Cammie studied Alex as they ate dinner, her eyes narrowed. He’d been acting strangely for the last two days, and she couldn’t figure it out. She caught him staring at her with what looked like worry and apprehension a few times, but when she asked him if anything was wrong, he’d quickly turn his eyes away and say he was just trying to figure something out. His voice rang with clear, honest notes, but still… something more was going on.

And at night, he made love to her with a desperation that quite frankly scared her. She knew something was going on, but what? She tried talking herself down, because really, she knew Alex well enough to know he felt the same way she felt for him. At least, she hoped he did.

He couldn’t know how rare and life changing a mate was, because he was human, and she never explained what being a mate meant. She hadn’t wanted to get into it, because he’d wonder why she wasn’t claiming him. He might get offended, or try to talk her into doing it. It was the last part that scared her, because she wanted to claim him so badly, it might not be very hard to do. She prided herself on how strong she was, but she could admit to herself she was weak when it came to Alex. More like a newborn kitten, and less like a dragon.

And while she was admitting things to herself, it was time to admit she was falling in love with him. Hell, not falling. She was already there. Finding a mate wasn’t always a guarantee of love, at least not right away. And though it happened fast for shifters, love still took some time. Or maybe it really didn’t, and it just took the human side longer to catch up to the animal side. Either way, she could admit to herself that both sides felt it now.

Now this. As if she didn’t have enough to worry about, what with the very real possibility Alex could get killed because of her, now she had to worry about whatever it was he was trying to figure out. It would break her heart and crush her dragon’s spirit if he decided he didn’t want to be with her and left. But she wouldn’t try to stop him if that’s what he really wanted. Getting out of here, and away from her, was really what was best for him. She wasn’t strong enough to deny him if he wanted her, but she could be strong enough to let him go, if that’s what he wanted.

Looking up from her plate where she was idly pushing mashed potatoes around, her eyes widened as she watched Alex push back from the table, taking his plate to the sink. They hadn’t sat down very long ago, so he must have scarfed his food down. He turned around and hesitated before speaking.

“Can I still use your car tonight, Seth?”

Wait, what?

“Sure, man,” he replied, talking around a mouth full of food. “Keys are on the table by the door.”

Nodding, Alex looked at her and gave her a strained smile before swiftly walking out of the kitchen. A moment later, the front door banged shut, and the sound unfroze her vocal chords.

“You’re letting him use your car? Your precious classic you won’t let anyone else drive?” she asked Seth, eyebrows high. “Where the hell is he even going?”

Seth shrugged and shoveled food into his mouth. “I don’t know. He just asked to use it and I said okay.”

Eyes shooting to Ian, she scowled. “And you’re okay with this?” she asked in disbelief.

“No reason not to be,” he replied in a soothing tone that just served to pissed her off more. “It didn’t take long at all for my shifter gift to kick in with him, and I’ve known he was a good guy from almost the beginning. Something you obviously think as well, or you never would have gotten involved with him. Whatever reason he came here looking for us, it wasn’t to harm us.”

“So if you knew from the beginning he meant us no harm, why did you make me watch him the night of the fight?” she demanded. “That was two weeks after we brought him here.”

“Because I could tell there was something between the two of you, and you were being stubborn as usual, and resisting. I wanted you to spend some time with him, get to know him,” he replied with a half-smile, not even having the decency to look embarrassed.

“You were fucking matchmaking?” she asked, incredulous.

“Language,” he said in an admonishing tone, tilting his head toward Shelby, who was looking on in fascination.

“Hey, maybe it doesn’t matter. Alex could have been on his way to meet his side piece. Or hell, maybe you were the other woman,” Seth joked.

Eyes shooting to him, Cammie glared death daggers, knowing her eyes were full dragon. Seth loved to tease, and she knew that’s all he was doing now, but he just took it too far. “Meet me in the barn in five minutes,” she spat, her throat burning from her dragon’s fire, a puff of smoke escaping while she talked.

She shoved her chair back, the noise almost drowning out his groan, and marched upstairs to change her clothes. After putting on a tank top and yoga pants, she braced her arms on the dresser and took a few deep breaths, hoping to calm herself some before she kicked Seth’s ass. He was an idiot, but she wanted to teach him a lesson, not kill him.

Feeling marginally more in control of herself, she headed out to the barn where the crew was already gathered.

“Cammie, I’m sorry,” Seth said as soon as she walked in. “I was trying to lighten the mood, but I shouldn’t have joked about something like that. I didn’t mean it. Alex wouldn’t cheat on you. Anyone with eyes can see how crazy he is about you.”

Shaking her head, she hooked her hands on her hips. “I never thought he would cheat on me. This isn’t about me believing it. It’s all good and well to lighten the mood, but you crossed a line that time. This is about pounding it into you that you need to think about shit before you speak.”

Shame crossed his face. “I know I crossed a line. I really am sorry.”

“And I forgive you, but this fight is still happening. Besides, I still owe you for that ‘little lady’ comment you made a couple weeks ago.”

Jax smirked. “I knew she wouldn’t let that slide. All right, let’s get on with this so Cammie can kick Seth’s ass. I need to go work on my music.”

Shooting him a dirty look, Seth took his place in their sparring area, determination in his eyes. Good. She didn’t want him to let her win out of a misplaced sense of guilt. She wanted a fight. She squared up to him and they circled each other before Seth kicked out.

She effortlessly dodged the blow, immediately throwing her arm out in a right hook that caught him under the chin. He stumbled back a moment and shook his head, rushing into his next move without thinking, and she sighed inwardly. This wasn’t going to be much of a fight. It never really was with him. He was a good fighter, but Seth was too hung up on masculine pride, and it stung his ego when a female got a hit in. So he got too reckless and took stupid risks, unlike Jax or Ian, who treated her as if they were fighting another man.

At least it was better than it used to be, all around. Until a couple years ago, when Cammie became truly skilled at fighting, Ian had a ban on any of them actually throwing punches at her. She always found it annoying as hell, because even back when she wasn’t very good, her speed meant they couldn’t catch her. Sparring was much better sport now that the ban was lifted, but it was still sometimes too easy.

Tonight was one of those times. But she drew the fight out anyway. For one, Seth needed to be taught a lesson, and she was in a mood to beat it into him, literally. And two, she needed this. Needed the endorphins fighting gave her, needed the worry and all the thoughts to stop, at least for a brief moment in time. And this was the best way to go about it.

Fifteen minutes later, she’d had enough, and was straddling his back, her arm wrapped around his neck, pulling back. He struggled for a moment but was unable to dislodge her, finally tapping out, and she let him go, standing up and grabbing a towel to wipe her face and neck.

Seth grumbled his way out of the barn, Jax following behind, and she arched an eyebrow at Ian, who lingered. She took a sip of her water, waiting on him to say what he wanted to say.

“I sometimes forget how quick you can be. But I think even if speed wasn’t your gift, you’d still be able to beat us.”

“Of course I could,” she replied with a cocky smile that quickly turned wistful. “I miss it. I wish there were female fighters around here.”

“I know you do. I wish we hadn’t had to leave Washington, but Eagle Creek is close to Shelby’s tribe, and is the best place to raise her, and—”

“I know,” she said with a shake of her head. “I miss fighting, but I love it here, I really do. And if you didn’t move us here, I might not have met Alex. I mean, maybe I would have, since he was looking for us. But I might not have, and I’ll never regret moving here for that alone.”

Nodding as he studied her, he asked, “So you’re not mad at me for trying to give you an opportunity to spend some time with Alex?”

“No, not really. I think us being together was inevitable from the moment he showed up here, but I might have wasted a lot more time if you hadn’t done that.”

He moved forward and clapped a hand to her shoulder before he left the barn. “You’re welcome,” he said over his shoulder.

She rolled her eyes at his back, and walked to the bench, sitting down with a heavy exhale. No, she couldn’t be mad at Ian for pushing her and Alex together, and she’d never regret getting so close to her mate. She just wished she knew what the hell was up with him lately.

Alex blew out a breath as he turned onto the driveway of Bear Claw Ranch. He finally remembered this morning why he’d been able to escape notice with Ivan and his crew, and he thought it explained a lot about why his dragon was so absent when he first woke up.

He’d taken some kind of suppressant, needing to suppress his dragon while he was trying to find Ivan’s weakness. He never would have gotten into the compound if they knew he was a shifter, or been able to work so closely with them when there was a risk they could see his dragon eyes. It left him feeling vulnerable, but he took what basically amounted to spy lessons from an ex-CIA agent for three months, to make sneaking around without getting busted easier. He didn’t want to get caught when he couldn’t access his dragon.

And that made his actions when he snuck to the barn and eavesdropped on the fighters make sense. Stealth came naturally to him because he lived it for fourteen long months, first while he was training, and then while he was at the compound.

His eyebrows twitched as he thought about the suppressant. He hadn’t expected it to last so long. He took his last dose two weeks before he left to get to Cammie. And that made him realize he couldn’t have done anything to Ivan once he found his weakness. He couldn’t risk them knowing about his dragon without an exit strategy, and he never really had one. And they never would have let him out of there alive. He was never given any pertinent information, like that they were shifters at all, but he didn’t see that stopping Ivan. Disposing of him was probably Ivan’s plan all along, once Alex fulfilled his purpose there, regardless of what Alex did or didn’t know.

Since he didn’t know the full effects of the suppressant, he was coming to talk to the one person he knew of who had taken it and knew what it felt like to come off it. His sister and Cammie weren’t the only female dragons Ivan had had in his sights. On one of his skulking missions, he overheard Ivan talking about a female dragon called Adara. Apparently, Adara’s uncle forced her to take the suppressants for years, saying he wanted to hide her dragon status and keep her safe from hunters.

And then the bastard turned around and sold her to a monster like Ivan. Alex shook his head in disgust. Doing that canceled out years of keeping her safe. Luckily for her, she escaped from her home before Ivan could get to her. By the time he managed to find her again, she was mated to a shifter here in Eagle Creek. That might or might not have been enough to deter him, but it was a moot point anyway. Ivan found out about Daria soon after, and set his sights on her.

The thought of Ivan being aware this town existed made his blood run cold, but Alex didn’t think he would look in the same place for Cammie. Dragons usually tended to live away from other dragons. But Adara living in Eagle Creek was turning out to be a good thing for Alex. He could ask Adara his questions about the suppressants he took and hopefully get some answers. As long as they let him in the door, that is.

Adara was nervous on the phone when he called this morning, he could tell. She agreed to see him this evening, and though it left him with little time to think of a legit reason to leave Rocky River, he couldn’t hesitate in case she changed her mind. He was going to have some explaining to do when he got back to Cammie, but he had to do this. He didn’t want to go to her with the truth until he knew everything, even if the details seemed insignificant in the face of his status as a dragon.

Alex slowly rounded a bend in the driveaway, taking in the huge log home. It was impressive, but he didn’t have time to appreciate it right now. He’d driven as slow as possible up the driveway, hoping to steady his nerves a little, but it would look odd or suspicious if he continued to do so. Putting on a little speed, he pulled up to the house and parked. Inhaling deeply, he got out of the car and strode toward the door. It opened as he was reaching the top of the porch steps, and a tall, muscular man with a scar on his cheek stepped out. They looked at each other in silence for a few moments, and then the man met Alex’s eyes, his glare hot enough to burn a hole in him.

“I’m Jared, Adara’s mate. She told me about you coming over here, and I have to tell you, I don’t like this one fucking bit. If I answered the phone this morning, you wouldn’t be here now. But she insists on talking to you, and I can’t dissuade her from it. But if you upset her, I’ll pull your insides from your body through your mouth. And if you breathe a word of her animal, or even her existence, or that of my kids, to anyone, I’ll make you wish you were dead before I kill you for real, dragon or not. Your animal doesn’t scare me.”

“Jared!” A feminine drawl, not unlike Cammie’s, sounded from behind the other man. “Good Lord. Stop threatening the poor man and let him in.”

Jared glared at him for a heartbeat longer, then turned and opened the screen door, walking through it. He let it bang shut without waiting on Alex, and leaned down to give the woman a swift kiss and a muttered, “Be careful,” before stalking down the hallway. Moments later, a tall woman with long blonde hair opened the door and smiled hesitantly at him.

“You must be Alex. I’m Adara. Come in, and don’t mind my mate. He didn’t mean it.”

Smiling wryly, he walked inside. “Oh, I don’t know about that. I rather thought he did.”

She half-smiled. “Yeah, he probably did. I’m not much worried about myself, but I second what he said about my girls. If I think for a second you mean them harm, or if you let their existence slip to anyone, I’ll let him have at you, then I’ll burn your body and dance around the ashes before I devour them.”

Eyebrows high, he rushed to reassure her. “Adara, I’m not here for you or your kids. I mean none of you any harm. You’re a shifter, so you can hear the truth in my voice. I just have some questions, but like I said on the phone, they have nothing to do with you, your family, or your life here.”

“Yes, I can hear that’s the truth. Just know the threat still stands, in case you decide to change your mind. Okay, follow me.”

Turning, she walked toward a hallway to the left, and he followed behind her. She’d threatened him with a pleasant expression on her face, a smile affixed to her lips the whole time, but the look in her eyes said she was deadly serious. His respect for her, as well as her mate, kicked up a few notches.

They walked into a living room, and she gestured for him to sit. He did so, clasping his hands together and staring at them, suddenly unsure where to start. She waited patiently for him to gather his thoughts, and he finally looked up and met her light blue eyes.

“I guess I’ll start with how I knew where you were. I had some unfortunate dealings with a dragon, Ivan. No, to be honest, I was spying on him. He was the cause of my sister’s death, and I was looking for a weakness, something I could use to my advantage to exact vengeance. I heard him ranting one day about how he found a female dragon before my sister. He said she’d been taking something to suppress her dragon, and her uncle sold her whereabouts to him. But when he got there, to Louisiana where she lived, she was already gone.”

Adara held up a trembling hand, her eyes a silvery blue with sapphire diamonds, like a night sky, and full dragon. “Wait. This has to be me you’re talking about. When was this? When was he looking for me?”

“I overheard him about four months ago, but don’t worry. I think you’re safe.”

“You think?” she asked in disbelief, voice a few octaves higher than normal. “This is my children’s safety we’re talking about. I need more than ‘think’.”

“No, you misunderstand. I didn’t answer that well. I overheard him talking four months ago, but this happened years ago. I’ll be honest, he tracked you here, but when he found out you were already mated, he turned his sights elsewhere. He has another female dragon in mind.”

“Oh, thank God,” she said, slumping in her seat. “That sounded horrible. I’m not happy about him finding another female dragon, but you have to understand. I have twin girls,” she said, giving him a meaningful look.

It took him a second, but her meaning became clear. “Both dragons?” he asked in surprise.

She nodded her head in confirmation. “Both dragons. They’re young yet, only two, but it’s never too early to start worrying about things like that.”

“No, it’s definitely not,” he replied, thinking back to his parents’ instant fear when their daughter revealed dragon pupils only hours after birth.

“You’re different than the male dragons I was warned about my whole life. I knew my uncle lied about many things during my life, or overexaggerated at the very least, but I didn’t think he stretched the truth about the males of our species.”

“He didn’t,” he said earnestly. “I’m a rarity for our kind, not the norm. My parents raised me differently than most males are brought up. So don’t underestimate how brutal the men can be, and don’t relax your guard with your daughters. I’m not sure there are many as persistent as Ivan, who have the means of getting what they want, but you never know. My sister and I… our parents did everything they could to keep her safe, but even though we took precautions, she and I still relaxed our guards, and she was killed because of it. Don’t raise them to fear their own shadows, but make sure they understand how vitally important this is.”

Adara opened her mouth to reply, but she paused as two tiny shrieks, and the sound of running feet came from beyond the closed door.

“You two little imps get back here. Stop fighting over that toy, you both have plenty,” came Jared’s exasperated voice. A masculine shout sounded, and booted feet were the next to pound past the doorway. “Ava Chelsea Montgomery, what have I told you about using your fire in the house? You’re in big trouble, missy.”

A faint giggle reached their ears, and eyes dancing, Adara looked at him with a laugh. “Does that sound like children who are afraid of their own shadows? And trust me, we pound into them how important it is to tell no one what they are. I can’t see them ever losing the spark they have, and I pray they never do.” Sobering, she said softly, “I’m so sorry about your sister. And I hope this Ivan guy never finds who he’s looking for.”

“Thanks,” he replied, after clearing his tight throat. “Daria will always be missed. And though he’s looking for his newest find, he hasn’t found her yet. I was his tech guy and hacker, so I know that for sure. At least, he hadn’t found her when I left around five weeks ago. But who he’s looking for… well, it’s Cammie.”

She gasped, eyes wide. “Cammie? Cammie with the fighters?”

“Yes,” he confirmed grimly. “And she’s my mate. That’s why I need as much information as I can get, so I have a better chance at protecting her.”

“Of course. I’ll help in any way I can.”

“In order to get close to Ivan, I had to pretend to be human, and I took the same suppressants you did to make sure my eyes didn’t give me away. My last dose was about seven weeks ago, but I just started really becoming aware of my dragon not even two full days ago. How long was it until you had full use of your dragon after your last dose?”

“It took over three months before I felt her stirring in me again, longer than that until I could shift.” She saw the alarm on his face, and rushed to reassure him. “Don’t freak out. I was on them for around nineteen years, give or take. I was forced to take more and more of them because I was starting to develop immunity, so there was a ton in my system. It took a while for them to wear off. If you can feel your dragon already, you’re in much better shape than I was in.”

“I’m not so sure of that,” he replied with a heavy exhale. “I had amnesia. I haven’t ever heard of a shifter who had that. And I saw how I looked when I woke up after the wreck. My head had a huge lump on it, and that was a week after I wrecked. Hell, I didn’t even realize I was a shifter at all until two days ago. I knew about shifters instinctively somehow, but I had none of the traits. I worry I screwed my animal up by taking it.”

“The suppressants do that. When they suppress the animal, they suppress everything the animal gives to us. I had hardly any shifter traits. No enhanced vision, strength, speed. I couldn’t hear lies clearly, and my healing was much slower than that of a normal shifter. It was still accelerated to a degree, but it was just a notch or two above a human’s. The only thing I retained was my gift. I’m gonna guess you probably took more damage to your head in the wreck than you thought you did, or maybe you hit it the wrong way. It’s possible you might not even have survived if you hadn’t been a shifter.”

Frowning thoughtfully, he nodded slowly. “My gift has been present from almost the beginning, as well, though I didn’t realize what it was. And I guess that’s possible. I didn’t think I took much of the damage in the wreck, but I know Hannah almost died. I haven’t even seen the car since it happened.”

“From what I’ve been able to gather from other shifters, taking the suppressants after a lifetime of having the advantages your animal gives you can leave you even more vulnerable than a human. And head wounds can be tricky, so less vehicle damage doesn’t necessarily mean you walked away less unscathed than she did. But I can call Frank, the sheriff, and ask him where the car is so you can go check it out.”

“Really? That would be amazing,” he told her gratefully. “Wait, I can’t be found here. I created a fake identity to use with Ivan’s human lackey when I was hired, but my car is in my name, and you can never be too careful when it comes to him. I don’t want to be what leads him to Eagle Creek.”

“Don’t worry, Frank’s discreet. He’s human, but he knows about us, and understands the need for secrecy. It’s because of him that you’ll find no record of your wreck anywhere. Give me just a second and I’ll get you the info,” she said, pulling out her cell phone and dialing a number. She spoke for a few moments before grabbing a notepad and pen, writing something down. “Here you go. That’s the address where your car is. It’s not damaged too much, but it’s at the junkyard. He thought that would be less conspicuous than leaving it at the impound. He said to tell the person at the desk you’re a friend of his, and they’ll show you where it’s at.”

Reaching out, he took the paper from Adara and looked at the address. “Thanks for taking the time to talk to me, Adara. I really appreciate it.”

“Is there anything else you need, or do you have any other questions?”

He stood, shaking his head. “That was basically it. I just wanted to be here in person when I asked, so you could see for yourself I don’t have bad intentions for the info. And I wanted to warn you about making sure you keep to yourself. I don’t see Ivan coming after you, since you’re mated and he has new quarry, but you can never be too careful.”

Adara walked him to the door. “I really appreciate the warning. Like I said before, I’m not too worried about myself. It’s my girls who need the most protection. Good luck with everything.”

“You, too. Thanks again.”

He walked outside, heading to Seth’s bright orange ’68 Charger. It was a little flashy for his tastes, but it was a beautiful car, and drove like a dream. He looked at the slip of paper Adara wrote the address down on, and decided to go there now. It would give him an excuse for leaving Rocky River tonight, if nothing else.

Starting the car and driving toward town, he prayed Cammie could accept the excuse. He was struggling to act like everything was okay, to not give anything away until he figured out how to tell her the truth, but he knew he was failing miserably. She was becoming more concerned, and more suspicious, with every passing moment, he could tell. No, no more stalling. His time for figuring things out was at an end. He knew it all now, so no more excuses. Tonight when he got back to Rocky River, he was sucking it up and coming clean. He had to. He couldn’t keep lying to her, and he had to tell her before she figured it out on her own.

But more importantly, she needed to know Ivan was looking for her. Alex would take no chances with her safety. And if he could claim her, it might stop this altogether. Ivan left Adara alone when he learned she was mated to a shifter, and he prayed he would do the same if Cammie was mated. As long as she let it happen. She might be too hurt to stay with him at all, much less agree to them claiming each other, mates or not.

Blowing out a breath, Alex tried to steady his nerves. This was going to be the hardest thing he ever did, because he knew he’d probably lose her. But he had no other choice. So this was it. He was telling her all tonight, baring his heart and soul to her, sink or swim. It was go time.