He had promised to follow her anywhere she went. There was nowhere she could hide that he wouldn’t find her, that he wouldn’t be right behind her. But that also meant Jasper’s demon would force him to abandon his clan. His promise became a threat.
It was just another way to hold her down.
She stood and moved to the sliding glass door. A world sprawled out before her. Mountains circled them beyond the perfect white blanket covering his lawn. She pushed the door open and stepped out, uncaring that she was barefoot in the snow.
Cora had a lot to work through. She didn’t want to deal with any of it. The life she’d been given was too much to bear. It handed her problem after problem. The weight of them all would slowly crush her.
Her beast unfurled, rising to the surface to take control, when Jasper touched her back. She stopped. Breath held, she waited for him to say something. He would beg her to stay. He would insist that he accompany her. He would keep his eyes on her.
“Would you like company?”
Those were words she had not expected. He didn’t insert himself into her life. He didn’t try to take it over. Instead, Jasper asked permission. The moment shouldn’t have been revelatory. It was a simple question, but it spoke volumes about Jasper and their relationship.
She threw a smile over her shoulder. “I’ll be right back.”
He nodded and stepped back. She tried not to pay attention to the way it hurt him. She had a plan and wanted to follow it through. Time in the air, alone, would let her unravel her messy mind. By the time she returned, she would know what to do.
At least, that was her plan.
***
Jasper watched his mate go. He didn’t believe she’d be right back. Every time he pulled her closer, she took another three steps back. There was no way he could blame her. Her life with Cal’s clan had not been pleasant. Now, with this war spilling into every facet of their lives, the guilt she must be feeling would be overwhelming.
He wanted to go after her, but Cora’s decision was her own. He would find her later, check in on her to make sure she was safe. He’d meant it when he said wherever she went he would follow. Not to drag her back into this life, into a place beside him, but keep an eye out for her. He could not force her to be his queen.
It didn’t work that way.
Jasper tried not to touch the scars on his face. The sight of Cora standing before Cal, Cal’s claws slicing the air, hit him over and over again. He’d moved without thinking. Cora would have taken the brunt of that attack. It was his mate who would have lost something, more than just an eye.
That was just more proof that Cal was an unfit leader.
Jasper always thought himself the wrong man for the job. His father had taught him everything he should have needed to know, but time and again it proved itself to not be enough. Jasper had to watch his every step and pick up the pieces of this family as he went. There was no simple algorithm to it, no simple formula that would make ruling his clan easy.
But he rose to the challenge and did what needed to be done.
That was what separated him from Cal. What made him a good king.
Jasper collapsed onto the couch and reached for his mug to finish off the coffee inside. The front door swung open. He hoped his dragons at least listened at the door to make sure nothing was going on before they invited themselves inside. Had Cora wanted what Jasper wanted, then his dragons would have gotten quite the show.
The door didn’t close. The sound of multiple footsteps echoed into the house. Jasper glanced over his shoulder to find Ashton, Wyatt, and Ryker carrying tool belts and sheets of ply wood.
“What are you doing at this hour of the morning?” There was not enough coffee in the world to deal with his family.
Ashton tipped his hard hat, like the dragon shifter needed one. “We’re going to fix the hole in the roof since you haven’t gotten to it yet.”
Wyatt mumbled something, obviously irritated about having to do more construction work.
“Just leave it for now,” Jasper told them. “It’s not important. A roof is a roof. It’s not…”
“An eye?” Ryker supplied.
Jasper growled, but everyone suddenly stopped laughing. All three shifters stared at Jasper’s lack of an eye. The weight of what happened the night before sank in, hitting everyone like a falling anvil.
“An eye is nothing.” Jasper set aside his empty mug and reached for a nearby pair of sweatpants. “I was going to say a life.”
He looked out the sliding glass doors, hoping to see Cora on the horizon, returning to him. By now, she was long gone. Her disappearance cut a hole in him, a part that she’d taken with her. He hoped she would cherish it for the rest of her life, as he would cherish the moments she’d given him.
“Let’s go fix the roof,” he mumbled.
“Maybe you should put a shirt on,” Ashton teased. Then, he lifted a gift bag he’d been carrying. “Also, this is a gift for Cora. It’s, ah, an apology for being a piece of shit.”
Jasper sighed. “You aren’t a piece of shit.”
And Cora is never coming back.
He couldn’t bring himself to say the words, so he just told Ashton to leave it on the coffee table. He knew saying it wouldn’t close a door so that she could never return, but he couldn’t shake the feeling that he was wrong. It could have been foolish hope. It could have been stubborn insistence, a lie he fed himself to feel better. Either way, he couldn’t deal with it just then and there.
He took a great sheet of plywood from Wyatt and marched upstairs without another word.
Chapter Twelve
By the time Cora returned to the manor on the edge of the mountain, the roof had been repaired. Well, mostly repaired. There were no shingles, but the roof had been boarded up. The work looked professional, too. Which only made her wonder how many times the shifters had to repair this house.
Did Jasper hire a professional? Or, were they all proficient in construction after cleaning up their own messes?
Being a dragon shifter meant they were larger than other shifters. Their massive bodies often led to a lot of property damage. Having so many giant shifters in one place logically meant there would be a lot of destruction.
At least they were able to fix things efficiently. This clan would never cease to amaze her. She was starting to look forward to a life with them. The flight out to Grove gave her the time she needed to sort through her thoughts and figure out what she wanted. That was the thing she had not asked herself.
What did she want?
The truth had been staring her in the face the whole time. It should have been obvious, but Cora had been in fight mode for so long she didn’t know how to let go of it. There had been a few moments where she was able to set it aside and just…be. It was in those moments that she found happiness.
What she wanted, more than anything else, was to live beside her mate. It was the only option all along, but she’d been so intent on running from whatever trouble she brought in her wake that she never stopped to think that maybe they could take it on together. That they would be all the better for it.
The door was unlocked and so she let herself in. The smell of fresh wood filled the halls and lingered in the living room. It was refreshing, nearly masking the many scents of other shifters. Ashton. Wyatt. Ryker.
Jasper.
Her mate was nowhere to be seen. She set her bag on the table and noticed the gift bag with her name on it. The tissue paper smelled like Ashton and Makenna, so she assumed it was a gift from them. The people she’d hurt the most in her time here.
They’d bought her…a gift?
Truthfully, Cora expected there to be some sort of threat hidden inside, like in all the mafia movies. This could be their way of telling Cora to get lost. But when she pulled the tissue paper free, it revealed an actual gift. Her heart broke and reformed.
This clan was too much. They were all too kind and forgiving in ways Cora never thought possible. This was her
clan. These were her people. This was her home.
There was a thud behind her. She spun to find Jasper gripping the stair railing, splayed out like he’d missed a step and slipped. His attention was trained on her. She realized in that moment that Jasper never expected her to return. Seeing her in the living room must have shaken him, because she knew it wasn’t the lack of an eye that was tripping him.
She offered a small smile before grabbing the bag she’d brought home. She had to bite her tongue to keep from laughing as she drew the contents out of the bag.
Jasper lowered himself to the bottom step and Cora approached to kneel before him. There was something intimate about the gesture, a feeling she would never tire of. Looking up at him and seeing his astonished joy filled her with so much pride. This was her man. A king.
She lifted the plastic crown and placed it atop his head. He looked up, even though he couldn’t see it.
“A good king is recognizable without a crown, but he deserves one all the same.”
He swept her off the floor, carried her over to the couch, and lowered himself atop her. His hands roved over her body, like he was trying to tell himself she was real. Cora wound her arms around his neck and pulled him tight so she could whisper in his ear.
“I think I’m going to stay. This…this is where I belong.” Her throat closed. She didn’t realize how emotional it would make her.
Alone in the sky, she’d made the decision to stay. It hadn’t hit her how much that would mean to Jasper, or how his reaction would make her feel. Here, beneath her mate, she felt the wild beat of his happy heart. She could feel his racing thoughts through the mate bond. He still couldn’t believe it.
His hands lowered over her hips and she thought he would undress her right then and there when a knock came from the door. They both paused, waiting for one of his shifters to let themselves inside. When no one opened the door, they stared at one another, confused.
There was another knock, a little more forceful this time. Jasper pulled himself off Cora and held out a hand to help her up. She took it and waited for him to adjust his erection before they approached the door.
She didn’t know why she didn’t expect what stood on the other side of the door. She’d asked and she’d been answered. Yet, it still surprised her.
The redheaded man on the doorstep huffed, hands on his hips, clearly annoyed that he’d needed to knock more than once until he saw the state of Cora’s hair. A deep blush spread over his cheeks. Behind him stood a number of familiar faces.
Cora launched herself out the door and into the arms of her friends. Tears burned her eyes, but they weren’t from grief. They were tears of happiness. Everyone Cal had ever threatened on her behalf, everyone who’d helped Cora escape, was here. They mingled in Jasper’s courtyard. There had to be twenty faces.
Jasper fell against the door frame. “Where and I going to put all these people?”
He made no argument against taking them in, only worried where they would be housed. Cora adored her mate more and more every moment she spent with him.
“Well, the guest house is empty for now.”
Jasper raised both brows. His lips parted, but he didn’t ask the question that must have been there. Still, Cora felt the whisper of his thoughts and nodded. She intended to sleep in his bed, beside him, for the rest of her life.
His hunger flared, but before he could pull her back inside, she turned to her old friends. She made sure they were all safe and in one piece. Some of them eyed her frightening mate before casting questioning glances in her direction. She assuaged all their fears and told them she was in good hands.
Chapter Fourteen
While they were figuring out what to do with the people who’d left Cal’s clan, Cal struck again. This time, he’d destroyed a number of businesses on the edge of Main Street, where the town tapered off into woodland. It wasn’t an open attack on the center of town, but another brazen effort to frighten Jasper into submission.
It had Cora standing on the side of the road in the wee hours of the morning, watching a fire that was her fault by proxy. The guilt ate her up from the inside and left nothing behind. She was a hollow shell watching the flames while dragons carted boat loads of water to the scene.
Cora thought she’d made the right decision, but doubt had her wavering. It made her rethink every step she’d taken since leaving Cal’s side. If only she could take it all back and endure the life she’d been handed, then maybe he never would have hurt anyone else.
Jasper pulled her into his arms and tucked her head beneath his chin. His warmth wrapped around her and eased some of the ache building in her chest. If she’d never left Cal, she never would have found Jasper. It was a game of costs, betting one price will be worth more than another. She wished she didn’t have to play it.
“We’ll stop him,” Jasper whispered into her hair before letting her go.
He peeled off his jacket and stepped toward the still burning business. She wanted to call out to him and beg him to stop, but she had to trust that he knew what he was doing. Her mate disappeared into the smoke filled building.
He was making sure no one was inside. The flames didn’t bother him for he was a fire dragon. He was made of flames and heat. Like the one building inside her. She was tired of guilt, of doubt, of all the things Cal was still able to make her feel. She wanted to fight back.
Though, she didn’t know where to start. All she knew was that she was tired of this.
A shout rang out. It rose over the roar of the fire and the commands of the firefighters filling the street. Cora’s stomach flipped. She didn’t think about it, just ran. The night was dark away from the burning building. It took her eyes a long while to adjust.
This far down the street, Cora realized she should have grabbed another shifter to go with her. Mina was there. She would have accompanied her. Another shout filled the night and all thoughts of safety vanished.
That was the voice of a child.
Cora ran faster than she’d ever run in her life toward the sound of the screaming child. The street was dark, no lamps lighting the way when there should have been light. No cars turned down the street to cast their light on the road.
The next scream fell into a scared whimper. She turned toward the source of the sound, a brick building. The door was unlocked. It should have been her first sign that this was a trap. No business door should be unlocked at this time of night, but she ran head first anyway. The sound was so close. Someone needed her.
But a laugh filled the room. The lights flicked on. Cal and the green dragon shifter stood before her. In the green dragon shifter’s hand was a recording device. He clicked it and a child’s scream filled the room. Her stomach dropped to the floor.
“Now that we’re alone,” Cal began. “We can finally have a decent conversation.”
Cora growled. The sound surprised even her. An unexpected strength straightened her spine so she could look Cal in the eye. The only way he could threaten her now was physically, and if he hurt her then his precious crystal scaled dragon was gone.
“You planned to do what? Kidnap me?” She scoffed.
Cal’s arrogance faltered. So, he indeed planned on kidnapping her. Cora refused to be taken so easily. She might have fallen into his trap, but she wouldn’t be his pawn. Not anymore.
***
Jasper shrugged off burning embers and ash. The building had indeed been empty. Grateful that his search turned up nothing, he turned back to Cora. Only, Cora wasn’t where he’d left her. He searched up and down the street, but his mate was gone. Panic brought his demon to the surface. The beast scented the air and found her trail. It reached through the bond just to make sure it was going in the right direction.
Cora sent an alarm back through the bond.
Help, please.
Though her words had been gentle and calm, Jasper’s demon was anything but. He raced toward her, following the connection that bound them. Darkness swallowed him. What had le
d her away? Why hadn’t she called to him earlier?
The bond tangled and his demon paused. His confusion and the fear she’d been holding down rippled and twisted the bond until he didn’t know which direction to follow. His demon sniffed the air, but it’s mind was too clouded by panic.
What good was being a good king when he couldn’t protect Cora? He was useless. He was not the man she deserved. The beast growled at him.
If you would kindly shut up, then I would be able to find our mate.
Jasper realized it was not the beast’s panic that bogged them down, but his own. Cora was so much more than just his mate, more than the person who kept his beast in check. Jasper knew love always followed a mate bond, but he never expected to feel the way he did about Cora. She allowed him to be anyone he wanted. In her presence, he could set aside his crown. He could laugh and joke and flirt.
And she gave it all back to him. She teased, she worried, and she stood so tall. He never imagined a queen like her. He never imagined a woman who would fight back as hard as he did. Now, she was alone and frightened. Danger breathed down her neck, and he couldn’t find her.
His failure pierced him and left him breathless, but the demon was dogged in its pursuit. It did not lose sight of the goal: find Cora.
Voices slipped into the night. They were soft, but he followed the source of the sound to a business. The only light was the nearby Aurum ATM, illuminating an ajar door that he dashed through. The smell of Cora disappeared. The voices faded into the shadows, like they were retreating.
Jasper snarled and lunged deeper into the building. He ran between shelves filled with hardware, the tools ringing as they clattered together in the wake of his wind. Still, the voices grew fainter and fainter.
He felt like he was being sent on a wild goose chase. A thought prickled against his consciousness. What if Cora wasn’t here? He paused and looked back over his shoulder. The building was still dark. He could only see the faint outlines of the shelves. He began to worry his demon had led him in the wrong direction.
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