Thornhill Academy. Chapter 47

**Allison**

I had only meant to take a little of his power. Enough to land a punch he’d actually feel, enough to stop the frustration churning in my gut. But the rage simmered under my skin like molten metal, and I took more. More than I should have. And then, without even thinking, without even knowing what I was doing, something…happened. My body overheated. Everything burned. My whole world cracked open. It felt like my bones were tearing and stretching all at once, my blood thick with something that wasn’t mine but had always been waiting. And right there, in the middle of the field, I realised—I was shifting. Unlocking a second part of a shifter’s power, I had never dared to touch. Evander did what I asked. He didn’t hesitate. He got me away, into the trees, deeper, faster, until no one could see us. And as soon as we were alone, I let the pain thrum through my body, let it do whatever it wanted, let it consume me whole.

And then there was a voice. Soft and low, inside my mind. *Hello, my human.*

I froze even as my skin split and reshaped, even as claws slid where fingers had been. I had just unlocked my own dragon. But that wasn’t the only thing. Because as she looked down upon Evander and inhaled his scent, she spoke to both of us. *Mate.*

It wasn’t a question. It wasn’t even a declaration. It was an ancient recognition, something older than the council’s wards and the festival’s rituals. I watched from the passenger seat of my own body as Evander shifted, scales rippling into existence, wings opening wide. And then our dragons collided, not in battle, but in a way that felt like a thousand memories I never had, all snapping back into place at once. We circled. We breathed each other in. And something inside my soul slid into place, like a key turning in a lock. I have a mate. Although this is not how it’s supposed to be done, although it breaks every rule they drilled into me at Thornhill, I had no doubts. He is mine. And I am his.

*Ready to fly, little one?* Her voice is velvet and thunder in my mind, curling around my thoughts like smoke. My dragon. My other half. My pulse kicks, but before I can even shape a reply, she’s moving, wings snapping wide, sunlight spilling off golden membranes. The first downward beat is a jolt. Air rushes against our face, our claws slip against the moss as we lurch forward. We stumble, stutter, wings grabbing at the sky like a fledgling learning how to breathe. My heart slams so hard it rattles my ribs. *We’re flying. I’m flying.* Below us, Evander’s dragon rises. A blaze of bronze-gold, a living sun under our shadow. He doesn’t climb straight up; he slides beneath us, enormous wings steady and patient, and nudges our body higher with a current of air. Protective. Solid. Teaching without a word. He soars in front of us, rolling into an easy glide, his massive wings angling just so. Instinctively, my dragon tilts her own, mimicking the motion, the awkward judder of our flight smoothing into something more like a rhythm—a heartbeat in the wind.

*There we go*, she murmurs inside my skull, equal parts pride and hunger. *We watch him. We Learn. We are meant for this.*

Evander banks left, dipping his wingtip toward a column of warm air rising from the trees, and we follow. The current catches us, lifting us higher. Another beat of our wings and the ground shrinks; another, and the clouds are close enough to touch. For a breathless, impossible moment, there’s nothing but sky, his dragon ahead of us like a living beacon, and the wild, fierce joy of my own power answering his.

When we finally descend, I’m laughing in my head, loud, wild, uncontained. Happy. Free. The wind still clings to our scales like a second skin, and I understand, in a way I never had before, why shifters are so full of themselves. Flight isn’t just power. It’s joy. It’s the world opening under you and daring you to fall. Our landing, however, was less than graceful. My massive dragon body barrels through the last stretch of trees, claws scraping earth, wings folding at the wrong angle. We tumble into the dirt with a graceless thud that rattles my teeth and skid to a stop against a tree trunk. Bark cracks. Leaves scatter. My dragon huffs out a plume of smoke and then starts to purr. I’m laughing harder inside her head, shoulders shaking with it. If this is what being a dragon means, then I’ll take every awkward crash with a smile. Evander is already shifting before the dust even settles. One heartbeat, he’s a creature of molten bronze, the next, he’s human again, bare skin flashing gold under the canopy as he runs toward us. Naked...so fucking naked. Concern is etched across his face, fierce, protective, like he thought I might break.

*Goddess has blessed us,* my dragon purrs deep in our chest as his scent hits us.

“Ally? Are you okay?” he calls, voice rough but warm. My dragon’s tail flicks lazily, a satisfied growl humming out of her throat. The sound makes him chuckle, a low rumble that hits something inside me. He reaches us, pats our massive head as if we’re some giant cat instead of a fledgling dragon, and the gesture is so absurdly tender it makes my chest ache.

“Can you shift back for me?” he asks gently.

I tilt our head at him, confused. *And how the fuck would I do that?* I think before I can stop myself. He laughs again, softer this time.

His voice threads into my mind like smoke. *Imagine your human body. Imagine the shift. Really want it and it will happen.*

*Oh,* I think in return, the sound in my head small and startled.

I close my dragon’s golden eyes and force the image of my human self into the dark. Every imperfect, breakable piece of me. I focus on it hard enough that my teeth ache, willing myself into bones that aren’t wings, into a body that can’t soar. The pain hits me, and it’s just as brutal as the shift into my dragon. I choke on a sound between a scream and a sob as the last of her coils into me, locking down tight in my chest. My knees slam into the dirt, hands trembling where they plant against the ground. I can still feel her, though, humming under my skin, alive, awake, coiled and content. *Mate,* she whispers one more time before sinking into quiet.

“Ally,” Evander breathes. He’s right there, crouched in the dirt, his hand hovering like he wants to touch but doesn’t want to scare me. His golden eyes are wide, still a little too bright with his dragon. I’m too wrung out to move, too raw to fight.

“That hurt like a bitch.”

Evander finally, finally, he wraps his arms around me, warm and solid, holding me like I might fly apart again.