Vyr slid his hand over Riyah’s thigh just to feel her. The dragon felt steadier now, but only when she was right beside him. She didn’t realize the power she had over him.

His life wasn’t dark and hopeless anymore. Big changes had begun the day his crew had decided he would be their alpha, and it had turned around completely the day Riyah decided he was hers to save.

“What’s the surprise?” she asked. But her voice quivered with excitement, and he glanced over at her to find her cheeks flushed and her eyes the bright blue of her polar bear. Beautiful mate. Snow white fur when she was Changed, and eyes that stayed the color of frost now while she learned to control the animal. She was a warrior when Nox felt like fighting another bear. One month moved into his mansion, and she was already gaining control of her Changes with the patient guidance of Nevada and Candace. He loved watching her with the girls. She fit in with them, and took care of them, had their backs like they had hers.

“I’m so damn proud of you,” he murmured.

“For not guessing the surprise?” she asked, her dark eyebrows furrowing.

“No, I mean, I’m proud that you’re mine. Proud you’re my mate. Proud you picked me back. Me. Who am I? A damaged dragon, but you’re good and powerful—”

“A polar bear witch,” she teased.

“My dad fell for a bear shifter, and now look at me. Dragons and bears,” he said and huffed a laugh. “I’m lucky.”

“We’re lucky,” she murmured, smiling at him so sweetly. God, he loved her. Loved her with everything he had because this woman smiling at him from the passenger’s side of his truck had dragged him out of the shadows and made his life manageable. No. Manageable wasn’t a big enough word for what she’d done.

She’d made his life happy, and hopeful.

He pulled through the last of the trees into the clearing around the old sawmill where he’d set up Riyah’s surprise. But where he’d expected to see the dilapidated and abandoned sawmill he’d bought for Torren all those years ago, the weed-riddled grounds in front of it were covered with people.

And not just any people. People he recognized. People he’d quietly loved all his life.

The Ashe Crew, the Gray Backs, the Breck Crew, the Lowlanders, the Boarlanders, the Boodrunners, Blackwings, Red Havoc, and lastly…his Sons of Beasts.

“What the hell?” he murmured in shock as he pulled to a stop in front of the crowd.

“I know you meant to bring me here for a surprise, but I had one for you, too.”

“You did this?” he asked.

Her eyes were already full of tears, and he ran the pad of his thumb across her cheek as one slipped down. “What’s wrong?”

“I know it must’ve been so hard growing up and feeling people’s fear of you. Growing up different and never feeling like you fit in. And I know the dragon is still hard to manage. I watch you struggle with Changes, Torren’s overprotectiveness of you, and Nox’s stress when he tries to stop your Changes. I know it might always be like this, but…” She swallowed hard, pulled his hand to her cheek, and rubbed it against his palm. “People care about you, Vyr Daye. You got thousands of shifters to rally behind you and get your sentence reduced. You have the devotion of your crew, and they look up to you, to the alpha you’ve become, and I’m so proud. You never complained about how tough it was for you. You managed the strain silently and without the desire for any attention. You protected those you could. You, Vyr, are really good at this alpha gig.”

“You make me want to be even better,” he admitted low. “And I think that says something good when a person makes you want to be better.”

Movement caught his eye, and Vyr narrowed his eyes at Nox, who was standing over a grill and dangling a long bratwurst from a pair of tongs. He wore the biggest shit-eating grin, along with short shorts, yellow and white tube socks, and a trucker hat that said my balls are bigger than your balls.

“Huh,” Vyr murmured. He scratched his short beard with his thumbnail and wondered aloud, “What is Nox cooking?”

“He spent the electric bill money this month to pay the butcher for custom two-foot-long sausages for this shindig. We’re at serious risk of having the power cut off, but at least he can tell a bunch of dick jokes now.”

“Soooo many dick jokes are about to happen.”

“He also painted the sign,” she muttered, nodding her chin toward a hideous highlighter-yellow sign with pink writing. Vyr, Vyr Needs Six Beers. Poet as fuck. MVP Goes to Nox. Nox FULLER in Case You Fuckers Were Confused. Eat my bratwurst.

“He came up with the name of this party himself. Then he and Torren got in a huge fight, and Torren shot him through the calf with a crossbow. Nevada Changed into her fox and nearly ate the baby swans, and Candace’s newest pregnancy craving is olives dipped in peanut butter for breakfast.” Riyah pursed her lips against a pretty smile. “It’s been an eventful morning.”

He nodded his head in agreeance, but it sounded just about like every other morning to Vyr. As long as he lived, he would never take for granted the antics of his crew. He used to get so angry with their behavior, but then he’d spent six months away from them and missed the hell out of this place.

He shoved his door open, and Riyah met him at the front of the truck. They were swarmed by the crews. He kept looking back at Riyah as they were pulled into hugs. He lost track of how many people touched him, but as he was passed from person to person, something shifted inside of him. And he began to hug them back, hesitantly at first, but then it got easier and easier until he made it to his parents.

Mom was already crying. She looked so happy, red hair the same shade as his, shining in the sun, tears streaking down her cheeks, her arm linked in Riyah’s. Tears had always confused him. Mom was saying something to his mate and it was making the tears come faster. To try and understand, Vyr scratched at Riyah’s thoughts.

Mom was thanking her for bringing her son back.

Her son? But the dragon was separate. She’d never lost Vyr, just the Red Dragon for a day.

And when he switched to his mother’s thoughts, he was overwhelmed. He could feel her love for him. And not just the human side, but all of him. She’d always believed in him and his ability to become the man he was. He balked at her thoughts because his heart felt strange. It felt like it had swelled too big for his chest. There was a dull ache. And as he looked around at all the crews of Damon’s Mountains and beyond, he thought perhaps he hadn’t been the outcast he’d imagined.

Why else would they all come to his aid at the prison? Why orchestrate a nation-wide rally in his defense? Why would the dragons keep him from scorching the earth? Why would they pledge to help keep him out of trouble every three weeks when he had to Change?

“Because you are very loved, Vyr,” Riyah whispered, the words rattling around in his head. Her emotional gaze went to something behind him, and when Vyr turned, his father was standing there, stoic as always, his dark hair gone silver at the temples, his white oxford shirt and gray suit pants perfectly crisp. His eyes though…those were silver, and his Adam’s apple moved as he swallowed hard. “I don’t always make the right decisions.”

“You don’t have to explain—”

“I do. Wanting you to serve that sentence…it was never about choosing anyone over you, Vyr. Not the humans, not shifters. You’re my boy. My pride and joy. From the moment I held you, I was so damn proud to have you as my son, and I swore I was going to be a good father for you. If they killed the dragon…” His voice faded, and he lurched toward Vyr, pulled him into a tight hug, clenching his shirt with his fists. “If they had succeeded, I would’ve never forgiven myself. Your dragon isn’t a monster. I hope you know that. He reminds me so much of my own dragon, but when I was young, we had wars that quenched that thirst to burn everything. I was hard on you about controlling the Red Dragon, but I sometimes forget what it’s like for you, having so many eyes on you and having that pressure to be perfect all the time. I don’t want you to be perfect. I want you to be happy.” Damon released his shirt, clapped him on the back roughly and then took a step away, slid his arm around his mate, who was looking back and forth between Vyr and Damon with the mushiest smile.

Vyr’s stupid eyes were leaking, and he needed to get out of here. “I need a moment with my mate.” He turned to leave, but changed his mind and uttered the words he felt before he chickened out. “I love you, Dad.”

“I love you too, Son,” Damon murmured through a slow-growing smile.

Now mom was bawling, so Vyr blew out a breath and nodded to Torren as he passed. His best friend gave him an are-you-okay-and-who-do-I-need-to-fuck-up look, but Vyr shook his head slightly. He would tell him all about that little moment when he had time to sit of the roof of the mansion and think on everything.

He grabbed Riyah by the hand and pulled her toward the edge of the old sawmill. And when they rounded the corner, he scooped her up in a hug and kissed her just to feel steady again. He walked with her like that, holding her, listening to her happy thoughts, absorbing her devotion and love until there was no darkness left in him. Oh, it would come back. The darkness would always come back, but Riyah was light and she never dimmed. She gave and gave, selflessly and without realizing. Not even the apex predator inside of her had dampened her caring nature.

She was hugging his neck so tight, legs wrapped around his waist, completely focused on him, and that had been the plan. Distraction. Because he really did have a surprise for her.

Slowly, Vyr lowered her to the ground and kissed her in little smacks, one, two, three, four. “Remember when you gave me the sky?” he asked her low, swimming in those pretty blue eyes of hers.

“Yes,” she whispered.

Vyr gripped her shoulders gently and turned her toward the orchard of peach trees he’d spent the last three days planting.

“Oh, my gosh,” she whispered, drawing her hands to her face as she scanned the rows of fruit trees. “You planted these for me?” Her voice shook.

“It’s the least I could do,” he said, sliding his arms around her chest and resting his chin on top of her hair. “Thank you for seeing in me what no one took the time to. You kept me fighting in that prison. And then you saved me. You didn’t just give me the sky, Riyah.” He kissed the top of her head and imagined their future stretching on and on. “You gave me everything.”

It wasn’t the mountains that were Vyr’s treasure. It wasn’t freedom. It wasn’t even the crew.

It was Riyah, the light-giver and banisher of soul shadows.

Riyah the witch.

Riyah the polar bear shifter.

Riyah the mate of the Red Dragon.

His Riyah of the Sons of Beasts Crew.

He’d never really been alone, but it took meeting her to realize that. Because of her, he was back in his mountains. Because of her, the dragon lived. Because of her, he had a future, a crew, a home, and a place in this world where people weren’t afraid of him.

Because of her love, Vyr would never be in the dark again.