Caden's Pov:

"Hi, I'm Cade--"

SLAM!

She slammed the door shut.... in my face. Boy... that reminded me of Tilly when she was in her angsty pre-teen phase. Val growled behind me, not liking the blatant disrespect she just showed.

"This is a waste of our time. Let's just go in and demand that she go to High Reach-" he growled, taking a menacing step towards the door. Obviously, he forgot that we were supposed to be non-threatening to her and try to not stress her out more then she probably already was.

"Valerius- stop." I commanded my mate through our bond. Valerius stopped mid-step and glared.

"Remember, we don't want to escalate the situation. She's scared enough as it is." I said, keeping my voice over outer bond soft and reasonable as to not spur his temper further.

"But she--" Valerius started before I cut him off

"--Is scared." I say sternly to him. Leaving no room for argument.

"She's scared, Val, and she's not gonna feel safer if you bark orders at her and haul her to the castle like a prisoner. Just... let me handle this." I say. Val huffed them took a step back.

"Fine then. I'll be down the hall. But if anything happens--"

"then you can come help. But I think it'll be okay." I reasure him. Val nodded then started walking down the small stretch of hallway. Giving me and this girl some space.

Riley's POV:

Knock knock

"Miss Riley, you're not in any trouble. We're not here to arrest you or anything like that. We know you saved that kid from getting hit by a truck, and you became a Dragon Shifter... it... was very heroic of you." Dragon King caden said through the door.

"... I know you're scared. Believe me, it was the same for me when I first joined with my spirit, Iolair, 10 years ago. I was just some guy working at a souvenir shop. I wasn't a leader and definitely wasn't ready to be one. But I had the dragons and other shifters to help guide me... we understand..." He spoke softly and compassionately. I sat by the door, still uncertain of what to do.

"... look, I'm not gonna tell you what to do. But people get excited with New Dragons... the news, paparazzi... you don't exactly have the luxury of being anonymous like how I was for a little while, even then, I couldn't remain anonymous. I accidentally put my family in danger just for the sake of trying to live a normal life.. But if you come to High Reach. We can assure your safety and privacy. And if there's any... 'Accidents' when you shift, Me and Valerius can take care of it..." He reasoned. But I still wasn't sold.

"... Besides, you wouldn't have to pay rent or buy food- you could have whatever you like. You can even have your own room at the palace and no one will bother you."

Sold.

"... can I bring my pet?" I ask tentatively. If I wasn't, then it was a deal breaker.

"Yeah, totally- we don't mind" I could hear the relief in his voice. He was really glad that I agreed to come to the castle. To be honest, anything was better then this dump. I stand up and slowly open the door, allowing him to come in.

"Sorry I shut the door in your face..." I apologized and looked down regretfully like a guilty child. I mean, compared to him, I probably was a child. He just smiled

"Hey, it's okay, I get it. No hard feelings. You probably weren't expecting us after the day you had," he let out a lighthearted chuckle. He was so nice. It put me at ease a little bit. I moved over and let him step into the apartment.

"I don't have much. But m-make yourself at home... i-i'll just get my suitcase packed real quick." I said and went to my room to pack.

Caden's POV:

When she allowed me in. I called Valerius over via our bond and stepped inside. Her apartment was so bare. She didn't really have anything. An old, worn couch that was fraying at the edges, a small tv that looked like it came from the early 2010's that kinda looked like an old computer moniter, a little table in the kitchen, and that was pretty much it from what I could see.

I heard Valerius behind me. He stepped in and looked around the space. He saw the same thing I did. This was a depressing place.

After a few minutes. She had come out of her room with a suitcase packed and-- my eyes widened in shock-

"M-Miss, Riley- there's a snake on you-"

"Hm? Oh, yeah. this is my pet, his name is Jasper." she gestures to the ball python loosely wrapped around her neck. The small, 3 foot long, python looked up at the two strangers and flicked his tongue out at them.

"I'd bring his tank, but I don't think he'd like bouncing around in a car, in his tank, with all his items moving around."

"Jasper?" I asked.

"Yeah. Something wrong?" She says, getting a touch defensive.

"No, of course not. Let's get to the car. I know the others are eager to meet you," I said with a calm smile. Val had called for a rental car to be ready for the drive back to reach if we had found the new dragon shifter, and we had.

Riley's POV:

The air was thick with tension as we made our way to Reach, the tension between us so palpable that it seemed to vibrate with an almost physical presence. I sat silently in the back seat with Jasper still around my neck, poor thing, he was scared too... My senses heightened as King Valerius drove on and our destination came nearer.

King caden had called someone a bit ago and asked them to set up a reptile tank for a Ball Python in one of the unused guest rooms. I was a little surprised. I heard that King Caden was incredibly kind and thoughtful. I wanted to interject and say he didn't have to do that. But then what would I do? Jasper needed a tank, and I didn't know anyone in the castle or where to even get a large enough tank to keep him in. It was probably better if I kept my mouth shut and--

"We're almost there" Valerius said as we neared the incredible city of Reach. But we didn't follow the traffic into the city. Valerius took a way that passed the city but then, once out of sight of main traffic, we took what looked like a utility road that was gated off. It almost looked like a military security gate. There was even a guard standing in what looked like a more officer-like uniform with the symbol of the Black Dragon on the right breast pocket of the shirt. Valerius pulled up to the gate where the guard motioned for him to stop. Valerius rolled down the window and the guard looked inside.

"Your highnessses are free to go ahead." The guard said and went inside the guard box and pressed a button that unlocked the gate. The guard waved them on and Valerius drove through the gate and into a large tunnel. The tunnels went ho and up through the different layers of Reach. The sheer amount of them made my head spin. The dragon inside me, Ulecar, growled each time we went into a tunnel. She, or well, It, was very unhappy when we couldn't see the sky. I could tell that it just wanted to leap out of my chest and shift. My chest felt tight, my heartrate starts to pick up. It want to shift, it wanted to get out of his dark underground space, it wasn't to fly away.

"no... no no no- not now-" I mutter to myself, or well, to my dragon. We were still in a tunnel- if we shifted now, we could kill everyone in the car and Jasper, not to mention we'd probably be crushed inside the mountain-

"Uh, hey Riley, are you okay?" King Caden asked, a touch of worry in his tone.

"T-the dragon is trying to shift-" I stammer out quickly. Caden face suddenly turned into one of dread.

"Valerius, Drive!