Lori watched Sever jog over to her, braid swinging behind him, little scratches all over him.

Her man was a dragon.

He stopped in front of Lori, his hands on his knees. “Did you see where Taylor went? We’ve gotta find him.”

“No,” she said. “He darted out into the bushes and just disappeared. What was that metal you shot up to protect him?”

“Platinum,” he said quickly. “My kind of dragon, we’re all different metals. Mine is platinum. I can tell you more later, but right now we’ve got to find him.”

“Right,” she said, heart pounding. “Of course. I didn’t know if I should run after him, if it would be safe—”

“He would never hurt you,” Sever said. “Despite your poor first impression of shifters, most of them only want to protect what they own or love. Even the cats here, in their misguided way, were probably trying to protect themselves from the threat of a much larger, much more powerful species.”

“So Taylor’s dad was one too?”

Sever nodded. “I know a little about Pride Island. They are deeply destabilized. Matt probably wanted Taylor safely here while he fought alongside his family on the island.” Sever shook his head. “I misjudged the guy.”

“Oh, Matt,” Lori said brokenly. “He was always so light-hearted, I could never have known.”

“We can make it up to him now,” Sever said. “By finding and helping Taylor. By helping him grow into a lion and know more of his history. The oracle, who works with the dragons, has a close connection with the royal family.”

“Royal?”

“Lions,” Sever said. “Damn, it’s complicated. Honestly, I’m not the best one to tell you about all of this. I’m not even from the modern world.”

She put a hand to her temples, rubbing hard as she fought back a frown. “Oh geez. I think it was simpler when I just thought you were a male escort.”

“I think it’s best you just saw it all with your eyes. Otherwise, I’m not sure you’d believe it.”

“Me neither,” she said. What she’d seen today had been beyond comprehension. Almost like the love she’d found in Sever’s arms.

When was she going to tell him about that, exactly?

Not now, when their first priority was finding Taylor and making sure he was okay.

“Okay,” Sever said, walking out into the road and looking both ways. “Let me focus and see if I can scent him.”

“How did you not know he was a shifter sooner?” Lori asked.

“It’s one of the cat powers,” Sever said. “They aren’t detectable by other shifters. I did sense something off about them, just not the right thing. But Taylor in his lion form has a distinct scent. Give me a minute.”

She waited as he closed his eyes. Damn, he was gorgeous, standing there in the wind, looking for what was precious to her.

He looked over at her thoughtfully. “I should tell you now that my ring is gone, it’ll be a lot harder for me to avoid reading your thoughts.”

“You can read thoughts, too?” she asked.

“Yes,” he said. “As if you were speaking them, sometimes. I’ll try not to, but you should be warned.”

“Try not to,” she said with a grin. “A woman needs some privacy.”

He sighed, shrugging his massive shoulders. “I’ll do my best.” He sent her a look. “Stop thinking sexy thoughts about me.”

She snorted. “Have you found Taylor yet?”

“I think so,” he said. “Let’s drive back to the house. I think he went back there. It’s faint, though. I think he has changed back.”

Lori nodded as Sever came around to help her into the truck. When he was in, they took off, bumping over the road as they focused on their mission.

Soon, they would hopefully find Taylor, but what would they say when they did?

Sever pulled up in front of the house and jumped down from the truck, scenting the air around him.

Lori let herself down, wanting Sever to stay focused on what he was doing. She walked close to him just as he shook his head.

“I don’t scent him. But I think I know where he is, just the same.” He pointed to a set of paw prints in the dirt, leading toward the back of the house, toward the pond. “Let’s go.”

They jogged together past the house, and Lori noticed the backdoor was open but didn’t stop to do anything about it. They ran through brush until they came to the grove of trees that led to the small pond, which was surrounded by large rocks.

On one of them, Taylor was sitting, blond hair full of brush and sticks, knees tucked in against his check, arms wrapped around them. He looked like a little ball of pain and angst, and he was shaking.

She wanted to run forward to him, but Sever put out a hand.

“Give me a minute,” he said. “Just in case.”

She didn’t know what Taylor was going through, but she wanted to comfort him. Was this his first shift? Had he known before? What was going on here?

But Sever was part of this world, he could help Taylor understand it. Just another reason it was incredible that he had been sent to their aid.

She folded her arms around her and tried not to hold her breath as Sever approached Taylor. The boy started as Sever got closer, eyes slitting, body rigid. He let out something like a hiss.

Sever put out a hand. “Taylor, it’s me, Sever.”

Taylor raised his head, and Lori saw that he’d put on some torn clothing. Maybe what he’d been wearing before the shift. It was hanging off his shoulder. “Am I a monster?” he choked out.

Sever shook his head. “No. I’m the monster, didn’t you see that?”

“What’s wrong with me?” Taylor asked, voice breaking. “I was so angry, and then the next moment, I felt everything changing. My body felt funny. I could smell things that were far away. I could see differently…” He trailed off. “Then I looked down, and my hands…What’s going on?”

Sever gestured to a rock. “Can I sit by you?”

Taylor nodded. “But what’s the point. Aren’t you leaving? How am I going to figure this out?”

“I do want to leave,” Sever said, and Taylor lowered his head. “But I want to take you and Lori with me. I want us to be a family. Besides, who would be better to teach you?”

“Teach me what?” Taylor asked glumly. “How to be a monster?”

“You aren’t a monster,” Sever said.

“But I’m a cat, like those guys.”

“A lion,” Sever said. “That’s much different. And it’s not what you are, it’s what you do with it. You know those super hero movies you are always watching?”

Taylor nodded.

“Well guess what? Now you have a superpower. You can be a bad guy or a good guy, but you’re going to be better at it. Stronger.”

“Will my lion get stronger?”

“Oh yeah,” Sever said. “You’re going to be a hell of a beast.”

“But not a dragon,” Taylor said.

“No,” Sever said. “But there are benefits to both. And besides, you’ll have me around for any dragon-related duties.”

Taylor sighed, then looked up at Sever. “I guess that wouldn’t be so bad. But what about Lori? Is she afraid of me?”

Sever looked over at Lori. “Why don’t you ask her yourself?”

Lori stepped forward, unable to stop tears of emotion from welling in her eyes. “Of course I’m not afraid of you,” she said, putting out her arms. Taylor hesitated for a moment and then ran into them, and she wrapped her arms around him and held him close.

For that moment, everything was right with the world.

“I’m sorry,” Taylor said. “I didn’t know. Why didn’t my father tell me?”

“I don’t know,” Lori said. “Maybe he thought he could later. Maybe he thought there would be time.”

Sever walked over to them. “We’ll find out more about what’s going on with Taylor’s family on Pride Island in good time. Right now it’s important that we all get to safety. We all deserve a good home.”

“But this land,” Lori said. “Taylor loves it.”

Taylor stuck out his tongue. “I like being with you. I just want a family. But I never liked it here. It always smelled funny.”

“Cats are territorial,” Sever said, rubbing the back of his neck.

“So where would we go then?” Taylor asked.

Lori looked at Sever for the answer. He seemed to be the one making decisions, and with how much more knowledge he had, she was willing to go along with it.

Plus, she was just incredibly in love with this man.

“I think we should go back to Seattle, stay with my friends, and figure things out from there. We can choose to build a home wherever we want, but at least we could make the decision surrounded by people who will love us. Not this harsh environment.”

Lori nodded. It felt oddly good to give up. To just embrace a new future, and let go of the hopes and dreams she had tried to plant here.

They didn’t belong here. Matt had probably thought that out here in the middle of nowhere, Taylor would be safe. Far from danger or anyone finding out he was a shifter.

He had just been trying to protect his son, and from here on out, she and Sever would do the same.

She put an arm around Taylor’s shoulders. “Let’s go home and pack, okay?”

Taylor nodded. As they walked, she heard Sever’s voice in her mind.

I can talk to you this way as well. One of my abilities.

She stopped dead in her tracks, and when Taylor looked at her curiously, she tried to act normal, walking forward again. Oh my gosh, don’t do that without warning me.

How was I supposed to warn you? Anyway, I won’t do it often, just when I have to say something in front of Taylor.

Okay?

I know we have to worry about moving, and getting out of here and starting a new life. But I promise, when we get to Seattle, you and I are going to have some alone time. There’s so much more I have to tell you. I promise to make everything right.

She swallowed and nodded, putting out a hand for Sever to join her on her other side.

She was nervous about the future, nervous about starting again, and nervous about being the only human in this new world that seemed so foreign.

But with Sever and Taylor by her side, she would do her best to walk forward without fear.