Thorn by Tia Didmon

CHAPTER6

It took all of Thorn's willpower not to reach for Ella. He'd been human for ten minutes and he was asking her to mate him. A woman who was distrustful of men. While he averted the attack from Roker, her distrust stemmed from something deeper. A childhood trauma, perhaps. He needed Ella. He loved her. But he didn't know her. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to rush you. We have a bit of time. When the magic of the tree wanes, we will know.

Ella ran her hand over the black bark. "What kind of tree is it?"

"It's a binding tree. Created from the blood of a druid from a lost temple."

"Why did I need to perform the spell? It didn't work until I repeated the words Cole said."

"The magic only works for mates. This is the last of its kind. Cole took a branch, but it takes a Druid with a specific power to create a binding tree."

Ella hugged herself. "I'm your mate because the tree says so?"

"No. I recognized you the moment I saw you. So did Ren. Your soul calls to mine. Regardless of the form I'm in."

Ella rubbed her neck. "I need a moment to process this. It feels like my world is being ripped apart. I know I can't go back to my previous life, but if you expect me to get to know you, I have to understand who and what I am first."

Thorn understood having to learn about a new world. To have everything you believed in ripped away from you. Those first moments, when the mage uttered his despicable incantation. When Thorn had stepped in front of Legion. The mage had changed his life in ways no one, not even his family, understood. The memory rolled through his mind as it had a thousand times.

Power slammed into his chest. In his years of training with the dragons of his race, he had learned when to attack and when to wait. The spell had been nothing like he'd experienced. It wasn't death. It was another life. A wolf. It was innocent and fighting for its right to live.

The foreign energy gathered itself inside his body, as any creature would before it delivered a death blow. Had he attacked the consciousness inside him, he would've died. Instinct told him to bend his will with the foreigner, accept the spirit within him. Thorn had spread his fingers wide and held them palms out, offering his soul.

The beast within him thrashed its outrage at being forced to merge with another, but the bonds that held them together were unbreakable and permanent. Once the wolf inside him realized there was no escape, it began its fight for dominance. Ren was an alpha, and the ensuing fight was inevitable.

Unseen threads spun between their souls as the spell, meant to bind Legion's magic, mutated with the lack of power in Thorn's body. While his Dragon was saturated with magic, it wasn't the power of the alpha. That of the gold dragon. The spell consumed Thorn's body until only the wolf remained.

His skin turned dark before it shuddered. Dark fur rippled over his arms before holding his hand in front of his face. His fingernails lengthened into black claws. The change wasn't like shifting into his Dragon form. It was elemental, as if the transformation were a cellular level, and no other form existed.

Thorn had fought back, unwilling to relinquish his human and dragon form, but the spell had depleted his magic, and his Dragon form fell with its human. He expected to die, but in those seconds, Ren had seen Thorn’s life. His clan. He witnessed Thorn sacrifice to save his leader, as well as his willingness to die for him.

Ren had deemed Thorn worthy. Instead of rejecting Thorn, he accepted him, allowing the immortal Dragon soul to use his body. Their minds battled back and forth as Ren's instinct to dominate was that of the predator. Dragons, however, were not prey, and Thorn's instincts as a hunter had kicked in. He didn't surrender and eventually, they reached a balance. One that turned to love and acceptance.

While Ren had access to Thorn's life, his memories. Thorn had relived Ren's. Growing up in the wolf pack. Learning to fight with his pack mates. Fighting for the right to mate and lead. Ren had been an alpha in his prime, yet he had left his wolf pack after passing the mantle to the next generation to save his Dragon clan. Two-thousand years had passed, yet they still checked in on Ren's descendants.

Why haven't you claimed what is yours?

Ren?

Is there another wolf stuck in your body?Ren said.

You have never spoken with human words before.Thorn messaged.

You have learned to speak to the wolves. Your mind processes what I say into your archaic language.

Thorn forced himself not to smile. Ren's personality had not changed in two-thousand years. Protective. Smug. Still dominant. It is comforting to speak with you this way.

Dragons are too sentimental. You have a beautiful mate. She is distressed. I don't like it.

I know. I don't either.

Fix-it. Ren messaged.

I would if I knew how.

Claim her.Ren's images of how to claim a wolf mate were wildly inappropriate, but his intentions and suggestions were made of love for both Thorn and Ella. His need to protect his pack, an instinct he couldn't ignore.

I'm working on it.

Work faster. You need to strengthen your human body in order to survive.

I will.

Will we fly soon?Ren asked.

In their thousands of years together. This was the only thing Ren asked for. He flew on the back of Draco's dragon many times. He loved every moment. He wanted to be a flying wolf. To control dragon wings and travel the airways before he died. Thorn had promised it, but now, accepting that giving Ren this one wish was also accepting his death, made his soul ache. He wanted Ella with every fiber of his Dragon's soul, but he didn't want to lose Ren. I won't let you die.

Don't be irrational. Death is a part of life. Even for a Dragon. You knew this day would come. My life has been extraordinary. I have tried to prepare you.

I am older than you, yet you still treat me as a son.

Older yes. Not wiser. And you are not the first cub I accepted into my pack.Ren messaged.

Thorn coughed. Cub? You're being insulting because you're not used to a human body. You're a pain in the ass, but likable.

There is no being like me, but I have ensured you'll do what's necessary to strengthen your pack. Our pack. I will not condemn Ella to a half-life. She must go on. As must you. I accept my fate to reverse yours.

What are you talking about?

Ren's consciousness receded. You will see.