We had been following the dragons for more than an hour now and there were still no signs of my dad. How could he fly so far away in such a short amount of time? Were we really on the right path? What if the Moon Dragons got the wrong man? My hands became all moist from stress. This challenge between my mate and the Prince was seriously killing my nerves.

After what seemed like an eternity, the dragons started to get excited. They were growling and puffing out fire. I was hoping it meant that we found my dad because if not, I don’t want to become their dinner.

Suddenly, the dragons dove into the leaves of the trees before a painful scream could be heard. Without wasting a second, we followed the dragons’ trail before safely landing a few meters from a cloaked man. I couldn’t see his face, but I noticed how tense he was. I didn’t blame him. Anyone would be nervous when surrounded by scary looking creatures.

I was starting to doubt that it was my dad since he wasn’t this thin before. But he may have lost some weight. Everything was possible. He was also hiding from everyone since he had to die if he was ever caught. Until now, he really has done a good job hiding at the borders. But he should have taken refuge in the Ignis Kingdom. That way, he would be safe and untouchable.

No one uttered a word as we stared at each other for a long time. But after what seemed like an eternity, the stranger broke the tense silence.

"If you're not going to say or do anything, do you mind telling your... Creatures back, so I can be on my way?" he asked while looking at the ground with the hood of his cloak covering his face.

“Identify yourself and reveal your face at once,” Helena ordered in an authoritarian tone.

"I don't see the need to..." the man started to argue, but the Moon Dragons started to growl dangerously, cutting his sentence short.

There was another long moment of silence, and it was starting to annoy me. I only wanted to know if he was or wasn’t the man I was actually looking for!

“We all want to be somewhere else, so identify yourself and let’s get going! Is it so hard to do?” I exploded out of anxiety while shocking all of them.

Then out of nowhere, a laugh escaped my mate’s lips. He immediately put his hand in front of his mouth hoping it’ll calm him down, but fail miserably.

"It is not funny," I grumbled while blushing at my mate unusual facial expression.

“My apologies, but you were so damn cute,” he admitted as he was still trying to contain himself. “However, you do have a point. Comply with our orders, or I’ll make you do it,” Ryan added more seriously as all traces of his amused expression disappeared.

When the stranger still didn’t answer, Helena made a weird sound and the Moon Dragons started to growl. Smoke was also coming out of their mouth as of readying themselves to roar out fire. Startled, the man took a few steps back before tripping on a tree root. As he fell down, the hood of his cloak slipped down to the back of his head revealing his face.

Seeing my dad for the first time in weeks paralyzed me. All the bad memories of him being disappointed in me appeared into my mind. All those years, I was trying to please him and earn his praise, but it never came. He was always unhappy with me. No matter what I do. In his eyes, I was failing at everything, and he never stopped comparing me to Angela and Sebastian.

"Looks like you found me. I didn't recognize you at first since you don't have wings, but I suppose that a disappointment like you wouldn't really mind the difference. Yet, seeing you with the enemies were quite a shock," greeted my father with his usual arrogant tone.

I was about to let him talk me down as always. I didn’t even dare to look at him in the eyes. I didn’t want to see the disappointment in his eyes anymore. Why did I even bother looking for him? Deep down, I knew this would happen.

Suddenly, Ryan punches my dad on his nose surprising me. “You'll not talk to my mate like that. Maybe I should break your wings and see if you'll feel the difference?” Ryan threatened while looking down on my dad before roughly grabbing one of his wings.

Evidently, my dad wouldn’t let Ryan break his wings without a fight. He struggled to get out of my mate’s grip when a loud breaking sound echoed. Goosebumps appeared on my arms as I shivered while watching my dad on all four holding his left shoulder. His left wing was hanging on the floor in a weird angle. But for some reason, I felt some satisfaction seeing him writhing in pain. It may have been cruel, but he also didn't even think twice about the consequences he would bestow upon us when he tried to kill the King for whatever reason it was.

After that, my dad didn’t resist Helena when she tied his hands and wings together. It was only a precaution. Who knows what he could do even with a broken wing. Then, she tossed him on the back of one of the Moon Dragons like a bag of potatoes.

On our way back, my dad was acting really weird. At times, he didn't want to shut up and at other times, he was deadly quiet. Maybe living in the wild for so long made him crazy? To make everything worse, the weather started to turn ugly. In no time, it started to rain heavily with a lot of wind. Since we didn’t find a place to take cover, we stayed under a big tree to rest a few hours or until it stops raining.

After an hour, the weather didn’t look any better. It looked like we would be stuck here for a while. At least we are protected by the trees surrounding us. So we decided to stay for the night. Of course, my dad was going to sleep with Helena and the dragons. As for me, I was sitting in between Ryan’s legs while his wings protected us from the cold. We were enjoying each other’s presence in comfortable silence. I liked to listen to my mate’s heartbeat. It usually calmed me down luring me to sleep. Yet, no matter how long I have tried, sleep wouldn't come.

In the middle of the night, I didn't want to move and wake my mate up. He must be pretty tired carrying me all day without a lot of rest. So, I just sat there looking at our surroundings. The sound of the rain and Ryan's soft snoring filled the air. Everything was so peaceful, but it was a shame to have the sky covered by dark clouds.

Suddenly, I heard a branch being snapped in two. Something was moving in the forest in front of us. It could be anything, but I was on my guard as I tried to take my bow and some arrows as slowly as possible. I was waiting, for it to do something first since I didn't want to kill an animal that was only passing by.

But in the end, there were no additional sounds. I guessed it was really an animal passing by. I was grateful for that, but I was also mad at it. Because of it, it was now even harder to fall asleep.

Great...