The Last Dragon Shifter (Shifter World - Book Eleven) (Series of 13 Short Stories)
Chapter Seven: The Cure

Zephyrus opened his eyes and looked around at his surroundings. Where the hell was, he?

“Hello, my pet.”

Zephyrus sat up and stared at the Goddess of Souls. His guardian.

“Aunt Biason?”

Biason smiled at her favorite soul. “I see you’ve finally found your mate.”

He snorted. “Why?” He asked as he pulled himself to his feet.

“Why do you have a soul mate?” She asked as her left eyebrow raised.

He grunted. “No. Why did you turn her into a Vampire. You know I hate them.”

She sighed heavily. “Well, she was lonely. I thought maybe she would end up in a Shifter, then all she’d have to do is switch…”

“But she ended up in a human body.” He said, finishing her story for her.

She scoffed at him. “Let me talk.”

He grumbled but didn’t interrupt her again.

“As I was saying.” She said as she moved closer to him. “She had gone to Earth as a Human. And my sister and I had to come up with a way for her to stay alive, for over three-hundred and fifty years.”

He sighed heavily. Vampire.

“So, we had the only true Vampire, turn her.”

He blinked. “Wait, it wasn’t some random ya-hoo?”

She chuckled. “No. It had to be someone we trusted.”

“Why doesn’t she know that he had turned her? Doesn’t she think her creator was dead.”

She grinned at him. “That’s the beauty of it. She never had the urge to follow him around. We took both of their memories of it. Now, they did get together, a long time ago, not knowing he was her creator. But of course, it didn’t last long. They don’t exactly hate each other, but they also don’t love each other, either.”

He nodded. He knew his mate had had other lovers. So, had he. Two thousand divided by fifty… Fuck! Forty lovers…

Biason chuckled. “I’m sure she hasn’t had that many.”

He snorted. “So, where am I?” He asked, changing the subject.

“Oh.” She said with a grin. “You’re dead.”

He blinked at her for a minute, then he remembered. He’d been poisoned.

“I thought Fated Mates don’t stay dead.”

She shook her head. “They don’t. But I needed to talk to you.”

“Why?”

She moved closer to him and placed her hand against his cheek. “Because my dear boy. You are living in the past. You lost your mother, then your father. And you won’t let the pain go. I thought I had left you at the right time, in your life. But apparently, I was wrong. You needed more… I am sorry I could not give you what you needed. But your mate can. And the children you are meant to have with her, can as well. Let the past go, my beautiful boy. Look to the future. Tell your mate, that there is a cure, let her decide if she wants to become, what she was always destined to become. Your mate, in all sense of the word.”

He blinked at her a few times. “I can’t. She will die.”

She grinned. “Look at you. You just died and left your mate to mourn you. Even if it is just for a little while. She is heartbroken. Look at her.” She said, then waved her hand in the air.

A pocket opened and they watched through the light, as Bridget held onto Zephyrus’s body, and cried. Begging for him to return to her.

“Shit.” He grumbled as he watched her hold his head as she rocked forward and backward. “I need to return to her.” He said as he turned to the Goddess.

Biason nodded. “You do. But first, you must promise me…”

“I promise.” He said quickly. “Please. Send me back. I can’t bear to see my mate hurting when I can stop it.”

With a bright smile, she nodded to him, then snapped her fingers.

Bridget sniffled as she held onto her mate. What was taking so long for the Goddesses to return him?

A groan had her looking down at her mate.

“Zeph?” She whispered.

He opened his eyes and smiled up at her. “Hello, Mafilia.”

She laughed as she leaned over him and kissed his lips. “That’s the first time you’ve called me that.”

He smiled. “I think it’s time I changed that.” He said, then started to sit up, so he could hold her.

She sighed as she cuddled against him. “What took you so long?”

He chuckled. “Biason was giving me a lesson in life and love.”

She smiled as she looked up at him. “Still looking out for you, I see.”

He smiled down at her. “There’s something we need to discuss.”

She pulled out of his arms and got to her knees as she faced him. She placed her hands on his shoulders and looked into his blue eyes. “Tell me.”

He grinned as he wrapped his arms around her. “There’s a cure.”

She blinked. “A cure for what?”

He looked up at the ceiling and she took hold of his face and made him look at her.

“A cure for what?” She asked again.

He sighed. “Vampirism.”

“What?!” She asked with a squeal as she jumped back from him.

He sighed as he watched her.

“Does that mean I can be human?”

He nodded.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

He moved towards her and pulled her against him. “Because the cure means your death.”

She blinked at him. “What?”

He sighed as he sat on the floor and pulled her against him. “Before I was born, there were hundreds of Dragon Shifters.”

She sucked in a breath and he smiled down at her.

“Dragons are very good at hiding.”

She nodded. “We know.”

He snorted. “Anyways. Dragons ruled the Shifters for hundreds of years. All Shifters, even ones like your friends, would come to a Dragon for advice, and blessings.”

“What happened to them?” She whispered.

He looked down at her. “Well, there was a king, who didn’t like that Dragon Shifters were on his land and sent his knights to take care of them. We lost over a hundred Dragons, young and old as well as warriors. The Dragons left their home, and traveled the world, until they found a country that accepted all Shifters, including Dragons.”

She sighed. “Kings can be assholes.”

He chuckled as he kissed the top of her head. “That they can.”

“What happened to the rest of the Dragons?”

He looked down at her and sighed. “Vampires.”

“What?” She whispered, stunned by his response.

He nodded. “A Dragon was helping a Vampire pack with an unwanted guest. And the Dragon was harmed during the battle. One of the Vampires got the Dragon’s blood on his arm, and out of reflex, he licked it off. When morning came, he was no longer a Vampire and could walk in the sun, once again. It didn’t take them long to figure out how he was cured.”

She sucked in a breath as she listened to him.

“They killed the Dragon and cured their whole pack. When word got out, other Vampires went in search for Dragons.”

She blinked up at him. “But I tasted your blood last night when I bit your lip, and I didn’t change.”

He smiled down at her. “It’s not in my blood.”

Her mouth dropped open. “It’s in your Dragon’s blood.”

He nodded. “Dragon’s didn’t know they held the cure for Vampires. If they did, they would have stayed, far away from them.”

She nodded; her eyes opened wide as she waited for more.

He sighed as he pulled her closer. “The first attack came at a surprise to all Dragons. But when they discovered what the Vampires were after, Dragons started hiding in caves. For hundreds of years, Vampires hunted and killed Dragons, for the cure. And of course, they had to replace ways to force them into shifting. My father was protecting me, that’s why he shifted.” He said the last part so quietly, she almost didn’t hear him.

“Oh, Zeph.” She said with a cry as she threw herself against him. “No wonder you hated me.”

He sighed. “I didn’t hate you.” He said as he nuzzled her neck. “I hated what you are.”

She looked up at him. “What do I have to do to be cured?”

He blinked down at her.

‘Don’t let her take it, she will die!’

You heard what Aunt Biason said. This is something we need to do. Don’t you want hatchlings?

His Dragon took too long to think about it. When he finally spoke, his voice was so low, he almost didn’t catch what he said.

‘Not if it means we lose mate.’

Zephyrus sighed heavily. She will come back to us.

‘What if she doesn’t?’

She will! I have faith in the Goddesses, don’t you?

‘I don’t know. They gave me a pain in the ass human.’

Zephyrus grumbled. Whatever, Lizard Boy.

Bridget had been staring at Zephyrus while he argued with his Dragon, and when he called his Dragon, Lizard Boy. She couldn’t help it. She fell over onto the floor and burst into laughter as she rolled around, holding her stomach.

Zephyrus and his Dragon stared at their mate as she rolled around on the floor laughing.

‘Is she okay?’

I don’t know.

Bridget settled her laughter and stopped rolling around on the floor, then looked at her mate.

“I’m fine, Dragon Lover.” She said with a grin.

Zephyrus heard and felt his Dragon purr. He smiled at their mate as he shook his head.

“So, what now?” She asked as she sat up and faced them, her knees touching his.

He reached out and laid his hands on her knees. She smiled at him as he looked into her eyes.

“I honestly don’t know.” He said as he squeezed her knees.

She eyed him for a minute. “Let me get this straight. You have a cure for Vampires, hidden in your Dragon’s blood.”

He nodded once.

“And if I take the cure, it will kill me?”

He nodded again.

“But how is that possible. If the Vampires knew it would kill them, why did they go after your race?”

He frowned. “It didn’t cause deaths, until after they killed my father. Biason placed a curse on my blood. If a Vampire drinks my Dragon’s blood, it will cure them, yes, but they will also die; a horrible death.”

She blinked at him. “Your father was the last of his kind?”

“Other than me, yes.” He said with a nod.

“How did that happen?”

He shrugged. “Just as I told you. The Vampires hunted us down.”

“But you are so powerful.”

He nodded. “Yes. But there are more Vampires than there are Dragons. And they would be lying in wait. You would think you only had a few Vampires to deal with, then, BAMB!” He hollered the last word as he slammed his fists on the floor of the cave, making everything vibrate. “There’s so many, you couldn’t escape them. Especially when they’re sinking their teeth into you, and you’re protecting a loved one.”

Bridget felt a tear fall down her cheek. And to think. Once upon a time, she used to be thrilled to be what she is. Even when she was a killer.

“Oh, Zeph.” She breathed, then leaned forward and kissed him on his chin.

Zephyrus sighed heavily as he pulled his mate onto his lap and held her. She silently cried against his chest and he could feel her wet tears slide down his bare chest.

“Will you let me take the cure?” She asked with a sniffle as she looked up at him.

He looked down at her with a smile. “Biason said that I need to. So, I guess I am.”

She sighed. “So, you wouldn’t have, if she hadn’t said it was what you were meant to do?”

He shrugged. “I don’t know, Bridget. I’ve waited over two thousand years for you. It is going to kill me and my Dragon, to watch you die.”

“Then don’t watch me die.” She said as she pulled away from him. “After I drink your blood, fly away. Fly far away, until I call out to you.”

He watched her face for a moment, then smiled. She didn’t want him to suffer, any more than he wanted her to suffer.

“I couldn’t do that.”

“Please!” She begged as she sat up and took hold of his face in her hands. “Do this for me. I couldn’t bear to watch you suffer over my death; when we both know that I will come back to you.”

He leaned forward and kissed her sweet lips. “Okay.”

She grinned. “Let’s go do it, now.”