Dan woke feeling hot and achy, just as he had the past few mornings. And, just as he had the past few mornings, he reached for Mina in the bed looking to draw her body against his. But all he felt was the chill of cold sheets.

How could he make her see? They could no more undo what had happened between them than they could un-ring a bell. It had left a mark on them both, and she was fooling herself to deny it.

But she was damned good at fooling herself, because she'd barely given him the time of day since.

The dim promise of coffee wafted down the corridor and he forced his brain to shut down and his body to get into gear.

"Haul yourself out of bed, soldier," he muttered to himself. If he didn't feel like such shit from this flu or whatever, it wouldn't be a problem. He hadn't told anyone about it because he didn't want his bunker mates to worry. They were worried enough with the imminent attack Etienne's uncle warned them of during a navsat phone call to the elder dragon.

It was clear he wasn't at all pleased with Etienne's decision to bring Taya into danger, or to defend a human that should have, as Rene said, "kept his nose out of places it didn't belong”.

Mina he didn't mention at all, but Dan saw the pinched look on her face when Rene refused to acknowledge her. Asshole. So far, the French were batting a thousand in his book and he could only hope that Mina's love and trust in the Beauchamp men wasn't misplaced.

In response to Rene's warning, though, the four of them had spent the past few days discussing defensive positions and attack strategies endlessly. Dan had to admit he was pleasantly surprised at how well-versed both Etienne and Mina were when it came to military maneuvers, and even Taya had some interesting observations, so at least that was something.

But the constant hashing over the same material was beginning to get on everyone's nerves.

He needed a shower and he needed coffee and it was a hard decision which to get first. The shower would ease the aches in his body. The coffee would rouse him from his less than sharp state. Deciding on the practicality of being alert for anything that might happen, he pulled on his clothes and headed for the mess hall.

As he expected, all three of his compatriots were gathered there. Taya placed a black coffee in front of him and Mina barely spared him a glance, per usual.

"Bless you," he said to Taya, holding up the mug. His head still felt like it weighed a thousand pounds and he sucked down half the hot brew in one swallow.

"Are you okay, Dan?" Taya asked, her brow furrowed in concern. "You look like shit."

"I'm fine. I just worked out a little too hard last night."

Etienne snorted. "Really? That gym doesn't have enough weights in it to exhaust a child."

"Leave him alone, Etienne," Mina said.

"Cherie..." started the dragon shifter.

"It's none of your business," she said more sternly.

For a moment Dan thought Etienne was going to start muttering in French again, like he did in short spells the past few days, but he just nodded.

There was no getting around it.

They were all going stir crazy in this bunker.

Etienne went to the coffee pot and poured himself what amounted to half a cup with a groan.

"That's the last of the coffee."

"We're also running low on anything but canned goods," offered Taya.

"And I'd feel better," said Dan, "if we had more ammunition for the rifles."

"Then it's decided. We'll have to go to town and get supplies." This last came from Mina, but she looked anything but happy about the prospect.

"Dan and I will go," announced Etienne.

"Think again, dragon," said Mina. "Both of you manly men would stand out in any crowd. If anyone should go, it will be me and Taya. We can blend in better with the suburban housewife crowd."

"I'm not letting Taya go into a potentially dangerous situation without protection," growled Etienne.

Dan's anxiety relaxed at the words Etienne spoke. He didn't like the idea of the women going into town alone either.

Mina glared at the shifter. "As if I'm not battle trained."

Etienne blew a snort of frustration. "That is not what I mean, Mina, and you know it. Rene told us he didn't know what was coming or in what numbers. Two Valkyries, no matter how well trained, may not stand up to them."

Dan watched as Etienne and Mina locked eyes and wills. This was not good. Either they fought together or died alone.

"We'll all go," said Dan. "Etienne and I will stay in the car while you ladies shop."

* * *

Two hours later, Taya and Mina climbed out of the SUV. Dressed in oversized clothes and baseball caps, they hoped to disguise their appearance from spies and inquisitive eyes. From the intel they'd received from Rene, no one had tracked their location yet, but it didn't hurt to be cautious.

Dan watched their retreating forms. Etienne sat next to him and scanned the skies.

"That seems to be clear."

"Really? How far can you see?"

"Far enough," said Etienne. "Dragons have very good eyesight."

"But you're in your human form."

"So? I am always a dragon whether you see it or not."

"I didn't know."

"There are a lot of things you don't know about shifters."

Dan looked away, scanning the parking lot for anything suspicious.

"I'm learning," he says.

"Yes," said Etienne drolly, "I heard the other night."

Dan's skin flushed.

"I don't know what you are talking about."

"Don't try to deny it. Dragons have excellent hearing too. You might have been in the same room."

"Sonafabitch," muttered Dan before going quiet, keeping his eyes alert and on the parking lot.

"Shifters tend to give everything to the ones they mate with," continued Etienne.

"Who said anything about mating?"

"See, that is where the problem would be. I wouldn't want her to get hurt by a man who is living human rules with a shifter lover."

Etienne leaned over, seeming to fill more space in the cab than before, his breath hotter than it should be. Dan felt the heat rolling off of the shifter in waves.

Instinctively, his muscles bunched and he straightened to sit higher. "Back off, Etienne," he growled. "What happens between me and Mina is none of your business."

"I won't let anyone hurt her, Sheriff."

"Then get in line. I won't let anyone hurt her either."

"Oh?" snarled the dragon, "why should I trust that?"

Words failed him at that moment as a single improbable thought crystallized with utter clarity in his mind. It was a thought he couldn't absorb in its wholeness yet infused him with a warm glow that spread through his being. Its truth solidified in his thoughts bringing hope against incredible odds. At this moment he felt like he could conquer anything because there was one thing in his life he never had before.

"Because I love her. And if we aren’t together it’s her call, not mine."

* * *

"I'll take the left, you take the right," Mina said, steering her cart in the direction of the ammunition. "We meet in ten minutes at the checkout line in the middle."

Very conscious that moments spent in the open were additional minutes unprotected, she moved through the store quickly, loading the huge big box store carts with food and supplies almost without thought. If the situation wasn't so life and death, it could almost have been a game.

They met up at the long checkout line that seemed to move at a snail's pace.

When they finally reached the front of the line, Mina pulled a wad of cash from her pocket.

"I'd offer to chip in, but apparently only the harem girls get the credit cards," Taya said with an eye roll.

Mina scanned the area as they talked, but managed a smile at Taya's remark.

"You're not going to let him live that one down, are you?"

"I just like to tease him about it. He had them in his life a lot longer than me. But there are definitely adjustments that will be made."

The look on Taya's face was so fierce that Mina laughed.

"I love it," said Mina. "Someone has turned the rogue dragon into a pussycat. I never thought it would happen. He is just so damned independent."

"Sometimes it takes the universe extra time to create that perfect person for you," said Taya. "How old is Etienne anyway? How long has he had to wait?"

"Oh no, friend, you aren't going to get me to reveal Etienne's secrets. He'll never admit it, but he's vain about his age. I'm not sure I reliably know what it is anyway. Only Rene knows for sure."

"Sometimes I get the sense that he is immensely old," Taya said softly, with a glance around to ensure no one else was listening. "It's the way he gazes out the windows or at the sunset when we are on the top of the mountain. Like he's seen things that the world has forgotten."

"All the dragons are like that," said Mina. "At least the ones I've met. But Etienne seems to carry that quality in spades. It's that sense of inscrutable wisdom that makes others regard him highly."

"I think, despite the women, he was lonely," said Taya.

"Again, another thing he will never admit. Until you, Etienne prided himself on living life day by day. Long-lived shifters have to, otherwise the march of time and how fast the human world moves will wear them down."

"Is that what you've learned?" asked Taya.

"I haven't been around that long. I'm only eighty-five."

"Eighty-five," gasped Taya.

"Sure, that's not even a tenth of our lifespan. We can live to a thousand years, if we're left to it."

"Wow," said Taya. "Still so much I need to learn."

"Yes, I should've spent more time with you. After this is over, I promise to do that, all right? And you can ask me anything...everything."

She prayed silently she would get that chance with her protégé.

"So what does that mean for you and Dan? He's human. He'll age and die and you..."

Taya stopped short and tried to backpedal when she realized what she'd said, but Mina had stopped listening.

"Silence," hissed Mina.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up."

"No. Feel that?" she demanded, an icy trickle of fear sliding down the back of her neck. "Smell that?"

Taya's eyes widened and her head swiveled to scan the front of the store.

"Yes," she whispered. "I smell something by the front doors."

"Shifter," Mina hissed. "Smells like wolverine."

Maybe it was nothing. Maybe it was just another area shifter shopping for groceries.

But maybe it wasn't.

They were almost to the front of the line and Mina straightened with a harried smile. "Shoot, I forgot something," she said, clapping a hand to her forehead. "Can we leave our things here?" she asked the woman behind her. "We'll be right back.”

The middle-aged mom was busy prying a stolen candy bar from her toddler's fingers and gave her an absent nod. "Sure, no problem."

Mina grabbed Taya's hand and tugged her back through the line. "Scoot down, to keep below these displays," she demanded. "We're getting out of here."

Once they were clear of the abandoned carts, Mina straightened and walked confidently toward the aisles. Taya followed with her knees bent and her head down, but their deception didn't last long. Mina heard a raspy growl that put any other theories to rest.

They'd been found.

Turning toward the sound, she saw a woman whose anger curled from her in red waves. The woman chuffed in inhuman fashion.

"Run," Mina muttered.

With that the two women ran toward the back of the store, to the area that serviced catalogue orders. The woman, and now a man, followed them moving with preternatural speed.

"Go, go, go!" spat Mina.

She flew through the catalogue room and burst open the doors to the stock room. She pushed Taya in front of her and swept merchandise off pallets in the way of the pursuing shifters.

Coming to an open back bay door, she urged Taya to jump the four feet to the ground. Mina, still on the inside, held the button to lower the door to a shut position, and just as the wolverines were on her, she dropped and rolled to the ground. The fall was short but painful.

But not as painful as to what happened to one of the wolverines. It had shifted and stuck its paws through the opening getting smaller and the door landed on them. The shifter screamed, a mixture of animal and human sounds.

"Hurry," said Mina. "Let's get to the boys."

They poured on every ounce of strength and ran, neither looking back. A couple short minutes later, they rounded the building and bounded through the lot to the parked SUV.

"Go, go, go!" said Mina urgently. "Wolverines!"

Mina and Taya didn't have time to put on their seat belts before Dan jerked the SUV out of its slot and onto the main road.

"Christ, what happened?" demanded Etienne. "Are you all right? I knew we should've gone with you."

"They've found us," Mina said grimly. "Tonight, there will be war."