Chapter 4: Chapter Three

-Daniel’s POV-

I spotted Niamh’s storm on the horizon. Josie took them far enough away, or so we thought, before they shifted. I just hoped Amaya had enough control to not show up here.

The more the wind carried the smell of the storm, the more I could smell Amaya and was sure this was her doing. Storm dragons’ storms had their scent because it was their magic that created the storm. That was why creating storms could be so dangerous for us, depending on what we smelled like and where we produced it. Amaya was walking a fine line, I could smell her distinctive petrichor scent, but I knew it better than most. Humans typically couldn’t tell the difference, but when it was a storm on the open ocean smelling of petrichor that was where it got dicey.

I listened in on her boys’ conversation. “Looks like there’s a storm rolling in,” Randall said.

The Prince looked up and took a breath in, then breathed in deeper with a furrowed brow. He glanced at me, “I don’t think it’ll make it all the way inland.”

“You think?” Randall asked.

“It would be nice. It’s been a while since I’ve gotten to enjoy a good thunderstorm,” I heard her mate say. Of course he would be a storm lover. The goddess planned those things down to the last detail.

Shutting them out again I walked down to the shoreline. I wasn’t seated for very long when the Prince made his way over and sat next to me. “Amaya is creating the storm isn’t she?”

I glanced at him trying to decide whether or not to tell him the truth. Based on how much he seemed to care about her, I sighed, “Yes. She’s a storm dragon.”

He blew out a breath, “There’s not many of those left right?”

“No. They’ve been hunted for their magic, but they really took a hit when the royal family of the American clan was murdered along with most of their clan.”

“Were the killers ever caught?”

“Some were. The Prince survived, and he destroyed everything in his path in an attempt to destroy those who had taken from him.”

“You’re him aren’t you?”

I didn’t respond to the question, instead I continued, “I lost my family, my mate, and I had to give up my child that night. It took years to gain control back from my dragon. I had gone mad. Keeping my child would’ve kept me grounded, but it would’ve put her at risk. It was decided she would be raised with her cousin as a human. There would be little risk of shifting if she wasn’t around her own kind and this way she wouldn’t be found by those who had attacked us.”

“Your majesty, where is your daughter today?”

I barely heard him, still caught in the memories from that day and those years. I didn’t answer him; I simply looked out to where Amaya was still casting one hell of a storm.

“Amaya,” he barely whispered. “Amaya’s your daughter? But I thought your daughter was raised human.”

I nodded once, “Amaya was raised by humans. When she was seventeen she was struck by lightning which exposed her true nature. That’s why she was here; it was the final step in her light training. It was about controlling her dragon around humans and going long periods of time without shifting. Storm dragons are the hardest to control. They are the strongest and most powerful in terms of abilities, but if the human side isn’t strong, the dragon side will take over and destroy everything. I’m the only dragon Amaya’s will even slightly submit to; her dragon doesn’t like to listen,” I said that last part with a chuckle.

“Sounds about right,” he replied, chuckling along with me. “You know she has no intention of seeing Fox again, right?”

I shook my head. She didn’t understand not just how lucky she was, or how stupid she was being. “She’s young. She’ll figure it out, or the mate bond will figure it out for her,” my dragon, Ruairi, told me, “She’s already back and it’s only been a few hours.”

“Are you going home at all before you get your assignment?” I asked Jax as a plan formed, causing Ruairi to chuckle.

“Yeah. Once we’re done here we get two weeks off. Why?”

I smiled and relayed my plan, “Think you can help?”

“Let me double check with my parents, but yeah I think I can,” he said with a sly smile of his own.