Dax quickly flew home after receiving a message that Kian had taken Aria back to her apartment to get her things. Dax wanted to be the one to take care of her. Not Kian.

He had to pull himself together or he wasn't going to be there to protect and care for his mate. His mate. He knew she belonged to him. He didn't need some stupid computer program to tell him that. He felt it in the depths of his soul.

He arrived at the mansion within an hour and landed inside the protected perimeter of the property.

“I've learned quite a bit about human romance,” Dax said upon finding Cato in the kitchen. “Thank you for sending me the research material.”

“You're welcome.”

Dax gritted his teeth, trying not to let his inner dragon's agitation get the best of him. He didn't like this intense feeling of need that had sparked in his brain and loins. It was turning him into a different person, a person he didn't like. To court his mate, he would have to get it under control. The last thing he wanted was to scare her off. Cato sat at the kitchen table, drinking water from a glass as Aiden enthused about a band he wanted to see in the city.

“Shouldn't you be here to protect the women against the vampires?” Dax asked Aiden.

“I'm not the one who flew off and left my supposed mate to be taken care of by your prince,” Aiden growled.

“Screw you, Aiden,” Dax barked.

“That's enough,” Kian said, walking into the kitchen. “We all feel the mating impulse differently. Dax is going through a difficult time right now and we need to show compassion. Once it is proven that Aria is his mate, he can begin courting her properly.”

“I intend to begin courting her now.”

Kian let out a deep, rumbling sigh and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“You may date her,” Kian started. “But under no circumstances will you mate with her.” Kian enunciated each word to make a firm point.

“I understand,” Dax said. “Dating. No mating.”

“Let that be your motto.”

“Doesn't she have something to say about it?” Aiden sniggered.

Dax glared at him.

“Of course she does,” Kian said. “And you had best remember that, Dax.”

“I know that,” Dax sputtered. “I would never do anything to hurt her. I just don't understand humans and their customs. But I know much more now. I watched three romantic comedies and read an entire book about what women want in the bedroom.”

“Good,” Kian said. “She's in her room now. But you should probably leave her alone until morning. She's been through a lot. And human women are delicate.”

“Okay. I will leave her alone until tomorrow,” Dax said despondently.

“Gentlemen,” Cato said through their mental link. “We have company.”

Dax, Kian, and Aiden glanced at each other.

“What do you mean by company?” Kian demanded.

“We have vampires at the gate,” Cato said, flicking his fingers over his hologram. “They're making an attempt at our shields.”

Kian picked up the baby monitor off the kitchen table and spoke into it.

“Everly, I want you to take Ember and Aria to the safe room. We have vampires attempting to enter the compound.”

“Right away,” she said.

“Come now. It’s time to defend our home,” Kian said.

Dax followed his commander and his crew out onto the backyard where they quickly shifted into the dragon form and flew high above the mansion.

“Intruders at six and twelve o'clock,” Cato said through their mental link.

“Dax, you take the intruders at twelve o'clock. Aiden and Cato at six. I'm with Dax.”

Dax flew with Kian to the northernmost point of the compound and swooped down to where a dozen flitting shadows slammed against the glowing shields of the compound. They dove low, breathing fire. Vegetation burned. Dax heard a yelp. A moment later, a vampire flitted into view, smiling and laughing at him.

“You've tried to burn me a thousand times, dragon, and a thousand times you’ve failed.”

Dax swiped at him. He recognized the vampire as Victor, the leader of the coven who had kidnapped Aria. Dax roared and shifted into half-dragon form.

“You will pay for what you’ve done to the Dragon Souls,” Dax said, growling and slashing at the vampire.

Kian was in his dragon form, slashing and bashing at the shadowy vampires.

“You have better luck in half-shift form, fighting them with weapons,” Aiden said through their mental link.

Dax let his laser sword extend from his wrist device. It glowed red as he gripped it between his hands. The shadows jumped at him in an avalanche of wraiths. He danced and twirled and slashed at his foe. He was not as fast as Aiden, but still agile and strong.

Kian shifted into his half-dragon form, holding a glowing shield and a one-handed sword. He held up this shield as the vampires pounded against him and the shields guarding the compound.

“You can't break our shields,” Kian growled.

“So you say,” Victor said, flitting in and out of shadow. “But that's not going to keep us from trying.”

The shadows bashed against the compound’s shields. The shields vibrated with each bash.

“Shield strength report, Cato,” Kian said through their mental link, his teeth gritted.

“Holding at 99.9%,” Cato said.

“You'll have to try harder,” Kian said to Victor, swirling around to stab at another shadow.

“We'll find a way through your shields, dragon. Just as you found a way through our wards.”

“We haven't lost any of our strength over the last million years. You vampires have,” Dax taunted.

The vampires jumped at him, roaring angrily as they flooded Dax in shadows. The vampires overwhelmed his half-shift form and he shifted into his full dragon form, breathing fire onto the bodies as they became visible.

“This is pointless,” Aiden said. “We can’t defeat them.”

“Speak for yourself, Aiden,” Dax said.

“You aren't having any more luck than I am,” Aiden said.

“Their attacks are weaker than they were a million years ago, but we can’t touch them either. They shift into shadow and heal more quickly than they used to. We will need better offensive weapons if we want to defeat them,” Cato said.

“Any ideas Cato?” Kian asked through their mental link.

“I will enter the information into the computer and see what I can come up with,” Cato said. “Bethi, begin processing best potential weaponry against the new vampire threat.”

“Should I prioritize processing this over the mating test?”

“No,” Dax barked.

“Dax,” Kian and Cato said at the same time.

Dax became so angry and enraged that his dragon shifted into a form one quarter larger than he had been before. He saw Kian's dragon eyes grew wide as he blasted green glowing fire at the vampires. Even in their shadow forms, they shrieked and slithered away into the forest. Emboldened by his success, he continued blowing fire at the vampires.

“How about that,” Dax said through the mental link to Aiden. “Impressed now?”

The vampires slipped away into the shadows, leaving the dragons standing and watching them go.

“You scared them off,” Aiden said. “I'll give you that.”

“It looks as if the threat is over for now,” Kian said.

Back inside the mansion, Kian informed Everly that they could all leave the safe room.

“Are they gone?” Everly asked through the baby monitor.

“They are for now. We were able to disperse them.”

“Were they able to get through the shields?” Everly asked.

“No. They didn't even make a dent. You have nothing to worry about as long as you stay on the compound.”

“That's a relief.”

“I'm taking Aria and Ember back to their rooms,” Everly said.

“Well done, my love,” Kian said.

Dax looked helplessly at the baby monitor, wishing he had the same kind of relationship with Aria. But it seemed like a million miles away. She was afraid of him. And he had no idea how to woo her. Other than a few human movies he'd watched this afternoon, he had no experience with women. Kian sniffed the air and raised his eyebrow at Dax.

“You should take a shower,” Kian said. “You won't be wooing any humans smelling like that.”

Dax looked down at his still bare chest and ran his hand down his abs. He lifted his arm and smelled his under it, noting that Kian was probably right. Dax grumbled and left the kitchen, trudging upstairs to his bedroom.

He quickly jumped in the shower and washed his body and hair. When he was done, he wrapped himself in a towel. His stomach complained, and he remembered he hadn’t eaten all day.

He walked out of his room and down the hall toward the stairs, wrapped in a towel. Aria stepped out of her room just as he was passing her door. She bumped right into him, her hands grazing the damp flesh of his chest. She gasped and took a step back.

“I'm so sorry,” he said looking down at himself. “Kian has told me I need to wear clothes around the house.”

She bit her lip and gaped up at him, wide-eyed with shock.

“I hope I'm not offending you,” he said, running his hand down his chest.

“I'm not offended,” she squeaked.

Something strange and unusual glinted in her eyes. He didn't know exactly what it meant.

“I don't really know much about human women,” he said, trying not to let his growing desire show under the towel wrapped around his waist. “But I was hoping maybe we could spend some time together tonight. Maybe dinner and a movie? We have this huge theater downstairs and part of the original basement. We can watch any human movie you want. Cato can get anything. Even the ones that are still in theaters.”

“That sounds nice,” she said. “I’d like that.”

“Do you like pizza? Or Chinese food? Or how about Thai food?”

“Any of those things sounds good.”

“There's a pizza restaurant that delivers. It's not far from here. Or I can go pick it up. It only takes me a few minutes to get into the closest town in my dragon form.”

“Pizza delivery is fine,” she said, biting her lip again.

“I’d take you out, but with the vampires…I think it’s best if we lay low for a while. When I found out they had taken you, I just wanted to rip something apart.”

He felt himself getting angry again and he didn't want to lose his cool.

“I appreciate that you saved me,” she said, glancing down at the towel around his waist.

He gripped the towel, trying to cover his throbbing manhood. He was afraid it was impossible to keep it hidden. She had a sparkle of what he had wanted to believe was desire glowing in her eyes.

“That settles it then. Dinner and delivery pizza.”

“Sounds great,” she said with a giggle, slipping back into her bedroom.

Dax let out a long sigh and his shoulders relaxed. He wiped his forehead with the back of his arm.

“Whew,” he said to himself. “That was tough.”

But if he had a date with Aria, things were definitely looking up.