Ariel returned to the picnic table with Jett. Cliff introduced everyone and then distributed deer steaks among the hungry group. Cliff and the lions were relatively quiet afterward, concentrating on their meal. Jett seemed relieved.

Guess he’s not a big socializer.

Then again, maybe he just wasn’t comfortable around lions. Present company excluded.

These past ten days had been hard. Ariel always sensed her lioness inside of her, clawing at the surface, ready to emerge at a moment’s notice, usually at the most random times. But as soon as Jett appeared, the lioness immediately retreated, burying itself deep inside her. She couldn’t explain it. Maybe it was just that she felt safe around him, and the feeling calmed her lioness.

Ariel finished her deer steak in short order, almost as fast as Jett. The two of them stayed a bit longer, out of courtesy to their hosts, and then excused themselves.

Jett led the way to the cabin. Ariel followed eagerly, her heart quickening in anticipation.

The pair entered, and Jett started to shut the door behind him, but then his gaze fell on the locking mechanism and disapproval filled his face: the door could be locked only from the outside.

“I’m going to move this to the inside as soon as I get my hands on some tools,” Jett said. “But for now I’m going to break it off.”

“Maybe you should leave it,” Ariel said. “My lioness... sometimes she can’t be trusted.”

“Stop separating yourself from your lioness,” Jett said. “You are her. And you can be trusted.” He promptly punched away the lock. “I won’t have you living in a cage.”

“You told Cliff I’d always come back if I ran away,” Ariel said. “But how do you know that? How do you really know?”

He studied her. “I suppose I don’t. But that’s why I’m letting him shadow you with his pride.”

“Okay,” she said. “And what if I maul you in the night while you’re sleeping?”

“You wouldn’t do that to me,” he said.

“But again, how do you know?” she said.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and gazed searchingly into her eyes. His own glowed fiery gold. “Because I know you. And you’d never to do that to me.”

“But you saw what I did to those lions out there when you first arrived ten days ago,” she said. “They tried to hem me in, and I mauled them pretty bad.”

He smiled slyly, and released her. “They deserved it for touching you. In fact, I appreciate what you did to them. Saves me the trouble of doing it myself. I hope you’ve kept mauling them every day since. Besides, even if you did attack me, it wouldn’t cause any lasting harm. You forget, I’m a dragon. I’d wake up and harden my skin until you calmed down.”

Jett shut the door and walked inside with her.

The place was a mess. Her lioness had scratched all the furniture, and even the wooden walls were covered in deep gashes.

“I like what you’ve done with the place,” Jett commented, leaning against the kitchen countertop. Three thick slashes marred the edge beside him.

Ariel gazed at him longingly. “It’s so good to see you. These past ten days without you, they’ve been… hard.”

“The lions have treated you poorly?” Jett asked. There was steel in his voice, and his fingers clenched so that his muscles were white and his forearms corded. She thought he was ready to storm outside and start busting up lion asses, depending on her next words.

“No, they’ve been great,” Ariel said carefully. “Teri is one of my best friends. She’s human. Cliff’s wife. The others have treated me kindly, too. Oh sure, most of them aren’t all that social, but they respect me, and they’re angry at what Logan has done to me. They’re always talking about how they want to hunt him down and tear out his heart.”

“Now that’s what I want to hear,” Jett said.

“Yes.” Ariel smiled. “I thought you’d like that. You’ll fit right in.”

He released the countertop and crossed his arms, squeezing then together tightly. “If Logan ever shows himself, I swear he’s going to pay. I’ll get to him before any of the lions do. When I’m done there won’t be much left of him, if anything. Maybe ashes.”

She swallowed hard and sank into one of the rickety kitchen chairs next to him. “About five days ago, after a particularly bad transformation, I remembered what happened the day of my bite. And not just the bits and pieces that came to me in nightmares. I remembered everything.”

Jett regarded her with an uncertain expression. “You don’t have to tell me.”

“I want to tell you,” Ariel said. “I have to tell you.”

He went to her and knelt on one knee so that his head was at her height. He grabbed her hand and held it over his heart. She could feel it beating.

“Are you sure you want to do this?” Jett asked.

“Yes,” she said. “I have to. Otherwise I’ll never know release from this burden.” She swallowed hard. Again.

Maybe this wasn’t such a good idea. She was afraid he would look at her differently once he knew. Then again, he had a right to know. Cliff had already told Jett about Logan’s condition when her attacker had returned to the camp, and Jett hadn’t seemed fazed then. So hopefully knowing the full story wouldn’t change anything between them.

“I’ll start at the beginning,” Ariel said, sliding her hand from his. “I was enjoying an ice cream in front of a fountain in the city when Logan approached me for the first time. He told me I was the most adorable thing he’d ever seen, and lay on the charm thickly. He was hot. Charismatic. I fell for his routine hook, line, and sinker. We went on a few dates, and he hadn’t tried to push things too far, which won my trust. So when he invited me to go hiking with him outside the city, I said yes because he chose a well-trafficked trail.

“It was supposed to be a quick hike. But then he swerved off the trail, claiming he was taking me to a beautiful waterfall. Against my better judgment, I went with him.

“We reached a clearing. There was no waterfall. When I asked him what was going on, he started saying strange things, like how I didn’t know how lucky I was to be with him, that he was the son of an Alpha, and so on. He said he was going to give me incredible power. I told him I didn’t know what the hell he was talking about, and that I was going back with or without him. That’s when he tried to force himself on me.

“I fought him, calling on all of my Jujitsu training. But it was no use. He was just so incredibly strong. He threw me to the ground and grappled me. He forced a kiss, and I bit his lower lip as hard as I could. He beat me savagely, but I wouldn’t let go. He finally pulled away, tearing his own flesh. As the blood spurted from his lips, he looked at me with a fury I’ve never seen in any man.”

“My my, what big eyes you have.”

She blinked away the memory of Logan’s voice, the voice from her nightmares, and forced herself to continue. “That’s when he transformed. I was terrified. I had no idea what was happening. This man who’d been trying to assault me had become a huge lion? I thought he’d drugged me... put something in my canteen water. I struggled against him, but his weight pinned me down. And then he bit me. Right here, in the back of my neck.”

She touched her nape, pointing at the starlike scar there. She wasn’t sure if Jett had noticed it during their previous lovemaking.

“No!”

Rip.

“Pain like nothing I ever felt before filled every fiber of my being. Just this sheer, incredible agony. And then I was no longer helpless. I slipped out of my clothes and sunk my teeth into his neck. I squeezed hard, pinning the lion to the ground. He struggled in my jaws for a few moments, but he managed to release himself, and we tussled more. He hurt me bad, but I hurt him even worse.

“Finally he was crawling away from me. I wanted to finish him off, but I was injured, sick of fighting. I just wanted to go home. So I picked a direction and fled. It was at that point I realized I wasn’t human. I was running on all fours. All fours. My limbs were covered in fur, which was matted with blood. Logan had done something to me… something horrible. I ran even faster, terrified of what I’d become. That’s when I reached the trail and encountered the hiker. And attacked.” She lowered her gaze to her hands. “Attacked an innocent. I feel so awful about it.”

Jett wrapped his arms around her. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“But it was,” Ariel said. “It had nothing to do with not being in control of my beast. I attacked because the hiker was a man. I hated all men in that moment, I think.”

“Don’t be so sure your attack had nothing to do with control,” Jett said, releasing her. “As a newly turned, you would have been relying on instincts more than anything else. If the hiker ran, you would have been unable to stop yourself from attacking. And sure, given what Logan did to you, the hiker’s maleness probably factored in at the time. But if you’re truly honest with yourself, you’d realize that if the hiker was a woman, you would have probably attacked anyway.”

“That doesn’t make me feel any better,” Ariel said.

“You have to stop blaming yourself,” Jett said. “The hiker will live. I’ve told Hegemon to watch over him at the hospital. Ensure he gets the best treatment.”

“Hegemon?” Ariel asked.

“The dragon responsible for the human city,” Jett said. “He leads the local den there. The ‘Alpha.’”

Jett held her tight, his eyes so tender.

She relished his touch for several moments and then spoke. “Should I continue?”

“Entirely up to you, my lioness,” Jett said.

Ariel swallowed, took a deep breath. “I remember mauling the hiker badly before coming to my senses. When I realized what I had done, I turned around and ran back into the trees. What else could I do? I wanted to get as far away from civilization as possible. I didn’t know what I was then, but I knew it was a monster. A few hours later when I paused to drink from a stream, I finally saw my reflection. I had become a lion like Logan, though I didn’t have a mane. I ran away from my reflection and avoided any streams I encountered like the plague.

“I’m not sure how long I ran. Hours. Days, maybe. It was all a blur. I didn’t know if I’d ever be human again. I finally collapsed and fell into a deep sleep. When I awoke, I was myself again. Naked, and lost, but human. Incredibly, all of my wounds were healed. I tried to navigate by the sun, hoping to make my way back to the hiking trail, but it was useless. Eventually, I realized other lions were hunting me—the Blue Hurricane pride—and I transformed once more, eventually losing them. I killed game when I became hungry, though I could only eat a few bites before the taste sickened me, even in lion form. But I slowly got used to the raw meat, and grew to yearn it: as you saw when we first met.

“Anyway, I spotted the mountains and thought I could get my bearings if I reached a higher point, so I hurried into the foothills. I was still in human form then, but shortly after reaching the foothills more lions ambushed me. I know now it was the Starry Oak pride. The attack caused my inner lioness to break free and I fought them, soon finding myself on the run once more. The two prides joined behind me and continued the chase. When I reached the shoulder of the mountain, I became human. The lions continued to pursue and I ran right into your arms. And you know the rest…”

“So I do.” Jett nodded. “Thank you for sharing that with me.”

“I still feel ashamed,” Ariel said. “I almost killed a random hiker. Almost killed Logan. And I would’ve, if he hadn’t injured me so badly.”

“Probably would have been a good thing,” Jett said. “Logan deserved to die.”

“And what about the deer and other game animals I slaughtered on the way to the mountain?” Ariel said. “Taking only a few bites, and leaving the rest to rot? At least in the first few days. That’s an inexcusable waste.”

Jett grabbed her hand once more, squeezing it firmly to his heart. “You did what you had to do to survive. You were still getting accustomed to raw meat. If you knew how many lives I’ve wasted in my time, and not just animals…” He looked away, his eyes seeming troubled.

“But you’re different now,” Ariel said.

“Yes,” Jett replied. “As are you.”

“You still accept me, warts and all?” she asked, staring at her feet. She didn’t feel worthy of this man. Despite his reassuring words, and his own troubled past. How could she? He was a dragon king, and she was a lowly shifter.

“Why do you even have to ask?” Jett slid a finger underneath her chin and lifted her eyes to his face. Somehow, that small touch made everything right. His eyes blazed with a fire she hadn’t seen before. It seemed… protective. “You’re mine now. Your inner animal is mine, too. I claim ownership over you.”

She smiled. “You know, I never thought I would let a man own me. I always thought I’d be the one owning the men. Funny how things worked out.”

“Oh, you own me, too,” Jett said. “You really do. There’s a reason why I held your hand to my heart a moment ago. To show you who it beats for.”

She melted inside. “There’s no other man like you. Wait a second, of course there isn’t. You’re not a man.” She slipped her arm from his grasp and reached out to hold his face between her palms. “You’re a dragon. My dragon. My sweet, lovely dragon.”