"Oh my," she gasped, steadying herself with a grip on my shoulder.

I couldn't restrain my grin. "You're stunning. You're so beautiful. Mairwen⁠—"

She blushed and ducked her head, raising one hand to cover my lips. "Alpha, please," she hissed, glancing around us. I turned and took in the thunderstruck expressions. The only person not absolutely flabbergasted to see an omega with her own wings was DeRoche. Which meant…somehow, somewhere, he'd seen them before. Interesting.

But not as important to me as the woman in my arms.

"Who was it, darling?" I asked again.

"Palmer," she rasped. "He said…he said you might be dead, and I⁠—"

I squeezed Mairwen against my chest, knuckles brushing the inside of her wings and finding her leather soft. "What did you do with him?" I asked DeRoche. "The dragon you found in the sea."

"Fished him out, left him with my crew. He's no threat at the moment, if he's even still alive, and I'll get word to have him brought here. What will you do with the others?" DeRoche asked, nodding his head at the remaining five traitors, most too beaten to move and all now in chains.

"They'll be jailed for now. Torion, can you take some? We don't usually have large-scale mutiny to deal with," I said.

"Of course," Torion answered. "The keep has an uncomfortable abundance of strong cells."

"You'll have a trial?" Niall asked me, raising an eyebrow.

I was within my rights to have them executed on my orders. Gamesby glared at me, knowing as much.

"It may be the same outcome in the end," I said, partly to warn the betas. "But yes, I want their crimes to be known to the island. And their defeat."

"And what of her?" Gamesby spat. "Will you want the island to know of that abomination?"

Mutiny, I might tolerate temporarily. But slights against my mate?

I released Mairwen with a gentle kiss on her brow, then turned and marched for Gamesby. He was goading me now, begging for a swift end. But he deserved to be publicly humiliated, starting with⁠—

My arm swung, and DeRoche held the beta steady by the wing roots, giving him no way of dodging the punch. Gamesby shouted a garbled yell as his face was snapped roughly to the side by the force of my fist.

"You'll be busy rotting in prison, Gamesby, but yes, I plan on celebrating my mate with all of the isle's dragonkin," I said.

"Ronson," Mairwen called, and I turned to find her with a weary and unimpressed expression on her face.

"Apologies, but that was overdue, my love," I said, returning to her side. "Niall, I'll trust you and the alphas to escort these gentlemen to prison."

"Of course," Niall said with a low nod. "You're all right, Omega Cadogan?"

Mairwen was swaying slightly, her eyes glassy and pupils huge, and she blinked away whatever thoughts were busying her mind to glance at my brother. "Fine," she said, her voice too high and tight. Her wings rustled and then squeezed to her back again, as if she surprised herself each time she remembered they were there.

"Are you injured?" I whispered, ignoring the movements of the others around us.

She shook her head and then frowned, glancing down at herself. Mairwen leaned in, and I wrapped my arms around her waist. "I feel as though I don't quite fit in my own skin," she whispered, looking up at me.

I nodded. "It will settle. I felt the same the first time I transformed." Granted, I'd only been thirteen at the time, and I'd known it was coming. "I'm going to fly us back home. Can you keep your wings against your back?"

Mairwen stiffened, clenching her whole body, and I fought my answering chuckle. She would grow used to her wings soon enough, but for now, it was cute to see the struggle.

"You don't seem surprised," Mairwen said as I scooped her up. Her wings were a slight impediment to carrying her and flying with her in my arms, and a new added weight, but not a serious struggle.

"Oh, I am shocked," I said, bending my knees and leaping as my wings thrust us upwards off the ground. "My dragon is not surprised, however, which makes the adjustment easier. Did you suspect?"

"I was starting to. The symptoms—the dizziness felt like the urge to…to fly, almost," Mairwen murmured, her hand rubbing over the back of my shoulders. I restrained my hiss as she stroked a wound, but she gasped and pulled her hand up, her wings flexing open in surprise and adding resistance to our flight. "You're hurt!"

"Just a scratch. Tuck your wings in, darling," I reminded her, laughing as they snapped shut again and Mairwen went rigid in my arms. "You'll get used to it, I promise."

"C-could I try flying?" Mairwen asked, cheeks flushed and eyes lowered.

Was my omega shy?

I squeezed one arm around her waist, pausing my flight to hover us and turn her carefully in my arms, adjusting my hold on her so her back was to my front, my body tucked between her wings. Her hands clutched over my arm around her waist, but her wings stretched slowly open.

"Stroke them through the air," I said.

Mairwen's wings flailed and flapped, and it took me a moment to balance us, to make up with my own flight for her awkward movements.

"Match their beats to your heart," I suggested.

"But my heart is racing!" Mairwen laughed.

I wrapped my arms around her more firmly and tipped us forward, Mairwen's wings snapping wide, braced against the air.

"Can you feel my heartbeat?" I asked. There was a pause as she considered. I was coasting us, letting us sink gradually, heading towards the edge of the isle. Mairwen nodded after a moment. "Then try and match that."

It took her a moment, and I probably impeded some movement, pressed so close to her back, but with a little trial and error she found the steady one-two rhythm to fly to, my own wings pausing to then match hers. We rose in the air, and Mairwen let out a bright giggle of excitement, faltering for a moment.

"Don't worry. It doesn't always take so much concentration. This is just new for you," I promised.

I'd learned to fly not long after learning to walk, if Beatrice could be believed. Most betas didn't really remember the learning part—it was part of our nature. I tried not to think about how lucky it was that Mairwen had even made it to me safely. Her dragon had seen her through.

Gradually, I eased my grip around her until I was only gently holding the sides of her waist. Mairwen was flying.

OceanofPDF.com

Chapter Thirty-NineMAIRWEN

The wind dried the few tears that slipped from my eyes, and I tried to remember to breathe, but the ground was racing beneath us and my wings—my wings—were rushing through the air, every stroke caressing against new flesh. This was what I'd wanted all those hours of flying with Ronson, of watching the alphas transform. I'd wanted to fly.

Not to be flown or carried, or to ride on the back of a magnificent dragon. I'd wanted to be the magnificent dragon myself. And I was. I was soaring. I had dragon fire burning in my chest and claws that had fought enemy dragons back from my mate. My mate, who'd looked so…small to me when I'd been transformed.

A laugh broke out of my lungs and my flight wobbled, and I realized Ronson wasn't holding me now. I was on my own and⁠—