His mate was sad. Col could feel it in the tension of her body. She didn’t lean into him or desire him. Her arousal had all but disappeared from her sweet scent. He’d fix it once they were inside.

She wouldn’t be able to think about anything, but how much he adored and loved her. Naomi was his mate. She was everything.

But, she’d been right to call him angry. And he was grieving.

The death of Jaha had brought some satisfaction in the moment, but it hadn’t fixed anything. Nothing he did would bring his family or tribe back. They were lost. He’d vowed to bring his family justice. The only way to satisfy his vow was to take down Sefa, too.

Even though he’d upset his shuarra, his course would not alter. That Naomi feared for his life warmed his warrior’s heart. Col would beat the female traitor. She stood no chance against his years of training. He’d prove to his mate she had no need to fear.

He squeezed his arms around Naomi’s waist a little tighter. She was directing the vehicle toward a cabin just up ahead.

The journey was finished on the strange snow machine. Col still didn’t understand how it moved or growled when it wasn’t alive. This was a strange world to him. He had a lot to learn.

Naomi was changing, too. She had much to learn about what she was becoming.

He hadn’t realized the bond would change her, but there’d been too many instances now to ignore. The wound on her head had healed almost immediately after he’d claimed her with his bite. There wasn’t even the slightest mark on her smooth sandy skin.

For a Reylean to heal that fast was not uncommon. It hadn’t been a bad wound. She’d been shocked. Then today in the fight with Jaha, she’d been exposed to dragon fire. He hadn’t been able to shield her. Col had feared he’d failed and lost her. Yet, she wasn’t burned.

Just like…a dragon.

All Reyleans healed quickly, but only the Dragon Tribe were impervious to heat and flame. Naomi wasn’t a dragon. Her eyes didn’t flicker with gold. She hadn’t shifted. She wasn’t a dragon, but she was warmer. Her core temperature nearly matched his now.

The changes had been so gradual he’d barely noticed.

She stopped the vehicle in front of the steps to the door. The growling stopped, and Col climbed off first, then turned and offered his hand to help her to her feet.

After she’d successfully dismounted the snow machine, he followed her up the stairs and watched, intrigued as she fiddled with a small black box on the wall. She pressed in some metal tips and it opened, revealing a small flat gold piece of metal.

“What is it?” he asked.

“A key. To open the door.” She grabbed it from the box and moved to the door. She slid the front of the golden key into a small crevice on the handle. It clicked and then the door swung open.

The air inside the cabin was cold, but not as biting as outside.

“Oh, I forgot to grab my camera bag.”

“I’ll get it.” Col turned immediately to retrieve his mate’s bag. He untied it from the now quiet machine and returned quickly to the cabin.

This shelter appeared a bit larger than the one they’d spent the last few days inside. Where was the bed?

He laid the bag on the couch and wandered to the back, through a dark hallway. The first door he opened was the washroom, with a sink and shower just like the previous cabin. This one also had a large tank in the corner filled with water.

Col closed it and continued to the next door. It opened to reveal a room for sleep. Naomi’s scent filled the room. A few pieces of her clothing were hanging over a chair in the corner of the room.

The bed was large and higher than the one at the other cabin. Both were so different than the furs and skins he was used to sleeping on at home. His people moved constantly, but it seemed his mate was used to more permanent living quarters.

These wooden shelters were not mobile, like the tents his family and tribe lived in. This world was harsher, and the cold did bite at the skin after a while. Stronger shelters were probably necessary.

He returned to the center of the cabin to find Naomi cutting up some type of orange food.

“I needed something to eat. Want a piece of carrot?”

Col shook his head. Then walked up to her, took the knife and pulled her out of the kitchen.

“Hey.” She yanked her hand back. “I’m hungry. And we need to talk more about that other dragon.”

“We can talk later.” He wrapped an arm around her waist.

“No, I feel disgusting. We’re not having sex. I need to eat. I need to shower.”

He redirected his path. “I will wash you then.”

“Why do I feel like that’s going to turn into sex too?” Naomi gave him a wary look but allowed him to continue pulling her all the way into the washroom.

“Executing Sefa is something I must do. I must deliver justice to my family. It would be dishonorable to allow her crime to stand unpunished.” He released her for a moment to turn on the water in the shower. She’d taught him how to use indoor plumbing as she said back at the hunter’s cabin. These knobs looked slightly different, but the markings were the same. Soon the large stone and glass shower stall was filled with steam and waiting for them.

“What if she kills you?”

“You will not lose me, shuarra.” Col’s tone deepened to that silky darkness that made her body turn to mush. “I. Will. Not. Leave. You.” His voice dropped even further and took on a commanding quality. “Say it.”

“You will—”

“You are my heart and soul, Naomi, but you cannot ask me to fail my family. Say it,” he asked again, waiting to hear her repeat his words of assurance. “I must hear that you believe in me. That you trust me to take care of you.”

“You will not leave me?” She couldn’t lose him.

“I will not.” His dragon rumbled softly in his chest.

“I trust you.”

“Good.”

“You’re purring again.” The sound relaxed the tension from her body as if the vibrations were running through each and every one of her muscles.

“My dragon is pleased that you trust me,” he answered simply, tugging at the zipper on her coat.

She let him undo it and toss the puffy coat to the ground.

“Naomi, I have trained for nearly two decades as a warrior. Jaha was a warrior as well, but not as skilled or as tested. His sister has no experience. She has never fought or trained a day in her life. She is a coward and traitor and a murderer.”

His mate nodded slowly.

“But when I fight her, you must stay behind. I will not risk you again.”

“Again?” Her voice trembled.

“During the fight with Jaha.” Each word he spoke was slow and defined. “I failed to protect you from one attack. I’d thought for sure I clutched no more than your burned corpse. But when I landed and set you down on the snow…it was as if nothing had touched you. Not a single hair had been singed. Not even your clothes.” He tugged the hem of her shirt.

She lifted her arms and let him pull it over her head, baring most of her skin. Except for her breasts. Those were secured in a piece of clothing she’d said was called a bra.

He kissed her shoulders, shoving at the straps in his way.

She unhooked it and let the bra drop to the ground.

“You survived dragon fire.”

“I w-what?” Naomi choked out. “How’s that possible?”

“Our tribe is blessed with a certain type of magick. Our skin is impervious to heat and flame. Whatever is touching our body takes on those properties.”

“Like you sweat fire retardant or something?” she asked, with a hint of disbelief in her voice. “Then I wasn’t burned, because we’d been having sex. I was covered in your sweat. And you were holding me against your dragon’s body. Maybe your dragon sweats the stuff, too.”

“Perhaps.” He stroked the soft skin of her bare shoulder. “But I think you are changing. Your wound healed very quickly.”

“What? You think I’m becoming Reylean? I think the flame-retardant sweat thing is way more likely.” She chuckled and shook her head. “Just because I healed, doesn’t mean I’m changing. Maybe the cut wasn’t really that bad.”

Col smiled but didn’t speak again.

Was it possible?

He’d never heard of a dragon being able to protect someone completely before. There were no stories. Nothing. Dragons didn’t burn. Or was there another explanation.

Her wound had healed quickly. Her raised core temperature. The fever after his bite. Had her body changed? Become more like a dragon?

Even the lions had said she scented as Dragon Tribe. It wasn’t just his scent. There was something different.

His dragon purred in his chest again, knocking him loose from his thoughts. He looked down and smiled, pleased by the sight of his nearly naked mate.

Col lipped and nipped and kissed his way down Naomi’s shoulder blades until he found her hard pebbled nipples. So beautiful. So perfect. He’d feast upon her and make her forget all the things that troubled her mind.

At least for a while.