Luna woke in the morning to the sound of voices coming from somewhere down the hall.

She quickly realized that she was still wearing the terrycloth robe. But it seemed that sometime in the night, Kirith had hung her dress and undergarments over the back of a nearby chair. He’d also tidily folded some jeans and a t-shirt that must have belonged to the Lumen’s mate. Whatever the case, she was grateful for the silent loan. She slipped out of bed, pulled on her undergarments and then the new clothes, grabbing her dress before stepping out of the bedroom.

As she moved down the hall, the sound of strange voices crescendoed. Kirith was having a meeting, it seemed, and they were making no effort to keep their discussion private.

But when Luna had positioned herself in the doorway, the speakers went silent and turned to stare at her.

Kirith was sitting at the kitchen table with a man and a woman. The former was tall and broad-shouldered—a Dragon shifter, for sure—with black hair and icy blue eyes. The woman had dark hair as well, and bright eyes. The eyes of a Wolf. There was something about her, though, that was unlike any Wolf shifter Luna had ever seen.

“Hello,” she said, feeling uncharacteristically timid at seeing the otherworldly strangers before her.

“Hello there,” the woman replied, rising to her feet and walking over, a hand extended. “You must be Luna.”

“I am,” Luna replied, gratefully accepting the hand, “and you are…?”

“Amara,” she replied. “This is Minach, my mate. We just popped in to see how Kirith was making out this morning.”

“Uh-huh.” Luna wanted to crack a joke about making out, but something in the air felt too solemn, as though she’d walked in on a secret military meeting of some sort. “I was just…I…” she flailed her hands, gesturing towards the hallway as if doing so offered some sort of explanation as to why she was even in the Guild’s Alpha’s home.

“No need to explain,” Amara replied. From the look in her eye she was being sincere. Somehow, Luna felt like the strange woman knew the truth about her already. There was something so interesting about her, so exotic, as though her Wolf’s blood were mixed with something more than human. “We know why you came here last night, and we’re grateful,” Amara added. “Because of your actions, Minach and his brother Lyre managed to get to Lumen’s family before the would-be assailants did.”

“Oh, thank God,” Luna said. “Listen, I’m so sorry about my Alpha. About everything. You must despise my Pack and me.”

“Despise you?” Amara smiled and turned to look at her mate before swinging back. “We couldn’t be more grateful to you. We wanted to come by and thank you personally. Didn’t we, Minach?”

Amara’s dark-haired mate attempted a smile and said, “Absolutely.” Like Kirith, he was beyond handsome, and like Kirith, showing any semblance of joy on his features seemed to take serious effort. Perhaps it was a trait of Dragon shifters to be unapproachable and gruff.

Unlike the other two, Kirith kept his eyes locked on the wall on the opposite side of the room, tacitly refusing to look at Luna as though he were in denial about everything that had happened the previous night.

“Anyone else would have done the same thing,” Luna replied, looking uneasily at the man with whom she’d shared a bed.

“Not just anyone,” said Amara, her tone full of admiration. “We know that you defied your Alpha by coming to us. We know the risk that you took.”

“Yes, well, it helps that I pretty much despise my Alpha,” Luna said. It was the truth, of course. She hated him even more now, having learned the truth about what Ripper had done to Kirith’s family.

“Whether you like him or not, it’s not easy to go against a Pack,” Amara told her, her eyes shining bright, her inner Wolf lurking just below the surface as though sniffing Luna’s out.

“I suppose you’re right,” Luna replied, shifting from foot to foot as though she couldn’t get comfortable in her own skin. “Listen, I should probably go…”

Kirith was still doing everything he could to avoid her gaze, and his reluctance to acknowledge her stung her more than she wanted to let on. She wanted to look into the eyes of the man who’d been inside her last night. Wanted to see him smile one more time, to see his eyes soften again. But he was cold and hard this morning, his heart locked firmly inside the impenetrable vault where he stored it. “Thank you for what you did for me last night,” she said awkwardly, staring at him. Stupid thing to say, but it wasn’t as though she could blurt out, “Thanks for fucking me like a wild animal then telling me your darkest secrets, Dragon man.”

“You’re welcome, I’m sure,” he grunted. He looked up at her for a split second, then pulled his eyes away quickly, as though it was too painful to make contact for a prolonged period. Poor Dragon was so damaged. He was like a wounded animal, afraid to rely on anyone for fear that he would be hurt further, so he retreated into the dark to suffer in silence.

“Come, I’ll see you out,” said Amara, taking Luna gently by the arm. She seemed to know that it was best to separate the two of them before some emotional nuclear catastrophe occurred.

“Thanks,” Luna said, trying to mask the hurt in her voice. As they moved down the hallway, she whispered, “What’s going on back there, anyway?”

“Just a quick Guild meeting,” Amara replied.

“Guild? You mean the Dragons? Kirith is part of the Guild?”

Amara shook her head as they reached the round room at the end of a long, white hallway illuminated by daylight filtered through the lake above. “No, not yet. I’m not sure he wants to be, though he would be most welcome, particularly after his assistance last night.”

“I’m not sure he’s ready,” Luna said as they stopped walking.

“Neither am I,” said Amara, looking back towards the kitchen. “At least, I don’t think he believes himself worthy.”

“He should,” Luna replied abruptly. “He’s a good man. He’s…he’s always been a good man, I think.”

“I know,” said Amara. “He’s been hurt.”

“Do you know what happened?”

“I’m a Seer,” Amara said, meeting her eyes. “He doesn’t need to tell me anything.”

“I wish I had that skill. I can’t get him to look at me. Can’t get my brother to talk to me, either. The men in my life are like walking enigmas, yet I…”

“You care about them,” Amara said, finishing the sentence. “You have deep feelings for Kirith, despite the fact that you haven’t really known him for long.”

“I’m that transparent, am I?” Luna let out a quiet, bitter laugh even as sadness bubbled up in her chest.

“No more than he is,” said Amara. “To be fair, it doesn’t take a Seer to figure out what you two mean to each other.”

“I don’t mean anything to him. He may find me attractive, but he doesn’t like me very much.”

“Do you really believe that?” Amara narrowed her eyes, and for a second Luna felt as though the strange woman were looking straight into her heart.

She shook her head. “No. I’ll admit that maybe he almost cares. Almost. He doesn’t want to, though; he fights it tooth and claw.”

“The fact that he has to fight so hard against it means that the feelings are strong. He sees in you a potential mate, you know.”

Luna’s heart began to beat faster with the thought of it. “A potential mate,” she repeated. “That would be something.”

“He’ll need to figure it out for himself, however. A man like Kirith can’t be pushed. He’s covered in scar tissue from his war wounds. It takes longer for him to realize what it is that he really needs.”

“I know,” Luna sighed. “God, I wish I could help him. I want to help make him better.”

“I know you do. For now, though, take care of yourself. Be cautious. Something tells me that there is danger on the horizon, for both of you. Speaking of which, you should probably consider carrying a weapon, if you’re going to live in London and run around parks at night.” Amara winked at her.

“A weapon?” Luna laughed at the thought. “I’m half Wolf; I shouldn’t need anything more than that.” As she said the words, though, she remembered how she’d felt the other night, surrounded by Wolf shifters. Against a dozen foes she was a pretty meagre weapon, at best.

“You might not always be in a situation where you can shift,” Amara said. “You should have a blade for those times. Dragon bone, preferably.” The Seer reached inside her jacket and extracted a sheathed blade with a golden handle. She handed it over, hilt first.

“I couldn’t…” began Luna.

“Take it. There are many more where it came from. Trust me when I tell you that it may one day come in handy. If it doesn’t, you should still have it as a symbol of solidarity. Think of it as a gift from the Dragons’ Guild in return for your service.”

Luna pulled it from its sheath, admiring the strange white blade. “This is Dragon bone, you said?”

Amara nodded. “Strongest substance known—or not known—to man.”

“I don’t quite know how to thank you,” said Luna, grasping it in her hand. “I’ll try to learn to use it.”

Amara smiled. “All in good time. The nice thing is that you’ll find that Dragon bone only cuts through what it needs to cut. It bends to its wielder’s will.”

Luna sheathed it again, wrapping her fist around the leather. “I know you need to get back to the others, but I have one question,” she said.

“Go ahead.”

“You’re a Wolf…”

“I am.”

“Your mate is a Dragon.”

“He is.”

“Does a pairing like that work for you two?”

“Now there’s a deeply involved question,” laughed Amara. “But I think I know what you mean. Does it work? Yes.”

“He’s not cruel to you? I’ve heard that Dragons can be…”

“Dragon men are fair and clever, and complicated,” said Amara. “Minach can come off as hard-edged, but he’s the best man I’ve ever known. That makes it easy for me.”

“I see,” said Luna. “No regrets, then?”

“Never.”

“I see. Thank you, Amara. I…I hope to see you again.”

“You will.” Amara reached into her pocket, extracting a small leather billfold. “If you need me for anything,” she said, pulling out a business card, “you can reach me here. Keep this card with you.”

As she handed it over, Luna managed a quiet chuckle. “What? You mean I can’t just summon you with my mind?”

“I’m not quite that talented,” Amara replied, smiling. “Take care, would you? Be wary.”

“I’ll try my best.”

With that, Luna turned away and proceeded through the door that would lead her towards her flat.