For one moment, the world around Adelaide made sense, before that clarity faded away and chaos took hold. Being new to the island, the young woman didn’t have a chance to prepare herself for the events that happened. She was advised to simply touch the hand of the men standing on the pillars. If she had a connection with one they would shift into their dragon form, claiming their rightful place as her protector, forever. She was given a crash course in the history of the dragons and there was one color she did not want to see for it could mean her death and the death of the dragon shifter.

Standing majestically in front of her, the golden scales glimmered in the remainder of the late afternoon light. It was blinding but beautiful. Unconsciously, the woman reached out and stroked the scales, not believing they were real until she felt them. Smooth on the upstroke, scratchy on the down stroke. Adelaide could feel the heat radiating from the body in front of her, letting her know it was a living being. Yet, her mind was still trying to process all of this. She had never seen anything that was not human before and it fascinated her.

Letting out a soft breath the young woman wondered if she should step back. Tension was thick in the air, riding her nerves and making her inwardly cringe. Removing her gaze from the beauty in front of her, Adelaide watched the crowd. All eyes were on them and the faces wore a mix of shock, hatred and confusion. Oh, how she wished she understood exactly what was going on and the danger she was in.

When she noticed the eyes of the king on her, Adele shivered in fear for a moment. Never had she seen so much hatred in a pair of eyes, and yet she was seeing it now, boring into her. Before the woman could think much more on the situation the dragon before her shifted back into his human side and was drawing her attention back to him.  Somber amber eyes looked at her before his hand tugged hers and moved them away from the pedestal and towards the bank of trees.

The pace at which they traveled was faster than she had experienced before but Adelaide was not in a position to fight against it. So much was going on currently and having no clue what to do the woman simply went along with the plan. At least, until she could ask him his name and find out why everyone looked like they were going to murder her.

“Have I done something wrong?” Adelaide asked as they moved through the trees to a secluded place that Caleb had kept secret from everyone. It was hidden to his eyes only, and it would protect them, until he could figure out the next steps.

Warring inside the dragon was the mix of Sebastian and Caleb, merging together and trying to stay sane.