Stefan
It can’t be true. It can’t be.
And yet, Stefan knew it was.
The thing he’d been both dreading and dreaming of, ever since he’d first realized that he was the last of the Novak Clan left.
My mate.
Inside him, the dragon’s eyes were ablaze, curls of smoke drifting from its mouth and nose. Its chest was heaving, its tail writhing with ecstatic agitation.
Our mate. Our mate.
Stefan hardly dared glance down at her. She was perfect.
A riot of blonde curls fell down over her shoulders, and her eyes were the same deep blue of the ocean he’d been soaring over just yesterday. A light spray of freckles covered her nose, as well as the pale skin of her arms and legs.
And her curves…
Generous and full, she looked like a goddess who’d stumbled to earth.
And straight into the path of a bear.
Stefan hadn’t known what was happening before it happened. The strange feeling – the tingling along his spine and the vague sense that something was different – hadn’t gone away after he’d woken up this morning. The dragon had clearly been excited about something: swiveling its head this way and that as if scenting the air, pushing him to shift so it could stretch its wings and take off into the skies.
He’d tried to ignore it. Maybe it was still excited from the brief moments of freedom he’d allowed it yesterday.
But as the morning had gone on, the jumpiness had continued, and Stefan’s human side could feel it too.
He’d still been puzzling it over and wondering if it was something he should be concerned about, when the dragon had suddenly raised its head, every sinew snapping into full alertness, flames licking from its mouth.
Run. Go! NOW!
As much as Stefan tried to ignore his dragon’s more irrational demands, this was a command he couldn’t resist. Despite still being in his human form, the dragon’s instincts had taken over his body entirely, jerking his arms and legs to action, propelling him through the woods at the kind of preternatural speeds only shifters could achieve. Logs, ferns, low-hanging branches were no obstacle to him as he raced through the trees, adrenaline singing in his veins.
Go. FASTER.
There was no question of asking the dragon why, or where. The only choice was to keep going.
The scent of the bear drifted to him on the light breeze, picked up by his heightened shifter senses. But there was another scent as well: something heady and sweet and entrancing, like nothing he’d ever smelled before. Almost like the scent of the sky after a summer rain, when everything seemed washed clean and new. Like freshly fallen snow in winter; like dusk in fall. Like the new green leaves of spring.
And then, Stefan had leapt over a fallen tree, turned a corner, and seen her.
His mate.
And the bear that was threatening her.
He hadn’t had time to think.
But there was nothing that could stand up to a dragon when it was roused.
The bear had been confused at first – typically, he tried not to disturb the wildlife of these woods, when he could help it. He knew he looked like a human – but to the bear, he definitely wouldn’t have smelled like one. And a bear was an animal, reliant on its instincts. And it knew that whatever Stefan was, it wasn’t game to fight him. It had backed down, disappearing into the forest.
Stefan had stared after it, his dragon snarling in his chest, puffs of smoke still wending their way up from its grinning jaws.
Get away and stay away. Stay away from our mate.
It was the first time the dragon had said the word.
The first time the pieces had clicked into place: the scent. The crazed urgency of his race through the woods. The strange tingling sensation he had been feeling since yesterday.
His mate.
She was here.
Lying on the bracken in front of him, staring up at his face with her wide, ocean-blue eyes.
Stefan felt as if someone had smacked him across the back of the head with a two-by-four.
But… but how?
He had sworn he wouldn’t go looking for her. How could he, when doing so could place her in such terrible danger?
But instead, she had come to him.
Stefan didn’t understand how or why – only that it was true. The woman with him now was his mate. And there was no way it could be denied.
A dragon could sense when his mate was in danger, no matter how far apart they might be at the time – or, apparently, even if they hadn’t actually met each other yet. Perhaps the bear hadn’t been planning on doing anything – but the mere fact that it had even slightly threatened his mate had been enough. The dragon’s protective instincts had exploded, wiping out every other thought in his mind but to run to her.
“It’s Holly, by the way.”
Her voice, sweet like honey, jerked him out of his thoughts.
“I’m sorry?”
He glanced down at her, and, finding himself almost stunned by her beauty, quickly looked away again.
“That’s my name – Holly Edwards. Since we didn’t get a chance to introduce ourselves back there.”
Stefan gave himself a quick mental shake. Just because he had run into his mate at the most unexpected of moments was no excuse to forget his manners.
“Of course,” he said quickly. “I’m sorry I didn’t ask earlier.”
He glanced down at her again. She was leaning against his side, keeping the weight off her injured ankle. In the tank top she was wearing for the strenuous hike, the generous curves of her breasts were highlighted to perfection. Stefan swallowed heavily, looking away again.
“I’m Stefan,” he said. “I beg your pardon for not introducing myself sooner. I suppose I… I was a little distracted.”
Her laugh was soft and low.
“That’s understandable.”
For a moment, Stefan’s dragon raised its head, excitement surging through it. She knows! She knows she’s our mate! She can feel it too!
Stefan felt dizzy with joy. She could feel the burning fire between them. She could tell what they meant to each oth–
“What with the bear and everything,” Holly continued after a moment. “I can see how social niceties might get forgotten.”
Oh.
As quickly as it had risen, Stefan’s happiness deflated.
Of course, she couldn’t know what they were to each other. If she had been another shifter, Stefan would have been able to sense it immediately. But she was a human – the most beautiful, alluring and desirable human Stefan had ever seen, but human nonetheless. She couldn’t sense their bond, or what he was.
Stefan resisted the urge to sigh.
If she’d been a shifter, that would have made everything so much easier. He’d never had to explain shifters before, to anyone – everyone he’d known as a child had also been a shifter, and since then…
… Well, since then, he’d never allowed himself to become close enough to someone else for it ever to have been a necessity for them to know.
Stefan had always thought that telling anyone – aside from the obvious fact that they’d probably assume he was crazy – would put them in too much danger. If the Lukich Clan had ever come to hear of it, then Stefan knew they’d stop at nothing to extract information as to his whereabouts.
Maybe he was being paranoid.
But he just couldn’t take the risk. The Lukich Clan was ruthless, cruel, and relentless in their desire to wipe every last Novak dragon from the face of the earth.
The thought sent a cold shard of pain right through Stefan’s heart, as he looked down at the top of Holly’s head.
To know who he was – what he was – was risky.
How can I tell her, when her knowing would put her in so much danger?
She was a human. She knew nothing of dragon blood feuds, or what being a shifter’s mate meant. Telling her would mean dragging her into his world – a world that could be brutal and dangerous.
And lonely.
If he told her and she accepted him, they would be the only two of his clan left in all the world, and they would never be able to reveal themselves, for fear the Lukich dragons would find them.
Not to mention any children they might have…
“We shouldn’t be too far from the cabin now.” Holly’s sweet voice broke into his dark thoughts. “Really, it’s so kind of you to help me walk all this way.” She looked up at him, her blue eyes shy. “You don’t have to come any further if you don’t want to. I don’t want to take you too far out of your way.”
Stefan hesitated.
Don’t leave her! his dragon howled, raising its head. She’s our mate! We can’t ever leave her side again!
But his human reason cut through the dragon’s wild insistence.
But you know what danger she’d be in. Could you really do that to her?
Stefan swallowed. Looking down into her sweet, heart-shaped face, he felt a desperate tug at his heart, and he knew he couldn’t leave her. Not after he’d only just found her, and after he’d been alone for so long.
I’m just walking her to the cabin, he told himself. She’s hurt her ankle. It doesn’t have to be anything more than that.
“It’s no trouble at all,” he said, smiling at her. Despite everything, she made him smile. His father had once told him that being with your mate was like having a song in your heart every second you were together. Stefan had never really understood what he meant, but now, it made perfect sense. “I can’t let you walk by yourself – you need to get some ice on that ankle and sit down. I’ll at least help you get home.”
Holly’s eyes widened a moment, as if she was surprised, before she quickly looked away from him.
With his heightened sense of smell, Stefan could detect the slight, warm scent of her sweat as it prickled over her skin – and could see the blush that came creeping up over her throat.
She can feel it too.
What Stefan’s father had not mentioned to him was just how powerful the physical attraction between mates was.
He hadn’t been prepared for it – not in the slightest. Every touch of Holly’s skin against his own threatened to drive him wild with desire. The soft mounds of her breasts, visible beneath the tight material of her tank top, the lush curve of her hips, and the creamy skin of her arms and legs all made his mouth water with desire. Inside his chest, his dragon swished its tail contentedly, smoke drifting up from its mouth.
She’s beautiful. And she’s ours.
Stefan didn’t want to argue with the dragon right now. It would only revert to incoherent roaring and scrabbling if he tried to explain to it that Holly would be better off if he simply dropped her off at the cabin and then never saw her again.
It wouldn’t want to hear it – still less would it want to understand.
His dragon side was like having an only semi-trained beast living inside him at all times, and one that he still had to work to control. He didn’t know if all dragon shifters had the same experience, or if it was because he’d been deprived of the guidance of his clan at a young age, but sometimes, his dragon even frightened him.
“Here’s the cabin,” Holly said as they rounded a bend in the forest trail. “I knew it couldn’t be too far.”
Stefan couldn’t stop an impressed whistle through his teeth. The cabin was nice. He’d been expecting something a little ramshackle and falling down, like many of the cabins up in the woods here. But this cabin was fancy: someone had clearly put a lot of time and love into keeping this cabin in tip-top condition, and it was beautifully designed.
“It’s not mine, unfortunately,” Holly said, laughing. “I’m just renting it. If I owned a cabin like this, I don’t think I’d ever leave.”
Oh, Stefan thought. He liked the forest, but it wasn’t his natural habitat. “It is beautiful out here,” he said, as they made their way up the path. “But I have to admit, I prefer a hotter climate myself.”
“Oh, tell me about it,” Holly said. “Winters up here can be murder. I always thought it might be good to live down in California, or somewhere a little warmer. Even Las Vegas – I mean, yeah, it’s got a reputation, but that might be exciting too!”
She likes the desert, his dragon said, eyes closed to smug slits, as if it had proved something to him.
“Me too,” Stefan said, ignoring it. “In fact, that’s where I’m from originally. I grew up around that area. I’d be lying if I said I didn’t miss it.”
“Really?” Holly grinned, but there was something a little wistful about it. “Must be cool – I was all ready to head down that way just recently, but… well, things didn’t work out.”
There was sadness in her voice. It made Stefan want to hold her close and run his fingers through her hair, and promise her she’d never feel such sadness again. His fingers twitched, wanting to reach out to her…
“Why did you leave? Not for the weather, I’m guessing.” Holly’s eyes sparkled as she looked at him.
Stefan hesitated. “It was for… family reasons,” he eventually settled on. It wasn’t a lie – his mother had hidden him here so he’d be safe.
Holly opened her mouth, but then, seeming to intuit that this was a painful topic for him, simply nodded her head.
They made their way up the front steps of the cabin, Holly holding onto the carved wood of the handrail to help her as she took the steps, Stefan holding onto her other arm. His skin tingled where they touched – and he was sure that she could feel it too. He watched as her soft pink tongue darted over her full lips, moistening them and making them shine.
“Here – sit down while you take your boots off,” Stefan said, helping her onto a huge wooden chest on the porch. Holly simply flashed him a grin, her cheeks flushed.
Holly slowly unlaced her hiking boots, easing off the left one before moving her foot up and down experimentally. “Hurts a little,” she said. “But I think it’s okay. I really am grateful for you helping me – it probably would’ve taken me hours to hobble back here on my own. Provided I wasn’t getting carried around inside the bear’s stomach.”
At her joke, the dragon’s head shot up. Tell her we’d never let that happen to her! Never!
Calm down, Stefan told it as he laughed lightly. It was just a joke. People make those sometimes, you know.
The dragon’s eyes narrowed to glowering slits, nothing smug about it this time.
“I’m sure everything would have been okay,” Stefan said. “You had your bear spray, and that usually works. I’m sure it was just curious.”
“I can’t believe you faced it down like that! I’ve never seen anything like that before,” Holly said as she loosened her right boot. “You must have a lot of experience with bears.”
“A little,” Stefan said, hoping she wouldn’t press the point too much. If he hadn’t been a dragon, the tactic would have been far more risky.
Holly had removed both her boots now, and was looking up at him, biting her lip.
He knew he should tell her it was nice to have met her, and that he hoped she had a nice time for the rest of her vacation. Say that he hoped she wouldn’t have any more unexpected encounters with bears, and that she should probably stay off that ankle for a day or so, and spend tomorrow reading in the sun instead.
But somehow, he couldn’t make himself say the words. He felt rooted to the spot – he couldn’t make himself turn away from her, even if he’d wanted to.
“Look, if you’re not in a hurry to be on your way, can I offer you a cup of coffee?” Holly said, the words tumbling out of her mouth in a rush. “I mean – only if you have time. I’d just feel bad sending you off without something to eat or drink, since you were so kind to me.”
Stefan hesitated. He knew he shouldn’t. Every second more in her company only made it harder on both of them. Holly may not have known or understood a shifter’s mated bond, but she could obviously feel something between them. The sooner he left her, the more chance she’d have of forgetting about him and moving on.
Forgetting her might not be an option for him, but the less time he spent with her, the less, he hoped, he would desperately regret leaving her for the rest of his life.
“Sure, if you don’t mind. I’d love a coffee,” he said, then stiffened. He had not meant to say that.
Did you do that? he demanded, as his dragon curled itself up, smug once more, smoke coiling up from its nostrils.
“Great!” said Holly, her eyes shining. “That’s – that’s really great. I’d just really like a chance to thank you.”
Stefan opened his mouth to say that actually, now that he thought about it, he did have somewhere he needed to be – but at the sight of the wide smile on her face, the light blush on her cheeks, and most of all, her gorgeous blue eyes, he found he couldn’t say anything at all.
It’s just a coffee, he told himself. It’ll be okay.