As lightly as I possibly could, I rammed my forehead against the wall next to her hotel room door. It was possible I was attempting to knock some sense into myself, or get a little concussion drunk before I had to tell Kallie the one thing we never told humans.

While she was gone, I had made it known, although it didn’t come as a surprise to anyone, that Kallie was my mate and human, and after tonight, she would know what I was—what we all were. My brother did his part in calling on some of the higher ranking males and Geneva, the pro-temp Alpha female, to tell them the news. Geneva was a little worried and aggravated, at least, that’s what Samson told me. She thought the other females would never take orders or advice from a human, no matter her status in the clan.

It would be a bridge we would have to cross later.

Right now, I had to tell my female that, one: she was, in fact, my mate. And two: she was the mate of an Alpha male who turned into a fire-breathing dragon in his spare time.

My phone vibrated and on the screen popped up one word, maybe the word I’d been waiting for since she arrived again in my presence.

There was no denying what had happened to me with her being so near. The voices had quelled. My dragon had slowed, no longer restlessly searching for his mate. She was here; she was close; there was possibility.

I knocked on the door and waited for Kallie to answer. Instead, I got Rhi.

“Dude, it’s been like three seconds since she answered you. Give a girl some time to chill and change her damn clothes.”

I gave Rhi my best charming smile and kicked the door open a little with my toe. “Kallie doesn’t need time to chill and change clothes. I bet she’s ready to go right now, aren’t you?”

I directed the question in the direction of my mate—rather my mate’s feet, which was all I could see around the partition in the hotel room.

“I actually do need to change clothes, Knox.” She came around the wall with one of my small dragon sculptures in her hands. She held it near to her chest like it was a stuffed animal instead of scrap metal.

“That’s mine.” I nodded my chin toward the dragon.

Kallie pouted and looked down at the tiny beast. “It’s mine. I bought it. He’s mine.”

My knees wobbled at the sound of those words.

“I guess he’s yours now. Are you ready?”

She turned and put the dragon on the hotel sofa. “I should probably change, right?” Picking at her shirt and jeans, she assessed them.

“You look perfect, actually. There’s no reason to change clothes on my behalf. But if you want to, then I’ll wait.”

Rhi had been looking between us, back and forth, like she was audience to a ping-pong game. “Can you wait while I throw up at you two?” she said, pretend gagging—maybe not pretending.

“Shut up, Rhi. He’s a gentleman. I know there aren’t many of those swarming around, but I think he’s the real deal.”

Damned straight, I am the real deal.

Kallie paused for another second. “You know what? If Knox says I look perfect, then I really don’t give a shit what anyone else thinks. So there.”

She grabbed her purse and checked her hair in the mirror, also perfect, before tugging on my hand, inviting me to walk behind her.

“So, where are we going? The diner?”

I cleared my throat. We really needed to get more eating establishments in this town. Then again, if we did, it would attract more tourists.

“No. It’s a place out of the way a little bit, a local joint.”

Her steps faltered a little, but she continued on. I knew she knew what I was talking about. After all, it was the place where Kallie had tracked me down last year.

“What’s it called?” she asked, pretending to be innocent.

I grunted at her question. The place didn’t have a name. If it had a name, people would talk about it and recommend it and try to take their friends to it. The place didn’t have a name for a purpose, the purpose of secret. Technically, it was Dolly’s per legal records but that neither here nor there.

“Doesn’t have one, now that I think about it. We don’t really want it publicized. Like I said, it’s locals only.”

By the time I’d explained the no-name place, we were back downstairs. “Wait, how did you get here?”

“That.” I pointed down the street at the Ducate that I rarely let myself drive. I’d forgotten how much I loved that machine.

It was the first time I’d seen Kallie speechless. Yet, I knew it wouldn’t be the last time she’d be speechless tonight.

“I-I didn’t know you liked those things. Aren’t they dangerous?”

I held her hand. It was the first time I’d seen even the slightest bit of fear in her eyes and I hated every single second of it. “Hey, it’s not dangerous if you know how to ride it, and I do. We can take the truck. I’m not asking you to ride it.”

Her eyes finally left my motorcycle and returned to meet mine. “I didn’t know you were that kind of— I mean you’re like a…”

There were a thousand ways I could’ve finished that sentence. Idiot-moron-dork?

“What?”

She blinked and the fear was gone, replaced by something I recognized from earlier in the day. “You’re like a nerdy bad boy.”

I winked at her. “I don’t like labels, darlin’.”

“Really? It looks like you kind of enjoyed that one.” She reached out and stuck a finger in my dimple at the side of my mouth.

“I did, actually. So what’s your poison? Motorcycle or truck?”

She looked at them both. “Motorcycle, please.”

Thank goodness I’d remembered to bring more than one helmet, not that I usually wore one.

“Here. Strap this on. I’d never forgive myself if something happened to you.”

She looked at me while she put the helmet on and fumbled with the strap. I reached out and smoothed the hair from her face, attempting to help.

“Thanks. I’m nervous and I have no idea why.”

I didn’t answer her—couldn’t. My stomach was churning at a mile per minute. Most shifters didn’t have to do this. They didn’t have to worry about explaining what they were to a human, much less one they expected to love them despite who they were and the fact that they turned into mythical beasts.

“Get on. Hang on tight.” I exhaled a breath I hadn’t realized I was holding while her hands rounded my waist and enfolded above my belt. Her hands on me was all I needed, and I took in the sensation, not sure if she would ever want to repeat the motion again.

We rode through the winding streets that turned into roads that few knew. Halfway up the mountain, I turned onto the street with no name and drove until we arrived at the place that looked as if it didn’t belong.

“Here we are,” I said casually, knowing that she knew exactly where we were.

“It’s nice,” she mumbled.

“Same as you remembered?” I questioned as casually as I could possibly get.

“What? I? What?” Kallie wasn’t one to lie or ever be the littlest bit dishonest. I knew that purely from instinct.

“Come on, darlin’. I know you were here last year and you know it too. You and I go back further than three days ago.”

Even in the dim light outside the bar, I could see her blush perfectly. She needed some calming, I thought, and honestly, so did I. Grabbing both of her hands in mine, I waited for her eyes to rise.

“Hey, it’s okay. There’s actually a lot we need to talk about tonight. This is just the beginning. This is where we began.”

“How did you know? The girl at the diner?”

I laughed and put a hand on the side of her neck for my own selfish need to feel more of her skin on mine. “Yeah, that and some other things. Relax, okay? I promise, it’s fine. I’m glad you were curious that night. Otherwise, I might’ve never found you.” I pressed one kiss, sharp and quick, to her lips and slowly pulled her toward the entrance with a deep breath. This was it. Kallie, my mate, the other half of me, was about to find out everything.

We walked in to the darkened joint, lit only by the neon signs above the bar and the single-bulb fixtures above each table. To a human, it was probably grainy and shady, but to us, we could see just fine.

Every head bowed a little in response to my entrance. It was out of respect to the Alpha of the clan. An Alpha was nothing without the respect of his clansmen—nothing.

“What the hell was that?” she whispered.

“Come on. Best burgers you’ve ever eaten.”

I made sure she sat down in the corner booth before turning to our audience, and with a tilt of my head, responding to all of their acts of respect. The place went back to usual as soon as I did. We would be under a good deal of scrutiny here, but at least I was among my own.

She looked at the table when Geneva approached. There was an attitude in her walk and gait. “Good evening, you two. What will it be?” I met Geneva’s eyes. She got my drift: less attitude. She cleared her throat and her voice was changed. “It’s been a long night. Sorry, y’all. We basically serve two things here: burgers with fries and steaks with mashed potatoes. Keeps the grocery list to cow and taters. What’s your pleasure?”

“Burger for me, Kallie?”

I recognized the look on her face—she was trying to figure this place out. Already she knew something was different.

“Same for me. Coke, please?”

Geneva looked at me. “Scotch rocks, water after that.”

“Got it. About ten minutes.”

In less than three, she brought our drinks.

Kallie continued to sigh and look around. “I sat outside that backdoor for two hours.” She said the sentence so fast that even my dragon hearing almost missed it.

“I was told that, and I could smell you after I went out there. They should’ve told me sooner.”

She stopped with her Coke halfway to her lips. “You smelled me?”

I nodded. “I have a keen sense of smell.”

She had no idea what to make of that.

Our burgers were served faster than promised. They were huge, even with my constant hunger. We had flash metabolisms and often had to eat massive amounts of food to keep up our strength.

“What did you want to tell me, Knox? I can’t even eat. It’s too dark in here. Too many eyes on us.”

She wasn’t wrong. There were not only eyes on us but every two or three minutes, a comment about the human Alpha female, good and bad, came from somewhere in the room. I didn’t have the strength or will to address the culprits.

“There’s some things I have to explain to you and I have just one request: that you stay until the end before deciding what you want to do, how you want to handle this. Also, I want you to know that you are safe here; anywhere I am, you are safe from anything and everything.”

Her fingers tapped on the table. “I’m safe and stay until the end. Got it.”

“You noticed that the people here bowed a little when I came in. That’s where I’ll start. I am the leader of them, of this clan. They bow to me out of respect for my position as their Alpha.”

For a moment, I thought she was going to laugh.

“Alpha? Like werewolves alpha? If you start sprouting hair, I’m not waiting until the end. I’m off like a dirty shirt.”

There were some clansmen who didn’t have any success containing their laughter.

“I’m not a werewolf, darlin. Canines are disgusting beings. You remember earlier, you said that you saw something shine on my neck?”

“Yeah…” Her voice intonated like it was a question.

I unbuttoned the top two buttons of my shirt and pulled it back from my skin at the collar to reveal something that no one had ever seen-only Samson. “You did see something. See how it changes colors? Glimmers? That’s only when…”

She interrupted. “Can I touch it?”

Another round of snickers from the bar. “Of course. Here.” I got closer to her, our hips and feet touching beneath the table.

The female was fearless. She didn’t hesitate. Her hand glided along my scale, making it buzz while my dragon rolled and melted with the sensation of her skin, not only on a part of me, but a part of him too.

“What is it? Why is it…”

I put a finger over her lips before she could say vibrating or something of the sort. My clansmen couldn’t keep it contained as it was. I wished they would all go home.

“It reacts this way because you are near. It’s me reacting to you. It’s how I knew, know that you are my mate.”

I just let that sit in the air for a few minutes.

“I need some air,” she finally said.

“You have to hear everything I have to say, Kallie, and I’ve hardly gotten started.”

With both hands, she grabbed the front of my shirt. “I want to hear everything. I just need to get out of here.”

“Let’s go then.” I got up and I guided her with my hand on her back toward the entrance. “Here. Better? We can walk a while. There’s a trail up there with an excellent view of the mountains.”

She looked up where I was pointing, probably making a decision about whether or not she trusted me.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

We walked for a while until we came to the cliff and both sat down.

“What is that on your neck? Why does it mean I’m your…”

She let go of my hand that she had taken somewhere on the trail. “It is a dragon scale. I’m a dragon shifter. The reaction of my scale to your presence means that you’re my mate—my soulmate—the one I’m destined to be with for the rest of my life.”

With both of her hands now on her face, she spoke softly, trying to be as calm as possible, failing miserably. I could’ve heard her heart pounding on the other side of the country.

“Is this like literal? Like your skin turns into scales and you fly and breathe fire? Or are we talking metaphorical, like you’re a real beast of a man inside?”

It was my turn to laugh.

“Kallie, I come from a long line of humans who change forms into dragons and fly and have scales and breathe fire.”

That ought to do it.

“And I’m your mate?”

“Yes.”

“What if I don’t want to be your mate?”

Well, that stung.

“Then you choose not to be my mate. It is your choice.”

She sat silent for too long. I knew what was coming. “Show me. I can’t wrap my head around it.”

“Remember that I would never hurt you.”

“Yeah? What about… it?”

“My dragon recognizes you as his mate. He couldn’t even find a way in his DNA to ever hurt you. You ready?”

Her attitude had changed in the last few seconds. She was defiant and absolutely against believing what I had to say.

“Yep. Show me.”

I stripped as fast as I could, well aware that her eyes were on me every step of the way. I willed my dragon, who was completely eager to comply, to come forth. He wanted to show her, he wanted her to see, to show off.

My ribs cracked as the change wrought its way through me. The first thing we did was breathe a gust of fire into the space between the mountain we were on and the next. While we flew around her, soaring high and low, her mouth was open wide. Her eyes almost as big as my beast’s.

After a few minutes, I landed back next to her. I tucked my feet back so I didn’t accidentally hurt her with my talons of steel.

“Is this fucking real?” she asked the night, standing up and approaching us. Most humans would’ve run or pissed their pants at the sight of such a thing, but my mate didn’t falter. She took what seemed like an eternity touching my wings, waving me forward so she could touch my mouth and nose, even ran a hand over one of my teeth.

“Let me see your eyes,” she said and then giggled when I snorted, nearly knocking her off the mountain.

“They are the same color as Knox’s. I thought they would be different. Can you change back to Knox now?”

I did as she bid, slowly changing back. My dragon was okay with the change now that Kallie was close, but the scales remained on my human skin and probably would until we were mated. I slipped my pants on, forgetting the shirt.

“Hey,” I said, hoping she would continue to look at me like she had before.

“Hey. Damn, that was no joke, huh?”

My female was formidable.

“No joke.”

I needed to be nearer to her, to feel her heartbeat, kiss her lips.

“Knox?” I imagined all the things I wanted her to say to me. All the things I needed to hear from the mouth of the only one I would ever truly love. “I’m going to need some time.”

That’s not what I wanted to hear.