WREN Book Three Prince of Dragons

Eye of the moon

We walked a little slower, but kept the wolves within sight. Our eyes darted around the trees. There wasn't enough room for a dragon to transform here. The way the land closed in on us, almost made one feel... I shook myself. This was Shea's homeland. He had never spoken of it before, never said a thing about it. I wanted to take it all in, but it was dark.

We came to an opening in the trees. There were houses built up inside the tree branches. I glanced at the city that spread out around us, over us. Light twinkled from the fires as we watched. Wolves walked along pathways as humanoid shifters went in the opposite direction. It was

"... peaceful." I whispered.

"You like it?" a woman came to stand before us.

I blinked bringing my eyes to her. Her tight lithe body was clad in tanned animal hides. She had white marks around each upper arm, a scar that looked all too familiar, ran from her right shoulder blade across her chest to her upper left thigh. A burn from a fire dragon. Her face was beautiful.

She had deep set dark black eyes that drank in the light. Her ebony skin almost glowed in this setting. The stark angular chin set her features to exotic. The long strands of black hair were plaited down her strong toned back. In a way she looked similar to Seiji.

"It's very beautiful." I said.

"It's home. We built it up there, where the trees could protect us from her kind." Her steely eyes nodded toward Zia. I shifted blocking her view of the fire dragon.

"We are not bound to the king." I growled.

"Easy Zyn." Shea came up behind the woman.

At the sound of my name, her eyes flicked back to my face. She shifted her stance. I could see the weapons strapped to her hips. Squaring up, she looked me in the eye. There wasn't fear there, a challenge, maybe.

"So, you're Zyn." I heard the coldness in her voice.

"Shayla!" Shea growled low, his wolf voice coming out.

"This pup is what kept you from your family?" She demanded not taking her eyes from me.

"He is my son, cousin." Shea informed her.

"Not by blood. He is human, I can smell it on him!" she wrinkled her nose.

I tilted my head slightly. None of the dragons had tried to move past me. It was as if they huddled behind me because they, too felt lost or unwelcome here. My fingers inched to reach for the weapon on my back. Yet I knew that would be an act of war with her. I lowered my gaze.

'I am Zyn of the Wry. I was raised by a shifter to care for dragons.' I spoke only to her mind as I looked down at the ground.

"How, how'd you do that!" She flinched back her hand over her weapon.

I recoiled pulling away from her. She didn't have any mental blocks up! I hadn't even thought about it. Who didn't protect their mind? Her feelings were overwhelming because she held nothing back. She was the leader here, an Alpha. She didn't trust dragons because they had all but wiped out her clan, Shea's old village. I felt her anger, her fear.

"Shayla, he didn't mean..." Shea began.

I knelt before her. "I'm sorry to have frightened you. Where I am from, talking like that is seen as someone's true voice. I was trying to show you, you have nothing to fear from us." I winced as I heard myself use fear too much.

"You think I'm afraid of a dragon's knight?" She snarled. I lowered my head. She just wasn't listening.

Flipping over I sprang to my feet. I stood before her once more. She had to fight to get to her position. She was powerful, strong, but didn't back down easily. I eyed her, searching for another way.