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Tabitha
Being a witch on the world’s most isolated island wasn’t really what Tabitha had in mind when she was planning her “what I want to be when I grow up speech” in 7th grade. Instead, she thought she’d become a powerful mage who saved the world. She figured she’d do something academic, like train other witches. Sitting on an island was never part of the plan.
Yet there she was, sitting. She was trapped, stuck on an island with Felix. There she was, walking around picking up seashells and splashing in the shallow waves. It wasn’t the life a powerful mage should have had, yet somehow, it didn’t seem nearly as horrible as she imagined it might be.
“Maple Syrup!” Tabitha called, running along the beach. Her mate’s little pet cat came running along, leaving tiny pawprints in the sand as they made their way up and down the beach. Every day, Tabitha came to the beach to try to clear her head.
What was she missing?
There had to be a way to break Felix off of the island.
She’d always loved exploring new places and seeing new things, and losing herself on the island had been, in many ways, an incredible vacation from reality she hadn’t even known that she’d needed. Spending time with Felix and his cat had been calming to her. His love wrapped around her like a spell she’d worked hours or days to memorize. He completed her.
And she wanted to save him.
The island itself was littered with abandoned buildings from when Ursula, the terrible witch who had cursed Felix, had been around. Some of them had books and others had tools. Felix and Tabitha spent most of their time exploring the buildings, as well as the caves and hollows scattered across the island.
Tabitha was always looking for ways to find more information about the curse. She hadn’t learned much about curses when she was one of the Mages of Kunzite. Their people had focused on “good” spells. The mages had wanted to find ways to heal the world and to protect the weak. They hadn’t wanted to destroy people.
Now Tabitha wished she’d had more training when it came to spells of darkness. The reality was that Felix was stuck: cursed to live out his days on this rock. Tabitha was here, too. She wouldn’t leave. She would be his mate until the very end of time.
Maple Syrup meowed loudly, looking over at Tabitha.
“You’re right,” she sighed, glancing around the beach again. “We should get back to Felix.” The beach didn’t hold any answers. She wanted it to, of course, but it didn’t, so it was time to go.
The two of them turned and started heading back to where Felix was relaxing. He was spread out on a large picnic blanket in the grassy hill beyond the beach. They didn’t have chocolates or strawberries or any of the lovely things you might normally eat on a picnic, but there were some berries and there was water and of course, there was a very naked Felix.
As if sensing she was no longer welcome, Maple Syrup took off running.
“Where’s she going?” Felix asked, looking toward the place where his cat had disappeared.
“Who knows? Maybe she saw a mouse.”
“A mouse, huh? I think she’s eaten all of the mice on the island.”
“There could be more,” Tabitha said. She plopped down on the blanket beside Felix. Propping her head on her hand, she looked over at him. He was nice to look at, and she had a feeling she’d never grow tired of just looking at him.
“What?”
“What?” Tabitha blinked innocently.
“You’re looking at me like you want to eat me up,” he accused, but his eyes were twinkling. She knew this didn’t bother him in the least.
“Maybe I do,” she shrugged.
“Maybe I want you to.”
“Is that so?”
He nodded, smirking at her. His eyes held a challenge. What was she going to do? They were all alone with no one to see them or catch them. They could do anything at all, and she wanted to.
Felix was naked already. He’d flown them to the beach in his dragon form. Now that he was able to change into a dragon at will, Tabitha noticed he’d been wearing clothes less and less frequently.
She would never complain about that.
She reached for her shirt and tugged, pulling it up and over her head before tossing it aside. Her pants followed and then her underwear. In a matter of seconds, she was naked and straddling him.
“Oh, yes,” Felix reached for her hips, tugging her down toward his own body. “This is exactly what our picnic needs.”
“Sex?”
“Incredible sex,” he murmured, and then he was kissing her. He tasted like happiness and berries and contentment. He tasted like adventure.
Tabitha hadn’t been a virgin when she’d met Felix. She hadn’t been shy or scared when it came to her own sexuality. She had, however, found that with Felix, the sex just kept getting better and better. Whether it was a mates thing or a familiarity thing, she wasn’t sure. All she knew was that each time was better than the last, and when he reached for her, flipping her onto her back, she almost came right then.
Her legs were over his shoulders as he slid deeper into her. Tabitha touched his chest, played with his hand, raked her nails down his chest. Yes, being with a dragon shifter was unlike anything she’d ever experienced.
When he bit her, nipping at her neck, she realized she was so damn close that just a little bit more and she’d come for him. He could tell, too, and he smirked, satisfied.
“Do it,” he murmured.
“No,” she laughed, shaking her head. “You first.”
“Come with me, little witch,” he said, using the nickname that drove her wild and crazy.
How could she resist?
With the sun bearing down on them and the sound of the ocean waves, they came together. Their bodies exploded with pleasure and their hearts seemed to grow even closer together. It was lovely, she thought.
He was lovely.
Felix collapsed next to her and kissed her over and over. She reached for him, tugging him close. They rested in silence together for a long time, just enjoying being close together.
This.
This was what her life had been missing.
She’d been a mage for a damn long time, and it had been an incredible experience working with the Mages of Kunzite, but she’d always felt like there was something else her heart needed: something else her body craved.
Apparently, it was Felix.
Apparently, it was her mate.
Well, she had him now.
“How did I get so lucky as to find you?” Felix asked, reaching for her. Pressing a kiss to her mouth, he tugged her into his arms, and she laughed. She felt so happy with him, so safe. It was like nothing could hurt her when they were together.
Nothing.
“Fate, I suppose,” she said.
“Destiny,” he agreed.
Destiny.
*
TIME SEEMED TO STAND still there on the beach, but eventually, it was time to leave the beach. Felix shifted into his dragon form while Tabitha watched. He’d gotten faster.
He’d learned quickly exactly what it took to change into this form. He’d learned precisely what steps were required of him when it came to shifting, and he’d managed to master that to the point where shifting seemed perfectly effortless.
When Tabitha had first arrived on the island, Felix hadn’t realized he was a shapeshifter. He hadn’t known that he’d been cursed to stay on the island because he was a dragon. He hadn’t known much of anything, but after he and Tabitha met, a lot of things became clear.
He knew now that he’d been stolen by Ursula and that she’d called him “Dragon” because that was what he was. He wasn’t a human or a person as he had previously thought. Instead, he was someone who could change into a dragon and then change back to a man. He was entirely a dragon, but he was also entirely a man. He was both. That had been cleared up quickly after Tabitha’s arrival. Even though Felix hadn’t known for certain that she was his mate, his inner-dragon had known.
There were still questions, though.
Where was Felix from?
Would he ever find the people who missed him?
Was his family still looking for him?
Tabitha didn’t like bringing up Felix’s family. He couldn’t remember a lot, and most of what he could remember seemed wildly sad. She knew that at the very least, he had a mother and a father, but what if there were other people, too?
What if he had brothers?
Sisters?
Aunts and uncles?
Tabitha didn’t have anyone anymore. No one was looking for her because her family was gone. Ursula, the witch who had entrapped Felix, had destroyed the mages. She’d killed Tabitha’s family, ensuring that none of them would be able to cause her any problems. Felix had killed Ursula, so apparently, the witch had gotten what was coming to her.
Now, Tabitha was hanging out with a dragon shifting man who was wildly in love with her.
She felt the same way about him.
Felix looked over at Tabitha. He wiggled his giant dragon body, silently urging her to come over, and she smiled.
“How can I resist?”
Felix couldn’t speak in his dragon form, but she thought he looked like he was smiling.
“You want to take me for a ride, dragon man?”
He nodded, moving his head up and down.
How could she resist? She wanted to be with him, wanted to explore the world with him, so she scurried over, jumped up on his back, and he took off, flying high above the treetops. Something like this would have terrified her long ago. Now it made her feel like nothing could touch her.
She was unstoppable when she was with him.
The wind was in her face, and she was smiling and laughing as they flew around the island. They’d explored so much of this place, but there was still more to see. They could probably spend months or even years going through the secrets on the island and still not discover everything Ursula had cursed or hidden here.
They flew toward the castle where Felix had once lived, and Tabitha thought she saw something move down in the ruins.
What was it?
No one else was on the island with them.
No one.
The islands had animals, yes, but there were no other people as far as they knew. Tabitha was certain she’d seen someone though. It hadn’t been the shape of an animal. It had been a human.
Tabitha stilled, her body growing tense. Felix must have sensed the same thing she was sensing because he, too, seemed to still. He began to glide, no longer flapping his giant, beautiful wings.
“What is it?” Tabitha whispered. He couldn’t say anything back. He slowed his flight and lowered himself, dipping just below the tops of the trees. Tabitha closed her eyes for a moment, took a deep breath, and steeled herself.
What was happening?
Who was on the island?
What did they want with them?
The problem with living on an island was that you never really knew what you were getting yourself into, Tabitha thought. There were many things that she and Felix had never talked about or discussed. It wasn’t for any particular reason except that he was used to the island. There were plenty of things that just seemed like common sense to him, so he hadn’t even thought to mention them.
With Tabitha, she wanted to know what was happening. She was a bit of a planner, and she was a slightly-anxious mage. She always liked to know what she was getting herself into. That wasn’t really a bad thing, she reasoned. It was one of the reasons she was alive. It was something that had kept her alive for a very, very long time.
When Felix dropped them down behind the trees, he landed hastily. Tabitha slid off his body, planting her feet in the dirt. Then Felix shifted back quickly.
“What was that?” Tabitha asked immediately.
“I don’t know.”
“I saw movement.”
“I saw it, too.”
“It looked like men.”
“It looked like men,” he agreed.
“But why would they come here?”
She didn’t want to pepper him with questions. Nobody liked that. She did want to know what their next move should be. They had to figure out what the people moving near the castle wanted. Were they here to bring harm? Were they here to cause chaos? What did they want?
“I don’t know,” Felix said quietly. There was a slight edge to his voice, as though he was frustrated by this turn of events. She was, too.
Although Tabitha had been staying with Felix on the island for a few weeks, sometimes it was still awkward and uncomfortable for her. There were times when life on this rock just didn’t make sense. Sometimes she wondered if she’d ever get used to his world.
“Do you think they can help?” Tabitha whispered. She didn’t have to tell him what she meant. They both knew she meant with the curse. They both knew she wanted someone to free Felix. Living on the island was fine, but they both knew it couldn’t last forever. As much as they liked to pretend that things were acceptable, Tabitha had been a witch long enough to know that curses carried with them certain drawbacks.
Whatever failsafe Ursula had put into her spell on Felix was something that they’d have to discover together because right now, they were running out of time.
Right now, they were running out of options.
“No,” he told her.
“You can’t know that for certain,” she pointed out.
“Anyone who’s on the island is here for nefarious reasons.”
Tabitha scoffed and shook her head.
“Nefarious? Really?”
“Really.”
“What the hell are you talking about? They could be here to help.”
“They aren’t,” he said.
Tabitha looked at Felix carefully. She watched him for a moment, and then she cocked her head, blinking. There was something else. There was something that he wasn’t saying out loud.
“What aren’t you telling me?”
“Hmm?”
“There’s something you aren’t saying,” Tabitha accused.
“Um...”
She rolled her eyes. Shifters were all the same. It wasn’t just a man thing. It was a shifter thing. They always had this idea that they had to be strong or that they couldn’t share stuff with the world.
“Felix?”
“I think they’re cursed,” he whispered.
“Cursed?”
He nodded.
“Seems like there are a lot of curses going around this island,” she muttered, kicking a rock that was sitting innocently on the ground. Stupid rock.
Ursula had done a number on the island. She’d been the witch who kidnapped Felix and used him for her own pleasure. She’d paraded him around, she’d stolen his identity, and she’d forced him to stay on the island. Even now, more than six months after her death, he still couldn’t leave. Her magic was still working.
And apparently, she’d cursed some people.
“Can you tell me anything else about this curse?”
“Ursula had a habit of...condemning...people she didn’t like.”
“That doesn’t really explain why they’re appearing now,” Tabitha pointed out. “Why now? After all of this time, there’s no real reason they should be showing up.”
“She turned them into animals.”
“Animals?”
He nodded.
“What kind of animals?”
“All kinds.”
“The lion I saved,” she whispered, thinking of the lion who had a thorn in his paw.
“He was once a man. I knew him. There are others, though.”
“How many?”
“I don’t know,” he told her. “But it seems as though her spell has worn off and we are no longer alone.”