Brother’s Best Friends Are My Mates novel Chapter 153

Matt

I was a bit shocked to see the dragon lower its head and not even fight anymore. It sighed. “It seems you have turned my people against me.”

Lia exhaled slowly, her gaze steady. “No, what I did was try to stop you from killing them by reaching out to them specifically. I was hopeful that they would listen to reason if they knew the truth, and the fact is that they do understand it. You should allow them to choose their path. Isn’t that the point of free will?”

The dragon’s golden eyes darkened with something unreadable. “Free will,” it murmured. “A gift and a curse.” Lia frowned. “Why do you say that?”

“Because with free will comes division. Choices lead to conflict, to betrayal, to suffering.” The dragon’s voice was low, rough with age and wisdom. “When my kind ruled, there was order. No uncertainty. No weakness.”

Lia shook her head. “That wasn’t an order-it was oppression.”

A deep rumble came from the creature’s throat, something like a bitter chuckle. “Perhaps. But it was also peace.” It sighed again, lowering itself further. “I will not argue with you. Simply do what is needed and kill me.”

“What?” Lia balked. “Why do I have to kill you?”

“Because my urge to reclaim this world as my own is too great. It is perhaps why I am the last of the true dragons, and all that exists now are dragon shifters. They have the benefits of not only a beast’s mindset but also a human’s.”

What the creature was saying made sense, in a twisted way. I could see that Lia didn’t want to kill it, but if it was asking her to, shouldn’t she just do it?

“There has to be another way,” she whispered, almost to herself.

“There is none.” The dragon’s eyes bore into hers. “If you let me live, I will try again. And I will not stop.” Lia clenched her fists, her jaw tightening. “You expect me to just accept that killing you is the only option?” “I do not expect,” the dragon said. “I only know what is true.”

Lia took a step closer. “What if I bound you? Trapped you in a place where you could no longer harm anyone?”

The dragon let out a slow exhale, shaking its massive head. “I would tear through any bindings. You would have to create something stronger than time itself. Do you have that kind of power?”

Lia hesitated. “No.”

“Then you see the truth.” The dragon lifted its head slightly. “Mercy can be cruel. And hesitation can be fatal. End this now, before regret poisons you.”

Lia swallowed hard, her breath unsteady. “I don’t want to be a killer.”

The dragon studied her for a long moment. Then, in a voice softer than before, it said, “And that is why you are worthy of making this choice.”

A heavy silence settled over them. Could she do it? Should she?

I held my breath, waiting for her answer.

I couldn’t believe it for a while.

“What the fuck just happened?” Jesse asked, sounding shocked. It was weird to hear Jesse talk like that. He was rarely surprised by anything. If he was then he never showed it.

But here he was, showing how fucking surprised he was and it was truly mind boggling. “I don’t know, but I think it’s over,” I said after a while, unwilling to let myself believe it. Lia trembled. “I can’t believe it’s fucking over. It’s almost hard to believe.”

“I can’t believe we just killed a dragon,” Rain whispered, eyes widening. “A real fucking dragon.”

Colby swallowed. “Honestly, I think it’s time we go home. It’s been a long time coming, and finally we can relax.”

It was such a relief to know that we could relax for the first time in forever. There was still a lot for us to do but at least it could be done at home.

Plus the world wasn’t going to be destroyed so I could at least rest easy based on that point. “I’m with Colby,” I said after a while. “I want to get the fuck out of where and go back home.”

For the first time in ages, I wanted to lie down in my bed and just sleep soundly. It would be a relief to sleep there. Judging by the looks on everyone’s faces, they agreed with me.