The wings hurt like hell as he morphed them back, the torn chest muscles protesting every move. So much so that he collapsed on the bed, gasping. Shifting form always hurt, but it was much worse if you were injured. Some things got better—you could heal bones, although it was agonizing—but soft tissue injuries were a bear. Surface wounds often got worse as the skin flexed.
Torn muscles fell somewhere in between. It would take a few morphs to fully heal them.
Lucas lay on the bed and shivered in pain as the wings wound their way to nothing. He would likely never need them again. Not after today.
Aria was a Dragon, and a warrior. Her kind appreciated strength in all its forms. Tyrez was a perfect example of what a Dragona expected in a mate.
Yet despite that, for a few moments up there, he’d sensed her desire. Her scent had been laced with it. Caught up in the moment, she’d wanted him. It had been a heady, and powerful, thing.
But he’d blown it. She would never look at him that way again.
Hushed voices echoed in the hall. Aria, sounding worried. Cara, reassuring her. Then silence, followed by a soft knock.
“Go away.” He didn’t want to see anyone.
The door opened.
Lucas grabbed the heavy comforter and grimaced in pain as he yanked it over his naked form, pulling it right over his head. “I don’t want company.”
Cara closed the door behind her. “You require healing.”
“I’m fine.”
The Watcher snorted. An equine sound. Unsurprising, considering that was what she really was. Stubborn as a mule, too, as she didn’t leave, but perched on the edge of his bed.
“I said I was fine.”
“Yes, you did. Fortunately I can decipher when someone is lying.”
Lucas lowered the comforter to glare at her.
“You are behaving like a child,” she informed him. “Aria is very worried about you. You could have died.”
“Yeah, well, it isn’t her fault that I’m an idiot.”
“She says it was her fault. That she pushed you too hard.”
Lucas’s heart twisted. “I should’ve known better. I’m no Dragon.”
Cara tilted her head. “Do you have to be?”
“Yes.” The word slipped out before Lucas even thought it. When Cara stared at him, he gritted his teeth. “She deserves a Dragon.”
“Why?”
He stared at her. “Because she’s beautiful. And strong. She wants to be grabbed by the throat and taken to heaven.” He closed his eyes. “I can’t do that.”
“That is how Dragons mate when they are in their beast form,” Cara agreed. “But you are not a Dragon.”
“That much is clear.”
“You are assuming that is what she wants. Have you asked her?”
He shook his head. “Why would she settle for me, when she could have so much more?”
“Ah.” The word was more an exhalation than a statement. “Now we’ve cut through to the truth. You don’t think you are worthy.”
“That’s because I’m not.”
