As they walked out of the cottage, Asher said, "I'll miss her, but it's her best shot. She had such fire as a teenager. All I can do is hope you get to see that side of her, even if it's not quite as strong as before."
She lightly brushed his arm. "We'll just have to trust Arabella."
He nodded. "It's strange trusting someone so soon, but there's something about the dragonwoman that makes me believe her."
"I think it's the specific circumstance. She's gone through something similar and came out of it on the other side."
"Right." He met her gaze. "Thanks for suggesting it originally, Ria. I'm not sure I would've thought of it."
She lightly touched his hand again. "There's no need for thanks. We're a team, meaning we should help the other when needed. And yes, it means for more than just clan issues. I hope you remember that."
He nodded. "I do."
Asher fell silent, thinking about who knew what. There were times to push and ask what he thought, but considering his sister was going to be leaving them for an untold amount of time, she figured he needed a little peace to come to grips with it.
So they walked the rest of the way in a comfortable silence. Well, as comfortable as they could be given Asher would soon be saying goodbye to his mum and sister.
True, Honoria hadn't even had the chance to say goodbye to her parents in the end, but that was different. Aimee and Lynne King weren't going to be imprisoned and executed. The farewell this morning would be sad, but also happy because it gave them hope.
And if there was something Skyhunter could do with, it was more hope.
~~~
Later that evening, Asher stood across from his mother and sister, Honoria waiting outside if he needed her, and he tried to think of what to say to his family.
It didn't help that Aimee had been given a sedative to ensure she made the twelve-hour car ride from Skyhunter up to Lochguard in the Scottish Highlands. To be honest, she might be too far out of it to even remember what he said to her.
And yet, he didn't want to send her off without some words of brotherly love.
Of course, while it was easy to say affectionate words with Honoria, he didn't do it often with others.
His beast growled, and Asher closed his eyes a second so Aimee couldn't see his pupils change to slits. It's not that hard. It's the truth—we love them. Stop hesitating. When you do, it doesn't reflect strength, which we need to do as often as we can right now.
We're standing inside Mum's cottage. I doubt anyone has hidden cameras in here. Now, hush. We can't risk upsetting Aimee, or it'll delay her departure even more.
Fine. I'll be quiet until she leaves.
His beast walked in a circle before settling down, wrapping his tail around his body, and laying his head on top of it.
Asher opened his eyes and focused on his mother first. "Let me know if you need anything. And if they so much as look at you funny, tell me and I'll sort it out."
His mother smiled. "I've handled far worse, Asher. I'll be fine."
She engulfed him in a hug, and he murmured, "I love you, Mum. It'll be strange with you gone. But if it means helping Aimee, I'd do far more than say goodbye to accomplish it."
After squeezing him tightly, his mother released him. "I didn't survive Marcus's reign merely so I could flee afterward. We'll be back, and not just because my handsome son is one-half of the leadership, either. I know you'll do a brilliant job, Asher." She lowered her voice. "Maybe I'll come back for a special occasion?"
He was grateful that Honoria had given him a few minutes alone with his mother and sister. Otherwise, his mum might be extracting promises of a mating before they even knew it. Lynne King could be devious if she wanted, albeit was always with love. "If it happens, I'll let you know."
His mother raised her brows. "If? More like, when. I predicted that when you two were children. I have a sense for these things."
He gave a noncommittal grunt, hoping that would be the end of it. Arguing with his mother right before she left for who knew how long wasn't the sendoff he wanted to give her.
His mum motioned toward Aimee. "I'll give you a minute alone with your sister. Let me know when you're done, and I'll collect her."
Once his mother left, he turned toward Aimee.
He didn't like the way her eyes were half closed or the fact she looked about ready to slump to one side in the chair.
But he knew the drugs were necessary, otherwise she'd never make the journey.
And she needed to make the journey. More than ever, he was convinced of how she needed to leave Skyhunter to forget about the horrors of her imprisonment.
His inner dragon didn't speak, but sent him waves of encouragement. They always helped, and one day, Aimee would have the same again.
He refused to believe otherwise.
Squatting down to her eye level, he said, "Don't let the Scottish dragons push you too far. If it's too much, you say so. And remember, I'm always a phone call away."
Aimee said nothing. She didn't even move her head.
He hated her like this, absolutely hated it.
But he kept a smile on his face and hid his true feelings. "I'll miss you, Aims. I'm not sure I'll be able to visit you anytime soon, but I'll always be thinking of you."
There was no response from his sister.
He wanted to kiss her cheek or give her a hug, but couldn't risk an episode. So he merely said, "I'll fetch Mum, and you can be off to start your new life."
Once he did, his mother managed to get Aimee into a car.
Honoria moved to his side and together, they watched them drive away.
As his mother and sister vanished from sight, Honoria took his hand. In that instant, something became crystal clear to him. His sister and mother may never return to Skyhunter. Honoria was his everything now, and he needed to make it official.
He tugged her back into his mother's house and pulled her up against his chest. Cupping her cheek, he murmured, "I have something to ask you."
She tilted her head a fraction. "What is it?"
Asher knew what he wanted and didn't hesitate. "Will you be my mate?"
She blinked. "Huh?"
"Honoria Wakeham, will you do me the honor of becoming my mate?"
"I want to scream yes, but why the change in attitude? I believe you said something about waiting until the clan is more stable."
"Together, I know we'll make it stable. But I can't risk losing you, Ria. And I want the world to know you're mine."
"More like you're mine."
The corner of his mouth ticked up. "I think it can be both."
She smiled, and the world instantly became brighter. "I think so, too. And yes, I'll be your mate, Asher King. And not just because I want to do this anytime I want and stop sneaking around."
Pulling his head down, Honoria kissed him.
As he put every bit of love he had into that kiss, both man and beast couldn't wait for the mating ceremony. It would be Skyhunter's first since they'd taken over, and in a way, it was the most fitting.
Two former lovers torn apart by hate had found their way back home, into the arms of each other. Skyhunter would start over with love.
And over the next few hours, Asher showed Honoria how much he loved her privately, over and over again, until they both drifted off to sleep, wrapped around each other, as if proving to the world they'd never let each other go.
Epilogue
Years Later
Honoria had never been more grateful that her newborn son liked to sleep. A lot. A gale-force wind could blow through the area, and he wouldn't bat an eyelash.
While introducing new babies to the clan was important, it wasn't exactly quiet inside the great hall. Under the circumstances, a sleeping baby was rare indeed.
Her beast grunted. It's all thanks to Aimee's in-laws. The Scots are incorrigible.
Skyhunter has its fair share of rambunctious younger folk, too.
Nowhere near as bad as them. I wouldn
't put it past them to fire up some bagpipes at some point. The grandfather, especially, will cause trouble before the night is done.
Archie is harmless.
Only because it's a special night will I pretend you don't know his reputation.
Archie MacAllister had spent a lifetime battling with his neighbor over a property border dispute. Apparently, dropping boulders from the sky in dragon form wasn't unheard of between the pair.
She glanced over at Aimee and her mate, a Scottish dragon-shifter from Lochguard, and couldn't help but smile at the large amount of family standing around her. The MacAllisters were almost all outgoing to begin with, so add in some mates and small children, and Honoria doubted there was ever truly peace and quiet when they all got together.
Honoria said to her dragon, It could be a lot worse than a few boisterous Scots. Or have you forgotten how difficult the first year was, trying to convince everyone that Asher and I wouldn't turn into dictators like Marcus?
Her beast huffed. I’m sure their dragons trusted us a lot sooner. I don't understand their human halves at all. We did one improvement and good after another—including fosters and inter-clan Protector drills. And still, many resisted.
It doesn't matter how long it took, all that matters is how it convinced them in the end.
Asher finally made his way up the dais, cutting her conversation short with her beast. He kissed their son Julian's forehead, and then Honoria's lips. He whispered, "Sorry, love. It seems everyone has advice to offer." He lowered his voice for her ears only. "And while my dragon thought telling them to sod off would be the best remedy, I somehow resisted."
She raised an eyebrow. "If you think your restraint merits praise, then you'll be waiting a long time. I think every former or current mother on Skyhunter has stopped by to tell me how to raise Julian. Not once, or even twice. I reckon at least five times apiece."
Asher's lips twitched. "It just means they care."
"Right, while the males will merely smack you on the back and say good job. Somehow, that doesn't seem fair."
"We divide everything, remember? This is just one of those circumstances when it falls to you."
She stuck out a tongue a second before adding, "Then you can take on the charming role for the evening. After all those one-on-ones with the females, I'm too tired to do it."
"I somehow don't believe you're too tired to be yourself."
"What, that I'm tired to the bone and that may have affected my personality a little? Of course it's the truth."
"Tired from the baby, yes, that's a given. But you like talking to others. Me, not so much."
"What about all the training and flying sessions you do with the students?"
Asher's back had healed properly and ever since, he'd been teaching as much as his schedule allowed.
Her mate grunted. "That's different. They want to learn something, and I have the knowledge. It's a bloody big difference from trying to feign interest in someone's vegetable garden."
She bit her lip to keep from laughing. One of the clan members was quite enthusiastic about his plants, to the point that if a dragon hunter attack happened, he'd run to guard them from being destroyed.
Pushing her amusement aside, she shrugged and then rearranged the blanket around Julian. "Equal shares, remember? I put up with the mothers, so it's your turn."
He sighed. "Fine. But only because I love you."
She beamed. "It's amazing how often that works in my favor." He shook his head, but she leaned over and kissed him quickly. "I love you, too, Asher King. Now, let's welcome our son to the clan properly."
Asher moved to the front of the dais, and Honoria stood beside him. As he quieted down the clan, it was a stark contrast to their very first clan meeting. Back then, people had fallen silent right away. However, this time it took Asher nearly three minutes to get the crowd mostly silent.
And yet, she couldn't help but smile at all. It'd taken years, but Skyhunter was mostly healed and a cohesive unit more times than not. Add in the presence of the MacAllisters from Lochguard, and how many from Skyhunter greeted one or more of them as friends, and it was an even greater contrast to the early days.
Staring down at her sleeping son's face, happiness flooded her body. The clan was doing well, she loved Asher more than ever before, and their family had welcomed their beautiful boy two weeks ago.
Add in the solid alliances with the other dragon clans and budding relationships with the neighboring humans, and it was hard to believe Honoria's parents had sent her away from Skyhunter in the dead of night almost twenty years ago.
Asher finally had the crowd quiet, and he projected his voice so that even the few humans in attendance could hear him. "That may be a new record in getting your attention. Maybe next time we can work on that?"
The old Scottish dragonman Archie shouted, "I always have my bagpipes, laddie. Just say the word, and I'll get everyone quiet, aye?"
To his credit, Asher didn't frown. "Thank you, but I'd rather not wake my son. Speaking of which, that's why we're all gathered here today, to celebrate Julian King's arrival to the clan. And while we'll do the tattoo design presentation a little later, Skyhunter, please say hello to our newest addition and let him know how much we welcome him."
Asher gently took Julian with one hand under his head and the other under his bum. He lifted their baby carefully over his head. "Say hello to Julian, one and all."
Honoria held her breath as everyone cheered, but her son didn't so much as stir.
Her beast spoke up. Stop worrying so much. It's nice he only cries when hungry or when he needs a nappy change. It could be much worse, like that one mother.
There was a female on Skyhunter who had a pair of twins that cried whenever they left home. The doctor said they were healthy, and I'm sure they'll grow out of it.
Asher brought Julian back down and cuddled him against his chest. "Now, have fun and enjoy the celebration. Ria and I will be down shortly so that everyone can perform their official welcome greetings to the baby."
They both noticed Archie stand up on a chair. How the male could do it so nimbly—he had to be in his seventies—she had no idea.
Asher spoke before Archie could. "And no singing or bagpipes until the young ones are put down for the night. We'll leave that to the adult part of the celebration."
The old male sighed, and his grandchildren helped him off the chair. Honoria met Aimee's eyes, and they shared a smile.
But then Archie was off doing something else, and Aimee went to help her mate and his siblings.
Honoria took the brief minute of quiet to lean against her mate and trace her son's cheek. "I love you, Julian." She glanced up at Asher. "And I love you, too, Ash."
"Not as much as I love you, Ria."
Before she could argue the point—they seemed to do that often—he leaned down and kissed her. As he took his time caressing the inside of her mouth and letting her know with each stroke how much he cared for her, she forgot about everything but him, her, and the little bundle under her fingers.
Years ago, when she'd won the right to be a co-leader of Skyhunter, she'd gained more than a clan to take care of. She'd found the love of her life.
And she couldn't wait to see what else the future held for them.
~*~*~
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While the next book in the Stonefire Dragons Universe will be about Rhydian Griffiths in Wales (Transforming Snowridge), the next dragon-shifter book releasing will be The Dragon's Discovery. It's the long-awaited story about Alistair Boyd, and will release on May 30,2019. Turn the page for the Author's Note and sneak peeks of some of my other books.
Author's Note
Over the years,
I've received a lot of messages and emails asking about other dragon clans around the world. There's just so much going on in the Stonefire and Lochguard series that I didn't know if I'd ever get to them. Then it hit me—start a loosely related spinoffs series where each book would be about a different clan. And so, the Stonefire Dragons Universe series was born.
Skyhunter was a clan without a leader and was the perfect starting place. The second book will be about the Welsh dragon clan and its leader, Rhydian. (Transforming Snowridge) After that, we'll start exploring clans outside of the UK and Ireland. Since these books are more standalone-ish, it opens a lot of doors. Stonefire and Lochguard will always be in the background of this series since they're at the forefront of change. However, situations vary around the world. Some things are similar, but there are differences, too. I can't wait to share it all with my readers. Not to mention this series gives me mini-breaks from my two main dragon series while still giving you a dragon fix.
Getting this book out requires a lot of help from others and I'm grateful to the following people:
—To my editor, Becky Johnson, and her team at Hot Tree Editing. They forever hold me to high standards and push me to do better.
—To my cover artist, Clarissa Yeo of Yocla Designs. She is amazing at showing me covers I didn't even know I wanted. Winning Skyhunter is definitely one of my favorites to date.
—To my team of beta readers: Sabrina D., Donna H., Sandy H. and Iliana G. These women all seem to catch different typos and help make my books as error-free as possible.
And lastly, thanks to you, the reader. I had to push back the release date of some of my books to take a break, and this was a nice way to come back to my dragons. All of your support, comments, and enthusiasm help keep my dragon-shifter universe going.
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