28

More than anything I just wanted to stay with my people even though I knew I had to leave. I said my goodbye to my family and went to meet Corey in their village. The other were already on there horses with bags packed, Corey and Liz had a packed one for me and threw it on the back of my horse when I arrived.

I had been told not to bring any weapons as I'm a female and shouldn't be using one and there wasn't going to be any fights when we arrived. I didn't listen to that rule. I had a two daggers and 5 throwing stars attached to a holster on different levels on each of my thighs. They were made out of a special metal that only other hybrids were able to mine and make take a form. I wanted to bring my bow but my brother pointed out it would be better for me to just create a new one if I needed it. He gave me a small contraption made of the metal that expands into a staff when u rotate the two pieces and then it will shrink back down to the small size when I move it the opposite direction, it made out of the same metal my other weapons are so I can manipulate the metal to create a bow or sword if needed, and it's no bigger then my pointer finger so it was easy to hide in my bra. I know I directly disobeyed but I also know that we left the village without anyone knowing the wiser.

My brother had agreed that I needed some kind of weapon to be able to defend myself without revealing that I'm more dragon than they realized. The other all felt the same especially after finding out we had been spied and that we were going to be attacked.

My biggest concern about this trip wasn't being ambushed though. The woman Sam is going to marry is part of my aunts clan. I wasn't ready to face her or anyone else and what if she said I couldn't stay with Corey and took me so she could return me to my old clan. I know I've changed a lot since I left but I'm just not sure that I've changed enough.

When I first disappeared my skin was as white as snow and my hair was always kept long and was straightened every morning. Now I'm tan, I'm basically the same color as Corey since I'm out in the sun all day and I've become stronger and more muscular and I leave my hair with it's natural waves. My hair has also gotten darker somehow and is almost completely black. My eyes are also more of a honey color now with a navey blue ring around the outside and they are clearly hazel which is different than how they used to be. My body has also matured more since I last saw her, my face doesn't look so childish and my hops have widened and I've grown more boobs. My entire manor has basically changed since I've started living with other dragons and learning there ways and eating how they would and doing things as they would.

I know I should have no fear of her recognizing me because honestly I'm not sure the old me would recognize myself. Everything about me has honestly changed not just my looks but I'm more confident then I ever was before. The shy girl that my old clan new is gone. She was replaced with someone far more confident and out spoken in her thought, I know when I to keep to myself and when I'm free to speak and share my opinions. I'm far more calculated now when it comes to my actions and what I say than I ever was before because I had someone to protect me and when I left that all of a sudden I was free. I knew Corey couldn't protect me from everything and neither could my pack but that I would always have someone to back me. They don't tell me what to do and who I should be which has allowed me to become this way and I don't think the people who raised me would recognize me today simply because of the change in my Ora and personality.

We are meeting the other clan at a half way point which is less than a weeks ride away but the ceremony will take 5 days, so we figured we would be gone for about two weeks assuming we don't run into any trouble and it all goes as planed. We all know that things can go wrong and weather is unpredictable which could cause us to have to postpone the ceremony, but if Sam doesn't marry her before the herd starts to migrate we won't be this close to them again for another 3 years. The next time will be at the breading grounds when I see my own old clan again. Every 4 cycles we see the same clans who follow different herds again, this will be the first of the 4 cycles which means a year has past.

Corey has stayed close to me since we started riding and I know he can sense my nervousness. He hasn't spoken and neither have I since we started to ride. It's the first time I noticed nobody has. I can feel the tension and I know Sam is nervous as well. He's going to spend the rest of his life with a women he's never seen or meant before just because his father said so and then made the arrangements. Liz is feeding off her brother's energy and I think is realizing she's the only one who isn't engaged which means she's free to be given to whoever her father see fit for political reason to keep the clan in a higher position to potentially become more powerful and wealthy. She might be sent away to somewhere she's never been surrounded by strangers just like the woman Sam is going to be marrying. There is potential that she will marry someone from another clan who hold a lower position than she does so he will leave his clan and gain status by joining her. It's not likely that will be the case though since it won't be as strong of a political move. She will most likely be married off to a leaders son to form an alliance.

It's hard not to wonder what's going on in this other girls head right now. She probably worried not knowing what her husband looks like or if he will be kind or mean. If she will be able to love him and be seen as an equal or if he will see her as nothing more than a tool or toy to get what he desires. Honestly I don't even know Sam well enough to know how he would be as a husband. I know he's a kind person and has always been nice to me, but I also know people can pretend to be someone they aren't and are different when nobody else is around watching. I've never heard Corey or Liz say anything even remotely about Sam that would make him seem as if he might be cruel or as if he doesn't care. I'm not if that's because he truly is a gentleman and a kind person or if it's because Corey is always around and he's aware Corey will be the leader one day and that he needs to be on Coreys good side to maintain any sort of position or power within his clan. At the end of the day Corey has the power to banish anyone even Sam or Liz if he wanted or he could have either or both of them killed. He cares to much about the both of them to ever do that but the fact that he has the power to do so could easily be enough to motivate Sam to keep up a façade instead of showing who he truly is. I'm not sure if that makes me more nervous for her than it does that soon I'll be seeing my aunt and not to long from know it might be me awaiting the ceremony worried to start a new life with Corey.

I know it's different since I know Corey and we are already together and are close. Yet at the same time Corey is very distant from me at times and we both know he has another woman trying to marry him and yet he was at the village for the past few weeks instead of being with me. We still have so much we don't know about one another even though we are so close. Things have also seemed to change since we slept together and our engagement was officially announced. I feel like he's become more distant and I know he had said he was going to be staying away so that way nobody could say anything bad about me. He said he was worried rumors would start and it would make me lose my credibility to rule by his side and that his people might believe we are sleeping together and that I slept my way into my position. Which honestly would be partly true, I did sleep with him but we were attracted to one another long before that and had a strong connection before we ever even did anything with one another. The connection was deep enough to allow his inner dragon to show itself while we were having sex which meant his walls were down. He was so comfortable and relaxed while being around me that he stopped pushing everything down and was caught off guard with what he held inside himself. I'm not sure if that has more to do with why he is staying away now as well. Finding something like that out is a big turn of events and not everyone takes kindly to it. It's like finding out something about yourself that you hadn't ever know or believed could be possible. Neither of us have brought up what happened since the morning after.

It doesn't change that I feel pulled towards him and this want to be near him all the time. Even now I want to be closer and to feel his skin touching mine even if it's as simple as holding his hand. I know tonight when we set up camp it'll be the closest we've been to sleeping next to one another in what feels like years. Time seems to move more slowly when he wasn't around everyday and I felt like a piece of me was missing. I also couldn't stop worrying because my biggest fear is that this other woman is who has been with the past few weeks. I'm not sure what I would do if he choose her over me or even if I found out that he truly has been seeing her without me knowing. His betrayal might be enough to push me over and cause me to never love or trust again. I honestly think if he were to betray me that I would leave and live the rest of my life as a dragon. He had the power to break my heart if he wanted to and I don't like it because honestly I don't know if I truly have the power to break his in return. I don't know if he loves me as much as I do him.

We stop to make camp for the night at sunset we still have another three to four days of riding before we reach the half way point. We all set up some tents. Liz and Sam set up a tent together since they would be sleeping in the same tent. Corey and his father also set up a tent and I set one up by myself. I had brought my own along with a sleeping bag.

I was kind of disappointed since I knew Corey wouldn't be sleeping next to me even though I knew he wouldn't be. We all ate and stayed quiet then said our Goodnights and went to go to sleep. I laid awake for a while in the tent unable to fall asleep. It was the first time in a while I felt so alone. I knew this wasn't my family and it wasn't my pack. I got up and went outside and that when I noticed a figure sitting right outside my tent. I was scared for a second but I felt something familiar about the energy. I saw the glowing red eyes turn towards me. He noticed he had made me jump.

"What are you doing out here?" I asked

"I didn't want to wake you so I didn't come in."

"I couldn't sleep, but shouldn't you be in the tent with you dad or with your siblings?"

"I don't want to be in there with any of them. It just doesn't feel right sharing a tent with my dad and under current circumstances it's to awkward to be with my siblings. They are to quiet right now and I can feel the nervous energy radiating off them."

"Oh, you can come in if you want."

"Are you sure?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

"I don't know, honestly I kind of felt like you have been angry with me since the trip started. You were quiet the entire ride and barely even looked my way, I could tell that you didn't want to be here. Although even before that you didn't even say goodbye after talking to my father and you didn't come to pick out the puppies with me. You went with you brother to choose them, so I figured you were mad and wanted space."

"I'm not mad at you, your the one who said you shouldn't be sleeping over with us anymore. I also went with my brother because I figured you were busy doing things and I didn't want to bother you. I mean your also right about me not wanting to be here. When we get there I'm going to see my aunt. I have no clue what to say or if I should say anything to her at all, because if she recognizes me she might try to take me away so she can bring me back to my old clan. Then I won't see you again for at least another four years and you'll end up marrying the woman in your clan who is competing me with me to marry you right now to begin with. I also don't like that I left my brother and my people because what if something happens to them, I just got my family back. I'm not ready to lose them and be alone again."

"Meg, you won't ever be alone. I'm always going to be here for you and I won't let your aunt take you away from me without a fight. Even if in some impossible scenario she somehow does take you back to your old clan, I'm not going to marry that other woman. I'll wait until I find you again, your the person I want to be with for the rest of my life." Corey grabbed my hand and smiled at me while looking into my eyes, then kissed my forehead.

"It's late we should go to sleep." I said.

"Goodnight I'll see you in the morning." Corey went to go sit back down outside the tent, but I grabbed his arm pulling him back towards me before he could go very far.

"I meant we should go to sleep together. After all it cold out here, and I'd feel better feeling you with me."

"You know it's not a good idea what if someone says something."

"Who, one of your sibling or your father? Who are they to judge either of us. After all soon enough your going to be my husband and it's not like they know anything that goes on in the tent after we are inside. All they need to know is that I heard some noises and felt scared so you came inside to make me feel safer."

"Well then I guess it is my duty to make sure my future wife is safe and warm."

We smiled at one another than Corey kissed.

"Your also right anything else they don't need to know about." He whispered in my ear.

We went inside the tent and he took off his shirt as I took off my nightgown. He kissed me and laid me down. He let his lips move from my mouth to my body. They didn't travel very far though. He kissed down my neck and to my boobs then stopped there. He sucked on my boobs until he left a few marks then move so he was laying on his side next to me. He moved me so I was on my side with my back facing him. His skin felt warm and his breath was even warmer and made the hair on my neck stand and seemed to send a tingling sensation down my spin.

"Goodnight hun." He whispered, I fell asleep as he held me against his body wrapped in his arms.

Neither of us were driven by a sexual desire to one another. It was something I realized what we felt was pure and truly innocent. We just wanted to be close to one another and feel the other person as it made both of us feel safe knowing the other was right there completely fine. We were drawn to one another because we care and have love for one another. That is something nobody will ever be able to take away or replace.