Fleance ran over as she tried to stomp out the fire.
*Flea!* Cole piped up happily. *I thought I saw you but it was this lady instead!*
“What are you two doing this far down the mountain?” Fleance asked, half-distracted as he helped Sheena stamp on the flames.
*Um…* Cole said again, twiddling his foreclaws innocently.
*Oh, sh—sheesh. Fleance, this isn’t working!* Sheena’s voice was tight. *Look!*
She stomped on a burning branch—and it caught fire more.
*It’s my hellsheep!* Sheena all but wailed. *It thinks this is FUN!*
*BIG FIRE!* Ruby chirped, and belched out another fireball from her seat on Sheena’s back. Sheena spun round and made the fire bigger as she tried to squash it.
*Oh, come ON, hellsheep!* she yelled.
A shadow passed over the clearing and the hairs on the back of Fleance’s neck stood on end.
*Some help here, Fleance!* Sheena called out, half-laughing. He barely heard her. *Oh, sh—*
Oh no, Fleance’s hellhound muttered. Fleance was already tense; now he felt like his bones were about to crack under the strain. What?
They’re here…
*More dragons!* Sheena squeaked. *More… bigger dragons! Oh, God, Fleance, I hope no one but you heard that.*
The whole Heartwell clan was there. Cole’s parents: Opal, with her shining iridescent scales, and Hank, who was classic dragon green. Jasper Heartwell, Opal’s brother and Ruby’s father, had scales the same multitude of colors as his gemstone namesake, shimmering oranges and reds and browns. The three dragons folded their wings and landed, twining their long, sinuous bodies between the trees without disturbing a single branch.
*Hey, kiddos,* Jasper said, and Ruby trilled with excitement. She leaped off Sheena’s back and flapped towards her dad, who caught her in one clawed hand. *Having fun, firecracker? Who are your new friends?*
Movement at the corner of Fleance’s eye made him twitch around. He put a warning hand on Sheena’s hellsheep’s shoulder.
Shadows were pouring through the trees. They resolved into three hellhounds. Rhys was wiry and thin, Manu pure tank, and Caine was all alpha, twice the size of the others. Fleance’s pack—except not anymore. He had been so distracted by the dragons he hadn’t even sensed their approach.
*Hello again, Flea.* Caine sounded—not unkind, or wary, but exhausted. If he’d been in human form Fleance could imagine him rubbing his forehead. *You got my message? I wasn’t expecting you back so soon.*
There was a tinge of guilt in his voice, and before Fleance could decode it, Caine stepped between him and Cole.
“We were already in the country,” Fleance said, trying to sound confident. It came out as half a growl.
The edges of his mind buzzed: a hurried psychic conversation was going on, without his involvement.
He didn’t need to hear what they were saying to know what they were talking about. It was obvious the moment the other shifters’ stances turned from casual-bordering-on-wary to defensive.
*Huh?* Sheena murmured.
*Flea—it’s fine. The dragonlings were just playing. They’re not endangering themselves or anyone else.* Caine’s voice was pure alpha. Controlled, with the burn of a warning beneath each word.
Other voices filled his mind, jagged-edged. Voices not meant for him, but the shifters who were speaking were too panicked to keep their telepathy private.
*Remember what happened at the Puppy Express—*
*He chased that fraternity group all the way to Sweetheart Lake before you caught up with him—*
*Kids! Get behind me, now!*
All the blood drained from Fleance’s body. The Heartwells, his old pack—they weren’t happy to see him. They were afraid.
Cole stared at his parents, confused, and looked back at Fleance uncertainly. Fire flickered behind him.
Setting forest fires in the middle of summer. Talk about breaking all the rules meant to protect people and the land they lived on.
Everything he knew they thought about him pounded against his mind. Dangerous—untrustworthy—weak—
The mate bond strained like a kite string in a storm, and Sheena pulled it taut.
*Fleance—what? No. You’re none of those things. You know that. I know that.* She leaned into his touch and shifted. *And if anyone here thinks otherwise…*
In human form again, she looked slightly singed around the edges, with one shoe and the hem of her shirt missing, but she didn’t pay any attention to how much of her clothes she’d been able to shift back with.
He met her eyes. She wasn’t afraid, or panicking, or horrified. Her excitement at meeting dragons and his old pack, and embarrassment at all the fires, and concern for him, all poured through the mate bond—and met his rising terror halfway there.
Her eyebrows snapped down and Fleance’s breath cracked as she trampled his terror beneath a flood of love. Don’t be afraid, the light connecting his heart to hers seemed to say; there’s nothing to be afraid of here. Not with your mate beside you.
Fleance’s hellhound raised its head. He straightened his shoulders. The fire all around them crackled against his senses and suddenly, his power twisted inside him, fueled by Sheena’s faith in him.
He lifted one hand and closed his fist. The fire died.
*Now that’s new.* The largest hellhound shimmered and transformed into Caine, who walked forwards, hands in pockets. His eyes searched Fleance’s and he frowned. “So your hellhound—wait. I don’t understand. Why can’t I sense you in the pack anymore?”
Fleance was surprised at how easily a smile came to his face. Then again, with Sheena’s love like the sun in his chest, maybe he shouldn’t have been. He put one arm around her and pulled her close.
“I’m afraid that’s my fault,” Sheena said, with more than a trace of smugness in her voice. She put a possessive hand over his on her waist.
Caine looked at them both, and the exhausted wariness on his face relaxed into a smile. “I’m glad to hear it. Caine Guinness.” He extended one hand and Sheena took it.
“I’m—” she began, and Ruby let out a shriek of excitement.
*FIRE SHEEP!* she screamed, and even the full-grown dragons winced at the force of her psychic voice. Then she leaped out of Jasper’s claws. *COME BACK! BREAV MORE FIRE!*
*Firecracker, no!* Jasper yelled, and she shrieked unhappily and belched fire into
