by Eva Chase
Serenity came up behind me. Her eyes widened. She fingered the drifts of silk and satin in their array of colors, a giggle escaping her. “I feel like a kid who just discovered the world’s best dress-up box.”
I chuckled. “Take your time. You should go out there tonight feeling every bit the princess.”
I stepped back as she pawed through the dresses. She pulled out a few and tossed them onto the end of the bed for further consideration. “You said I’m going to meet some of the prominent avians,” she said. “So there are shifter families with more power than others?”
“Like in any community,” I said. “Sometimes it’s based on the families of past alphas, sometimes just who fought best or contributed the most in past times of trouble... They don’t have any official authority, but the rest of my kin would listen to them above others. So I try to keep them happy, as long as that doesn’t mean making everyone else unhappy. You’ll meet some of my family tonight too. My sister should be getting here in time for the dinner.”
She glanced over at me as she shut the wardrobe, the last of her selections draped over her arm. “You have a sister?”
“Alice. Two years younger. Twice as fierce.” I grinned. “She made herself my unofficial bodyguard when we were growing up. And she’s done enough martial arts training to have earned that title. I think you two will get along well. And she’ll watch out for you as much as she does me.”
“Well, I’m looking forward to meeting her, at least.” She strode over to the bed and threw the last dress on with the others. “Now let’s get on with the decking out.”
Ren
I ran my hands over the smooth fabric of the dresses, trying to lose myself in the moment. It was hard. The guilty expression on Marco’s face had been nagging at me all day.
I’d trusted him. I thought I could, because he was my mate, because of the bond we shared, even if it wasn’t fully consummated. But apparently he didn’t feel it the same way I did. I was just a means to an end, not a person he cared about.
Aaron put his hands on my shoulders and rubbed them up and down. His touch brought me back to the present. He didn’t ask again what was wrong, even though he could probably tell I was thinking about it again.
At least I had him. He cared about me. He believed in me. I could lean on him while I figured out where the hell things were going with the rest of my mates.
“You want to help?” I asked, letting a little heat creep into my voice.
Aaron raised his eyebrows, an answering spark lighting in his eyes. “Now that’s an invitation I can’t imagine turning down,” he murmured.
I lifted my arms, and he tugged my T-shirt off me. His hands settled on my bare waist. He leaned over my shoulder, his breath tickling over my collarbone. “So, which one should we start with?”
My nipples had pebbled inside my bra. I squashed the urge to forget the dresses and just have him on me. Instead, I studied the ones I’d picked out.
Now that I was considering them together, the black gown seemed overly stuffy. I didn’t want to look like I thought I was attending a funeral. I picked up the silky lavender one that had caught my eye. “How about this?”
“I think it’ll be lovely on you.”
Aaron reached around to undo the button on my jeans. He tugged them down, and I stepped out of them. The tracing of his fingers over my skin left me a little breathless.
I eased up the dress over my body and waited as he zipped up the back. He came with me to the full-length mirror hanging on the wall between two of the wardrobes. The silver frame was almost as shiny as the glass.
I definitely didn’t look like some girl off the streets now. That was a woman gazing back at me. The silk hugged my slim frame, rippling like water around my legs. The lavender did look lovely with my dark brown hair. But something about it didn’t feel quite right.
I ambled back to the bed and shrugged that dress off. My hands fell on the gold one in the middle. The embroidered leaf pattern around the shoulders and bodice gave it a little more structure, and I liked the faint coordinating pattern marked into the satin fabric.
“Another excellent choice,” Aaron said with a smile.
That dress had its zipper on the side, but he helped me with it anyway. As the fabric settled into place against my skin, a sense of certainty was already rising over me. I headed back to the mirror, the gown’s small train whispering across the floor behind me.
My breath caught when I saw my reflection. The gold fabric brought out the amber in my eyes, making them look like little flames. The cut hugged my hips slightly before flowing over my thighs, giving my figure a little more curve. I looked regal. Powerful.
I didn’t just look like a princess. I looked like a queen. Woe betide anyone who messes with this dragon shifter.
My chin rose instinctively. Aaron’s smile grew. “This one?” he said.
I didn’t need to try any of the others. “This one,” I agreed.
He pulled me closer to him. The press of his hands over the soft, smooth fabric felt amazing. And so did the press of his lips when he brought them to mine.
We kissed long and deep. My arms rose to loop behind his neck. He angled his head to kiss me harder, and I hummed encouragingly against his mouth. With a groan, he slid his hands up my sides to skim the curve of my breasts.
“You look fantastic with this on,” he muttered. “But the only thing I want to do now is take it off you.”
“I’m not really seeing any problem with that plan.”
He grimaced against my cheek. “I’m supposed to meet with my advisors in a few minutes, to talk over the latest developments before the dinner starts. And to come up with a plan for our parlay tomorrow.”
Our parlay with the fae monarch. My desire cooled at that thought. I stepped back to peer into his eyes. “How dangerous do you think it’s going to be, meeting them face to face?”
He cupped my cheek, teasing his thumb over my temple in a reassuring caress. “They didn’t outright attack us on the mountain. We can’t trust them, but they’re bound by the word they’ve given, the treaties they’ve agreed to uphold—in a magical sense. We just have to watch that they don’t find some loophole like they did by using the rogues to their benefit. The entire shifter community will know we went to the neutral ground to talk with them. They can’t hurt us without bringing an awful lot of pain on themselves.”
He didn’t sound overly worried. And with the fae monarch’s domain right next door, he should know just how much trouble they were likely to stir up.
I dragged in a breath, not sure whether I was more nervous about meeting these bigwig shifters tonight or about meeting the fae tomorrow.
“You’ve got this,” Aaron added. “And we’ll be right there with you, just like always.”
I nodded, suddenly too choked up on emotion to speak. He drew me to him again. This kiss felt softer and somehow more passionate at the same time. As if he were offering up all the devotion he felt in the brush of his lips against mine. I kissed him back hungrily, wanting that feeling. Needing it. Needing to give the same back to him.
Could I really call this love after just a couple weeks? I didn’t know how else to describe the glow of happiness that filled me, being there in my eagle shifter’s arms.
Aaron eased back, his eyes shining as if he’d heard what I hadn’t let myself say out loud. “I really do have to go. But I’ll see you soon at the dinner. Why don’t you— There’s a terrace overlooking the ocean just past our private dining room. If you’d like, you could take a walk out there. I’ve always found it calming. I’ll send someone for you when it’s time.”
The way my nerves were jumping, a calming stroll sounded like just what I needed. “Thanks,” I said. “I’ll do that.”
Chapter 16
Ren
The sun was just starting to come down over the ocean. It lit up the water with drifts of sparkles.
I walked across the stone tiles to the railing that surround
ed the private terrace, drinking in the aquatic scents carried by the breeze. It was hard to stay anxious with that gorgeous scenery in front of me and the soothing crash of the waves filling my ears. I was a dragon shifter. The last dragon shifter in existence. Anyone who tried to mess with me was making the worst decision of their life.
My fingers curled around the cool marble surface of the railing. I raised my head high. The breeze rippled through my hair and through the flowing skirt of my dress. I felt the power of my heritage rippling through me too. And the little flame of power Mom had led me to, still flickering in the depths of my chest. Where was that going to lead me?
I had the sudden, wild urge to leap over the railing and down toward the beach. I could do it. The sandy slope below looked a little uneven, but nothing I couldn’t manage a good tumble on.
But even as the urge rose up, I knew that jump wouldn’t give me the same rush all my leaps and falls before used to. I’d experienced what it was like to really fly now. Nothing could compare to that.
Someday I’d be able to hold my dragon form for hours on end. Just soar and soar as far as my wings could take me. That sounded awfully nice right now.
I’d carried my purse out with me. My phone buzzed with a text alert. I pulled it out, already knowing it had to be Kylie. My best friend was the only one who had the number. There wasn’t anyone else in my life I’d trusted enough to want to stay in contact with... except for the guys, now, and I hadn’t needed to be apart from them yet.
What would it be like once we had to split up? They’d have alpha duties to take care of. Sometimes they’d need to be off at different estates, and I wouldn’t be able to stay with all of them at once. Even with all the uncertainties whirling around us, part of me ached to keep them close.
All these crazy feelings had to get easier to deal with once I’d had more time to get used to the situation, right?
What’s up in royal shifter land? Kylie had texted. I smiled and leaned back against the railing as I typed my reply.
Big fancy dinner upcoming. You would not believe the dress I’ve got on.
Ren in a dress!!! OMG, I can’t believe I’m missing this. Take a pic. That’s an order.
I laughed and held the phone out to try to capture as much of the dress as possible in a selfie. When I sent it to her, Kylie replied with a selfie of her face with her eyes wide in shock.
You look spectacular, Ren. Those four alphas of yours are going to have their hands full fighting off the rest of the guys there.
I don’t think people are coming to this dinner looking to hook up, I wrote back. It sounds like there’s a lot of Serious Political Business to discuss. Heads of major shifter families and stuff. I guess they want to make sure I’m really real and that Aaron didn’t just make up that they finally found me?
So you’re that big a deal, huh?
Yeah. I paused, thinking about my conversation with Marco this morning with a twist in my gut. It seems like having a dragon shifter around as their mate makes it a lot easier for the other shifters to accept them as alphas. I guess that’s what they meant about me uniting all the kin-groups. Seems like a lot of responsibility.
But they’ll help you through it. You can handle it. You don’t think you’re still in danger, do you? Now that you took care of those rogue douchebags?
My gut twisted harder. I didn’t want to tell her about that continuing threat—or about how wary I was of the meeting with the fae monarch tomorrow. Not immediately, it doesn’t seem like. I don’t know what to expect going forward. I’m still getting used to BEING a shifter. There’s been a lot of conflict in the kin-groups since my mom disappeared, I guess, and I don’t know the half of it yet.
Well, you look after yourself. It doesn’t matter what they want from you. You’ve got to put yourself first. And if anyone argues with that, you send them to me and I’ll set them straight.
I had to smile at that. I’d bet she would too. Kylie always had my back—even with all this supernatural chaos descending on us.
YOU’RE okay now, right? I asked. You’ve totally recovered from the attack at the shifter village?
Oh yeah, I’m in tiptop shape now. Whatever those shifters did looking after me, it made the cuts heal so fast, I’d hardly believe I got mauled if I hadn’t been there. The scars might stick, but that’s okay. Just makes me look even more badass.
Well, I’m glad nearly dying didn’t put a cramp in your style.
Hey, it’ll take more than some murderous werewolves to get me down.
It would. I pictured her beside me, with her perpetual smile and that petite frame topped by her blaring neon-pink pixie cut. A pang of homesickness hit me.
As soon as I can figure out a way to make it work, I’m coming back to visit. Or maybe I can arrange for you to visit me wherever I end up. These “estates” the alphas have are amazing.
Like I said before, if you want to set me up with a quartet of shifter dudes of my own—any time, feel free!
I’ll keep that in mind.
She sent a kissy face emoji. I’ve got to jet for work. Knock ‘em dead at that dinner tonight. Just not literally, obviously, Miss Dragon.
I tucked the phone away and turned back toward the ocean. So much of my life was up in the air right now, but it was nice imagining some future time when I could just hang out with my bestie in a place like this, no worrying about sudden rogue attacks or fae conspiracies.
The door to the terrace sighed open behind me. Nate’s brawny form pushed past it. He was looking even more fine than usual in the formal suit he’d put on, which hugged his muscular body to incredible effect. My breath might have caught a little, taking him in.
His gaze settled on me, and he gave me a smile that looked almost shy. His eyes roved over my body as he walked up to me, but the glint in them was appreciative, not leering. Apparently I was having an effect too.
“That is some dress,” he said. “Although it’s got to be the woman in it who really makes it.”
I smiled back, the compliment warming me. “I like it a lot too. Never been much for dressing up, but I’m starting to think maybe I could get used to it.”
“I’d be totally fine with that.” He propped himself against the railing next to me, his gaze turning searching. “Aaron told me I’d probably find you out here alone.”
My hackles rose, just slightly. “You know you don’t have to worry about me being on my own for a few minutes, right? Because I’m completely fine. Just enjoying the view.”
Nate held up his hands. “That’s not what I meant. I promise. I didn’t come looking for you because I was worried. It’s...” He ducked his head, the sunlight gleaming off his thick chestnut hair. He was so tall and powerfully built, it still amazed me how gentle he could come across.
“I realized, after what you said the other day when we were fighting off the rogues, that there’s something I should probably tell you,” he said after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck. “It doesn’t excuse how I’ve acted, but I think it’ll explain it a little. And... it’s an important part of who I am. I’d like you to really know me.”
The warmth I’d felt earlier spread through my entire body. I stepped closer, touching his elbow. “I’d like that too. Sorry if I got a bit snappish just now.”
“It’s fine. I understand why.” His smile turned crooked. He took my hand in his, smoothing his thumb over my knuckles. The contact sent a pleasant shiver up my arm.
“You know that the tragedy with your mother and the former alphas happened when we were all pretty young,” he said. “I mean, I was the oldest of the four of us, and I was only twelve. And then there was a lot of uncertainty because we didn’t know where your mother or you were, or what would happen to our usual way of life...”
“Yeah,” I said softly. “That must have been tough. Having all that responsibility and no clear path.”
He nodded. “I had good guidance from my advisors. My kin—we’re a little scattered because we’re the
shifters who don’t fit into any of the larger kin groups, but maybe it’s because of that we’ve never been all that competitive. We mostly just want someone leading the way and letting everyone else mind their own business. So I haven’t come under exactly the same pressure as the other guys to stay alpha. But I wasn’t always sure what I should be doing as alpha either.”
“Of course. That makes sense.”
“Well... When I was seventeen, and starting to take on more and more of the alpha duties on my own, I got to know another bear shifter whose family worked for the estate. We got along well—she was someone I could just relax with when I had time to myself, someone I could talk to about the decisions I was having to make.”
A prickle ran down my back at the “she.” My sense of the mate-bond between us twinged. “And then?” I said, managing to keep my voice steady. I’d known not all of the alphas would have waited for me in body as well as in soul. But I wasn’t sure I wanted to hear about any earlier diversions either.
Nate hesitated. He had to know how hard it was for me to even think about him with someone else. “For a few years, we weren’t anything more than friends. Then after a while, I realized I was falling in love with her. And she admitted she felt the same way. I’d always thought I would wait for the dragon shifter I was meant to be with, but—”
Tears welled in my eyes before the emotion even hit me. I choked on my breath, the thought of Nate—of my mate—choosing someone else wrenching through me.
West had mentioned the idea that he might forsake our mate-bond before, but only vaguely. The idea of this specific woman nearly tearing Nate away from me—I hadn’t expected it to hit me this hard, but I could barely stand it.
“Ren!” Nate said. He brought his hands to my face, cupping it as he leaned close. I closed my eyes against the tears. “I’m sorry,” he said, his voice low and ragged. “I’m here. I wouldn’t have ever brought it up if I didn’t think I had to for us to move forward. I was tempted, and I was unsure, but in the end I chose you. I stopped seeing her—I haven’t seen her in seven years. I knew that no matter how right things felt with her, being with you would be even more right.”
