Just when Draven thought he was about to die, Terrowin disappeared. The brown dragon leapt off him, darted off the roof they were fighting on, and dove to the ground like a rocket.

Draven turned his battered head and watched as his brother raced to save his mate who was falling to the ground. He gasped when he realized what must have happened: Cali’s mother had sacrificed herself by jumping out the window.

If she were to die, then Terrowin’s core would extinguish and he would lose all of his powers. She was trying to give him and Cali a chance.

Terrowin’s dragon shot forward but was too late. Draven closed his eyes as Cali’s mother hit the ground and died.

“No!” Cali screamed from the window of the tower. Draven grimaced in pain as he looked up, his heart breaking as he listened to his future mate’s anguished sobs.

He was hurt bad. Terrowin’s dragon had toyed with him and made him pay for what happened in the dungeon. The invincible dragon had beaten him, sliced him up, and bit him all over. It would take a while before his enhanced healing could take care of it all.

Terrowin’s dragon lurched in the air and immediately slowed. He looked confused as his body trembled, already looking less powerful and fearsome as he had before.

Thanks to Cali’s mother’s sacrifice, it was an even playing field now. Terrowin’s core was no longer ignited. He was no longer a powerful mated dragon who possessed the gift of invincibility. He could be beaten. He could be killed.

Draven’s dragon screeched in pain as he tried to get up to his feet. Maybe it wasn’t exactly an even playing field—he was hurt very badly—but at least he had a chance now.

He glanced behind him to where his other brother Berinon was battling his friends. Or massacring his friends was more like it. The three shifters were getting their asses kicked by the giant.

A flash of gold in the sky caught his eye and Draven grinned when he saw what was coming. The odds were being tipped a little more in their favor as Aleida’s turquoise dragon flew toward them with Gunner’s massive lion standing proudly on her back.

The lion lowered his head and snarled as the wind blew his long golden mane. Aleida’s dragon opened her mouth as she flew at Berinon and let her sonic scream rip free. The devastating concussive blast slammed into his huge chest and knocked him back as she circled around his head.

Gunner’s lion leapt off his mate’s back and landed with a snarl on the giant’s stunned head. Draven turned back to Terrowin as Jax, Axel, and Zane charged forward with a new found vigor.

The tide was turning and even Draven felt it as a surge of adrenaline rushed through his battered body. His dragon let out a low snarl and pushed off the roof of the castle, ready to confront his cruel brother who was flying around, looking like he was in shock.

The red dragon let out a vicious screech as he slammed into the brown dragon, fighting with every last bit of energy and strength that he had. This time his talons were sinking into the brown scales. This time he was drawing blood.

Draven slashed at his brother’s wings as he sunk his teeth into his body, giving him every bit of fight and pain back that he had just gotten.

Terrowin didn’t know what hit him. He was flailing around and screeching in pain as Draven fought harder and harder, looking for the final killer blow.

Do it for her. He’ll never leave her alone.

As long as Terrowin was alive in this world, Caliburnus would not be safe. He knew how cruel his brother was and he knew that Terrowin would make Cali pay for what her mother did. For what she took from him.

Draven pushed forward, sinking his long talons into Terrowin’s back and slamming him into a stone fountain, shattering it. The brown dragon was stunned, and in a fatal mistake, had stretched his neck out, leaving it open for the final kill.

Finish him.

The red dragon opened its mouth, but then stopped when he saw what Berinon was up to. He had his massive left arm wrapped around Aleida’s dragon, pinning her mouth closed. Gunner’s lion was running across his shoulders, trying to get to his mate, when Berinon snatched him off and threw him.

The fall was dangerously high, and Draven was afraid the lion would snap his neck on the landing.

He pushed off Terrowin’s defeated body, sacrificing the kill to try and save his friend. The red dragon shot forward, flying as fast as he could as the flailing lion fell to the ground.

Draven caught him just in time, sinking his talons into the lion’s back, making the poor cat screech out in pain.

Yeah, yeah, quit crying you pussy. I just saved your life.

He dropped the lion on the ground and turned back to where he had left Terrowin, but the brown dragon was gone.

His heart started pounding as he looked up at the window of the Northern Tower where his future mate was stuck inside. He hated not having her in his sight, especially with two enemy dragons nearby.

Gunner’s lion took off, rushing back to fight the giant as Draven pushed off the ground and flew to the tower.

He flew up and dove towards the window in the same way he had done earlier. At the last second, he phased into his human form and let the momentum carry him through the open window. He dove in, twisting his body as he somersaulted across the stone floor.

Caliburnus was sobbing on her bed, hugging her knees to her chest. The sobs stopped as she looked up at him with wet eyes and a shocked face.

He rushed over to her immediately, sitting beside her as he gently cupped her wet cheek.

“She killed herself because of me,” she said in a trembling voice.

“For you,” Draven whispered. “She gave her life for yours.”

She leaned into him and sobbed as he held her tightly, feeling a beautiful warmth flowing through his body. She felt so good and he couldn’t wait to finish all of this horribleness so he could take her back to Colwood where they could start their lives over.

Happy lives this time.

She lifted her head and looked into his eyes as she sniffled. “You said we’re mates and are meant to be together? How can you know that?”

Draven sighed, not knowing how to explain. There were two dragon shifters outside who still had to be dealt with and it wasn’t the time to get into crazy old prophecies.

He took a deep breath as he looked into her eyes. “I just—”

The words seized in his throat as his body froze. The room was turning black all around her and only she was visible in the darkness. Her light and her essence were brighter than ever as his dragon bonded to her.

Draven’s heart was hammering as they stared at each other in shock. The words to explain their future together were no longer necessary. They both knew. Intuitively.

It was like the universe had a new gravitational pull, and that pull was leading to her. It would always lead to her. She was his world now. His girl. His love.

His mate.

The blackness slowly dissipated and Draven swallowed hard when his body was able to move once again.

Caliburnus’ forehead wrinkled as she tilted her head, staring at him curiously. She reached up and touched his cheek, and the feeling of her skin on his sent electric shivers racing through his body.

“I—” she gasped, staring at him in awe. “I see now. I can feel it.”

“Me too,” Draven said, swallowing as he stared at her. “You’re my fated mate.”

Her lips parted and the sight was so sexy that Draven had to kiss her. He closed his eyes and leaned forward to touch her lips with his when a sudden thump had them both jerking their heads in shock.

Terrowin came charging into the room in his human form, looking furious.

Draven placed a protective arm in front of Cali and stood up, ready to fight to the death to protect his mate. His arms flexed as he glared at his brother, suddenly feeling different.

“Wha—” He looked down at his hands and flexed them into fists as he felt a new power flowing through his veins. He could sense the air around him. The earth down below. The water in the cup by the bedside.

He could feel it all. Every atom. Every molecule.

He had been so caught up with his new mate Cali that he had forgotten that the bonding process had ignited his core. He was a mated dragon now.

And a fucking powerful one at that.

He pulled the wind into the room with only a thought, watching with a grin as it blew Terrowin’s hair over his angry face.

“You’re both going to die for what your cunt of a mother just did,” Terrowin hissed as he pointed at Caliburnus.

Draven could sense the elements around him. He could feel them. Control them. Wield them.

He grinned as he glanced at the glass of water on the night table beside the bed. Just by thinking about it and by letting his new power flow, he brought the water out of the cup and then let it drop back down.

I can manipulate the elements. Just like my father.

It felt so easy. He felt so in control.

Draven was so mesmerized by his new abilities that he almost forgot about his brother. Terrowin wasn’t a threat anymore. He was as good as dead.

The corrupted dragon shifter charged forward with his teeth bared and with murder in his eyes. Caliburnus screamed as he came.

But he didn’t make it far.

With a wave of his arms, a powerful surge of wind came rushing into the window, stopping Terrowin in his tracks.

“This my mate,” Draven said in a smooth controlled voice as he lifted Terrowin off his feet with the wind. “The prophecy was about her.”

“What prophecy?” Terrowin said, looking panicked as he stared at Draven with wide eyes.

Draven took a deep breath as he narrowed his eyes on his evil brother. “Caliburnus,” he said. “Place it in the hands of the one true Dragon King and he will be unstoppable.”

“I should be the Dragon King,” he shouted as the large vein on his forehead bulged. “I killed father. It should be me.”

Draven’s body tensed at hearing the confession. He always suspected that Terrowin was the one who slit his father’s throat in his sleep, but he was never sure. Until now.

“Terrowin Park,” Draven said. “You killed the king and now it’s time for you to die.”

Terrowin opened his mouth, but Draven wasn’t about to let him speak. His time on this planet was already several centuries overdue.

With a wave of his hand, he pulled a gust of wind into the room and then shot his brother out with it, forcing him down until he slammed into the ground with a heavy thud.

Draven leapt out of the window after him, guiding the wind and letting it carry him down softly. He touched down beside his brother as he twitched on the ground, staring up at him with pure hatred.

Terrowin had succumbed to his dragon’s dark need to dominate and control everything and everyone around him. He had given into the intense desire to control and oppress, and it had turned him into a monster.

And the only way to handle a monster was to put it down.

Draven could sense every molecule of the earth around him, and with only a thought and a wave of his hands he opened the earth under the corrupted dragon shifter and watched as Terrowin disappeared into the deep crevasse.

“This is for father,” Draven said as he swung his arms back, closing the crevasse and ending his brother’s life.

Aleida’s sonic scream ripped through the air and Draven whipped his head around in time to see a giant Berinon phasing into a giant dragon.

He was so big that he towered over the castle, making it look like a toy.

The concussive force of Aleida’s sonic scream wasn’t doing much against his huge body as he turned toward the pesky shifters behind him.

The two bears and two lions looked exhausted and beaten down as Berinon’s green dragon opened its mouth, ready to engulf them in flames.

The four of them turned and ran as the flames came shooting out of his mouth.

Draven could sense the energy in the fire and with a flick of his wrist, he curved the flames up and away from his friends. He brought the jet of fire shooting back down on Berinon, but they bounced off harmlessly.

The massive green dragon spotted Draven and pushed off the ground, flapping its wings as it rushed over.

Draven was in control of the elements around him. The earth, wind, fire, and water.

He only needed two to defeat his brother.

A wave of his hand sent a strong force of wind onto the giant dragon, slamming him into the ground. Draven raised the earth around him and shot a steady stream of dirt and rock into the stunned dragon’s mouth, filling his stomach with the earth until his eyes started to cloud over.

With one final yank of his hand, the earth and rock ripped out of Berinon’s stomach, tearing him apart and killing him instantly.

The ruthless green dragon’s lifeless body fell to the ground with a thud. The boys cheered as he shrank back down to his regular size.

“Wow,” Draven gasped when he looked down at his hands. He was the most powerful shifter he’d ever seen, maybe even more powerful than his father.

His core was finally ignited thanks to Cali and he had fulfilled his destiny, becoming the next Dragon King.

A flash of dark desire rushed into him for only a second. Every dragon shifter had to fight their inner dragon’s intense need to control and dominate the world around them, and now there was nothing to stop Draven from taking whatever he wanted.

Dragons were the ultimate apex predator. The top of the top of the food chain, and they expected every creature below them to submit to their will. He could rule with unchecked power and authority.

“No,” he whispered, letting the desire go. “That’s not what I want. That’s not what my mother taught me to be.”

It was time to put an end to the long line of Dragon Kings. It was time to let it go. For good.

It was time for the world to be at peace.

And it was time to be with his friends, and his mate.