The gold dragon raced back to the village, Jonathan perched between his shoulder blades, prepared to act as backup for whatever they might face. He didn't think he'd ever flown so fast in his life, but he'd never been as desperate as he was in that moment. He'd lost his connection to his mate. He'd felt her fear, the pain that flashed across her neck, and then nothing. Fear coursed through him in a way he'd never experienced. He knew it was because he'd never loved anyone as much as he loved Skylar, needed someone as much as he needed her, and the thought of losing her nearly killed him.

He couldn't feel anything from her, and he didn't know what that meant. Their bond was so new, so fragile, and he didn't understand everything he felt from her. That was for his human side to distinguish, each subtle detail. The dragon side only knew his mate was there one second and gone the next.

She was supposed to be safe back at the village, that was why he'd left her there, against her wishes. To keep her safe, and now something terrible had happened to her, but he didn't know what.

Leo! Nana's voice rang through the clan link. Orion hadn't felt her shift, but suddenly he realized the entire clan was a part of the link, everyone was in their dragon form. For everyone to have shifted, something was terribly wrong. He still couldn't sense Skylar. Orion! We need your help!

None of them had ever heard the old woman so desperate. She had their attention, as much as they could give right then. The gold dragon continued his desperate rush to the village but paid close attention to what his grandmother had to say. Perhaps she knew what happened to Skylar.

What's wrong? The Alpha's voice was loud in his head, despite the distance between them.

Draco... the witches... Cassie was with them. They snuck up on us. We couldn't stop them, Nana cried out. The gold dragon snarled at the mention of the female. The knowledge of her betrayal added fury to his fear, but he would deal with her later. He would make her pay for endangering his clan and his mate.

Where is Skylar? Orion demanded.

Nana hesitated, but her anguish was palpable through the clan link. As was everyone else's. Panic added to his fury and fear. He wasn't sure how many more emotions he could handle without breaking.

Nana!

She didn't answer him. Dread washed over him, chilling him to his bones. The gold dragon let out a low whine and he felt Jonathan's hand on his shoulder in a questioning touch. The knight, of course, couldn't hear what was going on through the clan link. The gold dragon flew on, as fast as he could possibly go. He would find her, and he would save her from whatever trouble she was in. That was the only option. He couldn't consider anything else.

Ruby June, get the clan to safety. We will finish this, right now, and then we'll come home. Leo's voice was commanding, but also gentle and reassuring.

Leo, there's something else... Nana whispered.

Whatever it is, it can wait! The Alpha barked, obviously missing the tone in his mother-in-law's voice. Orion didn't miss it, and he knew Nana had something important to say, but Leo couldn't be distracted. He needed to rally the dragons to gain the advantage once again.

Nana went silent then, but Orion stopped listening anyway. He was distracted by the flash of blue on the horizon, the blue he would recognize anywhere.

Skylar! He cried out to her, but she didn't respond, and he still couldn't sense her through the clan link or their bond. He roared to her, trying to get her attention, but she made no indication she recognized him.

He angled so he was flying directly at her and roared again. The distance between them was closing quickly, and she still made no move to let him know that she even realized he was there.

He roared again, louder this time, and reached out to her through their mate bond. Nothing. It was like she was gone, except he could see her right in front of him. Something was incredibly wrong, but he couldn't figure out what it was.

He watched in confusion as her gaze locked on him, and she bared her teeth as the distance between them closed rapidly. So confused was he, he didn't react fast enough to avoid colliding with her. She didn't try to stop it either. In fact, once they collided, her jaws closed around his neck, right below his chin, and her claws lodged into his sides as she locked onto him.

A surprised screech escaped him, and then pain as she squeezed her jaw further closed. Her razor teeth punctured his scales with ease, and she was relentless, tearing and shaking her head from side to side.

He didn't understand what was happening. This was his mate, the female he was bonded to, but it felt like she was trying to kill him. He wedged his paws between them to try and shake her off, but she simply tightened her grip, demanding his compliance. He pulled to get away, flapped his wings to help propel himself away from her, but she moved with him. He couldn't hurt her, this was Skylar, whatever was wrong with her. He wouldn't hurt her.

He struggled and fought against her as hard as he could without hurting her, but since he was holding back, she was stronger. He could feel them losing altitude, even though, somehow, they both managed to keep their wings beating.

"Kill him!" A human voice reached the dragon's ears. "Kill him now!"

The gold dragon knew that the voice was referring to him, and he also recognized the cool timbre from the one time he'd heard him weeks ago. Draco.

The blue dragon twisted violently, tearing at his throat again with more fervor. Shocked by the pain, the gold dragon's wings folded, and they began to plummet to the ground in a tangle of wings, teeth, and claws. Jonathan clung to his back, and somehow Draco remained astride Skylar.

Skylar, stop! It's me! Orion called to her, though he knew she couldn't hear him. Something was blocking their connection, and she couldn't be reached. Although if Draco was involved, he could only guess what had happened to make her act this way.

He gathered his wits and used the momentum of their fall to break away from her, though not without her teeth tearing through the scales at his neck even further. Her jaw had been locked around him without mercy. He had to get away from her, otherwise he would be forced to hurt her. She didn't know what she was doing, that she was trying to kill him, but he still couldn't let her do that. The only problem with his plan to stay alive was that he couldn't hurt her. He was larger, heavier, better trained, and could take her down with ease. Except he couldn't, because this was his mate. He could no more hurt her than he could stop his heart from beating.

"Orion, what's wrong with her?" the knight yelled from his back as they flew back toward the battlefield, the blue dragon hot on their tail. She was faster than him, but he only needed to stay far enough in front of her that she couldn't get ahold of him again. If she couldn't touch him, she couldn't try to kill him. He glanced over his shoulder, and she was too close for comfort. Once quick burst and her jaws would lock around his tail, and his flight would cut short. He couldn't fly without a tail.

His gaze zeroed in on the man on her back. Draco perched there as if he belonged, which infuriated the gold dragon even further. Now that he knew Skylar was alive, if not herself, his fear moved aside slightly so he had more room for anger. Behind him sat a woman, a woman he immediately recognized as a witch. He sensed the power rolling off her. Why she was working with Draco, he couldn't say, but he knew she had something to do with what was happening now.

He met the blue dragon's eye, searching for anything familiar there, but there was nothing. His mate was gone; a mindless, angry, creature left in her place.

Her lips pulled back from her teeth and she snapped at his tail once more. He banked to the side, out of her reach. He would save her, he had to, but he needed to get Draco and the witch away from her.

The battlefield wasn't far, he could hear it, but he didn't know what he was going to do once he got there. He just needed help dealing with this, that was all he knew. If it were anyone else, he would have ended this already, but he knew that he would not be the one to take Skylar down while she was in this state.

He felt the brush of her teeth on his tail as she snapped at him again and was incredibly grateful she couldn't breathe fire. His scales were fireproof, but his rider wasn't... his rider wasn't! If his rider wasn't fire proof, neither were hers.

With a flick of his tail, he swooped upwards in a huge loop and ended up behind Skylar. Before she had a chance to react to his quick maneuver, one he practiced a thousand times for this very reason, he let loose the last of his fire reserve. The blue flames licked along her tail, up her spine, between her wings, and was nearly to Draco and the witch before it was diverted to either side. He should have known the witch would be fast enough to stop him, but he'd had to try. The only problem was that now he was out of fire until his body could generate more, which obviously took time.

The blue dragon roared in outrage, and Draco glared back at him before demanding something of his mount. The gold dragon was well trained in aerial combat, and he knew what was coming. It was the same move he would make himself if he were trying to catch the dragon behind him, and the one he had taught her.

Her wings flew up to catch the wind and bring her to almost a complete stop, but Orion was ready for her. His own wings folded against his sides and he dropped like a rock beneath her to avoid a collision. He snapped them back open and took off like a shot, putting distance between him and the dragon who wished to kill him.

Orion, what's happening? Leo demanded, suddenly sensing the turmoil in his son.

Draco has Skylar! I'm leading her back to the battle, and we need to separate them. Be ready, we're almost there.

He looked over his shoulder to make sure his mate hadn't decided to turn back and was relieved to see she hadn't. Her orders had been to kill him, and she was determined to do that. He only wondered how Draco had managed to get control over her.

He broke over the battlefield once again, pleased to see the dragons appeared to be gaining ground once again. His eyes immediately found Leo, the only black dragon on the battlefield, and angled toward him. His Alpha had been waiting for his arrival, and he appeared as surprised as anyone to see the fury in Skylar's eyes as she pursued him.

"Get him!" he heard Draco bellow. "Get him before he lands!"

With no more warning than that, the gold dragon felt the magic envelop him and squeeze. He screeched at the sensation of being crushed, and then he blacked out.

<><><><><><><><>

Olly watched in horror as his brother went limp in midair and then was forced to shift from dragon to human. He and the human knight began to fall from the sky, his brother clearly unconscious while the knight screamed and thrashed in the air. The orange dragon abandoned his own fight to leap into the air, flying to the falling bodies. He didn't know what had caused Orion to shift like that, but he didn't care. A fall from that height would kill him.

He wasn't paying attention to his brother's mate as his claws wrapped around the bodies, so he was too late to react when she landed on his back and locked her jaws around his neck, right at the base of his head. He roared and, out of instinct, threw his head back in an attempt to impale her with his horns. Her grip was too tight, so he was unsuccessful. He screeched he fought her while also trying to keep a tight grip on the humans in his paws.

Now it was his turn to fall from the sky. He shook himself, trying to dislodge from the dragon above him, but her teeth were locked in his neck. He tried to flap his wings and wiggle out of her grasp, but the female was determined to take him down. He felt her growl and bite down harder on the back of his neck. He watched in horror as the ground raced up to meet them.

Olly! His father's voice shouted as the blue dragon was wrenched from his back. Her jaw released him quickly, but her claws dragged along his shoulders, leaving behind some good gashes before he was free of her. He immediately felt the gush of blood, but he couldn't focus on that. He had to make sure he didn't fall to the ground and crush the humans he'd inadvertently risked his life for.

The orange dragon righted himself quickly, making sure his cargo was still safe in his paws, landing roughly but with as much control as was possible when he was only moments from making a crash landing. He placed the two humans on the ground as gently as he could. Orion was just coming to and Jonathan knelt beside him as the orange dragon shifted back into his human form to help stanch the bleeding from the blue dragon's handiwork.

He looked up to see his father wrestling the female from the sky and snapping at the two passengers she carried with his massive jaws. Something kept stopping him from reaching his goal, as if an invisible barrier stood between him and the two humans, but he continued to try as he forced the blue dragon toward the ground. She snarled and roared at him, attempting to do him more than a little harm, but the black dragon stayed out of her reach, calm but just as angry. Her determined, insane, snapping teeth would give anyone pause, anyone other than the Alpha.

A hand landed roughly on his arm, drawing his attention away from the two dragons. "Olly," his brother gasped. "Draco has control of Skylar."

Alarm shot through him, but not surprise. He'd heard Orion's desperate plea to Leo through the clan link, but he hadn't registered just how much control Draco had. It was as though Skylar wasn't there anymore. "I don't understand. How did he manage that? Why would she have let him get that close to her?"

"I think she was protecting the clan," Orion said, his voice breaking slightly as he looked up at her. "I don't know what to do to help her. I don't know how he's doing this."

Olly didn't answer him as he looked back up at the dragons. The black dragon still had the upper hand, though not because the blue dragon was no longer trying. If anything, she was more feral than before. Olly had only seen a Wilding twice, but he compared it to that. She was all primal instinct. Her humanity was gone.

It occurred to him that the battlefield had become incredibly quiet. He turned and found that the two airborne dragons had everyone's attention, even the humans'. He wondered if they knew their leader was on the back of one, or if they were just amazed that two dragons were fighting each other.

Everyone watched as the dragons began to descend with greater speed now, the black dragon nearly on top of the blue one, forcing her to the ground. Orion gripped Olly's arm harder, a small gasp escaping him. Olly turned to him, expecting to find him in pain, and he did, but not the kind he expected. Though his brother was covered in blood, Orion's pain was purely emotional as he watched his mate crash into the ground, the black dragon standing over her. No one noticed as Draco and the witch were thrown from her back at the impact. The Alpha's teeth shined with blood and saliva, and he snarled down at her, warning her not to move.

"He's going to hurt her," Orion whispered. He began to walk toward her, but Olly grabbed his arm and yanked him back.

"He has to. You know he has to."

The black dragon lowered his head and growled close to her face, asserting his dominance over her, and they all waited desperate for the blue dragon to submit. Of course, she didn't, because this was Skylar, whether she was conscious or not, and she would submit to no one.

"I can stop this," Orion insisted. "I'm her mate, I can reach her, through whatever magic has control of her."

Olly shook his head. "Orion, you can't risk it. That's powerful magic, to be able to control someone as strong as Skylar."

"She would do it for me," his brother snapped. "I can reach her."

"At least shift if you're going to do it!"

"I can't. Whatever that witch did... I can't shift. But I can reach her."

He yanked his arm away from Olly, who reached after him helplessly. His brother was going to risk this in his soft, armor-less human form? Olly had the very real fear that he was about to watch his brother die, and there was nothing he could do about it. There was no stopping Orion when he decided to do something, especially if it had to do with his mate.

Orion slowly approached the prone dragon, and the black dragon growled in warning. He seemed so small compared to the two beasts, so helpless. Olly wanted to look away, but he couldn't force himself to.

<><><><><><><><>

His heartbeat was so loud, he couldn't hear anything over it. Not that it mattered all that much, his only focus was Skylar. He could save her from Draco's control, he knew it. He looked up at his father, and the Alpha glared back at him.

"Let her go," he told the massive creature. The dragon actually appeared taken-aback by the demand.

"I need her to be free. I'm going to break the connection. Let her go," he said again. When the black dragon hesitated, Orion gave his father a demand, something he had never done before. "Now!"

Sensing his seriousness, the black dragon stepped off the blue, but remained close by. She jumped to her feet and lunged at Orion in one fluid motion.

Though every instinct told him to run or shift, which he couldn't do, he stood his ground. He held up a hand and when he spoke, his voice was gentle. "Skylar, my love."

The blue dragon paused, her teeth only inches from his hand. Her gaze was still that of a stranger, but he had her attention.

"Skylar, it's me," he whispered. "Orion, your True Mate." He reached to her through their connection, trying to make her realize who he was, to draw strength from him.

The dragon watched him carefully, but he swore he saw something flicker in her eyes at his words.

"This isn't you," he said softly. "This isn't your fault. You're stronger than whatever has control over you, love. You can stop this. You have to stop this. You have to come back to me. I thought I lost you, but I know I haven't. I know you're still in there."

He closed the distance between them and placed his palm on her snout. She didn't even flinch at the contact, completely focused on his words.

"Come on now, Skylar," he said, his fingers flexing against the warmth of her scales. "I need you. We all need you. You're the one who has to defeat Draco. You're the one who has to save us all. You can't do that if you're trying to kill us."

He leaned his forehead against her. "Come back to me. Please. I love you."

She exhaled deeply and slowly, but surely, he felt their bond snap back into place. He felt her immediately, felt her love for him, felt how scared she was, but all he felt was relief and he let that pour through their connection.

Orion... I lo-

Then, as quickly as it had been mended, the bond was broken once again.

"I said kill him!" a voice screamed, impatience and a little desperation leaking into the normally cool tone. Orion leaned back and saw the stranger was once again before him. He stumbled back to try and get away, but the blue dragon had long front legs.

In the next few moments, the world slowed down. He heard Olly screaming in fear and Draco demanding her to kill him. He saw his father lunging forward to pounce on the blue dragon, his eyes filled with desperation, and he saw his mate's glimmering white teeth through her snarl. The snarl directed at him. That snarl was the last thing he saw as her paw swiped forward and her claws sliced through his chest.