19

To those of you that are uncertain about the story, please continue. I promise you won't regret it and will only strengthen the relationships in the story. Sometimes things have to get worse before they get better. I loved hearing your responses though. Your support through this story has been great for a novice writer like me. Now on to the story. There will be more Zicko POV's but I will put others in as well.

Zicko POV

It has been one full day and my insanity has become a problem. I have distanced myself from the others to protect them. They didn't want me to leave but they had no idea what I was capable of. As I left I saw the look on their faces and knew they would do anything for me and Kalli. I was afraid to involve them in my reckless war. And trust me when I say that there will be a war. Those parasites will not be in existence when I am through with them. Since she was stolen I haven't felt anything through our bond. It was a black-hole and my mind was falling into the darkness. What will save me from the darkness?

Finax POV

Zicko has walked out of our house and has decided to stay somewhere else. I felt his distress but had nothing to offer to even try to lessen his pain. I look at Jupei to see if he was ready. He had everyone sitting down outside and we were about to reveal ourselves. Our mates needed to learn about our species so we could go find Kalli and be of some help to Zicko.

"So this will be a shock to some of you but please bear with us." Says Amkay.

We close our eyes and let our brothers take over. Mine is grumpy and refuses to shift.

What did I do now?

I don't like your demanding tone.

Well I don't care, just do it for our mate.

If only you could hear his haughty tone that he uses when he gets in one of his moods. I feel the tingle go up my spine and then the transformation was done. I looked out at my mate and see her look of wonder. She was the first one to come up to me. She felt my scales and I lowered my head. She placed her small hand on my nose and smiled.

"So this is what you were hiding. The others look coll as well. But I prefer your colors."

I purr low in my throat. She leans in and lays her forehead on mine. She looks into my eyes and I feel like my soul opens up and is showing her my home movies like my eyes are projecting everything about me and my brother. She leans back and sits back down. I look at the others who had varying degrees of difficulty. Not everyone was ok with our brother's form. I loved that Lina was accepting and had no qualms with me. She was trying to calm down Morgan who was petrified and trying to get away. Mattea had her sit down and breath but she just wasn't listening to them. I shifted back and focused on having all of my clothes this time. I walk over to Morgan and crouch in front of her.

"Calm down. Look at Amkay. If you don't calm down his brother might do something drastic and might hurt himself. He would never hurt you and you know that." I say.

She calms down slightly but she does not look at Amkay. He brushes against my back with his snout and I turn to face him. He has a sad look etched into his face. Morgan stands slowly and is still looking at the ground. We watch her closely to see what she will do. If she runs it will set off Amkay's instinct to chase and that will only scare her more. She walks ever slower to Amkay and puts her hand out. But she leaves space for Amkay to move the rest of the way. He laughs but in our dragon form it sounds more like a cough. She jumps slightly but otherwise has no reaction. I can tell Amkay will have a long battle ahead of him with Morgan. He slowly brings his head closer. There is a slight whimpering sound coming from Morgan and Amkay stops moving. When she quiets down again he moves to close the gap and she looks up at him. When their eyes lock it's like a tension is taken away from them. Lina sneakily slips her hand into mine and I turn to look at her. She stands on her toes and kisses me.

"Don't let me get taken. I don't know what I would do without you."

She whispers against my lips. Her words make my heart contract in fear. What if it would've happened to me instead of Zicko. I know Zicko had issues and a very dark past. What we didn't know didn't hurt us, in fact it probably was for the better.

"You will never leave me. I never want you to go through what Kalli is braving. Do you want to stay here with us, we can protect all of you better if we stay in one place."

The other girls nodded, some of them had hid their fear pretty well but the remembrance of the incident had them scared and wanting us to protect them. I couldn't blame them, if it happened to Lina I would raise hell to get her back.

Amkay POV

Morgan's reaction made me hesitant about what our future would be like. I already knew that I loved her with my whole being. I would never do anything to jeopardize my chances with her. I knew that shifting would be shaky but the way she reacted was new for me. I knew my brother was a little hard to get used to but he would never do anything to scare her. In fact when I shifted he laid down so he wasn't as big and intimidating. But when she did calm down she wasn't as afraid anymore. I shifted back after a little bit and made sure everyone had finished what they were doing.

"So I'm sure you are curious about our unique circumstances. All I can say about how we got this way is that our gods gave us part of their blood. This made sure that we would be able to change into one of the eight clans. When we are made the baby is predetermined on which dragon it is compatible with. Each dragon clan is unique and only certain characteristics are accepted by the dragons themselves. As for me I am a  Beroan. My clan specializes in speed and agility which is why most of our clan are knights, we also do our work at night since we blend in. I joined my clan the the Empire Union five years ago."

The others also needed to tell their stories but I got a mind link from Zicko.

I need you to gather a Finax as discreetly as possible. I found a tracker that may know where Kalli was taken to.