Chapter 2 Three Hundred Years of Lies

Evan's POV

The golden chains are killing me.

Not literally—though right now, I wish they would. The pain is everywhere, burning through every nerve like liquid fire. But worse than the physical agony is the mental invasion. Maya's consciousness crashes into mine like a tidal wave, and I feel the exact moment she sees the truth I've hidden for twenty years.

No. Not like this. Please, not like this.

I'm on my knees in the middle of the street, my human disguise flickering like a broken hologram. Scales ripple across my skin before I force them back. My wings try to burst free. The dragon inside me is screaming to transform, to break these chains, to fight.

But I can't fight her.

The bond won't let me.

"Evan?" Maya's voice is small and terrified. "What's happening? What are you?"

Through our new connection, I feel her horror. Her confusion. The sickening realization that her best friend has been lying to her for their entire friendship.

I deserve every bit of her hatred.

"I'm sorry." The words rip from my throat. "Maya, I'm so sorry. I never wanted—"

The griffin screeches overhead, reminding us that we're kind of in the middle of a crisis. It dives toward Maya, talons extended. My protective instincts explode.

"MOVE!" I roar.

Except it's not a suggestion. It's a command that shoots through the bond like electricity. Maya's body jerks sideways before she can think, controlled by my will through our connection—

Wait.

That's not how this works.

Dragon Tamer bonds give HER control over ME. Not the other way around. But somehow, for just a second, I commanded her through the link.

The griffin's talons miss Maya by inches, tearing chunks out of the pavement instead. She scrambles backward, staring at me with wide, terrified eyes. "Did you just—"

"I don't know!" I'm on my feet now, even though the chains are still wrapped around my soul. The bond is wrong. Twisted. It's supposed to make me her slave, force me to obey her every word. That's what Dragon Tamer bonds do.

So why can I still think for myself?

The griffin circles for another attack. Without thinking, I let my shadow panther illusion drop. There's no point hiding anymore—not when Maya can feel every thought in my head, see every memory I've tried to bury.

"Stay behind me," I tell her.

"Evan, what ARE you?" Her voice breaks. "I saw—in my head, I saw—"

"A dragon." The confession tastes like ash. "I'm a dragon. We're not extinct. We've been hiding as humans for three hundred years, and I've been lying to you since we were eight years old."

I expect her to run. To scream. To do literally anything except what she does.

She steps closer. "You're hurt."

"What?"

"The bond." Her hands are shaking as she reaches toward me, like she's afraid to touch me. "It's hurting you. I can feel it. Evan, I can feel YOUR pain through this link, and it's—oh god, what did I do to you?"

The griffin dives again. This time, I don't hold back.

I let the transformation take me.

Bones crack and reshape. My human skin splits as obsidian scales surge through. Wings explode from my back, each one spanning twenty feet. I grow and grow until I'm the size of a garbage truck, towering over Maya's tiny human form.

For three hundred years, my people have hidden what we are. Revealing yourself means death—not just for you, but for every dragon in your clan. The Tamer Guild has sensors everywhere, always watching for dragon energy signatures.

But Maya's already seen the truth. And I'll be damned if I let some overgrown pigeon hurt her.

I launch myself at the griffin with a roar that shakes windows three blocks away.

The fight is brutal and short. The griffin is A-rank—impressive for a beast. But I'm a dragon prince, trained in combat since before this country existed. I have claws that can shred steel and fire that burns hot enough to melt stone.

The griffin doesn't stand a chance.

It tries to flee after I tear through its wing, but I chase it into the sky, my rage making me sloppy. How DARE it attack Maya? How dare it show up on TODAY of all days, forcing me to reveal myself, destroying every protection I'd built around her?

"Evan, STOP!"

Maya's command shoots through the bond like a lightning bolt.

I freeze mid-flight. My body locks up completely, wings going still. For a terrifying second, I just hang in the air, paralyzed.

Then I start to fall.

The ground rushes up way too fast. I manage to spread my wings at the last second, landing hard enough to crack the pavement. My legs buckle. The compulsion releases me slowly, like claws retracting from my brain.

That's what a Dragon Tamer bond feels like.

Absolute. Inescapable. Terrifying.

Maya runs toward me, tears streaming down her face. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean—I just thought—you were going to kill it!"

"I was." My voice comes out as a growl, still half-dragon. "It threatened you."

"It was running away!" She stops a few feet from me, like she's afraid to get closer. Afraid of me. "Evan, when I gave that command, you just... stopped. Like a puppet with its strings cut. Did I do that?"

I force myself back into human form. It's harder now, with the bond pulling at my consciousness, Maya's emotions bleeding into mine. I can feel her guilt, her horror, her desperate need to understand.

"That's what Dragon Tamers do," I say quietly. "You don't ask. You command. And we have no choice but to obey."

Her face crumples. "This is my worst nightmare."

"Mine too." The words slip out before I can stop them. "I've spent three hundred years hiding from your bloodline. Dragon Tamers are the only beings who can enslave us. When the Great Purge happened, the Guild hunted down every Dragon Tamer they could find and killed them. Not because Dragon Tamers were evil—because they proved dragons could be controlled instead of exterminated."

"That's why you stayed away from me after my awakening." Understanding dawns in her eyes. "You knew. You knew what I was before I did."

"No!" I step toward her, desperate. "Maya, I stayed BECAUSE of your awakening. Because I knew the Guild would come for you. Dragon Tamer bloodlines are supposed to be extinct. When you manifested today, you painted a target on your back the size of—"

My words cut off as pain explodes through my skull.

Not from the bond. From something else.

Danger. Close. Coming fast.

"Maya, we need to run. NOW."

"What? Why?"

I grab her hand, pulling her toward the alley. "When we bonded, it created an energy signature. Dragon energy mixed with Dragon Tamer magic. Every Guild sensor in the city just lit up like a Christmas tree, and they're going to send—"

A man appears at the end of the street.

Tall. Silver-gray eyes. Storm eagle circling overhead. His Guild investigator badge glints in the dying sunlight.

"Well," Derek Hunt says, his voice cold and professional. "That was quite a display. Mind telling me what kind of creature you're bonded to, Miss Cross? Because our sensors just detected something that shouldn't exist."

His eyes lock onto me. Sharp. Calculating. Suspicious.

"And you must be her bond partner. Strange—I've never seen a shadow panther that large before."

Maya's hand tightens in mine. Through the bond, I feel her panic rising.

Derek smiles, but it doesn't reach his eyes. "Why don't we all head to Guild headquarters? I have some questions about today's... incident."

The words hang in the air like a death sentence.

If we go with him, the Guild will discover what I am.

If we run, they'll hunt us down.

And through it all, the golden chains of Maya's bond wrap tighter around my soul, reminding me that I'm not free to make this choice.

The decision belongs to her.

My master.

My best friend.

The girl I've loved since we were children.