The (Not) Satisfied Dragon - Colette Rhodes Page 0,36

to be doing, without conscious thought. Thank the gods for that.

I caught a decent breeze and soared for a few seconds, closer to the ground than was ideal, but still very much flying. It was the most exhilarating feeling in the world. Better than killing my enemies. Maybe even better than kissing, though that was proving to be very pleasant. I felt so free up here. Like I could leave all my problems on the ground and fly with the gods.

Ezra roared from above me — not an angry sound, but definitely an encouragement for me to come up and join them. With less effort than I expected, I beat my wings harder to rise to meet them. I doubted I'd be able to fly as long or as far as my mates could without building up these new muscles first, but I didn't feel weak either.

Each of my mates gave me an affectionate clip on the wing as I reached them, and they fell into formation around me. Ezra led the way, leading us back and forth over rolling green hills near the mountain. I suspected he had chosen somewhere that would make a soft landing spot if I fell out of the sky or got too tired. Which was... sweet? It wasn't a word I usually associated with my gruff Alpha.

Eventually, my muscles started to ache, and I huffed a little, short of breath. That's all it took for Ezra to turn abruptly, leading us back towards the direction of our mountain. Their mountain. Or maybe it was our mountain now.

As we approached the den, I was filled with a sense of rightness I hadn't experienced before. A sense of belonging. We weren't the perfect flight, but for the first time we felt like a cohesive unit who were all on the same page, and that was a significant change. It was the realization that there was a future in this, if we wanted there to be one. If I wanted there to be one.

The moment of peace was short-lived though, as we made our way towards the ledge outside the den and noticed Ilia, Seff's father who served on both the Council of Dragons and Avalon Assembly, waiting for us. He was pacing back and forth, looking agitated. It was probably a reasonable response to discovering a whole flight of Councilors had been killed in their sleep.

Even in my far more intimidating dragon form, nerves wracked my body. In theory, there wasn't any evidence to tie me to the deaths of Flight Milain, but I couldn't help feel like Ilia would somehow know. He'd look into my eyes and see it written on my face, I was certain of it. Seff swooped below me and brushed his wing against my underside as he flew up again. A subtle gesture of support. For the first time, I wished I was bonded with them so I could join in the silent conversation I was sure they were having.

Ezra landed first, the rest of us hanging back to give him space as he shifted and hastily dressed. Oren stayed close to me as the others landed one at a time. Ezra gestured at me to land and I began my wobbly descent, landing with a heavy thud that shook the platform. Hiram made a choking sound like he was trying not to laugh, and I lifted my big dragon head to growl at him. I bet his first landing hadn't been smooth either. Asshole.

“Let's go inside, Ilia. I'm not comfortable with my mate shifting back in front of you,” Ezra said bluntly, and I huffed a dragon-y laugh. I doubted Ilia wanted to see me naked any more than I wanted to be naked in front of him. “Oren will stay out here with you until you're ready to come in, Shira.” Ezra reached up to run his hand lightly over the golden scales on my chest before unlocking the door and leading the others inside.

I stepped back, giving myself plenty of room. Knowing the shift would be less painful this time, I focused on relaxing my muscles and letting it happen. It was still uncomfortable — mainly when the bones reformed — but by the time I landed on all fours on the ground, stark naked, I didn't feel like I needed to sleep for a week just to recover.

Oren landed lightly, despite the fact his dragon was far larger than mine, and not so subtly hid my body