Before Leif slept with Sofia, he might have passed off the incident as a moment of carnal passion. Sofia was, after all, the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. How could he be expected to resist a chance to make love to her, when they were both alone in the forest after facing down dark magic and death? But now that Leif had actually finished making love to her, he knew with certainty that what he had done was more than just respond to a call of passion.

What he had done was to respond to the call of destiny. The warmth in his core, and the overwhelming sensation of love he felt, left no doubt in his mind. Sofia was his lifemate, and they had just formed the lifemate bond.

Leif blinked up at the deep blue sky, feeling overwhelmed with both happiness and disbelief. It had never crossed his mind that Sofia might be his lifemate. He had thought she was beautiful, true. But any man would have thought that—her sparkling eyes, smooth skin, and shiny hair were undeniably alluring. But the attraction had only been physical, or so he thought. He squinted his eyes now, trying to remember if there had ever been a time he’d felt an emotional attraction to her. All he could remember was being frustrated with the way she’d gone to the High Council and asked them to end the training program early.

Leif felt confused. Weren’t you supposed to be hopelessly attracted to your lifemate from the very moment you met him or her? He hadn’t felt that way about Sofia at all, so how could she be his lifemate? He’d been about as far from wanting a relationship with her as one could be. He’d actually hated her. And yet, here he was, completely consumed by her. Bonded to her for life.

Leif sat up on an elbow and looked at Sofia, who looked back at him with a smile that absolutely undid him. If he thought about it, most of his buddies who had found their lifemates had resisted at first. His friend Russ had resisted moving to Torch Lake to live with Mandy, who was now his lifemate. And his friend Jake had thought Rachel was snooty and stuck up before realizing that she was actually the woman of his dreams. So maybe it was common to think that a woman wasn’t worth your time, only to realize a little later that the woman was actually your destiny.

“That’s an awful big scowl,” Sofia said, sitting up on an elbow as well. “Was sleeping with me that bad?”

Her voice was teasing, but Leif detected an underlying note of concern. Sofia was actually worried about what he thought of her. He’d become so accustomed to the uncaring front she’d put up when working as a spy that it was strange to see her filled with anxiety over his opinion. He wiped the scowl off his face and smiled at her instead.

“I was just trying to figure out how it was possible to go from hating someone so much to feeling like you can’t live without them in such a short time span.”

“You really hated me, huh? Ouch.” She was smiling and still speaking in a teasing tone, but her eyes were filled with sadness. Leif felt his heart twist up inside of him. He couldn’t believe how rude and dismissive he’d been of her. For a dragon who was supposed to act with honor at all times, he’d acted quite miserably.

“I’m so sorry, Sofia. I can’t believe the things I said and did, and—”

Sofia waved her hand, dismissing his comments. “You didn’t know. You had no way of knowing that I was actually a spy, and some of the things I did when I was supposedly auditing you were purposefully as obnoxious as possible.”

“Still, even if I didn’t know, I should have treated you with more respect.”

Sofia smiled at him, and again waved her hand. “Water under the bridge now.”

Leif reached out and took her hand, marveling once again at the way his skin tingled wherever it made contact with her. He began to stroke the back of her palm with his thumb, closing his eyes for a moment to relish the softness of her skin. Then he opened his eyes again and looked Sofia squarely in the eye.

“Have you heard of lifemates, Sofia?”

She shook her head no.

Leif took another deep breath. This wasn’t going to be easy to explain. He felt a little crazy, knowing that he was about to tell Sofia that he thought they were supposed to spend the rest of their lives together, when just a day ago he would have sworn he hated her. He had to try, though. Sofia had to know how he felt about her. He held her hand tighter and began speaking.

“Shifters believe that each one of us have a lifemate. A lifemate is someone whom you’re destined to spend the rest of your life with. It’s sort of like a soulmate, but much more serious than that. We believe that from the very moment you are born, destiny is working to bring you across the path of your fated lifemate. Once you find your lifemate, you are supposedly attracted to them instantly. The attraction grows quickly, until you can’t hold back from making love to each other. Once you do give in and make love, the lifemate bond is formed.”

“The lifemate bond?” Sofia was sitting up higher now, looking curious.

Leif nodded. “It’s an unbreakable bond that ties you together. It feels like an intense warmth in your core, and once it’s formed you are forever bound to your lifemate. I felt that when I made love to you today. I wasn’t expecting it, quite honestly. I wasn’t expecting any of this. I came out here to save you from Vincent and his group, because I felt responsible for the fact that your cover was blown.”

“You don’t need to feel responsible for that,” Sofia interrupted. “I shouldn’t have said anything in the grocery store. I’m a trained spy. I’m supposed to be more careful and I wasn’t. The fault is mine.”

Leif thought about arguing for a moment, then shrugged. “Well, however much of the fault was mine, I’m glad that I came after you. I thought that I at least would make up for treating you like crap by saving your life.”

“A fair trade,” Sofia quipped.

Leif smiled. “I suppose so. But I never intended to sleep with you. It just happened. I was so overwhelmed by desire when the dust settled from the battle. And you seemed into it, too.”

“I was. I admit it.” She flashed him a bright smile, and his heart twisted up in his chest again. She was going to be his complete undoing.

“I didn’t think too much about it. I didn’t think of the consequences. I just wanted you, and you wanted me, and I figured why shouldn’t two adults have a bit of fun after the stress of battle? But then, I felt the warmth in my core as we made love, and I realized that I had been destined for you. We formed the lifemate bond, Sofia. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it.”

“What…what does that mean for us, exactly?” she asked. Her voice sounded somewhat shaky, and Leif had the brief thought that he should have waited a bit to let her calm down from the craziness of being kidnapped and pulled into a battle before springing on her that he wanted to spend the rest of his life with her. But it was too late now. He couldn’t leave this conversation unfinished once it had been started.

“It means that I am committed to you for the rest of my life. I know that probably sounds crazy, since we don’t know each other that well. Heck, twenty-four hours ago I thought I hated you. But a lot has changed in those twenty-four hours. I’ve learned that, behind that spy mask you wore, there is a smart, brave, capable woman. A woman who has given up so much of her life for Torch Lake, the city she loves. The city I love. I never thought I’d say this, but now I can say it with all my heart: I admire you. I want to get to know you better. And I feel incredibly lucky that you are my lifemate. I will spend the rest of my life protecting you and caring for you. If you aren’t ready to make that commitment, I understand. If you never want to make that commitment, then I will be heartbroken, but I will accept your decision. Just know that, no matter what you decide, there will never be anyone else for me. There is only you, from now on until forever. You are my destiny.”

Leif felt his heart pounding as he spoke. He never took his eyes from Sofia’s, and her eyes grew wider and wider the more he explained things. When he finally finished speaking, she was silent for several agonizing seconds. Leif desperately wanted her to jump into his arms and say that she felt the same way, but he knew he was hoping for too much. He’d pushed her away as forcefully as he could every chance that he got. Why would she suddenly forgive him now?

But forgive him she did. He saw her face break into a smile, and his whole body warmed at the sight.

“I felt the lifemate bond, too,” she said, her eyes still wide with wonder. “I didn’t know that’s what it was, but I felt a burning warmth in my core when we made love, and I’ve never felt so close to anyone before.”

Leif felt a rush of relief. She had felt it, too. “That’s it! That’s the lifemate bond.”

Sofia bit her lower lip, and Leif noticed that she was trembling slightly. He wanted so badly to reach out and put his arms around her to steady her, but something told him to give her space for a few moments. She had just gone from not even knowing that lifemates existed, to finding out that the man who’d hated her just yesterday was actually her lifemate. She was bound to need a bit of time to process all of that. She looked down at her hands, and Leif thought he saw the beginnings of tears forming in her eyes, although he couldn’t be sure. He couldn’t bear the thought that he had hurt her. No, he hadn’t known that she was actually a spy and not just an obnoxious junior audit agent. But he hadn’t needed to corner her in the grocery store and get in her face. Her capture had been his fault. Although he was glad that rescuing her had led to the two of them being together like this, he felt badly that she’d needed rescuing in the first place. When he couldn’t stand the silence any longer, he reached a hand out to gently lift her chin up to look at him.

“Sofia, I can’t tell you enough how sorry I am for the way I treated you.”

“Oh, stop apologizing,” she said before he could say anything else. “I don’t blame you for that, and you know it.”

“I know, but I still feel horrible. Here you were, fighting for the good of Torch Lake, and I treated you like shit.”

She shrugged. “I’m used to it. Honestly, stop apologizing. I knew when I signed up for this job that there would be plenty of people who didn’t like me. Everyone’s emotions are always running high after the dark war. It doesn’t take much to piss people off these days.”

“Well, still. I want you to know that I admire what you’ve been doing. It can’t have been easy. When I saw you on the security footage, I was so proud of the way you handled everything. Even when the Dark Warriors were threatening to kill you, you stood strong and handled everything bravely.”

“And then I let them in the vault,” Sofia said dejectedly.

Leif smiled at her. “No one faults you for that. You couldn’t have resisted the dark magic spells they were using. You held them off as long as you could, and you refused to just give in. That shows a lot of courage. I can hardly believe that destiny would have chosen a woman as amazing as you to be my lifemate. I know you’re not a shifter, and that the whole concept of lifemates is new to you. But I hope you’ll give me a chance. I’m not asking you to commit forever to me right now. I know it’s too soon for that. I’m just asking for a chance. Let me show you that there’s more to me than a guy who acts like a jerk to junior audit agents.”

To Leif’s surprise, Sofia threw back her head and laughed.

“What’s so funny?” he asked.

She grinned at him. “You dragon shifters are just funny, you know? You all put up these tough guy exteriors, but I have a feeling that you’re all just giant teddy bears underneath.”

Leif had to laugh, too. “I’m not sure how I feel about being compared to a teddy bear. But if being a teddy bear means that you’ll give me a chance to be your man, I’ll take it.”

Sofia reached out to grab his hands. “I’ll give you more than a chance. I’ll give you a lifetime.”

Leif gulped, genuinely shocked. “You will?”

Sofia nodded. “I will. Yes, the whole concept of lifemates is new to me. But I felt exactly what you described. I felt the lifemate bond. I know it’s real. And I may not know you very well, but I know that you’re a good man, a strong dragon, and a warrior against dark magic. Yeah, you were a bit rude to me when I was an audit agent, but, like I said, I purposefully pushed your buttons. The important thing is that we are both fighting for the side of good. We both want the same thing: for dark magic to be pushed back, and good to prevail.”

“That’s all I want,” Leif said. “Well, that and you. Now I want you.”

“You have me,” Sofia said, smiling at him. “I agree that it’s crazy to go from hating me to loving me in the span of a day, but I also know that the person you hated isn’t really me. You hated the idea of someone messing with your dragon trainees and making decisions that you knew were bad for them. I actually admire that. You were trying to protect them, and you did everything you could to make sure they were taken care of.”

“I did,” Leif said with a tired sigh. “But it wasn’t enough.”

He suddenly felt sad. He’d been so caught up with saving Sofia that he’d actually managed to forget about Seth and Evan for a bit. But now, thoughts of them came rushing back. Wherever they were, they were probably close to finishing their mission to kill a dark monster. Once that was done, the two dragons would head back to Torch Lake, collect their pay, and leave. Leif would probably never see them again. He hadn’t had enough time to form a strong friendship with them, or to show them how wonderful Torch Lake could truly be.

“Hey,” Sofia said, reaching to pull him close. “Try not to be too down about Seth and Evan, okay? I know it sucks that Torch Lake has probably lost them, but it was a sacrifice that needed to be made so we could gather as much information on Vincent and the Dark Warriors as possible. There will be other dragon trainees. You’ll have more chances.”

“I know. It just stings that I lost my first two.”

“You didn’t lose them. I did. The High Council knows that. No one blames you, Leif. Besides, how bad could it be, really? After all, we got each other out of the deal.”

Leif smiled, and wrapped his arms around Sofia. “That’s true. What a crazy ride the last few weeks have been, but it’s all been worth it. I got you.”

“Agreed.” She snuggled her head against his shoulder, and for that moment, the world was perfect. The reverie didn’t last long, though. A movement in the northeastern sky caught Leif’s eye, and he squinted. Something was coming toward them, and the shapes looked awfully familiar. But it couldn’t be, could it?

A few more moments of squinting confirmed his suspicion, though. He sat up straighter, instantly alert.

“Sofia, look. Incoming dragons.”