Free Fire's Embrace [Chronicles of the Shifter Directive 6] (Siren Publishing Epic Romance, ManLove) by Scarlet Hyacinth Page A

to him on the couch and took his hand. “Calm down. It wasn’t your fault. She said she could handle it, and she couldn’t.”
    Alwyn didn’t dare to look at the dragon. “I never should have allowed it. I knew it was dangerous. You did, too. We realized it better than she did. But I was so angry…I wasn’t thinking straight.”
    Rachen’s arms went around him, holding him tightly. Alwyn allowed himself to melt in Rachen’s embrace. He knew he probably shouldn’t be doing so, but he couldn’t help it, not when Rachen’s proximity soothed him so much, making the guilt less painful.
    “Then blame me,” Rachen whispered. “Just don’t blame yourself. I don’t want to see you suffering.”
    In that moment, Alwyn really hated himself. The entire thing could have been avoided if only he’d trusted Rachen. His instincts told him Rachen was being honest, and yet…why would Rachen still have an interest in him when Alwyn was obviously a danger for the draechen’s family?
    It was all so confusing and frustrating. Half the time, Alwyn didn’t even know what he felt. He went from wanting Rachen so much it hurt to being thrust into a reality where he was the villain, the enemy, where Rachen was interested in him only to protect the Tersain.
    The pain of the betrayal stirred inside him, but then Rachen kissed his temple, and it dissipated. It left behind the scar that would only fade when Alwyn could finally bring himself to fully trust himself and Rachen.
    In the end, it was his own integrity and conscience that he doubted, more than Rachen’s. There were a million things he would have wanted to say, starting with an apology and continuing with a reassurance that Rachen truly loved him. Most of all, Alwyn wanted to kiss Rachen back, to thank him for his support especially in these hard moments. He never got the chance to say any of it.
    The door burst open, and Sari stalked into the room. “You took her powers away!” he screamed at Alwyn. “How could you? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”
    It didn’t take a genius to know what Sari was referring to. He got up, trying to process what Sari was saying. “I didn’t mean to,” he said, his eyes wide. “I didn’t mean to hurt her. You have to believe me.”
    “Whether you meant to or not, you did it,” Sari snapped back. “So fix it.”
    Alwyn just looked at him. He couldn’t believe his ears. He had never thought himself capable of stealing the High Priestess’s powers. Even when her gem had exploded, he hadn’t thought that it was so serious.
    “I can’t,” he admitted. “I don’t even know what happened.”
    “You turned her human,” Sari snapped at him. “She’s mortal now, and she’s aging. At this rate, she’ll die of old age in weeks. Jenarra…And here I thought you weren’t the dangerous one. I thought you cared for Rachen enough.”
    Hearing Rachen’s name on Sari’s lips chased away the guilt, awakening that bright, hot emotion inside him. “This is your fault,” he shouted back at Sari. Fiery anger rose within him. “If not for your idiotic vision, this never would have happened. Why can’t you mind your own business?” He sneered, stepping closer to Sari. “Oh, how could I forget? One draechen prince isn’t enough to satisfy your libido now that you’re pregnant. You want mine, too.”
    He experienced a brief moment of satisfaction when Sari gaped at him, frozen mid-rant. That didn’t last long, because Sari quickly recovered. “You’re crazy. Rachen is my friend and nothing more. Anyone with a brain can see that.”
    If Sari hadn’t been pregnant, Alwyn would have done something that would have later made him hate himself. As it was, he reined in his temper, exerting all the self-restraint he could possibly be expected to have under the circumstances. Of course, Karein didn’t really appreciate any of that. He was right there next to Sari, and he placed himself between Sari and Alwyn, like he expected Alwyn