Dax set Aria down on the soft grass with Charlie clutched in her pocket. She checked him gingerly as she landed. He was all right, if a little shaken and nervous. She hummed a few notes of her song to him, and he settled down. The other three dragons landed around them, shifting into their human forms.

“It's open war now,” Aiden said.

Dax held his arm around Aria’s waist. She stepped away from him. Even though something inside her called out to the warmth he offered, he was a stranger. Not only that, he was a supernatural creature she hadn’t even known existed until a few hours ago.

“They can't touch us,” Dax said.

“Cato, fortify our shields. We need to be at two hundred percent,” said the dragon who must have been their leader.

“They have no magic that can match our technology,” Aiden said.

“There may be variables we don't know about,” Cato said.

“You're scaring Aria. We need to get her inside,” Dax said. “Come on, Aria. I’ll take you somewhere you can rest, and I’ll introduce you to Kian's mate and daughter.” Dax cocked his head toward the crew’s leader.

“Mate?”

“Yes. His…wife, is what a human would call it. She is a Dragon Soul, like you,” Dax told her as they proceeded toward a two-story, modern mansion.

“What is a Dragon Soul?”

“We’ll explain everything soon,” said Kian. “Let's get you inside.”

The five of them walked along a stone path. The mansion’s big windows looked out on the backyard, filled with blooming cherry trees. Pink petals fluttered on the air. They went through the back door into a well-appointed chef’s kitchen.

“This is a nice house,” Aria said, thinking of her own tiny studio apartment in the city.

“Your bedroom is upstairs,” Dax said.

“You already have a bedroom ready for me?” she asked, her discomfort surging. “How did you know about me anyway?”

“We been tracking the vampires’ movement since our last raid of their compound. I planted a device while we were there and identified you as a Dragon Soul from the video feed.”

“Oh,” she said, nodding. She supposed that made sense. If any of this made sense.

They continued through the kitchen into a big open living room where a pretty, curvaceous woman sat on her knees in front of a baby in a bouncy chair. The child shrieked with glee as the woman shook a rattle for her.

“Aria, this is Everly, Kian's mate. And the baby is Ember, his daughter.”

“It's so nice to meet you,” Everly said, standing and hurrying across the space between them to reach for Aria’s hand.

Aria accepted the handshake and the two women grasped hands briefly before Everly reached up and patted Aria on the shoulder. Aria appreciated the gentle touch from another woman. Even if she was still nervous and confused about everything that was going on. Everly's presence did help her relax. She seemed very sweet and genuine.

“You're going to love it here,” Everly said. “The guys will protect you. They have done a wonderful job of taking care of me.”

“You just have to remember to stay inside the perimeter of our shields. Outside of our shields, we have no way of preventing a vampire attack,” Kian said.

“The perimeter of our property is now marked on all sides. So, you will be able to see if you are about to cross out of the safe zone,” Cato said.

“Come on, Aria. I'll take you upstairs to your room,” Everly said, picking up Ember from her bouncy seat. “You guys stop standing around staring.”

“I was going to take her,” objected Dax.

“She needs to rest, remember? Now go swim some laps or something and cool off,” Everly teased.

Dax clenched his fists. Aria followed Everly up the stairs and glanced over her shoulder. She watched Dax hurry out of the living room. She almost wanted to go after him.

Everly led her upstairs through a hallway decorated in feminine touches. Everly held Ember on her hip and opened a door at the end of the hall. Inside, Aria was in awe with the splendor of the room. Gauzy curtains draped a canopy bed with delicately spiraling posts.

A big bay window with a window seat looked out on the sprawling grounds below. Pink cherry blossoms fluttered about in the air. A vanity fit for a princess and a lavish armoire sat against the walls. A desk and a laptop sat against another window, and if she wasn't mistaken, the walk-in closet was full of clothes.

“This is for me?” Aria asked.

“We've been preparing it for you since we found out you were at the vampires’ estate. Dax was ready to go and get you immediately. Kian knew they needed to analyze the vampires’ wards before leaving. Otherwise, it could have been bad.”

“We were almost trapped inside,” Aria said taking Charlie out of her pocket. “The wards burned Cato’s hand before they were broken.”

“Who's that little guy?” Everly asked walking over and gazed down at Charlie in Aria's palms.

Ember reached out with a giggle and tried to swat at the bird. Aria protectively brought him back against her chest.

“This is Charlie. I'm nursing him back to health.”

She hummed a few notes of her song for Charlie, careful that Everly wouldn’t notice what she was doing. She inspected the room, trying to find a place to put him. Then she saw a decorative birdcage in the corner and couldn't believe her luck. She walked over and put him at the bottom of the cage and then glanced back at Everly.

“You don't happen have birdseed around here, do you?”

“In fact, we do have some birdseed down in the kitchen. I just installed some birdfeeders on the grounds outside. Ember loves to watch them flying and listen to them sing. I'll go down to get some.”

Everly disappeared with Ember. Aria was left by herself in the massive, luxurious bedroom. She walked around with her hands clasped behind her back, not sure of what to think. She sat on the bed and groaned at how comfortable the mattress was. She stood up and made her way to the closet.

She thought she'd seen racks of clothes inside but couldn't be sure until she turned on the light. She found the room packed with all kinds of outfits in various colors for different occasions. Her eyes went wide at the sight of it, and her mouth dropped. She shook her head.

“This can't be for me,” she said to herself. Then she checked the size and saw that the wardrobe would fit her perfectly.

Just then the door opened. Everly walked in holding a small sack of birdseed and a little bowl for water.

“I brought some containers for the seeds and for water,” she said.

Everly set Ember down on a fluffy white carpet and poured seed into one of the bowls. Everly opened a door that led into a full bathroom with a soaker tub and a stone tiled standing shower. Aria gaped at it.

“Is that bathroom for me, too?” she asked. “That’s almost as big as my apartment.”

Ember sat on the rug, clapping her hands and giggling.

“Oh yes, this is your suite,” Everly said. “And those are your clothes. Cato analyzed your size, and Aiden and I shopped for them.”

“This is too generous,” Aria said. “What do I have to do in exchange for it?”

“You don't have to do anything,” Everly said, walking out of the bathroom with a little container of water.

Everly handed the containers of water and seed to Aria and Aria put them inside the cage for Charlie. He waddled over and began to pick at the seeds. Aria let out a sigh of relief, and her shoulders relaxed.

“There,” she said to Charlie. “That's better.”

She went back to the closet and began to pull out clothes. She'd never had even one piece of designer clothing and now she had a closet full of it.

“This can't be right,” she said. “Why would they give me all of this?”

She slipped on a soft, camel-colored leather jacket and ran her hands over the sleeves. She purred at the softness of the leather and let out a contented sigh. She walked into the bedroom where Everly was playing with Ember on the rug.

“Because you’re a Dragon Soul,” Everly said.

“What is a Dragon Soul?” Aria asked, turning back into the walk-in closet.

She picked up a green dress that would bring out the green of her eyes, accentuate her pale skin, and make her light brown hair seem lustrous. She shut the half door of the closet, so she could continue talking to Everly, and slipped into the new lingerie, the dress and the jacket. She then perused the line of shoes closet and picked a pair of knee high boots. She walked out into the room and twirled around.

“That looks amazing,” Everly said. “There's all kinds of hair products and makeup in the bathroom if you want it.”

“What is a Dragon Soul exactly?” she asked again.

“Maybe I should let the guys explain that to you. I only know so much. I've only been with them a few weeks.”

“Dax said you were Kian's mate. It’s like his wife. But you’ve only been here a few weeks?”

“That’s right. Being a mate is kind of like being a wife, but much deeper. It’s a bond that can't be broken. Kian is everything I've ever wanted in a man and much more,” Everly said wistfully, pulling Ember into her lap.

“But you’ve only been with them a few weeks. Ember's not your daughter?”

“She is my daughter. But I didn't give birth to her. The Dragoness Prime did.”

“Wow. Dragoness Prime? This all just gets more complicated.”

“Okay,” Everly said, tapping her lip. “I’ll try to explain it to you. But I might not get it all right. The guys downstairs are dragons. Fire dragons to be exact. They are the last members of the House of Flames, a clan of fire dragons from a distant planet. Their home solar system is on the other side of the galaxy. They had to leave their planet because their sun died. As the sun faded, the female dragon birth rate declined until there was only one female left.

“She was a Female Prime. Meaning, she could mate with any male, and didn’t have to find a fated mate. The leaders of each house sent her their seed and she became pregnant with their dragonkin. Ember is one of her children. The strain was too much for her, and she died soon after the eggs were hatched.”

“That’s so sad,” Aria said.

“I know. It makes me tear up every time I think about it. She was valiant and brave. The guys have the deepest respect and gratitude for her sacrifice. Especially Kian.”

“Then what happened?”

“Only moments before the sun died, members of each house escaped. Some of the population decided to remain. You need to ask Kian about that. It seems that old world politics were extremely rigid.

“Those few who fled searched the galaxy for a new home. They found Earth. That was a million years ago. Finding a primitive planet, they seeded the land with the souls of their ancestors. They sprinkled their DNA throughout the planet, hoping that someday Dragon Souls would be born.

“Then just a few months ago, the ship of the House of Flames emerged from deep underwater. The crew came out of stasis. Kian put an ad in the paper for a nanny, and here I am.”

“Those guys were asleep under the water for a million years?”

“That's correct.”

“And they’re aliens?”

“Dragon shifter aliens to be exact.”

“I saw the dragon shifter part,” Aria said, scratching her head. She glanced down at her outfit and sat down with Everly. “They’re generous dragon shifters,” Aria muttered.

“Oh, they have a massive hoard of gold and treasure. All those outfits in your closet are nothing. I wouldn't worry about it.”

“I am one of these Dragon Souls like you? Part of my DNA developed from when the dragons seeded the planet with the souls of their ancestors?”

“That’s right. Cato did an analysis on you while you were still captive and determined you’re a Dragon Soul. Unfortunately, the vampires can also recognize Dragon Souls and prefer to feed on them. The guys are really protective of humanity, especially Dragon Souls. So, they went to rescue you.”

“How did you become Kian’s mate?”

“Oh, yes. Me and Kian,” she said with a wistful sigh. “Each dragon has a fated mate. It's the woman who is perfect for him in every way. And I am Kian's fated one. And he is mine. He knew it from the start, he’s told me. But they have to do this thing called a genetic match with their computer.”

“What about the vampires?”

“Oh yes, I forgot about them. Well, I guess the vampires were the dragon’s ancient enemy before they left their planet. When they woke up, they found that their old enemies were here. They did some computer analysis and figured out that without the dragons there to stop them, the vampires probably devoured every creature in their home quadrant.

“They would have had to find a new place to live. So maybe ten thousand years ago, the vampires ended up here. Nobody knows where the vampires were between when they devoured their quadrant and when they ended up on Earth. There's a few theories. Maybe that they were caught in a black hole or they were devouring some other planets. But Cato doesn't have any answers for that.”

“That's very interesting,” Aria mused, feeling more and more nervous with every word Everly spoke. “What about this whole mating thing?”

“I know Dax believes you are his.”

“Dax thinks I'm his mate?” Aria said, fear tingling down her spine. “Is he going to expect me to…mate with him?”

“I shouldn't have said anything about that,” Everly said, biting her lip.

“What will he do if I don’t want to mate with him?”

“I’ve heard it theorized that if they don't find a mate at some point, their inner dragon will cause them to go insane, if not die.”

“Dax is going to die unless I mate with him?”

“Well, probably not. I mean they don't know for sure. It’s just their theory.”

Aria sat down in the chair, taking in everything Everly had said.

“This is too much.”

“Just focus on taking care of yourself and making yourself comfortable. I know that's what the guys want. Nobody is going to force you to do anything. Dax can be a little uncivilized. And he’s been acting really aggressive since he first saw you. But nobody will take advantage of you. I promise. We're all going to be looking out for you.”

“I appreciate that,” Aria said, feeling a tight ball gather in her stomach.

This couldn't be happening. Everly seemed nice, but everything she’d said was really frightening. Aria felt a certain sort of attraction to Dax, but she’d just been kidnapped by vampires and then kidnapped again by dragons. The dragons were definitely nicer. But it seemed to her that she'd never be able to go back to her old life again. She missed the old folks in the nursing home and wanted to go back to helping them.

She didn't want to live a life trapped in a mansion. It was a really nice place and Everly did seem sweet. Ember was adorable. But none of these things had been her choice or her decision. As nice as everything was, she couldn't accept that these creatures were making all her decisions for her now.