Amaya’s POV
Fox had silently been watching the entire time, until Georgie started to get a little discouraged by his inability to hold onto the water. I squeezed his hand in a silent thank you. “It’s time for a break, Little Dragon.” Georgie started to object, but I stopped him, “We can keep training when we get home, but I don’t want you to overdo it today.”
“Okay,” he pouted.
“Amaya? Where are you? I just landed. Meet me in the center of the village, please,” Daniel linked me.
“We’re at the waterfall. We’ll make our way to you,” I linked back. “Come on. Daniel’s here,” I said to Georgie and Fox.
We stood up and Fox picked Georgie up and put him on his shoulders. “Why do you call your dad by his first name?” Georgie asked, looking down at me.
“I wasn’t raised by him, so usually I call him Daniel unless I want to call him Dad.”
We reached the village quickly, and saw Daniel in the middle of the village talking to Mucamutara’s mate, Afonso, and Mona. Georgie was giggling about something Fox said, causing Daniel to look over at us. He excused himself from the conversation and walked up to us. First he pulled me into a hug, allowing Niamh and Ruairi to connect. He pulled back and looked at Fox, “Fox,” he said curtly.
“Daniel. It’s good to see you,” Fox replied with a curt nod.
Daniel looked up at Georgie, “And who is this?”
Georgie tried to hide in Fox’s hair, but couldn’t quite hide on his shoulders. “This is my new friend Georgie. Georgie, this is my dad, Daniel.”
“Hi King Daniel,” Georgie said quietly, not looking up from Fox’s hair.
“Please Georgie, call me Daniel,” he said, “Where are his parents?” Daniel linked me.
“Killed by hunters pretty recently. His mom was the healer in training before Joseph happened. Mom told me he’s going to be a gifted healer,” I linked back.
His pain was evident when I told him about Georgie’s parents, “Come here Georgie, let me look at you,” Daniel said, reaching out for him. Daniel set him on the ground, but Georgie kept his head down. Daniel squatted down so they were eye level and lifted his head with a finger under his chin, “It’s okay Georgie. You look just like your dad, except for your nose, that’s your mom’s nose,” Daniel squeezed his nose gently, causing Georgie to laugh.
“You know my mom and dad?” Georgie asked excitedly.
Daniel nodded, “Your mom was very gifted, and your dad had all the markings of being a great warrior.”
Fox kissed my temple, “I’m going to go check on the guys.” I nodded and he walked away.
“Georgie?” Liza called out, seeing him with Daniel.
Georgie looked over at his aunt and uncle as they hustled over, “Aunt Liza, Uncle Mike! This is Daniel. He was telling me about mom and dad.”
Daniel stood to greet them, but Liza placed Georgie behind her protectively, “Please don’t hurt him.”
Daniel growled softly, causing Mike to push Liza behind him. When Daniel saw their reaction his face softened, “I’m sorry. I’m not going to hurt Georgie, and the fact you think I would tells me Joseph did, which upset my dragon. You have nothing to fear from me.”
They looked over at me, “It’s true. You don’t have to worry about Daniel hurting you guys like Joseph did.”
“Mike Torres and Liza Price?” Daniel asked and they nodded, “I know you don’t remember me, but I remember you both. Liza, you were my mom’s favorite kid in the clan. She liked your mischievous nature. Mike, you had just started training. You and Sean were two of the most promising kids we had. I’m so sorry for everything you both have been through,” Liza began crying and pushed past Mike to embrace Daniel.
“It’s not your fault, my king,” she said between sobs.
“Please call me Daniel. I can’t help but feel responsible for all that you’ve gone through,” Daniel replied.
Liza calmed down a little, and released Daniel so Mike could embrace him. “Don’t. You didn’t know, couldn’t have known,” Mike said before releasing Daniel.
“I should have. I felt the bonds break that night, but deep down I think I knew you all were still alive. I should’ve tried harder to find you all. I would understand if you didn’t want me as your king, however, if you did, I would be honored,” Daniel said to them.
“You’re giving us a choice?” Astrid asked, walking up to the conversation.
“Of course. We’ll support you no matter what you decide, but you will have a choice in whether or not I am your king. After everything you all have been through, I can’t force you to stay under my rule.”
The conversation drew a crowd. The dragons who made the trip to Alanza’s clan heard Daniel’s response to Astrid’s question. They shared looks with one another before they all went to one knee and put their fists over their hearts as a sign of acceptance of Daniel as their king, causing Daniel to fall to his knees in tears. I walked over to him and placed my hand on his shoulder. Mona stood and walked over to Daniel and embraced him. “My king, why wouldn’t we choose you? You aren’t Joseph, and many of us remember how kind you were before Joseph attacked us.”
“I’m so grateful for your trust. I won’t let you down,” Daniel said, standing back up and wiping his face. He embraced each member as they came up to him.
I gave him a pat on the shoulder before I walked away to find Jace. I found him easily on the edge of the village center. “How are you, Jace?”
“Shocked to say the least and worried they won’t accept me as quickly as they did Daniel because Joseph is my father,” he said with his head hanging low.
I grabbed his face with both hands and lifted it up so he had to meet my eyes, “You will prove yourself to them. They will stand behind you because you are a good leader. You’ve already started proving yourself to them when you helped the injured get food. Being mates with Finley will help too.”
He gave me a hug, “Thanks. You’ll always be around to help too, so that’s comforting.”
“Anything you need, I’m happy to help,” I said, giving him a final squeeze around his midsection before stepping away from him. “You can do this though. Even if you didn’t have Finley by your side, you could do this on your own. You aren’t Joseph.”
He nodded. “So,” he said, no doubt about to shift the subject, “I noticed you and Fox came into the village together, after leaving together. What’s going on there?”
I sighed, “We’re trying it out. He’s all in, so we’ll see.”
“Be careful, please. I’m here if you need me,” he said.
“Thanks Jace. What time do we want to leave in the morning?” I asked him.
“How about six? The SEALs probably need a little more time to sleep with everything that’s happened,” he said.
“Sounds good. I’ll let them know, if you’ll talk to Daniel about it.”
“Will do. Thanks for the chat sis,” he said with a small smile.
“Any time little brother,” I said before walking away to find the SEALs.
When I found them, Tex and Fox were with them. “Do you know what time we’re leaving?” Matt asked.
I nodded, “We’re going to fly out at six, to give most of you a chance to rest a little.”
“We’re fine,” Todd said, “If you wanted to leave out earlier. We’ve gotten more sleep on this run than we usually get, so don’t worry about us.”
“We’ll still leave at six,” I said with a nod of my head before I walked over to Alanza. “How’s Nalda?”
“She has a long recovery ahead, just like you did. She will find it easier once she finds her mate,” she said in a sullen voice. “I wish I could stay here with her as she recovers.”
“You could. You don’t have anything, except maybe Jax, holding you back. The team will be fine without you, if that’s your concern.”
“No, I know that. I don’t think I can leave Jax for that long. You know he can’t go on leave whenever he wants, so I would have to leave him behind for however long. I don’t think I can do that,” she responded.
I nodded, “Whatever you decide, we’ll support you.” I said, giving her a tight hug.
“Thanks Amaya,” she said, returning my tight squeeze before letting me go.
About an hour later Mucamutara called for the feast the clan had been preparing to begin. The sounds of two happy clans coming together surrounded me quickly as the feast started. Once it started winding down, I said goodnight to everyone and began walking to the place I was staying in for the night. “Hey, Amaya, wait up,” Fox called, running up to me. I slowed down, allowing him to catch up, “Where are you off to?”
“Bed. Where are you off to?” I responded with a small smile.
“I guess bed, wherever that is.”
“You don’t have to. You can stay longer if you want. I don’t want to end your fun,” I said, giving him a kiss on the cheek, “Go. Join me once you’re ready to go to bed.”
He sighed, “Okay. If you’re sure.”
I nodded, “I am. Go,” I said all but shoving him.
Once back to the house Fox and I were staying in for the night I quickly packed before heading to bed.
Fox’s POV
A couple hours after Amaya left the party, I heard a blood curdling scream coming from the direction Amaya went when she left. I looked over at Daniel, who nodded, before I took off running until I found the house. I found Amaya easily inside in the midst of a night terror, so I climbed in bed with her and pulled her to me tightly. As soon as my arms were around her, she stopped screaming and she startled awake.
“Wh-wha,” she cleared her throat which was raw from screaming, “What are you doing in here?”
I put my hands on her face and looked her over, as something inside me wanted to double check she was actually okay. “You were screaming, so I came to find you. Do you want to talk about it?”
She shook her head, “It’s just the nightmares I was telling you about. I didn’t bring my herbal supplement, so it was the worst one I’ve had in awhile.”
“Is there anything I can do?” I asked her, feeling helpless.
“Just keep holding me, and maybe just talk to me,” she said, settling into my arms, as her body started vibrating.
“What do you want me to say?” I asked, not knowing what to tell her.
She shrugged, “I don’t know anything really about your family, so maybe tell me about them.”
I blew out a breath, “I don’t know where to start. My parents have been married forever, and they’re super handsy which is the worst thing about being around them for any amount of time. They are disgustingly in love with one another. My dad retired from the Marines just a few years ago and my mom is a high school teacher. I have two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother. Viola is an FBI agent and was married to a Marine, but he recently passed away, leaving Viola to raise their son, Jack, alone. Jack is such a great kid. He’s dealing with Trent’s death better than anyone could’ve predicted. He’s such a funny kid too, even after everything. Vi is so good with him too, and my parents help. My little brother, Sutton, is in the Army’s Special Forces.”
She yawned before interrupting me, “Why did both of you go into the most elite branches in the Military?”
“I don’t know. Dad was in the Marines, so maybe we wanted to follow in his footsteps without going into the same branch because he has so much influence.” I yawned, “Sutton likes to hold me being a SEAL over me, but Dad always reminds him at least I didn’t turn my back on the Navy, unlike him. Dad used to bring up Trent, saying even Viola married in the Navy. Dad likes to joke about Sutton being a traitor, but Sutton takes it all on the chin.”
She laughed quietly, “I can’t wait to meet them,” she said sleepily.
“They’ll love you,” I responded in a tired voice.
“Thank you for coming to me when you heard me screaming,” she said through another yawn.
“Always,” I said through a yawn. Her breathing slowed and the purring stopped, but I continued talking to her. Rambling on about nothing, until I also fell asleep.
Author: Kailan Counahan 