Gunner smiled when Aleida finally opened her eyes in the morning. He had been awake for the past hour, stroking her hair, watching her, thanking the universe for bringing her to him.

After their fun on the mountain, Aleida flew them back to the firehouse so they could sleep in a bed. Together.

He still couldn’t believe that she was his mate. A dragon shifter was his mate.

“Why are you shaking your head?” she asked when she slowly opened her eyes with a smile. Her unruly curls had taken over half of his pillow, but Gunner didn’t mind one bit.

“I just…” he said, smiling as he tucked a strand of her red hair behind her ear. How could he tell her how he really felt? He was still discovering it and still didn’t fully know. All he knew was that he was connected to her on a level that he still didn’t quite understand. He was seeing her in a whole new light, and it was flipping his world upside down.

He had been in love with Joan for so long, and the thought of finally being able to let that go was making him breathe a little easier. The pain and heartache of unrequited love had been brutal on Gunner, but now he could finally put that stage of his life to rest.

Gunner had put all of his feelings out there, and she had said no. Joan never felt the same. She had chosen Rhett over him, and it nearly killed him.

Until now. Now, he was glad that she had said no. He was relieved that she didn’t feel the same way.

Because the way he felt about Aleida, trumped any feelings he ever had for Joan.

It was beyond physical attraction, although that was there too. It felt like their souls were connected. Like their essences had merged as one.

She was his mate now, and he only had eyes for her.

“Cat got your tongue?” she asked with a smirk.

“Not exactly.” He kissed her softly on the lips and her cheeks flushed a light red. “It’s just hard to put into words what I’m feeling.”

Aleida slid her hand over his shoulder and cupped his jaw. “Then show me,” she said, shifting on the bed and pulling him down on top of her.

“That I can do,” he said as he positioned himself between her legs. They were both already naked and ready to go. In fact, Gunner had been hard for the past hour.

They were quick and quiet, making love until their bodies twisted in orgasm together. Gunner had sex with a few girls over the years, but none of them were like Aleida. They couldn’t even compare.

It went beyond physical. He was making love to his fated mate, and there was nothing more special than that.

“There’s nothing more special than waking up to pancakes,” Aleida said as she walked into the kitchen.

Gunner grinned as he followed his girl. Axel and Draven were sitting around the table while Jax cooked up some pancakes on the oven. Zane was washing the truck outside while Gwen watched.

Draven’s eyebrow raised as he watched them get some coffee. Aleida was wearing Gunner’s old Nirvana t-shirt, looking very comfortable in it.

“We, uh…” Gunner said, feeling uncomfortable under Draven’s gaze. He did just walk down after a night of sex with his alpha and boss’ sister. Gunner had been so caught up in his new found feelings for Aleida that he forgot to consider how inappropriate this was. “We bonded last night.”

Now Draven’s eyebrows really went up. “You what?”

“It’s true,” Aleida said, sliding her hand over Gunner’s bicep. “We’re mates.”

Jax grinned as he punched Gunner in the arm. “Shaggin a dragon?” he whispered. “Nice.”

Gunner was too busy trying to read Draven’s face to give his fellow lion shifter a shut-the-hell-up look.

“You and you?” Draven asked, pointing from Aleida to Gunner.

“You can’t get rid of me that easily, brother,” Aleida said with a smirk as she sat down at the table with a coffee.

“We’ll discuss this later,” Draven said, turning to his sister. “What the hell happened last night?”

“Jarin happened,” she answered with a serious face. They retold the story of how the dragon shifter burst into the barn and attacked everyone in it.

Axel was really getting into it, swinging his fists around with a wild look in his eyes. “Then I grabbed onto his ear and yanked his head toward me and said ‘hey buddy, you better vacate the premises right now or I’m going to vacate your head from your body.’”

“I must have missed that part,” Gunner said, looking at him skeptically.

“Yeah, me too,” Jax said, shaking his head. “I only remember you hiding under the table.”

The polar bear shifter turned red. “It happened,” he lied. “There was a lot going on. You guys probably just didn’t notice when it happened.”

“That makes sense,” Jax said, rolling his eyes.

“Is he going to come back?” Draven asked, ignoring the guys.

“They’re going to keep coming back,” Aleida said. “Until they’ve conquered the world. That’s what I’ve been trying to tell you. This is no joke, Dravenous. This is serious.”

“I know,” he snapped, exploding out of his chair. “I know it’s serious. But I’m not mated. I don’t have any powers like they do. What do you expect me to do?”

Mated… Powers…

“Wait a minute,” Gunner said, turning to Aleida. “You’re mated now. Does that mean you have powers?”

Her back straightened as a dawning realization passed over her face. “I must,” she whispered as she stared at him blankly. “But I don’t feel any different.”

“It appears that you have the power to be attracted to men with effeminate haircuts,” Jax said with a laugh.

Gunner pulled his long hair back into a ponytail as he frowned self-consciously.

Aleida wasn’t paying any attention. She was lost in thought.

“Well, that would level the playing field a little,” Draven said as he walked back to the table. “Not by much, but we’ll take any help we can get.”

“Does this mean?” Aleida asked, staring at her brother with a hopeful look in her eyes.

“We have visitors,” Draven said, changing the subject. Gunner looked at the glass doors and saw Rhett and Joan walking over.

Zane was in the background trying to shoo away all of the ravens that had all of a sudden landed on his clean fire truck. Rhett had an entourage of ravens that followed him everywhere. It was a skin shifter thing…

Gunner swallowed hard as he watched Joan approach. It was strange. That sight had always gotten his pulse racing and made his heart twist in his chest, but it was doing nothing to him now.

He could finally look at Joan like she was an old friend, and not a current flame wreaking havoc on his feelings.

“Good morning, Sheriff,” Draven said, nodding to Rhett as he walked in. “Joan.”

“Hi,” Joan said shyly as they walked in.

“Pancakes?” Jax asked from the stove. “They’re my specialty.”

“They suck,” Axel said, making a face of disgust.

“They’re my specialty,” Jax repeated, shooting him a glare.

“They still suck,” Axel said with a shrug.

“As tempting as that sounds,” Joan said, “we already ate. But I’d love a coffee.”

“Coming up,” Jax said, grabbing a mug. “And you, Rhett?”

The skin shifter had his hands on his hips as he stared Draven down. “Actually, I’d like to know who the hell attacked half the town and burned down Thorn’s barn.”

“And nearly killed the Sheriff,” Joan added.

Draven raised his chin. “Are you hurt, Rhett?”

“I tried to channel the dragon,” he said with a shudder. “It didn’t go as planned.”

Gunner cringed. He could still remember the horrible smell of Rhett being cooked alive.

“What happened?” Draven asked.

“It felt like my insides were on fire,” he answered with his face twisting in pain. “I would have died if Gunner hadn’t saved my life.”

Gunner swallowed hard as Rhett turned to him with a look of gratitude. Those two had been at each other’s throats since the first moment they’d met.

Gunner was ready to put their rivalry to an end. He had Aleida, and Rhett had Joan. There was no need to be enemies anymore.

“Thank you, Gunner,” Joan said softly. “For saving him.”

Gunner nodded, keeping his eyes on the ground.

“Seriously, Gunner,” Rhett said, looking at him with a new found respect. “I would have died if you hadn’t thrown yourself at the dragon. Thank you.”

He reached out his hand, offering it in a show of peace. Gunner gladly accepted it, shaking his hand and putting all of the bad blood behind them.

Joan smiled with a look of relief on her face.

“Now about this dragon,” Rhett said, turning back to Draven. “I don’t want him in my town again.”

“Neither do I,” Draven said, staring down at his coffee mug. “But I don’t know how to stop him.”

Jax brought the two guests some coffee and they sat down at the table.

They talked for awhile, trying to come up with a plan in case the gray dragon showed up again, ready to cause trouble, but they didn’t come up with any solutions.

“Just make sure to call me if he shows up again,” Rhett said as they stood up from the table.

“He’s probably on his way back to Europe,” Aleida said with a nod. “I wouldn’t worry about him.”

Gunner knew that she wasn’t serious. She probably just wanted to keep any outsiders out of her family business.

“All right,” Joan said with a raise of her shoulders. “I guess we’ll see you guys later.”

Her eyes flickered to Gunner and then quickly dropped to the floor.

“Bye, Joan,” Jax said, waving his spatula. “Tell Ashton we’re sorry his fight night got ruined.”

They said the rest of their goodbyes and headed for the door.

“By the way,” Rhett said, looking back at them over his shoulder as he left. “You guys are supposed to be the ones to put out the fires, not start them.”

“Noted,” Axel said. “Our bad.”

Gunner had something left to say to them, but he didn’t want to say it in front of everybody else. “Just give me a second,” he said, glancing at Aleida before running after them.

“Joan,” he called out as they were about to get into the police cruiser that was covered in ravens. “Rhett!”

He took a nervous breath as they both turned to him. “I just wanted to apologize,” he said, swallowing hard, “for the way I’ve been acting. Joan, you’re an amazing person, and I fell hard for you.”

Rhett grunted as he shifted uncomfortably.

“But I just wanted to tell you both that it’s over,” he said quickly. “I bonded to Aleida last night, and my feelings are gone.”

“That’s great, Gunner,” Joan said, her cheeks reddening as she nodded. “I’m so happy you found your mate.”

Rhett glanced at Joan before turning back to him. “You made it really hard for us,” he said, not as easily forgiving as his mate. “You wouldn’t leave my mate alone.”

“I know,” Gunner said, shaking his head in shame. “I should have handled it better, but I didn’t. And I’m sorry. I won’t ever bother you two again.”

Rhett’s body was rigid and he was staring at Gunner like he wasn’t sure whether to believe him or not. It’s okay if he doesn’t forgive me right away. I kind of have that coming.

“All right,” Rhett finally said in a low voice. “Let’s just start over.”

“I’d like that,” Gunner said with a nod. They shook hands once again, and then the Sheriff got into the car.

Joan walked over with a smile on her beautiful face. “I’m really happy you found the girl for you.”

“So am I,” he said, looking at her in a new light. He had been convinced for so long that she was the girl for him, but now he could see how utterly wrong he had been. “Can we be friends?”

She smiled. “I’d like that. Very much.”

He gave her a warm hug, ignoring Rhett’s groaning from inside the car, and smiled as she climbed into the car.

Gunner felt lighter, like the heavy weight of his feelings for Joan were finally off of his shoulders. He could finally breathe a little easier.

Aleida walked out and joined him as he waved at the departing car. He smiled as the flock of ravens took to the sky and followed them down the street.

“I guess I have to rewash the truck,” Zane said, shaking his head as he walked over to the hose. The windshield and hood were covered in bird shit.

“Lucky me,” Gwen said with a smile as she sat back in her chair. She loved to watch her man wash the fire truck. Probably because Zane never wore a shirt while he worked.

“Should I be jealous?” Aleida whispered as she slipped her hand into Gunner’s. She rested her cheek on his shoulder as she watched the car turn off the street with the cloud of birds following.

“You shouldn’t think about her again,” Gunner said.

“As long as you don’t,” she said, squeezing his arm. “What can I say? I’m a greedy bitch and I want you all to myself.”

“You got me,” he said, smelling the fruity scent of her hair. “Whether you want me or not.”

She took a deep breath, squeezing a little closer to him. “I want you.”

He kissed her hair. “Good. Whatever was there is gone now. You scorched it the second you flew into my life.”

“It better be gone,” she said, looking up at him with a playful smirk. “Or I’ll scorch you.”

It was gone. Gunner was sure of it now.

“Let’s go do the dishes,” she said, pulling him back in the direction of the firehouse. “Then maybe we can go back to the mountain… you know, to look for clues.”

“Right,” Gunner said, grinning at her as his blood started pumping. “Clues.”

He opened the door for her but a chilling scream ripped through the air before she could step in.

Gunner whipped his head around just in time to see Zane phasing into his Kodiak bear as Gwen ran inside her shop.

Draven, Axel, and Jax exploded out of their seats, spilling coffee and dropping the forks in their hands as they rushed outside. Gunner looked around, ready to phase at any moment.

Jarin slowly walked out from behind the fire truck with a wicked smile on his face.

“Good morning everybody,” he said casually. “Now where the hell is my brother?”