I reined him in at the last second and we landed in the forest not far from where Bethany walked on the trail. One of his back feet had stepped on a big branch, which was the crack that had sent her careening down the trail. I’d been half-sure I was mistaken about the scent until we spotted her with our own eyes.
The spicy aura had teased me on the trail several times before, but never fresh and in person like this. I hadn’t put two and two together to realize that the tantalizing smell that had lingered in the air on several flights over the last year or so had been my mate.
Now I was positive.
Luckily, I’d figured out how to keep my clothes with me when I shifted. When I first found the trail and knew I wanted to be able to fly in this area, I’d made a very loose, elastic-handled bag and kept it on my back. When I shifted, it was still there, holding my clothes and cell phone. Artemis called it my dragon purse, no matter how many times I told him not to.
As soon as she took off running, thanks to Artemis being a blundering oaf, I shifted back to my skin and jerked my clothes on as fast as I could. Only my advanced speed and agility had made me able to overtake her even after taking the time to change my clothes. I probably should’ve just let her go and left her alone, but there was no way I could. Once I knew she was nearby, I had to talk to her. Plus, Artemis had been agitated by the chase.
He loved a good chase, as any self-respecting dragon did.
After stepping out onto the trail, having her slam into my chest had been the highlight of my day.
By far.
Her scent had enveloped me, washing over me and igniting the urge to claim her as my mate, which of course I couldn’t do. Just because she smelled like home and looked like a stone-cold fox didn’t mean any of the problems had disappeared. We were still in the same predicament. She was a single mom with a successful business here in Black Claw, and I still needed to go to law school. Possibly very far away. That made everything such a mess. Why couldn’t things be easy like it had been for Stefan, Jury, Axel, and my dad?
Now she was walking away from me again, almost to her car, and suddenly I couldn’t stand to see her go. “Wait,” I called.
She stopped and looked at me with a confused expression on her face. “What is it?” she asked.
“I was just thinking, maybe you shouldn’t walk this deep in the forest by yourself.” Any excuse to keep her talking to me ran through my mind, and this was the first thing that popped out of my mouth. How was I supposed to keep up this train of thought?
“What are you talking about?” she asked with a cocked head. I couldn’t help but be distracted by the sunlight glinting off of the almost white highlights in her light blonde hair. Did she dye it? “Can you repeat what you just said to me?”
Her body language should’ve been my first clue to say never mind and walk away, but I’d never been particularly bright. “Yeah, of course. I mean, you were on a rarely used trail and on a weekday when there aren’t as many hikers. It’s not very smart. Did you even tell anyone where you were going?” She had to be intelligent, given how she’d built herself a business. She must not have been thinking about the possible ramifications of hiking alone. It wasn’t like she had an inner dragon to protect her.
I hadn’t meant to start chastising her, but the cop in me came out. Keeping people safe was my bread and butter. I had to think about safety, thinking ahead about possible scenarios of what could and probably would go wrong.
She put one hand on her hip. My second clue, but of course, I ignored it. “Not smart?” she asked.
“I mean, just not the best idea.” It occurred to me that I was standing in the middle of a parking lot criticizing her. “There’s no phone signal, you know.” I tried to dial it back. Maybe I was laying it on too thick.
But her cheeks were already red, and her eyes flashed with an inner fire that was nothing like my own. “I’m fine.” Her tone seemed cool enough. She looked a little mad, but not super pissed. She must have understood that I meant the advice from a good place. Bethany had a fairly level head, from what I could tell. She wouldn’t jump to conclusions, thinking I was trying to come down on her.
“I’m sure you are,” I said. “You know, though, there are bears and wildcats and stuff out here.” Not that many in this area, truthfully. They all smelled the dragons and wolves and steered clear of our territory. “I just don’t see you being the irresponsible type, with having a kid and all.”
“This isn’t the first time I’ve walked that trail and it won’t be the last.” She shut her mouth with a click of her jaw.
You really need to back off.
Artemis thought I was laying it on too thick. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I’m not trying to be a jerk. Just thinking about safety. It’s part of the job. If you’d gotten hurt, and I hadn’t been around, who knows how long you could have lain there before anyone came along to rescue you.”
“What makes you think I need rescuing?” she asked. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”
I held my hands up again. “Of course you are. I don’t doubt that. But there are dangers in these mountains that are bigger than us all.”
