Alice's Dragon (The Challenge Series) by Stephanie Beck Page A

I thought I’d never be whole again. Not only was I out an arm, but also the livelihood I loved. I might have been all right on my own. Hell, I would have been, eventually—I’m a stubborn bitch like that. But then Bade came along and getting better took on more joy than anger. Before you were in love with him, he helped me find my balance again.”
    She gazed over her stump to where he kept a distance, having confessed earlier he didn’t want to be tempted to interfere. He probably didn’t hear her words, but he smile and waved. The years had been kind to him, and to her as well. The island had a way of keeping a person young and healthy. They’d been blessed. Even without her arm, she’d done all the things she’d ever dreamed and a fair few she hadn’t realized she wanted.
    “I had to take the first step myself and decide I was ready to go on,” Alice whispered. “It wasn’t easy, especially when I wanted to lie in bed all day. But I chose to keep going and make the best of it. After I made that choice, Bade helped me see it through. Just like he and I have been there for you. Don’t you want to fly, Rustyann? Can’t you taste that fish in your mouth? You’re a better hunter than Walter—but I would never tell him that. You know you want to, girl, but it’s up to you to take the first step.”
    Rustyann thrashed her giant head, the orange having tamed down to the same burnt color her namesake had sported so long ago. Alice patted her arm again.
    “You can do it.”
    Alice headed back to Bade, content to leave the dragon work to dragons. She took Erica and held her close, managing an infant not nearly as terrifying as it had been in her dreams while pregnant. The little one curled her fist around the necklace Bade had given Alice when they formalized their vows with a visiting clergyman five years earlier. The purple and gold agate that symbolized his homeland was aptly called “dragon’s eye.” She stared at her man, the rock who’d stood at her side through ups and downs, who she’d walked with through his as well.
    “Think she’ll fly?” he asked, always the mother hen.
    She turned back and watched Rustyann pace. “It’s up to her. If not today, it’ll be soon.”
    Energy lit the air, excitement and anticipation growing. Alice took back her words. Rustyann would fly, and it would be today. The dragon took half a dozen steps back and drew in a huge gulp of air. Alice held her breath and beside her Bade leaned forward for a better view.
    Rustyann ran and jumped, no stutter or hesitation. Her giant body took to the sky like a feather, hurtling up and riding the air until she began flapping her wings. The left moved slower than the right, more of a glider, but the right held enough strength to steer and keep her aloft.
    Tears burned Alice’s eyes, tears she’d let loose only a few times in the last decade, but almost always on good occasions. She turned to find Bade’s eyes locked on the creatures he’d spent his life loving and protecting. He twisted toward her, tears glistening on his cheeks.
    “I came here with this in my dreams,” he said, his voice heavy and tight with emotion. He put his hand on Erica’s back. “But all of this…I cannot thank you enough for granting so many wishes I never knew I held. I love you, Alice.”
    She wondered at how similarly they thought as he pulled her and Erica close to his chest. She rested her head next to his beating heart and watched Rustyann and Walter dive side by side. Life on Isle Aden brought challenges and struggle every day, but she hadn’t felt the sting since Bade entered her life. She kissed his chest as his lips descended on her hair. They’d lucked out. The dragon charmer and dragon breeder, two souls from different worlds, united on Isle Aden. Alice kissed Erica and hoped her daughter one day felt the wonder and humility she’d discovered by chance.

 
     
    ~ABOUT THE AUTHOR~
     
     
    When Stephanie Beck’s mother told her to