The After Effects

As Rorek roared that word, his human form exploded into a giant red dragon. Soren did the same as his black dragon shifted next to me.

The two males wasted no time in colliding, their massive forms charging with a scary and unnatural speed.

Remembering the others, I turned to see Locke grab Harper from Ragnar. My horse watched the two dragons with a scary intensity.

Black and Red tore into each other, massive jaws and teeth snapping at each other. They tumbled together, terrifying roars rumbled from each of them. Rorek got the upper hand, smashing Soren into a nearby feed shed.

As if insulted, Soren turned to Rorek, his mouth agape before he took off in the air. Soren's huge wings beat powerfully, pulling his body into the air. Rorek following swiftly behind, snapping at Soren's hanging tail.

"Territorial dragons," Locke muttered a curse as he stepped beside me, Harper sitting on his hip as she watched the dragons in the sky.

"Is that why their fighting?" I asked, confused as to why they felt the need for a sudden dominance fight.

Locke turned to me, his jade-green eyes sparkling with mischief as he answered me, "Something like that."

"Why did Rorek say that?" I asked my brother, though everyone's head was watching the battle in the sky. Black grabbed hold of Red's neck and a spike of worry caught me off guard. Soren won't hurt him, right? Before Soren could ask himself that question, Rorek spun around in Soren's hold and snapped at his wings, making Soren panic and release Rorek.

"I think you better ask him that yourself," Locke said, offering no clues whatsoever as to why Rorek suddenly became so possessive of me.

It's almost as if his dragon surfaced because of Soren's prompting. It was obvious that Soren purposely pushed Rorek, but the question was how did he know that Rorek's dragon was so close? Why did Rorek's dragon surface when I left Rorek's arms? Was his dragon possessive of me? and if so why?

So many questions rattled around my head as the dragons above roared and continued their fight. I was surprised to see that they were moving farther and farther away in the sky.

Realizing that I had a chance, I whistled for Ragnar and met him at the gate.

"Hey, boy," I cooed to my stallion and pet him, keeping one eye on the sky though. "Let's get you back into the stable." I turned and led him to the Royal barn, Locke and Harper following next to him.

Locke announced that he was taking Harper inside, and I was thankful that he was the one that was going to explain everything to her. Though Harper frowned at missing out on watching the majestic beasts tussle in the sky.

I put Ragnar in his stall and took a few minutes to ensure he was calm and wouldn't put himself through the door as soon as I left. Hoping to distract him some, I threw some grain and other treats in his bucket. I only left the stable when I heard Ragnar's deep sigh that told me he was, at the least, calming down.

I must've been in the stable for twenty minutes before I finally left and looked at the sky, finding it empty and dragon-free.

Where are they? I frowned as I rounded the building and found the two males laying in a horse paddock, grins on their faces and cheeks red from... laughter? I realized they were laughing as I got closer to them.

"What is going on?" I put my hands on my hips as I neared the males. Their chests heaved with laughter and despite just fighting while flying, neither seemed even close to breathless.

I got no answer as each male saw me and burst out into another fit of laughter.

"Someone better explain to me why you two felt the need to have a dominance fight and are now laughing about it." My voice grew stern as I grew frustrated with the infuriating males.

Rorek stood up and brushed off his pants before offering a hand to Soren, who took it. Amethyst eyes turned to me as Rorek approached me.

"I'm sorry for scaring you, Little Bird," Rorek said as his arms pulled me into an encompassing hug. I sagged into his arms, relieved that neither of them was hurt and there didn't seem to be any hard feelings.

"Well, I best-" Soren said, trying to worm his way out of the conversation that was about to unveil.

"Naha," I looked around Rorek's side to glare at the blonde prince. "I've got some things to say to you."

Soren grimaced at my words, causing Rorek to chuckle as he released me from his cool embrace. Cool? I turned to the male in question and felt up his forearms. They felt cool to the touch, his usual warm presence was the opposite now.

"Little Bird?" Rorek chuckled as I started feeling his chest, patting, and searching for his usual warmth.

"Why are you not hot?" I asked, confusion clouding my brain as I realized I had just insulted the dragon shifter.

"Ouch," Rorek said mockingly.

"Not what I mean, you're usually hot like a freaking radiator. But now you're cool? Why?" I looked up to see amethyst eyes staring back at me with amusement.

"My Ice Dragon is back and so is my usual body temperature," Rorek said, emphasizing ice. "If you don't like it then I can go back to the typical human warmth." He offered.

I panicked as I kept patting his chest before wrapping my arms around his waist and accepting his wonderful new change. "No, I love the cold," I muttered against his ripped abdomen.

Rorek chuckled, wrapping his arms around me, he spoke to Soren. "Thank you for calling him out."

Soren rubbed his neck, "No problem, I saw he was close and figured that I just had to push a few buttons." Both of the males snickered. "Congrats by the way," Soren said, though I couldn't tell what he was referencing as my back was to him. Rorek's arms gave a random possessive squeeze.

I heard Soren as he walked away and looked up to the mountain man that was holding me tight.

"Congrats," I repeated Soren's words to Rorek, causing him to quirk his eyebrow in question. "Your dragon's back." I reiterated so he understood.

"Oh, that!" Rorek chuckled. "Yes, I do suppose that it's good he's back."

"Why do you not seem excited?" I asked, gauging the male's reaction.

"I'm thrilled, I certainly don't miss his brash inner monologue but I'm glad that he decided to finally make his dramatic entrance," Rorek smirked at his words, probably getting some choice words from his dragon.

"That's so cool that you guys can talk."

"Somedays," Rorek mumbled. He leaned down and planted a cool kiss on my forehead.

"Why did you say what you said when you shifted?" I asked the male, finally remembering some of my earlier questions that Locke refused to answer.

Rorek dared to look surprised before he smoothed his features. "You caught that did you?"

I nodded as I stretched my hands out on his back, their tiny size barely covering a quarter of Rorek's massive back.

"Well it seems that my dragon has found his mate, and he decided to stake his claim before making his entrance," Rorek explained.

My thoughts drifted to the conversation I had had with the King and Prince months ago when Rorek first arrived. Like soul mates, but with an actual bond. I recalled the Kings' words.

"So I'm not getting rid of you anytime soon?" I joked, trying to lighten the serious mood that the conversation had brought.

A growl rumbled deep in Rorek's chest as his arms wrapped even tighter around me. "Not for a long time, Little Bird." His lips met mine in a fiery kiss.

And despite the sudden news and change that our new status brought, I couldn't help but feel my toes curl at the way Rorek had said, mate. I suppose if I had to be stuck with anyone for a "long time" that I was glad it was Rorek, because man did he make my stomach flip...