Chapter 1 - The Three HeartbeatsThe first heartbeat shook the royal chamber.

THOOM.

Every candle flame bent toward the three eggs.

Nobody moved.

Nobody breathed.

Alona Mercer stood frozen with her hand hovering above the silver egg.

Beneath her palm, the shell was no longer cold.

It was warm.

Not the scorching heat of the ivory egg.

Not the dry, feverish pulse of the blue-black one.

This warmth was different.

It felt like a hand holding hers from the other side.

Commander Grant Hawthorne slowly stepped toward the eggs.

“Your Majesty…”

King Ronan raised one hand.

“Don't touch them.”

Grant stopped.

Lord Everett, however, did not.

He rushed forward.

“This is impossible.”

He shoved one of the royal healers aside and reached for the silver egg.

The moment his fingers came within an inch of the shell, the egg screamed.

A sound tore through the chamber.

The windows rattled.

Several servants collapsed to their knees.

Everett stumbled backward clutching his ears.

The silver egg went completely still.

Alona stared at it.

Then she understood.

“You frightened it.”

Everett's face twisted.

“You little parasite.”

Darius Prescott stepped between them.

“Enough.”

Everett looked at the Alpha Champion.

“You're defending a servant?”

Darius did not answer.

His eyes remained on Alona.

Because he had noticed something.

The royal flames around her were not dancing away from her.

They were leaning toward her.

Tiny tongues of blue fire curled around her sleeves without burning the fabric.

Darius narrowed his eyes.

“Who taught you about dragon bonding?”

“No one.”

“You knew the eggs were distressed.”

“Yes.”

“How?”

Alona swallowed.

“I heard them.”

Silence.

Elder Silas Bennett slowly lowered the ancient covenant.

“No.”

Ronan turned toward him.

“What?”

Silas looked as though he'd seen a ghost.

“The old language has another meaning.”

Grant frowned.

“You just told us the covenant says the dragon wakes for the hand it does not fear.”

“I know.”

“Then what is the other meaning?”

Silas stared at Alona.

“The phrase can also mean…”

He hesitated.

“The hand that was born without fear.”

Alona's blood ran cold.

“What does that mean?”

No one answered.

Then the ivory egg cracked.

A thin line of golden light appeared across its shell.

The chamber erupted.

“Back!”

Healers scattered.

Darius drew his sword.

Ronan ordered the guards to form a circle.

Alona did not move.

She could hear something.

A tiny voice.

Not in words.

In feeling.

Hunger.

Fear.

Pain.

And beneath all three…

Love.

Her eyes filled with tears.

“It's calling me.”

Darius stared.

Then came another crack.

The blue-black egg split.

Black smoke poured across the floor.

The temperature dropped so violently that frost formed across the marble.

The third egg began to shake.

Alona stepped forward.

“Don't!”

Darius caught her arm.

She looked at him.

“If I don't go to them, they might die.”

“You don't know what those dragons will do.”

“They're babies.”

“They are royal dragons.”

Alona pulled free.

“They're both.”

She approached the blue-black egg.

The smoke wrapped around her ankles.

Everyone waited for it to attack.

Instead, the smoke curled around her body like a frightened animal hiding behind her.

Alona placed both palms against the shell.

“It's okay.”

The egg stopped trembling.

Darius stared.

The strongest Alpha in Frostmir had spent seven days forcing his will against those eggs.

An Omega maid had quieted one with two words.

Then the silver egg cracked.

Light exploded through the chamber.

Alona cried out as a strange mark burned across her palm.

A circle.

Three interlocking crescents.

Silas dropped the covenant.

“No…”

Ronan turned sharply.

“What is it?”

Silas whispered.

“The Mark of Three.”

Everett backed away.

“That mark doesn't exist.”

“It disappeared three hundred years ago.”

Darius looked from the mark to Alona.

“What does it mean?”

Silas's voice shook.

“It belonged to the last Dragon Mother.”

The room went silent.

Alona stared at her palm.

“I don't understand.”

Silas looked directly at her.

“The last woman who carried the royal dragon blood.”

A guard suddenly burst through the doors.

“Your Majesty!”

Everyone turned.

“The eastern gate has been attacked.”

Grant moved instantly.

“By whom?”

The guard was pale.

“We don't know.”

“Casualties?”

“Twenty-three.”

Ronan's face hardened.

“What do they want?”

The guard swallowed.

“They didn't come for the palace.”

He looked at Alona.

“They came for the maid.”

Every eye in the room shifted toward her.

Alona felt the temperature drop.

Then the ivory egg cracked open.

A tiny golden claw emerged.

The dragon inside made one soft sound.

A chirp.

Alona smiled through her tears.

But before she could reach toward it, the palace bells began ringing.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

Then every bell in Frostmir rang at once.

Silas went white.

“No.”

Ronan turned.

“What now?”

Silas looked toward the frozen windows.

“The dragons have sensed their mother.”

He looked at Alona.

“And something ancient just sensed her too.”

Outside the palace…

something roared.

Not a dragon.

Something older.

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Something hungry.

And beneath Alona's feet, the royal floor began to crack.