Last Immortal Dragon (Gray Back Bears #6)(21)

A deafening roar sounded from her throat as she tucked her wings and dove for the trees. Faster and faster she fell, and just as she thought she would hit the ground, a clicking sounded in her throat and she opened her mouth, releasing hellfire onto a clearing. She scooped up the burning ash, swallowed it down, and immediately she felt energized. Flapping her wings, she angled herself toward the setting sun and pushed her body harder, faster. The sense of urgency never left until she stretched her claws out and lowered herself to the ledge of a cliff face.

He was there waiting, her Damon, but his face was haggard. His eyes were dull and the color of pitch, tired and worried, and he looked as though he hadn’t slept in days.

“What are you doing here?” he asked in that strange language.

Her claws hit the rock, and she shattered inward, shrinking until she was on two bare feet again. Agony ripped at her heart because she was about to break his.

“I had to see you one last time.”

“One last time? What are you talking about?”

“Damon, he knows. Marcus knows about us, and he’s threatened to never rest until you and all of your clan are charred and dead.”

“Feyadine, how did he find out about us?” His voice cracked with power as he glared at her.

“Because I uttered your name,” she admitted, cheeks burning with shame.

He’d told her once, “I’ll love you always.”

She’d told him then, and she meant it, “You won’t. You can’t. You love me now only because you haven’t seen the monster I am yet.” Now he would see her for how weak she really was.

“You uttered my name?” he said low, suspicion filling his eyes and sparking them to the bright silver color she was used to. “When, Feyadine?”

“When I was with him.”

Damon shook his head and backed away a step, and then another, the betrayal in his eyes like a lash against her soul.

“I’ve been his all along. It wasn’t my choice—”

“No.”

“Listen to me, please,” she said, sobbing as warm tears trailed down her face. Monster, monster, monster. “I didn’t choose him, Damon. You have to believe me.”

“Yet you’ve visited my bed all this time. You’ve endangered my people. You’ve endangered me!”

“I am a Blackwing! What can I do other than to obey Marcus’s rule?”

“You’re a f*cking fire-breather, Feyadine! A powerful seer and a fire-breather and you can’t convince me that the choice wasn’t yours. You aren’t some weak female.”

“I’m pregnant!”

Damon drew back as if he’d been slapped. His face crumpled, and he shook his head in denial. “No, Feya. No. You have another century before you’re ready to bear offspring. You’re too young.”

“It’s early still, but I’ll have to stop Changing soon to protect my offspring. I’m pregnant, Damon, and I don’t know if my eggs belong to you or to…”

“Marcus,” he gritted out, eyes blazing. “Did he force you?”

Her voice was nothing but a whispered admission of how utterly she’d failed and betrayed him. “No.” She wished her answer was different, but she was the vilest of monsters. “I came to tell you goodbye. It isn’t safe to see you anymore. Marcus watches me now, and I don’t want him finding you or your people.” She wiped her damp cheeks with the back of her hand and tried to hide the depth of her heartbreak. She’d failed her people and herself, but worst of all, she’d failed Damon. He was too good, too caring. He’d fought for hundreds of years to keep his people safe, but the mighty Damon Daye, alpha of the Bloodrunners, had fallen for someone beneath him. He’d fallen for her.

“Was it all a lie?” he asked, voice bleak.

“No. I love you. If I’d had a choice, it would’ve been you.”

Disgusted, he closed his eyes and angled his face away from her. “I never want to see you again.”

His words cut through her middle, and she cried out in pain. She wished she could die now. She wished her death wasn’t meant for when she would bear offspring she would never see hatch. She wished she could jump off these cliffs and end her suffering. He would be better off if she’d never existed, but that wasn’t her fate. Her fate was to fly away from the man she loved and endure the continuing wrath of a mate who had many conquests just like her.

“What if the eggs are yours?”

Damon slid her a dangerous glare. “You’re one of the mates of Marcus, Feyadine. Do you think he would let me take offspring from him? You’ve taken my chance at fathering young with you, no matter if they’re mine or not. Your eggs and your death will help build Marcus’s army.”

“Damon,” she said in a broken whisper, tears dripping from her cheeks.

“Leave.” He wouldn’t look at her anymore, and the muscles in his jaw twitched as he clenched his teeth harder. “I said leave!”

“I’m sorry,” she sobbed, then turned and jumped from the cliff. For a moment, she spread her arms and let the wind catch her, but the rocks below wouldn’t kill her. Her skin was hard as stone. She Changed and spread her wings at the last moment, then flew away from Damon without a single look behind her.