Mated to the Earth Dragon (Elemental Mates 2)

Three giant plinths of stone. Three dragons on the council.

Her Damon, the dragon of earth. The dragon of water, who kept annoying him.

And the third one had to be the dragon of storm. The one who’d found a mate and apparently hadn’t gone insane.

She’d never even known that that was a problem dragons could have. And now that she’d seen the sort of destruction the fire dragons could cause, she was suddenly very glad that Damon was in no danger of that anymore.

“Approach, dragon of the earth,” a deep voice came booming out of the darkness.

Autumn flinched, looking around in sudden shock.

The cave was still empty. The voice had come from somewhere in front of them, echoing through the darkness. But there was no shape she could see.

What did a chimera even look like? Was it a more powerful dragon? Was it something completely different, like the griffin?

Damon took hold of her hand. His fingers tightening around hers as they kept walking forward.

The plinths were empty—which made sense, because the other two council dragons were still in Iceland.

There was no plinth for the griffin, and she didn’t dare to turn around to see if he was still following them.

Her heart was beating in her throat. There was nothing but darkness before them. Step after step led them deeper into the blackness beyond the plinth—and suddenly, a dim light seemed to illuminate the gloom. The darkness in front of them pulled back a little—but there was nothing to see. The cave ended here. A rocky wall stretched in front of them, shadows playing over the furrowed surface.

“You’ve brought a human before me, Damon Drago,” the disembodied voice boomed again.

Autumn’s heart skipped a beat when she suddenly realized that the shadows in front of her had moved, even though the light wasn’t shifting at all.

For a moment, she thought she could make out the shape of a dragon, then the shadows blurred again.

“I have brought my mate before you,” Damon said next to her, his voice firm.

The shadows flickered again. This time, she thought that she saw the tail of a great snake—and was that the head of a goat?

Then the shadows fell apart once more, as if a gust of wind had moved through the cave, even though Autumn hadn’t felt the air stir.

Everything was silent. The air felt thick and heavy. All of a sudden, Autumn began to regret booking that trip to Iceland.

It had been the dream of a lifetime to travel and explore, to have the adventures she’d always had to postpone. With the money she’d spent on the trip, she could have saved up for retirement, or started to save up for a tiny house of her own. She could’ve bought a large TV for the nature documentaries she loved to watch. Iceland on the screen would’ve been just as beautiful, and no dragons would have escaped her new flat screen to breathe fire at her.

She could see herself now, standing in a small house in the suburbs. If Mark hadn’t cheated on her they day of the engagement party, perhaps that’s where she’d be now...

The house she saw was cute. The furniture was a little worn, but everything had been selected with obvious care. The pillows on the couch matched the curtains. There was an orchid with giant, pink blossoms on the window sill, and above the small fireplace, there were pictures of three children.

There was a wedding picture next to them as well. Autumn was wearing the dress she’d eyed in the wedding magazines all those years ago—the one that had been so expensive, but fit all her curves and made her look like a princess.

There were no pictures of exotic travel locations. No honeymoon in Paris or Venice or the Caribbean—but the house br

eathed contentment. Just standing there, surrounded by the many tiny signs of a happy, fulfilled life made something inside her ache with regret again.

You could still have it, a seductive voice whispered inside her head. It’s your choice. It’s always been your choice. One word, and this world of dragons and fire will vanish. You’ll be back where you know you’ve always belonged. Only this time, it will work out. He’ll love you like he should. He won’t cheat on you. Isn’t this the life you’ve always wanted? The life you know you should have? There’s no danger in that world. No dragons. It’s a perfectly normal life, and perfectly happy.

Her mouth dry, Autumn turned towards the pictures above the fireplace. Two girls and a boy, all with her hair and Mark’s eyes.

That was what she’d dreamed of, years ago. She’d dreamed of it even on the day when he’d cheated on her and destroyed all of her dreams.

But hadn’t she been happy with him before? If she could have him without that betrayal, if he could be the man she’d always thought he was—wouldn’t she be crazy to say no to that?

She’d nearly died so many times since she’d met Damon. She’d never be able to tell her friends and coworkers about how they’d met.