Ariel trudged wearily up the stairs of the log cabin she shared with Jett in the Blue Hurricane camp. Ordinarily she’d be bounding with energy after a hunt, the blood flowing through her veins, priming her for a sexual episode with her dragon. Normally they’d make love for a few hours, and by the time they came out, the meat would already be cooked and ready to eat in front of the fire pit.

But today all she felt was exhaustion.

She entered the foyer, which also served as the family room and kitchen, the latter two separated by a wooden counter, and heard the soft click of a keyboard coming from the adjacent room. She went straight toward that sound and entered the space he had turned into his study.

Jett sat at his desk in front of a laptop. He was wearing his usual fashionable black and gold dress shirt, the sleeves rolled up to reveal his bulging forearms inked with tribal dragons. His hair tumbled down his face in lustrous locks, seeming spun of gold. His almond-shaped eyes were the same golden color, and perfectly set above that bold aristocratic nose. Silky smooth bronze skin framed that gorgeous, all too kissable mouth.

The first three buttons of his shirt were open, teasing the massive pecs chiseled into his chest underneath, the deep groove between them obvious. The fabric could barely contain the sheer musculature of his wide back, and the V shape formed between hips and shoulders was pronounced. And even though the shirt was mostly black in the stomach region, she could still make out the grooves of his abdominals above the designer belt that cinched his waist above his distressed jeans.

Jett used the camp’s satellite Internet to keep in touch with his family and friends in Midnight, sending them messages daily. At his urging, she had begun reaching out to her own friends and family in the same way. This was in direct contrast to Cliff’s style: the former Alpha of Blue Hurricane, now Jett’s second, had advised her to make a clean break when she first joined the pride.

“You’re a shifter now,” Cliff had said. “We’re your family. You can’t relate to your old friends and family. They won’t understand you, and you can never tell them what you are.”

At the time she hadn’t really had a choice either way, as Cliff had the camp under lockdown because of the perceived threat of the Orions, who had turned out to be a group of undead led by a vampire witch. That all changed after Jett rescued her and became Alpha of the pride.

Jett looked up from his computer and when his eyes hungrily met hers, she felt her heart leap and the weariness seemed to magically vanish from her body, replaced by a burst of energy. Jett would be expecting the usual sex after one of her hunts.

And she wanted to oblige him. Wanted it so bad.

But she couldn’t. Not yet. Not until she told him.

“There’s my lioness.” Jett stood up, and instantly towered over her thanks to his six and a half feet stature. He was starting to smile, but his expression quickly turned to concern when he saw the worry that must have been written all over her face. “What is it?”

Before she could answer, he had already swept her up in his arms, and was pulling her into him as if to protect her from all the bad things in the world. She momentarily forgot everything in that touch, and she rested her head contentedly on his hard pecs.

Ah Jett.

While the pride had taught her many things, Jett had taught her that she could love again, and be loved. He was responsible for saving her life, in more ways than one. If not for him, she would still be running through these woods, changing randomly, a beast in all senses of the word.

“My dragon,” she said softly.

“I love it when you purr like that,” Jett said.

“Am I purring?” she said, looking up to gaze into his eyes. She listened carefully. Yes. Yes she was.

His lips drank hers hungrily, and she wanted to give herself to him right there, but somehow she managed to pull away. She didn’t break free from his embrace entirely, however. She didn’t want to. And she doubted he would let her even if she did.

“The vampire witch,” Ariel said. “She lives.”

Jett arched a confused eyebrow.

“We passed the site of the Orion camp during our hunt,” Ariel said. “The rot bothered me, and I wanted to confirm that nothing was wrong, so I went back to explore with Connor and Duncan when the hunt was over. We quickly noticed that the body of the vampire witch was gone. And next to her rotting minions, we found the empty shells of ravens.”

“Empty shells?” Jett asked.

“Yes,” Ariel replied. “They were drained of blood.”

Jett’s face darkened and he dropped his arms, finally releasing her to pace back and forth in front of the desk. “This is disturbing news. If she gets her hands on the collar I lost out there, and finds a way to spring it on me in surprise…”

“Then you’ll lose your dragon powers and be at her mercy once more,” Ariel finished.

Jett nodded absently. She was surprised Ephephany, dragon witch of Midnight, hadn’t sent another collar to replace the one Jett had lost, since apparently there was some rule preventing dragon shifters from roaming outside their domains without a collar to restrain their powers. A regulation not to be confused with the First Rule, which stated that dragons weren’t allowed to mate with non-dragons.

She suspected Jett simply hadn’t told Ephephany. He’d broken the First Rule after all, and gotten himself banished from his kingdom of Midnight for doing it. What was the breaking of another rule among friends? She certainly wasn’t going to say anything: she preferred him as he was, ready to unleash his beautiful inner dragon as the situation required. She loved how strong he was like this. How… unbreakable.

“I’m going to summon a few of my White Swords to help watch the perimeter of the camp,” Jett said. “Just to be on the safe side. While I’m confident I can handle anything the witch might throw at us, I’d rest easier knowing I have some of my own kind out there.”

Ariel folded her arms under her breasts. “You still don’t trust in the fighting abilities of the pride you lead, even after everything. They fought at your side against the Orions. They trained me to control my beast. They’re my friends. Our friends.”

“Of course they’re our friends and of course I trust them,” Jett said. “But that’s exactly it. I’ve grown fond of them, and don’t want to needlessly risk their lives. You saw what the witch’s apprentice did to the whole pride when they attacked. Strung them up by the feet like a bunch of rag dolls.”

Ariel bit her lip slightly. “So you’ll risk the lives of your White Swords instead...”

“They’re dragons...” Jett said.

“Yes, but dragons who’ll be collared, unlike yourself,” Ariel said.

“Still formidable,” Jett said. “Still way stronger than a lion, even constrained.”

“I saw how effective you were against the witch while you were collared,” Ariel said. “As in, you couldn’t do squat. That’s right, the great dragon Jett was helpless while a witch bled him.”

“Fine, then I’ll have a vampire member of the White Swords supplement the dragons, just to be on the safe side,” Jett said. “Besides, they’re trained to operate in extreme stealth. First the witch has to see them before she can harm them.”

“Uh huh,” Ariel said. “I thought witches have magic they can use to help them see the unseeable? Think for a second... what if she does catch the dragon shifters you send? And drains their blood like she did to you, doubling her powers?”

Jett seemed to consider that. “While that’s a good point, even if she does drain them, she’ll still be useless against me.”

“Unless she finds a way to collar you,” Ariel said.

“I shouldn’t have even suggested that,” Jett said. “Because she won’t. Her chances are basically, well, zero. Besides, you’re assuming she even has the collar.”

“It’s a good assumption, I’d say,” Ariel told him. “Considering that it mysteriously vanished after our battle with her undead minions.”

Jett sat down at his computer and began typing. “We’ll be safe with the White Swords watching our backs. I’m sending them a message now.”

“What about pride autonomy?” Ariel said. “Cliff and the others won’t like you dragging more dragons into this. Let alone any vampires.”

“I know you feel you owe it to the pride to defend them, after everything they’ve done,” Jett said. “But listen, no one in Blue Hurricane will even know they’re here. As I said, my White Swords are trained in absolute stealth. Plus now that I know the location of all the cameras the pride has set up, there’s essentially zero chance of them getting caught.”

“What, you’re not even going to tell Blue Hurricane?” Ariel said.

“What they don’t know won’t hurt them,” Jett said. “There will only be three, anyway.” He glanced at her uncertainly. “You’re not going to say anything, are you?”

“Of course not,” Ariel said. “My loyalties are to you first, the pride second. Still, it seems like a slap in the face that you’d do it behind their backs, especially considering that you’re the Alpha of the pride now. There’s no need...”

“Like I told you, what they don’t know won’t hurt them,” Jett said. “As Alpha, wouldn’t you agree that it’s my right to protect my pride however I see fit? Even if that protection involves placing defenders without their knowledge?”

Ariel shrugged. “Yeah fine, you’re the Alpha. Do what you want. But I have a feeling even if you weren’t, you’d still be placing your damn guards.”

From the twinkle she saw in Jett’s eyes, she knew she was right.

“Will King Gabriel even allow any of your White Swords to leave?” Ariel asked.

“My brother won’t know or care,” Jett said. “Gabriel dismissed all of my White Swords, remember?”

“Oh yeah,” Ariel said. Jett had told her something about how his brother had formed his own company of personal protectors called the Black Guard and that Gwendoline was employing his White Swords now.

Jett finished typing. “There. It’s done.” He exhaled deeply, and put his hands behind his neck. His biceps bulged attractively beneath his dress shirt. “I’m going to have to add more lions to the daily patrols.”

“What about cameras?”

“Their are certain Weaves witches can use to evade cameras,” Jett said.

“There he goes with the ‘Weaves’ again,” Ariel said. “Tell me, wouldn’t these Weaves hide the the witches from human eyes as well? And shifter eyes?”

“Yes,” Jett said. “But those Weaves won’t hide the smell. At least, there are none that I know of. And lions have very sensitive noses…”

He pushed away from the computer and stood up.

“You know, it really pisses me off that the vampire witch got away,” Jett said. “She’s going to cause us trouble. I know it.”

“It pisses me off, too,” Ariel said. She liked how he was talking more and more like a modern day man. That was one of the positive side effects of moving in with her and the pride. Conversely, his way of speaking was rubbing off on her, too, and she found herself using words and phrases she normally wouldn’t.

“I’m not sure I can fuck you properly now, given my mood,” Jett said. The slight rasp in his voice and the desire in his eyes told her that wasn’t quite true.

She yearned for him bad, so bad, and was about to give in, when Jett said something that surprised her.

“Let’s spar.”

“What?” she said. “No. I’m exhausted.”

“You don’t look exhausted,” he said. “And even if you were, that’s all the more reason to spar with me. When an attack comes, it’ll happen when you’re at your weakest. Listen, it’s more important than ever to get your daily weapons training in, considering what’s potentially out there. Come on, I feel like sparring. Then I’ll take you to the bedroom…”

“Swords will be useless against a vampire witch like her and you know it,” Ariel said. “If you really want to train me up, I think my time would be better spent on the shooting range.”

Blue Hurricane had set up a range close to camp to practice shooting all the weapons they’d confiscated from the undead Orions. Jett had the pride supplement those weapons with rifles and ammo purchased from the city. He used his own money, of course: apparently he had transferred a lot of his “hoard” into hidden accounts before he was banished from Midnight.

Jett frowned. “Shooting range? I don’t think so. Today we’re going at it with swords.”

“You know, every time we spar I always get the impression that for you it’s foreplay,” she said.

That frown was replaced with a beautiful, yet wicked grin. “As I told, when we’re done, I’ll take you to the bedroom.”

Ariel sighed. “Okay fine. Grin like that and you know I can’t resist you. It’ll probably reenergize me more than anything else.”

“Good,” Jett said. “I want you reenergized for what I plan to do to you after we’re done.”

She gulped in anticipation, images of his naked body flashing though her mind. Jett, hovering above her, hard abs crunching as he bucked into her.

She ignored the wetness in her center and scooped up a blade from the closet Jett had transformed into an armory. She also strapped on a bunch of protective gear. Some of the pieces were white, made of ivory according to Jett. He didn’t need any of it, of course: he could harden his skin at will, making it impenetrable to any blades.

They went at it in an empty clearing behind the cabin. For the first ten minutes he took her through vampire defense drills, which involved her fending off an “unarmed vampire,” played by Jett, who tried to bite her neck. He never actually bit her, of course, but the act of his lips brushing against her throat counted as a kill on his side.

Weeks ago he had demonstrated how to properly slam a blade into a vampire heart, and he had her repeatedly practice the move on him. She hadn’t liked it at the time, because she was terrified the blade might pass through his hardened skin and kill him at any moment. But she quickly learned Jett wouldn’t allow it. And now she struck at him without holding back, confident any impact wouldn’t harm him.

After she got in three good hits in a row, he stepped away from her, wrapped his fingers around the hilt of the blade he had stabbed into the ground earlier, and plucked it free. “So you can properly penetrate the heart of an unarmed vampire. But the question is, can you do the same against an armed vampire?”

“Hope you’re ready.” Ariel waved her sword with a flourish. “Because I’m not holding back.”

“I wouldn’t want you to,” Jett said.

Half an hour later, slicked in perspiration and breathing hard, Ariel at last broke through Jett’s defenses. She plunged the sword toward his unguarded heart, but he twisted at the last moment and she struck his shoulder. She was met with a resounding clang upon impact, and the vibration traveled up the hilt and into her arm, jarring her elbow.

“Gah, no fair!” Ariel said, pulling away and gasping for air. “Even when I score a hit, I get hurt.” The lioness growled inside her, wanting to get out, but Ariel ignored the animal. She hadn’t changed against her will in at least two weeks now.

Jett chuckled fondly. He hadn’t even broken a sweat and his breathing remained calm as ever. “Score a hit? That blow hardly counts as a score… you missed your mark.”

Ariel frowned. “Yeah. But at least I got through your defenses. That’s something.”

“If I was a real vampire you would be dead now,” Jett said.

“Lucky you’re not then, huh?” she said, still panting.

“Actually, I’m probably being a bit too hard on you,” Jett said. “You have been getting better. Your Jujitsu background is definitely a big help. If you face a vampire under two hundred years old, you’ll live.”

“And if I face a vampire older than two hundred years?” she asked.

“Run.”

“You do know, if you were a vampire,” Ariel said. “I’d probably just change into my lioness. Or I’d shoot the crap out of you with the pistols I’ll be carrying at my belt.”

“Pistols?” Jett said. “Not if you’re caught off guard. And as to your first point: we’ll have to train your lioness at some point, too. The idea is the same. Striking at the heart with your claws...”

“Yeah well, let’s finish our sword training for the day first, all right?” she said.

“Whenever you’re ready...” Jett said, slowly circling her.

She crouched, shifting her weight from foot to foot, rotating in place to follow him. She eyed him warily, watching for any hint that he intended to attack. Jett had taught her about her tells—she usually looked at the body part she intended to strike, and pointed her feet in the direction of her attack. She was still working on getting rid of those. Jett didn’t have any obvious tells of his own. When he struck, all she had was the blur of his sword to guess his intention.

And then he moved, coming in fast. Too fast. It was unlike him to move with such speed. Ariel could barely defend against his blows.

And then a kick caught her squarely in the stomach, forcing her backward. “You have to learn to keep your guard up!”

He sounded genuinely angry.

Though Ariel was wearing several layers of padding, her stomach throbbed in pain from the blow. “Damn it, Jett, why did you have to hit me so hard? That hurt.” As a shifter, she would heal faster than a human, but that didn’t mean she wouldn’t experience the same degree of pain.

“Get up!” he said.

Holding her aching belly, Ariel stood warily. “What’s gotten into you?”

“Again. There’s a vampire on the loose in these woods. You have to learn to defend yourself!” His eyes shone with a strange fire she had never seen before. She wondered if the collar he had once worn constrained not only his dragon powers, but his emotions as well. Prevented his rage from boiling over, as it seemed about to do. Or already had...

He began to circle her.

“Jett, I don’t think—”

And then his sword was moving in a blur again. It was all Ariel could do to deflect his blows. She was afraid, and found herself fighting not just him, but her inner beast, who wanted to get out badly.

She tripped, landing flat on her back. Her weapon went flying to one side, out of reach.

Jett abruptly leaped into the air. He was coming down upon her in an arc, the sword pointed directly at her chest. The golden fire in his eyes promised no mercy. If it struck, she doubted the armor she wore would provide any protection.

“Jett no!” She folded her arms over her body, trying to shield herself.

Time seemed to slow, and she was suddenly aware of everything around her. The swaying trees. The spears of sunlight through the canopy. The birds and squirrels watching from the boughs.

She could hear her heart beating in her chest. It sounded jumbled, in disarray. Wait... that wasn’t her heartbeat alone, but Jett’s as well.

Time returned to normal speed, and a strange ripping filled the air. It seemed to come from all around her.

She waited for Jett to fall upon her, but he never did.

She hesitantly lowered her arms. Jett was no longer anywhere to be seen above her.

She glanced at the ground. Large swaths of dirt were missing on either side of where she lay, forming small craters. She sat up.

Jett lay prostrate in front of her, covered in a mound of grass and dirt. He wiped the soil from his face, spitting out earth.

Apparently the ripping she had heard was the sound of the dirt and grass tearing away to hit him.

“What did you do?” Ariel said.

“I didn’t do anything,” Jett said, sounding stunned. He pulled himself from the dirt mound to stand.

Her lioness was completely quiet inside of her, seeming just as stunned as Jett.

Ariel glanced uncertainly toward the trees. “Jeremiah?”

That was the local witch among Blue Hurricane. The lion shifter often bragged about how he had been sent to the Steel Tower for training with the fabled Wayfarers when he was young, but he was apparently too weak to be of use because they sent him back after a year, keeping him there only long enough to learn how to control his powers. They hadn’t really taught him any Weaves, he claimed, and most of what he knew he had learned himself.

“No,” Jett said. “You and I are the only ones here.”

“But he has to be here...” Ariel said. “Jeremiah, show yourself!”

In answer she received only silence.

Ariel glanced down at the protective gauntlets she wore. The ivory seemed slightly darker to her eyes, stained in places as if it had sieved some invisible force.

“These aren’t made of ivory, are they?” she said. “These are dragon bones.”

Jett nodded.

Ariel felt suddenly nauseous. “I think I’m done for the day.”

“I think you are, too.” Jett offered her a hand and pulled her to her feet. He sniffed the air. “Smells like supper is ready anyway.”

She nodded absently.

The pair were silent on the way back to the cabin.

Ariel thought she had finally figured herself out. She had a lioness inside her, a beast under her complete control.

Turned out, she was wrong.

Dead wrong.

She harbored another uncontrollable beast.