Aiden got behind the wheel of the Mustang, feeling like his world was finally falling into place. Winnifred looked beautiful in the dress she’d chosen. Now that they were together, and the truth was out, his inner dragon had calmed down. And he could finally think straight for the first time since meeting her.

He had a wonderful date planned with dinner and dancing. Aiden wanted to give Winnie the rest and relaxation she needed. After the stress and trauma on the island, and the work she had done to move herself out of the city, Winnie deserved some pampering. He even had a special gift planned for tomorrow.

He loved driving the Mustang. It handled like a dream, and he could feel the power of the motor under him as he pushed the accelerator, rounding a curve. Winnifred giggled with delight as they sped up the winding mountain road toward the resort.

“Oh wow, it’s amazing up here,” she said.

The valley below fell away as they drove higher. The vast plains and hillsides spread out to the coast. The land was dotted with sections of farmland, swaths of forest, and buildings clustered together, forming little towns.

The sun beamed on the mountain, low on the horizon, it’s orange glow bright and luminous. Aiden imagined this would inspire his mate. He smiled as they turned into another switchback, driving higher up the mountain.

“Thank you for showing me this,” she said, taking a sip from the cool water he’d left in the cup holder for her. “This is exactly the kind of thing I want to see every day for my painting. I wish I had my brushes and canvas right now.”

She laughed and looked over at him with the most delighted expression on her face. The joy in her eyes warmed his heart and made all of the waiting and worry worth every moment. Aiden had spent the last several nights sleeping outside her house, watching over her. After the last battle with the elder vampire, he wasn’t going to leave anything to chance.

There was no way he would let them get their filthy hands and sharp teeth on his beautiful mate. That meant he had to endure some pain. But he would stand outside in the rain for the rest of his life if it meant preventing the vampires from hurting her.

The view disappeared behind a thick grove of Douglas fir as they ascended the mountain. As the resort came into view, the forest cleared, and a cliff face fell away, exposing the stunning view from the top of the mountain. Winnifred sighed and touched her fingertips to her mouth.

“Wow,” she whispered, pulling her phone from her pocket.

Aiden parked in the lot and she slipped out of the passenger seat before he had a chance to open her door. He had learned it was the gentlemanly thing to do from the movies he’d studied, but Winnifred was already striding across the parking lot toward the view with her camera phone ready to take pictures.

He walked up beside her as she snapped images. He wrapped his arm around her waist, and instinctive movement he was unsure of once he’d done it. She beamed up at him and put her arm around his waist, turning toward him. Winnie placed her palm over his heart and smiled brighter than the setting sun that glowed in her hair and illuminated her eyes.

“If I can’t paint it, at least I can get some pictures for reference,” she said, taking his hand.

He grinned as their fingers threaded together and they walked toward the resort entrance. The place was a grand, five-story, rustic inn, built of native stone and cedar. Inside, the cedar log ceiling rose above them like a pastoral cathedral. Winnie looked around, smiling with wonder as she took in the massive entrance room. They approached the restaurant were greeted by the hostess at the entrance.

“Reservation for Flame,” Aiden said.

Unlike humans, the dragons of Dragonia only had one name followed by the name of their house. The entire crew had been using the surname Flame since they’d arrived. On Earth, it made the crew appear to be brothers, which technically they were not. He was Kian’s cousin, but unrelated to Dax and Cato. They were the four fire dragons brave enough to go against the will of the elders and escape the cataclysm.

Many dragons had chosen to stay behind, to die with their planet. But Kian had taken his crew, his daughter, and left the dying world behind. After waking from a million-year sleep on Earth, Aiden occasionally wondered if it was worth it. But now that he had Winnifred, he knew for certain that it was.

The hostess showed them to their table, and he pulled out Winnifred’s chair for her. Another one of the actions he’d seen performed in the romantic movies Cato had suggested they study. She giggled when he pushed the chair in for her and smiled at him when he sat on the other side of the table.

“Our special today is a Northwest style surf and turf. With wild-caught King crab and locally raised grass-fed ribeye steak. That comes with a garden salad and a choice of sides. Baked potato, steamed vegetables, or rice pilaf.”

“That sounds delicious,” Winnifred said.

“Can I get you anything to start? Beer or wine?”

“We’ll have a bottle of your finest champagne,” Aiden said.

“The sommelier will bring it right over,” the hostess said, filling their water glasses. “And your server will be right with you.”

Winnifred glanced at him from across the table. Her smile could light up the darkest night. She gazed out the window at the setting sun as it streaked its bright warm colors over the rolling hillsides with the slightest hint of the ocean beyond.

The sommelier approached with a bottle of champagne in a bucket of ice and filled two flutes with bubbly liquid. Winnifred’s eyes widened as she took her first sip. The wine steward left the bottle on their table and the server approached them with a basket of crusty French bread and a bowl of sweet cream butter.

After they’d ordered the specials, they sipped their champagne and nibbled on bread smothered in sweet butter. Winnifred giggled as the champagne bubbles tickled her nose.

“This place is awfully expensive,” she said.

“It’s a drop in the bucket,” he said.

“Are you like a secret billionaire or something?” she asked with mirth in her eyes.

“Something like that.”

She tore apart her bread and popped a piece in her mouth.

“Tell me about where you come from Aiden of the House of Flames. I usually don’t date paranormal creatures, so you’ll have to forgive my ignorance.”

He chuckled at what he knew was a joke. “I’m originally from a planet at the other end of the galaxy. We left our system over a million years ago. Our sun had been slowly dying for thousands of years. Our elders knew what would happen when the light finally winked out. But old-world politics were exceedingly rigid. Few were willing to make a change to save our people and our way of life.

“As the sun dimmed, the birthrate of our female population began to dwindle. And thus, the birthrate as a whole began to dwindle. The last female born was a Female Prime. Meaning she could mate with any male and bear his young. She gave birth to a clutch, with an egg from each House. The dragons who were willing to leave took the last dragonkin and escaped the final cataclysm. After a great deal of searching, we finally found Earth.”

“What about the vampires? Where do they come from?”

“For millennia, we fought the vampires at our edge of the galaxy.”

“So, the vampires are aliens too?” she asked.

“Alien to this planet? Yes. They were here when we awakened. We don’t know how they got here. But our computer analysis indicates that with the absence of the dragons in our home quadrant, the vampires would have been left unchecked. Their insatiable hunger wiped out the other species in the quadrant in the span of a thousand years. And then they too would have had to find new hunting ground. We don’t know where they were between then and ten thousand years ago, when we believe they first arrived on earth.”

“This is crazy,” she said taking another bite of bread. “I hope no one is eavesdropping.”

“We’ll just pretend we’re talking about a movie.”

The waitress brought their plates and set their salads in front of them asking if they needed anything else. They both said they were fine and Aiden began his story again.

“We were devastated to find the vampires here. When we found this planet a million years ago, we seeded it with the souls of our ancestors, spreading our dragon DNA across the planet. We hoped that one day the primitive creatures who were native to this planet would evolve and carry dragon DNA inside them.”

“So, we are hybrids?”

“Only a tiny fraction of humans have detectable dragon DNA. We call those humans Dragon Souls because they carry inside them fragments of the souls of our ancestors.”

“Why did you do all that?”

“We hoped that in seeding the planet it would enable our fated mates to be born into what has become the human race. It was a last-ditch effort for the survival of our species. When we woke, we found that our experiment had indeed worked. But we also found our ancient enemy feeding on our precious Dragon Souls.”

“You said the vampires prefer to feed on Dragon Souls because it makes them stronger?” Winnifred asked, taking a bite of salad.

“That is correct. You are a Dragon Soul. If the vampires find you, they will drain your blood.”

Winnifred’s face went pale and she stared down at her meal.

“I’m sorry,” he said. “I don’t want to frighten you. This night was meant to give you the pampering you deserve. Not to scare you.”

“No. It’s fine. I want to know the whole story,” she said. “So, I have fragments of ancient dragon DNA and that’s why we can be fated mates?”

“That’s correct. Dragons only have one mate. It is the only person we will ever love and the only one we are capable of reproducing with. Except for a Dragoness Prime who can reproduce with any other dragon.”

The waitress returned to remove their salad plates and serve their dinner. Winnifred cracked her crab and sliced into her steak, groaning as the first bites passed through her lips. He didn’t want to burden her with all of this information right now. But she kept asking him questions and seemed so curious. He had to tell her the whole truth because that was what she wanted.

“The Dragoness Prime gave birth to my cousin Kian’s daughter Ember. You can meet them when you come to our mansion.”

“I’d like meet a baby dragon and see your mansion,” she said, taking another bite of steak. “That reminds me. You were supposed to tell me how you’re a secret billionaire.” She chuckled.

“Oh, right.” He smiled, cutting into his own steak. “You see, dragons love gold and silver and jewels. When we arrived on this planet we had a massive horde of treasure. Money is not an issue.”

“Of course you have a horde of treasure,” she said.

They both laughed and ate their steak. Aiden was pleased that he had told her the whole story of how the dragons had come to Earth. The date was turning out well.