by Sophie Stern
“I help out a lot on the island,” he admitted. “So sometimes I get a discount as a sort of thank-you.” She could tell this made him uncomfortable. Liam was the kind of man who worked hard and didn’t expect handouts.
They walked down the streets of the village and turned left, toward the center of the island. There were so many trees here: so much vegetation. Cadence found herself wondering what her life might have been like if she’d grown up here, if she’d been raised among the dragons.
She knew she shouldn’t think like that, knew it wasn’t smart, but she couldn’t help herself.
She was angry with her mother for keeping this secret from her. She was hurt, and she felt betrayed. She had always done her best to build a good relationship with her mother, and the fact that Maryanne didn’t seem to have a problem with lying to her didn’t sit well with Cadence.
There were lots of little houses on this road, and they passed several with children playing in the yard. The kids didn’t turn to look at Cadence and Liam. They didn’t even seem to notice them, really.
“It’s a pretty safe place, for the most part,” Liam explained. “So the kids can play in the yards without worrying about strangers. No one gets to the island without going through me, and if for some reason someone does, there are dragons who guard the islands.”
He explained that years ago, poachers had come to the island to try to steal some of the children. It had been a horrifying experience, but the dragons had learned to be vigilant when it came to protecting their island. There was no such thing as being able to relax and pretend they were isolated. The truth was that threats could come at any time, and they had to be ready.
They walked a few minutes, and then they arrived at a small purple house. It had white shutters and a big front yard. There was a porch with a bench on it, and the bench was painted purple.
“A lot of purple,” Cadence observed.
“I wonder why,” Liam said casually, but she knew he was completely aware of the fact that she was the purple dragon type. She only knew because when she got very angry or very upset, her skin changed colors. She couldn’t completely shift into her dragon form, didn’t know how.
Maybe her birth mother would be able to help her.
They approached the door, and Cadence tried to fight the nervousness growing in her stomach.
“Are you okay?” Liam asked. “We don’t have to do this right now if you aren’t ready.”
“Does she know we’re coming?”
“Yes, I called her this morning to make sure she’d be home,” Liam said. “But she’s ready, and she’s happy to finally meet you, Cadence.”
She took a deep breath and nodded. She could do this. All she needed was a little bravery, a little courage. Liam took her hand and squeezed, and she turned to look at those big, beautiful eyes.
“Cadence, I promise you that everything is going to be fine,” he whispered.
Why did she believe him?
He was new to her, and human. He was so human. He was all man. She loved his scent and his hair and his smile, and she knew Liam was a dangerous man in that he could crush her heart if she let him.
Cadence decided to be brave.
She reached up and kissed him. She pressed her lips to his and he kissed her right back. He didn’t miss a beat, didn’t pull away. Instead, he wrapped his arms around her, pulled her close, and kissed her with a passion she’d never felt before.
When he stopped, he pulled away and smiled at her.
“I think you’re my mate,” she whispered. She shouldn’t be saying this. It was embarrassing, and would make her seem like a crazy person. Maybe Liam already had a girlfriend. Maybe he had a lot of girlfriends. Maybe he didn’t have room in his life for crazy.
He surprised her, though, because he just smiled at her and said, “I know,” and then he took her hand once more and led her up to her mother’s house.
7
The kiss had been perfect.
Sweet.
Wonderful.
Cadence was honey and sugar wrapped in one beautiful, delicious package, and he wanted more of her. He wanted all of her. She was gentle and shy, and he knew how much courage she’d had to muster in order to kiss him that way.
Yes, Cadence was very brave, and Liam loved that about her.
He knocked on the front door and a minute later, an older version of Cadence opened the door. Molly Smith was a tall, slender woman with dark hair and a button nose. She smiled at Cadence, who immediately started to cry.
Liam and Molly Smith both wrapped their arms around Cadence at the same time, enveloping her in a hug.
“It’s okay,” Liam said.
“Everything’s fine, sweetheart. Don’t cry,” Molly Smith said. “I’m so happy you’re here. I’m so happy you came to see me.”
Cadence managed to stop crying and nodded, and Molly Smith brought both her and Liam into her purple-themed living room. Like the outside of the house, the interior was completely decorated in shades of purple.
“You like purple,” Cadence said.
Molly Smith just smiled. “Have a seat. I’ll make us some tea.”
Cadence managed to sit down. Liam joined her on the couch and held her hand while Molly Smith was in the other room.
“I can’t believe I’m finally here,” she whispered.
“You’re very brave,” Liam said.
Molly Smith returned and sat a tray of treats on the coffee table, and then sat across from Cadence. She looked her up and down, and Liam wondered what thoughts were running through the woman’s head.
Then she smiled. “You look exactly the way I imagined you would,” she said.
“I can’t believe I’m here,” Cadence said. She shook her head, as if she were dreaming. “I have so many questions for you.”
“I’ll answer them as best I can, sweetheart,” Molly Smith said. “I’m going to guess you’re wondering why I put you up for adoption.”
“Yes, I’ve been wondering about that,” Cadence said. “This seems like a lovely home and you seem really put together,” she said. “Not to sound ungrateful, but why didn’t you want me?”
Molly Smith looked momentarily hurt at the question, but quickly recovered.
“It’s not that I didn’t want you, Cadence. On the contrary: I wanted you very much. I got pregnant unexpectedly, though, and it was during a time when dragons were being poached left and right. I didn’t feel safe bringing you into the world. I couldn’t bear the thought of something bad happening to you.”
She shivered, and Liam knew what she was thinking about.
The thing about dragon poachers is that they were sneaky and vicious at the same time. They didn’t care that they were taking children away from their parents. They didn’t care if they caused irreparable damage to a community. They only cared about experiments, about money. They only cared about furthering their research, and if they had to hurt a couple of dragons to do it, they would.
“I didn’t know what to do,” Molly Smith continued. “But then I talked to Willie.”
“My dad.”
“Yes, I talked to your dad. I found out he and Maryanne had been trying to have a baby for a long time, but they were unable to conceive on their own. I approached him with a proposition.”
“You chose him,” Cadence said suddenly. “You didn’t just give me away. You chose a family for me.”
Molly Smith teared up a little, but nodded. “He was such a sweet man, and kind. He loved Maryanne so much, and I knew they would make wonderful parents. I wasn’t sure if your father was a dragon shifter or not, to be honest, and I wasn’t sure if you would be a shifter. It was just a one-time thing, him and me, and I didn’t even get his name.” Molly shook her head. “I was scared to walk away from you, but even if you were a shifter, I thought it would be better for you not to know. I thought it would be better for you to be raised as a human and enjoy the safety of their world.”
She shook her head, and looked at he
r hands.
“I realize now that it was wrong of me to deny you that. I don’t regret giving you a loving family in a safe place, but I shouldn’t have tried to hide that you’re my daughter. I shouldn’t have tried to lock you away so you could be safe.”
Cadence looked at her mother for a long time. What thoughts were running through her head? Cadence was so patient, so kind. She wasn’t angry, but Liam could tell she still felt hurt by her birth mother’s choice.
That was the hard thing about being a parent, wasn’t it? No matter what choice you made, someone would get hurt. Any decision you made would have a lasting consequence. Molly Smith chose to give Cadence up for adoption, which meant Cadence felt abandoned. If she had kept her and raised her on the island, there was a chance that something worse could have happened.
Molly Smith was doing her very best, but she still made mistakes. Now Cadence had a choice to make. Would she forgive her mother and try to move forward with a relationship? Or would she decide to stay hurt and grasp onto that pain?
Liam knew Cadence was his mate. That much was obvious. The kiss sealed the deal for him. He’d never felt as alive as he had in that moment, and he knew without a doubt that Cadence was the girl for him.
He also knew that she’d been through hell, but he was ready to catch her. No matter what happened today at this meeting, he would be there for her.
“I understand,” Cadence said finally. “I’m not going to say I’m not sad, because I wish I could have known you growing up.”
“I did come to your birthday parties when you were little,” Molly Smith said. “Your father always invited me, but as you got older, your mother was worried you’d notice the resemblance, and she asked me not to come anymore.”
“I’m sorry about that. That must have been difficult.”
“After you and your mother moved away, I reached out and tried to keep in touch, but Maryanne made it clear I wasn’t to see you anymore. I understood. She wanted to protect you, just as I did.”
“There are so many unexplained things in my life,” Cadence said. “And I want you to know that I don’t blame you. You couldn’t see the future. You didn’t have any control over what happened to me. I know that. I’m not upset. I do want to know about being a dragon, though.”
“You’re a shifter, then,” Molly Smith smiled. “I thought you were. When you were born, and you got upset, your skin shifted just the slightest bit to a beautiful shade of violet.”
“I’ve never been able to fully shift,” Cadence admitted. “But my skin still changes color when I’m angry. Any strong emotion, really, and I turn purple. I’ve had to learn how to stay calm. I’ve taken a lot of yoga classes and I’ve learned how to meditate. It helps me keep everything under control, but now…” Her voice trailed off and she looked around the room.
“Now you want to explore that side of yourself,” Liam added helpfully.
“Yeah,” Cadence agreed. “Now I want to know who I am.” She looked back to Molly Smith. “I want to know what I am, and what I can do. Can you help me?”
8
The three of them stood in a clearing not far from Molly Smith’s house.
“So this is it, then,” Cadence looked at the wide open space. There was plenty of room to run and jump and, supposedly, fly.
She didn’t have the faintest idea of how to get started.
She had tried so many different ways of getting her body to shift. She had spoken out loud, jumped up and down, and even tried scaring herself into shifting. None of it had worked. All she’d been able to accomplish was wearing herself out.
“Remember that today, we’re taking things slow,” Molly Smith said. “First I’ll show you how I shift, and then you can try it. Okay?”
“Okay.”
Molly Smith slipped out of her clothes and tossed them on the ground. Cadence quickly turned around.
“Mother!” She said. “What on Earth are you doing?”
Liam and Molly both started laughing.
“How am I supposed to shift if I’m wearing clothes?” She asked Cadence. She shook her head. “Modesty is not important on Dragon Isle, love, and it’s something you need to get used to very quickly.”
Cadence turned back around and tried not to blush. This was so awkward and weird, but she seemed to be the only one who thought so.
“Now, when I shift, I like to clear my mind and then just do it. I’ve been shifting for years, though, and it comes easily to me. It’s going to take you awhile to get started, but once you have the hang of it, it’ll be just as simple. Watch.”
Molly Smith strode to the center of the clearing and put her arms out. She took several deep breaths, and then she jumped into the air. Cadence held her breath, waiting for her mother to land on her feet, but she didn’t.
She shifted, and then she was off.
It had happened so quickly that Cadence had no way of determining exactly how her mother had done it. How had she managed to shift so quickly? She was a woman, and then she wasn’t. She was normal, and then she was a beast.
It was incredible.
Her mother was a huge purple dragon, just as Cadence imagined she would be. Her wings were tipped with silver, and her snout was a beautiful teal. The rest of her body was different shades of violet, and Cadence was caught off guard by just how lovely her mother was.
Molly flew in a circle above the clearing.
“See how she controls her movements,” Liam pointed out, coming up beside Cadence. “She’s careful. She calculates exactly how she wants to turn, exactly how she needs to move in order to go where she wants to. When you first shift, make sure you’re cautious. Never just dive in a direction. That’s a fast way to crash.”
She nodded, and leaned against Liam. She needed him now. There was a certain comfort she gained from being close to him that she couldn’t quite explain, but she was lucky because she didn’t have to.
He was her mate.
They both knew it, and he hadn’t thought she was crazy for saying it.
After circling a few more times and doing a couple of flips, Molly landed gently in the clearing. She didn’t shift back to human right away, though. She just stared at Cadence.
“I think…I think she wants me to pet her,” Cadence said.
“Go on,” Liam gently nudged her forward. “It’ll be just fine, Cadence.”
Cadence felt out of place among the dragons. She didn’t know their culture or their social structure. Was it rude to just go and pet another dragon? She didn’t know. She was about to find out, though.
She approached Molly and went to her face.
“Hello,” Cadence said awkwardly. Molly nodded, but didn’t move. This was good, Cadence thought. This was her chance to see what a dragon was like up close. She’d never been around shifters before. At least, she hadn’t been around any she knew of.
Her roommate in college had dated a shifter, but Cadence had never met the guy. He was very private, and her roommate wasn’t even supposed to know what he really was.
“Shifters are private people,” she’d told Cadence. “They can’t trust anyone.”
Now Cadence understood why. It was a safety issue more than anything else. Yeah, the world knew about shifters now, but that didn’t mean humans were trustworthy. Having laws to protect shifters and their communities didn’t mean they no longer faced danger.
Cadence reached for Molly’s snout and pet it softly. She wondered what it had been like for her mother to live in fear for so long. It must have been a difficult decision to give Cadence up for adoption. It must have pained her, hurt her deeply. Cadence wondered if she’d be able to make the same choice. Would she have been loving enough, brave enough, to give up her child to a different family?
She wasn’t sure.
Cadence moved and walked around Molly. She circled her, carefully touching her scales, seeing what they felt like beneath her palm. She’d never done anything like this before. When she was a kid, she’d gone to the zoo
, and she’d seen huge animals there: lions and elephants and hippos.
Molly was bigger than all of those.
Mightier.
Stronger.
After a minute, Cadence went back to Molly’s face and pressed a soft kiss to her snout.
“Thank you,” she whispered. “Thank you for helping me. Thank you for teaching me. Thank you for everything you did for me. I don’t know how I can ever repay you.”
Molly shifted back then and looked at Cadence, at her daughter, and smiled.
“All right, baby girl,” she said. “It’s time for you to fly.”
Cadence swallowed hard. She was ready for this, but she was still nervous. Wasn’t that what bravery was all about? Acting fearless when you were scared on the inside?
“First things first,” Molly said. She started to get dressed again. “Take off your clothes.”
“What? Here?” Cadence looked at Liam. His mouth was in a straight line, but his eyes betrayed him. They were twinkling. He thought this was funny.
Well, she’d show him.
She’d been with men before. She’d been naked in front of people before. You didn’t make it through four years of college without someone seeing you naked, after all. Besides, if Liam really was her mate, he’d be seeing her naked soon enough. It might as well be now.
But her mother was there, too, and it was just so embarrassing.
Still, Cadence powered through. If dragons didn’t care about nudity, then she wouldn’t care, either. She stripped off her clothes quickly and efficiently, and tossed them to the side. She pretended not to notice the way Liam’s eyes roamed her body. She pretended not to notice the way it made her feel sexy.
“All right,” Molly said. “Before you can fly, you need to clear your mind. If you’re feeling stressed or nervous or scared, you won’t be able to shift. Dragons can’t shift when fear is present. It’s one of our weaknesses.”
“Really?” Cadence hadn’t known that.
“Unfortunately,” Molly said. “Now, close your eyes, and empty your mind.”
Cadence closed her eyes and slowly, one by one, let each of her worries go. She let go of the anger she’d been feeling toward her adoptive mother, and she let go of the way she was worried about shifting, and she let go of the nervousness she felt around Liam. She took several deep breaths and just breathed. She could do this.
