Malachite’s head snapped up, shock flickering across her face.

  “Because Axel?” Darius said, jaw tight, shoulders coiled with barely leashed control. “He’s not just one of my best soldiers. He’s my brother. If not by blood by battle and trust. He’s bled beside me. Saved me more times than I can count. And I’ve never seen him look like this.”

  His throat worked, eyes flashing with a pain he rarely let anyone see. “He’s unraveling. And he’s trying to be strong. For you. For the bond. For whatever this is.”

  He took a steadying breath, “He can’t keep bleeding into something if there’s nothing on the other side. He deserves to know. To heal. To breathe. So if you don’t want this if you know in your heart that this connection isn’t for you then don’t string him along. Don’t let him burn himself out trying to be enough for someone who’s already decided.”

  The silence that followed trembled with everything unsaid.

  Malachite didn’t move.

  But Darius’s voice softened just barely like thunder fading to warning.

  “You don’t owe him a yes,” he said. “But you owe him an answer.”

  Her jaw trembled.

  Her breath hitched, sharp and shallow.

  Finally, her strong facade cracked. Her knees buckled as the weight of it all finally broke through, and she collapsed back onto the cot, the thin mattress creaking beneath her as she dropped into it like her body couldn’t hold itself upright anymore.

  Her hands came up to cover her face, shoulders curling in tight, as the first sob slipped out raw and strangled and helpless.

  “I didn’t ask for this,” she whispered through her fingers, the words crumbling apart. “I didn’t ask to be bonded, or to be broken, or to feel like I’m nothing while everyone else expects me to be everything.”

  Another sob hit her, this one shaking her whole frame.

  “I didn’t even know,” she cried, “until Imogen said the words and suddenly everything was spinning and I-” Her voice broke. “I didn’t feel anything, and I just… I wanted to, I swear I wanted to-”

  She couldn’t finish as another sob filled the room. Her shoulders shook, her hands still covering her face, but the words kept coming soft and trembling, like they’d been buried too long.

  “I used to dream about it,” she whispered.

  Darius didn’t move. He stood still listening.

  “When I was little…” Her voice cracked. “Before I knew what kind of drake I’d be. Before I learned how people look at us, the rough ones, the wild ones, the ones born without the shine or the fire or the wings…”

  She slowly lowered her hands, eyes wet and shining with tears she didn’t bother to wipe away now.

  “I used to dream that I’d feel the bond. Just like that.” She snapped her fingers weakly. “One second alone, the next… seen. Felt. Known.”

  Her voice dropped lower, full of ache and longing.

  “He’d look at me and just… know. Like I was the only person in the world. Like I was something precious.”

  Her throat tightened as another tear rolled down her cheek.

  “And I wouldn’t have to fight to matter. I wouldn’t have to earn it, or prove anything, or act like I didn’t care if I was never enough.”

  Her fingers twisted in the blanket, knuckles white.

  “He’d be strong. Stronger than me. And I’d finally get to be safe. Not the shield. Not the sword. Just… someone worth holding onto.”

  She gave a small broken laugh. “It was stupid. I know it was stupid.”

  She looked up at Darius finally, her expression raw and open and young in a way she never let anyone see.

  “I just wanted someone to choose me without needing me to be anything.” her eyes shimmering wide and wet. “I just wanted someone to choose me without needing me to be anything,” she whispered again.

  “I feel like I betrayed him,” she added, quietly.

  The words hit the air like ash.

  Her lips trembled, and she couldn’t stop now. It all spilled out in a rush, like a dam had burst and nothing could hold it back anymore.

  “The moment I realized what it meant that he felt it and I didn’t I saw his face and I…” Her voice cracked. “It hurt. Gods, it hurt.”

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  Her fingers twisted in the blanket tighter, like if she didn’t hold onto something, she’d come undone completely.

  “He looked at me like I was everything. And I just stood there. Empty. Cold. Wrong.”

  She squeezed her eyes shut, breath hitching.

  “And I know he didn’t say it, but I know I disappointed him. I know it broke something in him, something he didn’t even know could break. And I-”

  A sob wrenched through her chest.

  “I couldn’t even give him what he deserved. Not even that. Just… one thing. One feeling.”

  She pressed her palm to her chest, like she could dig through her ribs and find the answer there.

  “He’s kind. And strong. And brave. And loyal. And good. And he’s going through this alone while I just sit here like some cracked stone pretending not to feel anything.”

  Her voice dropped to a whisper.

  “He deserves a real bond. A real mate. Someone powerful. Someone worthy. Not a rock drake with no magic and no wings and nothing special but a bad attitude and skin like gravel.”

  Tears streamed freely now, but she didn’t wipe them away.

  She didn’t have the energy.

  “I didn’t mean to break him,” she whispered. “But I think I did anyway.”

  For a long moment, Darius didn’t speak.

  He watched her not with pity or discomfort. With truthful eyes.

  And then, slowly, deliberately…

  He knelt.

  Right in front of her.

  A man carved from storms and steel, bowing not in deference but in solidarity.

  “You didn’t break him,” Darius said quietly, his voice low and firm. “You’re not capable of that.”

  Malachite opened her mouth, but no words came.

  He kept going, gaze unwavering.

  “Do you know what Axel told me when he thought you were dying?” he asked. “He said he didn’t care what the bond meant. He just needed you to be okay. Not for fate. Not for destiny. For you.”

  Her breath caught.

  “Axel doesn’t love you because of a magical tether,” Darius continued. “He doesn’t care if the bond screams or sleeps. He loves you because you are you. Because you’re fierce and wild and rough around the edges. Because you are solid.”

  “And don’t you ever call yourself ‘just’ a rock drake again.”

  Malachite flinched.

  “You know what dragons like Axel and I are raised with?” he said, leaning in slightly. “Power. Fire. Flight. But we’re not taught to stand still. To endure. To hold. That’s what stone does. That’s what you do. You ground people. You make them feel safe.”

  He paused, his voice softening just slightly.

  “Axel loved fighting beside you. Not because you were strong in the same way, but because you were strong in ways he wasn’t. He admired you long before any bond tried to speak. You earned his respect with every fight. Every scar.”

  Her tears came harder now, silent but steady.

  “And the bond?” Darius said. “The bond is changing. The world has changed. Magic has thinned in places it used to roar. Some of us feel it instantly. Others… never do. That doesn’t make it less real. It just makes it quieter. Harder to hear.”

  He hesitated for just a moment, then added:

  “But things are shifting again. Slowly. Imogen is the first Dragon Singer in centuries. And her power will bring balance back to us. Not all at once. Not in a flood. But in ripples.”

  He looked her dead in the eye, steady as bedrock.

  “Magic is coming back, Malachite. And if it weren’t for a stubborn, fearless, unbreakable rock drake, that Dragon Singer would be dead.”

  Her breath hitched.

  “You didn’t just protect a queen,” Darius said. “You protected the future. You bought us a chance at healing.”

  And then softer, but no less powerful he added, “If you want to walk away from Axel, you can. That is your right. But don’t you dare do it because you think you’re not enough.”

  He rested one hand lightly over his heart. “You are more than enough. You always have been. You just forgot how to believe it.”

  The only sound in the room was Malachite’s breathing, shaky, uneven, but beginning to settle.

  And then… she laughed.

  It wasn’t loud. It wasn’t even steady.

  But it was real. A breathless, broken thing that slipped through the tears still streaming down her face.

  And when she looked at Darius, her king, the unshakable Dragon Commander kneeling in front of her with words like armor and a voice like stone softened by time…

  She smiled.

  Wide. Messy. Tear-soaked.

  “Gods,” she rasped with a wet laugh. “You’re really kneeling for me.”

  Darius raised an eyebrow, faintly amused. “Don’t get used to it.”

  Her smile grew bright, defiant, and still trembling.

  She pounded her fist once, solidly, against her chest the sound dull against bone. “The beginning of trying?” she asked, voice still thick with tears, but steadier now.

  Darius smiled slightly, “I’ll take it.”

  He rose smoothly, rolling his shoulders back like he was shouldering the weight of the world again but this time, with a little less darkness in his eyes.

  “Do you want me to send Axel in?” he asked gently. “I’ve got a war meeting waiting. Maps, sigils, someone crying about supply lines. Very dramatic.”

  Malachite blinked, suddenly nervous again.

  But she didn’t shrink.

  She took a breath.

  “I… I don’t know what I’ll say,” she admitted.

  Darius turned at the door, resting his hand briefly on the frame.

  “Then don’t say anything,” he said simply. “Let him see you. That’s all he’s ever wanted.”

  He hesitated, then added with the faintest smirk, “But if you want more time, he’s still outside. Hasn’t moved. Might’ve turned to stone himself, honestly.”

  Malachite snorted a laugh, wiping her cheeks with the back of her hand.

  “Tell him to come in,” she said quietly. “And maybe… tell him not to look at me like I’m about to bolt.”

  Darius dipped his head in a silent promise.

  And then he slipped out the door, leaving the weight of his words behind like a shield she hadn’t realized she needed.