the hallway. It wasn’t until I made it to the end of the hall that my dragon became agitated.

Whoever the dragon was behind the door, mine was screaming mate, and I needed to get inside to get to him. I pushed on the door, finding it locked. I used more strength, wondering if my mate truly was behind the door.

When the metal creaked, the lock breaking, I pushed the door open and peered inside. Immediately, the scent of my mate engulfed me, and although the room was dimly lit, I could see clearly enough. I found my mate shackled to the far wall, and when icy-blue eyes met mine, I roared in anger.

I jerked awake, gasping for breath. It took a moment for me to realize that I was in my cave and not in the castle in Germany. I sat up, getting my bearings. The fire had died down considerably, telling me I’d fallen asleep and spent part of the night here. I got up, quickly undressing and returning my things to the chest that I kept here.

Once the cave was back to rights, I called for my dragon, effortlessly shifting into my scales. With a quick breath, I had the fire out, allowing me to walk to the roaring water, where I leapt through, then spread my wings.

Like always, I glided downward until I pumped my wings several times, taking me back to the top of the mountain, where I soared just above the treetops and back to the cottage my parents and I had built. Once it was in sight, I landed and shifted, quickly climbing back into my window.

I listened for my parents, but no sound met my ears except their deep, heavy breathing. They were still asleep. I went to my desk, pulling out parchment, ink, and quill, and quickly penned a letter to them, telling them of my hasty departure and why. I knew if I waited to discuss this with Father, I’d be met with resistance, so I simply put my thoughts into written word.

I felt bad for doing so but left my parchment on my bed, along with Da’s purse, and gathered a few more things, stuffing them into the satchel that Da had left for me. I opened my door just a crack, and after I tossed the satchel out the window and followed, I pulled the window down and walked away.

As I walked farther from my fathers’ home, I wondered if this was a fool’s dream. But why would I be dreaming of a dragon that mine said was our mate? Why did it feel so very real? Why would my dragon push me as he was to go in search of him?

The only answer I had was to listen to my dragon. That meant shifting and starting the long flight across the land, then ocean, then more land. It would be taxing and would require great strength, but I knew my dragon could do it. He’d done it before and would again. Especially if our mate needed us.

Once more, I called for my dragon, and after I had the satchel securely in my claws, I took to the skies. It was going to be a very long flight.

Chapter 6

Konrad

August 1768

It was the same thoughts over and over. Were we ever going to get out of here? What was it about these shackles that stopped us from shifting? Would those of us that had been taken be able to figure out how to escape? Would the alphas from our village come searching for us? It helped that we were able to talk loud enough to hear the ones in the rooms next to us. But how much longer would we be able to keep our wits about us?

I missed my family. Especially my brothers. I was certain they had grown considerably in the time I’d been gone. Would they think that we’d all run away in the night and not bother coming for us? These were questions that we’d all asked ourselves more than once.

I’d given up trying to get comfortable long ago. I had no sense of time anymore, only that I had lost track of the days and nights. It had been months though; that much, I was sure.

The one meal a day we were served had been tossed at me hours ago, and although it was never enough, it was better than nothing at all. We’d not been given a full meal since the one time they’d put something in it, and we all slept for the better part of a day. We had discussed it as much as we could through the walls and wondered if it was that they’d expected different results. The chains on my wrists had started to get irritating again, and because of the short chains, I wasn’t able to lie completely down. I could move around enough to use the chamber pot, something I was grateful for, even if I’d long ago given up any pretense of being clean. I tried to think of the bathhouse that my fathers had and dreamed of the tub. I wanted to sink down as far as I could and stay there until the water became too cool to remain comfortable.

My thoughts were interrupted by noise outside my door, my advanced hearing alerting me that someone was coming down the hallway. That was unusual as we didn’t often have visitors after we were given our scraps of food.

I waited. There was nothing more that could be done, wondering if something was finally going to happen to us this evening. Would they end us? Would we ever know why we were taken? Was it the creepy old man that liked to stare at us? I’d not seen him in some time.

Someone stopped outside my door, and I heard a thud, followed by the door’s sudden creaking, and then it was on the floor. The thing had been pushed completely off the frame and was lying on the floor. I heard a low growl, and when I met the dark eyes of the man standing there, my dragon swirled in my mind for the first time in what felt like forever.

Mate!

The loud roar that came from the man standing there could only come from a dragon, and I held my breath, wondering what it would mean for our survival. The man rushed over, kneeling down in front of me, and I lowered my eyes. This was an alpha, a strong and powerful one.

“Why are you here?” he asked harshly.

“We were taken from our home north of here,” I said in reply. I watched, fascinated, as the alpha in front of me simply ripped the chains from the ring in the stone wall. We had all tried to do such a thing for months now.

“Can you shift?”

I shook my head. “I cannot bring my dragon forth. He is here,” I said, touching my chest and head. “But he cannot come out, no matter how much I ask him to. We have all tried.”

A serious look had me lowering my gaze again, no matter how handsome I thought the alpha. He obviously found me lacking. Not that I blamed him. He was clearly above me, and I was an omega that currently reeked and had nothing to offer. I knew I looked a sight, but there was nothing I could do about that at the moment.