Chapter 82: Sarn
She is my true mate. My power builds and my violet light passes from me to her until we are one flashing glow of perfection. Her wolf's power blends with mine in seamless harmony. I have never felt this degree of rightness. I could only share a small part of this energy with my brides. Nothing like what is taking place right now. Sierra's cry floats on the wind and my shout follows. The light explodes around us. It reaches over a hundred yards in all directions and the ground shakes with the power of our release. We are mates. We are one. We are forever.
I hold her long after our bodies calm. The glow around us dissipates slowly. If we were in the dragon realm and she my bride, she would have already transcended to dragon. It matters not. She is my mate-a wolf with a dragon's heart.
"I love you," she says against my chest.
"And I love you. I'm sorry it took the extra days to get here. I had to say goodbye."
"I am sorry for everything you've lost." She's leaning up gazing at me with my purple light spilling from her body.
I smile when I see the new color of her eyes. They are a perfect match to mine.
She lifts her arm and a trail of that light follows as she moves it. "This is glorious," she says with the most exquisite smile.
I place my finger at her lips. "Yes, it is glorious. It can only happen between dragon mates. There will be no more apologies between us. What we do from this point forward, we shall do together. We have an eternity of happiness to live and I want every moment to be better than the one before."
She nips my finger then snuggles back down against me. "Will the light happen every time?"
"Yes."
"My father will love that," she says with a slightly wicked laugh.
I laugh too. "I must build us a castle to hold the light in when we make love."
"I don't care if the world sees. They will only be jealous that it isn't them. Love me again, Sarn."
"As you wish."
***
Sierra
So many years wasted, but we make up for them. We stayed in bear territory for a month. Then we traveled to my father. He and Sarn became great friends. Part of the key was my father seeing me so happy. My brother and Derrick came to visit also. We spent three months in the southern territory before visiting Marcus and Amy. It was just over the border of their territory that Sarn purchased land and built our castle, or as he calls it, our lair. As the mate of a dragon, I no longer needed a vampire to give me eternal life. I am truly Sarn's forever.
We have no knowledge about how things work when a dragon and a wolf shifter mate. I still feel sad at times that Sarn no longer has his dragon form. He never feels that way, though. He is happier than I've ever seen him. Part of that is me, but I suspect the largest part is that he finally forgives himself.
I am the happiest woman alive. I have dragon in my soul and the love of my life in my bed. As Roxy told me, there is no greater love than the love of a dragon. And I have that forever.
***
Tahr
I lay on the bed with Meagan in my arms. Somehow she has survived longer than any previous bride. Her will to live leaves me in awe. Her cloudy eyes are open and peering into mine. I see the lines of pain that furrow her once-flawless skin. I smile gently to ease her worry. This is the end and we both know it. I have been up with her throughout the night. She only hangs on because of me.
"I wish to see the sunrise, Tahr."
I lift her almost weightless body from the bed and carry her out the huge doors that lead to the landing perch. I hold her in my arms as she looks out over my realm with a soft smile on her lips.
It's a long moment before she expels her next breath.
"Go in peace, my love," I whisper against her hair as she takes one last shaky breath.
My roar of fire seems endless as I scream my wrath over the land below. I finally carry her back inside and lay her upon our bed. I don't lie down beside her. If I do, I will never rise. I adjust her nightshift and comb her hair until the thin gray strands surround her beautiful face. I kiss her cooling lips one last time. Then I wrap her tightly within her favorite blanket. I carry her back out to the perch and shift. My silver wings spread wide and I lift her in my talons. I hold her gently and fly to the ocean. I release her in the deepest water like I have so many brides before.
I am the last of the damned. I am also the youngest of the four dragons originally cursed. They have each found a mate. I am the only one without left alone. There's a good reason for that. It's the reason the curse of one-hundred-thousand years will bring me pain until those years have passed.
I am the last direct descendant of Drakon, the dragon who caused the curse. My father was his brother. I alone should pay for Drakon's sins, but the Goddess is vengeful. I've watched all the dragons die but the four of us. Then watched my three remaining brother dragons suffer with the pain of losing their brides again and again.
It's fitting that I loved Meagan so deeply, and I will love my next bride in the same way. Fire rises in my throat and I let it slice over the water that has accepted my bride as gift. Now the long years of loneliness begin again.
And I will survive because dragons live forever.
Tahr's story next...
END OF PART THREE
