By the time the kiss ended, I knew two things.

One, that I would move heaven and earth to ensure no one touched Molly’s memory.

Two, that she was the fated mate I had waited my entire life to find. There would never be another. There could never be.

If only she knew who I was. What I was. It was one thing for a lass to fall in love with a man—even very suddenly, as was the case for us. It was an entirely different situation for her to accept the presence of a dragon in her life. Especially when she’d already scoffed at the very idea of our existence.

She was breathless, a dazed smile on her swollen, glistening lips. How I longed to taste them again. How I longed to taste more of her. What I would’ve given for the chance to indulge myself in her sweetness. Just being with her, touching her cheek, her throat, her hair, was a gift.

Was I selfish to want more? Did it even matter? My dragon knew what he wanted, and he wanted her. She is ours. She is the one we’ve waited for.

He didn’t need to tell me. I knew it.

What I did not know, not yet, was whether she would see things as I did once she knew everything about me.

The poor, sweet dear. Still dazed, the pulse pounding in her throat when I brushed my lips against it. “Owen, what’s happening to us?” she whispered.

“I know not whether you would believe it if I explained it to you.” I held her face in my hands, memorizing her beauty, her goodness, the light shining in her eyes. “And before I try, I must speak to Hecate. She will see there’s no need to erase your memory once I’m through with her.”

The light which had already been present intensified until it all but broke my heart. She was so full of joy. How unfair of me to allow this brief interlude when she knew not who I was. What a fool I’d been, how selfish.

How she would hate me when she learned the truth.

“You think she’ll listen? Really? I mean, I’ll sign anything you give me. I’ll swear on a stack of bibles. I’ll never breathe a word of anything I’ve seen or heard, I promise.”

It was all so easy for her. “I know you do, lass. I’ll tell her so. She’s a fair-minded person, even if she’s nothing but a witch.”

“A powerful witch.”

“How do you know?”

She snickered. “If she’s not powerful, I would hate to meet one who really was.”

I grinned. “She is. One of the most powerful I’ve ever known.”

“Oh?” Her eyes widened. “You know a lot of witches?”

“Not… many. I’ve known a few. My family and hers have a bit of a history.”

Her forehead creased. “I feel like there’s still a lot you’re not telling me. I wish you would.”

“I will. I promise. Just not right at this very minute. There’s something I need to settle first.” I stood, my chest tightening at the sight of her falling face. “Can I leave you here for a short time? I swear, you’ll be safe. No one will enter the room until I do. No one will do anything to you.”

The utter lack of hesitation before her firm, trusting nod left a lump in my throat. “Sure. I’ll stay put. It might be nice to wash up a little, besides.”

“Good idea. Do that.” Anything to keep her occupied. “Take a shower, even. Whatever helps. I’ll speak to everyone, and this will all work out. I’m certain of it.”

“I trust you.”

And she did, and that only tortured me further. I wanted to tell her. I wanted so very much to tell her. Why couldn’t I get the words out? What difference did it make whether she found out then or an hour from then that I’d been lying all along?

That I was a dragon?

She loved me now. I felt it. I relished it and wished I had more time in which to do so. It was selfish, and I knew it. But I couldn’t bear the thought of losing that love and trust. Not yet.

I left her, making certain the door was locked—Hecate would want to know, as would that meddling Iris—before walking down the hall toward where I knew I’d find my group waiting.

Pierce and the others had the decency to stay away from me, to go about their business while I sorted out my own. We were of the same clan and were united by blood, always, but a thousand years of living apart had placed an invisible wall between us. Clan business was one thing, but this was personal.

They were back in my bedchamber—rather, that which had been earmarked for my use. Just where I had left them, except Isla and Leslie had joined them. I sensed confusion, concern and even hostility when I entered the room.

I did not need to guess who the hostility came from. Iris shot daggers at me with her eyes. I asked myself, as I had so many times, why there was such a chip on her shoulder. Why was she angry all the time? What had happened to her to twist her so?

“Well?” Hecate asked. “Did you get the answers you were looking for? Is she well?”

“She is very well,” I nodded.

Isla giggled. “I would wager.”

She and Leslie snickered behind their hands.

“I’m glad this is bringing you so much enjoyment,” I snarled. “This is a very serious situation, and you stand there and giggle like children. Would either of you ever grow up?”

“This must be serious.” Leslie was no longer laughing. “I apologize. You look a bit disheveled, is all.”

“That is no one’s business but my own,” I reminded her, looking at all of them to extend the reminder their way as well. “I would appreciate you leaving my business to me.”

“Enough of this. We’re wasting time.” Dallas stood, shrugging. “Well? Is she prepared?”

“To have her memory wiped clean?”

He blinked. “That was the pretense of your visiting her room, was it not? That you might prepare her for what is to come? Does she understand what needs to happen?”

Hecate placed a hand on his arm. “Dallas. How could she possibly understand? Even I would never ask for understanding. She’s likely frightened out of her wits.”

“She isn’t frightened—at least, not any longer.” I glanced at the girls, warning them without saying a word against making any snide remarks. They remained silent.

“Well. That’s good to hear.”

I stepped in front of the door to block Hecate from leaving. “Because you’re not going to touch her memory. None of you will.”

She fell back a step. Though rather than react in shock or anger, she merely lifted her brows. Pondering the reason behind this, perhaps, or seeing this as a challenge and accepting it. “Oh? I’m not?”

“What are you on about?” Iris demanded. “You can’t seriously think we’d let her go after this.”

“Owen, ‘tis for the best,” Isla whispered.

“It would be a matter of granting her peace,” Leslie agreed. “She wouldn’t have to carry the burden of knowing about this place, knowing she could never breathe a word of it to anyone. It’s a heavy burden, to be sure. Wouldn’t you rather free her of it?”

“And let’s not forget the diadem,” Iris added, her eyes narrowing.

“What has that got to do with anything?”

“Her ancestors were witch hunters. Imagine how many of our kind they put to death.” Her lip curled in a snarl. “They were responsible for more pain and bloodshed than any of us can imagine. They saw to it that our coven was wiped off the map on this side of the world. They are part of the reason why we went into hiding in Scotland. We have always lived in fear of their kind.”

“She isn’t one of them,” I argued. “And do not think for a moment that we haven’t lived in fear of discovery all these many centuries, Iris. Your lot aren’t the only ones who have suffered. Yet, regardless, none of that suffering was at her hands. It came at the hands of those long dead. She cannot help that any more than any of you can help who you are. She has no control over what her ancestors did. A thousand years ago, I might add.”

“Not so much for us,” Dallas reminded me. “As long as we’ve been alive.”

“Why do you insist upon playing devil’s advocate right now?” I glared at him, challenging him to argue.

He lowered his gaze until he was looking at the floor. I’d hit a nerve.

“A millennium is a very long time,” Isla said, siding with me. “Maybe generations have passed between then and now for humans such as herself. She has nothing to do with what those evil men did.”

“She still carries their blood,” Iris snarled.

“Barely,” I snarled in return. “Truly. It’s been so watered down over the centuries, I highly doubt there’s a trace of witch hunter in her. And even if there was, what of it? She was utterly unaware of the existence of you lot until now.”

I turned to Hecate. “Am I right? You are the only other who would know for certain, having been in her head. Did she have any understanding of your existence before this?”

“None.” She was firm on this, and I might have kissed her out of sheer gratitude were it not for Dallas’s presence, and the lingering taste of Molly’s lips on mine, which I had no desire to rid myself of.

I would never kiss another. Not as long as I lived.

“She is no threat to us. In fact…” I looked around, prepared to fight if that was what it came to. “In fact, I believe she is my fated mate.”

Iris groaned. “I knew it. I knew he was going to say it.”

I’d had about enough of her. “You have nothing to do with this!”

“Enough!” Dallas bellowed. “I won’t hear any further argument. I’m sick of it. Iris, if Owen believes this to be the case, there is no fighting it. This is a sacred bond we’re talking about here. Nothing to trifle with.”

She glared at me from across the room, her expression stormy. “I only find it convenient that this human happens to be his fated mate, when he’s doing everything in his power to protect her and keep her memory intact. It seems to me to be a ploy, nothing more.”

I could only laugh. “If I fight, ‘tis on behalf of my fated mate. She is more than a mere human to me, someone to meet and forget. She is everything. And I won’t allow any of you to fuss about in her head ever again.”

I expected Hecate to take offense to this and steeled myself for a fight. When she smiled, then, I couldn’t have been more surprised.

“Why didn’t you say that in the first place?” she asked, shaking her head. “You dragons are the most unlikely lot imaginable. Why not tell us what your dragon knows? I would never consider clearing her memory if she’s to be part of your clan, living as your mate. There would be no reason for it.”

“Yes, but does she not have to accept becoming his mate?” Iris asked. Always looking for the loophole, that one. “She has to accept him as a dragon, does she not? And if she doesn’t, there is nothing else to be done but to wipe all memory of this from her mind.”

My fists clenched of their own accord, but a sharp look from Dallas held me in place.

“She does have to accept him,” he acknowledged with a slight shrug.

“Aye, that she does,” I agreed with bravado I hardly felt. “What of it?”

“Do you believe she will accept who you are? What you tell her?” The sneer in Iris’s voice was unmistakable.

Leslie came to my defense, standing and staring the witch down. “And why would she not? If she feels what Owen does, she will understand. She will accept him. That is the way it’s always been when our dragons find their mates.”

Iris looked around and, clearly finding herself outnumbered, favored us all with a snarl. “So be it. When this goes wrong, don’t pretend I didn’t warn all of you.”

She marched toward me.

I stepped aside to let her pass. She didn’t possess the strength or skill to clear Molly’s memory, which was the only reason I allowed her to leave the room. Otherwise, I would’ve had no choice but to block her as I’d blocked Hecate.

Hecate shrugged. “You know Iris by now. She’ll get over it.”

“And if she doesn’t?”

“She doesn’t have much say in what we do, does she?” Dallas slid an arm about Hecate’s waist, then turned to me with a quizzical look. “You’re certain of this?”

“Weren’t you certain when you realized who she was to you?” I asked, nodding to his mate.

“Aye, but there was more to it than that, and you’re well aware of it.”

“All I can do is try,” I shrugged.

“And what does your dragon think?” Leslie asked.

I snickered. “Do you need to ask? Can you not hear him?” I could hardly hear anything else but his roar in my head. Demanding satisfaction. Demanding the mate for whom he’d waited so many centuries.

“The dragon will convince her, even if you cannot.” Isla winked.

“I would rather she accept me because she wishes to, not because she feels compelled to.”

Dallas reached out to shake my hand. “If this is truly your fated mate, she’ll accept you without question.”

I could only hope he was right.