The Dragon Rebellion (M-Preg)

Chapter Five: Choices

Pelryn's expression grew fierce. "He would! And he will if you do not do something soon. So many have died and that secret dies with them. I know you, Kincaid. You are not cruel. The bond may not affect Naerians the way it does redrya, but I know you would not condemn him to such a fate."

"How do you know this?"

"Because I have witnessed it with my own. I was not always considerate of the redrya, you know this. I had not believed in the power we held over them until I saw the madness creep into my Gabriel. He would not eat, he would not sleep, he would not speak for days. Then he screamed and never stopped. After that came the self mutilation."

Pelryn's morá dimmed into a sorrowful blue.

"I was seconds from losing my pair, Kincaid. Seconds, because I abandoned him. I implore you not to make the same mistake I had."

Kincaid's gaze was downcast as he processed this new information.

"If you do not wish to mate him, just be there for him. Your presence will be enough to help him through," Pelryn said before slowly retreating from the room, leaving Kincaid conflicted.

*

Kincaid finished up most of the paperwork that had piled up in his absence and read through a quarter of the reports that were filed. When the evening was fresh, he stretched his limbs and made a decision.

Instructing his lieutenant that he was not to be disturbed for the rest of the night, he headed to his rooms.

The air was thick and it grew heavier the closer he got to his bedchamber.

When he finally pushed through the doors, it was eerily quiet inside.

Kincaid scanned the room and did not see his pair. It was only when he entered the room further that he noticed a trail of tossed food on the floor with an overturned metal cart. Kincaid's brow furrowed as he turned the corner and noticed his pair huddled in the corner of the room with his chain stretched tight. From this angle, he could not tell if the redrya was even conscious.

He walked closer and noticed vomit dribbling from the redrya's pink lips. It was smeared along his stomach and under even further inspection, the Naerian noticed the redrya was in fact awake and trembling. His eyes were cracked but unseeing. Dried tears were caked into his skin and vicious scratches covered his arms and thighs.

Kincaid knew little of redrya Ruts, but he was certain they were not like this.

"Reid," Kincaid called to the human. His head tilted a fraction, but there was no real acknowledgement that he heard his name. Those brown eyes remained vacant and unseeing.

Unease curled in Kincaid's gut as he replayed Pelryn's words of madness through his mind again. He turned back to the door and swung it open to call for servants.

They rushed in at his command.

"Clean him up," Kincaid ordered. "And fetch me a chair."

The servants scurried to do his bidding. He watched as they cleaned him, force fed him, and tucked him back into the bed. All without protest from the redrya, who eventually fell asleep. Kincaid watched him even as the servants left. For hours he sat in the chair across from the bed and watched the state of his pair.

Feeling as though he had been led astray, Kincaid began to wonder if there was anything really wrong at all.

Until the screaming began.

Reid's back arched off the bed as he writhed in agony. His sweaty russet brown skin glittered with the Gemma Crystal dust that lived just beneath and spoke when his fated pair was near.