I was becoming accustomed to living in my room, or so I told myself.

The presence of a television was helpful, though I’d never watched much of it in my previous life.

My previous life. That was how it seemed. Every passing day put me further away from that time. I had taken everything for granted—my dragon, my security, the happiness I had managed to create for myself. The happiness of knowing who I was and knowing my place in the clan.

What was happening to me? I’d lost my dragon and my nerve at the same time. Perhaps the dragon was my nerve, my courage, my strength. Perhaps I was nothing without her.

I’d taken up quite a bit of binge-watching as a result.

My body cried out for activity. I had once spent hours at a time flying, swimming, running. I used to hunt in the old days, before there was such a thing as radio or any other entertainment. I’d spent most of my life outside; Alan and our parents had teased, claiming I’d forgotten that we were supposed to live in the caves and not outdoors.

There was a fine line to walk. I couldn’t spend all of my waking hours behind a closed door. It was too far out of character. If I wasn’t careful to show my face a few times a day and make idle conversation as I normally would have, I’d attract attention.

The amount of thought which went into my deception was exhausting.

At least Klaus had taken the hint and left me alone. He wasn’t bad, necessarily. Under different circumstances, we might have been friends.

I shook my head, gripping my hairbrush tight enough to hurt, staring into the bathroom mirror as I fixed my hair.

“Enough of that,” I whispered with another shake before resuming my brushing.

I had enough friends, and enough problems. I didn’t need to add more. Thinking of him as a potential friend would only lead to trouble, no matter how decent he seemed.

He’d kept his word, at least, and hadn’t bothered me again after our last encounter. He struck me as the sort who’d regard his word as his bond. A gentleman of the old guard. I couldn’t help wondering how old he really was, how much of the world he’d seen. I most certainly had it all over him when it came to age, but he hadn’t been forced into seclusion the way I had.

Was that why he interested me? It had to be. He had a wider understanding of the world. He’d seen things in person that I’d only seen on a screen. He’d touched them. There were so many questions he might be able to answer. Stories he might be able to tell. I had the feeling we could spend hours talking and never get tired of the other’s company.

“Stop it,” I whispered to myself, slamming the brush against the vanity in frustration. How was it that I kept returning to images of the two of us spending time together? I didn’t want to spend time with him. All he did was annoy me. The one time I’d tried to be friendly, back on the jet, I’d regretted it later.

My hair was a mass of unruliness which seemed even more determined to stick out in all directions than ever before. I didn’t know why I’d wasted the time in trying to tame it, perhaps because I had nothing better to do? If I were by nature a disorderly person, someone who hoarded treasures or refused to pick up after herself, I might have been able to keep myself occupied by cleaning. I needed to put something in order. I needed to feel useful.

As it was, I took pride in keeping clean quarters and had always been somewhat of a minimalist. The way I saw it, time would pass and whatever was in fashion at any given time would someday fall out of fashion, so why make myself a slave to it? Leslie and Isla and some of the other women disagreed with me and had even gotten caught up in popular culture around the time the term had been coined, starting with bringing magazines back from the city all the way to following their favorite stars on social media in modern times.

I began to wonder if they didn’t have the right idea, as I was running out of things to do with myself.

The one thing I wanted more than anything else was my freedom. The freedom to explore the woods without fear. When my dragon was inside me, ready to spring forth at a moment’s notice, I’d been unstoppable. Let any creature, large or small, try to test me and I’d show them how very grave their mistake had been.

I’d never existed without that other presence in the back of my mind, always ready to protect us both. I didn’t know how to navigate life without her.

My hands shook as I dressed, I did what I could to ignore the tremor, reminding myself there was nothing to fear. We were safe again; we were free from any threat, perceived or otherwise. I didn’t need to shift. There was nothing to protect myself from.

Even so, I closed my eyes and listened for any slight whisper. Anything. Just a single shred of hope. Only silence greeted me, as it had for weeks.

I blinked back tears of frustration, certain I was in control of my emotions before emerging from my room. I would need to show my face for a while before going out to take a walk.

Leslie spotted me first. “Where have you been?” Always the sisterly type and more than a little bossy, swinging her hair over one shoulder and fixing me with a shrewd gaze. She missed nothing.

I’d have to be careful.

“I don’t know—around,” I shrugged. “I was going to ask you the same thing. I hadn’t seen you today.”

“We were on a supply run,” she explained. I barely held back a sigh of relief. My gamble had paid off. She couldn’t prove I hadn’t been looking for her.

“See anything interesting?” I asked with a smile, walking with her to the kitchen where several of the others were unloading boxes of food. The smell of raw meat used to excite me—or, rather, my dragon. It was with a hollow sense of certainty that I realized the scent did nothing for me anymore.

I fought to make sure my smile didn’t slip.

“The most delicious rugby team from the university,” she grinned. “Fresh off a match, on their way to the pub for a celebratory pint or three. They invited Isla and me to join them when we crossed paths.”

“I’m sure they did. And how long did you spend with them?”

She laughed, elbowing me in the ribs. “You know the dragon doesn’t like being in the presence of so much testosterone. She doesn’t know whether to jump them or rip them to pieces.”

“Perhaps both,” I agreed with a chuckle, the hollowness ringing out inside me once again. My best friend, and I couldn’t share with her the bitter truth.

“Yes, like a praying mantis,” she concluded. “Can you imagine what they would’ve done if they knew who they’d tried to chat up?”

“Soiled themselves, most likely. Or dropped dead of shock.”

“Aye, poor lads,” she concluded with a sigh. “But a nice diversion.”

When we talked like that, giggling and lighthearted, I almost felt normal. Perhaps it wouldn’t be so dangerous to spend more time among them. They didn’t have to know. I needed to reconnect in some way, even if I could no longer shift.

“What’s it like outside?” I asked as we left the kitchen, with her moving in the direction of the common room to peruse the stack of magazines stuffed into her shoulder bag. I could see their bright, flashy covers peeking out from the top.

“Lovely. Going for a walk?”

“Yes, a long one. I want to stretch my legs.” Oh, please, don’t offer to come with me. If we were going to spend time together, it would have to be on my terms. There were far too many minefields to sidestep. What if she suggested we fly together after such a lengthy hiatus?

My palms began to sweat, my heart to race.

For no reason, as it turned out. “Take care out there,” she advised, and her voice took on a serious tone which caught my attention.

“What is it?”

“Nothing that I know of, but I did hear Alan talking with Owen this morning about surveillance. Something’s on his mind. You know him, though. He wouldn’t tell me.”

“No, and why would he?” I loved my brother and always had, but I’d be the first to attest to his hardheadedness. Always believing he could handle any challenge on his own. He felt he had something to prove in the wake of Gavin’s passing.

Dear Gavin. I always smiled whenever he came to mind, and did so as I parted ways with Leslie and began the walk to the mouth of the cave. Wise, charming, with a wicked sense of humor. Nothing had ever seemed to shake his humor or his resolve. Only a handful of times across the centuries of his reign over the clan had I ever seen him lose his temper, and the rarity of those instances had only made his anger more chilling.

Had either of his sons been with us, they would naturally have taken over in his stead. But Gate and Fence were of the Appalachian clan now, having sailed off long ago.

It was good to see Gate and Miles in St. Lucia, would that it had been under different circumstances. For the briefest moment, I’d wondered if Gate would come back with us to assume his father’s place. But he had no such aspirations, and he’d built a life for himself in America as we had our lives in Scotland.

Sometimes, it was easy to forget how much time had passed with the two branches of our clan existed on opposite sides of the ocean.

I’d even considered traveling to America with Gate and Miles rather than returning home, a brief idea I’d shared with no one else. There were humans living in the caves there, women I might fit in with if my dragon never returned. Surely, my kin would not shun me if they were open-minded enough to share their home with human women.

We had never accepted humans into our clan, and I was sure we never would. It would make for too many complications, and Alan couldn’t have complications.

Would I be a complication to him?

Leslie had been right; it was a lovely day, sunny and warm. Surely, we were due for a spell of wet weather. I couldn’t remember when I’d seen such a stretch of beautiful days. As though we’d brought back the weather with us from the islands.

The birch trees which swayed in the light breeze were hardly the palms of St. Lucia, I reflected with a rueful grin as I ran my fingers over the bark of one of them while passing by. The idea of wandering the woods alone, without my dragon, sent a shiver up my spine which I ignored.

The woods were my second home. I knew them like the backs of my hands. No harm could come to me there.

Leaves and pinecones crunched underfoot, and I reflected on the fact that it would grow damp and cool soon. I loved that time of year as well. I loved all times of year, really. The crisp color of autumn, the bitter sting of winter, the endless rain in spring prior to nature’s explosion of new life. Each season brought its beauty and its challenges alike.

Looking up, I confirmed that the trees had begun to shed their leaves. It was only a matter of time before my breath would fog around my head as I wandered between the trees, picking my way over fallen logs and admiring the colorful carpet of orange, red, gold…

A twig snapped behind me.

I froze, eyes wide, heart immediately leaping to life and taking off at a trot.

It’s all right. Everything’s fine.

With two dozen living alongside me, the odds of ever being truly alone were slim. The woods didn’t belong solely to me. There was a good chance any of them might come out for a walk at any time. I couldn’t let the slightest noise shake me in such a way.

If my dragon were with me, my senses would be so much sharper. I couldn’t hear as I once had, couldn’t sniff the air and immediately note a difference. What was I thinking, going off on my own? I was all but defenseless! Practically blind and deaf as I stood there, muscles rigid, breath coming in short gasps.

Another snap.

Another.

I began to tremble. Why couldn’t I move? I had to move! To at least turn and face whatever was behind me. I couldn’t stand there, shaking and quivering in fear. Not like before, when I had let everyone down by not acting fast enough.

Stop this! It wasn’t my dragon screaming at me. Something else, someone else, a voice that could only belong to me. Just me. You’re utterly ridiculous to stand here and cower in fear. You are a dragon!

Yes. I was, still. The blood of the dragon still flowed through me as it had for centuries, when these woods were hardly more than a small grove of saplings. I had survived the passage of time and would still be standing when the last tree fell.

And I would stand before whatever lurked behind me because I wasn’t one who cowered.

My spine stiffened, my shoulders squared. I lifted my chin as I turned, fists clenched, ready to fight.

What I saw took the fight straight out of me. One thing I had never seen in the woods over the centuries. The last thing I’d ever have expected.

A lion. A lion with scars running down the side of its face, staring at me through familiar eyes.

“Klaus?” I asked, my shoulders slumping.