Mated to the Fire Dragon (Elemental Mates 4)

Alyx smiled, holding on to him.

And then, a heartbeat later, they came out of the clouds.

The mountain was so close that she nearly cried out, half-convinced for a moment that they'd crash into the rock.

Instead, wisps of cloud still trailing from Braeden's wings, he swerved. And there, right in front of them, a ledge appeared, and an opening in the stone.

Gently, Braeden touched down on the ledge. Then, when she had clambered down from his back, her heart still racing, he shifted back.

“This is incredible,” she breathed, looking up at the large cave that opened in front of them.

A second later, they hastily moved out of the way as Jared made it out of the clouds, his large eagle's wings beating the air. Once he had landed and shifted, they all walked inside.

Alyx couldn't hold back a sound of awe.

The cave was huge—it felt like walking into an old cathedral. Every sound echoed. It was so large she couldn't even see the end of it, the rock hidden in shadows. She had to crane her head to be able to see the rocky ceiling above them.

As they kept walking, Braeden taking hold of her hand again in reassurance, she saw four large plinths appear from the darkness. Each of them was marked with a stylized symbol.

“The seat of the council of elements,” Braeden explained softly. “Earth, Air, Water, Fire.”

Each plinth was large enough that a dragon could comfortably perch on it. The symbols glowed with a gentle light, and Alyx found herself smiling as she recognized the plinth of fire.

“I had no idea,” she whispered, then shivered at the way her voice echoed in the vast cave. “This is so different from Wing Island.”

“I know you don't have good memories of caves.” Braeden's worry came pulsing through the mate bond. “We don't have to stay for long.”

Alyx shook her head and smiled at him. “No. This is different—but a good different. It feels strange, but peaceful. Like walking into a museum when it's about to close, all empty and echoing. The fire dragon lair was... Well, you’ve seen it. It felt like—”

“A prison,” Braeden completed, and she nodded.

“This doesn't feel like a prison. I'll be fine.” She pressed his hand in reassurance.

As they passed the four plinths, she began to feel a weird sensation. It made the hair on the back of her neck stand up. It felt like electricity sizzling through the air—or like the aura of power that had surrounded Braeden when he'd used his fire to burn their encounter from the memories of those cops.

“Welcome, Dragon of Fire,” a voice boomed suddenly from the shadows. “Welcome, human.”

Alyx drew in a deep, shocked breath.

They'd warned her about the chimera, but the experience was still unlike anything she'd ever known.

The voice had come out of the shadows that twisted and moved at the end of the cave, even though there was no wind in the cave, and the light didn't change.

For a heartbeat, she thought she saw the shadow of a serpent's tail, and then, for a moment, the more familiar sight of a dragon's wing.

“Come closer,” the voice boomed. “You have news for me, dragon of fire?”

Braeden squeezed her hand in encouragement. Together, they walked towards the end of the cave. Alyx didn't dare to turn around to see if Jared was following them.

“I have,” Braeden said proudly. “I have found my mate. This is Alyx.”

From the shadows came a thoughtful sound.

Alyx shivered. For some reason, it felt as if invisible tendrils of power were reaching out for her. She squared her shoulders, still moving forward by Braeden's side.

She might be human and not a shifter, but she wouldn't be intimidated so easily. She dealt with starlets and fashion gurus for a living, after all. Those were, in many ways, worse than being inspected by an invisible mythological monster.

“Interesting,” the chimera mused. “What about the task I gave you?”