Cameron wondered what his luck was. He had found his mate and secured his mission all at once. It was beyond believable as he looked down at the slim, naked body of his mate. He wanted nothing more than to bury his face in the scent of her and refuse to come up for air.

Her screams of pleasure had driven him into a mad frenzy, a feeling that he’d never known before. Both, he and his beast, swarmed to the forefront while they were inside of her. His scent would soon mingle with hers, warning others that she was mated and claimed.

Somehow, she had allowed him to stay with her for the past week. Their days were spent playing music or basking in the sunlight. Their nights, as soon as the sun even hinted at diving toward the horizon, they retreated to her bedroom. Each morning, he would wake to her staring down at him as if she might bolt at any second. But, she would slowly make her way toward him and their day would start all over again.

The only thing he wished he’d considered sooner was the chance of conceiving a child while in this new stage. It was something his brother and Rhiannon were learning to deal with, but was not one that Cameron wished to risk in this uncertain time.

Feeling his stomach churn with fear and shame at his own stupidity, he pulled open the bathroom mirror. His fingers hovered over the bottles and tubes of cosmetic solutions, wondering why Gwen needed any of them. He wasn’t sure what it looked like, but he wanted to make sure. He needed to know if she was on modern birth control.

He’d left his phone in the bedroom, or else he would use the internet, a wonderful source of information brought about by recent technology. After a long moment of fruitless searching, he closed the bathroom mirror. He couldn’t do what Gareth was doing. Gwen already stirred a bevy of protective emotions that would most likely spin out of control if she became with child too soon.

They couldn’t risk that.

***

When she woke, part of her was alarmed to find the other side of the bed empty. Her hand ran across the still warm sheets and her heart calmed. Frowning, Gwen told herself she cannot get attached to this man. This dragon man that she let stay in her home for nearly a week. Each morning she told herself to run and never look back. Each morning her feet pulled her back toward the bed.

A handful of nights of great sex was not going to change anything. He was still a dangerous dragon and she was still the Witch of Caernarfon, betrayer to some and belonging of others. She swallowed hard as the memories struck her, as the emotions stirring inside of her warred with one another. Cameron had not seemed like the other dragons at all. The only time he seemed in any way vicious was when he expressed anger over what happened to her, over her pain.

That was not like any dragon she knew. Gwen ran her hands down her face.

A muffled vibrating sound came from within her room. Curious, she sought the sound and found it in the pocket of Cameron’s pants. It always amazed her that even while seemingly incarcerated in the Territories, dragons had access to technologies such as cell phones. She dug the vibrating cell phone out of his pants pocket, glancing toward the closed door as her heart rate picked up.

A message flashed across the screen, readable even though she could not unlock his phone.

Have you found the witch? Complete the mission and bring her here soon.

She chucked the phone back toward his pants as though it burned her. In many ways, it had. Her heart was ever so slowly attempting to open up to this dragon man that wandered into her life. She wanted to believe that he was different, that he would be gentle and patient with her.

Truth was, she was nothing more than a mission to him.

Anger roiled through her. It gripped her magic, the kind that she shoved dark and deep, and lashed out in every direction. Her magic was a thorned vine that cracked in the air and dragged across her skin. Cameron’s forgotten clothing disintegrated into nothing more than fiber remnants. His phone screen cracked in several places, spider webbing as thought something were crushing it.

The door to her room cracked open to reveal a smiling façade. She threw a dark glare in his direction. A ceramic mug on his tray shattered. Hot tea ran down his arms. His face fell and confusion tumbled through his eyes.

“You didn’t come here on a rutting night,” Gwen hissed. She pulled her sheet up to her bare chest, feeling more vulnerable than she had in years. But, she would not be the victim. Her magic wrapped around her.

“You need to listen to me,” Cameron pleaded. His eyes found the cracked phone.

“I do not have to listen to anything.” Gwen flicked her hand in his direction. He fumbled backward. Her magic slammed into his chest, bearing all of her rage and the weight of her betrayal.

See if she ever lets a dragon into her life again. They were only trouble. His leader wanted her for a weapon against their enemies. He charged Cameron with the task of convincing her to love him so that she would protect them. Nothing they’d done this past week meant anything.

It hadn’t. That was what she wanted from it. It was a release for the both of them, nothing else.. But, but she hadn’t expected the pain that filled her chest when she learned the truth. She hadn’t expected tears to fill the corners of her eyes.

“Get out,” she growled. Angry, she threw the cracked phone at him. Deftly, he snatched it out of the air before it could hit him in the face. Gwen let a small sound of frustration slip past her lips.

“Not until you hear me out!” Cameron calmly stood his ground, even as his voice rose.

“I do not have to hear anything. You lied. You came here with false intentions. Get out of my home.” She flicked her hand at him again and shoved at him. The door flew upon behind him and he stumbled back through it. When it slammed shut in front of him, her heart thudded inside her chest.

She quickly closed the space between her and the door, her fingers shakily tracing warding sigils across the cheap wood. They glowed in the dim morning light for a second. Then, they sank into the wood. She would have to do it on every wall of the apartment to keep him out.

But, it locked her inside. She felt tears burn her eyes and a sob shook her chest. She sank to the floor and reached for her cards, willing them to tell her the future. Instead, her fingers flipped the same three cards. Tower. Lovers. Death.

She let her tears consume her. She was going to die in this apartment. The beast outside was undoubtedly going to burn her home down around her for kicking him out. Dragons did not like to be told no.