Despite his annoyance at being forced to take along a partner, and his disdain for her timidity, Noah had to admit that, on the whole, Izzy was a capable soldier. She could keep up with him on a hike at least.

They had agreed not to fly in to the Redwoods Base Camp directly—even though Noah could easily fly when in dragon form, and Izzy was as talented as any wizard at broomstick flying. With so much uncertainty surrounding the camp, it was better to land far out and come in slowly, on foot. That way they could take their time assessing what they were up against. But this slow approach meant a half day of hiking, and Noah wasn’t happy about the wasted time. With Saul’s army closing the gap between himself and the other dragon stones, there wasn’t much time to spare. Noah only wished he’d thought of invading the Redwoods Camp earlier. He might have convinced Knox to let him come here, even before the threat of Saul and the dragon ruby was imminent. Then Noah would have had more time to plan how he would overtake whatever enemy awaited him in the redwoods.

But there was no use dwelling on alternate possibilities now. The reality of his situation remained unchanged, no matter how much he regretted not acting sooner. He was traipsing as fast as he dared through thick forest, trying to outpace Izzy and failing. He had wanted to prove to her that she couldn’t keep up, but she seemed just as determined to prove that she could. And, right now at least, she was doing a damn good job of matching his pace. This only served to annoy him even more. He’d wanted to come on this mission alone, like the good old days when the Redwood Dragons were always sent on solo missions to recover ancient artifacts. This war had resulted in far too much socializing, if you asked Noah.

But no one had asked Noah, so he kept marching forward through the redwoods, gritting his teeth and glancing back every now and then with a grudging look to make sure Izzy was still keeping up. She always was.

He tried to push her out of his mind and focus on enjoying the trees around him. The city of Falcon Cross was located in the middle of a beautiful forest, but it was still too much of a city for Noah’s liking. There were houses and cars and big government buildings—and people everywhere. So many people. Noah was glad for the space that surrounded him now. He and Izzy were likely the only humans out here for miles and miles. There was something intoxicating about being alone. Or, almost alone. Noah frowned, and tried not to let his anger at Izzy bubble to the surface too much. Focus on the trees, he told himself.

And what magnificent trees they were. The trees near Falcon Cross were nice enough, but they had nothing on the redwoods. The ancient giants towered above him, their impossibly wide trunks taking up large footprints on the forest floor. The reddish brown bark smelled like home to him, and the green canopy of their leaves offered plentiful shade from the bright midday sun. Noah smiled, and took in a long, deep breath.

He’d spent most of his life in these woods. He and the other Redwood Dragons had been rescued as young children, when the last great war orphaned them. They’d grown up together, as brothers. Noah could hardly wait for the day when they would return here together as brothers, to live in their cabins once again. His heart beat faster at the thought. Things had changed, sure. All of the dragons except him had found lifemates now. Life in the redwoods would be different. Busier. But that wouldn’t be all bad. Noah wouldn’t deny that there were several ways in which a woman’s touch would improve their little camp. He imagined little gardens behind each cabin, lovingly tended. His stomach rumbled at the thought of home-cooked food. A smile crossed his face as he wondered which of his clanmates would be the first to father a new baby dragon. Noah had no particular desire to settle down with a woman and have a family himself, but he liked the idea of having a bunch of nieces and nephews to spoil.

Uncle Noah, he thought, trying out the title in his head as he walked. It sounded good. If this damn war would just hurry up and be over, they could all get down to the business of actually living. He missed good times with his clan brothers, hanging out around the barbeque and just shooting the breeze. Unconsciously, he quickened his step. The sooner he got to base camp and regained possession of it, the sooner he could help out the soldiers in the field. And the sooner Saul would be defeated. Noah would not allow himself to think about the possibility of losing this war to Saul. Defeat was simply not an option. They must win. They would win.

“We should stop for lunch,” Izzy called out from behind him. Noah turned and scowled, annoyed at having his thoughts interrupted.

“We don’t have time to waste on lunch,” Noah said, even though he knew what he was saying was ridiculous. He was feeling belligerent, though, and would have argued with just about any suggestion that Izzy made at that point. Before Izzy could even reply, Noah’s stomach betrayed him by letting out a long, hungry growl. Izzy raised an eyebrow.

“I think your stomach disagrees with you,” she said. “It’s half past two, and if we want to keep up this pace, it’s better that we eat. Stopping for fifteen minutes isn’t going to make much difference in the grand scheme of this hike, but whether or not we nourish ourselves matters.”

Noah wanted to argue more, but his stomach growled loudly again. He was quite hungry.

“Fine,” he said. “But only fifteen minutes.”

Izzy looked like she might roll her eyes at him, but in the end she merely let out a small sigh before sitting down and removing her large hiking backpack. She began digging in its depths for her food stash, not deigning to look at Noah while she did. He huffed and sat down himself. Quickly, he pulled out a peanut butter and jelly sandwich that had become rather smashed, and a bottle of water. Izzy was still digging in her pack as he unwrapped his sandwich and took a bite. The bread was slightly soggy, but it would do. At least he had quickly found his food, he thought, feeling superior. Izzy must not be as organized as the other wizards, if she hadn’t packed things well enough to find them right away.

Noah took another bite and continued to watch Izzy as she began pulling a few packages out of her pack. He’d never really looked closely at her before, and her perfect curves, outlined by her snug-fitting military uniform, sent an unexpected rush of warm blood through his body—a rush that seemed to center right between his legs. He turned his head away, trying desperately to think of something else. The trees, that oddly shaped rock over there, the war…anything to get his mind off of Izzy’s body and stop the stiffening between his legs from giving him away. What the hell was wrong with him? He didn’t even want to be friends with Izzy. He just wanted to be alone on this mission. And he definitely didn’t want to be thinking about her in any sort of romantic or lustful way. All his clanmates had managed to get themselves tangled up in a relationship when they were out on missions, but not him. He wasn’t here to play games. He was here to win this war so life could get back to normal.

“Are you really not going to talk to me for this whole mission?” Izzy asked.

With a sigh, Noah turned to look at her. He was startled to realize that she had quite an elaborate spread of food in front of her. She was holding what looked like a turkey and cheese sandwich on a baguette, and in front of her was a selection of nuts, cheeses, grapes, and berries. Forgetting to answer her question, he snorted with laughter.

“What the hell is all this?” he asked. “Did you pack for a hike to a war zone, or for a five course picnic in the south of France?”

Izzy glared. “For your information, the food I packed offers quite a bit more nourishment than that measly sandwich you have over there. Laugh all you want to, but these nuts and fruits will keep me going much better than a tiny bit of bread and jelly.”

“Bread, jelly, and peanut butter,” Noah corrected. “I’m eating nuts, too, just in a different form.”

Izzy rolled her eyes at him, and Noah winced a bit when he realized the gesture somewhat turned him on. He always had liked a bit of sass in his women. Not that he’d had much time for women over the years. His missions hadn’t usually left him any free hours for chasing after girls. Desperate for a way to smooth over the fresh rush of attraction he felt for Izzy, he decided to press the issue of her fear. He knew this would make her angry, but that was a good thing. It would keep her too distracted to notice that he couldn’t stop staring at her, and it would remind him that he didn’t want to be associated with a coward.

“So, Izzy,” Noah said. “Why did you decide to become a soldier if you’re afraid of fighting? Seems like there are a lot of other honorable careers out there that would better suit you, if battle makes you so fearful.”

Izzy didn’t look up from her food, but Noah could see her furrowing her eyebrows angrily. “I did have another career. I’m a doctor, remember? And besides, no one can say I haven’t been brave. I helped Myles and Harlow escape from one of Saul’s camps. And I’ve done my part to fight on many missions since then.”

“But you only came on this mission because you’re afraid of meeting Saul. Don’t try to deny it,” Noah said. He knew he was poking the bear, and making her angry. But he couldn’t help himself. He was angry, too. He wasn’t happy about having Izzy along. She was a distraction, in more ways than one.

“This mission is just as important as going to fight Saul directly,” Izzy said, sticking out her chin defiantly. “And now, if you don’t mind, I’m going to start packing up. I believe it’s been fifteen minutes already, and that’s all the time you wanted to allot to eating.”

Izzy started carefully folding up her packages of food and putting them back in her backpack. Noah realized as he watched her that she hadn’t taken a long time to get her food out because she didn’t know where it was—she had just gone slowly to make sure she didn’t get things out of order. She was quite organized, after all.

Noah stood to his feet. He crumpled up the tin foil that had surrounded his own sandwich and shoved it into his backpack with unnecessary force. He didn’t need fancy food and packing methods to stay energized on this hike. Over thinking things always holds people back. Let Izzy feel proud about her little picnic. When it came down to it, he was the one who would be ready to fight at a moment’s notice.

He would be the one to save the Redwoods Camp.