Free A Dragon's Dream of Love (Song of the Sídhí Series #2) by Jodie B. Cooper Page B

face.
    “That's it,” he said in a whisper.
“When I overreacted to Jacob's actions, you figured out we're lifeMates and
you've tried forcing yourself to like me even when you can't stand me.”
    “No! That's not it at all.” She choked
on a sob. “Later you’ll understand why I’m refusing you. Please remember I
didn't want to refuse you, but I couldn't take you with me.”
    He ignored her answer. What good would
it do to listen to her excuses?
    The jagged pain of her refusal knifed
through him like a machete. He threw his head back and roared his agony into
the wind as it blew past the huge trees of the forest.
    In mid-roar, his human voice changed
into the harsh guttural sound of a khatt.
    ~ ~ ~
    When Leah refused him, her chest felt
like it was going to implode, shredding her to pieces. She didn't think the
pain could get any worse. It did.
    When Derek roared, the blaring noise
was filled with such soul-rendering agony it ripped through her chest, smashing
and destroying her from the inside out.
    She clenched her arms tightly around
her chest in a vain attempt to keep her body in a single piece. She hated
herself for hurting him, but she refused to be the cause of his death.
    She had grown more than a little
attached to Derek. Truthfully, she had slowly fallen in love with him. When the
synth in her blood sang for him, she knew an instant of such intense joy she could
have flown to the moon. Then reality smacked her in the face.
    If she bonded with him and she died
during her first shift, he would die as well. She couldn't tell him what might
happen, not now. He would insist on bonding with her. All that would accomplish
would be his death.
    She watched as he shifted into the most
beautiful khatt she'd ever seen. Roaring, he flung his lethal form toward the
tree line. He raced past trees and bushes, quickly disappearing into the
surrounding forest.
    She sobbed as the pain of her actions
hit home. She would never forgive herself for the pain she had caused him. At
least she wouldn't remember his pain for long, not if her mom's warning rang
true.
    She had only been thirteen when her mom
frantically shouted in her head. “They've come for me! Baby, you must go to
Dragon Valley and find a DeLeigh dragon before your eighteenth birthday.
Dragons don't survive their first shift without – her mom shrieked – Oh, God,
the pain!”
    Leah shoved the memory away. As soon as
she did, Derek's pain-filled roar thrummed through her head in aching clarity.
She kept hearing his accusations. Now, that she had time to think, she thought
of all the responses she could have said. None of them would have changed the
final outcome, because death seemed inevitable and she wouldn't take him to the
grave with her.
    She rubbed her tear streaked face and
glanced up. The area was filled with dark shadows as night approached. She
must've sat in the same position for hours.
    She stumbled to her feet and set-up camp
in a trance-like state. She built a fire and rolled out their bedrolls. Her
tears rolled faster than ever as she rubbed her face into the material of
Derek's bedding. His scent was like manna from Heaven. Her shoulders trembled
with a harsh sob.
    A twig snapped.
    She jerked her head up, hoping and
fearing it was Derek returning. It wasn't.
    Her face blanched of all color. Across
the small glen, hidden within the foliage of the trees, a human-like face
stared back at her.
    Its lips widened, revealing huge yellow
fangs. The Sasquatch shrieked. Its dual harmony cry shot through her head,
flooding her body with deadly knowledge. She no longer needed to worry about
dying during her first shift, not when eight feet of death lunged toward her.
    When the Sasquatch attacked its beady
black eyes focused on Leah. It leaped over the flames of the small fire. Long
brown hair covered its entire body, giving authenticity to the mundane legend
of a big brown monster called Big Foot.
    Leah lurched to her feet, snatching her
sleeping bag and