So what are you waiting for exactly? Kylie’s latest text said. Just grab those hunks and have your way with them already!

I shook my head with a smile she couldn’t see. I sure wished it felt as easy as she made it sound. I’ve been making progress. I’ve got two official mates now.

Woohoo! Now we’re talking. Was the second one Nate or Marco? Or did you manage to thaw out the chilly wolf?

I outright laughed at that, flopping back on my bed. The chilly wolf. Yeah, that was an appropriate description for West. Other than the rare occasions when he suddenly turned scorching.

Nate, I replied. Things are still a little tense with the other two. Although less so with Marco after this afternoon’s conversation. It wasn’t enough to completely make up for the callous way he’d talked about me, but it got us partway there. I wasn’t sure I’d be able to completely trust him—and my body’s reactions to him—until I’d seen how he acted when we were among his kin.

And how was it? Don’t kiss and tell doesn’t apply to besties, you know that.

Not in Kylie’s book, anyway. But there was only so much I was willing to commit to written record.

It was good. Really good. I think I’m getting the hang of this mate thing.

Oh, my little Ren, all grown up.

I wrinkled my nose at the phone, but the comment was fair. I hadn’t gone all the way with any guys in the entire time I’d known Kylie before now. Even when I hadn’t known I was a dragon shifter, something inside me had felt that bond to my destined mates. Something that had gotten out its claws anytime I got too hot and heavy with a guy.

But that was fine. I’d take even West over any of the boys and men I’d met before now.

A knock sounded on the door. Nate’s rich baritone carried through. “Ready to go, Ren?”

“Pretty much,” I called back, shoving myself upright. “You can come in.” It’s party time, I wrote to Kylie. More later.

I met Nate in the sitting room. It was hard not to stare at his impressive form packed into that formal suit. I was still wearing the same gown from this afternoon. After a brief escape from the growing crowd, I felt ready to face the official celebration. Everything before this had just been a warm-up.

Desire kindled in Nate’s gaze as he took me in. He wrapped a brawny arm around my shoulders to pull me close to him. I closed my eyes and leaned into his kiss. He felt more relaxed now. Less rage simmering beneath the gentle exterior. But I knew if anyone ever threatened me again, the grizzly would be back in an instant.

“Orion is locked away and on the tranquilizer,” he told me when he pulled back. “The guards have been carefully monitoring everyone else who’s arrived. I don’t think you need to worry.”

“I know you’re taking every step you can,” I told him. My stomach twisted. “Is it really necessary to lock Orion away? I mean, he hadn’t done anything really wrong yet. Maybe he never would have.”

“He tried to lie to us,” Nate said. “He let the rogues’ ideas get into his head. We can’t trust him. And I’m not wasting one of the guards I can trust following his every move.”

“Fair enough,” I said. But it still didn’t sit right with me, treating someone like a criminal for just thinking about taking the wrong path. Not much I could do about it right now, though. “And has Aaron turned up?”

Nate shook his head with a frown. “His idea of ‘night’ might be different from mine. I’m expecting him to show up soon.”

The twist in my stomach tightened. “If something happened to him—”

“Hey.” Nate tipped my face toward his and kissed my forehead. “You don’t need to worry about that either. I don’t know where he is, but I know if he were really hurt, you’d know it. You’re his mate. That connection will take time to grow, but if anything were really wrong, you’d feel it.”

Great. I could assume Aaron wasn’t on the verge of death, but there were so many ways his expedition could have gone just somewhat wrong.

I bit back my frustration and took Nate’s hand. “I guess we’d better get out there.”

Dinner was being served in the courtyard—a much less formal affair than the banquet at Aaron’s estate. I sat with Nate at a table at the head of the yard, Marco at my other side and West beside him. The empty chair where Aaron should have been sitting niggled at me. Alice caught my gaze from the other side of it and frowned in sympathy.

As attendants brought us plates of food, the other revelers moved from serving table to serving table. They stacked their own plates and then started eating standing up or sitting on the benches scattered around the fringes of the yard.

There were at least twice as many people as when I’d been out here before, but the atmosphere still felt subdued. The music playing had a slightly mournful sound to it even though the melody should have been lively. I guessed we all had too much on our minds.

While we ate, the other shifters also drifted past our table to make their greetings. A lot of them smiled more brightly at Nate than at me. Well, they’d known him a hell of a lot longer.

One elderly badger leaned his chubby hands on the edge of the table and fixed me with a beady stare. “Word is you’ve got special powers beyond compare,” he said. “Going to sort out all those rogues right quick, are you?”

Maybe I’d been a little hasty making that speech at the funeral yesterday. “I’m going to do my best,” I said.

“We won’t have any peace here until that poison is rooted out and destroyed,” he said with a firm nod.

The “poison” the entire rest of the shifter community had failed to destroy for the last sixteen years? Yeah, no pressure there.

The next group, a gaggle of lady voles, squealed over me and asked me to do a little shift for them to see. I brought my talons out of my fingers, and they cheered. I was feeling more welcome after they moved on—at least until a sharp-faced bear shifter ambled over.

“I hear one of our kin is in a prison cell right now,” she said, glancing from me to Nate and back again, as if she figured the offense had to be my fault. “What’s that about? We’re locking each other away now?”

Nate cleared his throat. His voice came out low and firm. “We’ve always used the holding rooms under the estate to deal with kin who break our laws, Mildred. You know that.”

She sniffed. “And what law has this one broken?”

Nate glowered at her. “That’s not a matter for public discussion.”

“It seems like a lot has changed since we had a dragon back in town.”

My back stiffened as she flounced away from us. “Ignore her,” Nate muttered. “She’s always been a difficult one.”

It was true that most of his kin were friendly to me. I spent another hour, at the table and then circulating through the crowd, smiling and laughing at jokes and telling a few of the less traumatic stories from my life among humans. But even when the shifters were smiling back, I wasn’t sure how much to believe in their warmth. Did they really trust me, or were they just better at hiding their uneasiness than some of the others?

Alice came up beside me. “Time for another breather?”

“Yeah,” I said with relief. “What did you have in mind?”

“It seems to me there’s no reason we shouldn’t help restock the wine table,” she said with a grin.

We meandered into the estate house and down to the wine cellar. And a massive wine cellar it was. I didn’t think I’d seen so many bottles in my life, even in a liquor store. I stopped and stared at them.

“I don’t know where to start.”

“Ah, we can always just hang out here for a bit and then let the attendants pick. That’s their job anyway.” She propped herself against a crate and cocked her head at me. “I’m guessing the life you had before my brother and the other alphas found you was pretty different from this, huh?”

“Uh, yeah, that would be the understatement of the year.”

“Tell me about it. I’ve always wondered what it’s like on the human side of things.”

I let out my breath. Where to start? “Well, I’m not sure my ‘human’ life was all that normal. When my mom was still around, we always lived pretty simply. Her first concern was making sure we didn’t draw attention to ourselves. And then after she left... I ended up having to leave the apartment and live on the streets. I didn’t have a real home for more than five years. Let alone a home like this.” I waved to indicate the entire estate.

“That must have been rough,” Alice said, her tone going serious. “You don’t let it show, when you’re out there talking to the kin.”

I shrugged. “That’s not the side of me they want to see, right? The side that’s human. Weak.”

Alice grimaced. “I wouldn’t call surviving the lowest rungs of the human world with no support and no powers weak, not by a long shot. You know, I can’t say I’ve had to experience anything like that, but I have needed to spend a lot of time keeping up a strong front. It wears you out. The more you can be your real self, the easier it’ll be on you in the long run.”

“I guess that makes sense.” I looked down at my hands. “It’s just hard to know what anyone expects. There’s still so much I have to get used to.”

“This place is a bit of a change from the avian estate, isn’t it? The different kin-groups have their own attitudes. Or attitude problems.” She gave me half a smile. “We avians usually get along best with the canine crew. We both believe in strong bonds and keeping a united front. The felines and the disparate community, it’s a bit more of a free-for-all. Everyone for themselves.”

Okay, so maybe it wasn’t that Nate’s kin resented me for the attack. Maybe this was just the way they always were. That possibility was weirdly reassuring.

“Everyone wants so many different things,” I said. “It’s kind of... overwhelming. I don’t know how I’m going to make them all happy.”

Alice knuckled my arm. “Probably you won’t. But I guess the best you can do is listen to everyone, and your alphas, and don’t forget what’s in here too.” She tapped her head. “And you find whatever balance seems to be the best fit. See, simple! I have all the answers.”

I had to laugh. “Right. I guess I’m all set then.”

Her gaze drifted toward the door, and I abruptly realized that the flexing of her muscles wasn’t just her usual bodyguard-like readiness. She was feeling edgy too. I didn’t need any special senses to figure out why.

“You’re worried about Aaron,” I said.

She rubbed her mouth. “He’s a big boy. He can take care of himself. As he likes to remind me on the regular. But... I thought from what he said that he’d be back by now.”

If even Alice was worried enough to admit it, my anxiety wasn’t just me being over cautious. I hesitated. Why shouldn’t I change her orders? Technically I had at least as much authority over the shifter kin as Aaron did.

“You know what?” I said. “We’ve waited long enough. I want you to go looking for him. And if he has a problem with that when you find him, you can tell him to take it up with me.”

Alice blinked at me. “Really?”

“Absolutely. That’s a direct command from your dragon shifter.”

Her mouth stretched into a real grin. “Now I’m really glad we’ve got you back.”

We grabbed a couple bottles of wine somewhat at random so it’d look like we’d done more than just disappear. But when we emerged into the courtyard, it occurred to me that there were other orders given that I didn’t totally agree with. I wasn’t going to go against Nate’s authority—but I could try to temper his harshness with a gesture of my own.

I picked up a new plate and snatched a little of this and a little of that off the tables. The kin watching were probably speculating about a dragon shifter’s appetite. Let them wonder.

I carried the plate into the house and down the stairs into a different part of the basement. The part where we’d confronted the rogue just yesterday. I caught sight of Orion through the second window I glanced into.

The former guard was hunched over on his bench, his head in his hands. My heart wrenched.

The guard on duty walked over. “Dragon shifter,” he said with a respectful bow. “What do you need?”

I held up the plate. “I’d like to bring this in to him.”

The guard paused. “I wasn’t told—”

I fixed him with a firm stare. “I’m your alpha’s mate and dragon shifter. All I want to do is bring the prisoner a little dinner. He’s too drugged up to shift, isn’t he? He doesn’t look like he’s going to be any threat.”

“Yes. Yes, he should be subdued. My apologies.”

The guard pulled out a key and unlocked the door. I stepped inside tentatively.

Orion raised his head. The muskrat shifter’s eyes were glazed. A dribble of drool shone at the corner of his mouth. He was at least aware enough to notice it and swipe it away when the back of his hand when he saw me.

“Dragon shifter,” he said in a dazed voice. “What are you doing here?”

“Bringing you some food from the celebration out there, since you’re not allowed to get it for yourself.”

I offered him the plate. He stared at the spread of food for a few seconds before he reached for it. Then he just set the plate in his lap. He gazed at the meal for a moment longer and then peered up at me, squinting.

“Why would you bring me this? What does it matter to you what I eat? I’m a traitor.”

I crouched down so my eyes were level with his where he sat on the bench. “I don’t think you are,” I said. “I don’t think you’d decided one way or the other yet. And I think that matters. I know how hard it is to figure out the right thing to do when you’re being pulled in different directions. What you choose in the end, that’s who you are.”

He wet his lips. His fingers clutched the edges of the plate. “Thank you,” he said hoarsely. I couldn’t tell if he meant the meal or the sentiment. Maybe both.

My heart felt a little lighter as I headed back to the party. So naturally I had to run into West right then.

He paused in the hall as I stepped out of the stairwell. His eyes narrowed. “What were you doing down by the holding cells?”

“Trying to make sure we don’t turn another kin into our enemy,” I said. “Is that all right with you?”

He held my gaze for a moment. Then he sighed and turned away. “I just hope you know what you’re doing, Sparks.”

So did I. He had no idea how much I did.