Chapter Fifteen

 

 

Transforming into a five-foot-five blue, purple, and white bird was easier than she ever could’ve imagined. Bibbidi-bobbiddi-boo, a flash of light, and a burst of magic and it was over. Then there came the aerial part of her new adventure, and well…

Flying for the first time in her entire life was nowhere near the magical, mystery tour she’d always been told it would be. The first flap of her wings, a hop, skip, and a jump and with less than a half a second in the air, Elle landed beak first in a stinky pile of dead and rotting leaves just barely missing what she could only hope was under absolutely no circumstances squirrel shit.

Back on her feet, deciding a running takeoff would be better, she ran as fast as she could, flapped her wings like one of the Dallas Cowboy cheerleaders in the middle of a halftime show and took off like a shot. Smiling from ear-to-ear, or the best she could with a beak instead of lips, Elle had just tilted her head back and was enjoying the miraculous feel of the wind in her feathers when…

Wam! Bam! No thank you, ma’am, she crashed into the huge, unforgiving trunk of a massive Texas Ash. Watch out for that tree! Went around and around in her head, a perfect imitation of the George of the Jungle movie she and her sister used to watch.

Sliding down the trunk like it was a stripper pole, she landed with a resounding thud before jumping to her feet and shaking the dirt from her tail feathers while cursing a blue streak. Back on her feet, another running start, three quick flaps of her wings and finally, she was airborne…and actually stayed that way.

Making a beeline for that God forsaken lazy star in the sand, she could think of nothing else but getting to Gage. Using their mental connection, she’d called out to him so many times that she’d given herself a headache but all had gone unanswered.

He was still alive, of that she was absolutely sure, and more relieved than she could ever articulate. In less than two days, Gage MacAllen had become the most important thing in her world.

Not only was he tall, dark and absolutely irresistible, but he made her laugh and went above and beyond to show her – not tell her with empty words and platitudes – that he respected her as a person, that her wants and needs came before his and that he cherished her although they’d just met.

That blasted Dragon had been the first man in her entire life to stop her advances. She held tight to the image of truth and devotion shining brightly in his gorgeous blue eyes as he said, “Darlin’, we’ve got forever, tonight I wanna get to know you and I damn sure want you to get to know me.”

“When did my life become a sappy country song?” She scoffed to herself as she dipped her left wing, swerved around a bunch of tall oaks trees and pushed her wings harder and faster against the airstream.

Pounding harder and with no doubt at all in sync with her Dragon’s, Elle’s heart thumped a steady beat. Reaching for the bright, glowing bond in the center of her soul, her connection to her Mate, she once again tried to reach him. “Gage. Gage, are you there? Can ya’ just give me a grunt or a growl, something…anything?”

Shaking with fury and fear, she waited about a half a second before trying again, “Gage! Come on! Just give me a peep!”

“Still nothing,” she growled. “I swear to God I’m gonna rip whoever or whatever a new asshole then I’m gonna kick its ass then and only then I’m gonna get right pissed off. First my family and now my mate. This shit is just too much.”

Once again Gage’s smiling face floated through her mind. It still amazed her how at ease she’d been with him. Sure, she kinda sorta knew who he was, or at least some of his family, but that hadn’t been what made being with him, talking, eating, laughing such a joy. It had been the feeling that she was home, right where she was supposed to be. That her future, the happily ever after every one of the millions of stories she’d ever read described, was laid out before her. For the first time in a helluva long time, Elle Burntwing believed she could have it all.

“Not to mention, he makes a mean western omelet,” she snickered then squawked with laughter, “Thank God for Granny’s old saying – You can talk to yourself. You can even answer yourself. But if you say ‘huh’, it’s time to check in to the looney bin.’ Without it, I would be seriously questionin’ my own sanity.”

“Aww, you’re not insane,” A deep chuckle floated through her mind. “Just getting’ ready to be one of the family. Now, get on down here. We gotta get my boy outta trouble.”

“Mr. MacAllen?”

“Call me Owen or dad, Mr. MacAllen makes me feel like an old man.”

“’Cause ya’ are,” another male voice teased.

“What the hell?” She unintentionally thought aloud. “Oh shit! I mean, damn, darn, oh hell, how are ya’ll in my head?” Stammering while trying to fly and not completely embarrass herself with Gage’s family, Elle tipped her right wing, using the mesa she knew sat about two-hundred yards behind that effin’ lazy star burnt in the sand as she listened to Gage’s dad.

“We share a bond with Gage and he shares a bond with you, so, I tapped in and followed the magic.”

“And, we all followed dad. I’m Colton, by the way. As soon as you get down here, I’ll introduce you to the rest of the gang.”

“Get down there?”

“Yeah, come on. We can see ya’ just over the rise.”

Ohshit-ohshit-ohshit-ohshit….

“Is somethin’ wrong?”

“Well, no, I mean yeah, I mean…I mean…” Once again stammering and stuttering, she caught sight of five huge men standing in the shade of the mesa, all looking up at her, all waiting for her big entrance.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

“Elle? Everything okay?” Owen’s voice was a comical mix of concern and laughter.

Dammit! He knows! I look like an idiot to my future father-in-law and I haven’t even met him face-to-face. Think Elle! Think! You’ve gotten outta bigger messes than this. Think! Think! Thi…

“Elle?” Colton’s voice was soft and low. “Do you know how to land?”

“Does crash landing count?”