“She may need to rest for a spell,” Selene decided before patting Emelie’s hand.

We stood on either side of the wide bed, with several witches at the foot. Ainsley, Tamhas, Keira, and Klaus lingered around the room.

“Do you feel it is safe to move her?” I asked, glancing down at where a still pale, still weak Emelie rested. She hadn’t eaten decently since the morning she left her hotel, and was sipping hot broth and munching on toast as we discussed her.

Iris cleared her throat. “Are you going to say something, or shall I?” The question was clearly directed at Selene, who cast a doleful look in Iris’s direction.

“Is there something you wish to say?” I asked, remembering my position as head of the clan. It was a bit of a mental leap, in essence, going from concern over the woman I intended to make my mate and concern for the clan.

“Indeed. I’d wished to bring it up during our meeting,” Selene murmured.

“Accuse, more like,” Iris hissed. “For it is your fault.”

“Silence.” Selene’s gaze never left my face, though her tone was sharp. It led me to wonder how many times per day she had to deal with Iris’s temper. “I will make no accusations, for now I understand we have both been ill-used. For in light of what you shared with us, Alan, I believe the Order of Gwydion may have been behind your misfortune. It certainly was not our coven.”

Yet another name I had not heard in decades, and one which brought a tight feeling to my chest.

“The Gwydions? I thought for certain they died off ages ago,” Ainsley muttered.

“I assure you, they have not, and without the relationship which our coven and your clan once shared, they see us as vulnerable.”

“Which is why we’ve spent ages keeping close to our cave,” Iris explained. “We cannot take the chance of showing our faces outside the area of protection which we have created for ourselves.”

“Even so,” Selene added, “they have tried many times to infiltrate our home. I suppose their desire to wipe us from existence has not waned with time.”

“Why do you suppose they are the ones at fault for our being attacked?” Tamhas asked.

Selene blinked as though unsure if she’d heard him correctly. “They are the only others with even the tiniest idea of where you might be located. They know very well the special nature of your blood. And they must have assumed you would blame us for your misfortune. After all, it was our charms and enchantments which rendered your mountain unnavigable for eons.”

“The strength of the enchantments has faded over time,” I mused.

“That is so. I’m sure Gavin knew this would be a natural side-effect of our fractured relationship…” She shrugged slightly.

“Aye, he must have.”

He had taken a massive risk and had walked into it with open eyes. Our leader had fully understood the consequences of denying the witches what they considered to be justice.

He had chosen to put all of us at risk further down the line.

I wished I knew what to make of all of it.

Keira spoke up. “Let me get this straight. These Gwydions, whoever they are—”

“An ancient order of sorcerers,” Selene interjected. It was impossible to ignore the softness which entered her voice when she spoke to her granddaughter.

Keira merely nodded. “Right. Okay. So, they don’t like you.” She pointed to Selene, to the other witches. “And now you’re unprotected because you’re no longer affiliated with these guys?” She pointed to me, to Ainsley and Tamhas.

“Correct. The Gwydions knew they did not stand a chance against us when we had the dragons on our side. It was enough to keep them away from us for centuries, although, it would appear as though their resentment merely grew during that time. Perhaps knowing we were untouchable, in essence, made us an even more desirable target.”

I sighed, shaking my head in regret for all of the lost time. “I cannot adequately express my sorrow for the confusion, the increased danger to all of us.”

“I feel like this is partly my fault,” Keira whispered.

I turned to her in surprise; she had never sounded so uncertain of herself in my presence.

“Keira. Babe.” Emelie leaned forward. She had maintained silence up to that point; there had been nothing for her to add to the conversation, after all. “This is not your fault. You had nothing to do with it.”

“Emelie is correct.” Tamhas slid an arm around Keira’s waist. “No one holds you responsible.”

No. She’d done nothing to harm us. She was merely a child, innocent of the sins of those around her. In the end, she might have been the one destined to reunite us, since those in power before her birth had torn us asunder.

It was Gavin I held responsible. Gavin and whichever member of our clan had allowed himself to be sheltered, shielding himself in cowardly silence while so many lives were destroyed as a result.

They couldn’t have known where their action, or inaction, would lead us. But it had likely resulted in Gavin’s death, at the very least.

I realized then that Keira and Emelie and I shared something in common: all three of us had been called upon to question everything we thought we knew. I’d held Gavin in nothing but the highest regard throughout my life, wishing to model myself after him as a leader and as a dragon.

In the months since his demise, I’d pushed myself at all times, in all matters, to follow his sterling example. Time and again I’d quietly resented myself for falling short, for losing control, for allowing outsiders into our tight-knit clan.

It was time for me to stand on my own, to forge a new era for the clan.

Before I spoke, I looked down at Emelie. Her eyes were on me, shining and trusting, a slight smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. As though she knew what I was about to suggest and supported the notion. How could it be that someone I’d only just met understood me so well?

She is our fated mate, my dragon reminded me.

Quite so. But still, I had so much more to learn of this woman. And her to learn of me.

“I believe there is a solution which might benefit both sides,” I began. “There is no reason for the eleven of you to live here, with the Gwydions bearing down on you. If you believe you could be comfortable with us, and that we might be able to compromise when necessary, you are more than welcome to share our cave.”

Ainsley gasped, but she was pleased. Her hand grasped mine and squeezed gently. A glance at Tamhas from the corner of my eye told me he agreed as well.

I might have done better to discuss the notion with the clan before making the suggestion, but there were times when a leader had to make decisions on his own.

If the Gwydions were still a threat, we would do better to act in conjunction with the Blood Moon Priestesses. Offering them our protection was the olive branch which I hoped would serve as a first step toward rebuilding our partnership.

Selene looked to Hecate, Iris, Callie, Electra. One by one. Only Iris hesitated in giving her consent, and when she did, she gave it grudgingly. But even she was not so hard-headed as to deny the course of action which made the most sense.

Selene’s brilliant smile seemed to light up the room. “A generous offer, and one which I am happy to accept. Iris, make the announcement to the others. We shall gather our things and prepare ourselves to leave at once.”

She was not one to take her time, evidently. “Fair enough.”

“Do you think the others will agree with this?” Ainsley whispered once the witches set out to prepare their belongings.

“I see no reason why not, once the reason behind the decision is explained. This is a solution which benefits both sides. Go out, gather the others, have them wait for me in the main room where we had our meeting. I’m certain they will have questions once they see the witches moving about.”

Within moments, I was alone with Emelie. As I wanted nothing more than to be. I sat on the edge of the bed with a chuckle and a shrug of my shoulders. “How did I do?” I asked.

She slid her hand into mine. “You did just great. It was a good idea. It took balls to put it out there like that.”

I laughed at her turn of phrase. “Forgive me. I’m not laughing at you. I’m unaccustomed to hearing it put so plainly, is all.”

“Get used to it,” she grinned.

“Do you mean that?”

“Do I mean what?”

“That you wish for me to become accustomed to your way of expressing yourself?”

She looked stricken. “Oh. Um. Did I speak out of turn? Because if I did, I’m sorry. I just figured… I mean, after what happened and all, and since, I don’t know, it seems like we have a thing happening between us… If I was wrong, just forget it.”

“You are not wrong.” I took her face in my hands, held it there, relished the softness of her skin. “I believe we are thinking along the same lines.”

A slow smile spread across her face, lighting her up the way dawn light up the morning sky. “You know what’s crazy? I mean, crazier than all of this?”

“What?”

“That it’s almost like I can feel your thoughts now. I can’t see them or hear them, but I can sense them. I knew what you were going to say to Selene before you said a word. Isn’t that wild?”

“Not wild,” I whispered. “Perhaps it has something to do with the connection Callie created between us. Or, perhaps…” I drew her face closer, unable to hold back any longer. I had already waited a lifetime to kiss this woman. “Perhaps it is simply because you were meant to be mine, and I was meant to be yours.”

“Meant to be,” she breathed, before my mouth covered hers and anything else she’d been about to say was swept away in the tide. She did not need to speak. My dragon felt her intentions plainly.

Her hand curled around the back of my neck, pulling me down until she was beneath me on the bed. “Maybe we shouldn’t,” she gasped between kisses, even as her body arched to meet mine time and again, sending explosions of pure pleasure racing through me.

It was too late for shouldn’t, too late for second thoughts as to the time or place.

She shivered, melting into my embrace.

My dragon had to have her, had to mark her as ours forever.