Gwendoline studied her phone, and she reread the email message from Mathis for what must have been the tenth time.

Gwen,

I’d like permission to visit you in Midnight once again. There’s so much I need to tell you, I’m not even sure where to begin. But I know I can’t do this over email. I need to look you in the eyes when I strip bare my soul to you, so that you know everything I’m saying is real. Authentic.

Why get in touch with you after all these years? After what I did to you? It’s because a few months ago I almost gave up everything for a vampire. A vampire I thought reminded me of you. I almost threw away my life because I wanted back, so desperately, what I’d lost all those years ago.

I’m not really sure what to expect from all this. I guess I’m looking for forgiveness. Hoping. And if you can’t forgive me, I’ll understand. But I just want you to know why I did what I did all those years ago.

This is all unofficial business, of course. I ask that you don’t contact the Wayfarers, because by doing so you’ll only put me in a world of trouble.

— Mathis

Gwendoline set down the phone. Mathis promised to explain his betrayal all those years ago, but she already knew why he’d done it. It seemed fairly obvious. Still, it might be entertaining to listen to his excuses.

What game is he playing?

Gwendoline couldn’t help but think back to her youth, when she had gone to the Steel Tower all wide-eyed and impressionable. She remembered meeting Mathis, a fellow First Year who boarded on the same floor. Such a beautiful, strong man. A human. A man who made her doubt her preconceived notions of the superiority of dragons over ordinary men and shifters, only to confirm those notions in the end when he betrayed her.

The emotional side of her truly wanted to believe Mathis was sincere in his email, that he cared for her after all these years... but the logical, more rational side of her, the side honed to a razor-sharp edge from years serving in the royal court, told her that he wanted something. Perhaps a political favor of some kind from Gabriel. Perhaps money. Definitely something for personal gain. Because after what he had done, there was no way she could trust him.

She was tempted to contact the Wayfarers out of vengeance, if only to “put him in a world of trouble” as he called it. But the more she thought about it, the more she realized what fun she could have toying with him. She’d wrap him around her finger, just like he had done to her, maybe even sleep with him. And just when he thought her heart was his, and that she’d give him whatever personal boon he was asking for, she’d betray him.

And that would be the sweetest revenge of them all.

Smiling wickedly, she pulled out her phone and thumb-typed a response.

* * *

Jett sat in his study.

The cabin felt so empty with Ariel gone. Everything about the place reminded him of her. He had taken her in almost every room, and on every item of furniture. Images of her naked body calling out his name would fill his mind whenever he glanced at certain spots. The kitchen countertop. The shower. The desk in his study.

It wasn’t just the sex he yearned for, but her company as well. The emotional bond they’d formed. He missed their long conversations in the evening. He missed sparring with her.

He missed her smile.

The laptop was charging on the desk in front of him, plugged into the wall outlet. Jett had upgraded the camp’s power supply since taking over as Alpha. He’d installed a string of expensive solar panels and storage cells to augment the gas-powered generators Blue Hurricane originally used. Jett was confident he was leaving the pride in a better state than before his arrival, and that made him feel better about what he was about to do.

Jett couldn’t help but wonder if he was doing the right thing by abandoning the pride and going to her. Was he being selfish in wanting to see Ariel every weekend? Was he putting her training at risk? Or even her own life: what if the vampire witch really was still out there, and what if she followed him, and decided to use Ariel as bait to draw him out? No, the vampire wouldn’t dare attack Ariel in the Steel Tower.

But she would have no qualms about attacking Jett. He would have to institute precautions when he arrived in Belgrade. He planned to take Flame, Brazen and Viper with him, and at the very least he would alternate those White Swords on a 24/7 watch, if only to prevent the vampire witch from collaring him while he slept. The question was, would the White Swords be powerful enough against her? He hadn’t yet decided whether he would remove the collars Flame and Brazen wore; he was leaning toward the no side, as he didn’t want them to face the stiff punishments that came with flouting that particular law, especially in Wayfarer territory.

A knock at the front door roused him from his troubling thoughts.

“Come in,” Jett said.

He heard the front door open and close, followed by the stomp of heavy boots. The distinct scent of lion fur wafted to his nostrils.

Cliff entered. His eyes monetarily flicked to the single piece of luggage beside the desk. Within that travel bag Jett had packed all the belongings he had taken with him to Blue Hurricane.

“Sit,” Jett ordered.

Cliff took the visitor’s chair across from him.

“So, I agreed to wait until she arrived in Serbia,” Jett said. “She just sent me a text: she landed a half an hour ago.”

“Do you have somewhere to stay in Belgrade?” Cliff asked.

“I’ve already made arrangements…” Jett said. He paused. The many decades of palace intrigue he had endured as king made Jett want to leave his answer as vague as possible. But Cliff wasn’t a part of all that. The man was his friend, his loyal Second, and Jett saw no reason to hold back. “I purchased an apartment complex to serve as my lair.” Still vague, but better.

“A whole apartment complex?” Cliff said. “The resources of a former dragon king…”

“Speaking of resources, I’m leaving the pride a hundred K,” Jett said. “I want you to see that it’s put to good use.”

Cliff seemed about to object, but Jett interrupted him with a raised hand. “Please. It’s the least I can do. You have all served me with more loyalty than I deserve. I am a dragon, after all, and you are lions.” He sighed. “Anyway, I want to make this quick. I was never the best at goodbyes, especially when they’re drawn out. Have you gathered Blue Hurricane outside?”

Cliff nodded. “They’re waiting.”

Jett stood. “All right, let’s get this over with.”

He followed Cliff outside. True to his word, the pride was seated cross-legged in a half circle around the entrance to his cabin.

Jett gazed from face to face. Random memories popped up when he met each of their eyes. The time Teri baked Jett and Ariel a pie with berries she had picked in the forest. Connor, attacking a cougar that had tried to sneak up on Ariel during a hunt. Razor, one of the first to kneel during Jett’s swearing-in as Alpha.

He would miss these lions. They were a strong bunch. Brave as hell. And they had heart. If any individuals could take credit for the origins of the word lionhearted, it would be these men and women.

“I know I’ve hinted to you all that I’d be leaving to join Ariel, but I never gave you a solid date,” Jett said. “Except for Cliff, though I was still vague with him, telling him I’d leave when Ariel landed in Serbia. I wanted to tell the rest of you, but the truth is, I was avoiding it. Saying goodbye has never been one of my strong suits, especially when that goodbye is to such a brave group of men and women. But I can’t just run away from you all in the night like a coward, not after everything you’ve done for me and Ariel. So. I’m making it official. The time has come for Blue Hurricane and I to go our separate ways. I’m stepping down as Alpha and heading to Serbia. I leave you in good hands.” He gestured toward Cliff. “If there’s anything you ever need, you all have my info. Call or email anytime.”

He waited for some sort of response from the pride members, if not verbally, then at least physically—expressions of disappointment, attempts to convince him to stay—but they merely stared at him blankly.

“Okay then,” Jett said awkwardly. “I guess it’s done.”

Cliff cleared his throat loudly beside him, and stepped forward.

“If I may…” Cliff said.

Jett cocked an eyebrow, and then gestured to the pride. “Go ahead.”

“You mistake me,” Cliff said. “I don’t want to address the pride. But you.”

“Okay…” Jett said.

“The pride is yours now,” Cliff said. “You can’t just step down.”

“But—”

“Let me finish,” Cliff said. “All of us have knelt before you and sworn a blood oath to follow you to the ends of the earth, through thick and thin. If you journeyed to the gates of hell itself, we would follow. And yet you assume that at the first hiccup, the first bump in the road, we’re going to throw you to the wolves? That we’re going to let you travel to Serbia on your own?”

Jett didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t believe he was hearing this.

“What are you saying?” he finally managed.

“We’re going with you,” Cliff said. “It’s as simple as that. We’re your pride. You’re our Alpha. Besides, relocating to Belgrade will be safer for us all, I think, especially if that vampire still roams these woods.”

“And if she follows us there?” Jett said. “Or rather, follows me? Because we all know she has no interest in you.”

Cliff shrugged. “We’ll still be under the protection of a dragon. And honestly, I think an apartment complex is far easier to defend than cabins in the woods.”

“You’re assuming I’ll let you stay in the apartment building I purchased,” Jett said. “Or even come with me in the first place.”

“You don’t have an option,” Cliff said. “You should have thought of that before you chose to be our Alpha. Where you go, we go.”

Jett was touched, he really was. He knew the pride didn’t have to follow him. There was no law or rule requiring it. They were doing it because their loyalty wouldn’t allow them any other option.

But still Jett shook his head. “You can’t uproot the pride.”

“We’ve done it before,” Cliff said. “Change is good. I’m not big on the idea of operating in territories ruled by the witches, but with you at our head, I’m confident they’ll leave us alone.”

Jett nodded. “I’ll have to register the pride with them. One of the pluses, they’ll demand less tribute than the dragons. At least, that used to be the case.”

“Probably not anymore,” Cliff said. “I’ve heard from other prides in Eastern Europe that the yearly tributes are about equal to what we pay Midnight.”

“What about the littermates?” Jett said, glancing at the four children who stood obediently between Julia and Connor. Fraternal twins, all born at the same time. Three more littermates held the hands of another couple beside them.

“They could use a change,” Julia said.

“Moving from the woods to the streets of Belgrade will be a bit of a culture shock,” Jett said. “You’ll see poverty. Despair.”

“But also goodness and hope,” Teri said.

“And we’ll never experience poverty ourselves,” Julia said. “Not while you lead us.”

“You’ll have to learn how to speak Serbian…” Jett said.

“That doesn’t frighten us,” Connor said. “We’re lions. We’ll learn.”

“And what about you, Teri?” Jett said. His eyes were on her baby hump.

Teri dropped her hands to her belly. “I’m looking forward to giving birth in Belgrade.”

Jett sighed. “I can see I’m not going to change any of your minds. All right, if you’re really set on coming with me, then you should know I’m planning to bring along a couple of dragons. And a vampire.”

“We agree,” Cliff said without hesitation.

Jett looked at him, slightly puzzled. “No objections? No complaints about imposing on pride autonomy?”

“Nope,” Cliff said. “Why would we object, when we’ve allowed your scouts from Midnight to operate with impunity in our territory already?”

Jett stared at the man, surprised he had known about the White Swords. Jett glanced at the other members of Blue Hurricane, expecting a few shocked expressions, but their faces remained calm. They all knew.

“You really think we wouldn’t find out?” Razor said. “That we wouldn’t smell your scouts in our territory? Two dragon shifters and one vampire?”

“It was slightly insulting,” Duncan said. “But we agreed to ignore it because you were our Alpha, and we knew you were only acting in what you thought were our best interests. But still, as I said, slightly insulting.”

Jett couldn’t believe it. They had known all this time, and they had already forgiven him for going behind their backs. “I should have told you my intentions. As Alpha, it was my responsibility to do so. I apologize for letting you down. And I promise, going forward, I’ll never hide something so important from you all again.” He surveyed the pride. His pride. “All right, well, I guess I should give you some time to pack.”

“We’re already packed,” Jayden said. “Say the word, we’ll load our luggage into the trucks and drive to the airport.”

“You all planned this out, didn’t you?” Jett said. “As soon as Ariel left, you packed.”

“Pretty much,” Cliff agreed.

“Okay then, Blue Hurricane,” Jett said. “You want to go, then let’s go. We have a private jet to catch. But first, let me introduce you to some scouts of mine. I call them the White Swords.”