For the first time since our first time, we weren’t spending the night together. Her sister had asked her to go shopping with her, then to a late dinner.
Back at the shop, I kissed her plump lips several times. “I find I don’t want to separate, knowing we aren’t meeting up later,” I whispered.
She dropped her forehead to my chest. “Me too! And that’s crazy, because we’ve been together pretty much nonstop. But Melody will probably want to spend the night. I’ll see you in the morning. Nine, sharp.”
With one last kiss, I said goodbye. “Nine.”
As soon as she drove a way, I texted the guys. I needed advice. Pronto.
It turned out that Charlotte, my cousin Axel’s wife, had a late shift at the hospital in the next town over, where she was a nurse. Their son, Chase, was spending the night with his grandma—which meant he’d be at the manor.
Having dinner at Axel’s was perfect. I headed straight to the manor for a fast shower, using the outside bathroom instead of going in and having to explain my absence to Aunt Carla and Uncle James. Not that they would mind, but a conversation with them could drag out longer than I had time for.
After tying clothes into a bag and wrapping it around my neck loosely, I let Valor take the lead and fly us to Axel’s huge cabin way up in the woods. It was on Kingston land, so there was no danger of flying over a road or house where we could be spotted. This land was patrolled constantly, not only by Kingstons but by the local wolf pack, who used the land for their shifts as well. They were much more plentiful than the dragons and patrolled in shifts in exchange for a safe place to shift. It was a great symbiotic relationship.
Once Valor had his head, he wanted to go find Tye. I had to remind him of the consequences of a dragon flying over Black Claw and searching out a human to kill. He didn’t care, but I sure as hell did.
By the time I convinced him to quit dawdling and go to Axel’s, everyone else was already there. Valor landed in the back yard as the daylight began to wane to twilight. They waved, making no mention to my nakedness, as was our way. After I dressed, I jogged over to the porch and accepted the beer Maddox held out.
“Thanks for coming,” I said. Looking around the porch, I realized the entire clan was here. Every dragon, even my Uncle James.
“Son, we’re here for you,” he said, clapping me on the back.
“That’s right,” our alpha, Maverick, chimed in. “You’re a Kingston. And while you’re staying in Black Claw, you’re just as much a part of our local pack as my own son.”
Maddox gulped his beer and nodded. “True.”
Jury and Stefan sat around Axel’s big table and watched. The smiles on their faces showed their agreement.
“Sit,” Axel said. “I had just enough time to swing by the grocery store for steaks on the way home, and they’re done unless you want them cooked well done.”
Everyone protested and rushed to sit around the table.
“Start talking,” Maverick said as Axel passed food around. I looked down at my steak, cooked perfectly to the way I liked it, and said a quick thanks. I didn’t have my parents, but I still had family who accepted me, even after I’d been such a dick. Hopefully I was changing that.
“It’s Kara. And Valor,” I said.
Maddox wagged his eyebrows at me. “Took you long enough.”
They all laughed and elbowed each other.
“No,” I protested. “I mean, yes, but there’s a problem.” I paused. “Well, two. Let me tell you the newest one. There’s a guy in town that’s a problem.” I described Tye and gave a vague recounting of what he’d done to Kara. I didn’t want to tell her secret, but the guy had to be dealt with. Maybe Maverick and Uncle James, the police chief, could figure it out.
I was right. When I finished telling them all I could, James and Maverick exchanged a glance. “We’ll look into it and see what we can do the legal way rather than vigilante justice.”
A few months ago, vigilante justice would’ve been my only choice. I wouldn’t have even told them about it. While I knew going the legal, human way was the right thing to do, it didn’t feel good.
I wanted to kill him.
“Okay, so Kara and I have been spending a lot of time together,” I explained. They all laughed and elbowed each other again, so I had to hold my hands up. “Calm down. It’s great, of course, but there’s a problem.”
“They make a pill for that,” Jury said around a big wad of steak.
The rest of us laughed, even me. It was a good burn. “I know, I saw them in your cabinet,” I retorted. When everyone calmed down their laughter, I continued. “But this is serious. More than once, when emotions have been heated, Valor has been able to speak through me. My voice changes to something else, something that I recognize as Valor. I can usually curb him back quickly, but I can’t stop it happening.”
“Until you bite her, he’ll be able to do that,” Maverick said. “I’ve heard of this as a side effect when a dragon is really set on a mate.”
“Well, when we’re together…” I shifted uncomfortably. I wasn’t one for ‘locker room talk’. “You know, intimately, it’s all I can do to stop Valor from claiming her. We almost shifted a few times, and last night was the worst. I was so relieved when she said she had plans with her sister tonight. I didn’t know what to do.”
“I’ve never had Artemis try to speak through me,” Maddox said. We looked around the table, but everyone shook their heads.
“Eros says it’s possible,” Stefan said. “But usually only when a dragon is a strong
