Chapter 25: Chapter Twenty-Four

I woke up screaming, dreaming of the barn, Lavi whispered a spell that shook me out of my night terror. I curled into the fetal position and tried not to cry. That didn’t help the people in the car though, I could still feel their guilt and their sorrow.

“Whe-” I had to clear my throat because it was hoarse from screaming, “Where are we?”

“Just made it into earth dragon territory, outside of Topeka,” Alanza said from the driver’s seat.

“Lavi, can I put something on yet?”

“Yes. Let me grab you one of Jax’s hoodies,” she said tiredly. She had to have been healing me the entire time I was asleep.

“Grab her a pair of boxers too,” Jax said from up front. She helped me into both articles of clothing, “Are you dressed?”

“Yes?” He turned around, “I don’t understand. We’re shifters, we’re used to seeing each other naked.”

“Can I hold your hand? My wolf is going crazy after you woke up screaming.” I nodded and he turned and took my hand, “I don’t want to make you more uncomfortable after what you’ve gone through. It may be me but I’m still male and I don’t want to add to your discomfort or pain.”

Tears built up again but this time for a completely different reason than earlier. I kissed his hand, “Thank you. Jax, you are such an amazing man. Thank you for your thoughtfulness. I can’t wait for you to meet your mate so I can tell her all the great things about you and the annoying things and the embarrassing stories I have saved up just for her.”

“I met her, Little Duck,” he said looking down at our conjoined hands.

“Really!? Who?!” I asked as he played with my fingers until finally he looked up at me and over to Alanza with a smile on his lips. “What? When did you guys figure it out? Holy fuck. Have you mated yet? I don’t want the details, just the important ones.”

“Amaya, you saw us naked earlier. Did you see anything?” Alanza asked in a very duh tone.

“I was working very hard on not fainting, thank you, so no I didn’t check plus I didn’t know I needed to be looking!” I said, “So have you? And you didn’t answer my first two questions how and when. Don’t think I’ve forgotten.”

Jax sighed, “Had I known you were going to be as insufferable as Ava I wouldn’t have said anything.”

“Yeah I definitely wasn’t going to say anything,” Alanza said.

“She’s our best friend. I thought she should know! The how and when are easy. It was when Daniel called me in to help look for you. I met your team and boom Alanza. As for the mating thing, we haven’t gotten the chance plus we’re not sure if it’s possible given the different species of weres.”

“Of course it’s possible you dumbasses. The gods wouldn’t have paired you otherwise,” I told them.

Jax sighed one of those long suffering sighs and kissed my hands before letting them go, “Sit back and try to get some rest Little Duck.”

“He finds his mate and suddenly he’s the boss of everyone. I’m a mother fucking queen but oh no mister prince says jump, we all say how high,” I said under my breath making Alanza chuckle.

“Oh my gods, why did I even come to rescue you,” Jax said under his breath.

“Psh like I needed your help. I had the whole thing underground before you shifted. You can’t even be our driver because you don’t know where you’re going.”

“Who do you think got them most of the way there in the first place, you asshole?” He turned to me expectantly.

“The goddess. She told me she helped you guys find me,” I said looking at him just as expectantly.

“The goddess? Seriously. I tracked your scent. They were very sloppy when they took you to that place.”

“Seriously. I don’t remember much of the journey to the place because they injected me with oil but I do distinctly remember them being extra careful. Those guys weren’t amateurs. They were some of the best hunters in the game. They knew what they were up against. The goddess laid that trail and led you straight to me.”

“Then why didn’t she stop what happened to you?”

“I can’t answer that. She and Niamh helped me through it, but I can’t answer why she didn’t stop it.”

He looked down still trying to figure it out, “Get some rest, Little Duck.”

I watched him grab Alanza’s hand and give it a squeeze before closing my eyes, but it wasn't long before I woke up screaming again. Once again Lavi whispered the spell in my ear to break me of the night terror. This time Jax didn’t ask permission; he dropped Alanza’s hand and grabbed mine. I squeezed it to give him the reassurance that I was okay. “Good?”

He gave me a small nod. I kissed his hand before letting go of it. He slipped it back into Alanza’s hand.

I grabbed Lavi’s hand and gave it a squeeze, “Thank you.”

“Anything for you, goddess,” she said so quietly it was as if she didn’t speak at all. I could only give her a shocked look, “I’m from a long line of high priestesses. I was taught what it means for a dragon to not just be queen but to have the kind of control you had over Daniel today. I wasn’t certain until I saw that and the heavens don’t give every dragon power to just any dragon.”

“I’m not sure what to do with the information because I just found out myself from my mom, the current goddess.”

“What are you two whispering about back there?” Jax pretty much shouted from the front seat.

I rolled my eyes, “You’ll find out soon enough, nosy. Where are we?”

“Close. Very close,” Alanza responded.

“Good, I need to stretch my legs,” I said.

“How are you feeling overall?” Lavi asked.

“Stiff. I’m probably at about a seven on the pain scale but that’s down from where I was so that’s a win. We’ll see once I get out of the car though.”