The last thing I expected coming back from lunch with my sister was to be standing face to face with my fated mate.

Even in the few moments of our hands being joined, there is absolutely no mistaking it. This little omega is fated to be mine.

I’ve had partners in my time. Not once did any of them rock me to my core with a touch like this Kuras does.

And we just met.

Part of me is elated. A legacy of my kind is come to full life, right in front of me. My dragon soars in delight that I am now joining the lucky ones.

In my younger days, I only half-believed the stories. It took two of my business partners meeting theirs to realize that I might have a chance on finding mine.

Still. I certainly didn’t think it would happen to me.

Especially so soon, and with everything going on in my life right now.

The timing isn’t the best—a good friend’s sister is missing. And Nyve’s father-in-law is suspected of being heavily involved in the larger picture of the shit going on in the shifter community.

Is now the time to find love?

All of that stress sort of drifts to the background when I look into Kuras’ eyes and see his dragon staring back at me. When I feel where our souls fit together like a puzzle.

Kuras’ human form is quite the eyeful as well. Not only is our connection screwing with my head, but seeing how hot he is on top of it is making all my wiring spark in full force.

When I finally have the presence of mind to let him go, the physical blow of losing the connection hits me like a blow to the chest. It affects him, too, as he staggers back and is eased to sit on my stool.

Thankfully, Taran shuts Varos up before he gets all wound up to give me a hard time.

I feel like I should say something. Words are the last thing on my mind. My dragon is turning circles in my head and its excited rumbling makes it hard to think.

“Do you need something to drink?” I ask lamely.

I’m not sure, but I think I hear Varos groan. I frown at him before looking at Kuras again.

“No.” He waves a hand. “I’m fine actually. I just wasn’t expecting…you know.”

Everyone is standing around looking at us expectantly.

“Can we have a minute?” I demand.

Taran snickers and punches Nyve in the chest before encouraging everyone to mind their own business.

Austin slides a soothing hand down Kuras’ back. “You’ll be okay?”

“Yeah.” Kuras smiles up at Austin. Even though it wasn’t meant for me, it still warms my heart. This was the omega who was such a big help to Nosko and Taran. Their stories of his compassion were the topic of many conversations around the shop.

Austin drifts off, leaving us alone.

I shift to half sit on my tattoo chair. I cross my arms over my chest. It feels unnatural so I drop my arms almost immediately. “Wow, this is awkward. I wasn’t expecting… this.” I motion between us.

“Me either.” Kuras combs his fingers through his hair to push it off his forehead. I get an even better look at his green eyes. They’re the color of spring grass.

I start laughing. “I’m not really sure how to proceed. This has really caught me off guard, which isn’t that easy.”

“Well, we can start by exchanging phone numbers. I mean, we’re not supposed to get married today, right? We may not be compatible.”

Exchanging phone numbers. That’s a good start. I dig through my station to pull out a pen, paper and one of my business cards. “You can call the shop if you can’t reach my cell.”

Kuras takes it along with the paper and pen to write down his. “Since I stay on the move, my cell phone is my office when I’m not at home. Leave a message if I don’t answer. I don’t like to talk on the phone when I’m with a client.”

I take the paper. “Right. I get it. So…” motioning to Nyve, “will you be taking Austin as a client? Nosko couldn’t stop talking about you.”

“Sure. I can tell that Austin wants to do what’s best for the baby. Clients who are willing to cooperate are like gold. Nothing is worse than fighting a parent who won’t consider the health and welfare of their baby first.”

“Makes sense. We have something a little similar here.”

Kuras looks at me curiously. “Parents are like people who are getting tattoos? That’s a comparison I didn’t expect.”

“Getting a tattoo is a little like giving birth. It can be painful, the result can be beautiful if you put the time in to care for it and you can’t impose your will on how it turns out. You have to be in tune with how the product wants to happen.”

“I’m impressed.” Kuras glances around the shop. Slender fingers smooth down the arm of the chair next to my hip. “How long did you work on that?”

“Just made it up on the fly.” Even this short time together, being with Kuras feels good. Easy.

Like it was meant to be.

“Then I’m in double awe of your extemporaneous talents.”

After a beat of silence, Kuras stands and gathers his bag strap on his shoulder again. “I have an appointment so…I’ll call later?”

“Sure. I look forward to it.” We stand there in awkward silence again before Kuras gives me one more smile and leaves.

I sit there a few more minutes before I realize everyone is looking at me. “What?”

They all have these smiles on their faces and I roll my eyes.

I don’t need this.

It’s going to be bad enough that I will be seeing Kuras regularly since he’s going to be Austin’s doula. And since Austin spends a lot of time here at the shop when not at work, at Nyve’s insistence, I don’t see how I will be able to avoid seeing him regularly.

Already, I feel the pressure I do not need right now.

Needing some time to think, I head into the back of the shop. “I’m going to straighten the stock room.”

Taran must have said something to the guys because when I come back out, no one gives me any shit. Besides, they’re busy and have their own business to tend to so I can get through my client’s appointment with no stress.

We’re talking about ink care when the door to the shop chimes.

Goldie is standing there, her long Barbie blonde hair in soft curls around her face. She was the last person we expected to see as Annika’s apprentice. Goldie was about as far away from tattoo culture as any of us have ever seen.

She is a hell of a talented artist, though.

Her hand lifts in greeting to me.

“I’m almost done. We’ll grab a coffee down the street?”

She tosses her hair over her shoulder. “That’s perfect! No rush.”

After sending my client on her way with her new butterfly tattoo, I grab my jacket and we head down the sidewalk.

“How are you doing, girl?” I drape my arm around her shoulder.

Ever since she started working across the street, we see her every day. In the months we’ve known her, we’ve grown close to her and Annika both. All the guys in the shop worry about Goldie’s sister and her whereabouts.

The stress of Rayne’s disappearance is starting to take a toll on Goldie.

In a way, I can identify with her where the other guys can’t.

“Could be better,” she says, leaning into me. “We haven’t heard anything more from the kidnappers. I don’t get it. They grab her and want us to pay a ransom but then we aren’t given any instructions on how much time we have to get the money together. This…not knowing is so hard on all of us. Especially my mom. We’re all worried sick.”

“I know.” I squeeze her shoulders which sends us off balance and it makes her laugh. That’s a good sign. She’s still holding it together, even though I can start to see the stress cracks.

Goldie sighs. “It feels so lonely at the house. Not hearing her laugh, or her bad jokes or how she doesn’t know how to pick up her feet when she walks.”

“I know. You keep expecting her to come through the door with some story about what happened during the day and you get aggravated you’ve been interrupted doing something but listen anyway.” This is a feeling I know too well.

She looks up at me curiously.

“I know the pain of losing a sibling. My brother.”

“Oh, ‘Naz, I’m so sorry.”

I shrug, more to keep the painful memory pushed away than to brush her sympathy off. I don’t mean to do that but… I can’t think about what happened without it really crashing down on me. “It’s okay. Some days are better than others. But we know she’s out there and still alive. They want something from you, they just haven’t said what yet. That gives us time.”

We get settled at the table and order our coffees.

“If they take her alicorn—” Goldie hiccups on the thought, not following it any further.

I cover her hand with mine to hold her hand in comfort. “They won’t. Whoever these people are, Goldie, their agenda is not to maim us. Right now, they want to rattle us.”

“They’re doing a great job.”

“They have some bigger agenda working here. We’ll figure it out and find your sister.”

“You sound so certain.”

I’m not sure if it’s that I am certain or if it’s that I don’t want her to lose hope too early. If Rayne’s body hasn’t shown up at the morgue, then there’s hope. “We’ll find her,” I repeat.

Our coffee comes and Goldie decides to indulge with a cream cheese danish. Those are my weakness and I order one as well.

Goldie licks the cream cheese off her thumb before tearing her danish apart into small pieces. “I was thinking.”

“That’s never a good sign.”

She bumps my elbow playfully when I try to take a bite of my danish. I miss my mouth and the glaze smears across my cheek. “Asshole.”

“Asshole? I’m the one wearing my danish now.” I wipe at my face with a napkin. “What were you thinking?”

“There has to be something we can do.” She looks at me with her large pale blue eyes.

I laugh. “You don’t have to pull that on me, girl. You know if I can help, I will. Do you have a plan?”

“I have Rayne’s apartment key. Do you think maybe if we looked, we could find something like a clue?”

“I don’t think it would hurt. She wasn’t taken from her apartment, right?”

Goldie shakes her head. “No. But…I don’t know, ‘Naz, I have to do something.”

“That’s a good start. You know her best so you’ll know if anything is missing or out of order. Don’t dismiss anything, though. Take pictures, too.”

“Oh, I didn’t think to do that. Great idea.” Her mood lifts a little now that she has something proactive she can do.

It’s a start.

Goldie finishes up her danish and leaves a tip before she heads back to work. All this talk about her sister has dredged up some memories that I’m not ready to deal with. Just about the time I think I’ve gotten over Hafaz’s death, all the feelings come rushing back on me.

Thankfully, my phone buzzing with a text notification drags my attention away from my morbid thoughts. I pull it over and swipe with my pinky. It’s a text from Kuras.

I’d love to see you. Dinner tonight?

Dinner invitation.

A date?

I don’t know about this.

Part of me wants to go. This omega has me intrigued. He’s funny, sensitive, compassionate and apparently has a great amount of patience, if Nosko’s description does him justice. Just the few minutes I had with him has awakened something inside me that hungers to know more.

There’s another part that feels drained from the entire experience. It’s irrational and foolish and just plain damn stupid because we haven’t even gone out yet. We barely know each other. What if it doesn’t work out? What if what we felt wasn’t fate but good old-fashioned lust?

All the what-ifs roll around in my head until I feel a headache coming on.

I stuff my phone back in my pocket and walk back to the shop. I’ll think on it and text him later. I can’t deal with this right now.