Page 115 of The Ice Prince's Fated Mate
“The closer you and your dragon get, the more easily its strength will come to you. You’ll learn to control it. Don’t worry.”
“I just wish it would happen entirely,” I whined, fully aware I sounded like a child but not caring. If I couldn’t complain baselessly to my mate, whocouldI do it to?
“In time.”
“Not good enough.” I frowned. “We’re going back. After Milly’s collar is off and she’s assumedly unconscious, as I was.”
“Back?”
“To the crash site. From the beginning,” I said. “In the mountains by the chalet. We’re going to see what happens this time.”
“Sure,” Dirk said with a shrug. “Whatever my mate wants.”
I grinned.
“What’s that smile for?”
“Nothing. I just like being called your mate.”
“That’s what you are, Ella,” he said, taking me lightly by the chin and tilting my head up so he could stare into my eyes. “You’re my mate. The best thing to ever happen to me. I can’t wait for a thousand years of waking up to your eyes. A thousand years of making you laugh. And a thousand more after that doing whatever Pure Dragons do.”
It was my turn to shiver. That was a long time. It would be forever until our human side faded and we went south to live among the pure dragons, growing larger among the mountains until one day we would journey to the west. Across the Great Abyss, and into whatever awaited us in the beyond.
That last journey was romanticized by all dragons. Even as a Grounded, knowing I would never have a mate, I had wondered what it would be like, to love and be loved so strongly.
Now I was going to find out.
Well, in a thousand years, and a thousand more after that. Buteventually,I would know what it was like. Until then, I intended to spend every day loving Dirk more and basking in the love he showered me with endlessly.
I couldn’t have found a mate to make me happier. It had been a long road full of bumps, mostly of our own making, but we were here, now. Together at last, and as he said, I couldn’t wait to see his face every morning for the rest of my life.
“Now come on. My friend needs me.”
Dirk dropped me off, saying he would stand outside. “You and Anna are needed in there. Not me.”
“Are you sure?”
“Milly needs her girls. Her besties,” he said, smiling. “We get along, but she will be more comfortable with me out here, guarding against anything, than inside.”
“Okay.” I rose up on my tiptoes as he bent over, kissing me. I let it linger for a moment or three longer than was necessary to let him know I appreciated his thoughts, and then I went inside.
Everyone was ready.
Milly sat on the couch, taking deep breaths to steady herself.
“Does it hurt?” she asked, looking up at me.
“It will feel like it,” I told her somberly. “Everything it does is in your head. But it feels like it, yes.”
“Okay.” Milly swallowed and then looked at Caz and nodded. “Let’s just do it. This is going to suck no matter what.”
Caz reached forward, ice flowing from his hands as he grasped the silver band, slowly freezing it solid. The flow of ice backed up against his hands and up to the elbow.
“Ready?” he asked one last time.
“Do it,” Milly confirmed, her face set.
Caz wrenched the band apart with a growl. Frost billowed out from the broken ends, expanding in size before it darted for Milly’s head.
