Despite the ominous cloud that had hung over the breakfast table while discussing the dragon stones, Raven found the farmhouse in general to be a happy place. After eating, Ma sent her and Owen off to get some much needed rest. They both collapsed into the warm softness of the giant king bed that filled the room they’d been given on the second floor. No one even bothered trying to give them separate rooms. It didn’t take a genius to realize that they wanted to be together.

Raven had opened the window before they fell asleep, enjoying the fresh air that came seeping in through the screen. Several hours later, she awoke to the sound of laughter drifting up through that same window. She stood slowly and stretched, then walked over to look down at the source of the laughter. The kids were all outside, running and playing with William, who was surprisingly agile for his age. A smile crossed Raven’s face as she watched. There might be a war going on, but children still found ways to be joyful. She was so enthralled with the scene below that she didn’t hear Owen getting up as well. She jumped, slightly startled, when he put his arms around her from behind.

“He’s so good with kids,” Owen said as he kissed the top of Raven’s head.

“William?”

“Yeah. He’s the one who raised all ten of us in the Redwood Dragons clan. We were orphans, with no real future, and he made us into a family.”

“Family,” Raven repeated, savoring the sound of the word. The group of shifter protectors here in Texas might not all be related by blood, but it was clear that they all considered themselves a family. Raven had seen the same sense of family among the Redwood Dragons. Even though they were separated by war and duty right now, they were all a family. She wondered what it would be like to be part of a family like that.

“I wish we could stay here for a while,” Raven said wistfully. “It would be nice to have some time to just ‘be,’ you know? To not have to worry about war or fighting or protecting dragon stones.”

“I know,” Owen said, squeezing his arms tighter and kissing the top of her head again. “One day. Soon. I promise.”

Raven sighed. “How can you promise that? We don’t know when the dragon ruby will be found, or how long it will take to finally bring Saul to his knees.”

Raven felt Owen shrug. “I just have a good feeling about things. That battle with the dragon amethyst was a sign, I think. Even though the enemy is strong, the forces of good are stronger. We’ll always find a way to overcome them.”

“I hope you’re right,” Raven said.

“I’m always right,” Owen said, and Raven rolled her eyes as she turned around to face him.

“Oh? Like when you said we could make love under the stars in an open Texas field with no danger of being attacked by the enemy?”

Owen laughed. “It turned out alright in the end, didn’t it?”

Raven gave him a look that said he was being ridiculous, and he laughed again.

“Okay, okay. Seriously. I’m sorry that turned out the way it did. I owe you a do-over.”

Raven feigned annoyance. “And what makes you think I want to sleep with you again?” she asked.

To her surprise, the joking expression left Owen’s face, and his eyes turned serious.

“I don’t know what you want, Raven. But I can tell you what I want. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. You know about lifemates, right?”

Raven’s heart started pounding. She nodded. She’d heard about lifemates from the other wizards who had started relationships with the dragon shifters. The shifters believed that each person had someone they were destined to be with for life. When you found that person and made love to them, the lifemate bond was formed, binding your hearts and souls together for the rest of your lives. According to the shifters, the lifemate bond was unbreakable.

“Do you think I’m your lifemate?” Raven asked, finally finding her voice. Her heart was pounding so loudly now that she was sure they must be able to hear it downstairs.

Owen smiled at her. “I know it. I’m bonded to you, Raven. You’re my destiny, my fated lifemate. I love you more than anything, and I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you have me? Will you marry me? I know I should have a ring when I ask that question, and I promise I’ll get you one. But I can’t wait any longer to tell you how I feel.”

Owen got down on one knee in front of Raven, and she covered her mouth in shock as he continued smiling up at her. “Marry me,” he said. “Say you will.”

Raven felt tears springing to her eyes. She nodded enthusiastically, causing the tears to spill over her cheeks. “Yes!” she said. “A thousand times yes!”

Owen stood up then and pulled her into his arms, spinning her around with a whoop. There was a lot wrong with the world at large, but in that moment, Raven’s world was perfect.

 

* * *

 

Owen wanted to shout from the rooftops that the most wonderful, beautiful girl in the world had agreed to be his. Unfortunately, he couldn’t take much time to enjoy the moment just then. Before he and Raven had gone to sleep, Knox had told him that Raven and Owen were wanted back in Falcon Cross immediately. Plans were already in motion to start a search for the dragon ruby, and Peter, the head wizard in Falcon Cross, wanted Owen and Raven to be a part of the planning committee. There was no time to lose, and a late night flight back to the West Coast had already been arranged.

No rest for the weary, Owen thought as he stood in the living room of the farmhouse a few hours later, bidding all of the shifter protectors goodbye. Raven was putting up a brave front, but he knew she was sad to be leaving her new friends so soon after meeting them. Ma seemed to sense Raven’s sadness, and gave her an extra long hug.

“Now don’t you worry,” Ma said. “Our door’s always open, and this war will be over soon enough. You can come back for a nice long visit, and I’ll cook you so much food you’ll have to buy bigger sizes in all your clothes.”

Everyone laughed, even Raven, who was wiping at the tears in her eyes. Owen took her hand and gently led her outside, where Levi’s truck was waiting to drive them to the airport. The drive was long, and made mostly in silence. Everyone in the vehicle was lost in their own thoughts, until they got to the airport and had to say goodbye once more, this time to Levi.

“Take care, man,” Levi said, giving Owen a big hug and a couple of hearty slaps on the back.

“You too,” Owen said.

Raven gave Levi a big hug and a tearful goodbye, and then it was time to head into the terminal. They didn’t have any luggage to check, and they quickly made it through security. Raven was trying to put up a brave front, but Owen could tell she was sad, and tired. They’d had quite an exhausting couple of days, and he was glad that they were flying home on a commercial airline instead of attempting the flight in dragon form again. Taking the dragon amethyst on a plane would have been risky, but they had no dragon amethyst now. They just had each other, and the amethyst was safely under the protection of the shifter protectors they had just left behind.

They had a bit of time before their flight took off, and they waited at the gate together, holding hands as they sat in those ridiculously uncomfortable blue plastic chairs. Every time Owen looked over at Raven, he was filled with a deep sense of love and happiness. He wished they had more time now to just be—to just relax and enjoy each other’s company. He wanted to do something special for her, but there was no time.

Or was there? Suddenly, he had an idea.

“Hey, I want to check on something,” he said to Raven, trying to keep his voice casual, and praying that he could pull this off. “I’ll be right back.”

Raven looked mildly curious, but shrugged and let him go. He went to talk to the agent at the gate, and a few minutes later was pulling out his credit card and taking two updated tickets from her. Everything was set. Just as he made it back to the seat where Raven was waiting, the gate agent spoke into the loudspeaker to announce that it was time to begin boarding.

“Come on,” Owen said, reaching out to offer his hand to Raven. “This is us. Time to board.”

Raven looked up at him but didn’t move, except to shake her head.

“It’s still too early. They’re only boarding first class right now.”

Owen smiled, and continued to hold out his hand. “I know. Time to board.”

Raven looked at him like he was the slowest person alive. “We’re not first class,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Yes, we are,” Owen said. He reached for her hand, pulling her off the seat, and then gave her one of the new tickets the gate agent had just handed him. “I got us a little upgrade.”

Raven’s eyes widened. “What? But…how?”

Owen shrugged, pleased. “I just went up there and asked to upgrade our tickets. I wanted to do something special for you. I know we haven’t had the type of weekend you might expect when getting engaged, but at least I can make sure you have a luxurious, comfortable flight home.”

Raven stared down at the words on her new ticket like they were written in Greek. “I’ve never flown first class before,” she said.

“Me neither,” Owen replied. “So we’ll get to experience it together. Come on.”

Raven grinned and finally let him pull her toward the ticket agent. Their seats on the plane were huge, with plenty of legroom. Raven groaned happily as she sat down. “This is more like it,” she said. “Maybe I’ll actually get some rest on this flight after all.”

She closed her eyes happily, but did not actually fall asleep. Thirty minutes later, when the plane had finally taken off and reached cruising altitude, her eyes popped back open.

“Do you think they’re going to send us with the search party for the ruby?” she asked.

Owen shrugged. “Who knows. I don’t think they have many leads yet. I know Holden and Weston from my clan have been working hard on searching, but it still might be a while before we’re ready to send off an actual search party.”

“Excuse me,” the flight attendant interrupted as she approached them. “Are you Raven Morey?”

Raven looked up at her. “Yes, that’s me.”

“Good. We have a special treat for you,” the flight attendant said with a smile. “I’ll be right back.”

Raven looked accusingly at Owen, but he just smiled coyly at her. About a minute later, the flight attendant returned with a miniature cake, just big enough for two people. It was smothered in chocolate frosting, and the word “Congratulations” was written on top with pink frosting. The flight attendant put the cake down on Raven’s tray table, along with a plastic cake knife and two plastic plates and forks. A second flight attendant followed behind the first, and set down two plastic cups of champagne.

“Congratulations on your engagement, Ms. Morey,” the first flight attendant said. “Enjoy your cake and champagne.”

“Congratulations,” echoed the second flight attendant. “And let me say, this man is a keeper. Any guy who arranges for chocolate cake for his woman is a winner in my book.”

Raven looked over at Owen with a wide grin on her face. “I guess I’ll keep you,” she said.

Owen laughed as the flight attendants walked away. “Well, you haven’t tasted the cake yet, so maybe you should reserve your judgment. And I had a lot of help from the gate agent. Finding a cake in an airport at the last minute isn’t exactly easy. But I wanted to do something special to make this occasion memorable and romantic for you. It’s not every day you get engaged.”

Raven’s smile melted his heart. “Thank you,” she said. “Seriously, thank you. You didn’t have to do anything, but this is so sweet of you.”

Owen felt a puff of proud satisfaction. She liked his surprise. He’d done well, and he’d made his woman happy. What more could a man ask for? “Cheers,” he said, holding his plastic champagne glass up to Raven. “To the many adventures we’ve already had, and the many more to come.”

“Cheers,” she echoed. They clicked their glasses together, and took a long sip of the bubbly liquid. Then Owen cut into the cake, putting one slice on each of the little plastic plates. Raven quickly dug into hers, closing her eyes in satisfaction as the sweet confection hit her tongue.

“Well,” Owen asked. “How does it taste?”

“A heck of a lot better than a meal bar,” she said.

Owen laughed, then took a bite of his own piece of cake. The chocolate was moist and rich, and, Raven was right—after too many meal bars, this little piece of cake was heaven.

“Still,” he said, looking over at Raven and using his thumb to wipe a smudge of chocolate off the left side of her mouth. “I wouldn’t trade any of our meals together for anything. Even the meal bar dinners. It’s all been part of the adventure.”

Her smile told him that she agreed. He leaned in and kissed her then, savoring the sticky sweetness of her chocolate covered lips. Life in the middle of a war on dark magic might be crazy, but he wouldn’t trade it for anything.

Not when he got to share that life with Raven.