Lori felt more afraid watching Sever stomp toward them, shaking the ground, than she ever had talking to the weakling cowards who were threatening her now.

It was the same thing as usual. They wanted her land. They wanted her gone.

Half her focus had to be on Taylor, keeping him from getting around her to fling insults at the guys.

Despite what he thought, he was still just a boy, and he shouldn’t have to be dealing with things like this.

Then again, neither should Sever. It certainly hadn’t been why she claimed to hire him, and she’d never meant to put him in danger. She’d hoped just his presence would deter any problems and he wouldn’t get hurt.

Looking at him now, huge shoulders thrown back, hair whipping in the wind, jaw taut and grim, eyes narrowed ferociously, he almost looked like a different person than the one she’d met earlier that day.

Less like a friendly but eccentric giant, more like some kind of ancient warrior, despite his modern clothing.

John Cleaver stopped cursing her out and turned to look at Sever, his eyes widening even as he tried to adopt a posture of disgust with his tall, lanky body. Like his brother, Jud, who was there with him, he had thick, dirt-colored hair and freckles almost covering his face. The whole family probably could have been handsome if they weren’t such evil, inbred jerks, but they kept to their own and seemed to the think the sun rose and set only on the small community they’d made for themselves a few miles outside of town.

They’d decided she was too close, being on the outskirts of town herself, and also that she had no right to the land, being a single woman.

It was so absurd she could laugh if she didn’t feel like crying so often the past few weeks.

“What are you doing?” Sever’s voice boomed out as he approached them, taking long strides, glaring as though they were no more than pesky flies.

“We’re here on business, and it’s none of yours,” Jud snapped.

Sever folded his arms and stopped directly in front of them, asserting himself as a human wall blocking her off from them completely. “It’s my business. This is my wife.”

“Oh really?” John asked with a sneer, narrowing his eyes. “Well, I don’t care. If she’s yours, take her and the brat and get away from here.”

Sever raised a huge hand in a threatening motion, and John flinched back, putting up an arm to shield his face. Lori stifled a laugh at his terrified expression. He was used to bullying others. He deserved a little of it himself.

“Get out,” Sever shouted, making a threatening motion with his hand that had them scattering before he could hit them.

John nearly tripped over Jud as the two scrambled back down the drive to their truck, leaving large puffs of dust in their wake.

They got into the truck, and she could see Jud waving a fist at them.

“This isn’t over!” John shouted as he turned the truck and started driving away to their backwoods little camp.

“I hope not!” Sever shouted back, and she was surprised by how worked up the man seemed to be.

Her first impression of him had been someone who kept his calm no matter the situation. A gentle giant.

As he stared after the retreating car, his eyes burning like molten metal, his hands now clenched in tight fists, his entire body rigid, she decided she had to reappraise her first impression.

Sever of Date-A-Dragon was definitely more dangerous than she’d initially assumed.

* * *

Sever tried to call on the dragon inside him for calm now that the men who’d been threatening Lori had driven away.

The last thing he wanted was to scare his new mate.

No, she wasn’t his mate yet.

He needed a moment to get his head on straight, to remind himself why he’d come out here, and to stop the anger coursing through his veins, making everything foggy.

But even as the adrenaline cleared and he calmed, realizing they were now alone on the land, just him and Lori and Taylor, he felt oddly off kilter.

Because despite just having met this little family, something inside him said they were his.

Which brought up all sorts of difficulties he hadn’t planned on. Like how to tell them what he was and how to win Lori over when he’d promised to be professional and made her promise the same.

What a jackass he’d been.

Now, looking into her eyes, he realized he just wanted more than anything to protect her, whatever that entailed. And not just for a few days or weeks while she got on her feet.

But forever.

He couldn’t think about the past and how weird this was in reference to it. He just knew it was real. That he was feeling this and couldn’t avoid it any more than he could deny the dirt beneath his feet.

“Would you have hit him?” Taylor’s voice squeaked out as he stepped from behind Lori, who’d been restraining him. “Lori says I can’t.”

Sever nodded. “She’s right. But I can.”

“Why?” Taylor asked petulantly. “I’m a man, too. It’s my fault Lori’s here and in trouble, and—”

“Taylor,” Lori snapped. “Go inside. I have to talk to Sever.”

Taylor gave her an angry glare and then did as she said, storming away up the drive to the house. They heard the porch door slam, and Lori winced.

“Was I too hard on him?”

“No,” Sever said quietly. “But it’s only natural he would want to protect you. Even if it’s just as natural for you to protect him.”

“He thinks he’s a man already. He shouldn’t have to be. It’s part of why I wanted one around, to take that over so he didn’t feel he had to. But even with you here, he wants to get involved.”

“Maybe we should talk about what’s going on,” Sever said, trying to keep his mind on logistics so he didn’t fixate on how to mate her. How to get her in bed. How to win the right to protect her forever.

If the mating urge was truly this strong, he didn’t think he’d ever felt it before. But that led to questions he wasn’t ready to answer. And right now, all he wanted to think about was how to better help Lori.

“Let’s go to your truck,” Lori said. “Where Taylor won’t hear us.”

“Fine,” Sever said, pulling out his keys. He’d left his truck at the end of the drive, and when they reached it, he opened the passenger door first and helped her inside, gingerly lifting her.

“Thank you,” she said, a flush moving prettily over her high cheekbones.

“You’re welcome,” he said, walking around to get in on his side. “Now what’s going on?”

She sighed, twisting her hands in her lap, and he wished there was a way to soothe her. “It’s not such a big deal, but we’ve been getting harassed ever since we moved here.”

“What do they want?” he asked. “You?”

“Oh no,” she said, waving a hand with a little laugh. “Nothing like that. They want the land. They feel it’s theirs from a long time back, even though I have the title to it. Some clan dispute. They are detached from the town and live in a little settlement a few miles out on their own, with a few other related groups from the same family.”

Sever wrinkled his nose. Who tried to take land from a woman and a child, especially when they legally owned it? And he wasn’t so sure they weren’t after his mate for their own reasons. The one in front in particular had been getting a little too close.

Then again, maybe they wanted the land and his woman.

Like hell they would get either.

He might be collared currently, his powers and ability to shift suppressed, but there was still enough strength deep inside him that no one could threaten what was his.

And Lori was his now. Just looking at her, he knew.

Now he wanted to know everything there was to know about her. Her hopes, her dreams, where she’d lived before moving here to help Taylor. What she wanted from life. What she wanted in a mate so he could be that.

He shook his head and let out a hoarse laugh, surprised by the way his thoughts were racing in a direction he’d never anticipated.

Maybe he should talk to Dante after all, ask if this was the way the mating instinct affected him.

But he also wanted to keep it to himself, because given that he’d been wrong in the past, what if he was just going crazy? What if he was just desperately lonely and his dragon wiring was off?

Who knew?

“What’s wrong?” she asked. “You’re looking at me weird.”

He heard nervousness in her voice and realized there was no human way to explain how his entire world, and therefore his demeanor, had changed.

And holy shit, he was going to have to tell her what he was at some point, and she might think he was lying to her, and—

He put his head in his hands and leaned it forward on the steering wheel in frustration.

He heard her draw a sharp intake of breath.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly. “Are you mad that I didn’t tell you what was going on before you came here?”

He jerked his head up at the dismay in her voice. “What?”

“You seem upset, and I didn’t tell you exactly what was going on, and—”

“No,” he said. “No, no, that’s not it at all.”

She blinked at him. “So you aren’t mad or thinking I hired you as a bodyguard without telling you?”

He shook his head, a small smile curving his lips. “Honestly, this is easier. I never was good at the whole ‘being paid to flirt with women’ thing. Protecting them? That I can do.”

“I see,” she said. “Then why do you seem upset about it?”

“I just hate seeing anyone threaten women or children. It makes no sense to me, and I get enraged. I’m sorry if it bothers you, though. I can try to tone it down.”

“No,” she said. “Rage all you like, just not at me.”

He nodded, then looked over to note she was still slightly shrinking into the door, away from him. “I would never rage at you.”

“That’s good,” she said, sitting up a little straighter. “You know, you’d think I’d be used to male rage, but I’m not. I was raised by a single mom and I had five sisters, so I’m really good with women, but I don’t know the first thing about men. It makes it hard sometimes with Taylor.”

She ran a hand through her hair, and tears glistened at the inner corners of her eyes. She swiped at them. “Like when I made him go inside or how I don’t understand when he wants to protect me. You understood him better in a moment than I have in weeks. Sometimes I feel I’m so in over my head, but I’m all he has.” She swiped at the last of her tears. “I just have to do better.”

He couldn’t help it. He swept her into his arms, holding her against him in the middle seat of the cab. He kept his arms wrapped around her and was surprised when she began to shake and then cry.

He’d sort of hoped to comfort her but had somehow done the opposite.

“I haven’t had time to grieve,” she said. “I haven’t had time to deal with leaving everything behind and being in this new place where I know no one. I already love Taylor with all my soul, like I loved his dad, but I—I don’t know what to do anymore.” She wept softly, and it tore at his soul.

He was glad he hadn’t waited a moment longer to come out here. He’d sensed he was needed, and he’d been more than right.

He held her tightly, letting her get out what she needed. He guessed she hadn’t had a shoulder to cry on in some time. What he hadn’t realized was how much letting her depend on him soothed something in him.

“How did you know his father?”

She looked up at him with tearstained eyes. “We dated in college, but it wasn’t right. We stayed friends, and I didn’t see him a lot. He was a difficult person. Complicated.”

“So there is no relation, but he left you Taylor?”

“Family is who you choose,” she said. “Taylor grew up shunted off on relatives while his dad was on long trips overseas. He barely got to know his father, and now he’s lost him completely. I don’t know how to fill that gap.”

“You don’t have to,” Sever said. “You’re you. You can fill something else entirely.”

“I know,” she murmured. “I’m trying. I’m not going to let him down, I just feel weak sometimes.”

“You’re doing great,” he said. “You’ve got me out here now, and I’ll help. We’ll make it, okay?”

“Until you leave,” she said with a sniffle.

He didn’t know what to say to that. I’m never leaving. You’re mine until the end of time, and I’m not giving you a choice in the matter, was far too creepy a thing to say to any human, let alone an upset one.

But it was true, and he let himself at least take comfort in the thought that he wasn’t going to leave her.

“I know,” she said, sitting up slightly, pushing against him and regaining her composure. “That’s not fair because you didn’t have to come out here in the first place, and I’m sure we’ll be fine.”

He guessed she’d been telling herself that for a while now.

She looked up at him with eyes that were a little too bright and smiled. “So don’t worry about it.”

His lips pressed into a tight line. “I am going to worry about it. And I’m not leaving until you and Taylor feel safe.”

She sighed and leaned against him again. Then she looked up at him curiously, her face framed by colorful curls. “Is this fine? I guess it isn’t part of the job.”

“It’s the best part of the job,” he said honestly, and she flushed again. He felt blood rush into his own neck and used his free hand to rub the back of it absentmindedly.

With her soft, plush body pressed against him, he was starting to find it hard to think.

“Hey, let’s go check on Taylor,” he said.

“What do I say to him?”

“What you always say,” Sever said. “Taylor loves you. Good men always try to protect what they love. You’re doing just fine with him. I suggest you just keep doing it.”

She nodded, tucking her hair behind her ear bashfully. “Good point.”

He leaned in, tilting her chin up and making her look at him. “And whatever you feel like you can’t keep doing, you just depend on me, got it?”

She bit her lip and the nodded slowly. “Got it.”

“Good,” Sever said. Then he got out of the truck and came around to help her down.

As they walked back to the house, she was quiet, lost in her own thoughts, probably about what to say to Taylor.

And Sever was quiet because his mind was simply exhausted and he had a lot to process as well.

He’d found his mate. She was being threatened. She trusted him for now, but she was in over her head in general.

Everything was complicated but also very simple because only one thing truly mattered.

He’d found his mate.

His dragon could work out the rest of it.

* * *

That night, to cheer Taylor up, they decided to watch a movie.

Sever was surprised when Taylor took a seat on the floor closer to the TV, leaving a spot for him on the couch next to Lori.

Lori was avoiding his eyes, flushing, but Taylor sent him a little grin and nodded toward the seat.

Was the kid trying to hook them up after only a day of knowing him?

Taylor turned innocently back to the TV, and Sever decided that even though Taylor had been upset earlier, Sever had impressed him with his willingness to stand up for Lori, therefore earning the kid’s trust.

Lori had let Taylor pick the movie, and it was one full of “superheroes” and action and explosions, so Sever couldn’t complain.

If it had been something more boring, quieter, it would have been harder not to focus on Lori, on how her soft, generous hips touched his thighs as they sat together. On her sweet, floral scent and the little sounds of her breaths.

Everything about her was drawing him in, and he somehow had to pull himself back until she could be on the same page with him.

That was not going to be easy.

“I love superheroes,” Taylor said, lying on his stomach with his cheeks on his hands. “I want to be one.”

Sever eyed the man in a metal suit flying around, and the other men with him, and wasn’t impressed. A dragon would be able to take out all of these fools with one breath.

He saw Taylor was still watching him, waiting for a response, and realized if one didn’t know dragons existed, then yes, perhaps humans like these were commendable.

“Yes. They are cool,” Sever said stiffly. “But I think you’re fine as you are.”

“I’m not a superhero, though. If I was, I could chase those stupid Cleavers away.”

“You don’t need to be a superhero,” Sever said. “You just need to be a good person, and one day, you’ll be able to take on the Cleavers of the world. For now, focus on growing up.”

“I want to grow up now,” Taylor muttered, and Lori laughed, leaning into Sever.

Warm pleasure went through him at that little show of trust. He enjoyed touch; it was the easiest way for him to communicate, to comfort, to love, so he was glad to see Lori seemed to be the same.

Taylor looked over his shoulder at them, saw the way they were leaning together, and though Lori tried to pull back, Taylor just grinned and turned away.

Sever fought back a smile. At least Taylor was on his side, then. Now to win over Lori.

She turned back to the movie and watched intently, and he took the moment to study her.

She was strong. Stronger than he’d ever thought, and she needed him right now. But in different circumstances, could she want him?

That remained to be seen. He leaned back, lost in thought, and didn’t realize the movie was over until Taylor stood, stretching with a yawn. Lori told Sever good night and said they were both going to bed.

Sever walked to the bottom of the stairs and watched Lori give Taylor a hug and a kiss on the forehead and then head off to her bedroom.

When both doors were shut, Sever stood there a while longer, until the lights went out.

Even then, he couldn’t bring himself to go to bed.

He knew he could lock all the doors and they should be safe there. He knew he should be up in his warm, soft bed where he’d be comfortable.

Yet something inside him was still raging at the thought of his new family in danger, and he just couldn’t go put himself somewhere disadvantageous where he couldn’t keep watch.

He pulled out his phone, checked the time, and sighed. He walked into the kitchen, poured a glass of water, and drank it in the darkness, looking out at the moonlit porch.

His eyes lit on the swing, moving softly in the breeze, and he smiled.