JAXON POV
A little girl had wandered into the exercise yard. She was standing right in the line of the spreading fire, frozen with fear. Without thinking, I ran toward her, but the dragon inside roared to life.
Let it burn, a voice whispered in my head. Fire is beautiful. Fire is power.
"Shut up!" I yelled at the voice, but my body temperature spiked. The air around shimred with heat.
I reached the girl just as the flas were about to touch her. I scooped her up and rolled away, but I could feel my skin burning hot. Too hot.
The girl scread again. Not from the fire—from . I was burning her.
I dropped her quickly and backed away, watching helplessly as she ran screaming to her mother. The woman took one look at and pulled her daughter behind her.
"Stay away from us!" she yelled. "Monster!"
The word hit like a punch to the gut. Monster. That’s what I was becoming.
I closed my eyes and tried to calm down. The dragon voice in my head laughed.
You cannot fight what you are, it said. Stop trying to be weak. Embrace the fire.
"I won’t hurt innocent people," I whispered.
Then you will die, the voice answered. And everyone you love will die with you.
I opened my eyes to find my brother Kael standing in front of . His face was grim.
"Jaxon, what happened here?" he asked, looking at the burning training yard.
"I lost control again," I said sadly. "I almost hurt a child, Kael. What if I can’t learn to control this thing inside ?"
Kael put his hand on my shoulder, but I could see him wince when he felt how hot my skin was.
"You’ll figure it out," he said. "You always do."
But I could hear the doubt in his words. We both knew this was different. Ever since the dragon bonded with three weeks ago, I’d been changing. Getting stronger, but also more dangerous.
"Where’s Lucien?" I asked. "Maybe he can help."
"He’s with Aria," Kael said. "They’re dealing with the trapped pack mbers. The Shadow Lords are moving them again."
Right. The war was still happening while I fought to not burn everything down.
"I should be helping," I said.
"Not like this," Kael said strongly. "Not when you can’t control your skills. You’d put everyone at risk."
He was right, but it still stung. My whole life, I’d been the careless one, the one who jumped into danger without thinking. Now I was the danger.
"Maybe I should just leave," I said quietly. "Go sowhere far away where I can’t hurt anyone."
"Don’t even think about it," Kael said. "We’re family. We stick together."
Before I could answer, Elder Malin appeared beside us. The old man had a way of showing up when you least expected him.
"Jaxon," he said in his raspy voice. "Walk with ."
I wanted to refuse, but Elder Malin wasn’t the kind of person you said no to. I followed him away from the burned training yard, leaving Kael to deal with the damage.
"You’re afraid," Elder Malin said as we walked.
"Of course I’m afraid," I snapped. "I’m changing into so kind of fire monster. I almost burned a little girl today."
"The dragon is not your enemy," Elder Malin said quietly. "It is part of you now. Fighting it will only make things worse."
"Then what am I supposed to do?" I asked desperately. "Just let it take over? Let it turn into a killer?"
Elder Malin stopped walking and turned to face . His old eyes seed to look right through .
"Tell , Jaxon," he said. "What do you know about why the dragon chose you?"
"Nothing," I said. "It just happened during the fight with the Shadow Lords. I was dying, and suddenly this dragon spirit joined with ."
"Nothing just happens," Elder Malin said. "The dragon picked you for a reason. But you’re so busy fighting it, you haven’t stopped to find out what that reason is."
I looked at him. "What do you an?"
"Dragons are not just creatures of destruction," Elder Malin said. "They are also creatures of defense. Of loyalty. Of sacrifice."
"I don’t understand."
"The dragon bonded with you because it saw sothing in you that you refuse to see in yourself," Elder Malin said. "Stop focusing on what you might destroy, and start thinking about what you can protect."
Before I could ask what he ant, we heard yelling from the direction of the pack house. Sothing was wrong.
We ran back to find chaos. People were running everywhere, and I could sll smoke that wasn’t from my earlier fire.
"What’s happening?" I asked Marcus, one of the pack fighters.
"Shadow Lords," he said grimly. "They’ve got so kind of new tool. It’s burning through our shields like they’re made of paper."
My heart sank. More fire. More damage.
"Where are Kael and Lucien?" I asked.
"They went to evacuate the nursery," Marcus said. "But the way is blocked by so kind of wall of black fire. No one can get through."
Black fire. I’d never heard of such a thing, but the dragon inside stirred with recognition.
Shadow fire, the voice whispered. Dragon fire corrupted by dark power. Only true dragon fire can fight it.
I felt a chill despite the heat coming from my body. "How many children are trapped?"
"Twelve," Marcus said. "Including so of the youngest pups."
I closed my eyes and thought about what Elder Malin had said. The dragon picked to protect, not destroy.
"I’m going in," I said.
"Jaxon, no," Marcus grabbed my arm. "That fire will kill you."
"Maybe," I said. "But those kids will definitely die if soone doesn’t try."
I ran toward the nursery before anyone could stop . As I got closer, I could see the wall of black fire Marcus was talking about. It twisted and writhed like it was alive, and it felt wrong in a way that made my stomach turn.
The dragon voice in my head was no longer whispering. It was roaring.
NOW, it said. NOW YOU UNDERSTAND. THIS IS WHY I CHOSE YOU.
I could hear children crying on the other side of the fire wall. I could hear Kael and Lucien screaming, trying to find another way in.
I took a deep breath and let the dragon power flow through . But this ti, I didn’t fight it. I welcod it.
My hands burst into flas, but they weren’t the wild, damaging flas from before. These fires were controlled. Purposeful.
I stepped forward and pressed my hands against the black fire.
The two fires t with a sound like thunder. The black fire recoiled, and I pushed harder, forcing my way through.
Step by step, I carved a way through the Shadow Lords’ barrier. The dragon fire burned hotter than anything I’d ever felt, but it didn’t hurt . It felt like coming ho.
I was almost through when I heard a voice behind .
"Impressive, young Alpha."
I spun around to see a figure in a black cloak standing in the opening I’d made. A Shadow Lord.
"But you’re too late," the person continued, pulling back his hood.
I gasped. It was my father.
Alpha Darius stood there, his eyes burning with the sa black fire that had blocked the nursery. Shadow power.
"Hello, son," he said with a cold smile. "Ready to learn the truth about our family?"
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