24

Jupei's POV

I wake up early in the morning so I can fly before we go out. I step out onto our platform and call to my brother. What took you so long? I have been waiting for a while to fly. Sorry. The shift takes two seconds and my brother is out and ready to take off. My wings stretch out and in two powerful flaps we are in the air. The air is crisp and I know it will rain soon. Every morning I survey what's around our house and if anything that would threaten us by being too close. Our heart mate is looking for us. I want to go back. Fine but we need to check the perimeter to see if there is anything dangerous around. In all the years we have checked there was never anything threatening. But we don't know. I try to put force into continuing on our path but Quavex wanted to go back. I let go of control and let him fly us back. If there is anything menacing out there it is your fault not mine. Fine. I sigh and Quavex lands on the platform. I shift but not before seeing Mattea come out.

Mattea's POV

I run outside when I hear Quavex land. His eyes see me and he goes through the change. But in his human form he forgot to focus and didn't have his shirt on. He is ripped but I see a tattoo on his chest. It is big and takes up the left half of his torso. He catches me looking at him and looks down. He curses and looks back at me.

"I'm sure you're curious about the tattoo?" He says.

I nod my head still looking at him.

"In dragon tribes it is common for the leader to have a tattoo upon birth. When we reach maturity the tattoo will be complete. For me I have two months before it finishes the tattoo. When it's done the head will be over my heart and the tail will curl at my belly button. The color is based on the color of our blood. Mine is silver because silver blood is very resilient and semi rare. When I was born, the tattoo was only an egg and as I grew up so did the tattoo. Now I am close to leadership and will have to go back for a few days in order to go through the rite of passage. I also have to choose a second in command for when I leave the village. Would you like to go with me?" He says.

"Yes. But why do you guys have different colored blood? Are there other colors?" I ask.

"Blood represents life and strength in our world. To have a different color of blood also tells about who you are as a person. For example red is the most common meaning that they were born commoners and have little power or magic. Dragons can have red, blue, yellow, green, black, white, silver, and gold. Blue is almost every dragon in the Arctic lands because it is resistant to cold climates. Yellow is volcanic dragons, it helps them regulate weather. Green is high in earth magic, many of them are healers. Black comes from mountainous areas because they live there and they control the night time. White is the opposite, they live by water and control the day time. Silver is rich in magic and is good at ruling and being level headed, they are also good with money. The gold blood is almost non existent. I only know two people with gold blood. Our current king and Zicko. They are the strongest and an unstoppable force. I know that Zicko has been named in the trials for our kingdom, he has the most power I have ever seen. That's why his tattoo only forms when he becomes king. The only ones to become king are gold blooded because they are the only ones that can save us from powerful opponents."

I take in all the information. They must have hard lives if blood determines what you can do. I would hate to be a red blooded dragon. They are basic.

"Do you want to touch it?" He asks me.

I nod and he steps forward when he stops in front of me I gulp and look down nervously.

Jupei's POV

I watch her and lift her chin to look at me. At the same time my other hand grabs hers and brings it to my tattoo. What started out as a mistake is now bringing us closer together. I've never had my shirt off in front of girls but somehow I don't feel shy if it's her who sees me. When her hand touches me I gasp and feel a hot flush go through my body. Having her do this is going to be torture. I let go of her and stand still. She slowly explores the design and I bite my lip. The tattoo is of my heritage which is the first dragon of my clan and then the others after him. They are smaller dragons that make one big one.

"So these are all of your ancestors that ruled before you?" She asks.

I nod because I don't think I could speak. She was really close to my ticklish spot. When she ran her fingers over my ribs I jumped and she pulled back.

"Sorry, I'm really ticklish there." I say.

She gets a challenging glint in her eyes but continues to look at my tattoo. She finishes and looks back up at me.

"What do you think?"

"It's really cool, but...."

"What."

"I'm embarrassed saying it."

I wait and she sighs.

"I like your muscles better." She mumbles.

I laugh and hug her to me. I rest my head on top of hers. She slide her hands around my sides and suddenly she attacks. I bring my elbows down but it's not enough. I am hunched over and laughing so hard. I her footsteps approaching us but no one helps. I fell over and tried to get away but she tackled me and pinned me down.

"S... st...op...I...ca...can...n't...breath...." I pant in between laughter.

She doesn't though. I see her weakness and in a quick move I put my lips on hers and flip us. Now I am on top and she is no longer tickling me. I pull back and stare at her. For one minute it was like we had our on pocket of time with only the two of us. But then Enway spoke up.

"How discusting." He says.

I jump off of Mattea and run after him. He laughs and runs away. He jumps off the balcony and Maddie gasps, she doesn't know that we can change that way as well. She relaxes when his dragon jets accross the sky. I go next but am faster at changing and run off the platform right into my dragon. As I speed towards him everyone is laughing below. I close the distance fast and manage to land a couple of attacks but he is a lot faster than I gave him credit for. He lands below our tree house and shifts back. His shirt is gone and I do the same. We take stances accross from each other. He makes the first move....

Mattea's POV

When Enway shifted back he had a black tattoo on his arm that went around his neck. He makes the first move and Jupei easily dodges. He never told me if black blooded dragons had certain personality like he did. The fight didn't last long when Jupei caught Enway in a head lock.

"I submit. Just let me go." Enway says.

Jupei lets go and climbs the stairs quickly. When he comes over to me he hugs me tightly and takes me away from the others. I look down at him and his eyes are glowing.

"Where are we going?" I ask.

"To the pool. It's upstairs." He says grufly.

"But I don't have my swim suit!" I say.

"You have underwear that will be ok."

Before I know it we are at the pool and he stripes his sweat down but leaves his boxers on and looks at me. My mouth is slightly ajar and he comes over to me. I hold out my hand and he stops.

"I can do this myself." I say.

He shrugs and dives in. I shake my head at his weird actions. I take my shirt and shorts of and jump in. The water is a pleasant coolness and I look around for him. I didn't look under the water and I am suddenly lifted. I shriek and fall forwards until my hands land on his shoulders.

"What is up with you right jow?" I say

"The fight got me worked up I wanted to cool down but my dragon took you with me."

His arms support my bottom and I am above the water a little bit but I was eye level with him. I felt the tension in the air and it seemed as if he was fighting himself over something. But what he was trying to hold back got free and he kissed me hard. We kissed like there was no tomorrow before I pulled back. The windows were steamed and the water had a layer of fog over it.

"Sorry, sometimes when I get strong emotions my dragon's fire gets free." He says.

I smile and he brings me towards the middle of the pool. I become slightly nervous since he might want revenge for earlier. I am flung through the air so fast that I don't even register it until I break the surface, sputtering and shocked. He is doubled over laughing and I dive back under the water towards him. I knock his feet out from under him and break the surface. He goes under and I run out of the pool with mine and his clothes. I run into the living room where everyone else is and to my room. I hear a roar and pounding footsteps. I look for a place to hide and see a chest that I could fit in. I get inside and close the top when my door smashes open. I hear him panting and he stops right where I am hiding. I feel the chest being lifted and we are walking somewhere.

"Where are you going with a chest Jupei?" Amkay asks.

"Can't say."

All of a sudden the chest is flipped and I fall out.