Then change shape.

I did.

Not this shape. The other one.

My human shape? The one that didn't get along with gravity? How would that help?

Don't be dense. A chastisement that came from...himself?

It's time to stop denying what I am. Who I am.

And what was he?

Dragon.

He just had to accept it.

Sounded easy in theory but how did that work? The same way it always worked, by becoming.

For a moment, he hung in the air, wings spread wide, a dark, leathery angel in the sky with his eyes closed, waiting for a divine miracle.

If there truly is a dragon inside me, then I need you. Unlike the change to hybrid, and even when he used to be gator, the switch to dragon didn't hurt at all. Rather, it filled him with euphoria.

This is who I am!

He uttered a roar as he exploded, his body elongating, his tail a serpentine thrashing weapon, his wings bigger and mightier than ever.

His splendor stunned those preparing to attack. He hovered over them, a massive beast, filled with immense power and a burning in his lungs.

Breathe in. The words whispered to him, and he trusted his instinct. He sucked in deep.

Now blow out. It was almost as if a voice spoke to him, guided him in his new form, so he listened, expelling his breath and watching as a mist, green in hue with sparkling motes of gold, blasted forth and hit the approaching wyverns.

They tried to evade the mist; banking sharply for one, another rising rapidly while the others dropped. It didn't help them escape because it took only a touch, a simple speck, which sizzled on contact. Or so he assumed, given his attackers screamed and then changed, their wyvern shapes pulling back into their bodies until only the human was left. Humans with no wings that fell as gravity claimed them.

Splat.

That had to hurt, but he cared little for their plight, not when the metal cage holding his female kept moving.

How dare it defy me.

A mighty flap of his wings and he chased after it, his speed increasing as he felt the wakening of the thread between him and Aimi.

Whatever had masked it had now worn off, and he trilled, a trumpeting sound that echoed through the air.

Brand?

Her query hit him, and he could have laughed. Wait until she saw him.

He grabbed hold of the runners of the copter and pried open the door with the ease of a man peeling a banana. Someone immediately aimed a gun at his face for all of two seconds before Aimi shoved him out the opening. The scream halted abruptly once the body hit the ground.

The loveliest visage peered at him. "Holy shit, my mother is going to have fucking kittens. You ascended."

Fucking right, I did.

"And you're two-toned. Gold and green, but not the regular green of the emerald Sept. They will probably have kittens, too."

I am me.

"Yes, you are, and a fine-looking dragon, too. Very fine. My cousins will be so jealous."

You talk a lot.

"Sorry, you were here to rescue me, weren't you? Then let's make it good for the cameras."

With a smile on her lips, his moonbeam goddess leaped from the helicopter, and Brandon had to throw himself backwards to catch her.

And that was the picture that made it into the newspapers the following day.

Chapter Eighteen.

"Of all the irresponsible things!" Aimi's mother still ranted. And guess what? It changed nothing.

"Untwist your panties. It was bound to happen. At least our exposure didn't occur because Aunt Joella got hungry and ate some villagers again."

"I think I would have preferred it." Her mother glowered at the newspaper article on her desk and its headline.

A dragon comes out of hiding to save a princess.

The accompanying image showed Brand, in his dragon glory, cradling Aimi in his claws.

The news sources, of course, went wild. It seemed more than a few photographers on the ground had caught part of the action in the sky, and the chopper covering the event overhead got excellent video footage of the whole thing.

Including Brand's superpower. He can change people back to their true form. Which begged the question, could it work in reverse? Aimi could already predict the problems that would ensue as science and governments tried to get their greedy hands on him.

Not on my watch. Brand belonged to her, and she'd do anything to keep him safe. Just like he did his utmost to try and protect her. He'd come to her rescue like a shining knight of old. Little did he know, Aimi didn't require rescue. But she couldn't deny it was cute when he did it.

The object of discussion currently drummed his fingers on the armrest of the chair in their hotel room. A hotel room a tad crowded, given Aunt Waida was there, as were all of Aimi's missing cousins and her sister. As for Mother Dearest, she was being projected live on the laptop, which meant it was easy to shut the lid and end her rant.

It didn't stop the chatter, the most notable part being that Parker wasn't dead as Brandon had hoped.

"Are you sure you wrung his neck? I've never heard of anyone who survived that before?" said cousin Babette.

"It's difficult but not impossible," countered Aunt Waida. "But I will add it takes a strong healing gene to get up and walk away."

Not just walk away but give a bloody news conference as the first tweets about the dragons in the sky began making their rounds.

"Dear people of the world, I tried to keep their secret, given their wishes to remain anonymous, but as you can see, that is no longer possible. You thought shifters were the only thing hiding among you. Wrong. And dragons are only the tip of the iceberg, and I cannot in good faith keep their secret anymore."

Thus did Parker toss all the Cryptozoids into the public eye from the mermaids deep in the oceans to the Sasquatch in the Rockies, from the djinn-who weren't at all what people thought-to the Yeti, who were already almost extinct. Even the last unicorn wasn't safe, as apparently, Parker had it captive on a wildlife preserve. To "keep it safe," or so he claimed with a smarmy grin.

Or maybe it wasn't captive. Perhaps, like Brand's sister, it, too, celebrated not having to hide anymore.

Aimi couldn't help but wonder if Parker had planned things this way, forced the dragons to out themselves. But surely he couldn't have predicted the evening's events? Unless he has his own psychic.

Despite all that had happened, Aimi couldn't deny that a certain part of her was relieved to not have to truly hide anymore, even if she cringed as her cousin Deka asked, "Do you think dragons will be the next Twilight romance?"

"She'd better make us sparkle if she does. I like bling."

"Maybe we'll get our own reality show. The Dragonesses of Dragon Point." Dragon Point not being so much a set place as where the Septs gathered to decide major issues.

"Out." Brand said the word quietly the first time, but when no one listened, he shouted it-in their heads.

OUT!.

That got him more than a few blinks.

"Did he just..."

Nods all around. "Oh."

"Come along, we should leave the gold to his mate. Your Grace." Aunt Waida proffered a very short bow to Brand, but that was more than Aimi had ever seen her offer anyone before ushering all of her family out of the hotel room, leaving them gloriously alone.

"Since when can you shout in everyone's mind?"

"Since this." He grimaced as he raked his hand through his hair, highlighting the thick gold streak down the middle.

"It's because you ascended."

"I look like a skunk."

"Yet you smell like mine." She nuzzled his cheek, and a low rumble came from him. "And don't you owe me some pleasure."

"I didn't get my sister back."

"Not my fault she didn't want to come. Are you trying to get out of your promise to me?"

"Never. You are mine, moonbeam. Never forget it." Without warning, he nipped her on the shoulder, the gown she still wore leaving a good portion of her upper body bare. He bit her hard enough to break skin and leave a mark.

"You marked me." She shoved off his lap and planted her hands on her hips.

"I claimed you," he corrected.

"But I was supposed to claim you."

He shrugged. "I'm old-fashioned, which means the man goes first."

"If you're old-fashioned, then you should have done it during sex."

"Are you complaining about my methods?"

"Yes."

He stood and loomed over her, big, menacing...and hers. "Get your ass into that bedroom and onto that bed."

"Or?"

He snared her around the waist, and in a few strides, was tossing her onto the mattress. She laughed as she hit it and bounced. Only one bounce since he landed atop her, his hands gripping hers, their fingers lacing together as he yanked her arms over her head. The position stretched her, while, at the same time, left her helpless under him.

"What are you planning to do now?" she asked, her words brushing softly against his lips.

"I plan to worship the center of my world."

"Are you sure you want this?"

He pressed himself against her, his erection clearly evident. "I'd say that's a yes."

For some reason, it was her turn to have doubts. "You do realize that, even if you're only partially gold, you could have any woman you want. The Septs would kill to have you marry into their family."

"But I found the family I want. The only woman I want."

"Good. Because had you answered; otherwise, I would have maimed you."

He laughed. "You are so fucking incredible."

"I know. It's what makes me the best treasure."

"The only treasure I need." His lips caught hers and claimed them with a fierce possessiveness that ignited her blood.

So much had happened, and so much remained unknown. But right here, right now, she didn't care. His world might revolve around her, but guess what; her world now revolved around him.

He's mine.

His lips blazed a trail across her jaw and then down her neckline. She panted and arched as he teased the swell of her breasts.

He didn't release her hands to pull down her dress. The savage tore it, using his teeth and brute strength.

"You do realize that dress was one of a kind, custom-made?"

"It was in my way."